NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1846, 29 June 1918, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The faintest star known, one of the tenth magnitude, only one-three-: thousandth as bright as the sun, is very near the sun, and moves more rapidly among the stars than any other star yet measured.

. It is thought that the “poisoned water,” killing fish in large numbers off the west coast of Florida during the past 75 years, may have been poisoned by gases released from the sea-bottom by slight earthquake shocks.

Eight men, rescued by a British schooner after drifting 18 days in a small boat, on their arrival in port recently, told a story of how they sustained life by catching a shark with ropes and drinking its blood.

Henry Elionsky, a freak swimmer of New York, has performed the extraordinary feat of swimming, or rather rolling, tlu'ough the water for a distance of seven miles securely tied to a chair. His legs and arms were securely tied.

The honour of being the youngest soldier and N.C.O. in the 'British Army now at the front belongs to a lad of eleven, who specially enlisted to act as interpreter, as he speaks English and French fluently. He was made a sergeant, and is now regarded as a mascot. Few people are aware of the immense area of Siberia. It extends through 120 degrees of longitude, arid possesses one-ninth of all the land surface of the globe. The United States, Great Britain, and all Europe, except Russia, could be put into Siberia, with space to spare.

The postcard was introduced into England in 1870, and its total for the first year was 75,000,000. It gradually grew in popularity until in the year before the war over 900,000,000 cards were sent. The total for 1914-15 fell to 880,000,000, which is 19 per head of the population.

Fulham Palace, the historic residence of the Bishops of London, is now available as a military hospital. The famous building, the old court of which dates back to Tudor times, and the magnificent and extensive grounds, long celebrated among aboriculturists, constitute valuable premises for hospital purposes.

Some idea of modern artillery fire can be formed from the 'statement of a Swiss officer that, during the three hours’ bombardment just before the. attack on March 21st, the Germans used one and a-h.alf million shells. This is over 8,300 a minute, or, taking the front at fifty miles, over 160 for each mile. The total number of shells used by Germany in the war of 1870-71 is usually given at 650,000. In England the title of “Senior Service” belongs exclusively to the Navy. In America the army ranks first, as it came into existence before the navy.