NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1910, 3 December 1918, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The onion is the most nourishing of all vegetables. Hollow steel spheres are used in Sweden for billiard balls. The bamboo has been known to grow a foot in 22 hours. In Paris coal is unobtainable under ,C 7 4s a ton, or 7s (id a sack. The Sahara Desert is three times as large as the Mediterranean Sea. Out of; 380,000 troops sent overseas by Canada, 225,000 were working men. Two thousand tons of waste paper have been required every week for munitions. Among flowers the chrysanthemum is said to live the longest after being cut. Of all newspapers in the world, 08 in every hundred are printed in (he English language. Shropshire is the most southerly point in England at; which grouse have been known to thrive. More than 25 per cent, of (he money required for carFying on the. war' has been raised by taxation. More than half of the British soldiers captured by the Turks have died since being taken prisoner. America’s war bill, including loans to the Allies, readied the total of twelve million pounds a day. More than 30,000 women volunteers Avere engaged on war work' eonneeted with the German Field Army. Mr Waller Ellis, a Bedfordshire, church verger, has completed 1,000 Sundays on duty without a break. In 1013 the output of coal from Great-Bril;;!.i was 287,500,001) tons; in 3017 the output was 248,500,000 I ons, A small heap of coal shad; should he placed in every pigsty for the inhabitants to feed upon, says a trade journal. Forty-two years of age, a pony has died at Glen Caladh, Kyles of Bute, Scotland. Its owners claim this is a record for longevity. The question of building a channel tunnel to Ireland is one of the

matters to which the Prime Minister is giving consideration.

The emerald improves in colour on exposure to the light. Pearls kept in the dark lose their lustre, but regain it on exposure to the

Violent hailstorms are reported throughout Brandenburg, Germany, where great damage has been caused to (he fruit, corn crops and vineyards. The banana is said to he the most prolific of all food products, being ■l4 times more productive than potalocs and ,123 limes more Hum wheal. Admiral Cleaves has announced that the Americans had about Hit) warships in Eruopean waters, and between 35,000 and 40,000 men on board them.

The London County Council has recently saved 100 tons of pulp a year by simplyfying its tramway tickets, the. annual consumption now being 270 tons.

In future the colour of the riband of the Victoria Cross is to lie the same for all services—red. Hitherto the riband used for the naval V.C.’s has been blue. It is announced Ilia! all the cigar factories in Germany will be closed down towards Ihe end of the year on account of llic exhaustion of llm tobacco supplies.

Tin* roois' of the common clover sometimes penetrate the soil to a, depth of 8 feet. This explains the fact that the clover suffers less form severe droughts than grnss. Accidents will) explosives nl factories and magazines in Britain during 1017 numbered 701. Of these, -iU4 occurred in manufacture, causing 54 deaths and injuries to 330 persons.

In (‘aim weather the speed of a carrier pigeon is 1,200 yards a minute, When a brisk wind is blowing in the direction of its llight. a pigeon has been known to make 1,900 yards a minute.

Tiny steel forks, similar to those found two years ago in sacks of American oats, suspected to have been put in them by the Germans, have been found strewn about several streets of Paris. No coloured boots may soon bo the rule in the United States, where shoe manufacturers have under consideration tire elimination of all coloured shoes except brown, black, and while.

The German Finance Minister estimates the total oust of the war to European Powers at £27,500,000,000, and the cost per head in Germany at £BO, in England at £l2O, and in France at £125.