NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2186, 7 October 1920, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Swiss imports for - the first quarter of 1920 have increased by 472.000,001) francs (£20,000,000), as compared with the previous year. Exports likewise show a marked increase. Canada, measuring nearly 4,000,000 square miles, is the largest British possession'; tiie smallest is Gibraltar, less than two miles square. It is estimated that, if another 4,000,000 acres were added to the area of corn that was cultivated in the British Isles in 1918, the country could, at a pinch, and on strict rations, maintain itself and its live stock without: assistance from the world.

.The largest floating dock in Europe has arrived at Amsterdam, towed from Hamburg by five powerful lugs. It has a capacity of 50,000 tons, is over 600 ft. long, and 169 ft, wide, and weighs 17,000 tons. It will bo stationed at Rotterdam.

The export of potatoes from Jersey has been prohibited, as there is not sufficient tor the island population. Growers have realised extraordinary protits this season, the total value reaching £1,200,000. 'The million mark has never been reached before.

The sum of £10,000,000 is lo be spent on the improvement of the English telephone service. Twenty new exchanges arc to be built in London, and 60 in the country, and there are 38 schemes in hand for putting large cables underground at a cost of £4,500,000. The great liner Imperator, built by the Germans but now running as an Atlantic Chinarder, has a palm garden as one of its luxuries, and is to have a conservatory and carry a gardener. Its crew know that, though it is a floating hotel, it is an unwieldy ship, with efficiency sacrificed to luxury.

It is estimated that in the last twenty years 10,000,000 people in India have died through plague carried by rats. The destruction of these dangerous animals is, therefore, a great public question in India, and many experiments have been made to discover the best way of reducing the rat population.