NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2212, 7 December 1920, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

A huge cypress Ircc in the churchyard near Santa Al;irin <IcI iulc, in Southern Mexico, is said to be be I ween 5,000 and (>,OOO years old. Mining is quite an ancient art, being- mentioned in the Bible: while a goldmine is depicted in an ancient Egyptian papyrus drawn in 1400 B.C. Although one oyster produces about 1.000.000 oysters in a year, only a few of these survive the attacks of enemies, including whelks and limpets. A novel table lor workshops can bo turned and locked in .TA* different positions, to save the'labour of moving objects on which work is being done. Firemen passing through Harrison, a Now Jersey town, on their wtiy to a tire, were arrested for exceeding the speed limit, llicy wore later released.

Experts from Sweden arc imw in Aiueriea considering the possibility of bringing lumber from British Columbia to Europe in the form of rafts, each raft to contain from 15,000,000 to 2,0.000,000, feet of timber’.

The Bible Society produced only 700,223 New Testaments in 1919, as against■■■•l*3ll,lo3 in the previous year. The falliagvoff was due to the coming of peace, as many copies were required for army use at the front.

In summer a_ frog goes into deep water only to hide by day, ahd he must frequently pop up to breathe. As winter approaches he sinks to the bottom of a pond, buries himself in the mud, and sleeps for several months without breathing. ' According to the British Ministry of Transport figures, everyone in the United Kingdom takes 108 tram-

ear rides in a year, while since 19.1314 the total number of passengers carried by the tramways has risen from 3,420,192 to in 1918-19. The perfume'industry causes about 5,00,0 tons of blossoms to be collected on the French Alps during a single. summerA Of jasmine alone it is estimated that 5,000,000,000 separate blossoms are gathered in a season, and of all sorts of flowers there must be 50,000 millions. Bridge River at Lillooet, in British Columbia, is to have the third biggest power station in the world. The water falls 1,400 ft., and will develop 400,000 horse-power. - There will be a tunnel through a mountain a mile and a-half long, and the total cost will be £0,(100,000.