NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2237, 10 February 1921, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

In ancient days crows were.employed ns letter-carrier*. " Out of 111 varieties' oik snakes, only 17 are said to be venomous. It is said that there are only three mats of- ivory in existence. There were 037 cases of plague in Java during October. All were filial. The fabrication of an artificial eye involves eight distinct processes, Seville is the only Spanish city in which begging is forbidden in the streets. Domestic economy was introduced as a lesson into English schools in 1874. There are about 5,000 American army deserters in France, it is estimated, French armies crossed the Rhine more than 20 times in the last 120 years. Compulsory military service of eighteen months is now a law in France. •A‘linn in Paris turns out no fewer than 1,000 artificial eyes every week. The urban population of tlie United States is about 4,000,000 more than the rural. In nine years a Dudley (Worcestershire) policejjmn has helped to catch 900 coal thieves.

A new Ministry, which is composed wholly of Socialists, has been formed in Saxony. There is no race of people said to be more imaginative or superstitious than the Eskimos. Modern pumps are now supplying water from Abraham’s well to the town of Beersheba. Norway’s balance of trade for the lTionth of September shows improvement of 90,600,000 kroner (approximately £3,024,000). The reduction in British currency notes in the period from October (it'll to November 24th was £6,500,000. The surplus female population of the world lias risen from 5,000.000 m 19.14 to 15,000,000 in 1920. England ha* organised a museum in which will lie displayed models of famous and historic aircraft. The widow of Theodore Roosevelt gets a pension allowance of £I,OOO annually from the Government. Of the 34,913 workers in the 148 industrial establishments in Virginia, more than one-half 'are women, A race of 40,000 cannibals, said to be the smallest human beings as a race, was recently discovered in the New Hebrides.

Belgian miners produced 1,950.580 tons of coal in October, which is JO3 per cent, of the production for the same month in 1913. The Worcester doll factory — which used to employ about 100 bunds —is preparing to close owing to German competition. Encroachment of salt water has reduced the production of the Tampico, Mexico, oil tields a limit 50 per cent., it is estimated. The total number of motor cars imported into India from April to September was 7,496. The United States sent 5,654, Britain 1,902, Canada 512, France -10, and Italy 43.