NEWS IN BRIEF

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2258, 2 April 1921, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF

Strange household pets are to he seen in the East End of London. In one luitoll on a window sill were to he found three rabbits and a cockerel.

Rubber balls are generally made from vulcanised rubber, which is a mixture of rubber and sulphur. The mixture is more durable than pure rubber. At W'addon Aircraft Factory, aeroplane wings are being sold from Is each, and are being adapted for arbours, tool houses, chicken runs, and makeshift fencing. Merchant Ships of a total tonnage of 2,055,024 tons were launched in Britain during 1920. The total output for the world during the year was 5,801,000 tons. The English mosquito prefers to thrive on cows, pigs, and rabbits rather than human beings, this being the reason that comparatively few are found in dwelling hbuses. There are various members of the seal family, such as the common seal, the walrus, the sea elephant, the sea lion, and the fur seal. The latter provides the best sealskin. The total yield of wheat in Canada for 1920 is now finally given as 208,189,300 bushels from 18,232,274 acres. In 1919 the yield was 93,200,400 bushels from J9,125,908 acres.

No automobiles are allowed in Bermuda, but the little island lias decided to permit the importation of small tractors because of the prohibitive cost of horse-power on the farms. Students of four colleges in Calcutta, allilialcd to Calcutta University. have gone on strike, demanding I lie* nationalisation of the colleges and the establishment of a national universit v.

Small amounts of copper are reported to have a striking ofl'eel in making steel nisi-proof, the presence in the metal of a mere trace of copper being siilficicnl to prevent rapid corrosion. The Brontosaurus, which was about OOl'l. long and 10ft. high, was a vegetarian. In the old world the land animals of mightiest hulk all derived their mass and strength from vegetable food. it has just been announced that Eton College is full up (ill 1930, and other English public schools, together with some of the more important secondary schools, arc hooking pupils eight or ten years ahead.

When the new London telephone system is complete, it will he the most complex piece of engineering in the world; New York, with its smaller area and skyscrapers, being a comparatively simple problem.

Certain lakes will not freeze, or freeze badly, because of their depth, and the fact that they are supplied by springs which bubble from the bottom, preventing the water of the lake from reaching freezing point. Great Britain's most ancient military trophies, tt Roman battle standard and a Roman , general’s folding camp chair, have been sold for £2OO at a London auction room. The antiquities were dug up “in Essex a century ago.

Sixty years .ago the average number of divorces in the United Kingdom was between 500 and 000. Now it is over two thousand, and two or three judgesMiavc lately been “lent” to the Divorce Division in order to cope with the pressure ot work. Tn 1920, Britain's imports of timber were 4,271,000 tons short of

those of 1913, The seriousness of the shortage is understood when it is realised that Great Britain is a country which needs to use imported wood in great quantities in every town and village. The Telegraph Department of the Canadian Government finds the little word “please” costs the small sum of £200,000 annually. . Subscribers have to pay for their courteous wires. A mathematician, who made a study of these returns, found the word “please” occurred once to every thirty words of other telegraphic matter. Blood rain is caused in the following fashion: —In hot lands a red dust from desert or dried lakes or river beds is carried up into the air by winds, and borne hundreds, even thousands, of; miles.. If it enters an area of saturated air rain falls and brings down the dust with it. The raindrops are coloured by the dust in them, that is all. After theatre, dance or party take NAZOL. Prevents chill from changing atmospheres. Convenient for pocket or bag. 1/6 for (it) doses.