NEWS IN BRIEF

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2267, 23 April 1921, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

. The most elaborate cen-iis ever 'liken was that of the United Slates n J.BSO, the results of which filled 22 volumes. The total rates and taxes per bead of the population of Britain averaged £3 10s in 1014: they are now £22 Os fid per bead. The first London Directory contained the names of only nine Joneses, eighteen Smiths, ten Browns, and four Robinsons. The British Post Office has spent £0,380,000 since the armistice on About .1,000 tons of obsolete cannon balls are being offered for sale .it Acre bv the Government of Palestine. The Dutch Minister for khlucaliou introduced a Bill for compulsory physical exercise between 1(5 and 10.’ A total of 10,000,000 bottles of champagne was drunk in Germany in 1!>10, 4,000,000 more than in 1914. At heights above 23,000 ft. above sea level, mountaineers sav that sleep would be difficult, if not impossible. extensions and improvements of the telephone service. w The City of Rheims is to ask permission to issue bonds to the value of 500,000,000 francs (nominally £20,000,000) for the reconstruction of the city. The Belgian Senate has approved the proposal to bury the body of an unknown Belgian soldier beneath a monument to those who,died in the war. The Chinese Y.M.C.A. lias opened its first red triangle hut for industrial worker.-, men and hoys, near a large tobacco factory in Shanghai. There are 352 fully-licensed public houses in the City-of London, 37 licensed to sell wine and beer on the premises, and 153 licensed to sell spirits, wine, and beer off the premises. This year there are 7,0<)0 students in attendance at the University .of Paris, as against 13,000 iy 1013,

the decrease being' most noticeable in the faculties of letters, law, and medicine. "The colour of mourning differs in various countries. Pale-brown is used in Persia, while in China, and violet in Turkey. In Brittany widow's caps among the .peasantry are yellow. Sea lions, which are among the “performing animals,” are intelligent, and learn tricks easily. They never sulk, and seem fond of going through their performance again and again. Shakespeare’s plays and poems contain nearly one and a-half times as many words as does the Authorised Version-ol' the Bible, which is believed to contain about 10,00(1 different: words.