NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2377, 10 January 1922, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Kent has 104 blind school children.

The silkworm moth has been eullivated for more (lmn 4,000 years.

Owls are protected against trapping all the year round in most English counties. Unemployment is one of the greatest factors in bringing about diseases of the mind. People with twelve lingers and twelve toes are common in Banders, a Texas town. Only one book lias been lost during fifteen years by a Bermondsey public library. A leading physician recommends clogs for children to wear in the garden during damp weather. Prince Charles, second son of King Albert of Belgium, is a midshipman on H.M.S. Renown. Natives of Liberia rub garlic on their feet, finding that venomous reptiles run from the odour. The game of draughts is known to have existed long before the time of the ancient Egyptians. Most middle-aged Londoners are -lightly deaf, due, it is said, to the continuous roar of traffic. White satin shoes, which looked like swans with wings complete, were recemlv exhibited in London.

A silk thread measuring between (ibfi and 800 yards in length may be unwound from a silkworm cocoon.

Forged banknotes, with a face value of £28,705, were the subject of a London Police Court case recently. Beds which can lie illuminated underneath by electricity are an American invention for the use of nervous people. Ti is reported from Buenos Ayres that 3,000,000,000 guanacos, or wild llamas, range the pampas of Northern Patagonia. Eggs, found in the trunk of a large elm while being cut into planks, are estimated to have been lying there about a century. With wings nearly a foot in width extended, the Great Atlas moth, of India, is the largest moth or butterfly in the world. Family films, based on your knowledge of your pedigree, and added to as time goes on, are the speciality of one cinematograph firm.

The University of Grenoble, in France, has for many years made a special feature of instruction in water-power and power transmission.

Barbers claim that their trade is a barometer of commerce. When “times are bad” men let their hair go much longer without attention. Surgical splints were used to form a triumphal arch at the wedding of a member of the ambulance section of the Aldershot fire brigade recently. The only London tube railway which is totally underground is the City and South London, rolling stock being taken down by means of a huge lift. Seven out of every ten school children in Devonshire have defective teeth, while more than half the children of London need dental treatment.

The typical “noise” of London is deep and mellow, while that, of the northern cities, such as Leeds and Manchester, is shrill and much harsher.

During his years of work in the Church, Canon A it ken, vice-Dean of Norwich Cathedral, estimates he litis preached over 21,000 sermous.

“Choose a sufficient and varied supply of wholesome food,” says an eminent physician, “and you need not bother about the scientific contents of it.” The excess.of births over deaths in France in 1920 was 159,790, as compared with 58,914 in 1913. The marriage totalled 023,869 in 1920, against 312,030 in 1913. A chapel, built by Wesley in 1764 in Crosby Row, Southwark, is now used as a warehouse. On the other hand, an old windmill in Surrey is now used as a place of worship. The population of Scotland is still under 5,000,000, according to the latest census returns. In ten years there has been a gain of only 121,000 in the population there.

Steam trains on the London Underground meant only fifteen trains an hour in either direction; by elec-" trieity as many as forty-two trains an hour can lie run on two-track lines. The winnings of the casino at Deauville, France, so far this season have amounted to more than 15,000,000 francs, and it is expected that they will reach 20,000,000 francs. An orchid, valued at 500 guineas, whose production represents nearly half a century of experiment, was exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Hall recently, and was declared by judges to be the most wonderful specimen ever shown there. It resembles a white star with heart of gold.