NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2401, 7 March 1922, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Egypt’s new crop of cotton will amount to 32G,700,0001 b. Greyhounds belong to one of the oldest known types of dog. f 1; In Highland glens skis are being used by. postmen and by doctors'.' Forty-five towns in Great Britain have a population exceeding 100,00. West Ham served 12,073 meals to necessitous children in Christmas week. The swallow has a larger mouth in proportion to its size than any other bird. Eggs “warranted to boil” were advertised recently at 13d each at Kingston. In the human being the left lung is rather smaller .than that on the right. European Russia possesses the highest birth-rate in the world; France the lowest. ' The population of Novia Scotia is estimated at 524,833, compared with 420,338 in 1011. The Channel Tunnel scheme was first proposed by He Grammond, a Frenchman, in 1807. The sabre-tooth tiger, according to recent evidence, roamed the earth 200,000 years-ago. Grey Friars Monastery, the first stronghold of the Franciscan Order in England, is for sale. All Victoria Crosses are manufactured from cannon taken from the Russians at Sebastopool. Two hundred and seventy-five thousand square miles of Europe are over 3000 ft. above the sea. Potatoes, brought into Russia •first in 1760, caused fatal riots, being called devil’s apples. English pantomime “stars” are this year receiving salaries which Tun up to £OSO a week. British silver coins are made from an nmalgfam of 37-parts pure silver with 3 parts copper. King George V. is related to nearly all the Royal house.- in Europe, one'exception being AustriaHungary. Bank of England jiioies are issued for sums of £5, £lO, £2O, £SO: also for £IOO, £2OO, £SOO, and £I,OOO. “The Marseillaise,” the National Anthem of the French Republic, was written and composed in 1702. 'Bermondsey advertised recently fob a library porter, salary £lls Is Od, and a bonus at present of £132 18s 4d. ° '

Up to December Wandsworth Guardians had spent £14,000 beyond the estimate for out-relief up to next March. Auction sales originated in ancient Rome, and were introduced to enable soldiers to dispose of spoils of war. Marshal Focli, during his recent visit.“to United • States, travelled 13,000 miles, and made 104 speeches to 10,000,000 citizens. Domestic articles which have the appearance of polished steel and yet need no cleanng are being made by a new Sheffield process. The first baby in arms to patronise the Continental airways left the London Aii* Station for Paws on the 12.30 airplane express recently. One shilling in 1328 had the purchasing power of 20s today; whole cows were then 7s 0d each, a large pig cost 4s, and milk was a 1 1] a gallon. Tlie recent rise in American cotton has been directly traced to the ravages of the bAH-weevil, which caused a shortage in the crops. Smoking and silk stockings are two worldly pleasures which are being renounced by the converts of the great revival in North Scotland. Street, accidents due to a moving vehicle driving between (lie kerb and a stationary tramcar average one for each day, except Sundays, in London alone.

Old battleships sold to be “scrapped” are proving unprofitable, as the market price of steel scrap is much less than the cost per ton for breaking it up.

Fabric gloves, sold in England, are in the proportion of 20 per. cent. British to 80 per. cent. Saxon, experts admitting that the latter are superior in finish. West End medical specialists *in London are having to take up general practice again, as people to-day ‘are neither willing nor able to. pay them high fees. -

Bronzed aliminium coins to the value of 20,000,000 francs are, t being distributed by the Bank of France to replace paper money condemned as unsanitary. London’s new telephone exchange will be the largest in Europe. The .exchange will cater for 30,000 subscribers, but will have three separ-

ate names, each with 10,000 lines. A novel sea-bathing accessory is in the form of an easy chair made of Uie cork-like balsa wood, 'in wtffch tlie bather lounges half-sub-merged while reading, smoking or chatting.