NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2719, 10 April 1924, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Sheep are now being extensively reared in the Aleutian Islands. Two million tons of sand are used every year in America for making glass. The cat was unknown in England till the ninth or tenth century, when there was a document stating that a man would be fined 101117361100 for killing a cat and eightpence if he killed the King’s cat. Bees recently took possession of a pastry shop in Paris, customers and assistants dashing wildly out at the appearance of the swarm. The invasion lasted three hours in spite of all efforts to clear the place. Light exercises pressure on objects that receive it. The giant stars gain their size like a blownfootball from the pressure of light within them. By the pressure of light it may be possible to create matter. Gold was the first metal used by man, and the arbitrary value assigned to it for its supposed magical qualities initiated a world-wide search for it and made it a potent factor in shaping the history of civilisation. Pictures by famous painters are now being sold in England with a written guarantee that they can he exchanged within one year for others of the same value, or for the same price as paid at the original sale. All Italian scientist, Professor Guglielmotti, claims to have made a discovery which will enable submarines to see through water even at a great depth. The Persian Government luv- decided to sell a part of the Crown jewels and other precious articles in order to raise money for the construction of railways. To explore Britain thoroughly by motoring over its full length of highway© of which there are ITT 30C miles, would take 1773 days, travelling at 100 miles a day. ■An eel landed at Aberdeen, by a trawler weighed 881 b. and measured 7ft. in leugth and 2Gin. in girth. It was caught in the North Sea about 20 miles from land. Among the London health “spas” which used (o he mucli frequented, the last survivor was in Streatharn. The well with its medicinal waters was advertised as recently as 1003. A wellknown resident of Bulawayo, Rhodesia, Mr. Marcus Peters has been notified of his inheritance of over £500,000 from an uncle in Texas whom he has never seen. Mrs Tomlin, of North Wootton, Somerset, who left £1154, directed that a first charge on her estate should be a trust fund of £SOO to provide for the keep and comfort of her cats. America’s famous millionaires’ train which was recently wrecked contained all the comforts of hotel or club, Including shower baths, and the latest market reports received by wireless. An airship hangar is under construction in France which consists of a series of concrete arches, and is being built at Orly-la-Villa, near Paris. As one arch is built, the mould is moved hack. 111 a recent overhauled' the heating arrangements of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, old-fash-oned portable oil-stoves in a number of apartments were replaced by hot air radiators. The title of the British Mercantile Marine Department of the Board of Trade has been changed to Sea Transport Department and that of Director of Transports to Director of Sea Transport. A new (lying station is to he established at Stockholm. The founders of the project' are especially interested in getting Stockholm incorporated as soon as possible in the European air traffic system. Opening a cupboard in a bathroom in a mansion near Basle, Switzerland, a man-servant found a young woman, who said she had been sent by a gang of burglars to make preparations for to roll the house. William Reeves, a British war veteran, in some prison theatricals at Sing Sing, the greal gaol neai New York, so realistically played the part of an ex-convict who tried to reform other criminals [hat lie was released on parole. The wife of a railway platelayer. of Trefeghvys, Montgomeryshire, had both her arms torn of! in trying to rescue from beneath a train her five-year old nephew, who lost both legs and an arm. and died shortly afterwards. Some Egyptian boats, made *f cedar probably in use 4500 years ago, have been found buried near the banks of the Nile, and furnish an interesting proof of the power of that wood in certain circumstances to withstand the ravages of time. Certain features usually regarded as distinctive of man are found in new born gorillas and chimpanzees, but not in adults. Apes are more specialised than man in adaption to a particular mode of life; -they have lost many primitive characteristics which he lias retained. The largest ski slide in (he world was opened recently in Sweden. Tl is sixty miles from end to end. Metal railway sleepers have to he used-in many 2>arts of India: wooden ones would he eaten away by insects. Census statistics for Somersetshire, England, give the country a population of 465,710. compared with 273,577 in 1801. Stamps numbering 6,000,000,000 and. of the total value of £40,500,000 are sold by the post offices of Britain every year. * Edinburgh University is to receive £48,000, the residue of the

estate of Mr. Thomas .McKie, advocate. who died in 1000. ’ 1 During last year the U.S. Prohibition Bureau paid £1,000,000 into the Treasury, representing fines and penalties in connection with en- : forcement of the Prohibition laws. Ladybirds,'the mil lira 1. enemy of the aphis, which attacks rambler roses and other fiowers are specially reared for sale in a “factory” at Balham, a London suburb. Iu one day a ton of turkeys was carried from London to Cologne by air, it being cheaper to import them tjiere by this expensive transport than to buy them locally. The new Zeppelin airship which is being built at Friedrielisluifen, Germany for the United States Navy will have a sound-proof gondola (car) to facilitate navigation.' A small percentage of copper aded to steel prevents the rapid deterioration that otherwise takes place under the influence of the weather, and of: the acids from factory smoke. Most Italians of the poorer class are noted for their general good health. This is, to some extent, attributed to the fact that the working people of Italy, on the average eat less meat than do those of any other Europea 11' nati <»n. The “lion” shillings, issued about a century ago, are worth, in good condition, from 2s to 7s 6(1 each to collectors, but are now rarely met with, except in the shops ol dealers of old coins. I here was also an issue, about the same time of “lion” sixpences, which are also scarce.