NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2723, 22 April 1924, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The dog is mentioned three times in the Bible.

There are -now 400,000 telephones in use in London. Sugar is found in the sap of nearly 200 plants and trees. One of the rarest birds on earth is the flightless cormorant. London has now a rateable valuation of nearly £50,000,000. Imitation pearls as big a pigeon’s eggs are being worn in Paris. A total of 65 million pounds in gold has been taken out of Alaska. Over 11,000 people .were killed in motor accidents in America last year. A eat that costs 4s in Angora sells for £lO or thereabouts in England. The 1922 general election in Britain cost £1,018,196, or Is 4.? a vote. Houses are being built in the Wembley district, London, at the rate of three a day. Only one couple out of every 100 married people live to keep their golden wedding. Although radium is so expensive, at least one half of the treatmentwith it is given free. Twenty-five pounds of wool was recently shorn from a single ram in California at one clipping. Oil production in America is at last beginning to slacken off and prices are going up again. Pumps driven by oil, steam, and electricity are fast replacing the picturesque windmills in Holland. Insurance against rain brought Warwickshire County Cricket Club £1227 in 1921 and £I2OO in 1922. Motor licenses issued in England last, year numbered 1,060,000: of these, 391,000 were for motor-cyc-les. It is claimed that Australian miners often locate mineral deposits by the plants growing on the surface. Mrs. Louis- Webb, win. is 94 years old, has recently made the 6000-mile voyage from Capetown to Southampton.

Eagles have been known to lly to a height of 6000 ft. A lark will rise to the same height and so will a crow.

Beer-drinking in England has declined from 32.53 gallons per head of the population in 1899. to 15.80 gallons in 1922. Jupiter is the largest planet, measuring 86,500 miles in diameter. Mercury, 3030 miles in diameter, is tht'smallest.

A chemical engineer lias declared that a mixture of honey and water in motor car radiator will prevent freezing in winter. Powders, perfumes and dry shampoos are now being sold in London for the-toilets of pet <h>gs. Thev command a good sale.

To explore Britain thoroughly bv motoring over its full length of highways would take 1773 days, travelling at 100 miles a day. The capital invested in the Alaska salmon fisheries runs into many millions, and the average value of a season’s catch is £1,470,000.

A blind rat was recently seen in Ebbw Vale, being guided along by a. companion; each had the end of a piece of straw in its mouth. Fifty local authorities in the Greater London area, and many in the provinces have passed resolutions in favour of “walking on the left.” Pineapple-growing has spread enormously in South Africa, where there are now about 40,000 acres under cultivation, with about 150 million plants. An inch of rain falling on the 3812 square miles drained by the Thames is equal to a body of water 070 miles long, 250 ft. wide, and 10ft. deep. Dolls, which cost, from £2 to £3O, arc popular among the smart women of Paris. A famous actress has collection! of two hundred of these costly playthings.