NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2970, 3 December 1925, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF.

“Don’t he afraid to say it is a lie if what he said isn’t true,” said Mr. Justice Alpers to a hesitating witness at Napier. “Lie, is a good Biblical word,” he said “and people should not be afraid to use it when they are sure of their ground.” Napier (states an exchange) is now the second largest wool-selling centre in the Dominion, the quantity of wool disposed of there last year being nearly 100,009 bales out of about 500,000 for the whole country. At Culvert city, California, travelling at an average speed of 127.84 miles an hour Frank Elliot established a new world’s record in winning the 250 miles auto race. Four other world’s marks were broken by Earl Cooper —75, 100, 150 and 200 miles when he gave way to Elliot. For selling a single cigarette to a child for a penny a Ctreytown Chinese shop assistant was lined £2 and costs (says a local paper). The Magistrate pointed out that it was an offence to sell cigarettes or tobacco to any child under 15 years of age, even though they were sent by their parents to purchase them. Costing nearly two and a-lialf millions of pounds, a barrage of the River Barberine in the Canton of Valais, in Switzerland, has recently been opened. It altitude is 6,000 ft., and the waterfall is a little higher than that of Niagara Falls. The purpose of this enterprise is the supply of electrical power for the Swiss railways. Interesting tigures regarding the growth of the telephone system in New Zealand were .quoted by the lion. A. D. McLeod, Minister of Lands, at the banquet tendered him at Whangarei on Friday evening by the Wjhangarei Chamber of Commerce. ( The number of exchanges in 1915 was 250. and in 1925 it was 340 The number of subscribers in 1915 was 31,475, in 1925 120,000. The miles of wire in 1915 totalled 50,000 and in 1925 they were 331,000. Annual subscriptions in 1915 totalled £303,000; in 1925 this amounted to £867,000. The percentage of telephones to population in 1915 was 4.9, and in 1925 8.7. Other countries’ percentages were: United States 13.1; Canada, 10.4; Australia 4.6; Great Britain, 2.3; South Africa 8.