World News in Storv and Picture

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 307, 28 December 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

World News in Storv and Picture

ERUPTIONS AT NIUAFOOU. The craters of Hina and Ahofakatau on the island of Niuafoou were active again at the beginning of this month. The eruption was extended by a series of small craters about two miles long linking the two main volcanoes. The island of Niuafoou is really a volcanic crater, some 30 miles in circumference and reaches 000 feet at its highest point. The Hina crater is a quarter of a mile from the village of -Betani. Three miles from Ahofak'atau is the site of the village of F.utu, which was destroyed in the 1929 eruption. Beside Hina and Ahofakatau two intervening craters remain active. All four are throwing up flames 70 feet high and lava is flowing into the sea from an area of molten lava estimated at 1500 acres. Steam is rising from the sea upward of a mile out from the shore. The village of Betani aTid Togama ma o have been evacuated. There has been no loss of life. The population, except for a few Europeans, consists of 1200 Tongans. The island ]6 clothed with native bush interspersed with coconut plantations. Niuafoou is known to the world at "Tin Can Island." At Agaha, the main village, the mails are floated ashore in tin cans and collected by a native canoe.

1 THE LARGEST TELESCOPE. A new telescope mirror with, a diameter of 200 inches has just been manufactured at the Corning Glass Works, New York. Previously the largest, reflector was that of the telescope at the Solar Physics Observatory on Mount Wilson, California. It has a diameter of 100 inches. When Mount Wilson telescope was constructed, it was thought that a larger one could not be 'made'' owing to the expense and the difficulty in casting and accurately grinding to the correct curvature such an immense lense. As Californian atmospheric conditions are considered ideal for large telescopes, it will be necessary to build another observatory on one of the Rocky Mountain peaks adjacent to Mount Wilson, in order to house the new instrument. The cost of mounting and electrial equipment is estimated at £1,000,000.

Great powers are claimed for the new telescope. American aetromoners say that by this means it will be possible to photograph celestial bodies whose light, travelling at the

rate of 18,600 miles a second takes hundreds' of million of years to reach the earth. The number of stare in photographic range will be increased from 1,500,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 with the new' telescope.

A larger one is not likely to be built and the results from a greater increase in size would be proportionately less and the cost of construction would be too great. TRANSATLANTIC LINERS. America is' to make a bold attempt to capture the transatlantic passenger traffic. An American financier recently revealed to President Roosevelt his plans for the construction of two super-liners, far exceeding in size the Normandie or Queen Mary.

These liners would cost about 50,000,000 dollars each. They would have a length of 1250 ft, a beam of 144 ft, a displacement of about 100,000 tons and a cruising speed of 34 knots. For accommodation each ship would have 5000 identical state rooms or facilities for 10,000 passengers. The four-day passage to Europe would be at the unheard of maximum rate of 60 dollars.

Passengers would be able to obtain their food at restaurants and cafeterias at prices to suit their purses.

BRITAIN'S COTTON MILLS. The British. Government is considering measures for the assistance of the cotton industry. The Cotton Spinning Industry Bill, which has just been introduced into the House of Commons, provides for the establishment of a board to acquire unnecessary spinning plant and to borrow up to £2,000,000 for this purpose. A memorandum explains that the expense to the board will be met from the proceeds of a levy on the cotton industry. Millowners will be obliged to pay this levy to the board. Since the War the British cotton industry, which previously dominated the world's cotton markets, has suffered from depression. The chief rival in the cotton goods market is Japan. Labour is so much cheaper in Japan that Japanese manufacturers can undersell ,those of Great Britain even in the Home markets. THE "FLYING FLEA." Another small model aeroplane, piloted by S. V. Appleby, has flown the English Channel —the first Britishbuilt Flying. Flea. The journey from Lympne took 25 minutes, and the engine consumed less than two gallons of petrol. A similar 'plane, piloted by M. Bleriot, crossed earlier in the year from France in 37 minutes.