A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 257, 27 July 1936, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Norfolk Island Trade

The Federal Government of Australia' intends to ask New Zealand to lift the embargo against Norfolk Island fruit and vegetables, the loss o.f the New Zealand trade having paralysed the industry. Norfolk Island, 1)30 miles from Sydney and 400 from Auckland, has a population of about ,1200. It is about five miles long anil three miles wide, and has an area of 8528 acres. A territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, it is administered by the Home Affairs Department, Canberra, through an Administrator and Chief Magistrate. Its main exports are bananas, oranges, passion fruit, kumeras, and potatoes. . The destination of the exports is Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, in that order. Strait of Gibraltar.

A fierce naval light is reported to be raging in the Strait of Gibraltar. This strait is a narrow channel between the south part of Spain and the north of Africa, forming the entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. Its width at the narrowest part is about nine miles; its length about 35 miles; the greatest depth about 6000 feet. Through the strait from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean runs a powerful current at the rate of from three to six miles an hour. Gibraltar.

Gibraltar Rock, which is being manned in view of the troubles in Spain, stands on a peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected with Spain by a low sandy isthmus one and. a half miles long and three-quarters of a mile broad, having the Bay of Gibraltar on the west and the open sea of the Mediterranean on the east The highest part of the rock is about 1400 feet above sea-level Its north face is almost perpendicular, while the east side is full of tremendous precipices. On its south side it is almost inaccessible, making approach from the seaward side impossible. The west side, again, although nearly as rugged and precipitous as the others, slopes toward the sea, and here the rock is secured by extensive and powerful batteries, rendering it apparently impregnable. The body of the rock consists of a kind of primary marble, running in strata of 30, 40 and 50 feet in thickness. The Bay of Gibraltar is semi-circular in form, about six miles in length and four and a half in breadth. It affords secure anchorage for the largest vessels, and the harbour of 260 acres can accommodate the Mediterranean Fleet. Between the British lines and the Spanish lines is a tract of neutral, uninhabited ground. Tarifa.

Bombs dropped from Spanish aeroplanes when flying off Tarifa exploded near a British destroyer. Tarifa, on the Strait of Gibraltar, and 21 miles south-west of Gibraltar, is the most southern point of Spain. The fortifications enclosing Tarifa, which were built by the Moors, still stand. But the real strength of the place lies in the rocky island, 700 by 600 yards, which projects into the sea, and on which is a fortress and a lighthouse. Tarifa derives its name from Tarif Ibn Malik, who landed there, and it afterward became a frontier key of great importance to the Moors. Fishing, growing oranges, cattle-raising and leather-making are the chief occupations of the people, . who number about 13,000. Toledo.

Madrid airmen are prohibited from bombing rebels in Toledo and Segovia because they occupy historic buildings which the Government does not wish to to harm. Toledo, once the capital of Spain, stands on a rocky site, 2400 feet above sea-level, 37 miles west of Madrid. Surrounded east, south and west by the River Tagus, which flows jin the shape of a horseshoe at this point, it is also encompassed by two walls, originally Roman, but repeatedly repaired and enlarged by the Goths, Moors and Spaniards. Toledo also has nine gates, some of which are fine specimens of Moorish architecture. The streets of the city are steep and tortuous. Growing as it were out of the rock, and commanding the western approach .of the city, rise the remains of a castle, built in 674. Toledo is full of churches of great age, interest, and beauty. There are also numerous examples extant of Roman and Moorish architecture. The famous toledo sword blades were of such fine temper, and so flexible, that they were sometimes sold curled up in boxes like the mainspring of a watch. The population is about 26,000. Tangier.

The Spanish rebels state that if the mutinous fleet is not allowed to use the bay as a fuelling and provisioning base, the town of Tangier will be bombed. Tangier, a seaport of Morocco, on a bay of the Strait of Morocco, 36 miles south-west of Gibraltar, is the diplomatic headquarters and the largest commercial city of Morocco. As the result of treaties and agreements in 1912 and 1923, the country of Morocco is divided into three zones, French, Spanish and Tangier zones. The Tangier zone is permanently neutralised and demilitarised, legislative power is invested in an international assembly of 27 members, and a committee of control has a right of veto and certain other powers. In 1928 a native gendarmerie was formed of 400 men, under a Spanish commanding officer and a French second-in-command. The area has an administrator, with assistant administrators for health, justice, finance, and so on. The area of the territory is 225 square miles, and there is a British colony of about 500 people. The revenue comes mainly from customs and consumption duties. Tangier has a population of about 60,000. Agriculture in Britain.

Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for Coordination of Defence, said in. the House of Commons ■ that conclusions were being reached that would ensure increased output by agriculture in Great Britain. Th e cultivated area of Great Britain is about 30,000,000 acres, but the area under crops in 1934 was less than 6,000,000 acres, land actually under plough having decreased steadily since 1921 when the area was about 7,500,000 acres. Great Britain imports about four-fifths of the breadstuffs and fruits she consumes, one-half the meat, eggs, and dairy products, and onethird the fish and vegetables. Britain each year absorbs approximately 20 per cent, of the world’s export of barley; 21 per cent, of sugar; 28 per cent, of oats; 32 percent, of wheat; 40 per cent, of eggs; 49 per cent, of cheese: 6-1 per cent, of condensed and evaporated milk: 66 per cent, of beef and veal; 67 per cent, of butter, .bacon, ham and pork; and 93 per cent of the world’s export of mutton and lamb.