NEWS IN BRIEF.

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1917, Page 8

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Nearly 3000 people perished, in the great lire of London in 1656, In Liverpool recently 4111crican cotton reached Is per lb.—a record.

Blackberries were eaten by the ancient Creeks as a pretentative of gout

The past season lias been the best Norwegian fishermen ever had Protests against Cermaii music led to the stoppage ol a concert 111 Koine. -Letters written by Lord Kitchener to Sir I'.veiyn Wood Uuring the recunquest of the Soudan are to tie sold for the Led Cross funds,

- Bonds to the value of £4.0,000 wero , discovered in.a cash-box in a trench on \ the Soinmo by Private Battala, the son of a Bordeaux contractor, and *[our - comrades, tlieir captain rinding amuijg tlie papers a will bequeathing, £4IBO to whoever recovered tue cash-nox. i According to ojlieial liguros publish- , ed a year age, there were o'/,OOU pohec-nn.-n "in Kngiand. Ui ihns total i5,60U ' were with tue colours. 'J wo million tickets are issued'daily ' on LonOon omnibuses. Un some routes i there are twenty-six diltereiu tickets, . with a total of fcOQ fare sections, The rapid, growth of vegetation in ! Polar regions, despite the nnef suiu--1 mersj is "attributed to the strength of

the electric currents in the atmosphere. There are plenty of Inuuelmaims, if not sunei'-Lminelmaniis, in the Koyal Flying'Corps, fc'ligljf-Lieulesiaiil Hell, who luis got the i'.iS.t), as well as the

Military Cross, is reported fo Inwe brought down twenty-two enemy machines and fought eighty-fourlights in the an', on one occasion against lour L i ir : '.niy machines. This here is nineteen year.- old. The bhiglish-built Japanese steamer Kairuku Mam. of 5009 tons gross, built in 1302. Ims been sold for fcl£o.000. Nine vears ago she was bought for £OOOO. I'll to the present more than a hundred foreign spio* have been expelled from Switzerland, and seven fresh espionage rase.- will shortly be tried ill the S-.viss courts, With the object of encouraging British composers in the practice of their

.■irt, Llie Carnegie United Kingdom 'Trustees have adopted a scheme r.i prizes for musical competition. According'to the latest return issued by the Assessment Committee of the Corporation, the gross ratable valiie of the Citv of Condon is £6.955-642. and the ratable value £5.860.262. _ Wolfram deposits of a promising character, both in quantity and quality, are now heiiit» worked experimentally near the hanks of tlie Miramichi itivev in New 1 Brunswick. The American Consulate has been informed by the owner of the property that preliminary operations have resulted in the discovery of three veins, and that one of these, twenty-six inches thick, is now undergoing active development. General Carranza has prohibited hull-fightirj.; in Mexico. In his decree he says that the Government is under an obligation to stamp out customs which are opposed to culture, and to

aid civilisation by elevating the moral level of the citizens. The Roval Familv of Sweden, like Close of England. Spain and Germany. is inclined to run to boys. Prince Kail Anton. Arthur, the' Cuke <d Connaught's newest, grandchild, is the fourth boy in a nnrseVv of five, and neither his father nor his grandfather was lilrssed with a sister. In Hawaii grows the world's rarest plant, called the silver sword. Its very name is odd and appropriate to the ca'cj;us-like growth and the long, silky grev leaves which give it its peculiar name. 'J'ho reason for its rarity is that it is found only on the most inaccessible slopes of the volcanoes of this group of islands. .Members of ail branches of the prison service in Great Britain are to benefit by the waj b muses which have been given to the whole of the Civil Service. Warders and other prison olticials earning, up to £2 per week will receive a bonus of 4s a week, Wliile those whose waj.es are between £2 and £3 a. week will be given a bonus of 3s a week. There is said to be a scissors famine in America, l-'oimerly they were largely imported from German's. Now tnat business, with Germany is entirely shut off, the native supply must be relied m. since Cliglanil, tlie only other availible source of production, has none to In ••Smne Notes on Marriage," by A'. L. George in the "Atlantic Mouthv," the wilt \ aut lior inent ions a few

'■thir.g* in bo d"V" in i-nh' t<> make ;i 111.11 I lago H!'Vo>;-j ii I. ( >Ue In :■ -"< hico ii (i;i\ «,iiv i- 1 ii wile, I 1"\' Y you.' Tn a. liiisluiitl.' 'Jluw strung you are " "JI"W clever you lire !' for everybody believes that." Another injunction, is:—"Do iH>t unen each otiier's letters. . . . Ana trv. nut 1.0 look liberal if yuu don't even

fiance at the address oil the postmark." A war record to be proud of is that of Mr. and Mrs. Mylos Kennedy, of Stone Cross, Diversion, who have over liny relatives and family connections lighting on land and sea, and one a prisoner of war in Norway. Until quite recently the family luck remained unbroken,' but a few weeks ago Mr. Kennedy's youngest brother died of wounds, a prisoner in Germany, and subsequently a nephew of Mrs. Kennedy has died of wounds. " .Miss Marie Lloyd, the famous musichall star, says her first-engagement at Drury Lane Theatre was ottered to her

very earlv in her career by the late Sir Augustus Harris, who was ever on the look-out for new talent. "I want you," he said, "to sign a contract with ine to appear at Drury Lane." At that time Drury Lane, being a royal theatre was guarded by soldiers every evening. ' "Drury Lane?" replied Marie." "Do you mean the Middlesex Music Hall?" "No." snapped Harris; "1 mean Drury Lane Theatre." "Whereabouts is it?"'was Miss Lloyd's next query. "Good gracious!" exclaimed the now thoroughly bewildered Harris. "Why, at the top of the lane. The big building with the soldiers and the sentry boxes outside." "Oh, is that a theatre?" said Marie. "I always took it to be a-barracks!"