NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9367, 25 November 1893, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The Admiralty have decided to spend £15,000 in dredging Plymouth Sound. The value of sponges exported from Trieste lasb year amounted to £176,757. Half a million lives are daily dependent upon the efficiency of iron and steel wire ropes. In th« Established Chnrck of Scotland the average income of the beneficed clergy is about £300 a year, with a manse. Ten years ago the quantity of sugar used in breweries in the United Kingdom was 1,126,353cwb; lasb year ib was 2,092,302 cwfc. There are in the United States about 240,000 known criminals, 80,000 of whom are now undergoing terms of penal servitude. The Norwegian Medical Congress will hold its meetings on a yacht cruising in the regions that the midnight) sun shines upon. Among the novel societies incorporated, in Europe recently is " The Society for the Protection of Non-Smokers," in Lower Austria. A water-drinking contesb was recently held in Paris. The winner swallowed twelve quarts; the second nine, and the third seven. Including the London police stationed ato the various dockyards in England, the strength of the Metropolitan Force is placed at about 15,000. In London lasb year the number of marj riages solemnised was 37,175. The propor- [ tion of persons married to the total population was 17*4 per 1000. Down to the present century a part of the marriage ceremoney in Hungary consisted in the groom giving the bride a kick to remind her of her subjection. The French revenue returns for September show a surplus of 1,691,500f over the estimates, and an increase of 6,501,800f over those for the same month last year. Travers College, near Windsor Castle, formerly the residence of the Naval Knights, has been converted into a choir school for the choristers of St. George's Chapel. Torpedo-boats belonging to the French fleet recently pub out from Marseilles to blow up the porpoises which are such a nuisance to Mediterranean fishermen. The epidemic of suicide does not seem to affect those engaged in the gloomy employment of mining, as there are fewer cases among miners than in any other class. The most powerful lighthouse light in the world has just been completed in the Cap de la Heve Lighthouse, near Havre. On a clear nighb it can be seen a distance of 130 miles. The French are building a new cruiser to be named the Catinab. The vessel will be 328 ft in length, 4000 tons displacement, 9000 horse-power, and is expected to steam 19 knots. A new line of steamers has started running from Rouen to Canada. Ib is the first time that steam communication has been established direct between France and the Dominion. It is asserted that the Pope has the bulk of the Pontifical funds invested in England, "in __banks and house property, and that his income arising therefrom amounts to nearly £5,000,000." The directors of the Commercial Gas Company of London have intimated that, unless anything unforeseen occurs, they will at Christmas reduce the price of gas 2d per 1000 cubic feet. Emigration from Spain to South American republics is assuming considerable proportions, owing to the extreme distress prevailing in the country, especially in the agricultural districts. The Queen Regent of Spain has decided to fulfil a heartfelt wish of her husband and establish a college in the Escurial, bearing her name, for the teaching and study of Christian sciences. The flags to be hoisted ab one time in signalling at sea never exceed four. Ib is an interesting arithmetical fact that with eighteen variously coloured flags, and never more than four ab a time, no fewer than 78,642 signals can be given. In India and other Oriental countries the profession of serpent-charming is said to be hereditary. The charmer possesses a power beyond that of other men of knowing when he is within close proximity to a concealed reptile. Two Mauritius stamps, one a penny, the other twopenny, dated 1847 and blue in colour, recently brought £340 each at auction. The reason is said to be that only two other stamps of this issue are known to be in existence, and both are in the British Museum.

The Navy Department ab Washington has ordered the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius to cruise off the Atlantic coasts, and to blow up the derelict vessels that are in the way of navigation. Fourteen such vessels are known of, most of them along the New Jersey coast. The School Board for Frankfort has decided that there shall be in connection with every public school a smaU garden with representative trees and bushes for the instruction of the children. A central " school-garden" is to be established from which all the others can be supplied. Poisonous snakes are so numerous in Venezuela that snake bite is almost as common there as in India. But there are fewer fatalities, for the natives have discovered that a plant known as the ocumilio, when powdered and applied to the wound, results in a cure in almost every case. Before men can obtain a license to drive cabs in London they are required to go through an examination at Scotland Yard. The examination extends to a knowledge of the chief thoroughfares, public buildings, and railway stations in and around London, and the most expeditious routes to and from' them.

In his hunting expeditions in India this year it is stated that the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este shot 2800 head of game, including almost every variety of animal and bird met with in that country. Amongst the large game are five elephants, one buffalo, 43 black bucks, 39 wild boar, 20 tigers, and 17 jackals. A colporteur was recently arrested in the Galata district, Turkey, for selling tho Epistle to the Galatians, on the ground that it was a seditious document. The Turkish authorities called for a certificate of the author's death to assure themselves that the document was not of recent, origin at least so it is recorded by a correspondent in that benighted part. Seventy-seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-four persons last year offered themselves for enlistment in the United Kingdom. Of these 25,071 were rejected as unfit for the army, 8599 failed to appear to be attested, and 116 were nob attested on account of " other causes." Thus of 77,874 persons who offered for enlistment only 44,088 actually enlisted.

The Forte, a fine cruiser of 4360 tons, 9000 horse-power, and mounting ten guns, will shortly be launched ab Chatham. Including the whole of her machinery and boilers, the vessel has been entirely constructed in Chatham Dockyard, the Forte being the first ship of war every portion of which has been manufactured at Chatham without resource to private engineering firms. A young man called lately on the principal of a girl's school at Brighton, and requested for the admission of his sister under special circumstances, which were that certain particular corsets which the pupil wore were never to be removed mghb or day as her mother desired her waist not to exceed 15 inches. He added thab money was no object. The principal, to her credib be it said, indignantly refused the pupil. A curious rumour has been discussed in I St. Petersburg to the effect thab the C zar I intends to disinherit the Cesarewibch in favour of his third son, bhe Grand Duke [ Michael, who is only 15 ye ars old, because i the Cesarewitch is of a weakly constitution. It turns oub thab bhe reporb is entirely unfounded, and originated with bhe peasants, who hold a belief thab there will never be another Czar Nicholas in Russia, there being an old prophecy to thab effecb. The oldesb part of thab ancient and grand structure, Worcester Cathedral, is a Norman crypb, of unique beauty, dating from 1090, supported by five rows of pillars. Only a few braces remain of the Norman church which was built upon ib ; bub the two westernmost bays of the nave mark ' the period of transition bo Early English, and were left when the rest of the building was remodelled. A round chapter-house, with a central pillar, datos from nboaUllO.,