NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 6 April 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

London* has 283 miles of gas mains. Cleopatra's noodle weigh* 186 tons. The Jungfrau was first climbed in 1311. There are. 928,008 houses in Greater I.onion. Austria was the first country to use postpaid*. Taxation is least in China, highes' in France. Army officers in Germany are freed from the dog tax. The population per acre of the county of London is 61. Plymouth municipality possesses a theatre valued at £40.000. During December 14,075 tons of fish were sold at Billingsgate. Four million ."hells have been discoveied in an ounce of chalk. A ton of gold contains 29.166.66 ounces, and is worth £120.000European locomotive works turn out about 7000 new engines yearly. Bradford's Technical College is said to Im* the best in the kingdom. Chinese, coffins lire always waterproofed with a kind of resinous cement. Over £100 a week is spent in feeding the animals «it the London Zoo. The population of London in 1801 was 959,310; in 1901 it was 4,536,429. Londoners give on an average twenty-two shillings a year per head to charity. A year ago there were 2993 motor-cars owned in Loudon, and 1852 motor-cycles. The total cordage required for a firstrate man-of-war weighs about eighty tons. The President of the tiny Republic of Andorra receives a salary of only £3 a year. The gross amount paid to the ruling powers- of the world is estimated at £16,000,000 yearly. There are 527 distinct muscles in the human body, of which 8o are in the head and face. Ireland has 2,850,000 acres of boglnnd— that is. one-seventh of the, surface of the whole island. The largest salmon on record was a Bussiau tisli, which Von Siebald declares to have weighed 931b. The most valuable fisheries belong to the United estates, Great Britain, and Canada, in the order named. About two hundred oysters would bo required daily to supply sufficient nourishment for one person. The coronation-robe of the Empress of Russia is of fui. Though it weights but. 160z., it is worth £1200. Trial bv jury in England dales ti'om the reign of Etlielrcd I. In Spain there was no trial by jury until 1889. The first organ built in the eleventh century had keys five inches in width, which had to be struck with the fist. Hungary uses more charcoal than any other European country. Its aunual consumption is about 2,000,000 toilsThe first book in which cigars are mentioned is the " Distresses and Adventures of John Cockburn," published in 1740. The largest block of hewn granite is that which supports Peter the Great's statue in St. Petersburg. it weighs 1217 tons. Miss Millicent Fawcett, who in 1890 took place above the Senior Wrangler, was the first lady to become an electrical engineer. The sunniest part of the British Isles is the Channel Islands. There the sun whines four hours out of every ten it is above the horizon. Ex-Queen Margherita of Italy possesses a lace handkerchief which took the artists several years to make, and which is valued at £6000. In France visiting-cards arc largely used instead of Christmas-cards. But most of them are posted for New Year rather than Christmas. It is r common error that a deathwarrant has to be signed by the Sovereign. The sentence of the judge is the sheriff's only warrant. The old Dorset Gardens Theatre was the first in London to regularly employ women on the stage. Previously all parts were taken by men. .. ' i To lend money on apparel, etc., a pawnbroker must pay a yearly license of £7 10s; to lend money on gold and plate he must pay another £4 10s. The Algerian coral reel's are divided into ten portions, of which one only is fished yearly. Ten years is the time for the proper growth of coral. In Edward lll.'s reign a number of ladies, including Mary Countess of Norfolk, and the Countess of Ormond, were summoned by writ to Parliament. Longbeach Farm, near Ashburton, New Zealand, gives an average of 40 bushels of wheat to the acre, and has been called the best farm in the world. In all Scotland there are 52,000 fewer families than in London alone. But the average size of a Scotch family is greater than that of one in London. The Mexicans claim to have the finest harbour on the Pacific coast at Manzanillo. About 3,500,000 dollars (gold) bus been spent on it, and 2,500,000 dollars more is to b« spent in perfecting it. Wives and daughters are put to a curious use in some districts of India. If a man wants money he puts these members of his family in pawn, and his creditor detains them until the debt is discharged. Abyssinia is far ahead of Europe in the matter of woman's rights. The house with all its contents belongs to the wife, and if the husband offends her she turns him out until he is fully repentant and makes amends. An annual fair is held at Prague, at which 3,000,000 geese change hands. . The birds are driven in from the country, and that they may travel in comfort tar is applied to their feet to preserve them from injury on the road. In Belgium unmarried men over twentyfive have one vote, married men and widowers with families have two votes, a.nd priests and certain other persons have three votes. Severe penalties are imposed on those who fail to vote. i A very curious triumph has been achieved by a Korean gardener, namely, an armchair of natural growth—that is to say, formed of a vine which the gardener had |bent or twisted so as to produce a chair. jAfter the chair was fashioned in this way it, wax cut from the ground, dried, and polished until it resembled mahogany. | The roar of a lion carries farther than | the sound, of any other living creature. ■Next comes the cry of a hyena, and then the hoot of the owl: after these the panther and the jackal. The donkey can he heard fifty times farther than the horse and the I cat ten times farther than the dog. Strang© as it may seem, the cry of a hare can he ; heard at a greater distance than that of either the* cat or the dog. j As many as 8000 gallons of fresh water ;ar« used in a large battleship daily. About jtwo-thirds of this is taken up by the boilers, and the remainder is used for drinking, ;washing, cooking, etc. When the store !which she has taken out with her worn ;port has been used up, a vessel his to deipend upon her condensers for further supjplies. Every modern warship is fitted with evaporating machinery to di.-til the salt [sea water. An average well-educated person in Britain seldom uses more than about 4000 different words iu actual conversation. Accurate thinkers and close reasotiers employ |a larger stock, and eloquent speakers have at command about 10.000. _ Shakespere, iwho displayed a greater variety of expression than probably any writer in any langJuage, produced all his plays with about 15,000 words. Milton's works are built up 1 with 8000. and the Old Testament makes use of only 5642 words.