NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15298, 10 May 1913, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Washington is the largest negro city in . 'II the world. ; - ~ *1 1 ■ .;.'.."'.. jut / .'" Petworth,. in West Sussex, has a public- ; .';|| house with a picture show. ~ it* Among the ancient Persians murder S; not punishable for the first offence. ; ; .. |f Out; of the 11,000,000 natives of Egypt || only some 600,000 can read and write. ; ; || Gold output of Transvaal mines for. Feb. . || ruary amounted in .value to £3,118,352..,: || ' Taxes 'amounting to- over; £1,000,000 are ;j p collected every, week at Somerset House. M In the Falkland Islands, off; Capo . i Horn, there are five men to, every women. In Norway the average duration of Ufa ||| is greater than in any' country in the V... Eg J world. . '; ■ ~ . ~».." it i Steamers are, from a traveller's point _'| of view, 50 per cent, , safer than sailing ■;*& vessels.; . ' ' -* f| : : Used first for I the : purpose :of > raising || water, the treadmill is the invention of |t the Chinese. . ■ • H Nagging is the constant reiteration of 1 unpleasant truths, says Mr. Symmons,th© : ; §| Greenwich magistrate. . '.;.." || , Montreal has the largest flotumillsxirt | 9 the British Empire. It turns out 5000 I barrels of flour i * day. ./. .'. .fi , Plaster of Paris is so called from s having. f been obtained in .the: beginning from Mont- | [ martre, near Paris, France.:* * ■ ■'."-::■."£". ■ M In Switzerland '■ every citizen, whether ;gj he bo a householder or not, is entitled ;to -j!| a vote on attaining the age of 20,- : ■••'"-!:-- : -' ':-, , J • Until 60 years ago cocoa was taxed v:.;j| a patent medicine, and t could be sold only, Hi in packets ; with"a stamped wrapper. ;•■: };^- ;. rjg An elephant has so delicate a, sense Is smell that when in a wild state ;it;--caS ; ;';|B scent an enemy at a distance of 1000 yds.:; ;| , The hunger \ strike ;is " not original. -■; Iti ' ■ I was tried long ago by a i Frenchman named \ ij Granie, who fasted for 63 days:, before. -; j|. died. : ; ; .. - ■■;—,.- •' * '.••/•*- - : ,:i ; India has :.147 vernacular language*, . | the chief of which are 4 Hindi, .Bengali/ ;.;| Bihari, Marathi, Panjabi, Tamil, : and. Te.. ; j II • "Spick; and : span''-? is; a term'; derive* £J] '' from the stretching -of' -a new. pieces v |j 1 cloth on "■ spikes (hooks) ' and .; - spans ,\\ : (stretchers). , '■•■" ' "" ""J-~ .-|j -, '■>. The children in Chicago schools are .now ;'| asked to sign a bird' pledge^; in which '\ t '. they promise not. to rob .the nests or. wear|J| ) the plumage of birds. /"■'.; - , V ' •!j

;Glass bricks, a German- product,- are || translucent but not transparent, and-pos- ,| eess the advantages of being proof ana- "of ' ,-M harbouring no disease germs. >' '-;••";•" || Of the six million children', registered ■ 1 on the books of the public elementary, |1 schools of England and -Wales 10-percent, %|| suffer: from defective .hearing.' -, 1' ; |! It) has been suggested in": England that! ;' |! motor-care * should •' be' provided ; with cov; |l catchers, and ■ the suggestion is favourably Eg received outside of atutamobilfcckcl^ || The music sung in St. Peter's, at Rome, | > is entirely in manuscript:; No vocalist or « musician is permitted tQ.bave hls-parfc in, || his hand unless while he is per- M forming it. ;.".- ,;; ;""-". " : ."•". '■■'■~ : M ■An electric light that will be visible- kfi ■? 1 a distance of 48 miles is to be established y 'M at ; Cape •- Grisnez, '■- on' * the French- coast;p g| opposite Dover. It ;will be', of' 3,00Q,000« .g candle-power. ■-.•' .'," ''":."" r ;-.,;, §j V German subjects are vaccinated during hi the- first i few months "'".of'." life, * again '^on >■ m reaching; the age -; of .12 and'sH" males" a& 1 third : time on commencing their tefin *ot. £ [ compulsory v military service. _ V ,;."„-■ { ;|j ■On land alone Britons .have ,to end;.ai ■■:. i frontier that is quite .28,7,0Q .miles locgj I which is more than twice..the .length/of ,| that of France, and more than- three times v / 1 those of Germany^and.Eussia.." ' . f There . are about 80,000 contract :ticket- ' I holders on the North-Eastern Railway, and I the : company report that in one ; yearabout I 925/000';. cases of ;/ irregular .use- of' tickets | were ? discovered, involving £30,000'iar&ceipts. -" .; One hundred years ago in the,Xlnited States, when> church colloctions were taken, up they were deposited in a bag suspended to the end.of a pole. ..A bell was-at-tached to the pole to arouse sleepy - wori . 1 shippers./ ...:.';. 1 ...,;..,'..—.-" • Some of the Parisian theatres give gratuitous ; ; performances three "or ?. four times v? \ a year. ;; They are intended for poor people* and those who are first 'in line ; are usually,|l; at the doors hours before « ; the- house is ■.;'.. opened. '-' - '*,'.,'"*-;- ■.- The most ' curious- vegetable in. the world is the truffle, since it has,.neither roots, stem, flowers, leaves," inor seeds. - In some parts dogs ) and : pigs are; trained to dig: for it, the . animals being guided by their sense of smell. There ;is established in .' TurkeyXa-: Governmental agricultural - i bank 'J with 868' agencies, /: for j assisting "■;the farmers, usually on - the security ot : real property. The capital is 13,150,000 dollars, and'is ) supplied: by a light tax on agricultural V property. ■, The projected map. of <. the ; whole world % on ' a scale of one to one million/ or ■; about g one-sixteenth. 3 of '>'. an ' ; - inch •- to a.' : ; ; mile, will embrace 437 sheets, of which ■ 69 are reported to have been finished". On this map the United States will' have; a : length, g*j of 16ft. ■ __ -~ " I Baron Rothschild ; was .'£ named solert&j beneficiary under the will of a Nice miser, %U Abraham ; Fidler, .: who left him £110,000 \ on the principle that -"money-mnsfr-aeek ;<g j money." S The baron hunted the rela- ; tives of the departed and.gave each an ' equal share. ' :■'■ ".*'■ '-. .j 'It has been computed ? by. geographer*,: |i that:if the sea were emptieaot its-waters and' all the rivers of ' the : earth were ,to : pour their present floods into;. the vacant ?| space,» allowing 1 nothing i for • evaporation, 0 i 40,000 years would :be required to, bring , the water of the ocean up to its'present | level. ~ "",; ,-, .:,. ' ( The ordinary life of a. ship is given' | by a paper devoted -to?:shipbuilding 'as ' ,' follows In the United States, .18 years tf£ 'in France, 20 years; in: Hollandy 22 years j < in Germany, 25 years j in Great -Britain,.-V r 26 years; in ; Italy, 27 years'; and inNor- , way, 30 years.' . The annual death-fate of •;. the world s shipping is about: 4'pet: cent», and the birth-rate 5 percent. ' ,',- .•-,...'

■ The merits -of bones as •• indicators- or fair or foul weather . have been . vouched.. for by the captain of an Italian steamer.;; v carrying i a cargo of bones from the" South eg American port of Buenos Aires to New ; York. When the ship was sailing towards a storm recently, the skipper -stated,- the r';v bones 4 'creaked and moaned, . and when fail? " weather was ahead they were silent again. j. * Among the curious things that "arrest the traveller's attention oh arriving in"Mos- ;:; cow is the fact that drivers: of cabs, car-. V riages, and : all sorts ;of vehicles: do not carry whips. There is a - law prohibiting ■■ their , use. The excellent condition of - their ■ horses = attests the benefit of . this. humane law. Nowhere are ' there .'. sleeker and • better-groomed horses than those used in the carriages of Moscow. , . • JJ' There are 110 yacht clubs within ah. , hour's ride of . New York. "" Enrolled in theee f; clubs are, approximately, ' 10,000 members, of which about 4000 are: yachts :.l>. owners who delight in racing or ■ cruising - ' during the four months . devoted to the sport. The New York Yacht Club, tho premier yachting organisation .in the United ; States, has a membership of 2349, and has enrolled in its fleet 616 yachts, j.cwhich include , the most costly pleasure craft afloat. . ■ ; .jy. ■ The recent scenes in Belfast, V:borai§;bf|& political excitement, recall a story .of Lord Charles Bereford's illustrative of Ipast political manners in Ireland.'^ Lord Charles was ; contesting .Waterford^ih *74, when; -J an aged r elector expressed' dissatisfaction with the new | styled in* i gj " Shure, ye're no man," he said. " Tho | lasht time wan of yer family otud for . i the county it's up to me ankles I was in blood, and up to me brains in whisky ;