NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The population of London increases by] 70,000 annually.

There are nearly 6,000,000 acres of waste land in England which are capable of being cultivated.

No picture is hump; on the walls of the Louvre- in Paris until ten years after that death of the artist.

Three-tenths of the earnings of a Bel« gian convict are given to him on the ex* piration of his term of imprisonment.

A mine, now said to be exceedingly rich, was sold by its native African owner for a pair of trousers and a cricket cap.

An estimated gross weight of 25001b j>was taken in the three days' boat competition of the British Sea Anglers' Society at Deal.

During his twenty-three years' service the rate collector at Eye, Suffock, has never had to issue a single summons against a ratepayer.

A church organ has recently been made in Belgium which is composed entirely of paper, the pipes being rolls of cardboard. The sound is sweet and powerful. The King Edward VII. Galleries, the new wing of the British Museum, is now complete, and it is anticipated that the building will be opened to the public in May.

Nearly 80,000cwt. of cockles have been gathered during the season from the sandbanks in the Wash and consigned to tha big towns for consumption among the poorer classes.

The Witham cage at Essex, which was used for the detention of prisoners up to 80 years ago, is about to be demolished. It was built 500 years ago, and is in a fine state of preservation.

A robbery, in which a masked thief tied a. woman to a chair and then 6tole the contents of a pawnbrokers' safe, was reported recently from Hither Green. The man opened the safe and stole £24 in cash.

Lewes Grammar School, which has been a centre of education for 400 years, has been closed, the Education authorities declining to make it a State-aided schooL It was one of the oldest foundations in the, country.

Policemen in Maiden, Massachusetts, have been ordered to take tango lessons at the State's expend, not that they may dance it, but that they may recognise it when they see it being danced, and put into effect a new anti-tango law.

As a cask of port wine was being transferred from a lorry "in Drury Lane, Liverpool, the other day, it fell "into the roadway, and the ends of the cask being stove in, the contents, about tls gallons, ran along the gutter down the drain.

South Church Street elementary school, Cardiff, possesses a Rugby team which is something of a curiosity. Among its members are a Spaniard, a Scandinavian, as Arab, a West Indian, a West African, a Hebrew, a Chinese, and a Greek.

When Mrs. Josephine Kannuenisk, of Chicago, was attacked by a footpad recently, she drew a long hatpin from her hat and! stabbed him behind the ear; Blood poisoning developed from the wound, and the. footpad has just died in hospital

It was stated at a meeting of the York* shire National Farmers' Union at Doncaster, that there are close npon 400,000 fewer pigs in England than in 1912, owing to the regulations of the Board, of AgricuK fare. A resolution protesting against! the regulations was carried.

In Berlin the firemen wear water-jackets with a double skin, which they are able to fill with water from the hose. If the space between the layers becomes over-* filled the water escapes through a valve at the top of the helmet, and flows down over, the fireman like a cascade, protecting bins doubly. ._ , Si ~ _ ' ~..< . .,, „^..»'- . .; . A French" firm is offering to the- owners of woods cast-iron cylinders to put round! all their young trees 'to protect then* against hungry cattle. The "tree corsets" will be given free of charge to country municipal authorities in return! for the right to paint advertisements oa the corsets.

Exclusive of seamen, the number iii work-people reported as killed in the course of . their- employment daring Q;ctober was 706, an increase. of 442 on a month ago and of 422 on a year ago. The increase is accounted for by the loss of life owing to. an. explosion,- at the Seng-. henydd Colliery. y

The French police have arrested an old thief, known as " Father Noel," whenever entered a tobacconist's shop without taking at. least 20 cigars. He stole daily am average of 300 cigars of the best quality, and a woman who worked with him put them into boxes and sold them to restaur* ant-keepers at a greatly-reduced price.

At St. Peter's Church," Rowley, in tha East Riding, the west nave is m course of renovation, and when part of the root had been removed a store, of honey over a stone in weight was discovered below, the rafters. It was known that bees had been under the roof for J2O years, and it was necessary to kill the swarm before thai honey could be removed. ■ , ' . .'. Mr. John Ewin, of New York, is con* testing the will of his aunt, Mrs. Carolina Ewin, who died in April last, leaving £20,000 to rescue cats in all parts of the world—including London's deserted boasa cats and those in the island of Madeira..; In the latter place stray cats are so scarce that each,- under the will, would! receive about £200 sterlinig!

The latest thing in eccentric enter* tainments has been devisied by a banker,, who gaye a supper party at Philadelphia, when chattering monkeys mingled with tha guests, while talking parrots were perched! on the branches of real orange trees arranged round the room. During the evening the > monkeys distinguished themselves) by tearing up some priceless orchids.

_ The elaborate policy of 'insuiranca de< vised for .the airmen was described" an action between an insurance company and the French pilot Vedrines. For the loss of a lower limb, two-thirds of the amount payable on death is allowed' for the loss of an arm. half the amount; for permanent injury to the face, such as the loss of aa eye, a quarter and for the loss of a finger, a twentieth. ... Charged at Londonderry with travelling on the Anchor liner Columbia without paying his fare, Joseph Campbell ,a Tyrone man, explained that after he had. been drinking in New York he went aboard the Columbia and fell asleep, only waking up when the steamer had Mt port. It was stated that the eteeraga passengers took up a collection for bin., He was fined 20s. A new type of dog has just been dis-< covered. It is called golf retriever, and is to be found on. the Horsenden Hill golf course. He is one of the most familiar figures on the links,, and takes an almost human interest in the play. At the tee he stands like a sentinel. If his master foozles he barks disgustedly. If the shot is a good one, he goes after the ball as fast as he can, and stands on guard ovec the ball until his master comes along for his next shot.

The head keeper at Nuneham Park, the residence of the Bight Hon. Lewis Harcourt, has a fox terrier Which is mothering a duck. From the day it was hatched the duck has been under the constant care of the dog and they are always together.: The duck will not associate with or take any notice of the other ducks near the cot* tage, but it is always with the terriers. When the dogs bark at strangers the duck runs and quacks. It is now about fiva months old. ' '

The new French nickel coinage will soon be in circulation, and the bronze pieces will rapidly be withdrawn. What is to be done with all this bronze money? The French Minister for Finance and the officials of the mint are considering to wha% use these millions of coins could be put* They were manufactured© in great pari) from the material of discarded guns, .'but>', ! they cannot be utilised for making new" guns. It was thought :■ that the brows might be used for statuary, but it has ■ ; been found unsuitable owing-to the aflsm in bronze coins,. .■" '•.-.. ", T, .i".,