NEWS IN BRIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15884, 3 April 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF

Guineas were last issued in England in 1813. France has a population of about 40 millions. There are 24 clubs exclusively for ladies in London. The game of lacrosse is of purely R<-rJ 1 Indian origin. The railway.* of Egypt exeeeed 1500 I miles in length. No fewer than 26 States comprise the ! German Empire. I King Alphonso of Spain is a general in I the British Army. I The range of the modern torpedo is j nearly 8000 yards. I Thee university boat iace was last abaui doned 59 years ago. * I One German mile is four times the 1 length of an English mile. ; Diamonds of pale yellow, pink, green, and blue are not uncommon. j India contains at least 29 cities with i populations exceeding 100,000. j Guinea pigs are descended from th< | wild cavies of South America.. i British yeomanry fori were rVst Inj stituted by Lord Chatham in 1761. I British naval and military forces In I Hongkong usually number 7000 men. The earliest record of any life insurance policy hears the date June 15, 1563. i Violet is the colour of the clothes of ) those who are in mourning in lurkey. ! Of the world's total of 45.000.000 tons of merchant ships, 20.000.000 are British, i For not placing a penny stamp on a . receipt for £2 and upwards the penalty ' is £10. '' Operations in no fewer than 58 courtI tries are carried out by the Salvation ■ Army. Last year the gold output of tha Transvaal was 8.378.1390z, valued at '_ £35,588,075. b Every month 3000 rats are destroyed . by workmen of the Port of London Sanitary Committee. The total strength of the army in India ; exceeds 350.000 men, and costs about 19i 3 millions annually. The Crown has the right to tall en i every male citizen to take up arms for . national defence. I Each cavalry horse in the British Army - carries 18 stone, allowing 10$ stone for the i weight of the rider. " Britain's Royal Army Medical Corps 1 draws upon the Army Service Corps lor ' its transport drivers. , In Hampshire, England, a profit exceeding £8 per acre has resulted front the cultivation of tobacco. if "Lac" is an Indian term, signifying f 100,000; thus, a lac of rupees is 100,000 t rupees, or about £6600. * India has a population of 314.000,000; & Canada, 7,000,000; and the Australian 1 Commonwealth, 4,500.000. " e Frankfort-on-the-Main saw the signing . of the treaty of peace after the FrancoCi Prussian war, on May 10, 1871. 9 I Representatives from 42 nations form * j the permanent court of arbitration for ini I ternational affairs at The Hague. a Within a period of 12 months, turniturei 5 to the value of nearly £1,000,000 has been ] exported from the United Kingdom, e More gold and silver is received in n. Great Britain from British. South Africa s- than from any other part of the world. " Coal to the value of £70,000,000, repr«- * senting 250,000,000 tons, is the average •> yearly output of the United Kingdom. The English language is spoken by ' 160,000,000 people; German by. 1 130,000,000; and French by 70,000,000. n- The Young Men's Christian Association to has a membership exceeding 1,100,000, as and branches in more than 40 countries. r ' Great Britain exports every year fishing *' tackle to the value of £500*000, about ?n half of it going to British overseas pos8r session*. a Prince Ranjitsinhji. now the Jam of 0 { Nawarangar and serving at the front, u, rules over 3791 square miles of territory 5r in India. i- Throughout the year 1914, 213.862,180 ie coins were struck at the Royal Mint, an ie increase of 28,425,419 on the total of the •d previous 12 months. f e f Internal arrangements at the Royal s palaces are in the hands of the Lord Steward ; external and ceremonial mat- '. ters are responsibilites of the Lord Chamberlain. ;e Ie Exports of British goods were lower bv ie £17,000.000 in December, 1914, totalling if only £26,300,000 for the month. Imports >a on the month, however, fell bv only ,! £3,600,000. " For bank messengers and others who 16 carry large sums of money in the streets s an inventor has designed a special hand- °, bag, in the handle of which a revolver 3 is concealed. Of the total staff of the Great Western ° Railway Company, 12 per cent., or 9358 j men, have joined the colours; from the u locomotive departments alone 4239 men } . have joined. if The United . States provides more than . r- half of the world's total production of i. copper, for of 873,460 tons used in a h recent year, 492,650 tons were produced it by the 'U.S.A. 8 At the New Year 40 per cent, of the "• weavers of north-east Lancashire, and 20 } " per cent, of the spinners in districts ad-. !8 joining Manchester, were numbered among y the unemployed. Aeronautics has been recognised as a branch of military instruction in the BriI tishl Army since 1879, when a balloon j school was started for the Royal Engineers at Chatham. r- A year ago 549,214 people attended the h matches for the first round proper for tho il English football cup; this year there were only 391.254 spectators tor the corresid ponding set of games. ?s Although the war has not been in prot>- gress six months, British life assurance e > offices have paid a quarter of a million a sterling to relatives of soldiers and sailorj - a s who have lost their lives. h Six and a-half million persons are employed in mining and quarrying at home s ' and* abroad, of. whom nearly one-fifth are '" employed in the United Kingdom and W more than one-third in the British Eml's Pi,e,lt Non-ocnunissioned officers and men who en have the Victoria Cross conferred upon iri them enjoy a pension of £10 a year; but •al at the option of the authorities the penb- sion may be increased to £50 a year in •t- cases of necessity. "7 A person who has not served as a stockbroker's clerk must pay an entrance fee st of 500gns to join the London Stock Exs' change, besides purchasing Mo. k1 v hunge 03 shares at present exceeding £500 in value l R and buying a nomination. '"" I There is now to be a st*. ml Jo" m ' unit tor the new army, quite part fiom ld I the 5000 Jews who have aJready joined. ?,? ! \ Jewish Recruiting Committee was '''I formed with the warm approval of tho War Office, who are willing to enrol Jews [" to be trained together at "A aa a unit of the Rifle Brigade. H -the Iron Cross, which has been so inn. Ii ~ in evidence during the present European •t conflict, is a Prussian military decoration. It owes its inception to Frederick William ,d 111., who, in 1813, bestowed it a- a ieea ward for eminent service in the war a . against Napoleon. The crass, wlu-h is of ■n the Maltese shape, is made of iron edged be with silver. to Mrs. W. Buller, who on the declaration k> of war volunteered to distribute "war ie literature" for the Government on her to motor -cycle, is now flying over the battleit field "somewhere in France. ' to spot ijiv a wounded soldiers overlooked by ambulance id search parties. Her acroolane, by special if permission, has painted on the wings, thej Red Cross of her mission.