NEWS IN BRIER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16372, 28 October 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIER

Absolutely pure water is not faJbo found in nature. * The Greeks are supposed to be tlio best bargainers in the world. In Turkey tho ago limit fop mobilisation has been raised to 56. Children are not allowed out in the streets of Norway after dark. American cotton provides five-eighth? of tho whole of tho world's crop. In Fishguard, South Wales, milk is now being sold at 3d per quart. A maid of honour is entitled to 8. dowry of £1000 on her marriage. Greeks are specially skilful vin embroidering in silk, gold, and silver, Signor Marconi has been appointed a temporary captain in tho Italian Navy, "Civilians have no rights against military expediency." is tho German maxim. Snow is the condensed vapour of tho air frozen and precipitated to tho earth. The water of a river in winter is several degrees warmer than tho outside air. The chief artificer engineer on a man-of-war receives from £210 to £246 a year. Early marriages are common in Greece, and pride is taken in a large family. Tho colour magneta is named from a battle which was fought in the year of its discovery. There, are 80.000 armed Germans in Brazil, according to a German agent in Rio do Janeiro. Ice contains latent heat. It will absorb 140 degres of heat when melted over a fire or by tho son. Five new French dreadnoughts hate been completed and placed in commission since the outbreak of tho war. English Cheddar cheese, which used to be per lb dearer than Canadian cheese, is now only dearer. Millions of pounds' worth of loot from surrendered towns have been transported to Berlin and found eager purchasers. Wounded soldiers aro to be trained in watch and clock repairing at the Horological Institute in Northampton Square. A " dumb." soldier in hospital in Rouen recovered his speech in his excitement over a game of cards with a comrade. Elephants travel from three to four miles an hour, and cannot cover more than fifteen or twenty miles a day with comfort. A steamer built in Japan for delivery in November at a contract price of about £100,000 has just been resold for £375,000. Harvoyed steel has made tho lot of the ship preserver lighter. Six inches of it resist a shell as did eighteen inches of wroupht steel. For a cargo steamer to be delivered in eighteen months as much as £50 a ton is being paid, as against £7 or £8 a ton beforo the war. The War Savings Association in connection with one large London firm embraces the entire clerical staff, the lift girl, and the charwoman. The Sunsot Club, for women of "sixty or over, or approaching that age." has been founded in New York, with 130 members already enrolled. Civilians suspected of being possessed of information that may prove useful against their country are shot by tho Germans if they refuse to reveal it. Seventy-six out of eighty-seven cases of typhoid fever which occurred in a recent outbreak have been traced by tho United States Public Health Service to infected milk. A cat sees in tho dark mostly by its whiskers, said Mr. .7. Erskine Murray recently, in an address at tho Society of Arts on " Waves, Vibrations, and Resonance." Fifinella, the Red Cross donkey, was sold again at Liverpool on Tuesday for £1765 on behalf of the Red Cross funds. On the first occasion, in London, the animal fetched £230. • Some hint of how dangerous it is j'ist to live in these dizzy days is suggested by the fact that no fewer than 22,540 persons were killed or hurt last year on the streets of New York. A new world's record in wireless telegraphy was established when the American steamer Ventura recently picked up a wireless message from Tuckerton, N.J., when 9000 miles distant from that point. An ostrich feather, if held upright, will be seen to bo perfectly oqual on both sides, the stem dividing it exactly in the centre. In othor feathers the stems are found to be more op less on one side. In view of the war, India made special efforts to increase its 1915-16 rice crop. The final figure sshow 32,877,000 tons, an increase of 21 per cent, over tho year before, and the largest crop that India ever raised. The Swedes are probably the tallest ' people in Europe, and have, on the whole, erect handsome figures. To some extent this advantage is duo to physical exercise, which is compulsory in the elcmontary schools. The Military Cross, our latest decoration for heroic soldiers, is made of silver, with the Imperial Crown on each arm, and the letters " G.R.1." in the centre. The cross bangs from a white ribbon with a purple stripe. Eagles have been noticed flying at a height of 6000 ft, and storks and buzzards at 2000 ft. A lark will rise to (be came height, and so will crows. As a rule, however, birds do not fly at a greater height than 1000 ft, Doraenico Piazzo. tho oldest of the redierseyed heroes left in England, who fought side by side with Garibaldi, died at the age of 73 in penury, with only a stricken wife and a little pet dog to console him in his declining days. Dr Oscar Riddle, of the Carnegie Institute, has found that by dosing hens with urotropin, eggs are- automatically preserved. The urotropin is deposited in the egg, where it changes into formalin, a preservative that prevents decay. A warning to persons wearing neck furs has been issued by the West Virginia Department of Health. An investigation by this department revealed that arsenic used in the preparation of these furs causes a rash-like disorder of the skin. An Oakland (California) tramcar company has installed a second conductor on one" of its cars, whoso duty it will be to answer questions, help women on and off, amuse crying babies, and make himself as useful and obliging to the travelling public as possible. An Italian medical journal, in discussing this subject, says if a drop of ether is instilled into tie conjunctival sac of one eye, if life is present there will b» a reddening of the surface of the eye, providing that the circulation is intact, otherwise there is no result. Renaud, the well-known French baritone, has been made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Renaud, although 52, and free from military duty, enlisted as a private, and has won each grade in active service, until ho is now an officer. When his regiment is' resting Renaud passes all the time ha can in the nearest field hospitals singing to his wounded brothers in arms. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of Now York has given to the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, a gift "' £25,000 to prove that tuberculosis can be controlled like any other infectious disease. A town or city of about oUW inhabitants will bo chosen and a campaign started in it. If it can-be shown that the disease can bo eradicated mm* community, a nation-wide, campaign, Will * .b* iswsirftted,