NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16378, 4 November 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Xeeophagt means subsistence on a drv diet. J Water covers 72 per cent, of the surface of our earth. Oaks are more likely to be struck bv lightning than other trees. Three thousand German newspapers and periodicals have closed down. From forty to fifty turtles are killed for the annual banquet of London's Lord Mayor. It is said that the income of the Tsar of Russia works out at over £15 a minute. Eiderdown is one of the worst conductors of heat., hence its use as a bedcovering. A number of Portuguese civilian doctors have been appointed for work in French hospitals. Italy, following the British example will shortly publish a black list of suspected firms. With an 18ft telescope it is possible to see stars the light of which takes 2700 years to reach us. It is a mistake to speak of a "pink blancmange," for 'blancmange" reallv means " white-eat.' Between 40,000 and 50,000 Salvationists, including 9000 bandsmen, have joined the colours. General Bernhardi, the well-known German military writer, has been decorated with the Order of Merit. Lisbon municipal authorities have decided to call the new quarter in their* j city the English quarter. An official report states that in five years South Africa will be able to export a million boxes of oranges annually. A message from Perth, West Australia,! states that £16,000 for the repatriation of soldiers is to be raised by an amusement# tax. It is officially calculated that the amount of meat consumed per head in England, including "babies, is lOilb per month. 2 A curious by-effect of the war is a tremendous influx of coloured seamen into' Liverpool. Most of them appear to be* Senegalese. i There are strong indications of an early revival of the South African diamond in-' dustry, closed down since the beginning of the war. - Imitation ivory is obtained from th* nut of a kind of palm .which grows in South America. The recent elections held in Japan mark the first time in the history of that country that women have taken an active • part in politics. "• ' t ; />•. Borne police raided a secret" printing office, confiscating 50,000 leaflets advocating peace/ and arresting numerous revolutionary Socialists. ~ Sign or Gabriel© d'Annunzio has written several works on the war, dealing parti-, cularly with his experiences of the fighting in France and Italy., The Boston City, an Atlantic steamer of 4000 tons, was launched at Bristol to take the place of the New York City, sunk by a German submarine. Sovereigns were first issued in th« reip of Henry YUL They were cot i called: because the King in royal robes was represented on each coin. Supplementary Estimates include £20,000 for relief expeditions to rescue members of the Shackleton expedition from Elephant Island and; Boss Sea. -• Norway's merchant fleet hag.. been. in-. - creased during the war by 151 ships/witb* ; a. tonnage of 215,000; and ; this in spite of the great - losses* caused tby sub marine ly?; warfare. ■ r** ~ sg* > ' - - Jamaica has ; appealed ■ for a substantial preference for all u sugar produced 5 within, the Empire, 'and . for the *;stoppage -of •• sugar dumping from, enemy countries after the war. A South African report states ; that it has been found that the stalks of bananas • contain alkali in sufficient »quantities steC- : be treated for industrial purposes in the* NS making of salt of -potash. = ..V; : /i-" To take a single; transport and supply ■" column : by, rail, no ; fewer than four railway trains are needed, while a "park"?' 1 takes seven trains, and a divisional ammunition column ten trains .'£■ To prevent the fraudulent sale of foot- • * ' wear the Victorian: : Ministry is- introducing a Bill which will compel !: retailers to , " brand all hoots and shoes with an accurate description of the component. parts. :: 'vNearly a million and a-half hundredweights of bacon have been imported into .7 the Old Country this year' in excess oS the quantity Imported in 1914; yet thai - price of bacon has risen 33 per cent. Details of the new Canadian War Loan are announced. The amount of the loan ' is £25,000,000. It will be used in ' the ■'?''■ ■ form of five per cent, bonds, maturing on October 31, 1931. Tho jasue price is 97^. Inspired . statements .in Petrograd em- : . pnasisß • the fact that Russia could con- fi? tinue to lose men at the present rate for I another three years without incurring the slightest risk of running short of recruits.' 'i _ Mr. Flavelle, chairman of '* Canada's > V Imperial Munitions Board, appeals for curtailment of . holidays. ' Holiday-making •' during the hot weather "has resulted in; an _ acute shortage of shell-making mate* rial." - Owing to the scarcity and high price of rennet during the past cheese-making season, the British' Dairy Fanners' Associa- " tion offer their silver medal to any manufacturer whose rennet' shall satisfy the association's tests. . .• y/ ;f\ News comes from Canada that the ' order abolishing the kilt in Canadian *, Scottish regiments on the western front has been fully rescinded after a fortnight's, & . ; controversy. The proposed abolition was f defended on the ground of economy. -v> According to the " Haagsche Courani,"' the Hague police recently arrested a Dutchman at Rotterdam, who, while ostensibly advertising for business agents/-iir. was in reality seeking to employ men • far iu , espionage work in France and England. The tapestry, porcelain, and decorative furniture of the late General Clive, of Perrystone Court, Boss, Herefordshire, produced £8333 at Messrs. Christie's. -An oblong tapestry panel, Bft by, 15ft, signed s J. Morris, 1723, fetched 950 guineas, and ~ its companion 1900 guineas. X/v Russia's War Minister has issued a decree liberating -from military service the members of editorial staffs of Russian newspapers, on the ground that their work in "organising the whole country for tha vigorous prosecution of the war is of'* great national importance." A new Vote of Credit for £450,000,000 was discussed in the House of Commons, ■ when Mr. Lloyd George, reviewing' the military situation, said "there was no doubt that we. had simply to press on - with all our resources and with the material at our command, and victory was ours." At a meeting at Ottawa a resolution was passed advocating the building" of a national highway by the Federal Government after the war in order to give employment to returned soldiers, and urging the Dominion Government to formu- * late at once a comprehensive land policy, to attract returning soldiers for settlement in Canada. Sf A French, soldier has calculated the amount of soil that has been' moved in the f work of trench-making. . There are about 500 miles of first-line trenches stretching from - the North Sea to Switzerland. And there are five or six lines . of trenches upon each side. A total of , ten lines of trenches on the. two sides : * would give a length of about. 5000 s miles, and this has involved a task of J excavating twice as great as that of the Panama 'J Canal. And it has all been done by _ hand labour with military ; shovels, and much of it has been done under fire and by men who have to work ; While lying ca their chestsj | 5- ~. .■ B