NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18357, 24 March 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Omnibuses first ran in London in 1829. The Bank of .England originated in 1694. Muslin was first worn in England in 1670. In Belgium there is a. coalmine 3490 ft. deep. > There are over 9000 brass bands in the Salvation Army. The cotton-gin was the work of Eli Whitney, in 1793. The organ of sight is more developed in birds than in any animal. The best honey of Persia is collected from orange-groves at Kanyeroon. Orange-blossoms as a decoration for brides came to us from the Saracens. The progeny of a pair of rabbits, in ten years,, will number 70,000,000. Calico-printing was first executed by the Dutch in 1670 in England, in 1771. "Too much holiday is as bad as too little," says a well-known doctor. >' The most suitable sheet brass for making brass instruments comes from France. South Africa furnishes about 63 per cent, of the world's supply of indiarubber. There are about 30,000 bandsmen in the Salvation Army, none of whom are paid. ■ Women are said to be more particular customers in restaurants nowadays than men. The London Central Markets are the largest " dead meat" markets in the world. One million three hundred and thirty thousand persons have allotments in Great Britain. The bagpjpes, the favourite Scotch and Italian instrument, was invented in Greece, 200 B.C. The cost of distributing a ton of coal in London is 108 per cent, above prewar level. Infectious diseases are unknown in Greenland, on account of the dry, cold atmosphere. Aerial ambulances, to carry four stretcher cases and two attendants, have been built for the R.A.F. Jewellery and silverware are said to be one-third cheaper in England than they were two years ago. Monkeys are bred by a well-known , French Society woman to supply fur for trimming her dresses. Ripe blackberries were gathered in the middle of January a thousand feet above sea-level in North Wales. The average society woman in England spends about £10 a year on the preservation of her good looks. * Fresh water eels travel a distance equal to a-quarter of the earth's circumference, about 6000 miles, in their lives. During the war. Great Britain sent out to Mesopotamia 889,702 men, or one for every three of the inhabitants. ', The stars are divided into two great streams, moving in opposite directions, according to a Dutch astronomer. During the past year, the Thames Angling Preservation Society has placed m that river over 1,000,000 small fish. In Kentucky an ungovernable temper and religious differences are only two among 11 legal grounds for divorce. The greatest shops in tha world are to jbe found in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Toronto, according to a London expert. There are at least 1000 table-tennis clubs in England, and new ones are being formed at the rate of hundreds a month. For a finger-nail to reach its full length, i an average of seven-twelfths of an inch, from 121 to 130 days of growth are necessary. ~..;'■ ~_/ 'V-v ''■■; ''//'i* l.''"' In Great Britain there are 150 places claiming to be health resorts, which supply almost any variety of climate ; desired. . ~ ■'. ,:'..' -.■"'. '',-<"'■..''■■:■' ~,■ White stone is mostly used for London buildings, as it weathers best; coloured stones do not stand London conditions so ■',", well. ■ > , The floor of the , balkoora of one big London hotel rest's, upon 240 spiral steel springs, and is "tuned up" once in every 10 years. ' ' ■•■'■ '• '» • • ■;•••. \ ?'■w - r The largest photograph in the world, measuring 96ft. by 10ft., has just been completed in America. It cost less than £30 to produce. '■'' ;::i^i ' i] '.i-' } " : ''■ : ''': J -'' Unemployed people registered in Great Britain on. January 1 this year numbered! 1.485,800, which is 337,933 less than on January 1, 1922. >'.-.'^:^.^-", '..".:// /./,'.''{;?,';. A mole's home in the earth has always, four or five outlets. By means of one or',,.' the other the inmate.is always able to elude any danger. ' . i * •'*;„',', ■*„ The veterinary science was not* systematically studied until the < eighteenth century, although it is said to have originated V in 300 A.D., in Rome. ■>" ;"•'- ' ',*??;* '< Doctors in a West London suburb are suggesting a black list" of patients who go from one medical man to another instead of paying their accounts. , «•?v ; " Friends who have been kind to me" ' benefitted under the will of an American. ' The *heirs included waitresses, bootblacks,;" business men, lawyers, and doctors. f , Shoeblacks, once so common in London,' are gradually disappearing; there are now about 400 left of the 2000 who used , to earn a living by cleaning boots. 1 -! Passengers. who hire a certain taxicab in Nottingham will be. able to listen-in jj to broadcast cdncerts, as the owner has fitted , a wireless apparatus to his ; vehicle. i,v ' The Great Western Railway, in its new * amalgamation, has about 1500 stations and halts, and carries 170,000,000 passengers , and 60,000,000 tons of goods annually;v.. ( - Postmen in Ashford, Middlesex, receive a half-day holiday every Wednesday, and ; ' those of the public who expect letters ■ may have them by calling at the post Office.' '_ .-,.''■' jj ,y ;•. '~- ' -Jfliifyi Hippopotami, wolves, birds of prey,' bears, and even nightingales in the Lon- I '- don Zoo are among .the " friends" of a '•:'■ young lady who is a frequent 1 visitor there. , " '. ••'. ■• - •' "V" Combining the features of a public- ', house, a Continental cafe, restaurant, and club, a new type of inn is to be tried on the London County Council estate f at ■. ; Bellingham. *•' ' , "■' . >''" Darwen's new M.P. recently invited his f 30.000 constituents to tea with him at the House of Commons: as the constituency is 400 miles from London the offer was not largely accepted. ;'.,'• ,;.('. Extending 12 miles between Basingstoke and Alton, a -branch railway has not been used since its metal lines were requisitioned in 1916 for use in France.. llt has now been definitely closed. ~ A piece of string about Bft. long, with the ends tied together to. form a ; loop, is the favourite plaything of natives in =, many parts of Africa .with it they play -./ various forms of ."cat s cradle" games.; Touring the world on foot/ Captain Butler recently arrived in South » Africa. The whole journey will take him 12 years to complete. He left Canada in 1909, but the war interrupted his performance ;of the .feat.'; --sj : -y :; y-}k''l^- : M%^k'-Hymn-book collecting was the hobby of' the Rev. W. G. Horder, the r expert I on» : hymns, who died recently. He used to •< boast that he had a copy of every hymn- ;' book ever ' published; they - nearly filled a room in his house. A silver map of the world, exhibited iat ;j) the Royal Geographical Socjety,; is the best of four such maps !in existence. It is a thin circular * silver } plate, about three inches in diameter, f s and % commemorates Drake's voyage round the world, 1577-1580. One of Britain's biggest liners has been fitted with a system of pipes to : all } thecompartments of the cargo : holds;? the idea being' 1 that if £ anything catches fire and smoulders, {the; smoke :■ travels along the ■£ pipes and warns the officers on the bridge. V . • .■'■..'.: v. : . ; ""'.':■'.. :':."';'":''u ; f