NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19382, 17 July 1926, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Salmon, pike, and goldfish arc supposed never to sleep. Twentv-five prisons have been closed in Britain since 1914. Figures show that Britons are eating more bananas than ever. The average pressure of the atmosphere is 151bs. to the square inch. A novel is selected every year tor use in the examination for boy artificers and dockyard apprentices. A Scotsman is usually better at blending colours than an Englishman, according to a textile expert. A wind blowing at 76 miles an hour produces a pressure of 221b. per square foot on a tall building. Only two croquet lawns now exist in' tlia London parks. One is sit C'lissold. and the other at Beckham Bye. Railway lines are said to lengthen approximately 50 yards to 100 miles of lino in summer, owing to expansion. Although seventy years of age, Pr. Collier, of Burnley, is still an enthusiastic climber of the Cumberland mountains. Onlv three varieties of roses are natives of Britain. They are the dog rose, tho double Scotch rose, and the sweet brier. Built only sixty years ago, Langton House, a mansion in Berwickshire, was recently knocked down at auction for 15s. Rhododendrons brought from China aro so hardy that specimens have thrived at a height of 800!'t. above sea level in Corn- . wall. Motor-cars to tho number of 4,000.000 are now manufactured in America every year. Of these only about one-quarter aro exported. Street piano-organs are fitted with cylinders, each of which plays ten tunes and holds 4000 pins. These pins aro inserted by hand. Nine first-class honours award in tho Oxford Senior examinations were all won by pupils of tho Portsmouth Girls' Secondary SchoolIf a rate collector refuses io give up his books to the municipal authority employing him in Britain, he is liable to a fine of £SO. Continual discussion of their ailments among women at social gatherings is condemned by an expert in Britain as likely to develop nerve troubles. Hundreds of packets of plumage, including peacock's feathers and egret plumes, are seized every year by the British Customs officials as contraband. - Expensively dressed and provided with a feeding-bottle, a baby girl was placed in a motor-car left unattended for a short time in tho streets of Paulerspury. The average annual not cost of each prisoner to the British gaol is £6l 16a 7d. The number of receptions into the prisons during 1924-25 was 55,619. The Veddus, an almost extinct race of Ceylon, have two remarkablo characteristics. None of them has been known to laugh, and they seem unable to tell a lie. Unoccupied good-class houses, which were built in Britain before the War, may contain as much as £SO worth of lead. The result is an epidemic of lead-stealing. As red as a ruby, a wonderful diamond has been found in tho Kimberley mines. When cut, it will weigh about six carats, and should be worth anything up to £9OO.

Millions of starfish, estimated to weigh 232 tons and covering an area 500 yards long by five yards wide, recently "raided" shellfish beds off the East Coast of England.

Canada's Indians last year reaped over a million bushels of grain and bred 50,000 head of livestock on their farms. They occupy an area equal to the size of York* shire.

Tennis courts m the open spaces con* trolled by tho London County Council now number 721. There are also 320 cricket pitches, and nino putting greens for golfers. After a building has been scheduled in Britain as an " ancient monument," anyone removing part of it js liable to a fine of £IOO, or three months' imprisonment, or both. New homes -were found for 3280 lost dogs taken in by the Battersea Dogs' Home last year; 2037 were returned to their owners, and 28,565 were painlessly destroyed. During tho beating of the bounds at AbbotskerviJlc, revived after a century, a parish councillor fell into deep river water, and a woman spectator sprained her ankle.

Regarded m America's highest-salaried woman, Miss Craig Bacon, who has re- I cently visited London, is instructor in retail selling to the American Ministry of Commerce.

Appointed official story-teller by the Bradford Civic Authorities, Mrs. Bancroft told stories to 12,926 children last year in tho children's department"} of the city libraries. " The absent-mindedness of people who suddenly step in front of an approaching vehicle is responsible for many street accidents," says the Chief Constable of Carmarthenshire.

Mr. T. Dodd, of Wye, Kent, has won for the thirty-third year in succession the title of champion rhubarb grower in tho district. His prize-winning sticks this year were 53in. high and 4in. in circumference.

" Thp fear of death," " tho burden of unacknowledged and unconfessed sins," and " extraordinary nnexplainablo melani choly," are among six evils which, according to the Bishop of London, oppress tho human race.

An ostrich is worth more dead than alive. When the bird is killed every bit of it is used. The flesh is made into biltong, the skin is sold for fancy shoes, the feathers are made into dusters, and the bones are ground op for meal,

Constantinc, a little Cornish village, near Helston, claims to possess a larger number of septuagenarians, according to population, than anv other place. More than 170 of its inhabitants, or one in every nine, are seventy years of ago or more.

After crossing the line in the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Scotland, twentyseven young couples on board decided to cross the line into matrimony. This announcement was made when the liner reached Southampton after a 35,000 miles pleasure cruise. London's Lord Mayor receives an allowance of £10,375 for his year of office, as well as the use of the Mansion House as an official residence. In spite of this, holders of this high office are stated to have expended as much as £60,000 out of their own pockets. Main thoroughfares two hundred feet wide and garages to hold thousands of cars will be needed in London within the nest ten years, according to h motor trade expert. He says that within this period every Londoner will want to drive to work in his own motor-car. Selling " by candle " and " !>y watch " are old customs still observed in parts of Leicestershire. In the former ms_Unco bids are made while a that burning down, the winning bid being that made as the candle burns out. In th® case of the watch, bids are accepted dur ing three minutes. An extraordinary geranium, chris:jened " Pftnnermint BuIIYIW wm, exhibited in London recently. Thick velvety leaves give out a strong of while the flower itself of a colour, iias no scent at all. When tmfi plant is taken into a room people tmmediaLlv receive the impression that somebody is sucking " bull's-eyes, • _■ Jg£i,c