NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20496, 22 February 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Middles bo rough has the cheapest gas supply in England. The manuscript of " Home. Swept Home " is now in the library ol Congress at Washington.

There are only 411 unemployed in the x I whole of France, of whom 256 are meu and 125 women. For the first time F.R.C.S. examinations have been held outside London—at .Toronto, Canada. The traffic in Chelmsford was. lately held up for half an hour by a pet squirrel which had escaped. Fur farming is becoming a tremendous industry. In Canada alone it :s worth between £3,000,000 and £4,000,000 yearly. Scots in the Isle of Harris pickle' whaie flesh and send the meat to the' Congo. Japanese also eat large quantities of whale beef. 1

The receipts from beer duty in .Britain dux-ing the year ended March 31 last werec the lowest since the dutv was increased in 1920-21. A halibut, weighing 14st., and said to be the largest of the year, was recently landed at Scarborough, England, and was sold at £3. A postman at Dawlish, England, who has retired after mope than 40 years' service, estimates that he has walked 158,640 miles on his rounds. The Wood Green Council has been experimenting with a motor dust cart, with covers which automatically open when th'o dustman stands on a step. Imports of butter and cheese into England from foreign countries in 1923 decreased, whilst those from the" Empire showed a decided increase. It was an English chemist, "who -first used rubber as an eraser. But it was_ an American who made a fortune out of sticking a bit of indiarubber at one end of a pencil.

Arrangements have been made for the repatriation of 900 Swedes, descendants of a party who, in 1670, left Sweden and settled on ari island o2 the Esthonian coast.

A great decrease in church, membership was reported at the I. nited Methodist Conference at Halifax, England. " " There is a crisis in the church in this matter, it was said.

Bird life is decreeing in London, certain species, such as rooks and jackdaws, which formerly nested in tire heart oi Kensington, now finding it impossible to obtain food there. ■

People in certain isolated parts of Devonshire, England, are able to post their letters on a local bus, the letter bo:-: provided saving them long walks to the nearest post office box.

Small aeroplanes recently exhibited jit the London Aero Show, and costing £350 each, are capable of maintaining a speed of 85 miles an hour over long distances. They carry one man only. The Rev. F. J. Scroggie, who has accepted the pastorate of Devonshire Square Baptist Church, Stoke Newington, North England,, is a bank manager, and he intends to refciin his position. *

Southampton is a comparatively small seaport, with only four miles of quay, compared with 30 miles in London and 37 miles in Liverpool; yet it is the premier passenger port; of Britain.

Japanese girls arc now being permitted to proclaim the cjiarnis of . their persons and possessions over the wireless from the stations in Flowery Laud. They invite inquiries from possible husbands. , Gramophone records are to be used to

supply the M noises" necessary in wireess plavs. The new method is more ;ostiv than .the old, but it is regarded as jeing more realistic and satisfactory^ Twenty suits, eight overcoats, 12 liais. md 24 "pairs or* boots and shoes, with jther garments in proportion, are nec£s- ■ ;arv for the well-dressed man, aeccruing s :o American experts in male fashions. $ The arrest of two criminals in Pennsyl-j rania has revealed the fact that a correspondence school for burglary is iu existence in New York. Both men were taking " honours" in the i( safe-breaking" course. | Among the women engineers who attended a recent conference in London was • one who is employed in research work on motor gears, and another who is. sales manager for a large firm of tool dealers.

With its cover encrusted with diamonds and emeralds, a Bible recently offered fur - sale in London is stated to be the most „ costly in the world. It came from the Russian. Imperial Palace of Tsarskoye Selo.

Railway waiting rooms on certain sections of*the London and North-£osf£rn Railway are to be let out for. Use as banks, doctors' consulting rooms, " halls" for lectures, shops and even living- quarters.

Two English penny stamps, recently sold in London"for £l3, were Government "forgeries." They were part of a printed for young Royal collectors, including King Edward (then Prince" of Wales).

How to use the telephone is now one of the subjects taught in the • schools-of Lincoln. England. Eight telephones have beeu installed in the local senior schools for practice work between one and another.

King George's war record includes 451 inspections. £OO visits to munition-works, 320 hospital inspections, and the bestowal of 50.669 decorations. To carry out these and other duties, His Majesty travelled 50,000 miies.

Everv year something hue 15C0 people apply to the British Broadcasting Company at Savoy Ik-il aiaij,e for test auditions as singers or players on the piano, violin, or 'cello. Only about five per cent, prove satisfactory. British housewives are now paying much more attention to the quality of the food they buy than they did before the war. One proof of this is to be found in the increase of import.; of butter and the decrease of margarine. Teachers of ballroom dancing, in Berlin. have now decided that there will be only one new dance introduced each-year. Last year's novelty was the " Six Eight," consisting of a walk, chasse step, reverso turn,' and side step.

Alter the white coats for traffic police at night, there comes a novel suggestion from Paris, where a municipal councillor suggested to the Prefecture that phosphorescent, suits should be. supplied to police on night traffic control.

There is a special coroner attached to the Royal Household. The Houses of Parliament, as we, 11 as »!i other Roval palaces, come under his district; but it is many years since this official has been called upon to hold an inquest.

French chemists have discovered a new use for stray cats. They claim that catskins are a certain cure for rheumatism. Stray cats are skinned, and the fur is made into .1 -oft, warm pad for application in all cases of rheumatic nains.

The Hoy a! Society of British Sculptors has awarded its silver medal " foe the best work of the year by a British sculptor in any way exhibited to the public in „ London" to Mr. Charles L. Harwell, tor his " Goatherd's. Daughter"' in- bronze. The vicar of Chorley "Wood, England, sent an extraordinary Christmas letter to th» member* ot his congregation, in which he made a vigorous attack on bridge, as • being responsible for the breeding of a bitter, covetous spirit, .envy, jealousy, broken friendships, and divided families. The letter has created considerable controversy.