NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20716, 8 November 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

New York is often called thd " Empire State "■ by Americans. The moon revolves round the earth in 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes. Shamrock derives, as a name, from Seamrag, the Gaelic for trefoil. Two million hire-purchase agreements are signed in Britain every year. The first kings in China were the Hia dynasty, founded in 2200 B.C. Italy is the only European country in which tho birth-rate is increasing;. Leonardo da Vinci, who lived from 1452 to 1519, experimented in flying. The " Assassins " were a religious order formed in Persia in tho 11th century. Bees suck more than 3,000,000 flowers in the gathering of one pound of honey. In fitting up one of tho present-day giant liners, 4000 mattresses are required* Tho St. Bernard is the heaviest dog. A good dog of the breed will weigh up to 15 stone. The old mark for London plate at Goldsmith's Hall was a leopard's head crowned. If it were a hollow sphere the sun could hold 1,000,000 globes as large as the earth. It is estimated that the sun raises 164 cubic miles of water from the world's oceans daily. Ten persons were killed every day on French roads in 1929, the daily toll o£ injured being 250. Oxford has four graduate colleges for women, but there are societies of women students in addition. Westminster Abbey was founded by Edward the Confessor' in 1065. The present building dates from 1269. Of Turkey's total population of 13,680,275, men are outnumbered by women by nearly half a million. Hymen, in classical mythology, was tho God of Marriage, the original meaning of the word being " bridal song." Britain's annual consumption of milk is 21 gallons per head of tho population. In America it is 56, and in Sweden 65. Deposits of diamond-bearing ground have been discovered' near Caia, on the Zambesi River, in Portuguese East Africa.

Kissing has now been banned in Russia by the Soviet authorities, even postal packets containing a warning against this habit.

The Amazons of classic times are said to-have cut off the right breast, so that each female warrior could shoot the arrow better.

A " heathen " was originally a dweller on the German heaths, the last localities in Germany to accept the Christian religion. Glasgow eats, more sweets and chocolates per head than any other city in the United Kingdom. London is a good second. The condor keeps its young in the nest longer than any other bird. Fully twelve months elapse before the young condor* can fly. London's force oi[ policewomen is to be doubled in strength. In 1925 the number was raised from 24 to 50; now it is to become 100.

The combustion of a pound of coal in . one minute produces a force equal to the work v of 300 horses during the same p&riocLof.time. Local authorities in England have decided that milestones are "no longer necessary on roads, So that no new onea are to be set up. Canaiy breeding is one of the important industries in Norwich, England, over 100,000 birds being sent out of the city every season. Deauville, the famous French pleasure resort, forbids all types of loud noises, such as drums, barking dogs and harsh automobile horns. Herr Emil Krebs, of the German Foreign Office in Berlin, who h&s died, aged 63, spoke 45 languages fluently and understood 20 more. A journalist whp reveals odd facts through the medium of daily newspapers, is said to receive the largest individual mail in the United States. If Rumania's new marriage laws come into force, husbands or wives who leave home will be liable to a fine and imprisonment with hard labour. / London is to spend £13,293,428 on education during the coming financial year; this is an increase of £212,532 above the figure for the present year. Newcastle-on-Tyne is one of England'! smokiest cities. "Approximately 900 tons of dust, ash and tar settle on every square mile in the city during a year. The amount paid nnder the Old Age Pensions Acts in Great Britain.for the year ended March last was £34,940.000. Women numbered 810,780, and men 563,253. Dwellings erected by the London County Council provide homes for over 189,000 persons. There were 44,889 , dwellings in use at the end of March. A man was rewarded with a bite in the arm after he had saved a dog from drowning at Eghaiu, and it was necessary for h.im to receive medical attention.

During May the number of passenger journeys on British railways, excluding season-ticket holders, showed a decrease of six per cent, compared with May last year. Germany's present population is 60,000,000; if the present drop in tha birth-rate continues, experts' state that tlvis figure will have fallen to 46,000,000 by 1975. A church built of beaver board, cardboard and paper on the boundary of an estate at Benoni, about 20 miles from Johannesburg is to be moved as it stands to another site. Raw food is the secret of long life, according to a Continental scientist, who claims that the normal span of years might easily become 140 instead of 70 if pcoplo ato all their food uncooked. The maximum rate cf interest deemed by the British law as reasonable for moneylenders to charge is 48 per- cent., but unlicensed moneylenders have been exposed as charging as. much as 180 per ' cent. Fourteen words, including " fetid," " entourage," " apparent," " humour,"* and "disputable," have caused the experts in English trouble. Nobody seems to ba sure of tho proper method of pronouncing them. American tourists aro a source of income to many countries. Last year lliev spent £56,800,000 in Canada, £32,000,000 in France, £10,000,000.in Germany, and £9,800,000 in the Cnited Kingdom. A famous firm of British parcel carriers still employ 1500 horses and, though they are changing slowly to motor-vans, they have adopted a policy of keeping the horses at work as long as tho drivers remain in service. Trade Union contributions in India are usually twopence per month. On corning to a city a man often has to " bribe " somebody to get hiiu a job, ana ha usually has to borrow this money at very high interest. From about 4000 B.C. to the beginning of this century the industrial metals in daily use were" copper, bronze, biwos, and iron or steel. When Stephensua twi]t his "Rocket" the only metals he \i#6d were cast and wrought iron and a smtfl amount of brass. In a modern locomotive, 55 different metals are used, AUCKLAND A A PUBLIC