NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The 1.900,000,000 inhabitants o! the earth are said to speak 3424 languages.

The word, which occurs oftenest in the Biblo is " and." It occurs 46,721 times..

Tattooing certain marks on the body is regarded in Burma as a Sure shield against being killed in warfare. Ponies used in playing polo in Britain usually cost from 100 to 6QP guineas each, tha record price being £4200." Over £2OOO has been raised in Shanghai for the relief of dependents of victims of the disaster to the submarine Poseidon.

A swordfish weighing over a hundred* weight, was lately found entangled in the nets of a smack fishing off Brighton, Eng-i land.

Britain's biggest mountain is Ben Nevis, 4406 ft. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is nearly seven times this height.

Mr. Frank S. Lahm, a veteran American balloonist—he made his first ascent in 1903 —died at his Paris home recently,aged 35.

Owners of parks in soma parts of Cheshire are being compelled to close them to the public owing to the damage done by " litter louts."

Britain expects her buildings to last too long, according to one expert, who holds that structures should have a maximum life of 50 years. In Canada, where the cost of a wireless receiving licence is only 4s a year, it is estimated that one person out of every 19 owns a wireless set.

The sound of a gun fired at Woolwich, England, was recently heard at Cardiff, a distance of 150 miles, by means of a scientific, instrument.

Periods of either excessively hot or dull weather are said to increase the number of cases of cruelty to children. These aro nofc affected by bad trade.

London's children are getting biggeiv The boys have increased ljin. in height and Ist. 121b. in weight, and the girls lin. and 91b. in the last 25 years. Motor horns are sounded 50,000 times louder than is necessary, and can be heard 10 miles away on a clear day, according to one American " noise " expert. For the twenty-third year in succession 700 men ,lnd women sat down in the Great Assembly Hall, Mile End Road, London, to a Christmas tea provided by the King. The Irish Free State have recently been buying more British-made tfiotor-cars than all the foreign countries in the world put together or all the other overseas dominions.

A canary is taken down a mine for the same reason that white mice are kept in submarines. They are susceptible to bad air, and they form a living test of its presence.

The passenger lift recently installed at the Hyde Park Hotel is capable of lifting 14 persons at a speed of 500 ft. a minute. It is probably the fastest elevator in the British Empire. A former English soldier has sent to Frau Rutz, widow of the late Burgomaster of Oberammergau, the iron cross her son had handed to him before he fell mortally wounded in the war. ,

Street accidents caused the death of 1398 persons and injury to 55,961 in Greater London in 1930. Eighty-seven per cent, of these accidents were due to want of forethought and alertness. Final lists of divorces in England in 1931 disclose that during the year 3800 decrees wer© made absolute. This is a record figure, being more than 600 in excess of the previous year. Old horseshoes usually had seven nail holes. From the earliest times seven was regarded as a lucky number, and anything which naturally had seven holes or spots was supposed to bring' good fortune. Hollywood was much stirred by a rumour that Eisenstein,-the film director of i Moscow, was to visit it. It turned out<s that the word was a mistake for and the flags were at once taken down. The French were once regarded as the world's best cooks. It was considered a hall-mark of wealth to have a French cook or chef who advertised his presence by writing the menu in his own language. Fully equipped as a surgery and a waiting room, and carrying a dentist and a nurse, a motor dental surgery car is now visiting the 11,000 children in the 90. schools under the Isle of Ely County Council.

Blotting-paper consists of tiny threads with thousands of openings between them., The ink rises in them by capillary attraction. In a smooth paper the tiny openings are filled up with glazing material. A boat measuring 30ft. by BFt., believed to belong to the same eposli as the galleys of the Roman Emperor Caligula, "which were salved earlier last year from Lake Nemi, has been found weighted''down to the bed of the lake by stones. Early rising, or rather waking, is the custom in most hospitals. Four London institutions rouse their patients between 4* and 4.30, 40 between 5 and 5.15, 22 between 5.30 and 5.45, eight between 6.50 and 6.45, and only six at 7 a.m. Experiments made by an American

doctor on prisoners; who volunteered for the work seem to disprove the old theory that black coffee keeps one awake, lie says that all the subjects tested slept more restfully after drinking black coffee. Artificial respiration in cases of gas poisoning, drowning, etc # , can now be done by machinery. The patient lies in an air-tight tank, with only his head protruding. The air is withdrawn and returned to the tank at regular intervals, thus inducing breathing. Every ton of coal disposable commercially raised in Great Britain during tlie quarter ended September 30, 1931, cost 14s, and was sold' for 13s lOd (according to a White Paper), 9s 4d a ton (a total of £21,203,106) going in wages and 6d a ton (or £1,172,003) in royalties. Small balloons, measuring about 4ft. in diameter and carrying feather-weight instruments, are used for " exploring " the upper atmosphere. , They show that the temperature remains nearly the same from a height of six miles to about 18 miles. Above that height is a band of very high temperature. When stamps were first introduced they were cancelled by a hand, die, and for convenience the convention was adopted of placing them at the top right corner. The post office has the power, though it is probably never exercised, of refusing to deliver a letter on which the stamp is not, properly placed. 4 Flexible glass that can bo rolled up without damaging it lias been invented by two young American scientists. It is piedieted that within a few years mirrors for dressing tables, handbags, and other commercial and scientific uses will be mado of this substance, which can be applied to almost any backing material.

Barbers were once surgeons and dentists as well as hairdressers. Bleeding .was a supposed remedy for most complaints, and as there were no anaesthetics the pole was provided for the patient to grasp when the incision was made. During the operation the arm was bandaged with tape, whit. 1 ! was criss-crossed round the pole when not in use.

A syndicate of Norwegian" business men is planning to buy tho old Cunard liner: Carmania (20,000 tons), at Oslo, and convert her into something between a board-ing-house and a block of flats, giving accommodation for about 200(3 people, at reasonable rents, during the present housing shortage. The price mentioned for tha liner is £28,000. ■