NEWS IN BRIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21698, 13 January 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF

Two pythons at the London Zoo have been fitted with glass eyes. Over 100,000 Americans got wedding rings for cigarette coupons in 1932. Local councils in Britain control the spending of some £333,000,000 a year. Of the 4000 official lifeguards on duty in England last summer, more than 1500 were women. Local government in Britain, which cost £ll per family before the war, now costs over £32. Typists are stated to make as many as 80,000 key-strokes during an ordinarily busy working day. With 250,000 people living in "slum" conditions, London s housing problem is tho worst in Britain. Old measures of beer were the firkin, equal to nine gallons, and the kilderkin, equal to eighteen gallons. ./ Sales of private motor-cars in Britain increased by 30 per cent in a recent period of eight months. Agriculture now finds employment for 715,000 people in Great Britain, an increase of 17,600 over 1932. Tho average family of tho professional and middle classes in Britain consists of just over two children. England's record hot day was in August, 1911, when the temperature in London touched 100 in the shade. In the square mile which holds the City of London there are 700 forest trees, with tho plane-tree most numerous.

Calm, sultry weather is disliked by herring fishermen, as those fish then swim too deep for the nets to catch them.

Tho oldest large building in the world is the " Step Pyramid," in Egypt, which is estimated to be 6000 years old.

A man's death through being bitten on a finger by a lamb was recently the subject of an inquest at Pontrilas, Hereford.

Britain is now supplying much more of its own egg needs, imports having decreased by half last year as compared with 1931.

An increased demand for weddingrings is regarded in many quarters in Britain as a sure sign of confidence in industrial recovery. Women teachers are in charge of 5745 classes for boys in Britain. About 250,000 boys over eight years of age are taught by women.

Men's hats range in size from 6J to Bi, the latter being the size of the headgear of a pre-war German Ambassador to Great Britain. Britain is said to have 8000 habitual criminals, of whom fully 2000 are stated to be of higher mental intelligence than the average man. It is estimated that 90 per cent, of Britain's total population are honest in their dealings with shopkeepers, and able to pay for what they order.

There are estimated to be some 150 lions in captivity in England. The London Zoo has twenty-three, while its full requirements are only twelve. Owing to experts differing as to what a bone is exactly, the number of bones in the human body, as given in different text-books varies from 206 to 270.

Seven teeth, five inches long and three inches wide, still remain in the skull of an hitherto unknown prehistoric animal reeentlv dug up in Portugal.

Of total population, one person in every ten is " or too sickly'| to be absorbed in" industry, according to the famous doctor, Lord Horder.

The host in Morocco never eats with his guests, but personally attends to the wants of those guests and superintends the servants who bring in the many dishes.

Although Britain's birth-rate, 16.6 per 1000 of the population, is lower than Germany's, which is 17.13, the average number of children in each English family is three.

Etiquette is becoming strict in some Chinese cities. Engaged couples may not walk arm-in-arm in Shanghai, while women are banned from ridi:ng bicycles in Canton. Germany is sending Britain fewer toys. In 1930 the imports of toys from that country were worth £2,212,000; in 1932 thev had fallen to little more than £750,000.

New Scotland Yard, London's police headquarters, was built 43 years ago, when the staff totalled 164. Now that this figure has risen to 690, there is not enough room to hold.them.

Dr. Alexander Cannon, author and scientist, claims to have invented a machine which, among other wonderful feats, will record unmistakably whether two" people are really "in love. Although one British firm, with 27 brickyards, is producing 5,000,000. bricks a day, there is such a shortage of bricks that it is holding up housebuilding in many parts of Great Britain. Royal Air Force cadets in training at Cramvell, England, cost £539 a year each, of which sum £75 is paid by the parents. Each cadet receives 7s a day, of which 4s is deducted for the mess.

Dona Celestina, who is 105 "Years old and lives in Colombia, United States, has just had three more added to her family of 843 descendants. She is able to repeat the names of every one of them. Miss Anna Manning, a court stenographer in Boston/ Massachusetts, claims a new kind of record. In ten years she has taken down some 60,000,000 words in court cases, and never once has there been a complaint that she made a mistake. With 21 children, at least "66 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, Mr. Hendon, of Wimbledon, Surrey, has had the biggest family in Britain. Ten children, 54 grandchildren and all the great-grandchildren are still living. The combined age of the family is 921 years. Family subsidies are now in force in many industries in Franco. Employers have to pay contributions to local funds which are distributed to workmen ao » cording to the size of their families, beginning with 7s 6d a month for one chile]. The father of four children may receive as much as 50s a month. In July, 16,274 new motor-cars were registered in Great Britain, as compared with 12,716 in July of the previous year. Motor-cycle registration, on the other hand, decreased from 6217 to 4590. The greatest increase in respect of motor-cars was in the 8 h.p. class, which numbered 2000 more than in the 1932 month. The world's largest collection of rare paper money, the "A von more" collection in London, comprises 40,000 bank notes issued by more than iOO countries during several centuries. It includes the note with the highest face value —five million trillion: marks —and the oldest note in the world—issued in China about 700 years ago. The title of Esquire was not recognised until the reign of Richard 11., and it was confined to the younger sons of peers and their eldest sons, the eldest sons of barons and knights, and a few others by virtue of the office they held. As a courtesy title it is accorded to barristers, bachelors of law, arts and divinity, consuls, and others.