NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 39

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions 'or reply In oomlng Issue to to i» eeired not later than SATURDAY nignt.. QtMMtions will NOT be jeplied to thrau t i the post. '

-r -or w—(1) England, with a population (includiiig Monnxoixthshire) of 84,045,290 of which 16,421,298 were males, has contributed 4 530,000 men to the army t Wales, wUh a population of 2,025,202 (1,024,810 males), 230,000 men; . Scotland, with a population of 4,760,904 (2,308,839 males), 620 000 men; Ireland, with a population of '4,390,219 (2,192,048 males),, 170,000 men. - (2) So far as we are aware no return has been prepared or published showing the proportion pf Roman Catholics in the Mum Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. In a return showing the number of each denomination embarked on service up to and including the Twentyeighth Reinforcements the figures given are- Total embarked, 78,990; Church of England,. 35,777; Presbyterian, 18,316; Roman Catholic, 9721; Methodist, 4084; Wesleyan, 1441; Baptist, 978. There are 24 other denominations or sects given. Constant Reader. Orawia.—The census papers are filled up at convents / and nunneries just as in all other institutions. Taffy asks whether U thousand million is a billion, or how many figures there are in a billion—for instance, 1,000,000,000 or 1,000.000,000,000? In Britain a' billion is a million of millions—as many millions as there are units in a million (1,000,000,000,000): In France and the United States a billion is a thouasnd millions (1.000,000,000). In France billion is a contracted form from bi-million. It was introduced into French in the sixteenth century, in the sense of.o* million to the second power, as a trillion was a million to the third power. At that time numbers were usually pointed off in periods of six figures. In the seventeenth century the custom prevailed of pointing off numbers in periods of throe, and this led to the change in the meaning of the word billion in French. The Century Dictionary states that the words billion, trillion, etc., did not oorne into use apparentlv in English until a later date. The English use of the word is thus the original and ntfost systematic. The word biFion is not usetf in the French of everyday life, one thousand millions being cal'ed a milliard. Holiday-maker— Good Friday this year falls on the 29th of March. Subscriber.—lf the children of naturalised German parents are born in the British Dominions they are regarded as British subjects. -,;.

A. G., G-isbome. —The robbery of the escort gold and money from the gaol at Clyde took place on August 2, 1870. The value of the treasure was £12,448 18s. Rainy Day.—The injuring of the pen--■sioneT's furniture will not afre-yi her pension, nor will the fact that sh« has saved up £2O and desires to put it into the Savings Bank. Inqxtireb, Lunieden.—The personal effects of a soldier who has been killed or died are first sent to the Base Records Office in London, find then, in the case of a New Zealand soldier, are sent lo the Base Records Office. Wellington. If you have not received the effects exoected. write in the first instance to the Offi"er-in-Clinrge. Bas? Records. New Zealand Expcdilionary Force, Brandon street. Wellington ; and in the second instance to the quartermaster of the camp which yonr second son was in immediately prior to his sailing. Rio Kio.—lt has never been the custom to order a Cadet to parade at any training centre more than one hour's journey from his place of residence. The ren-ula.tion nnvs"a reasonable distance." and that is interpreted as an hour's journey. Regulation 450 provides that where a of undue hardship exists exemption/'from

training must be obtained from the magistrate; but he must give 14 days' notice to the officer commanding his unit.

Constant Reader wants to know if a man holding over 200 acres of a farm can also secure 200 or 300 acres of bush grazing right when other persons require grazing rights? If the first holding is sufficient off which to make a living the Land Board would decline to grant a transfer for the additional holding.

Daphne.—A mounted Territorial residing eight miles from a town centre must attend the weekly drill, unless he can prove to the satisfaction of the group commander or the commander of his unit that his attendance at drill is Interfering with an essential industry; then he may apply for leave.

Puzzled.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, replies: "I will reply as best I "can; but, if not to the point, I, would ask you to write again and fiend a rough sketch of the pipe-line, which I am not sure I can quite follow without a sketch, with rough lengths and sizes of pipes marked on it, with the positions of well, pump, and tank. I do not know how high above sea le/el you are, and would like you to tell me; also whether the height you say you lift is accurately stated, as if you lift 30ft perpendicularly from a well, and the water in that well sinks as you pump, that may easily account for your falling, as the suction may well get to be more than such a pump as you ' mention (especially if it is not in most perfect order) can lift. I have never heard as to whether the make of pumps you have are a 3 good as well-made ordinary forcepumps; but I should hot think they were for high lifts. They, are excellent usually, but I think you have' put too much on them. Is it not possible to place the pump lower down, eo as to have more to force and less to suck? From what yoii say, it would seem that the pipes, or some of them, n.re braised. Is that so? I think you might send a sketch showing or explaining these things, when I hope to be able to give you a better reply. Is your supposed crack or split supposed to be between the pump and the well, or between the tank and the pump? It would not much matter to yon unless it wer<j In" the suction pipe. You could try the smoke test in the suction pipe; but it may be merely in your having too much to lift, and no leak at all."