NEWS IN A NUTSHELL

Taranaki Daily News, 28 April 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN A NUTSHELL

THE WORLD AT A GLANCE Jepson, the door porter at Manchester Grammar School, has completed his 50th year there, and it still going strong. A man and a girl in New York made a kiss last 182 minutes in a kissing contest. In Puerto Rico it is customary to keep new-born babies indoors for the first 40 days. The average time taken for a telephone operator to answer ~is about five seconds, while the called subscriber takes about 36 seconds. The railway bug is a tropical insect, so called because of a red light at its head, another at its tail, and a row of green lines down each side of | its body.

“The average pulse rate nowadays is getting a little faster than it used to be,” said a London police surgeon recently.

Near Broen Hill, in Northern Rhodesia, is a village of “White Kaffirs.” These natives, or albinos, have red hair of a woolly texture, their skin is. white, and they have pink eyes. A law has been passed in Smyrna that every male citizen up to the age of 60 must bring to the Town Hall each month one crow, “dead or, alive,” or suffer 'a fine.

The cost of a Disney Mickey Mouse cartoon is considerably higher than the average, and, while it seldom contains more than 700 feet,"it requires as many as ■ 15,000 separate' drawings. H.M.S. which recently, ran aground at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour, carries- nine sixteen-inch ■ guns, and has a crew of 1358 meh and over 100 officers. •

While Scots have a strong pride in their race and country, they neither hate nor fear any other nation, according to Colonel Reitz, a Boer who commanded a Scottish battalion during the war. \

Complete suits of cards were dealt twice in one evening at a whist drive in Glasgow. The chances against this happening once are mathematically calculated at 196,729,347 to 1. Up to the time of; the Reformation, Christian churches throughout Europe were considered too sacred for weddings, and these ceremonies had to ■be performed outside the front door.

Sleeplessness is cured by the patient staring at a specially selected diagram hung on the wall of - his. room, according to the system invented by a Continental specialist. . ' ~

The smallest stamp in the world, the 1863 • Bolivia 10-cent green, is half an inch long and one-third of an inch wide. A specimen was sold in London the other day for four guineas.

Since the year 500 B.C. the world has seen 902 big wars, in 185 of which France has been involved. Next come Britain, with 176; Russia, with 151; and Austria, with 131.

Catering is a big job at Broadcasting House, London, the headquarters of the 8.8. C., where 500 lunches and 700 teas, apart from odd refreshments, are served every day. - No- alcoholic drinks are supplied. . 'r. ... ' \

Nearly half the vacancies in the last British examination for the Adminstratie Class of ithe Civil Service were won by boys who obtained' University scholarships from elementary or secondary schools. • - • ■ ■ ■ ‘

A census of India’s trades reveals the existence of averters of hailstorms, pourers of water on L gods, sellers of grasshopers, charity receivers on burial grounds, cradle swingers,, and professional identifiers of witnesses. Members of Parliament in Great Britain now pay a .“levy” of one penny on all meals, except teas, served in the members’ and strangers’ dining-rooms. The money is to go towards a pensions fund for the staff of the refreshment department.

The Canadian Government has set aside for the birds another sanctuary at Aero Lake, near- Moncton, .New Brunswick. It covers nearly 200 acres, and will serve the thousands of water-fowl visiting Aero Lake during the migration season. ‘ r

Curates in the dioceses. of London, Southwark, and Chelmsford will, on ordination as priests, receive a minimum salary of £2lO, which, after one year’s ministry, can rise to a maximum of £240, with allowances to married men fpr house rent and children. One of the oldest Court appointments is that of Coroner of the Royal Palaces. With a jury of twelve Royal servants, he holds inquiries into all causes of sudden death in the Royal residences. The appointment dates back to the time of Edward I. •‘

Up in a high pass of the Peruvian Andes stands a monument to one of man’s most incredible experiments. It consists of two towers, built on opposite hills, between which, centuries ago, a primitive tribe hung a gigantic net—and tried to catch the sun.

Wireless doctors are now maintained by the Department of Health, Ottawa, to deal with illness in the remote settlements of the North-West. As soon as a call for assistance comes through, a doctor goes to the microphone and prescribes.

In Epping Upland (Eng.), four months ago, George Poole rounded a comer on his motor-cycle, collided with a lorry, and had his arm' broken. Some weeks ago George Poole rounded the same corner on the same motor-cycle, collided with the same lorry, and had the same arm broken.