SINEWS OF WAR

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXV, Issue 3386, 23 November 1935, Page 3

SINEWS OF WAR

\ GENEROUS ABYSSINIANS A deputation of merchants l tp the Emperor of Abyssinia piled bags containing 85,000'silver thalers at his :feet. The Abyssinian coinage is the Maria Theresa dollar, or thaler, which is still minted! in Austria (at Vienna) for the people of the Orient. It is worth, nominally, two shillings, though .actually something less, the amount varying with the price of silver. It r is only since 1926, when the national Bank of Ethiopia was founded, that Abyssinia's finances have been run on sound financial lines. This bank, which was modelled on the Bank of England and is run with the help of English advisers, issued the first bank-

notes in the country. At first the experts thought that the attempt would prove* hopeless, as the natives would never give up their ' "birr"—silver. However, paper money was established in-Addis; Ababa arid it is even.pos-, sible to change it in Gondar and Harar without any considerable loss, but in the rest of the country it is not negotiable. Outside the towns nobody will accept bank-notes, and even the nickel coins of the Bank of Ethiopia are valueless. Various articles, however, are ' used as a medium of exchange. Bars of salt are accepted as money in many parts of the country, at a fluctuating rate according to supply and cost of transport. Cartridges are also currency, although to a diminishing extent; and in most places barter prevails.

Praise for Cambridge.—" What a charming little town Cambridge is. I would love to live there. It is 'a spot of England over again' with all the charm, the trees, the gardens, and the people of England. Nowhere in the world is life so full, so varied and lovable as in England, but in Cambridge I lived my English life over again, and it was good. The people I met had all the charm of

the English people, and for the two days I was there I was in an earthly paradise," writes a contributor in a recent issue of "The New Zealander'.'

. THE BANANA CROP

Two thirds of the banana crop in Jamaica has .(been 'destroyed by a hurricane. The banana is perhaps the most valuable food plant in the world. The fruit is very nourishing, whether eaten fresh or dried, and 4000 pounds of bananas will grow on the same space of ground that is required to produce 99 pounds of potatoes, or 33 pounds of wheat. The dried fruit, ground up, makes an excellent flour and a beverage is also made from the banana. The leaves are used to thatch houses and the fibre makes clothing, sacking and rope. The plant is often called "the maid of all work in the vegetable world." The stalk grows to a height of 20 or 30 feet, produces one big bunch of bananas, and then dies down. For distant markets, bananas are gathered green, and'are allowed to ripen after they have reached their destination.