HERE AND THERE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 219, 15 September 1928, Page 14 (Supplement)

HERE AND THERE

ITEMS FROM THE WORLD’S PRESS The British Museum has paid as much as £315 for a Shakespeare autograph. Bozeat. Northants, with a population of 1100, has 250 residents named Drage. An acre of good fishing will yield more food in a week than an acre of the best .land will yield in a year. Diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies and other precious stones are always much colder than their imitations. British employers are anticipating a growing shortage of juvenile labour during the next few years, the lowest point being reached in 1933. The House of Lords may transact certain business when there are only three members present, not necessarily including the Lord Chancellor. Only British motor-cars will be used by the Royal party during the Prince of Wales’ tour in East Africa. This is by the Prince’s own wish. When Queen Victoria came to the throne, in 1837, there were 1600 boys under sixteen years of age waiting transportation abroad for petty crimes. In a month a caterpillar will devour 6000 times its own weight in food. Lt will take a man three months before ho eats food equal to his own weight. Travelling on a shilling all-day ticket, a Londoner recently rode on the London County Council trams from 8.40 a.m. to 7.47 p.m., covering a total of 110 miles. In the thirteenth century it was possible to buy a dozen eggs or a hen for 3d; 81b. of beef or a rabbit for 6d; and a dozen pigeons or a goose for 9d. When frightened, rabbits stamp several times on the ground with their hind feet, making a sound which can be heard a long way off. This is a danger-signal to their fellow-rabbits, who scamper off to safety. No fewer than 350 donkeys of all ages and sizes have been licensed to ply for hire on the sands o>f Blackpool, a popular English seaside resort, this summer. This number, believed to be the largest at any seaside resort in the country, is divided among 40 owners.