ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14601, 26 February 1921, Page 9 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

FROM THE WORLD'S PREBB. There are 650,000 taxable motor vehicles in Great Britain. Since December, 1916, 77 _peerage* have been created undr Mr Lloyd George. Prismatic Lake, in the Yellowstone Park, is the largest body of hot water in the world. Twenty-five bands are at present affiliated with the North Island Brasi Bands' Association.

The first case In whloh women Jurors served was tried/at Bristol, England, on July 28, 1920.

In his spare time, a miner of Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, has built his own house at a net cost of £370.

A dustbin was among the wedding? presents received by the Rev. V. Y. Johnson, curate of Horsell, Surrey. It was stated at a Ramsgate inquest that Mrs Eliza Shaw, who was found dead in bed, had lived in one room for years without undressing.

The collection of animals at the Newtown Zoo, Wellington, is to be augumented shortly by the purchase of an elephant. The London General Omnibus Company's new giant omnibus, the "S.l*£ has a seating capacity of fifty-seven passengers.

A French expert has ascertained that the chances for mistake In Identification with finger prints Is one In seventeen billion.

Married thirty-eight years, and the mother of twenty-one children, a Ramsgate woman unsuccessfully applied for a separation order. Twelve officers hold the rani of Field-Marshal in the British Army, the only non-British holders being Marshal Foch and the Emperor of Japan. Nothing Is wasted in China. The stones of various fruits and the shells of nuts are cleaned, dried, and oarved into ornaments of the most graceful kind.

Prosecutions for protUeering to the number of 84,000 were initiated by the British Food Minstry between the beginning of 1918 and the end of August, | 1920.

The cinema is having a deoided Influence on the choice of names for children now. Lately there has been an alarming increase in Mary, Pearl, Norma, Mao, and even Doug on birth certificates.

It is rumoured that a Foxton young man who was recenly aooused of paying attention to another man's wife was so incensed at the false accusation that he took the law Into his own hands and severely dealt with the husband.

Ten estates liable to death duties in the United Kingdom during the past year exceeded one million pounds in value, the average age at death of these millionaires being 694 years. Asked why he was brandishing a beer bottle, a defendant In an assault case at the Magistrate's Court at Christchurch naively replied that he was holding it up to see if there was a fly in it.

The Vickers Company's launohing of the Moreton Bay on April 23, the date of completion, is uncertain owing to tho shipjoiners' strike. The shipbuilders expect an early settlement of the strike. A tramway rising 450 feet in 17 chains is one of the features of Messrs Fualkner Bros.' recently es-. tablished mill at Wyndham that impressed Mr T. O'Byrne the other day. Mr O'Byrne, with a wide experience of sawmilling in New Zealand and Australia, states that he has never seen a steeper tramway over such rough country.

Six potatoes, comprising Sutton Supreme, King Edward, and White Elephant varieties, averaging 1J lb in weight, were shown to a Southland Times reporter on Saturday. These exceptional potatoes, which were clean and sound, were grown by a High School boy. Master Clifford Haigh. In the same plot a shaw with 10 potatoes, averaeinc 9oz each, was dug.

Licenses for taxi-cabs In Wellington will not be granted in future unless the vehicle is equipped with a taximeter approved by the chief trafflo inspector . Owners of taxi-cabs at present licensed will be required to provide approved taxi-meters within two years. This regulation is not to apply to cars hired from garages which do not ply for hire on stands In the city.

Over 4000 passengers travelled over the Otira Gorge during the month of January (states a West Coast exchange)". This clearly demonstrates the progress of the West Coast, and the extent of the traffic that will take place between the Coast and Canterbury when the overland line is completed.

It is said (says an American paper) that French toymakers who hoped to grasp the toy business before Germany had an opportunity to "come back" have failed. German toys already flood the French markets. Although tha Treaty prevents Germans from installing themselves in France for the next fen years, Germans have organised French toy Arms, and have sent toy materials to them by way of England, the toys then being assembled in French factories.

To the Highgate magistrate a woman complained that a man she did not like called at her house.— Magistrate: Tell him not to call.—l have—Does he call nnw?— No. —Then why worry?—He may come again.—ls your husband a big* man?—No, a little man.—Yet ha mav be game.—Oh, he's game enough, —Then he will look after you.-*, never thought of that. —She left tha court laughing heartily.

When a young married woman answered a summons at Tottenham for allowing a dog to be at large without its collar, she said she was suspicious of the officer when he walked past her house three times in as many minutes. The Magistrate: "I hope your thoughts were not unkind ones. He is such a good-looking young officer." Woman (enthusiastically) : "You are right, sir. He is very good looking." Everybody laughed but the constable, who blushed.

An interesting Dui melancholy arrival at Goole harbou'- was the steamer Brussels, the late Capt. Fryatt's ship. Once one of the smartest vessels on the Great Eastern Railway's short Continental service, she is now practically a dismantled hulk. She has been submerged for some time, and her hold, cabins and engine rooms are full of mud and sand. The vessel is to be reconditioned, and, when finished, will trade between Preston and UVwdL