ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16780, 24 April 1926, Page 13 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

FROM THE WORLDS PRESS.

Lord Swaythling was the first Jew to succeed to a peerage in England.

Seventy per cent of water is contained in the composition of a potato. Nine peerages became extinct in, 1925, while five new ones were created.

There are 24 bishops entitled to rank as members of the House of Lords.

It was in February, 1797, that the shores of Great Britain were last invaded.

Besides being the cheapest, pure water is easily the healthiest of all drinks.

Angling was indulged in by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans.

Lord Mayor of London as a title was first bestowed in 1354 by Edward 111.

Eighteen hundred miles is the measurement of the coastline of England and Wales.

Over 11,000 women are engaged in lace-making at home in the city of Nottingham.

The population of London has increased from 7,300,000 to £7,600,000 in 14 years.

Inmales of British Poor Law Institutes cost on an average £65 10s annually to maintain. As many as 200,000 herrings have been brought into Yarmouth by a single fishing boat. According to official figures recently published, there arc 877,298 married women in London.

Thirty cwt is the weight of the tenor bell in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster (London).

The City of London has an area of a little uvcr one square mile; the County has 117 square miles. All members of the King's Privy Council must be British-born or naturalised British subjects.

British racehorses to the number of about 4450 have been exported to all .parts of the world since 1921. One of Ihe oldest instruments in existence is the drum, which was used among the ancient races of Egypt. The first standing army, consisting of guards and regular troops, was formed by Saul in the year 1093 B.C.

Morris dancing is becoming very popular, the Oxford police being enthusiastic supporters of tho traditional dances.

Canaries to the estimated number of more than 1,000,000 were exported from Norwich last year to all parts of the world.

Measuring only 28in by 24in, Gainsborough's picture of Miss Linley and her brother has just changed hands for £40,000.

Diamonds are a better investment than pearls, in the opinion of many jewellers; pearls can be destroyed, but diamonds cannot.

While appearing in two different plays each day recently, Mr Seymour Hicks, the well-known actor, had to say 20,000 words daily. In the Civil List, no provision in made for the Prince of Wales, his income from the Duchy of Cornwall being considered sufficient. Watches are safer if carried in the right-hand pocket of the waistcoat, as pickpockets almost invariably go for. the left-hand pocket.

A signal which is marked "Go" and "Stop," and is illuminated in colours at night, is used in Winnipeg to direct the traffic at a busy crossing.

The earliest recorded profile, taken in 330 8.C., was that of AntigonuSj who objected to being portrayed fullface, because he had only one eye.

Silk cocoons to the weight of about 54 tons and worth nearly £22,000, arc exported from the British island of Cyprus in the course of a year. The Emperor Augustus robbed Februarv of a day, and put it on to August,'so that the month named alter him should not be lacking in dignity. The practice of binding the feet of female children to make them appear small was in vogue in China for 1000 years, but is now a criminal offence.

The Duke of Norfolk, as the hereditary holder of the office of Earl Marshal has the sole jurisdiction in all questions of honour and arms in England. London's police force is smaller today than it was in 1911. In tat year there were 10,893 men in the metropolitan force; now there are 19,350.

Slag bunting, which lasts only two months in England, is the shortest of the regular bunting seasons; harehunting, continuing for eight months, is the longest. In Great Britain insurance rates against burglary in shops and offices have risen from 7s Od per cent in prewar days lo as much as 15s and upwards per cent.

Throwing salt or powdered brimstone on the fire in the grate, and holding a board in front of the fireplace, "is a good remedy if your chimney catches fire.

The grain, as a unit of measurement was introduced by Henry 111, who ordered a grain of wheat gathered from the middle of the ear to be the standard of weight.

Dating from the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a silver salt-cellar recently acquired by the British Museum is regarded as one of the finest pieces of old silver in existence. The Scrgeant-at-Arms carries the mace when the Speaker enters or loaves the House of Commons, places it. on the (able when the Speaker takes the chair, and under it when the Hou«S goes info committee. Giving a. clove was, in the Middle ■\sesa ceremony of investiture, in lands and dignities. n tho reign of Edward 11, the of gloves was a ceremony of rtegia.U lion.

Training cadets for the, Royal Air Force ia Great Britain costs more than £f>oo a head. This is considerably more than the cost of either Woolwich, or Sandhurst, the two great military colleges.

The Marquess of Londonderry is the first man lo hold tho honour of being three times a Privy Councillor—of Groat. Britain, of Ireland, and of tb.B newly-formed Council of Northern Ireland-