ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17412, 26 May 1928, Page 13 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

FROM THE WORLD'S PRESS.

There were over 500,000,000 telephone calls in the London area last year.

The weight of the world is represented by tons indicated by 6 with twenty-one noughts after it.

Thirty more-farms have been left without tenants in East Yorkshira making 3000 acres now unoccupied.

In parts of Mexico large harmless snakes ,of the python type are kept to catch mice, as we keep house cats.

Fines ranging from one day's to six days' pay were levied against English railway workers who broke rules in the 'fifties.

If a Malay child falls ill after receiving its najne, it. is temporarily adopted by another family, who give it a different name.

February is, on the average, the least rainy month of the year in London, the wettest being October, followed by July and August.

Worksop, in Notts (Eng.), is the*.' latest addition to the list of towns that are keeping their good name by refusing greyhound tracks.

Motor cars are cheaper in America than in Britain. Four-cylinder fourseater cars, priced at the equivalent of £77 in. dollars, were recently on show in New York.

Grapes grown in Holland and Belgium can be sent by w r ater to London at a much lower cost than similar fruit grown in the south of England can travel by rail.

A very rare gas in the air is neon, of which a room contains but a teaspoonful or two. It is used for filling bulbs required to give an orange-coloured light.

Gipsy thieves in Servia put their own blood into-ythe food of anyone whom they suspect knows of their offence. They believe this prevents him from betraying them.

Stainless steel has been used to make.a chain 450 ft. long and weighing thirty tons, to be employed as "ballast" in keeping the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, in place.

The smallest screws in the world' are those used in the production of watches. They are 4-1000ths of an inch in diameter, and an ordinary thimble would hold 100,000 of them.

Many of the fruits and vegetables now eaten were almost unknown to our forefathers. Not until Henry VIII.'s reign were raspberries, strawberries, or cherries grown in England.

Eighteen mothers, who have 24,9 children between them, were the first passengers in a charabanc which has been presented to the Salvation Army in Britain for use in their social work.

The cries of seabirds, especially sea-gulls, are very valuable to sailors in foggy weather. The birds cluster on the cliffs and coasts, and their cries warn mariners trfat they are near the land.

England can claim to be the pioneer nation for women aviators, two of whom hold commercial licenses for flying. France has, however, the first woman engaged in aeroplane constructional engineering.

Three bodies share the responsibility of lighting the coasts of Great Britain —Trinity House, the Commissioners of Northern Lights, and the Irish Light Commissioners. Their services cost about £1,000.000 a year.

A caterpillar cannot see more than a centimetre ahead; that is to say, less than two-fifths of an inch. The hairs on the body are said to be of as much use a? its eyes in letting it know all that is going on.

Being out of work, a Belfast boy studied the repairing of cash registers. He now undertakes to keep a machine in order for £1 a year. He has over 300 firms on his books and the number is still growing.

Viscount Craigavon, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, is in the unique position of being able to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster and in the Lower House of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

What is known as the Old Style Calendar, still used by the Greek Orthodox Church, will be discarded on October 1, when thirteen days will be dropped to bring it into line with the calendar of Western Europe.

As a tribute to the way his daughter carried on his business during the war, Mr -H. Marment, fishmonger and fruiterer, of Caterham, England, has registered his company as H. Marment and Daughter. Limited.

Mr Orvillfi Wrigh,t has decided to present to South Kensington Museum London, the original power-driven biplane j'n which he and his brother made the first flight in a plane equipped with an engine, hi December, 1903. '

A real diamond is much colder than an imitation one, and the best way to detect the difference in temperature is In touch the stones with the tongue. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, garnets, and other stonesynay be tested in the same, way.

The famous Zuccaro portrait of Admiral Sir John Hawkins, the great Elizabethan seaman, has been purchased for presentation to the town of Plymouth, where Hawkins was born 'it is in a fine state of preservation, and has never been restored.

There are several species of birds that, can travel much faster than an aeroplane. The fastest is the "frigate bird." which has its home in the tropics. This bird is remarkable for its long wings, and is said to be capable of flying 300 miles an hour.

Great Britain's yearly supply of new houses has shown a healthy increase. In 1919 only JOO houses were, completed under Dr. Addison's Act; in 10-20 the figure, rose In 15,711: in 102 1 I" 86,669; and in 1022 In 89,001. Last year the. number of State-aided houses built was 196,589,

Growing fruit and vegetables under glass has become a great, industry round Worthing, on the south coast of England. There, are forty-four miles of greenhouses in the district, and among the crops cultivated are figs, peaches,' tomatoes, beans, cucuf*bers, mushrooms and flower** __,