Information Service

Cue (NZERS), Issue 8, 30 September 1944, Page 19

Information Service

Q: Could you please supply details of Beaulivre’s record and stake winnings ? A: Altogether he started 49 times for 21 wins, eight seconds and eight thirds, and won L 17,045. In his first 31 starts he was never out of a place and chalked up 20 wins to his credit. Y- * ¥ . < Q: How many world’s pacing records are held by NZ horses ? A: Six. Details are:— 1 mile- saddle— . - Gold Bar 2min 3 3-ssec 1% miles — ■ " Gold Bar 2min 35 sec 1% miles Van Derby 3min 9 3-ssec

1 mile 5 fur. — < ■ ■ Gold Bar 3min 27 sec 2 miles Harold Logan 4min 12 2-ssec 2 miles (race-winning record) — Haughty 4min 13 3-ssec * * # Q: How many different railway gauges are there in operation in Australia ? k . A: Three. N.S.W., 4ft SVain; Queensland and W.A., 3ft 6in; Federal trans-continental. Kalgoorlie (W.A.) - Port Augusta (S.A.), 4ft BV 2 in; Victoria and South Australia, sft 3in. ¥ * * Q: How many presidents of the . USA have been assassinated? A: Three — Abraham Lincoln, James Abram Garfield, William McKinley.

Q: How many miles of inland waterways are there in use in Great Britain ? What are the largest? A: There are 2500 miles. The largest canals are the Grand Union (Uxbridge — Birmingham), 280 miles; Leeds to Liverpool, 193 miles; and Birmingham Canal, 159 miles. The Manchester Ship Canal is only 36 . miles in length, although the largest overseas liners use the canal. « ¥ # Q: What is the amount of the annuity granted to King George VI ? A: L 410,000, comprising the Privy Purse, LIIOjOOO, salaries of household and retired allowances, L 134,000, expenses of Royal household, L 152,800 and Royal- Bounty, L 13,000. It must be remembered that for the duration of the war the King, at his own request, has waived right to a substantial portion of this sum. ty* h*

Q: Where and when was the first electric , underground railway operated? What do you know about the « Dead Man’s Handle ?» - ■ A: The City and South London Railway, the first. section of which came into operation on December 18, 1890. On steam trains there must be at least two men on the engine, but only one is required on the electric. Should the driver take ill the «Dead Man’s Handle* is employed. In the centre is a central portion which, while the driver has - his hand upon it, is pressed down. Should he release his ' hold the central portion is released, cutting off the cur- / < rent and applying the brakes. ‘ This also stops traffic in this particular section of the underground railway.

Was slavery practised in the Union of South Africa until the J time of the Boer War? Was this particularly so with regard to the diamond fields ? A: Yes — In the portion of South Africa now known as the Cape Province. Slavery, was introduced by the .Netherlands East India Company administration soon after this company, established its first settlement at Table Bay in -1652, and was continued after x the colony had been taken over from ■ the Netherlands by Britain in 1806. Slavery was abolished in the Cape Colony, as in the rest of the British Empire, in 1833, and was never reintroduced into South Africa. The Kimberly dia- ' mond fields, though in the Cape Province, were not discovered until 1867-1870, much later than the abolition of

slavery. Thus it could not possibly have been practised there. « * * Q; During the recent extensions of the Gibraltar fortifications new . caverns were found. Could you please supply details? A: Tunnellers of the Royal Engineers in blasting and boring ’ into the heart of the Rock of Gibraltar discovered z a cave which may have been sealed for 20,000 years. The cave is of extraordinary beauty, its glittering white, grey and red stalactite columns resembling a ‘cathedral with pulpit, chancel and organ pipes. \ It is known as « Lower Mickey’s Cavern.» ’ The largest column is 7ft in diameter and 40ft High. The chamber contains a lake of fresh water nearly .40 yards long and from seven to 20ft deep.