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Dimensions of the Earth; Ocean Depths

Source: United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and Other Official Agencies Earth temperatures-The average temperature | checked by the Naval Hydrographic Office, in Lat. (centigrade) ranges at the North Pole from minus 19 degree 35'00" North, Long. 68 degrees 20'30" 1.0 in July to minus 41.0 in January with a yearly West, and Lat. 19 degree 35'00" North and Long. average of minus 22.7. The Russian weather ob68 degrees 08'45" West. servers from Moscow who flew to the North Pole in airplanes and camped near there on a drifting ice floe in May, 1937, experienced days when the temperature was up to 32 above zero (Fahrenheit). At the South Pole the range is from minus 6.0 in January to minus 33.0 in July, with a yearly average of minus 25.0,

At the equator the average range is from 25.7 in July to 26.6 in April, with a yearly average of 26.3.

The superficial area of the earth is 196,950,000 square miles 139,440,000 square miles of water and 57,510,000 square miles of land.

The approximate area, in square miles, by continents, is Africa, 11,500,000; America (North) 8,000,000; America (South) 6,800,000; Asia, 17,000,000; Europe, 3,750,000; Oceania, 4,000,000; Polar Regions, 6,205,000.

The latest estimates of the earth's area place the fertile regions at 33,000,000 square miles, steppes at 19,000,000 miles; deserts at 5,000,000 square miles.

Asia, the largest continent, is about 6,000 miles from East to West, and over 5,300 miles from North to South. Africa is 5,000 miles from North to South. Europe is 2,400 miles from North to South, and 3,300 miles from East to West. South America is 4,600 miles from North to South, and 3,200 miles from East to West. North America is 4,900 miles from North to South, and over 4,000 miles from East to West.

Limits of Continental United States-Cape Sable, Florida, is in latitude 25° 07', longitude 81° 05'. The extreme south point of Texas is in latitude 25° 50', longitude 97° 24'.

The Lake of the Woods projection extends to latitude 49° 23′ 04.1" at longitude 95° 09' 11.3". The easternmost land is West Quoddy Head, near Eastport, Maine, in longitude 66 57', latitude

44° 49'.

Cape Alava, Washington, extends into the Pacific Ocean to longitude 124° 44', at latitude 48 10'. From the south point of Texas due north to the forty-ninth parallel the distance is 1,598 miles. From West Quoddy Head west along the parallel to the Pacific Ocean the distance is 2,807 miles. These distances are computed to mean sea level.

in the Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Nantucket The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey has found Shoals, several deep gorges in the southern part of Georges Bank. Corsair Gorge, near the eastern tip of the Bank, was discovered in 1930, the others in 1931 and 1932. The largest gorge is over 20 miles long and 3 miles wide. At the lower end where it opens upon the ocean floor, it is 2,000 feet deep, and 20 to 30 miles farther out, the water is 6,000 feet deep.

The British Admirality reports that Thompson and Lindsay Islands have vanished from the South Atlantic. They had been on the charts since 1825. In 1933 several distinct submarine mountains were discovered off the coast of California by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the highest of these being "San Juan Seamount," which is 103 miles southwest of Santa Barbara and rises 10,188 feet from the ocean floor of 12,000 feet. From 1925 to 1939 a number of submarine mountains have been discovered in the Gulf of Alaska. The highest and largest of these were found 170 miles southwest of Kodiak Island and rise 12,500 feet from ocean floor depths of 13,800 feet. The Survey also has found and charted the submerged mouth of the Hudson River. The gorge, or submerged channel, extends along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean out to the true edge of continental North America, about 100 miles south and east of Ambrose Lightship off Sandy Hook.

At the outer portion, toward the submerged mouth, the channel or ravine descends 1,330 feet in, scarcely more than a mile, and is 1,600 feet below the surface of the water, while the ocean bed beside it is only 260 feet deep.

Other interesting valleys were found by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1935 and 1936 on the edge of the coastal shelf between Chesapeake Bay and Cape Cod. One of these beginning off Chesapeake Bay (postulated by some geologists to be the ancient valley of the Potomac River), can be traced 126 miles eastward from the entrance to Chesapeake Bay where in depths of 1,500 fathoms (9,000 ft.) it still continues eastward.

Numerous submerged valleys have been charted by the Coast and Geodetic Survey off the coast of California where these features often are found close inshore and are of such magnitude as to rival scenic canyons found on land.

These submarine canyons, variously called

The length of the Mexican boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean is approxi-gorges, valleys, or ravines, some of them over two mately 2,013 miles.

The length of the northern boundary, excluding Alaska, is 3,987 miles.

The geographic center of the United States is in Smith County, Kansas, latitude 39° 50' longitude

98° 35'.

Some facts on oceans-The last Ice Age, which began at least 30,000 years ago, is slowly disappearing, as the glaciers keep on melting; but in Antarctica enough ice remains to encase the entire

globe in a layer 120 feet thick.

The three great oceans comprise the Atlantic, 41,321,000 square miles; Pacific, 68,634,000 square miles, and Indian, 29,340,000 square miles.

Areas in square miles of seas; Okhotsk, 580,000; Yellow, 480,000; Japan, 405,000; Andamin, 300,000 North, 220,000; Red, 178,000; Baltic, 160,000 Hudson Bay, 472,000.

There are about 1,000,000 square miles of lake and river surface on the land, and 1,910,000 square miles of islands in the seas.

The average depth of the ocean below sea level is 12,450 feet.

The deepest place in the ocean yet found is off the Island of Mindanao, in the Philippines Group, where a sounding of 35,400 feet has been reported. The highest mountain is Mount Everest, in IndiaChina in the Himalayas, 29,141 feet.

This gives a range of about 64,541 feet or nearly 1214 miles between the bottom of the oceans and the top of the land.

The greatest depth in the Atlantic Ocean is north of Puerto Rico, 30,246 (the Milwaukee Depth) feet; in the Indian Ocean, 22,968; in the Arctic, 17,850; in the Malay, 21,342; in the Caribbean, 23,748; in the Mediterranean, 14,450; in the Bering, 13,422; in the South Pacific, ("Aldrich Deep") 30,930; in the South Atlantic a sounding of 26,575; and in the Antarctic Ocean a sounding of 14,274 feet.

The depth north of Puerto Rico in the Nares Deep was discovered, Feb. 14, 1939, by the cruiser Milwaukee, which was participating in naval maneuvers at the time. The new record depth was

miles below the surface of the ocean, are still puzzles to science. Several explanations have been offered by geologists for the origin of these subtions is that the canyons were carved out by marine canyons. One of the most obvious explanaand down the slopes during some past geologic age streams which ran across the continental shelves when the continental shelves were exposed by a withdrawal of the sea. Another is that the canyons were eroded by submarine currents caused during glacial times and within the past million neath the glaciers was heavily laden by mud and years when the colder water flowing from besilt, and consequently was more dense than the ocean water. It therefore flowed beneath the warmer ocean water, and the resulting submarine torrents carved out the canyons by a process similieve that the canyons are the result of submarine lar to stream erosion on land today. Others becurrents arising from great tidal or seismic waves, supposes the canyons to be due to submarine sometimes known as tsunamis. Another hypothesis springs gushing forth from the water bearing strata that may have existed when the present Coastal of the continental shelf under tremendous pressure Plain beds were thousands of feet thick, as they may have been over the present Apalachian Mountains during Tertiary time. For those explanations involving the lowering of the sea level, or the changing of the elevation of the land with respect to the sea, numerous hypotheses have been proposed. One suggestion is that a sudden change in the shape of the hydrosphere depressed sea level in low latitudes, and raised it in high latitudes, which was followed by a re-shaping of the lithosphere, or solid globe as distinguished from its two envelopes of air (atmosphere) and water (hydrosphere). Another suggestion assumes that during glacial times the Polar ice caps were of such enormous thickness and extent that the water of the sea, locked up in glaciers was sufficient to cause a great and world-wide lowering of the sea level. It is significant, however, that wherever

the canyons have been surveyed, their physio- | tude are termed meridians.
graphic characteristics are plainly those resulting
from stream erosion.

The canyons have tributary streams and resemble to a marked degree the forms commonly found in rugged lands above the sea that have been dissected by rivers, such as are found in some of the western regions of the United States, where spectacular canyons like the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, have been cut.

Some facts on the earth-The equatorial circumference of the earth is 24,902 miles; the meridional circumference, 24,860 miles.

The length of one degree of longitude along the equator is 69.2 miles. Each degree of longitude represents four minutes of time. The lines of longi

Name and Location

Bridal Vell (Yosemite)
Chamberlain, Brit. Guiana..
Comet (Rainier Park)..
Fairy (Rainier Park)
Gastein, Austria (Upper).
Gastein, Austria (Lower)
Gavarnie, France..
Gersoppa, India.
Grand, Labrador.
Granite (Rainier Park)
Guayra, Paraguay-Brazil.
Handeckfall, Switzerland..
Handöl, Sweden
Harsprang, Sweden.
Henry's Fork, Idaho.
Herval Cascades, Brazil.
Iguassu, Brazil-Argentina.
Illouette (Yosemite).
Kalambo, E. Africa.

Kaleteur, Brit. Guiana.

King Edw. VIII, Br. Guianaj

King Geo., Cape Prov., S. A.

According to Keith Johnston, a degree of latitude measures 68.7 miles at the equator and increases to 69.4 in the vicinity of the poles.

The mass of the earth has been estimated at about six sextillion, 600 quintillion, short tons, not including the atmosphere, whose weight has been estimated at more than five quadrillion short tons. The diameter of the earth at the equator is 7,926.677 miles, and through the poles, 7,899.988 miles.

The difference between these two diameters is 26.689 miles, and the ratio for the earth's flattening at the poles is thus 1 part of 297.

The average elevations of the land above sea level is approximately 2,800 feet.

Famous Waterfalls

Source: Government and Exploration Records

Hgt.
in Ft. Name and Location
620 Maletsunyane, Basutoland.
300 Maradalsfos, Norway.
200 Marina, Brit. Gulana.
700 Minnehaha, Minnesota,
207 Missouri, Montana
280 Montmorency, Quebec.
1,385 Multnomah, Oregon.
830 Murchison, Africa.
302 Narada, (Rainier Park).
350 Nevada (Yosemite).
374 Niagara, New York-Ontario.
240 Passaic, New Jersey
148 Paulo Affonso, Brazil.
246 Pissevache, Switzerland..

96 Reichenbach, Switzerland.
400 Ribbon (Yosemite), Cal.
210 Schaffhausen, Switzerland..
370 Seven Falls, Colorado
705 Skjaeggedalsfos, Norway..
741 Skykefos, Norway

840 Shoshone, Snake Riv., Idaho
450 Sluiskin (Rainier Park).

Kukenaam, Brit, Guiana........] 2,000||Snoqualmie, Washington....

Hgt.
in Ft.

Name and Location

630 Splendor-of-Sun, Nikko, Jap.
650 Staubbach, Switzerland....
500 Stora Sjofallet, Sweden.....
50 Sutherland, New Zealand..
90 Takkakaw, Brit. Columbia..
265 Tannforsen, Sweden.
850 Taughannock, New York..
120 Tequendama, Colombia.
168 Terni, Italy.

Hgt. in Ft.

350

980

131

1,904 1,200.

121

215

450

650

594 Tower (Yellowstone) Wyo
167 Trummelbach, Switzerland..
70 Tugela, Natal..

132

950

1,800

265 Twin, Idaho.

180

215 Vernal (Yosemite), Cal..
300 Vettis, Norway

317

850

1,612 Victoria, So. Rhodesia, S. A.
100 Virginia, Canada (N.W.T.)..
266 Voringfos, Norway

343

315

535

1,170

109

308

1,300

525 Widows' Tears (Yosemite)
650 Yellowstone (upper), Wyo.
210 Yellowstone (lower), Wyo..
300 Yosemite (upper), Cal..
268 Yosemite (lower), Cal.

320

Some of the heights in the above list cover the sum total of two or more leaps of falls in their downward course. The total drop of Tugela, for example, is 2,810 feet.

The Zambezi in flood is about two miles wide. The canyon below the Victoria Falls is from 200 to 300 feet wide and even narrower further down.

The Grand Falls in Labrador, are in the course of the Hamilton river, which in 5 miles, drops 200 feet in a series of rapids and then, with a roar audible 20 miles away, makes a final plunge of 302 feet. In British Guiana, a tributary of the Karanang River tumbles over a precipice to a ledge about 1,400 feet below, breaking forklike into two drops, down into the valley below. The entire fall is no less than 3,000 feet and this is a conservative estimate according to Dr. Paul A. Zahl, who, in May, 1938, observed the falls from an airplane, when about 80 miles northeast of Mt. Roraima.

Niagara Falls Is Moving Backwards

Source: Historical and Geological Records

The brink of Niagara Falls is receding, or moving back, at the average rate of 211⁄2 feet a year. The great cataract, as the outlet of the four Western Great Lakes which constitute half of the fresh water of the world, has a volume of water almost unaffected by the seasons. The river below Grand Island is 22 miles wide, and descends 52 feet in the last mile. The chasm into which it drops is 1,250 feet wide at the falls, 800 feet wide two miles further down, and less than 300 feet at Whirlpool Rapids.

Niagara at the lip of the precipice (including Goat Island) has a total width of about 5,300 feet. Victoria (including Livingstone and Cataract Island), has a total width of about 5,700 feet. Iguassu (including the Island of St. Martin) has a width, estimated, of more than 10.000 feet.

The Falls View (Honeymoon) footbridge across the gorge below the falls was torn away (Jan. 27, 1938) by an ice jam. A new one is under construction.

A mass of Table Rock, 160 feet in length and from 30 to 40 feet in width, fell off in July, 1818, with a "tremendous crash." On December 9th, 1828, three immense portions broke from the Horseshoe Falls, causing a shock like an earthquake. Another large portion fell in the summer of 1829, and the noise was heard several miles.

Undermining of the limestone shelf on its bed of soft shale, coupled with frost action in natural crevices tore away (Jan. 17, 1931) some of the brink of the American Falls. The maximum depth, up-stream, of the break, was 65 feet and the width along the crest was about 300 feet. Geologically, this action has been going on for ages.

A part of the limestone brink at the lip of the Horseshoe Falls, 200 feet long and at least 25 feet thick, weighing over 25,000 tons, cracked off and

tumbled down into the gorge (Aug. 13, 1934) with a deafening roar. That part of the brink had been dry for some time when the break came, owing to a lessened flow in the Niagara River.

Several hundred tons of rock tumbled from beneath Table Rock, at the extreme tip of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (Dec. 4. 1934). There have been, frequently, slides of rock from the sides of the gorge below the falls. There was one (April 14, 1935) on the Canadian side near the whirlpool. The rest of Table Rock was blasted away later in 1935, thus finally destroying what had been known for many years as Honeymoon Point.) The American crest of the falls was changed in appearance on Jan. 24, 1941, when a piece of rock 18 by 10 feet broke off 100 feet north of Luna Island.

Charles Blondin, whose real name was Jean Francois Gravelet, crossed Niagara Falls on a wire tightrope in 1855, in 1859, and in 1860. Gilarma A. Farini (William Leonard Hunt) crossed on a tightrope in 1864. Harry Leslie (in private life William Edward Wright) crossed on a tightrope June 22, 1865 and Aug. 11, 1865.

The feat was done by James E. Hardy of Toronto on July 1 and on July 4, 1896. He balanced himself on chairs and did dancing steps on the way

over.

Anna Edson Taylor plunged over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel Oct. 24, 1901.

Bobby Leach went over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel, July 25, 1911.

Jean A. Laussier, of Springfield, Mass., on July 4, 1928, went over the Horseshoe Falls in a 758-lb. rubber ball.

Niagara Falls on the American Side is under the control of the Niagara Frontier State Park Commission.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Area and Population

Source: Areas are Government figures; population data are latest census figures or

latest official estimates

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St. Helena.......

34
47

154

4,622

BRITISH EMPIRE....13,642,218 504,683,246

(M) British Mandate. The Anglo-Egyptian Soudan and the New Hebrides are Co-dominions.

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The 1921 and 1931 figures for males and females and total (last three columns), exclude Ireland. By the census, 1936, Ireland-Eire has 2,965,854 population, 1,518,807 males and 1.447.047 females Northern Ireland (census of 1937) has 1,279,745--623,308 males, and 656,437 females. Total for Ireland 4,245,599.

Government of Great Britain

The British Empire covers about one-fourth (13,499,557 square miles) of the world's habitable land surface. Its population in the aggregate, according to the latest census and official estimates, is some 15 millions more than one-fourth of the inhabitants of the world-a total of 504,683,246.

The Capital of this vast empire is London. The census (1931) returned the population of the metropolitan district of London as 8,202,818, an increase of 9.7% since 1921, and the County of London (registration and administrative district) contained in it as 4,470,814. The area of the City of London is 675 acres; the County of London 74,The 850 acres; Greater London 443,455 acres. estimated population (1937) of Greater London is 8.655,000.

The Ruling Sovereign is George VI, third of the House of Windsor, whose title is "by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India." He was born (Dec. 14, 1895), son of the late King George V., who died (Jan. 20, 1936) and Queen Mary, daughter of the late H. S. H. Duke of Teck and H. R. H. Princess Mary of Cambridge. He succeeded to the throne on the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. (Dec. 10, 1936).

The King, as Prince Albert, Duke of York, married in Westminster Abbey (April 7, 1923), Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (born 1900), daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. They have two children: Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (born Apr. 21, 1926), heir-apparent, and Princess Margaret Rose (born Aug. 21, 1930).

The children of the late King George V. besides the present sovereign are: H. R. H. Prince Edward Albert, formerly King Edward VIII, created Duke of Windsor (Dec. 12, 1936) (born June 23, 1894), married Mrs. Wallis Warfield (June 3, 1937); H. R. H. Princess Mary, Princess Royal (born April 25, 1897), married Viscount Lascelles, K. G., son of the Earl of Harewood (Feb. 28, 1922) and who succeeded to the title on the death of his father (Oct. 6, 1929)-issue, George Henry Hubert. Viscount Lascelles (born Feb. 7, 1923), and the Hon. Gerald Davis (born Aug. 21, 1924); H. R. H. Prince Henry (born March 31, 1900), created Duke of Gloucester (March 31, 1928), married (Nov. 6, 1935) Lady Alice Montagu-Douglass-Scott, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry; H. R. H. Prince George (born Dec. 20, 1902), created Duke of Kent (Oct. 9, 1934), married (Nov. 29, 1934) Princess Marina, daughter of Prince and Princess Nicholas of Greece (issue, Prince Edward, born Oct. 9. 1935).

Parliament is the legislative governing body for the empire. It consists of two Houses. The

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House of Lords is made up of the peers of the United Kingdom, to wit: the Royal Dukes, the Archbishops, the Dukes, the Marquises, the Earls, the Viscounts, 24 Bishops, and the Barons; also 28 Irish peers elected for life; and 16 Scottish peers elected for the duration of Parliament. The full membership of the House of Lords consists of about 740 members but the voting strength is about 720.

The House of Commons numbers 615 members elected by direct ballot. Of this House, England has 492 members; Wales, 36; Scotland, 74; and Northern Ireland, 13. Clergymen of the Church of England, ministers of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic clergymen are disqualified from sitting as members, also certain Government officers, Sheriffs, and Government contractors. Women have had the right to vote since 1918. The popular vote in the last two general elections, and the seats won, were as follows:

Oct., 1931 Pop.

Government Vote Seats Conservative....11,907,875 471

Nat. Labor. Liberal Nat'l.. National..

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Nov., 1935 Pop. Vote

Seats

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342,480 13

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809,102 35

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Liberal (Samuel) 1,405,102
Ind. Lib. (LI. G.)
Communist...
Independent..

Total.

8,434.231 95

The Statute of Westminster passed by the House of Commons (Nov. 24, 1931) gave formal ratification to the declarations of the Imperial Conferences (1926 and 1930), which were participated in by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Prime Ministers of the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and the Dominion of Newfoundland.

The Conference (1926) defined the Dominions as "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or foreign affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. . . . Every self-governing member of the Empire is master of In fact, if not always in form, it is its destiny. subject to no more compulsion whatever."

WAR CABINET

Minister of Supply

Lord President of the Council

Lord Privy Seal..

Minister of State.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Minister without Portfolio.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Minister of Labor and National Service.

Name Winston Churchill Lord Beaverbrook Sir John Anderson C. R. Attlee Oliver Lyttelton Anthony Eden Arthur Greenwood Sir Kingsley Wood Ernest Bevin

The following are heads of Government departments, but are not members of the Cabinet, although in peace time they would be in the Cabinet.

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BUDGETS OF GREAT BRITAIN FOR 30 YEARS

Revenues Expendit's Year Revenues Expendit's) Year Revenues

Year
Endig
End'g
Mar31
£.
£.
Mar31
1914.. 198,242,897 197,492,969|| 1924..
1915.. 226,694,080 560,473,533||1925.
1916.. 336,766,825 1,559,158,377 1926.
1917.. 573,427,582 2,198,112,710 1927.
1918.. 707.234,565 2,696,221,405|1928..
1919 889.020,825 2.579,301,188 1929..
1920..1,339,571,381 1,665,772,928 1930..
1921 1.425.984,666 1,195,427,877||1931..
1922.1.124.879.8731,079,186,627 1932..

1923

End'g
£.
£.
Mar31
837,169,284 788,840,211 1934..
799,435,595 795,776,711 1935..
812,061,658 826,099,778 1936..
805,701,233 842,395,027 1937..
842,824,465 838,563,341 1938.
936.434.988 818,040,523 1939.
814.970.280 829.493,543 1940
857.760.934| 881,036,906||1941
851.482.281 851,117.944 1942.

914.012.452 812.496.604|1933. 827.031,184 859.310.175

£.

Expendit's

£.

809,379,149| 778,231,289

804,629,050 844,775,143

797,067,170 841,834,441

896,596,194 902,193,385 872,580,000] 938,046,000 927.285,000 1,024,804,000 1,025,192,000 1,032,217,000 1.408,867,000 3,584,288,000 *1,636,000,000 $4,206,957,000

*Estimates. Expenditures do not include value of supplies from the United States under Lease-Lend. Sir Kingsley Wood, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, asked the House of Commons (Feb. 2, 1941) for supplementary votes of credit of £1,600,000,000, of which amount £600,000,000 was to tide over to the end of the financial year (March 31, 1942). The vote brought to £3,300,000,000 the total of supplementary credits for the year as against £2,500,000,000 in 1918, the costliest year of the World War. The Chancellor explained that the rate of expenditure had risen sharply since his last supplementary demand (Oct., 1940) when it was £64,000,000 weekly and £73,000,000 (Feb., 1941). Of this total £56,000,000 was for fighting services and £17,000,000 for other war services, such as Ministries of Shipping, Food and Home Security. These are lumped in war expenditures and no not include the ordinary expenditures of the State. PUBLIC DEBT OF GREAT BRITAIN

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Capital, London-Area, 94,279 square miles-Population (1931 and 1939 for Northern Ireland), 46,213,169 The United Kingdom, or British Isles, lie off the back against steep cliffs. Its history may be read northwest corner of Europe, with the North At- in ancient castles, towers, battle sites and monulantic Ocean on the north and west, the North Sea ments. Traces of every important period in its life on the east and the English Channel separating it may still be seen in cities or in isolated sections of the country. from the mainland on the south. The Straits of Dover, 18 miles wide, divide it from France. The northern end of Scotland 'lies due west from the southern end of Norway.

The climate of the British Isles is equable, mild and somewhat warmer than that of the continent opposite, because of the Gulf Stream modifying the temperature, which is mean at 48 degrees. Rainfall is abundant, averaging 35 inches annually, but is seldom heavy at a given time, so that the precipitation covers longer periods, and fogs often prevail in many parts. "London Fog." holding much soot in suspension, being particularly dense at times.

The coastline is tortuous, giving very many harbors for shipping, and numerous rivers up which deep sea craft may go.

The soil is of varied natural fertility. It is more sterile in the north, notwithstanding the figures show that the Scotch have attained a relatively high per acre production by intensive cultivation. But centuries of tillage have rendered necessary the elaborate and large use of artificial fertilizers. The prevalent precipitation of moisture, together with the mild climate, has induced profuse growth of vegetation of all sorts. The Isles were naturally covered with forests, which have been largely cut off to accommodate so large a population on so small an area with an average of 504.7 to the square mile.

The United Kingdom is a fascinating country, with its varied topography; its hills and valleys, moors and heaths; buzzing industries and quiet countrysides; narrow winding streets and modern motor parkways; quaint fishing villages leaning

London, for years the chief metropolis of the world, retains its ancient atmosphere-its historic Houses of Parliament-its famous Tower built by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century, where noted figures in English history were tortured and put to death. In London, also, is St. Paul's Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the parish church of the British Empire"; and Westminster Abbey, where every English monarch has been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066 and where lie buried kings and queens and many persons who have made the grade in English history or letters. The chapel of Henry VII is the finest example in England of Tudor Gothic and contains the tomb of Mary Queen of Scots. The House of Lords-in which may be seen the double royal throne (the King's chair is slightly higher than the Queen's)-and the House of Commons. are open to visitors without charge on Saturdays from 10 A. M. to 3:30 P. M. Many of these landmarks have been damaged by German bombings during the war.

Although Buckingham Palace is now the town residence of the King, it is at St. James's Palace (built by Henry VIII) that a new King is proclaimed and foreign ambassadors are still "accredited" to the "Court at Saint James."

In the center of London are five parks-St. James's, Green Park, Hyde Park. Kensington Gardens and Regent's Park: the first four adjoin each other; here the well-to-do ride their horses, and all London comes out to take the air, to exercise the children or the dogs or to listen to the band. In Regent's Park there is an open-air thea

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