CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24986, 21 September 1946, Page 7

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Louis’s Share of Fight Proceeds.— Joe Louis received 103,611 dollars as his share of the net proceeds from last night’s fight. Tami Mauriello received 38,834 dollars. Mike Jacobs announced that Louis would not be fighting again before January, and added that if Bruce Woodcock wanted to fight Louis he must first come to the United States and score some victories.—New York, September 19. Tobacco Thrown in Sea.— The crew of the steamer Stephen Furdek hurled tobacco and cigarettes into the water to-day, believing that they were to be seized by customs officers. The ship, which is on the American registry, made an emergency call to Sydney for food en route from Samar, in the Philippines, to Melbourne. Customs officials boarded the vessel after its arrival in the stream and outlined the customs regulations to the crew. Members of the crew then emptied quantities of tobacco over the side. The officials were nonplussed at the misunderstanding of their instructions, and according to them the crew could have had all their surplus quantities of tobacco put under sea] until the ship cleared port again When the ship arrived only three meals were left for the crew of 38. —Sydney, September 20.

Internees in Indonesia.—lt was officially announced that the Indonesian Republicans have agteed to plans for resuming the evacuation of internees within a few days. Reuter’s correspondent says that Indonesian officers accompanying train-loads of internees from Bekassi will leave the trains before they reach Batavia instead of going to Batavia itself as the Indonesians originally demanded.—Batavia, September 20.

Conference* of Empire Communists.— A conference of British Empire Communist parties will be held from February 26 to March 3 next year immediately after the British parly’s annual congress.-—London, September 19.

Legal Action by Bus Drivers Fails.— Mr Justice Wynn-Parry dismissed an. application from five bus drivers for an interim injunction to restrain the London Passenger Transport Board from making their employment conditional on joining the Transport and General Workers’ Union. The application was a sequel to the board’s dismissal of certain employees who are members of a smaller union, but who refused to join the Transport and General Workers’ Union.—London, September 19. Privileges for Brazilian Journalists.— Journalism has become a preferred occupation under Brazil’s new constitution. There is no censorship and newsprint is admitted free of duty. Journalists are exempt from income tax and. when buying homes, from transfer taxes. The Brazilian Press Association’s president (Dr. Herbert Moses) described the constitution as a great document establishing freedom of the press as a right and not a favour.—Rio de Janeiro, Sept. 20.

U.S. Car Production.— Mr George Romney, general manager of the Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said that only one in 20 American motorcars were going to export, compared with 50 per cent, of British production. He added that unless economic nourishment was given dealers and distributors abroad “we will wake up too late snd find dur markets captured by other nations.” —Detroit, September 19. Ship Loaded with Gas to be Scuttled. —The Dutch ship Bantam (9312 tons), which was sunk in New Guinea by Japanese bombers and later refloated and towed to Sydney, will be scuttled next week off Sydney heads. The loading of 4000 tons of poison gas, bombs, small arms, and niachine-gun parts has been completed. Soldiers carried out the loading, which resulted in the emptying of an old railway tunnel in the Blue Mountains, where hundreds of tons of poison gas were stored during the war.—Sydney, Septeifiber 20.

Murdered Housekeeper to King of Greece.—Robert Boyce, aged 45, a painter, was found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering Miss Elizabeth McLindon, aged 41, a housekeeper, who was found shot in a locked room of a luxuriously furnished house in Chester square, Westminster. McLindon had been preparing the house for occupation by the King of the Hellenes. Boyce’s counsel, in his address to the jury, said that the King of the Hellenes obviously was not one of the suspects, but he was apparently not universally liked in Greece. Greek nationals in London might have been let in the house by McLindon, searched the house for documents, and shot McLindon when she tried to interrupt. Boyce gave evidence that he had been a friend of McLindon and had stayed with her in the King’s house, but left for Brighton on June 8 when McLindon told him she had been advised that the King was arriving. He did not see her after that date.—London, September 19. Average Australian Wages.—The average man’s wages in Australia dropped from £6 18s a week at the peak of the war to £6 3s 7d in the first quarter of this year, according to the Commonwealth Statistician. A fall of 10s a week occurred between the December quarter last year and the March quarter this year. The fall was caused mainly by reduced overtime, the transfer of war workers to lower-paid civil jobs, and the greater use of junior labour. Wages were still about 10s a week higher than the 194142 average.—Canberra, Sept. 20.

British Telecommunications Board.— Lord Reith, the former Director-Gen-eral of the British Broadcasting Corporation. has been appointed chairman of the Commonwealth Communications Council, which will soon become the Commonwealth Telecommunicatins Board, says the “Daily Telegraph.” The board will control all nationalised cable and wireless systems.—London, September 19.