DIARY OF THE WORLD'S NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 342, 31 October 1908, Page 10

DIARY OF THE WORLD'S NEWS.

WEEKLY SUMMARY BY MAIL. The following weekly summary of the world's news is taken- from the "Daily Mail" Overseas Edition of September 19:— SEPTEMBER 11. A Romo telegram states that an official communique announcing the engagement of the Duke of Abruzzi to Miss Elkins, daughter of United States Senator Elkins, will shortly appear. At the same time it will fix the dato of tho wedding and tho city in which it will be celebrated. There is every reason to believe that the marriage will be celebrated in Washington, where Senator Elkins and his family reside. . A drought extending west to the Alleghany Mountains and embracing Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, AViscousin, Michigan, and Minnesota has lasted for six weeks' in tho United States. Its effect in Eastern Ohio and. Western Pennsylvania has been especially disastrous, and the steel mills, coke ovens, and many coal mines have been closed down, while in . certain localities water is being soldat fivepence per gallon. Thousands or acres of corn and vegetable crops have been burned by the scorching sun. New York is to have its Eiffel Tower, which will be used for meteorological observations. It is to bo built on a colossal scale, having a height of. 2000 ft., or twice the height of the Paris tower: The walls will be 12ft. thick at the base, and a foot thick at the top, and . tho tower, with -platform, etc., will have a total weight of, 416,500 tons. The total cost of the construction is estimated at £12,000,000. While Herr Wilhelm Hagenbeck, one of the directors of tho famous company of animal dealers, was performing in Berlin with the collection of wild beasts, he was attacked by a large bear which the trainer was trying to induce to go down a switchback. Before he could be rescued Herr-Hagenbeck was terribly clawed in tho abdomen. SEPTEMBER 12. Hai Mahomed Terros, the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, died to-day at Tangier. Hai Mahomed Torres was a familiar figure in Tangier, and was greatly respected not only for his wise counsel, but also for the fact that he remained • abovo

the suspicion of bribery. Governor Fort, of New Jersey, U.S.A., has quite recently twice been saved by tho vigilance of post officials from being- blown to atoms by. infernal machines addressed to him by unknown persons. Tho attempts on the Governor's life followed his stringent action in threatening to place Atlantic City, the American Brighton, under martial law if its authorities persisted in encouraging open violation of the Sunday prohibition laws. One packet addressed to the' Governor exploded in the post office and ' caused a panic among tho clerks. The Socialist town council of Vauvert, in France, has refused to accept a statue of Mont-calm, the defender* of Quebec, because he was "an aristocrat and a general." For moro than twice its weight, in gold; .Mile. Atom, the smallest' griffon in the world, has just been purchased by Mrs. J. T. Windrim, the wife of an architect at Philadelphia. This tiny dog, which weights only 250z., was sold 1 for £200, : or ' £8 ail ounce. It is oin. long and.4in. high, and has long, fine hair. - ' SEPTEMBER 13. .;f An amazing suicido took place'at Laval,.in' tho department of. Mayenhe, France','; during the annual fair. : A young man of nineteen, named Jean Grollier, 'employed..,-at a kinomatograph show, fell in love witli tho daughter of the owner of a bootlr in.' tho fair. His love_ was not returned; • and .he resolved on suicide. ' Ho. had been f previously employed in the, wild .b«ist*show of tho famous Arab tamer' Ah'lnSl-ben-Amar. This made it possible for: him to 1 onter tho latter's establishment. Taking advantage of a quiet moment,; the young man entered tho cage occupied by several • lions and looked the door behind him,- Ono of the animals sprang upon him,, tore his I .' chest and shoulders, and cashed" histhroat with its teeth?:- .'Ahmied and his assistants, hearing cries, went to tho rescue, but were too late. Grollier was al- . ready dead. .; The Government of the Grand " Duchy of-' Baden has sustained a loss of £150,000 by an extraordinary blunder in thb construction of a railway tunnel near Forbach. According to the usual custom, 1 ' a hill was tunnelled from both ends at the same time,-' but when both tunnelled portions frero complete they woroifound to bo ton yards' distant from each other. One-half of the' tunnel must thereforo be retunnelled. The orror is ascribed to Italian workmen employed in the tunnel, who are accused of •having deliberately . removod a signpost erected by the engineers for the guidance of tho navvies. , It is reported from_ Paris that a German . has' made extensive purchases- of land in the Island of Brehat, off the coast of \Brittany, particularly in the vicinity of tho citadel. It is feared that the Germans may acquire the whole of the island, on which is is intended to establish a French' torpedo station ,ahd the Government will be asked to take measures to keep it in French hands. \ SEPTEMBER 14. The conditions which France and Spain propose as preliminaries to the official recognition of Miilai Hafid's succession to the throne of Morocco aro set forth in a joint Noto presented to the Powers. They begin with tho assertion of the articles of the Algcciras Convention, to which Mulai ' Hafid has already' signified his assent.. Among other and not less important conditions are the acceptance of the debts of the Maghzon or Mooriph Government as •represented by the Sultan Abdul Aziz and his Ministers; compensation for losses incurred by the troubles of Casa Blanca; disavowal of the holy war which tho supporters of Mulai Hafid have preached since the beginning of the insurrection; and guarantees for the security of internal communications. Assurance on these points will bo awaited before the Powers givo their assent to Mulai Hafid's formal recognition as' Sultan. The British Government has notified its acceptance of tho* Note, and ■it is understood Germany will do likewise. " The Mother of the Forest," the biggest tree in tho world, is now lying a.nugo charred log in the midst of the Calavaras grove of Sequoias. This grove burned for a couple of days during a great fire which has devastated California forests. The " Mother of the Forest" was 450 feet in length. . . SEPTEMBER -15. Dr. Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer, today arrived at Simla. During his two years' travels in Tibet he has not suffered a single day's illness and has used no medicines, though he has been absolutely isolated: He travelled over four thousand miles mainly in Western Tibet. Ho lived on anything he could procure on the spot, and neither smoked nor drank liquor. Tho ■ cost of his journey he estimates at over - £5000. He stated that he had exhausted his • resources, but'had mado valuablo discoveries which would be important to Great Britain from tho strategic point of view. He arrived in the sphere of civilisation ' dressed as a Tibetan lania, but secured some garments and linon from' the Moravian mission at Poo. He spoke Yarkandi during most of his journey, arid described the Tibetans as most friendly, adding, how■ever, that the orders regarding foreigners were most strict. Ho was therefore obliged to burn all his clothes and English boxes and conceal his maps in sacks of rice.

Our New .York correspondent te]ls a startling story of an attempt to assassinate President Cabrera,, of Guatemala, l>y means of a bomb attached a telephone. At a given moment the private telephone of the President''rang. Ila' had ao sooner placed

tlio instrument to his oar than the wire ignited an infernal machine, which ex- , plodcd with a deafening lioiso. Senor Cabrera was Hung against the wall, stunned, and badl,v bruised. Five Salvadoreans have boon arrested on suspicion of being implicated in the plot. Orders were given for thoir execution, but they were reprieved at the last moment and deported on board the City of Para, which has arrived at San Francisco. SEPTEMBER 16. I Afternoon tea in the clouds promises to become a popular function with the fashionable "sportswomen" of I'aris. So attractive lias ballooning becomc that a new' aeronautical society, the Fominii Club Aeronautique, lms just been founded. Its object is to orgftnise trips in the clouds, and the membership is confined to women. Among the best-known aeronauts' hi Franco is Mine. Surcouf, wife of the' distinguished aeronautical engineer. Slie lias a long record of ascents to hor credit, and has travelled many hundreds of miles ill tlio air in all sorts of weather. When friends call upon her, Mme. Surcouf "frequently takes tlieni for an excursion in one "of "her husband's balloons, and instead of having tea ; at" home they take it in cloudland while sailing through space two or three thousand feet above the ground. The wearing of skirts which sweep the ground is to be forbidden in Prague. General Joubert, .the well-known loader in tlio South. African ..war, is now in New York advertising" for" recruits to •• fight against President Castro in Venezuela. A considerable number of applications have already been received, and General Joubert says he is confident that the force he will be able to take back will be of great assistance to tlio revolutionaries. Mr,. Roosevelt's "big stick" lias triumphed; At the Republican State Convention at ' Saratoga, Mr. Hughes was renominated as' the party candidate for the Governorship, , This marks the end of the rule of the "bosses" in' New York State. SEPTEMBER 17. , The sum of £3,200,000, wrapped in "prize packets,", was distributed recently to the guests of Mr. and Mrs. "William Sinser, of Pittsburgh. The occasion was the golden wedding of the aged couple, and the fortunate guests wero their children, Mr. William Henry Singer, jun., an. artist; Mr. George Sinner, a budding "Steel King" ; Mrs. William Ross Proctor, wife of a Philadelphia architect; and , Miss Marguorito Singer, who lives at home and devotes her life to charitable work.

According to a roturn just issued by the Chinese Customs service, the population of China is 438,214,000,. The estimated number of foreign residents m China i 5.60,852, . of whom 2862 arc Americans and 9205 are British, The German : civil ongineers, railway engineers, and Kurveyors-'who loft-Berlin in the summer under the leadership of Horr Mackensen to undertake the preliminary survey of the new "section of the Bacdad Railway from Bulgurlu to Aleppo, have now. hosun operations. The experts estimate that the cost of construction over the Taunus and Gaivourday Mountains will bo approximately £28,000 per kilometre. Tlio Republicans, have .won the Maine (Portland, TT.S.A;), election by a plurality of ' ! about 8000. Their plurality in tlio last Presidential year was 26,816. This is the smallest, Republican plurality during a Pre- \ sidential year, in tho last twenty-five years.