A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 217, 10 June 1936, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

The Habsburgs

Archduke Otto von Habsburg, contending thgt the time is opportune for the restoration of the monarchy to Austria, says he could concentrate all forces in the country because he derives his title from no single group. Habsburg is the name of the family that ruled over the empire of AustriaHungary until 1918. Members of the family were German kings and Holy Roman Emperors from 1438 to 1800, and kings of Spain from 1516 to 1700. The name Habsburg, or Habichtsburg, meaning ‘‘hawk’s castle,” was taken in the eleventh century from the family seat, a castle near the junction of the Aar with the Rhine. The first great Habsburg was Rudolph, who, in 1273, was chosen German king. Wresting Austria aud Styria from the king of Bohemia aud giving them to his Own sons, he began the family’s long connection with Austria, in the fifteenth century the kingdoms of Hungary aud Bohemia were secured for the Habsburgs by marriage, aud remained under their rule until 1918. With the death of Charles VI the male line of Habsburgs came to an end in 1740. The existing Habsburgs are descended from Maria Theresa, the daughter of Charles VII aud her husband Francis of Lorraine. A grandson, Francis 11, was the last Holy Roman Emperor, aud the first to call himself Emperor of Austria. About this time the family increased rapidly in numbers and iu the uiueteeuth century there was a bewilderiug number' of archdukes. In 1859 the Habsburgs lost Tuscany, but in Austria-Hungary Francis-Joseph, iu spite of several humiliations, was still Emperor and king when he died in 1916. His grand-nephew Charles, however, lost all in 1918. Prince Otto

Frince Otto, the eldest of seven brothers and sisters, lives with his mother, the ex-Empress Zita, iu Steenoekerzeele, in Belgium. The Prince speaks Hungarian, German, French, Spanish and Italian well, but English haltingly. At the University of Louvain, in Belgium, he has earned a reputation as a serious student, receiving the highest possible marks when he passed his second year examinations. Some time .ago he said: “If the Austrian aud Hungarian Governments call me, I owe it to my house to accept, but I will not consider returning at the head of a faction, aud thus causing civil war.” Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Foot-and-mouth disease, referred to in a leading article in yesterday’s “Dominion,” mainly affects cattle, sheep, and pigs, though other animals, and humans, are also liable. It is very contagious, spreading from one animal to another with great rapidity. As a rule, adult animals are not fatally affected, but large numbers of the younger ones may die. The cattle, however, lose condition, and the milk of affected cows must not be sold. The symptoms are those of a fever, with eruptions occurring in the mouth or feet, or both; hence the name. A thick discharge issues from the lips. Strychnine

A trapper in the lonely Fitzmauricecountry in the Northern Territory of Australia, is supposed, before he died from spear wounds inflicted by aborigines, to have poisoned flour with strychnine causing five deaths. Strychnine, a white crystalline powder, almost insoluble in water, and with an intensely bitter taste, is obtained from certain trees. Taken in certain proportions under medical advice it stimulates the heart and assists breathing. But it is also a deadly poison. When a poisonous dose of strychnine is swallowed an intensely bitter taste is perceived. The person soon becomes restless, and has feelings of impending suffocation. These . symptoms are rapidly followed by twitching of the muscles and jerking of the head, passing on to general convulsions, often of great violence. The hands are clenched, the limbs thrown out, the head jerked back, and the whole body becomes stiff. The convulsions recur, and are followed by relaxation. The contraction of the muscles of the chest prevents breathing, and ultimately the patient dies. Lille

Lille, where the strike in France was very bad, lies on the river Deule, in flat country, 155 miles by railway north of Paris, and 66 miles south-east of Calais. One of the greatest manufacturing towns of France, it is a fortified place, and military centre of importance, and the seat of a bishop and a university. It is a busy railway and canal centre. There is a large export trade through Dunkirk and Calais. During the Great War, Lille was in German hands, and was one of the main strategic objectives of the Allied armies, who refrained from shelling the town because of its great importance to the economic life of Northern France. The inhabitants, however, suffered severely during the occupation; industry was at a standstill, and requisitions and deportations were carried out on a large scale. The destruction of machinery and of railways during the retreat of 1918 held up the revival of .manufacture for a considerable time after the end of the war. Stockton-on-Tees

Two doctors, officials at Stockton-on-Tees, following an examination of local conditions, have published a book showing the higher proportion of deaths among the poor than the well-to-do. Stockton-on-Tees is a seaport in the county of Durham. It stands on the Tees, four miles from its estuary, and four miles from Middlesbrough. The chief industries are shipbuilding yards, blast furnaces, ironworks, foundries, machine shops, and glass works. There is some shipping, coal being exported. Stockton was made a borough in the fourteenth century. The population is about 68,000. Conditions in Durham county have been very bad for the last four or five years as a result of the depression. League of Nations.

Mr. Stanley Baldwin, in an address at the Albert Hall, quoted the preamble to the League of Nations Covenant, and said “those objects are still the aim of our foreign policy.” The preamble reads: “The High Contracting Parties, in order to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war; by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations; by the firm establishment of the understanding of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments; and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised people with one another, agree to this Covenant of the league of Nations.”