A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 299, 14 September 1936, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

_♦ - King Zog of Albania .. ■■■—■ A plot, against the life of King Zog of Albania is reported to have been discovered. Albania gained its independence as a result' of the ‘first Balkan War, being supported by Italy and Austria-Hungary. The Powers recognised. its independence in 1913 and equipped the country with a foreign king. Prince William of. Wied, whp 5 was never, in fact;, able to establish his position In face of the intrigues: of the rival Powers who were scrambling for Influence over the country. He left the country in September, 1914. In. 1917 Albania came. under Italian protection., Ir 1920 a revolt broke out and a National Government, a rival; to a Provisional Government instituted, under the auspices of the Allies, .was. set ujl. At the head was Ahmed Zogu. In 1924 he was driven to resign and ’ forced, to fly from the country by aninsurrectionary movement He retired to Yugoslavia, where, with Yugoslav aid, he organised an army, invaded, the country and reassumed power. A .new constitution was adopted in 1915, with, Zogu as President In 1928 he •changed, bls status and became King Zog.. At’ the time of his return Zogu had been' inclined to rely upon Yugoslav assistance, but once established in powers he turned to Italy for help. Since, then, Albania has become practically an 1 Italian protectorate, thereby keeping’ in check: Greek and Yugoslavan designs 4 for the'partitioning of the country—the former taking the south and the; latter the north-and east The Tagus. The Tagus River, on which'navai, mutinies occurred, with a subsequent; bombardment of Lisbon, capital of’ . L’oi.t’iigal, is the longest river in the; Iberian Peninsula. It rises in Spain u die Sierra de Albarracin, winds past b/."do and Alcantara, forms for a miles the boundary of Spain ahd Portugal,' then crosses Portugal to its estuary near Lisbon. It is 565 miles Long, of which .192 are in Portugal. l It is tidal and navigable by large vessels to Santarem, 46 miles north-east’ of Lisbon. Rapids interfere with navi-c gation in Spain. Lisbon is on, the Tagus, 10 miles from - its mouth. .The' city is built on a succession of smalt hills. . Garhwal and Ganges. Garhwal, where huge landslides hava wiped out several villages, is a district of the United Provinces, India. • With an area of 4180 square miles, it extends across the Himalayas, and is chiefly a mountainous region. The cultivated area is small, and is principally devoted to grain crops. The chief trade is with Tibet Exports consist of grain, .cloth, ghee and chillies, the imports being wool, sheep and goats. , The district contains ' a number of shrines held sacred by the Hindus, and it is the centre of. a great pilgrim traffic. Garhwal was taken over by the British in 1814. The population is about 500,000. The Ganges, down which human bodies, carcases of animals and wreckage came floating, sc giving the first evidence of the disaster, is a river of India 1557 miles long.. It rises in two headstreams on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Not until it receives the Jumna, its most important tributary, at Allahabad; 670 miles from its source, does it become a noble river. On its way to the Bay’ of Bengal it receives several other large tributaries. Its delta, which begins 280 miles from the mouth, is of a most , intricate character. The Ganges Is navigable for 850 miles from its mou th. It is the most sacred river in India. Among the towns on its banks are Calcutta, Cawnpore, Benares, Allahabad: The vast) region embraced by the Ganges’ deltaiCj system is a flat alluvial tract of from 80 miles to 220 miles in breadth. The frontal region, or that part which fringes the ocean,.is known as the Sundarbans, a mass of continually shifting mud banks intersected by navigable channels, and notoriously unhealthy. At Benares;'74o miles upstream, the Ganges has a width of 1450 feet in the dry months, and nearly ■ double in the wet season. At 500 miles from the mouth it is a mile wide. In the wet season (May to July) the river rises 31 feet on the average, and the country overflowed is about 100 miles in width. Sheldonian Theatre. The Sheldonian Theatre, one of the most famous buildings at Oxford, de- ’ signed by Sir Christopher Wren, has been attacked by the death watch beetle. This theatre was consecrated , by Archbishop Sheldon (1669) at whose cost it was erected. Sheldon, who was Warden of All Souls, was driven out uhder the Commonwealth but restored in the reign of Charles 11. Later he be-, came Archbishop of 'Canterbury. The' death watch beetle is a small insect that burrows into wood, leather, and -even provisions. It produces a ticking noise by striking its jaws against resounding wood; usually the sound is the signal of .an insect to its mate. Superstitious persons view the regular ticking as a supernatural warning of death. Mauritius. Mauritius, where the term of the Governor, Sir Wilfred Jackson, has I been extended. Is an island in the Indian Ocean, 1300 miles from Natal It comprises an area of 720 square miles, having an extreme length of 39 miles from north to south, and an extreme breadth of 29 miles from east to west. The island is chiefly of volcanic formation, but is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs. There are several small chains of mountains, the highest peak being less than 3000 feet. The land rises gradually from the coasts, and the centre of the island is composed chiefly of a fertile and picturesque plateau varying in altitude from 1000 to 1800 feet. In the past the' Portuguese, Dutch and French had turns at occupying it, until Britain captured it in 1810, possession being confirmed to England Treaty of Paris, 1814. Its history has been a chequered one. cyclones, cholera, malaria, and fire causing loss of life and damage at various times. The population of about 400,000 comprises 70 per cent. Indians. (The Government consists of a Governor, with an Executive Council of 27 members, eight facing ex officio, nine nominated by the Governor, and 10 elected. Sugar growing is the chief industry. Italian Secret Police. It is admitted from Rome that the secret police have made many arrests of suspected Communists. This secret police organisation, which is apart from the ordinary plain-clothes detective force, is the Voluntary Organisa- ‘ tion for the Repression of Anti-Fas-cism. Nobody knows much about its organisation, pay, or members. But its presence and its spying and denouncing activities are everywhere suspected. Besides the secret police, the Fas•ist Militia, which includes about one . in every four of the Fascist Party, *is i especially relied upon to inform the Go--1 vernment of politically improper talk ami behaviour.