THE HUTT RIVER.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 99, 28 April 1909, Page 5

THE HUTT RIVER.

PROPOSED EXTENSION OF BOARD'S DISTRICT 4 public meeting to consider the question of extending the present River District is to be held at the Taita School at 7.30 p.m on Monday next. Yesterday Mr. Robert Stevens, chairman of the board, with the consulting engineer, Mr. Laing-Meason. M. Inst C.E., made an extended inspection of the land which it. is proposed to bring under the River Board's control, and they examined the rivev bank, and the overflow channels from which danger is apprehended. The recent very heavy flood in the river made it an easy matter to observe the height to which the flood waters had risen, and the chairman was strongly impressed with the seriousness of the situation. The flood mark made it very evident that an overflow had taken place into an old river channel about a mile northward of the Taita Hotel, and this old channel was traced from the river bank to the point where it crosses the main road near Mason's Gardens. In the early days of settlement, this channel was the main branch of the Hutt River, and in times of flood it carried a very great volume of water into the Waiwetu River and inundated a large area of land in the lower valley. Should this occur again, and experts say it is quite possible, disastrous results would follow, and all the work erected by the board in its own district would be outflanked and rendered useless. It was observed, also, that much good land is being eroded by the river in every flood, and if the proposed new are*i was brought under the control of the board, all this loss of land would be prevented. After his inspection of the -ground, the chairman was strongly of opinion that, both iv the interest of the settlers in the area proposed to be included in the River District, and of the lower valley, the suggested extension of the district should be given effect to without any delay.

The Police Provident Fund Board has granted pensions to Constables Flewellyn, of Christchurch, and Lloyd, of Piclon. The Cologne Gazette of a recent date says that in German South-West Africa diamonds have been recently found along the coast as far as Roast Beef Island This point lies about 150 miles from Luederitz Bucht and 75 miles from the Orange River The opinion is gaining ground in the world of science that the origin of the South-West African diamonds is to be traced to the Orange River. In the course of a long-departed period of the world's development diamonds must have been washed downstream from alluvial deposits, ttbirh may perhaps be found in the area of the source of the Orange River, and gradually rolled along to the* places where they have now been discovered. About fifty miles south of Luedentz Bucht is a small English enclave of land with mining right*, around the old silver workings of Pomona Diamonds were also found bore recently, and the attention of German speculators was thereby attracted to the spot. "It is satisfactory to know," the journal adds, "that these ancient British rights have now been acquired by a German syndicate, to wbieb the Gibeon Gesellschaft find flovera" Govnuu juiuing compuiiieß belong."

ACCESSION OF THE NEW SULTAN. ARTILLERY SALUTE. (Received April 28, 10 a.m.) LONDON, 27th April. A report dated Constantinople, 2.30 this afternoon, states that the firing of artillery announces a change of Sultan. SHEVKET'S ULTIMATUM. TREATMENT OF DEFENDING SOLDIERS. GARRISONING THE CAPITAL. TEMPORARY STATE OF SIEGE. SxVLONIKA, 27th April. The local leaders of tne Committee of Union and Progress announce that Shevket Pasha, the commander of the Constitutionalist forces at Constantinople, issued an ultimatum, prior to the capitulation, in which he announced that defending soldiers of the First Army Corps who had been actively engaged in the massacres in the city would be sent to Yemen, in south-west Arabia. Those guilty only of complicity would be employed in the construction of roads in Macedonia, and neutrals would be incorporated in the Third Army Corps. * Shevket Pasha also demanded that Constantinople should 'be garrisoned by sixteen highly-disciplined battalions of the Third Army Corps, which should be quartered in the Raniz and Tschiitlik barracks outside the walls. Their duty would be to support the police and gendarmerie in maintaining order in the city. The present police, tne ultimatum required, should be replaced by gendarmes and police from Macedonia. It was also announced by Shevket Pasha that a state of siege would be maintained until the Chamber of Deputies passed the following measures :—: — Association Law. Press Law. Public Meetings Act, and Suppression of Vagabondage Law. FLIGHT OF SAID PASHA. ABDUL'S GUAEDS. OFFICERS ARRESTED AT EBZEROmi. (Received April 28, 10 a.m.) CONSTANTINOPLE, 27th April. Said Pasha, the reactionary son of ICiamil Pasha, ex-Grand Vizier, is a fugitive. The Sultan's personal guard, after their surrender at the Palace, were conducted, roped together, to the headquarters of the Committee of Enquiry. Soldiers at Erzerouni, in Armenia, ar rested fifty of their officers. LOSSES OF ATTACKING FORCE. TEN THOUSANDS ARRESTS. SURRENDERS AT SCUTARI. CONSTANTINOPLE, 27th April. - Three hundred Constitutionalist troops were killed during the fighting on Saturday. All were buried, with great ceremony, in one common grave. The arrests effected in the city now total 10,000, including several high officials. The " Ikdani," which supported Kia- | mil Pasha, the ex-Grand Vizier, has been suppressed, and the editor has fled from Constantinople. Four thousand of the defenders of Scutari have surrendered. Hadi Pasha, acting-commander of the Third Army Corps from Salonika, presides over the court-martial at Constantinople. It is stated that refugees from ConConstantinople are pouring into Athens in large numbers. 'Jflio Swltao's povKonaJ guard ( uarmst. ing of two huatod KujUier^ vyith a.

body of servants and secretaries, surrendered on Monday afternoon, after Shevket Pasha had trained numerous guns and massed troops at all approaches to the Palace. MINISTRY RETAINS OFFICE. | FOR A FEW DAYS. ! CONSTANTINOPLE, 27th April. ! The Senate and Chamber of Deputies held a joint secret sitting yesterday in Stamboul, and resolved to ask the Tewfik Ministry to remain in office for some days longer. The Ministers acceded to the request. THE SULTAN AT HOME. Abdul Hamid's position under the Constitution has not been so pleasant as it was in the old days of absolute rule. The new regime began by cur- ■ tailing his civil list, which was further I reduced early this month to £270,000 a year, Ifc is openly stated that before the reform days the Sultan drew from the Treasury annually an average of I £7,000,000. 'Of this sum £4,000,000 was for upkeep of the Sultan's state, a term which includes the pay of the army of spies and parasites maintained under the old Hamidian system. The two regiments of Albanian and Syrian bodyguards drew pay from this source, and all special rewards came from it. It may be said that £3,500,000 of the total was sheer waste, as £500,000 should be enough for the Sultan's upkeep of state. The rest of the expenditure was actively damaging the empire and preventing progress. The upkeep of the seraglio, a State institution independent of the Sultan's individual inclinations, which is located in .the old seraglio palace, in Slamboul, was said to cost £3,000,000 a year. There are between 7000 and 8000 inhabitants in this famous building, the larger portion of which comes down from the days of Constantine and the Byzantine emperors. In the palace is concealed the family treasure of the Ottoman Sultans, to which every Sultan must make an annua l contribution, a common custom with Oriental sovereigns. The treasure is only to be used in a desperate crisis. It also contains a priceless collection of mediaeval arms and armour, and it is believed that the old Byzantine imperial library, Kept in the palace, is still extant and practically intact. The estate and grounds occupy the end of the peninsula on which Stamboul is built, the washing thiee .it the four sides.