LATE MESSAGES

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 February 1937, Page 8

LATE MESSAGES

GUYMON (Oklahoma), Feb. 17. The third black blizzard, in three days raged here. Dust-masked farmers are prepared to throw up protective bulwarks for the clods on their low lands. Visibility is virtually zero, and automobile traffic is stopped. A cloud of powdery gray dust sifted over the Texas Panhandle, and reduced visibility to 300 feet in various places.

OTTAWA, February 17. Colonel La Fleche, Deputy-Minister of Defence, announced that medical students at the universities have been requested to study the treatment of poison gas. VANCOUVER, February 17. The Presbytery of the United Church passed a resolution to be forwarded to the Government and the Opposition, urging no armament vote, without a world peace appeal. MADRID, February 17. General Miaja has launched a powerful Government offensive in the Jarama sector. Twenty-two Loyalist bombing planes, escorted by a squadron of chasers, machine-gunned the rebel trenches, after which the infantry advanced, under the protection of tanks, and machine-guns compelled the withdrawal of the rebels, after three hours’ fierce fighting. The rebel cruiser Canarias collided with the Greek merchantman Eleni. Both were damaged.

JERUSALEM, February 17. The Lindberghs made a forced landing at Rutbah Wells, owing to a sandstorm. AUCKLAND, February 18. “I couldn’t drown. I floated like a coi k. This is what an elderly man, who was coaxed out of the sea this morning by a passing cyclist, said to tho cyclist. The man was later charged, in the Police Court, with attempted suicide. Sub-Inspector Fox said that a cyclist saw the man’s head bobbing up and down in the water, The cyclist inquired what the man was doing in the water. “Trying to drown myself,”

was the reply. Sub-Inspector Fox added that the man was persuaded to come ashore. He explained that he was feeling depressed, and wanted to end it all. The Magistrate remanded accused for one week, under the supervision of his counsel, who said that all the man wanted was a good holiday, to recover from over-work. PARIS, February 17. The first round of the Davis Cup, New Zealand v. China, will probably be decided at the. Stade Roland, Garros, on April 30, May 1 and 2. LENINGRAD, February 17. For his flippant attitude towards work, and serious defects in his organisation, the company has superseded 1. K. Kodatsky by Vassili Skestrakov, as President of the Leningrad Soviet. AUCKLAND, February 18. “Most bookmakers are sports, and if they are sports, they must accept the situation with equanimity -when they are caught. When they take on this illegal work, they should take their gruel when caught. They know the consequences, and it is only occasionally they arc caught. Big penalties seem to have little effect on them,’’ so said Mr. C. R. Orr ! Walker, S.M., at Police Court this morning, in fining Edward Byers, 41, war pensioner. £3O, for bookmaking.

LONDON, February 17. Sir Archibald Sinclair, addressing the Commons during the defence debate, said: We are faced with the possibility of a triple attack against the Empire in the Far East, the Mediterranean, and a knock-out blow at the heart of the Empire. We are entitled to know whether the Government’s policy is collective security, military alliance, or isolation. The vast expenditure on armaments must force up prices. The Government should satisfy us that it is taking effective measures to make these armament unnecessary. Enunciating the policy of removing the causes of armament. Sir A. Sinclair urged the Government to strive for the abolition of quotas, Imperial preference, and the restoration of the open door in the colonial Empire. He also urged the appointment of commissions to investigate the grievances of dissatisfied nations.