NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 December 1924, Page 11

NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL.

SPORT FOR PRINCE. CAPETOWN, Nov. 26. Ihe South African. Polo Association is placing four ponies at the disposal of the Prince of Wales during his tour. “WHEAT DEAL.”

TRICKSTERS’ £SOOO HAUL

_ LONDON Nov. 26. Confidence tricksters have made their biggest coup of the year by robbing a New Zealander, whose name is, given as 1\ H. Wilkineon, of £SOOO. U.nder the pretence that they possessed inside information on the Stock Exchange, they persuaded Wilkinson to embark on “a wheat deal,”’ and vanished as soon as they received the notes.

DIRIGIBLE BURSTS. AIRSHIP WRECKED. ■ - . NEW YORK, Oct. 10. Five men were injured in the United States Army dirigible TG2 when it was burst . by a bomb explosion oyer Langley Field, Virginia, to-day. The airship fell 150 feet so quickly that the crew were unable to use the parachutes. The fact that helium, a •non-inflam-mable gas, was used to fill-the balloon prevented a tragedy. CAT WAS AWAY. BURGLARS HAVE BUSY NIGHT. LONDON, Nov. 22. Burglars ransacked 25 offices on an “island” site close to .the Spow ; Hill police station, where the police were holding a concert. They “jemmied” the locks, splintered the desks, forced, the cash boxes and wrenched the backs off three safes.

A watchman gave the alarm, and the police surrounded the buildings. The burglars escaped without any booty.

UNRELIABLE SPIRITS.,

“NO CONTROL OF POWER.”

LONDON, Nov. 26. Mrs Deane, the spiritualist, has declined the challenge of the Daily Sketch to produce spirit photographs under strict supervision. ,She explains that she capnot control the power which produces photographs. The Daily Sketch denounces her as a spirit-monger, charlatan, and fraud, mentioning that she was formerly a charwoman.

Following the newspaper statements that the spirit faces in Mrs Deane’s photograph contained by. exposing plates at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day were the faces of famous living footballer’s and boxers, the Daily Sketch challenged -her to produce spirit figures under strict supervision, and offered .to give £IOOO to the Middlesex Hospital if she succeeded.

WOOL MARKET

HISTORIC COMPARISONS.

SYDNEY, Nov. 28, Twe.uty-fiye years ago this week greasy merino vyool realised in Sydney, described then as “the blue ribbon of tfie Australian . wool-selling trade,’’ and p,rices gen.era.lly were on a ‘ ‘higher level than had been touched for 28 were as high, but wool was then mostly sold in the “washed 1 ’ state. MT/dia./ Uralla was the top-priced line in 1899, and a Tasmanian clip brought These were regarded as phenomenal figures, which woujd probably never be seen again. The trade has none through many vicissitudes since those far-off days, but tire 1899 records held till the world war dislocated everything. Then came the appraisement scheme, which seemed like the millennium to wool-growers, and greasy wool sold in Sydney to 301 d. Once again the prophets cried, “Never again.’-’ And now to-day wool has touched in Sydney, and even 51$d in southern centres, and not a- few owners are disappointed that their wools did not go to 50d and over this week. The 1899 fleece recqrd for a wool, described as being “as near perfection as possible,” has been exceeded for locks this season, and for fleece wools it has been exceeded by 2s 6d per lb; The remarkable feature about today’s prices, however, is that the trade accepts them with the utmost confidence. Instead of the “never again” theory, a fairly general belief exists that the top point has not yet been reached. The compliment of a round of applause greets the-making of a record, but- the proceedings have not the electric thrill of that far-off 19£d record. Throughout the recent series, which terminated strongly on Wednesday, there were quite a number of sales at 48d to and some whole clips averaged 3s per lb, everything included. Between 40d and ‘ 48d a big volume of wool was sold, and some of the sales will average well over £4O per bale. The value of the wool already sold* in Sydney this season is approximately £11,000,000, and that of the Australian sales at somewhere between £24,000.000 and £25,000,000. The total Australian clip, if estimates of production are realised, will, at to-day’s prices, produce £75.000.000. as compared with £53.000,000 last' season, an increase of no less than £22,000,000.