CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume C, Issue 11751, 1 December 1898, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

FRENCH INTRIGUE IX AFRICA.

There is every probability*: that the article'published inj the “ Contemporary Review,”, to which reference is madei 4-rt avu-t* Anlnnvn'3 filiiSl 1

in. our cable caflimns tnisj looming, has more than one grain, of truth; in it. The writer, we learn, alleges*that in! 1896 France entered into plots with the; Abyssinian Emperor Menelik, and' theKhalifa, to establish ports-on the Nile and. obtain! the Balir-.el-Ghazal' territories. Major Mar-1 chand was not by. any meansthe firstFreneh- j man to lead expeditions into British terrh-j tory in Africa. Dr R. W. Felkin, who is; one of the best authorities on Soudan ques- ■ tions, was recently interviewed- in London,; and the Fashoda-qnestion was*naturally the: main subject of conversation. “Egypt,”; he said, “ occupied Fashoda in. 1839,-and M. j Marchand has only followed the-example of that other emissary of France, M. Olivier; Pain. When we were fighting the Mahdi, | Pain fitted out an expedition to help him.] It is-true that the French Government dis- : avowed Pain,, and that when he eventually| reached Omdurman- be said he was sent by! the. French people and not by the Preach! Government. That his mission was a.hostile; one, we know, because he was intercepted! at Assouan, and turned bank, but he nevertheless eluded the vigilance-of the Egyptian; officials, and ultimately reached the Mahdi.; Marchand was really trying the same game. Dr Felkin was, of course, positive that-tha; Bahr-el-Ghazal belonged to Egypt. A por-i tion of it had been leased to-the Congo Free' State during the life of King Leopold, but! the territory had previously been organised! and .administered by Egyptian-officials, and! with the overthrow of the Dervishes- would I naturally fall again under thexule-of Egypt. : Ho thought that the immense-watershed of. the hill must be the natural boundary be- ; tween the British and tire French, spheres; of influence. The French, with- their right of pre-emption over the Congo State, not unnaturally, perhaps, looked upon the territories of King Leopold as coming within their sphere, but they ought ,to be confined' to the Congo watershed, that river being the natural outlet for all the merchandise of the French and. Belgian territories. If the French had obtained a, footing in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Egypt would have been deprived of the richest prize of the-Soudan. Full accounts of the terrible disaster which, recently, visited several of the islands in the British West* Indies, give us a dear idea of the wholesale devastation caused by the cyclone. In Barbadoes 11,426 labourers’ dwellings were destroyed and 260 injured. By the lowest estimate £45,000 will bo required to re-housa and relieve the destitute people, and thid sum the colony has no means of providingThe islands of St Vincent and Bcquia were clean swept by the storm, and few houses in towns and villages escaped destruction. In Kingston alone, the loss is set down at £14,000. The destruction of houses,-canals, labourers’ huts, crops, live stock and wharves was enormous, and reaches a total loss of £139,500, besides a further loss of £51,000 in churches, schools and other public buildings. The desolation was beyond description. and the utmost effort was required to save the inhabitants from starvation. In St Lucia the effects of the hurricane were not so great as in the neighbouring .groups, but extensive damage was done to crops and plantations by a heavy rainfall, calculated to have been 19-J.in. in. twenty-four hours. Buildings, roads and bridges suffered enormously. At the Leeward Islands, which include St Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, and Barbuda, the wind inflicted severe destruction, though .its extreme violence had diminished by the time the storm reached that group. Roads were destroyed, towns inundated, and jetties were carried away. Twenty indies of rain "were rerecorded in twenty-four hours at Nevis, Mcfntserrat was particularly unfortunate. as it was still feeling fiha effect of the storm of 1836. Great damage was done to roads and property throughout the island, where the previous distress has now been intensified, and there are no local funds available for giving relief. The small island of Anguilla, .which, had just previously gone through a disastrous drought, was a severe sufferer from the gale, numbers of houses being destroyed, most of the fishing-boats and fish-pots wrecked, and the inhabitants reduced to a state of helplessness. The-experiencoof Barbuda, another small island, was just as unhappy. The fund opened by the Lord Mayor of London for the relief of tho -West Indian

THE WEST INDIAN HURRICANE.

sufferers, haS'ieached about £45,000, which falls very far short of the amount required, 'and the Imperial Government has expressed Its intention, of making a very substantial •grant in aid.: A Liverpool firm offers the ipatriotio suggestion, as a practical method for helping the distressed, colonies, that no cnashould use any other than cane-sugar. If ithis suggestion were adopted, it would maitonally assist the islands in re-establishing their staple industry, and m averting the min that is threatened by the competition df bounty-fed sugar.

jIAPiKBSU SHIPBUILDING.

One of the most interest- _ dn<* features in the phenomenal advance made byJapan is the progress of her n nin _ T-inilrl inrf inrhistrv.

amp - Dmicung inauswy, whicb has one of its chief centres at (Nagasaki. The docks and shipyard at that port are now owned by the powerful Mitsu ;Bisbi Company. Forty years ago small imsohanical engineering works were first started-ior the-manufacture of engines withijjx very small limits, principally from technical drawings and with the aid of such foreigners as were then allowed to land in ithe country. The Government took over itho works ten years later, and introduced '•British engineers and ship-builders, with complete.machinery and tools. A great expansion of the industry followed, and a graving dock, capable of accommodating •the’'largest steamers, was constructed; and las tire establishment gained a high reputation, full advantage was taken of the facili-ties-provided by slops of every description and' nationality, from first-class cruisers to trading-coasters. Many small steamers for the Japanese trade were built and entirely fitted out in the local dockyards. The ’Mitsu Bishi Kaisha acquired the works in 1884, and made immense additions to the ’estahlislanent. The large dodk previously ; hailfe by the- GiOvemment wps lengthened and a smaller * one- added. Machinery of the latest type was introduced, and the works, ds a whole, possess at the present time the 'largest and mod; complete plant for shipbuilding and,marine engineering to be found : in the East. Vessels up to 510 ft in length ban enter the‘huge .granite dock, which has a depth of water registering 26ft 6in at 'ordinary sining"tides, with a width of 80ft. j ■The smaller dock. lias a depth of 22ft and a ibreadthvof 53ft, There is also a slip capable of-taking vessels of 1200 tons dead weight. A railway-runs through the works, where am-also to be found a locomotive crane, hydrauHo gear, sheer-legs with an 80itoxi lifting capacity,, besides all the other innumerable mechanical appliances indispensable to the constmctdon and outfit of. ■modem ships. Nagasaki has one of the best harbours in the world, and is much !'frequented, by 'foreign ships of war. Its (value in the event of serious complications arising in Chinese waters is not lost sight of by the British Government, and probably has a great deal to do with the friendly re-Lmons-ihat now' prevail between Japan and the Mother Country.