News In A Nutshell

Northern Advocate, 1 August 1938, Page 5

News In A Nutshell

The British Rugby team defeated Transvaal today by 17 points to nine. There was an attendance of 20,000.

Nationalist airmen practically razed the town of Falcet, an important Government communication centre between Gandesa and Tarragona, says a message from Barcelona. Forty people were killed and 130 injured, but hundreds are still buried under the debris of houses 180 of which were destroyed.

. Jewish organisations throughout Germany have been unified and federated under the leadership of Dr. Leo Baek, Chief Rabbi of Berlin. The plan, which was .approved, was possibly instigated by the Government with the idea of simplifying control by reducing the number of Jewish organisations.

Replying to Mr A. V. Alexander, in the House of Commons, Mr Oliver Stanley, president of the Board of Trade, said the question of the adverse balance of overseas trade was a matter which must give the Government cause for constant anxious attention.

Dr. Robert Broom announces the discovery of a fossil skull at Sterkstroom, in the Cape Province, South Africa, that is probably the most important in world history, inasmuch as, existing two million years ago, it is the nearest approach to man ever found among fossil anthropoids. The size of the brain is 600 cubic centimetres, and therefore is definitely sub-human.

A Hankow cable states that the Japanese encountered the main body of the Chinese on the south bank of the Yangtse, where severe fighting ensued. The Chinese claim to have hit several Japanese warships, sinking one. * * * A Tokio message says that a 24seater German air liner, planning a round-the-world flight, will leave Berlin for Tokio on August 8.

The Prime Minister, General Hertzog, said in the Assembly that the German-South African agreement of 1923 was not considered by Germany to prejudice her right to claim restoration of South-West Africa. The German view of the agreement merely recognised the mandate, but, on the other hand, the Union Government contends that Germany undertook to advise nationals to throw in their lotwith the South Africans and accept Union citizenship.

Navy Week opened at Portsmouth yesterday, and 55 warships, including the flagship Nelson, were open for inspection by visitors. The programme includes many vivid demonstrations of the navy at work, with 17 active service items, including aircraft attacks on a cruiser, and a night engagement between two warships.

Fine gold was quoted in London yesterday at £7 1/6 an ounce; compared with £7 l/6£ the previous day and £7 1/5 on Thursday. The quotation for silver at per fine ounce was 20 7-Bd, compared with 20 13-16 d on Thursday. * « * • .The Paris correspondent of ' the “Daily Telegraph” says that the Government has decided to My a 280mile underground pipeline to convey petrol from Milport and Donges, on the Atlantic coast, to Montargis, in Central France, in order to fill vast subterranean reservoirs to ensure adequate wartime fuel for the French Army and Air Force. ♦ m • • The Berlin correspondent of the “Daily Mail” says a decree has been issued proclaiming the left bank of the Rhine to be inaccessible to any foreign soldier. The military attache draws attention to the extent and speed of the construction of fortifications in Western Germany. Three hundred thousand men are estimated to be engaged in the work, creating a labour shortage in factories and in the building trade. * * * ♦ A census token by the Post Office recently of telegraph traffic, says a message from Rugby, revealed that roughly two-thirds of the telegrams dealt with business and one-third social messages. Nearly 9 per cent, of the total traffic related to fish, while fish, fruit and meat trades together accounted for 12 per cent. It is stated that of the social messages, almost 4 per cent, carried congratulations, and less than 2 per cent, conveyed bad news. # * ♦ « 1 A gold brick, valued at £2OOO, was stolen from the offices of the New Guinea Gold Company at Wau on Friday. New Guinea police, in an effort to prevent the thief from escaping from the mandated territory, searched the luggage of passengers by the airliner Carinthia, which arrived at Brisbane yesterday from Salamaua.

A London cable states that some 1700 delegates from 30 countries cheered when the Sudeten representative followed the Czechoslovakian representatives on to the platform at the 13th annual Esperanto congress, but the Italians did not fully participate in the opening of the proceedings, because they refused to appear on the platform on learning that loyalist Spain would be represented.

Italian shipping is suffering early disadvantage from the union between Germany and Austria. A German line has begun a regular service between Trieste and the Near East, leading to a further diversion of trade from the languishing port of Fiume, and forcing Italians to accept lower freights .and pay higher harbour dues in alien ports.