HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS.

North Otago Times, 27 October 1906, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS.

mSILUISION® ABBHCAII ; taluei. TWacquaintance ripened into, affection, and eoofl "am to! The pair were married, and came Europe to spend their>n6ymoon. The, husband represented lnmselt to ue tne Sn d distinguished Europe an, husband had called himselt. Ihe e a scene, and the climax came a few (la o ago when the husband disappeaied fi° n the hotel At present his whereabouts Lot be ascertained. There may be. of courso, no connection between ; incidents, but it so happened tha a gie ; deal of the lady's jewellery and hei i.paic cash'disappeared about tk6 | 6 f I m ® i }" l \ 1 ' n J On August 21 the distracted lwfe, un j ahlo to bear the suspense longer, ©mt a, cable to her relatives informing them ot tho sorrowful ending of the honeyinoo.. Meanwhile the police are seeking eveij , I where for the N iiii£6ing husbantl. ;

A NEW RUBBER FIELD,

Tho Governor of tlio Seychelles, a, group of islanik north of lladajsttswi > . iu Lis annual report litis to record ft dtclino iu the revenue owing no only to ciFought but to the continued. decline in; the value of vanilla, tlio principal source of the wealth of. the colony. On the other hand, a gleam of hope i« forthcoming in the'report of the curator of the Botanic Station, who innu'att.; that the group affords a t good fiekl ior rubbor growing, there being 6000 acia; available. , ' 110 writes:-"The planters near.y all admit now that this plant grows well, and it is n pity that they did not come to this conclusion at an earlier date, a>i they were recommended to do, beta)®tlio rush of rubber planting in Ceylon since 18M will probably lead to' greater difficulties in obtaining seeds from that Colony, The eoil and the climate of Seychelles are evidently favourable to thegrowth of Para rubber, which thrives even in latcrito soils whore no otlier plants aro at present growing, The best plants aro those which were planted in the so-called marshes of Seychelles, which are merely deep alluvial 6oils, being formed of tho surfaco eoil washed down from tho pools and accumulated on tho plateaux. Tlieae alluvial soils are uot sour, and they aro easily drainable."

WILD SCENES AT SANTIAGO,

The earthquake at Santiago on August; 16 caused far more destruction than tliej first reports indicated. All the telegraph i aud telephone lines were interrupted, j and tho town was for a time entirely! cutoff from the rest of the world.j Santiago resembled an encampment. Tho j public squares and the principal avenues I were crowded with peoplo sleeping in tho j open. The night of the 16th was render-! Ed dreadful by lightning and pouring; rain, by electric cables and wires 6nap- 1 ping with the constant strong shocks 1 which occurred all night, and by the: booming of the lire-bell, announcing! fires in various quarters. Each shock j was followed by tho wails and prayers; of people kneeling in tho rain and mud.' Tlio first great shock lasted 4 miuutesi 50 seoonds, Bells rang in steeples and; pictures swung out from walls owing to' tho heaving motion, Experts stato thatj tnc only thing which saved Santiago from' complete ruin was the fact that themotion was circular,

As at Valparaiso, escaped convicts and' others started to rob the dead and plunder tho houses. Telegrams of August; 20 said 25 of those wretches had been' shot out of hand. Disturbances broke out at the Santiago slaughter-houses, owing to tho rise in the price of meat. One, person was injured. Troops had to resforo order. The peoplo were determined not to purchase meat'at tho price fixed Uy viie 'butchers. Tho mayor took the nefcessary stops to punish abuses, and establish meat depots, Tjio police were in possession of food ami rations, mul committees had boeti appointed by tho i Government to distribute public relief.. The hanks - restricted the operations of j their clients, ■ '

Caseis of pereoiig goiiig mad through! the earthquake occurred, A furious! fanatic, dressed in red, ribbed through! the etreots, eayiiig that he was the Son j of God, and announcing tlie approaching] end of the world. Many people, owing I to the great nervous 6traiu which'they! had already undergone became alarmed.! The police arrested the madman, and| had great difficulty in preventing thei crowd from lynching him. 1 Great alarm was occasioned at Santiago on August 20 by a report that the American Observatory had announced that a terrible catastrophe would take place that night, The inhabitants in consequence' again slept out in .the squares and in farts, The origin of'the scare was a ro-| port that .the black flag had been seen on the , American. Observatory at Ccrro, San Cristobal, accompanied by the sound of the siren, indicating danger. The police jutlioritiea themgelvee gpread the panic,

NEGRO HUNTED BX A THOUSAND ' •MBN. '

A young , Eondonpr, Miss Ethel Law-1 rence, on. a visit' "to her bp>tkerin a suburb of Atlanta,. Georgia',< was the! victim Monday of a ferocious assault i by an unknown negro. With her four-' teen-year old niece' she was gathering! ferns near the house, when she was

■attacked, The piece'succeeded iii escaping and brought help, but when it ar-j lived Miee kwroase was,'found in anj ;Rwful condition, Ilev right eye was, .goiigeSMilit, her right arm broken, her I 'iioso bjtton off, and she sas otherwise shockingly maltreated. % , The neighbourhood $ was immediately aroused, to fury, and within a few hours 1000 .men, armed and separated into small poshes, were' scouring the' country in!, every direction, vowing to lynch the; negro if thoy caught him. The girl's in- j juries and : the condition of the ground indented thai she made such desperate resistance that it was "certain herassailan? oore marks enabling his identification. Tills assault is tho fourth caso of the kind lvhicTi lias occurred in a few nioiulis in Atlanta alone, ; A negro named Jieed was arrested and charged with tho assault on Mis«}' Lawrence. The gaol was strongly guarded, to savo Reed from being lynched; i 3TK -HOOSBPELT'S. CAMPAIGN ' AGAINST TRUSTS. ;

A telegram from New York on August 20 reviews a letter recently written by President Roosevelt to ; Mr J. E. Watson,' a member of Congress for Indiana, Tho President says host amis unequivocally for a protective tifri/T. However, Mr Roosevelt says, the question of revising tho tariff etanclß wholly apart from dealing with tho Trusts. Tho only way to deal with monopolies and great corporate wealth'is action along the line of tab laws enacted by tho present Congee® mid its iinmcdin'to predecessors, Tho President refers to the opposition to tlvo ratification of tho San Domingo treaty, which secured tho water through which tho route of the Panama canal leads, and to tho efforts to delay the actual work on tho canal, and endeavours to show how essential it is that •peqplo. should uphold those members o{ Congress who liavo effectively championed tnis work.

•Instead enacting anti-Trust laws! which are'either so vague or so sweep-1 ing us' Completely to defeat, their ownj objecis. Congress has given the coun.-. Fry ail inter-State commerce law which' will _ enable it to exercise in thorough] feshion supervision over common carriers. 1 reviews and approves tho ■ measures taken to secure certain rights; for wage-workers, including the eitiploy-! cl ; s' liability law and tho eight-hours'; law. ; . ; I In conclusion tho President praises the attitude of Congress in continuing, to build up the navy, The country, ; ho says, is irrevocably committed to the i maintenance of the Monroe doctrine and] to the principle of defending and policing the eiinal route. J MANCIIURIAN CUSTOMS QUES- ! TION. Telegraphing on August 15th the "Tinies's" Peking correspondent said: Tho problem in Manchuria is so tangled that ekill and patience will be required'to unravel it. Viscount Hayashi has begun negotiations with Wai-ivu-pu. America is impatient for the establishment of Customs at Dalny and Autung

ami on me uussian trontior. cimia, insists that the question concerns herself alone, that she cannot be expected to create Customs stations on terms unfavourable to herself, and that there is no need for hurry. In 6pite of reports to tlio conlnviy, China ling made no serious approaches to Russia with regard to Manchuria, evidently thinking that there will be time enough to arrange with Russia' when an agreement has been come to with Japan, who, on the contrary, urges (hat the engagements, especially with regard to Customs, should be simultaneous.

In Hie case of Dalny I lie Customs ai'-: raugemejit' expected was one based on : tho Kiao-chau agreement, by which Jn-; pan would have the advantage of retaining 20 per cent, of the import duties, lint: China objects on the ground that the i whole Customs staff would then be Japanese as the whole of the staff at iuaochau is German, but all the powers would disapprove such an arrangement, The alternative arrangement is one based on the agreement between luissia and the Teung-li-Vainen of May 22, 1898, This provided for the establishment of Customs at Dalny for the appointment cf the Rtrsian South and Manehurian Railway Company, as agents of the Koard of Revenue, to collect the duties and remit tlieni to Peking. , The Russian South Manclmriau Company lias been succeeded by the Japanese South' Manehurian Railway Company,' The latter says that Japan can take over tUo Russian obligations and- collect the. duties at Dalny.and remit'then! "to Peking;' such procedure being in 'pursuance of the agreement which provided last December that "in regard to Dalny, the Japaneso Government will, so far as circumstailoes permit, conform to the original agreement between China and Russia." . China, however, objects that, inasmuch as the Japanese railway company will consist of merchants interested in importing their own manufactures into Manchuria {ho collection by them of the duties payable by 'themselves lias obvious (iisadvantages.

As legards North Manchuria, the agreement between Riissia-aiul China of September 8. 1896, contains a mandatory clause—"China must establish Customs stations at two points where the Russian railway crosas th© frontier." Viscount Hayashi, therefor, when notifying the Wai-wu-pu that his Govern* went were prepared to make arrangements to establish Customs at Dalny, intimated that at tho Game time China must fulfil tho above undertaking at the Russian frontier.

An-'tung is nominally open, (hough it' 1 is still'in Japanese military occupation.; l A staff, however, lias been appointed! 1 and is awaiting orders to proceed to pro- i ' vido a good site for the Customs. At j present it is occupied by the military,; but China fondly hopes that all land j : there in military occupation will be re-, stored. Much, however, cannot be surrendered because'a largo.area will be needed for the accommodation of the Ja'panese garrison, consisting of the main ] ib'ody of 1,500 troops—ls por kilometre— j : which Japan will retain as guards to j 'protect the An-tung-Mukden Railway, j ■All negotiations regarding Manchuria; iara complicated by the fact that whoever I holds the railway holds Manchuria, ana J 'as the treaty permits 15 guards per kilo- j motre Russia will have 27,550 and J»- j pan 14,675 troops along their respective? railways after the military evacuation is > completed. I Pending the settlement of the Customs | question in Manchuria it is only cquit- j able that Niuchwangt whero British m-, terests are great, should be placed on a I footing of equality with the other ports. in Manchuria, the Customs there being i suspended so long as at other ports there j are no Customs. j BRITAIN'S NAVAL STRENGTH,, j A statement issued by Lieut. Carlyon : Bellairs, M.P., says that, in roply to his • protest' concerning the omission of one. Gorman battleship fioia the comparative ■ return issued by the Admiralty on the; adjournment of Parliament, Mr Edmund ■ Robertson' lias oxpre t 3secl regret that a clerical error" amounting to 17 per cent.; should have been in the ships i laid down or projected in Germany lor; the three years, 1905-7. . The return was designed to show the, relative strength of countries according to the age of their first-clacs battleships. "Tlio results are somewhat remark-, able," says Lieut. Bellairs, "for whereas ■ in vessels 23 years or lees Great Britain lias twico ns many as Germany,' it' the older vessels are excluded and only 13 years old or less are enumerated (a period roughly synchronising with the improv- : ed armour), Franco and Germany comliined .have a superiority of four battle- • ships, and tlio United States and Ger-; many a superiority of 11 battleships. "C'ompared with Germany alono, Great Britain has a superiority of only 13 battloships, Witon vessels which will bo eight years old in 1937 are enumerated, Great Britain lias 18, as compared with 16 for Germany, 16 for the United States, and 112 for France. "It will be seen that Great Britain's, position gets steadily worse as old vessels . I are discarded. The inclusion of old so-; ; called firstjclaes battleships in the Bri- ! tisli fareo is seriously questioned by lia- | val oxperts, in view of the fact that all j tlio British vessels over eight years old ■ have no protection for the waferlino exj crt amidships. Against such vulnerable. targets foreign nations could use with. ! great effect their superiority in second | and third class battleships and coast deI fence which are not enumerated in tho | return.-'MorningLeader."

TOWARDS 'SOUTH AFRICAN FEDERATION, A movement iB on foo 1 , in Natal in fa-: vouv of complete union with the Trans-' vaal, by which Natal would secure the Transvaal's trade and the . Transvaal would ee;uro ita..own. hailiotir, ■ and o'co - heavy British vole. There is marked

Tendency 111 both colonics to isolate Cape Colony, it being nsserteir that theCapoV fecal and raijjvny prejudicial to the Transvaal and Natal. The relations between Natal and 'the "Cape are .particularly strained,: wving, to; .Hie! Cope's adjustment of railway rates in order to retain tlig inland .trade .claimed by Natal, 1 It is now announced at Biomfontein that Natal is .'obstructing the Kimber-ley-Blomfontein railway, the construction of which wm.regarded as. finally Bettied ten days ago. The position ij becoming such, that a round table conference of the colonies seems ' inevitable.— "Times." , .

DETERMINED WOMEN SUFFRAGISTS.

Votes or no votes, (says the "Daily Chronicle"), the woman, suffragists had without doubt, the best of it yesterday (August 19), at a great demonstration in Hydo Park, Some six thousand Londoners fell under their influence, and at times were moved to syrowtliy.by their oratory. To grant women the vote,' the crowd might have said, to, of course, too absurd, but there was -no denying that truth lurked in some of the utterances. In wit and ready repartee Mrs 'Pankhnrst, as chairman of one platform, was mom than a match for her hecklers; and at the other platform her daughter. Mici? G'hristobel Paukhurst, pluokily "stood to" tlio rough-and-tumble, that obautw in mast open-air nicotines. "■You men reformers," said,'lira Panklinrst, "dare not face ridicule. Ridicule kills you. But we are not so felf-con-scious. You tell us we're hunteiyrafter notoriety. That is not true. Wo do but realise—as you don't, or refuse to do-how miserable is the' condition of our poorer sisters. "We are going to get the vote and wo will get it this year. And, if not then', then we will outdo the Charists!

"We women have to be moral and .puro for the whole of the community.' Tho conditions avo such that there is no security for maternity. Wo are going to get a living wage for all women. Piccadilly-circus tells you what becomes of those our sisters ground down by the shameful industrial sj'stcm. You—you men-will nover settle this question of vice." While Mr Pethrick Lawrenco was seconding a resolution a man called out, "■Jou ought to kn'pw better." "Bring him here," cried Mrs Pankliurst, and immediately tho crowd waa in uproar. As it 'subsided Mrs Pankliuifil; shouted out, "Will you come here, sir?" and the interrupter at last made his way to the edge of the waggon, where lie remained more or less during the rest, of the meeting, "We are not like Members of Parliament," said Miss Keuney-"we do things." And the crowd laughed. '.'To-morrow," she continued, "I am going to Bolton to carry on gome meetings'; there, and perhaps I may return at thej head of 96,000 women in our union. It! is against my nature to fight, but I must, whatever may come," I A telegram was read from Mrs Priseilia Bright McLaren (the only gurviy* ing sister of John Bright), now, ninetyone years of age. ' In the course of'the message the venerable old lady counselled the agitators "to show their courage aiid their persistency by constitutional means, by speeches and demeanour such as would win the sympathy of those who Were against them." .* "I 01106 asked' your dear father, Richard Cobden,' continued the message (it Was addressed to Mrs Cobden Sandersou), "if lie approved of giving women th 6 suffrage, He replied that it was constitutional. Certainly taxation and representation should go together/ Mrs Sparborough, one of.the Holloway "prisoners!" described her cell aa a peaceful haven where she was perfectly happy. She took a pride in cleaning the place, she said, and it was sweet and. clean, with God's sunshine streaming iu through the windows, yet she lost her "marks" through not cleaning it to suit the warders, RAND LABOUR MONOPOLY BREAK. ING UP. . Asa result of the action of the Home Government in enabling the llobinson group to recruit labour in Mozambique, l the other groups (says tlie Johannesburg correspondent of the "Daily Chronicle"), have become dissatisfied with -the restrictions of the 'Native'Labourlion combine, and.the associatiott haß j, been compelled to grant .the right to re. j emit individually over-"* South " :' Africa, i except the Transvaal .and iilie eastioast. ■ TluV means that' the combine •'formed j after the war to control the native, sup*' ; ply, and, aa popularly believed; to limit it in order to obtain Chinese on the plea of necessity,, is breaking '..up. The. sue-' itiW of the recruiting for the llobinson group on the east coast is fairly assured. Tnii Mine Workers' Association is recruiting a thousand natives a week from sources other than the.east coast, and is supplying groups other than tho llobinson. , ' / (

The general result will be to augment th'e'native supply.and to.assist tho Home Go/eminent in its anti 7 Chineee policy. Thin is duo to the action of thp Homo Cabinet, ns Lord .Selborno was oppoeedl at every step to the' brenkiug up?of tho monopoly controlled by ihe Chamber of Mines. Tliiis ako proves the contention tabled to you thai the Governor h'zealous in maintaining Hit ChinKi' system wOifch iliot'iwiitu the liome Government and renders difficult the attainment of its objects.

Loyal action on the part of the administration could do much to further thcoe obicctti by ren:onng obstacles now put in the way of the opponents of Chineso' labour, who. arc handicapped in their work of converting public opinion before the. elections,

Lord Selborne, though constantly making speeches, lm6 net made any announcement of the Homo Government's policy regarding Chinese aiid what it invofveej.■ Itence there' is' general ignorance on the subject.

A MAD SAILOR AND HIS HIFLE, A remarkable tragedy occurred on August 17, lit Poterefiehl. Hampshire, a bluejacket, who had suddenly become do-, monted, firing a _ rifle many times nt yaseoiie-by and killing a woman. Ho then .escaped to the open country, and in order to effect his capture it became necessary to firo at and wound him. The sailor was Joseph Bnrbage, attached to H.M.S. Nelson, who had gone to tiio Tipnor ranges in ordei to do hia clegs firing. Instead of returning to his thip ho walked on to Peteretield, a market town about twenty miles north of Portsmouth, which he reached abont four in the afternoon, • When in the centre of the town liurbage raised. his*.musket and fired, and a' bullet ciiino whizzing near n pedc. strain. Tho sailor reloaded his weapon and fired again. Panic-stricken at finding an armed madman in their .midst, the people in the streets flo.J in alldiioctious, many taking refuge in the shops. The sailor fired nino ball cartridges altogether, and, unfortunatelyi one haci fatal effect, When near the railway station he took. deliberate aim at a woman, who fell to i'lio ground wounded in the thigh. She was carried to tho local cottage hospital, but decile tlm medical attention' ohe tkro received, died within an hour. The woman was Mi's Treble, of Lymington, who' had been visiting £0:«e friends at Wei Meoii, a couple of miles away, and was making her way to the station to re-' turn home at the lime of the tragedy. llr Aldridge, tho Liberal agent for]&?c Hants, who was cycling near the railway station, had a narrow tscape, a bullet just grazing one of his knew. In almost every case .the.sailor dropped on his knee to firo. A roldier name J' 'White, of tho 2nd Lancashire Regiment, had tho back wheel of his bicycle smashed as lie was riding. The 6ailor came up to within two yar<|e of a man named flard. a builder, and told him to stand back, as lie" was too near, liard remained firm, and fixed his eyes on the tailor; who then turned away. A farmer named Warren saw Burbage just; after Mm Treble waa shot. The rifle was pointed towards him, but the. sailor said. r 'Paeu ou, I won't hurt you/' an invitation. naturally soon acted upon. ' Several persons were injured, but not seriously. ' Finally the sailor, who was in uniform, made off along the Winchester road, still firing at frequent intervals. A number of policemen arid some civilians, armed with various weapons, went in pursuit. ..and soon overtook him. The pursuers, ; however, were chary of venturing too .near the madman, Then one oi the i party, lir Goldsmith, on miftioiiter. fired. twice at the sailor, (ind 'dtf'bled hiui by ' wounding him in the leg. . . ■ ; Bnvhago was then haiidtukoJ. and cart having-been obtained from a neigh- : bourinK fanner, he .»•« driven to ?«!«»• field Police. Station, where h:s lnjufyi ' which'" wis" not' of.'a serious char#«t«, was medically treated.