CABLE BREVITIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8631, 29 July 1891, Page 5

CABLE BREVITIES.

Bishop Selwyn has sailed for England. General Booth will arrive in Melbourne in September. The prospects of the English hop crop are excellent. ' . ' The railway men in London are agitating for shortened hours. The premium on gold in the Argentine Republic is 405 per cent. The death is announced of King Pomare, of Tahiti, Society Islands. , Stanley fractured his ankle, not his thigh, as previously mentioned. The death is announced of Sir W. B. Foster, M.P. for Ilkeston. The Russian Government will further consider the question of checking speculation in wheat. The adoption of the eighb hours' system on the English railways would cost eight millions per annum. By a fire at Dallas, Texas, 500 barrels of whisky were destroyed. The damage is estimated at half a million dollars. Eleven thousand acres of land have been purchased near Essek, in Hungaria, for the purpose of establishing a colony of Russian Jews. Hughes, an American, has challenged Rowell and Littlewood to contest a go-as-you-please match for the championship of j the world. A garden party has been held at Hadfiold House, the residence of the Marquis of Salisbury, in honour of the visit of the Prince of Naples. It is believed that the Governor of Tasmania (Sir G. Hamilton) will retire on a pension at the conclusion of his term of office, and remain in Australia. There have been heavy withdrawals of goods from bond in Melbourne in anticipation of a further increase of duties when the next budget is brought down. The New South Wales shearers have given way so far as to allow the Unionists to work with non-Unionists during the present season in order to bring about a conference. Rain in the north-west provinces has averted a famine, but throughout India generally there is scarcity of rain. The Indian Government has granted a sum of £10,000 for relief purposes. Mr. Henry John Atkinson, M.P. for Boston, Lincolnshire, has beon suspended for a fortnight for writing insulting letters to the Speaker of the House of Commons, and accusing him of altering the terms of his questions. » A conference has begun in Melbourne between the Chamber of Commerce, the Customs authorities, and the representatives of the Trades Hall to devise means to prevent and settle trade disputes. The first meeting was merely for the purpose of clearing the ground, and then adjourned for three weeks. '■