GENERAL CABLES.

New Zealand Mail, 21 February 1901, Page 21

GENERAL CABLES.

LONDON, February 13. Reuter’s correspondent states that tilie son of a member of the Moscow secret police committed suicide when selected from, a group of conspirators to make an attempt on the Czar’s life. Numerous arrests have been made in connection with the plot. Professor Marconi, by means of a mast 60ft high, has sent a-wireless telegraph message from St. Catherine's Point, in the Isle of Wight, to Lizard Point, Cornwall —a distance of two hundred miles.

The King and Queen will visit Copenhagen in March, after visiting the Empress Frederick and Emperor William. The King has made- the Queen a Lady of the Order of the Garter. Sir Francis Knollys has been appointed Private Secretary to the King, and General Sir Dighton McNaughton l‘rcbyn Keeper of His Majesty’s Privy Purse. *

At a meeting of butter agents and importers, the ITon H. Copeland, AgentGeneral for New South Wales presiding, it was resolved to urge the shipping companies to complete delivery of butter within .six days from the beginning of its discharge from the vessel. A committee was formed to carry cut the wishes of the meeting.

At the recent Parliamentary elections,

Mr John Barker, a Liberal, -was returned for Maidstone, defeating Mr E. S. W. Cornwallis, the Conservative candidate. Mr Cornwallis has now successfully petitioned against Mr Barker’s re,;urn. The latter’s counsel admitted that persons who were technically his cl"cut's agents committed bribery. Russia is largely increasing her Pacific fleet. An explosion at Cliitworth Gunpowder Works at Guildford, in Surrey, billed six workmen, the only persons in the building. Over twenty-five millions were subscribed for the new issue of eleven millions of Exchequer .Bonds. The tenders averaged ,=£37 5s 4d. The Hon Arthur Lawley, the new Governor of West Australia, lias been made a Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Lady Marjorie Cecilia Carrington, eldest daughter of Earl Carrington, formerly Governor of New South Wales, has been married to the eldest son of Mr C. H. Wilson, member of the House of Commons for Hull. Four hundred presents were received by the bride, including a magnificent diamond and turquoise brooch from the King and Queen. LONDON, February 14.

Lord Curzon of Kedloston, Viceroy of India, has oreated a new frontier province, formed out of four trans-Indus districts of the Punjab, with the tribal country beyond. The Admiralty has accepted an offer of Australian wine to be used in the christening of warships, in accordance with a suggestion of the South Australian Agent-General (Hon Sir J. A. Codkburn) that wine grown within the Empire should l he used on such occasions . MADRID. February 11. There has been continuous rioting in ■the city to-day. Volleys of missiles were thrown from windows and balconies, and numbers of the police were injured. Cries of “ Death to Caserta!’’ and “The Princess of the -Asturias must not marry!” were heard in the streets. The mobs were frequently charged. Many persons were wounded. A state of siege has been proclaimed.

The populace has Been equally violent in the provinces. The Carmelite Priory at Santander was sacked and sc-t afire, the Bishop’s palace stoned, and the windows of Carlists’ houses smashed. In a collision between gendarmes and the ■mob at Valencia, one person was killed. MADRID, February 15.

The marriage of the Infanta Maria de las Mercedes, Princess of toe Asturias, to Prince Charles, son of the Count Oa-sert-a, of the Neapolitan Royal House, passed off without interruption. General Weyler, the Military Governor of Madrid, occupied the city with troops and took effective measures to prevent disturbances, a strict censorship being also observed. NEW YORK, February 14.

New York harbour is ice-bound, and terrible snowstorms have occurred in the eastern States.

The steamer Rhynland took seventeen days from Queenstown to New York. She was thirteen days battling’ against the high seas, and lost the blades of her propeller. Bli ITS 3 ELS, February 14. ‘The Belgian Chamber of Deputies has voted for the suppression of gamblinghouses, including those at Ostend and Sna. OTTAWA, Februaiy 14. The Empire League of Canada has passed a resolution recommending the formation of an Imperial consultative council for the purpose of arranging on early organisation of defensive forces. OTTAWA, February 16. A fire occurred in a colliery at Cumberland, Vancouver. Sixty miners are imprisoned. PARIS, February 13. Colonel Picquart, who was dismissed from the French Army for his connection with the Dreyfus case, has formally withdrawn his appeal for reinstatement in the service. PARIS, February 15. Extreme cold prevails in France. Several persons have been frozen to death in Paris. ROME, February 14. The Italian Cabinet is_ being formed by Signor Zarandelli, one of the leaders of the Radical party, who he'd office under the Marquis di Rudini m 1897. ROME, February 15th.

Signor Zanardelli has formed a Cabinet. Its principal members are : —Premier. Signor Zanardelli; Minister for Foreign Affairs, Signor Prinetti; Minister of War, General Martino ; Minister of the Interior, Signor Grolettij Minister of Marine, Admiral Morin. BERLIN, February 15. It transpires that the Empress Frederick, mother of the Kaiser, and eldest sister of King Edward of England, is suffering from disease of the kidneys. Dropsy has- supervened, and the physicians now but strive to postpone the inevitable.

ADELAIDE, February 14. Good rains, which were much needed, have fallen in the Northern District. SYDNEY. February 14. Mr John Higginson, a, prominent member of the New Hebrides Company, is new on a-visit to Sydney. In an interview, he said ho did not think there was any chance of France giving up the New Hebrides for an adequate concession elsewhere. He denied that the French were using unfair means to acquire land in the islands, and claimed the right of the French Government to their possession on the ground that the French were settlers there, and the

English merely traders and preachers. The New Hebrides were practically a French settlement, and it would be best for everybody that they should be under the French flag. He suggested that it should be made a condition of annexation by France that she should adopt an “open door” policy. Another batch of Japanese have arriver here, en route for New Caledonia, to work in the nickel mines. SYDNEY, February 16. The Mararoa and Sonoma arrived today from Auckland. The steaming times are given as follows : —Sonoma : 3 days 3 hours 45 minutes. Mararoa : 3 days 7 hours. The weather was fine and bright, with a smooth sea until Friday morning, when it became thick and rainy, with a moderate south-east wind. SYDNEY, February 17. The Sonoma beat the Moana’s record for the trip of 3 days 4 hours. The new vessel did 425 miles on the first , day and 430 on the second day, averaging 17jr knots throughout. The Mararoa steamed 396 miles one day.

NEWCASTLE, February 15. . The local trimmers have rescinded their decision not to work after six o'clock on Saturday night. They will work till midnight, but demand double pay for this shift.

PERTH. February- 14. Mr Clement Wragge, the Queensland meteorologist, has returned from his visit to Europe. He attended the International Meteorological Conference at Paris, and also collected valuable data elsewhere.

BRISBANE, February 1-1. The half-yearly meeting of the Queensland National Bank was held to-day. The chairman stated that repayments of deferred deposits to the Government had been made to the extent of £117,000, though the first moiety was not due until 1917. The sales of securities had been the largest recorded. The prices were most satisfactory. BRISBANE, February 17. Mr Barnes, the Ministerial candidate, has been elected for the Bulimbo seat: in th e Legislative Assembly, rendered vacant by the death of Sir James Diekson. MELBOURNE, February' 11. The Mount Lyoll returns from January 10th to February 6th, inclusive, show that 20,276 tons of ore were treated in addition to 6167 tons of pm-chased ore. The converter; produced 6551 tens blister copper, containing 674 tens copper, 47,6240 z silver and JOofioz cold. The Postmaster-General (Hon W. Gurr) is in communication with the Queensland and New Zealand Governments with a view of forwarding a combined message to tlie Pacific Cable Board suggesting that a joint purse undertaking should be entered into between it and the Eastern Extension Cable Company.

Mr Gurr states that if the total receipts of the Australasian traffic were pooled in this way the Pacific Board word receive one-fourth and the Eastern Extension Company three-fourths of the revenue, which he thinks should prove satisfactory to both.

The “Age” says that by the refusal of the Government to accept the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company’s contract tlie colony is penalised by over £50,000 per annum by having to pay the old cable charges.

Already one agency, it says, is doing a large business sending cables to Sydney and Adelaide, whence they are redirected to London, and another agency is being formed for a similar purpose. Edward Nash has been sentenced to death for the murder of his wife by shooting her in December. The report of the Australian Widows’ Fund shows that the new business for the year totalled £637,627, and the premium revenue £167,000. The report foreshadowed a satisfactory bonus ror the quinquennium terminating in October next.