GENERAL CABLES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1514, 7 March 1901, Page 48

GENERAL CABLES.

LONDON, February 27, In the House of Lords the Marquis of Salisbury, at Baron Avebury's suggestion, consented to the appointment of a committee to inquire into the hours .of labour in shops, though he repudiated the responsibility of accepting the decisions of a committee of the Commons. In the House of Commons a proposal to apply the closure to the debate on the Address-in-Reply was. agreed to by a majority of 219. Seven fresh cases of plague, including two affecting Europeans, have been reported at Capetown. The majority of the cases have been traced to rats. King "Edward will leave Kronberg on Saturday. His visit has greatly cheered the Empress Frederick.

The Duke of Connaught has been made First and Principal Knight Grand Cross and Great Master of the Order of the Bath, in succession to the Prince of Wales, who as King now presides over the Order.

The Ogadyn Somalis on the 19th attacked a British zareba at Sannasa, m the East Africa Protectorate. They wore repulsed, losing 150 men. The British had seventeeTi killed, including Colonel P. J. Maitland, C. 8., of the Indian Staff Corps. English has been made a compulsory subject of examination for French public appointments. It has also been introduced into the curriculum of the German day schools, and as an optional subject in commercial schools in Russia. Sheffield firms believe that the American steel combine will not affect highgrade and best carbon steels, but may possibly injure English girder and bridge work. At the by-election for the. Stretford Division of Lancashire, Mr C. Grippe, Unionist, was elected by a majority of 1297, replacing Sir J. W. Maclure, Conservative, deceased. Sir J. Maclure’s majority at the recent general election was 2653.

The Pacific Cable Board has adopted a resolution disapproving of the agreement between the New 'South Wales Government and the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company. LONDON, February 28.

Owing to the apathy of the Capetown Corporation the Government has undertaken the suppression of the plague. The Yaje and Lick observatories in America, and the Coburg observatory, all report that the new star Nova Persei, is diminishing in brilliancy. The Queen . Victoria Memorial Com-

mittee has decided that the memorial . shall be of a personal and monumental character. The King lias approved the proposal. The Supplementary Estimates tabled in the House of Commons include two millions for army remounts. In the House of Commons a Bill in - troduced by Mr J. Yoxall, member for . Northampton West, providing for an eight hour day for miners, has been read a second time by 212 votes to 199. Sixty-five Nationalists supported the measure.

LONDON, March 1. The British regular army is to be increased to over 300,000 men.* The cavalry will be armed with rifles.

It is stated that Mr Scliwabe receives the enormous salary of a hundred and sixty thousand pounds per annum as manager of the steel trust. A strong force of friendly tribesmen has been sent to supplement the Indian troops who are preparing to suppress the mad mullah who is raiding the An-glo-Abyssinia frontier. Details show that the attack of the Ogadyn Somalis on the British zareba at Samasa was very fierce. Three sides of the zareba were rushed simultaneously, and a comer near the field hospital was broken. After a desperate struggle the Somalis were repulsed, losing 250 men. The British loss was forty. The expedition which was sent to punish the Ogadyns for the recent outrages has returned to Affmadu after a fight. The Army Estimates for 1901-1902 total £87,915,000,~~and provide’ for an effective force of 450,000 men. They provide for the maintenance of a permanent army of 220,000 men. the remainder of the effective forces being regarded as temporary forces on account •of the war.

The Estimates include £58,230,000 for war services, with, the* cost of reparation and gratuities to the relatives of the killed and wounded. The Estimates are based upon the calculation that the army in South Africa will be kept at its full strength until the beginning of August, and will then be gradually diminished. The increase of £414,000 provided l for the! permanent services 'ncludes £250,000 for the militia reserve and £150,000 for the new system of consolidated bounties. Substantial provision is made for the reorganisation of the Army Medical Departments, and for pensions to the widows and children of thosel who have died as a result of active operations. George Parkor, alias Hill, tne ex-sol-dier who on January 17th murdered a farmer named George Pearson in a London and South-Western railway carraige at Surbiton, and at the same time shot and severely wounded Mrs King, a widow who was travelling in the same compartment, has been sentenced to death. A wave supposed to be of volcanic origin swept the Atlantic liner Teutonic near the Newfoundland coast, lnjuiing sailors who had taken refuge in the crow's-nest. . ' . X 1„ An announcement is made that the Marquis of Headfort is to be married to Miss Boot©, of the Gaiety Theatre. L lhe Marquis ate of Headfort is an Irish peerage, but the holder of the title sits in the House of Hards asi Baron Ken,lis. The present Marquis succeeded to the title m 1894, and is in his twenty-third year, and is a lieutenant in the Ist Life Guards.] The petition brought by Sir Wilfrid Lawson against the return of Mr J. S. Randles for the Cockermouth division of Cumberland has been dismissed with costs* William Maxwell Evarts, tbe celebrated United States lawyer and politician, is dead, aged 83. OTTAWA, February 28. English operators employed at St. Pierre and! Miquelon, Newfoundland, in connection with French cables, have been

notified that they must take the oath of allegiance to France or leave. The notification has caused much surprise, since neither place is a naval or military base. OTTAWA, March 3. The Canadian House of Commons, by 125 votes to 19, has adopted an address to the King, praying for the elimination from the coronation oath of expressions offensive to Roman Catholics. NEW YORK, February 28. The capital of the American steel trust consists of three hundred million dollars in bonds, four hundred., million dollars in preference stock, and four hundred million dollars in common stock. The victims of the Diamondville mine disaster numbered twenty-six. BERLIN, February 27. The census taken throughout Germany shows the population to be 56,345,014. -At the census of 1895 the population was 52,246,589. BERLIN, March 1. An electric tram-car in Berlin nearly collided with a carriage occupied by the Kaiser and Kaiserin. PARIS, February 28. The Chamber of Deputies has adopted a Bill providing for death duties ranging from 1 to 18}- per cent. CONSTANTINOPLE, March I. Owing to an agitation being fomented in the Turkish province of Macedonia by Bulgarian committees, Turkey is concentrating 50,000 troops on rhe border near Kostendil, south-west of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. WASHINGTON, .February 28. The Cuban Convention has virtually conceded the demands of the United States Government,. recognising, Its right to intervene, sliould occasion arise, to preserve the independence of Cuba or to maintain good government. Despite vigorous Democratic opposition, the United States Seriate, by 55 to 27, adopted an amendment to the Army Estimates giving President McKinley control of the Philippine Islands. ST. PETERSBURG, March 1.

The Russian Council of State has rejected a project for the Russification of the Finnish Army.

OTTAWA, February 28. The Legislative Council of Newfoundland has adopted a motion agreeing to renew the modus vivendi with regard to the French Shore until December. Several members declared they would never again renew the agreement. SAN FRANCISCO, February 27.

The mail steamer Alameda, from Sydney, was befogged on her arrival off San Francisco on the 23rd. The passengers protested against the delay, but when they heard of the disaster to the City of Rio de Janeiro on the previous day, they presented the captain with a testimonial. * SAN FRANCISCO, March 1.

At the inquest on the victims of the wreck of the City of Rio de Janeiro, the jury found that Captain Ward, master of the steamer) and Captain Jordan, the pilot, had been criminally negligent. The Pacific Mail Company was also censured for employing a Chinese crew.

SYDNEY, February 28. The Wesleyan Conference Mission report, referring to the charge against the Rev Mr Slade, of Fiji, that he was carrying on a political agitation in favour of federation with New Zealand, said the Board of Missions had passed, a resolution that it could not see its way clear to comply with the request of the Governor of Fiji to remove Mr Slade. They would await fulller information concerning the charges! before taking further steps. The Wesleyan Conference, by 96 votes to 10, passed resolutions in favour of the consummation of Methodist union next year. H.M.S. Porpoise has sailed for Portsmouth. She will be replaced by the third-class cruiser Phoebe, now eii route to Sydney. Mrs McDonald, charged with murdering her infant at Alexandria, has been found not guilty, and ordered to be detained at the Governor’s pleasure. The man Baker, who was charged with wounding of BrihJ bane, with intent to murder, on the night of the Commonwealth inauguration, has been found guilty, with a recommendation to mercy, on the ground of the wrong which he considered he was suffering under. , Baker made at statement that Toomey got him sentenced in Queensland, although he knew he was innocent. The death sentence was passed. A cablegram has been received announcing Hie death in London of Mr James Huddart, founder of the Cana-dian-Australian Line. The State Redistribution of Seats Committee has recommended the disappearance of eight electorates in the country and one in the city, and the creation of six new electorates in the suburbs of Sydney and .three in the country. The land secured at Ulu, in New Britain, for the Wesleyan Mission industrial settlement is fifteen hundred acres in extent. The chief idea is to evangelise the natives employed, and then make the work self-supporting. The German warship Mo ewe has sailed for New Britain.

SYDNEY, March 3. Promises totalling £50,160, of which £34,000 has been paid in cash, were received towards, the Wesleyan Century Fund of £50,000. The owners of the N.G.L. steamer Munchen, wrecked at the Caroline Is-

lands, have cabled that it is not known yet whether the steamer can be saved. The Kaiser has given orders for the German warship Cormorant to render assistance at salvage work. The Full Court to-day granted the application of Arthur Coningham, the petitioner in the Coningham divorce suit, calling upon a city bookseller to show cause why a writ of attaenment should not issue against him for contempt of Court for publishing a pamphlet commenting upon the approachiug re-hearing of the Coningham divorce suit. , The revenue of the State for tne mst eight months, including February, shows an increase of £532,000 as compared with the previous year^ The steamer Khona takes 4500 tons of wheat for Bombay. M. McDonald broke the Australian pluntoim record, covering 68ft 7An. ° SYDNEY, March 3

Sir William Lyne has been informed that two thousand ,of the four thousand rifles ‘ordered by the Government have been shipped to Sydney. Sir William Lyne does not think that the Pacific Cable Board's condemnation of the New South Wales agreement with the Eastern Extension Company will have much effect oil the State Government. He considers that Victoria should have adhered to the arrangement between the two States. A magnificent meteor was witnessed iu the western districts. As it traversed the sky it developed a blaze of light, accompanied by a rushing sound, arid then burst, with a flash of blue and red fire lighting up the whole heavens, BRISBANE, February 28.

The Rev A. Hutchinson has been elected president of the Wesleyan Conference.

BRISBANE, March 1

A case of plague has been discovered at Pinkenba, near the mouth of the Brisbane River. The authorities are reticent in (lie matter.

[Pinkenba is a suburban township oil the north bank of the Brisbane River, near its entrance into Moreton Bay. Iz ist .connected with Brisbane by rail. There are large meat works at Pinkenfca. and also a wharf at which vessels cf deep draught are berthed.] PERTH, February 28. The Hon H. B. Lefroy, Minister for Mines, has accepted the position of Agent-General in London, in succession to Sir E. H. Wittenoom.

ADELAIDE, February 28. Over thirty thousand persons witnessed the proclamation of the King and the review of the* Imperial and local troops by the Governor, Lord Tennyson, yesterday. ADELAIDE, March 1.

Specimens of ore containing 65 per cent, of lead aud 17 ounces of silver to the ton have been brought to this city from the Mount Rose district, in the far north.

The prospectors have secured an extensive area, and will commence forthwith to open a mine.

The Britannia sailed for Fremantle to-day. Several soldiers of the Imperial Representative Corps were left behind.

MELBOURNE, March 3. The Victorian Agent-General has cabled that the Pacific Gable Board considered the agreement between New South Wales and the Eastern Extension Company prejudicial to the Pacific scheme. The Board recommended to Mr Chamberlain that a conference of the Governments interested be held to discuss the effect of the agreement. The' Agent-General suggests that he should! see Mr Chamberlain and urge that Victoria should be placed on the same footing, and permitted the same concessions as New South Wales. Then, in the event of-the proposed conference being held, its decisions would apply to Victoria equally with New South Wales.