NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15063, 9 February 1911, Page 2

NEWS OF THE WORLD.

The following information has been supplied to Australian newspapers employing the independent cable service :—

LONDON, January 29,

The British steamer Georgian arrived yesterday at Fayal, one of the central group of islands of the Azores, having in tow the cargo boat British Sun. This vessel had become disabled through losing some il the blades of her propeller, and was towed by the Gcorgina a distance of 800 miles.

Upwards of £14,000,000 is to be spent on the improvements of the port of Lon--don. The works will' be of an extensive character, and in accordance with" a scheme to which about 15 months' consideration has been given. In the report that it has just 'ssued the Committee of the Port of London, to which the subject was referred, recommends that the channel from Tilbury to London Bridge should be dredged, and that the part used by larger vessels should be widened to 1000 ft and deepened to 30ft. The committee recommends also tho construction of three new docks at Tilbury, covering areas of 55, 126, and 138 acres respectively. Further proposals are that the existing docks should bo'enlargedanil deepened, and the entrances widened to/make, them capable of accommodating the largest vessels already built or that are projected.

; The fondness for feminine society manifested ;by the • German Crown Prince threatens to get that young gentleman into domestic difficulties, iieynolds's Newspaper to-day hints at trouble as already having occurred between the Prince and Princess because of the lormerV: partiality' for ladies, especially those of the young and beautiful variety.. It is said 'that during his late Eastern tour Prince William, who is now in his 29th year, was particularly enamoured of an American girl, of about 17, whom he met aboard the steamer Prince Ludwig on the outward trip. Reynolds's declares that the Crown Princess is curtailing the number of fancy dress balk given at the heir-apparent's palace, simply because the Prince is a little too attentive to his lady guests.

January 30.

Society circles in New York are pleased at the announcement that the Duchess of Roxburghe (formerly Miss May Goelet, of New York) will be one of the' four peeresses who will hold Queen Mary's canopy at the Coronation. The legal battle for the possession of Hawley Crippen's estate began to-day, when Theresa Dunn, a half-sister of Mrs Crippen, filed a claim. The property left by the Camden road murderer'is said to be worth £2000.

The United Stales Consul in Hongkong, Mr Anderson, declares that no change in the Chinese Empire within the next'loo years will become more complete than that which is being effected ■ by the extension of the railway and steamship transportation. He adds thatHhe Sunning railway, which has been constructed by China alone, is a standing example of what Chin-, ese .effort and talents will accomplish for China in the future.

The civic authorities propose to acquire the anarchist quarter in Sidney street, the scene of the recent sensational battle-,' and to make a complete transformation of tho place, as was done with the criminal district near the Strand, on which the Wal-dorf-Astoria Hotel now stands.

It is estimated that 16,000,000 persons will benefit by the insurance scheme against invalidity which the Government will enact during the coming session of Parliament. Insurance against unemployment is to he mado compulsory at the outset in only the building, engineering, and shipbuilding .trades, and will affect about 3,500,000 workers, The scheme of insurance for those who.become disabled by any infirmity will' be made compulsory for all persons between the ages of 16 and 70 whose income is less than £160 a ycar. The details, however, have not yet been made public, although tho main lines on which the scheme will be carried out are well known. The friendly societies have opposed certain features of the proposed arrangements, and until these bodies and the Government have come to an agreement it will be impossible to arrange the details.. It is explained hat- cards will be issued to which stamps will be affixed every week. When a workman is discharged he. will take his card to the nearest Labour Exchange, which will either find him fresh employment or pay him benefit money. LISBON, January 29.

The announcement was made yesterday by Senor Michado, the Minirtr" Foreign Affairs, that the decree ior ration of Church and State would be promulgated within a month. Senor Michado added that the Government had nevertheless conveyed to the Vatican an expression of its regret that there was no Papal representative in Portugal, where the faithful were so numerous.

January 30.

The Government has decided to pay ex. King Manuel a monthly pension of £60, and a cheque representing the payments for the last quarter of 1910 h;is boon forwarded to the young monarch now out of business.

GENEVA, January 30.

A strange phenomenon was witnessed yesterday in the Emmenthal Valley, where 15in of black snow fell over a large area. Scientists are of opinion that the die-

coloration of the snow is due to ashes having been blown over the sea after the recent eruption of Mount Etna.

PARIS, January 29.

During the Budget debate in the Belgian Chamber of Deputies yesterday the Colonial Minister, referring to the Congo State, read a report from a missionary, Dr Clarke, in which the latter declared that no traces now existed of the cruelties and injustices formerly perpetrated under the old regime in the Congo. Dr Clarke added that great changes had been introduced with a view to improving the lot of the natives, and that complaints had altogether ceased. .

HEREIN, January 29.

The success of Herr Von Lepel's singing spark system of wireless telegraphy seems to be assured. The Anglo-German Wireless Syndicate (Ltd.), in London, in conjunction with the Campagnie-GeneraJe Radiograph in Paris, has secured the rights of the invention, which it is believed wil be widely adopted in the near future. Lepel's arc system is a development of the Poulsen arc system,' which succeeded the ordinary arc system identified with the Marconi method.

Herr Werner, a well-known press correspondent, is responsible for the statement that the Kaiser hopes to bring about the signing ol an agreement by all the Powers of the white race to unite against the ambitious plans of. Japan. Man.\ Germans regard the recent conference between the Czar and the Kaiser as the first step towards a great European federation of all nations, each absolutely independent in its own affairs, and willing to submit all disputes with neighbours to an internationa' court.

January 30.

A remarkable tragedy is reported from the village of Senerchia. A man of the name of Dana to was suspected of'having murdered his father and his wife, because of their interference with his relations with a married woman. It is not actually known whether suspicion was justified, as Danato was not arrested and put upon his trial. His mother never had any doubt about his guilt, and determined to avenge the foul crime of which she was convinced that her son had been the perpetrator. With this grim determination-tho woman acordingly followed her son when he went to confession yesterday, and, stealthily creeping behind him, dealt him a fatal' blow with a wood chopper. The murderess was promptly seized by the local guards, and fierce fighting ensued upon, the villagers attempting to get her into their own clutches. The woman was finally'lodged in the town hall, which was then stormed by the populace. While the siege was i' - progress the ground floor of the building collapsed, precipitating all who were on it into a cellar. Everyone was more or less seriously injured, hit the- police succeeded in retaining the woman in custody.

ST. PETERSBURG, January 29.

Russia is using pressure to improve her status in Manchuria. At present sx- attempt is being made to force China to consent to the opening of a Russian Consulate in Kobclo, Western Mongolia, and thus remove an obstacle to Russian com'tnercc in that region.

TOKIO, January 29. . Dr Tatebe, of the Imperial University in Tokio, who Lately returned from a long sojourn abroad, remarked in the course of ah interview that the emigrants from most countries were finding their way to the United States by hundreds of thousands. The. Russians, Armenians, and Hungarians arriving in America were, however, of the lowest class, and the only features that distinguished them from European besgara were their youth and energy. "In these circumstances,"added Dr Tatebe, " the tendency of society in present-day America is easily imagined." NEW YORK, January 29.

With no more than £40 in her possession, Mrs Gilbert, well known in the .United States as authoress, musician, and dramatist, started from New York to-day with the intention of circling the globe. She had 'arrived hero the previous day Ircin her homo at GlenoUen, in California, and this morning sailed for Gibraltar. Tho remarkable journey on which the lady has entered is being undertaken as the result of a wager with Jack London, the famous novelist, that she make her own way round the world. Mrs Gilbert is the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer in Buffalo, and could, if she desired, indulge in the most luxurious travel. She intends to visit Australia, and during her journeyings she will give mandolin and guitar concerts at tho different places at which she calls. In this way Mrs Gilbert hopes to provide herself with all the funds of which she is likely to have any need.

January 30.

After five years' fighting in the law courts Harlan the millionaire lumberman in Atalanta, Georgie, to-day began a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment im--posed upon him in 1906 , Tho case against this wealthy criminal, with its shocking features, was a very sensational one. It was proved at the trial that the wliito labourers in his service worked as slaves under the strictest kind of surveillance. Armed guards and bloodhounds were constam-ly held in readiness to start off in pursuit of any wretched creature who might make a bolt for liberty, and although attempts to escape were frequently undertaken, the deserters were invariably recaptured and maltreated. Finally a giant Welshman, who had already made ono unsccessful effort to break away, for which ho paid the usual penalty, managed to regain his freedom. Information was then given to theauthorities of the conditions under which the ruffianly lumberman's employees were working, and a prosecution followed. Afta Harlan's conviction his lawyers suggested that a .fine would meet the case, but the presiding judge promptly declined to entertain such a proposal. By means of one process and another the .prisoner's legal representatives kept their man out of gaol" until to-day, when Millionaire Harlan had to quit his luxurious homo for a prison cell. The fellow was much concerned about his dignity, and begged to bo spared tho humiliating experience of being escorted to the penitentiary by an officer of the law. Ho was, therefore, allowed to go to tho gaol unattended.

WASHINGTON, January 29,

American papers have lately published a story to the effect that tie domestic

relations between King Alfonso and Queen Victoria had brought about the royal couple's estrangement. Senov Rieno, the Spanish Minister in Washington, lias, however, given the statement art emphatic denial. Ho declares that the relations between his Sovereign and his consort Ira of the happiest character,

LONDON, January 30.

Court circles are busy with gossip concerning some gay doings of King Alfonso, Spain's young and impetuous ruler. The scandal in which "the charming Alfonso," <is he was once dubbed, is declared to have involved himself is precisely similar to that which brought about the'downfall of that other youthful monarch, King Manuel. Like Portugal's erstwhile Sovereign, King Alfonso is said to be desperately in love with a pretty little French dancer, Mile. Ricotti, one of the most popular of all the' vaudeville stars in Paris. _ His Majesty, as the stories that aro_ being told go, has accompanied mademoiselle to several places. Quite recently he visited his inamorata in Paris, and after his return to Madrid he sent her a number of costly presents. It is all' this, of course, that is at the bottom of the slories regarding the domestic trouble in the Spanish Royal household and the estrangement of King Alfonso and Queen Victoria. One of the London papers today declares _ that ' for some • time past Queen Victoria has been prevented from leaving Spain only through political pressure by England, and the fear that by doing £0 she might lose the custody of little Don" Alfonso, the Crown Prince.