NEWS BY CABLE.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 54, 8 January 1895, Page 2

NEWS BY CABLE.

HOME AND FOREIGN. London, Jauuary 3. The produce importers entertained MrPateson, of the Fresh Food Company, Sydney, at a banquet. In replying to the principal toasfc of the evening, Mr Pateson urged that the •bulk of the best produce should be shipped to London and not to the provinces. The days of big profits, he said, had gone by. No more directors have yet been appointed in Mr 0. E. Valentine's new company, and negotiations are proceeding slowly. The butter salesmen propose to call a meeeting to discuss, the disclosures made in Melbourne that the brands of well-known butter factories are being illegally used. They believe these false brands are partly responsible for the fall in prices. There were 54,600 boxes of colonial butter stored on 27-th December.

As compared with the year 1898, the total number of cattle in the United Kingdom last year decreased by 429,000, and sheep showed a decrease of 1,537,000 head. Beturns show that the number of sheep and cattle irr the United Kingdom last year was the smallest for many years past. The Earl of Buckinghamshire has joined the Liberal party. The Aberdeen Town Council proposes to place the liquor traffic under municipal control. Reports from Shanghai state that China does not intend to cede an inch of territory to Japan. Owing to lack of funds, China is unable to reorganise her army at present, but she hopes before long to be able to recapture Port Arthur. Negotiations .for peace have been postponed until the arrival of Mr John Foster, who is on his way from America to Tokio, Japan to assist the Chinese envoys in arranging the terms of settlement. It is thought that with Mr Foster's assistance there is less liklihood of the negotiations resulting in failure. Shanghai, January 4.

Severe fighting took place at Newchang on December 22nd, the engagement lasting for six hours. General Chung, who was in command of the Chinese forces, believing that he had been defeated beat a retreat, the Japanese at the same time retired to Haitcbing, the scene of the battle fought some days ago, whereupon General Chung again advanced and re-occupied Newchang. Moukdeu is in a state of anarchy. Ottawa, January 3. The body of the late Sir J. D. Thompson lies in state at Halifax, and was viewed by thirty thousand people. Constantinople, January 8. It is reported that an Armenian murdered the Governor of Bitilis in revenge for the recent outrages by the Turkish soldiers, and afterwards committed suicide. Sydney, January 3. The barque Drumcraig arrived off Newcastle to-day. She reports that one death had occurred from smallpox during the voyage, and that another case was convalscent. The vessel was ordered on to Sydney, where she will be placed in quarantine. In the southern districts the nonunionists formed a lodge, and the secretary, treasurer, and two members of the new organisation have now been dismissed from employment. The annual report of the Labor Bureau deplores the gloomy outlook for the future. Fully two thousand men are out of work at Newcastle, with the prospect of a general strike looming in the distance. The report urges the Government to proceed without delay in the construction of public works. The efficacy of the rabbit-proof fencing along the Queensland border is demonstrated by the fact that the country on the New South Wales side of the fence is in a deplorable condition, the rabbits eating every vestige of grass and dying in hundreds and thousands against the fence; while on the Queensland side the grass is in a flourishing condition, and scarcely a rabbit is to be seen. Melbourne, January 3. The Postal Conference will probably begin on the 12th of February. The two important questions for discussion are —the renewal of existing mail contracts, and the proposed discontinuance of the cable guarantee. By a fire in the furniture factory of Messrs Falsha Bros., at North Melbourne, damage to the amount of £SOOO was done. The insurances amount to £3600. Hobart, January 3. An important discovery is reported from Mount Jakes, on the West Coast, where a reef eight feet thick, and carrying gold throughout, has been unearthed. Another discovery of great value has been made at Mount Reed, in the shape of a rich body of ore, similar in all respects to the Mount Lyell discovery. The lode is twenty-two feet wide. When assayed it gave nine ounces nine pennyweights of gold, 124 ounces as well as a fair percentage of copper, to the ton.