CABLEGRAMS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, December 4.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 13

CABLEGRAMS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, December 4.

The barq\ie Johannes, -which left Albany (Western Australia) on August 14 for London, has been abandoned at sea. All aboard were landed safely at Barbadoes. Silver, 2s 3£d per oz. Mrs Druce's appeal in connection with her claim on the Portland estates has been dismissed, the appellant failing to put in an appearance. December 5. j Sir Henry Tate, donor of the Tate picture gallery ; aged 80, is dead. Lord Justice Wright has exonerated the Lord Mayor of London and the other directors of the Industrial Contracts Corporation in connection with the charges made respecting the resale of grocery stores. A Reuter's message states that a body of Kurds have pillaged the Armenian village of Kestur, and massacred 300 of the inhabitants. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is '1,780,000 quarters, and for the Continent 1,060,000 quarters. Shares are unchanged. December 6. Sir Peter O Brien, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who tried the Irish Invincibles in 1882, aged 58, is dead. A ribald anti-British song concluding with an insult to the Queen has been seized in Paris. December 8. Sir Charles Mitchell, High Commissioner of the Malay Peninsula, and formerly Governor of Fiji, is dead. A lifeboat capsized at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, dvring a tremendous gale. Twelve men were rescued with difficulty, while six were drowned. Mr Duckenson (Conservative) has been elected for Wells unopposed. Lord Salisbury has recovered from his recent indisposition. The North German Lloyd's steamer Koenigin Luise has run aground on the banks of the River Scheldt. Her position is critical. A combination is being formed to purchase the stocks of 85 per cent, o! the calico printing firms of Great Britain, at a cost of eight millions. December 9. David T. Colquhoun, who was a partner with his brother, James Colquhoun (excity treasurer of Glasgow, recently sentenced to five years for embezzlement), has been acquitted on a charge of em"bezzlemenfc arising out of the firm's failure. The Argentine wool clip is estimated at iiiD,OOU tons and the Argentine exportable '• wheat surplus at 2,000,000 tons. v December 10. A receiving order has been made in the [ estate of Ingram, Harmon, and Ingram, a j very old established and influential firm of solicitors in Lincoln's~lnn Fields. The j liabilities are £380,000 and the assets £34,000. The Duke of Montrose is a creditor to the extent of £44,000, and many other members of the aristocracy" are large losers. Mr Harrison committed suicide. Frozen Mutton. — Crossbred wethers and maiden ewes : Canterbury, 3 l-16d ; Dunedin and Southland, 2 15-16 d; North Island, 2 13-16 d. Lamb : Prime Canterbury (nominal), 4^d. Fair average (including Dunedin, Southland, Wellington, and secondary Canterbury), 3^d. River Plate crossbred or merino wethers, heavy and light, both 2 9-16 d. PARIS, December 6. Admiral Dupont, of the French naval service, who some months ago in deploring the naval superiority of Great Britain urged France to institute an implacable system of privateering, now declares that the French navy is ready to bring many Alabamas against the British. The reference is to the famous American Confederate steamer Alabama. December 7. A German caricature of the Queen has been seized at Paris.

Decemoer 10. ! The Socialist Congress being Held here have generally approved of the programme submitted by the Collectivists. I BERLIN, December 8. ' Prince Hohenlohe's repeal of the prohibition against the union of political societies is intended to propitiate the Reichstag in order that the Chamber may favourably regard the Navy Biil. . , ROME, December 9. A sensation has been caused throughout Italy by the arrest of Signor Raffaele Palizzolo, one of the Palermo representatives in the House of Deputies, on a charge of inciting to murder Signor Notarbatolo, a victim of the Mafia Terrorist Society at Palermo. ' j CAIRO, December 7. The Egyptian Government have granted Lord Kitchener £100,000 for the purpose of cutting the sudd, or floating vegetation, ' blocking the White Nile, and for develop- ' ing the Soudan. ' • j WASHINGTON, December 7. ! President M'Kinley and Mr Lyman Gage (Secretary of the Treasury) recommend the continuance of the gold standard.