CABLEGRAMS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, May 2.

Otago Witness, Issue 2669, 10 May 1905, Page 25

CABLEGRAMS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, May 2.

Advices from Vienna state that Count Goluchowsky had informed Signor Tittoni (Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs) of" Austria's readiness to agree to Lord Lansclowne's proposals for the international control of the finances of Macedonia. There have been several severe earthquake shocks round about Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, on the right bank of the River Dee, and the river, suddenly overflowing, is threatening the homesteads. During th.c torpedo manoeuvres off Bereliaven the destroyer Syren grounded on a reef. Her back was broken, but the crew yreie saved. Mr Gerald Balfour, President of the Board) of. Trade, has appointed a committee to inquire into the working of the Small Holdings Act,Vand to report on the best methods of promoting an increase in the number of holdings. Lord Onslow will be president, and Lord Carrington and Mr Jesse Collings will be among the members. May 3.. One hundred and twenty Portuguese regulars at Angola, in West Africa, defeated the chief Saba, with 3000 followers, killing many. Bruce Charles Bakunih, the son of a Russian revolutionist, lost £52,000 at the gaming table, and then committed suicide by tieing a stone roundi his neck and jumping into th.e> sea at Nice. The American "Admiral Charles O'Neil, a high authority on gunnery, says that th,9 British have no cause for alarm respecting their naval guns, which are as good as those of any nation. May 4. Brjtish merchants at Shanghai complain that China ignores the M'Kay treaty. Lord Chesterfield's case of jewels was stolen from a cab in Grosvenor square. May 5. Mr Balfour, in tJie House of Commons, referring to the Eastham Borotigh Council's rash, unhappy, and illegal threat to close its schools, containing 20,000 children, 1 in preference to accepting the education rate of 3s in the pound, declared that the ' <jcovernment would not permit any public authority to" abandon the duties Parliament had entrusted to' it. It was not in accordance with" common sense for an education authority to exceed its means aricTthen call on the State to assist iti' -Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge states that the 12in wire guns are not discredited, only, it ought to be recognised that the lite of ». modern gun is shorter than was believed. May 6. Sir Eobert Herbert. [The Hon. Sir Robert Goorge Wyndham Herbert was born in 1831 being a grandwm of the first Earl of Carnarvon. He was Premie? a-nd Colonial Secretary in Queensland from 1859 to 1866. He was Permanent TJnder-eeorefcary for the Colonies from 1871 to 1892, and acted as Agent-general for Tasmania from i 895 to 1596. He was made a K.C.B. in 1882.] "Mr Brodrick, in reply to a correspondent, said the statements that Lord Kitchener was resigning unless he was given a free hand in reorganising and allowed to report to the Viceroy direct were inaccurate and misleading. He denied that Led Kitchener was at variance with himself regarding the amount Britain should contribute towards army reforms. May 7. Major Henry Tenefusis has married Lady Mary Lygon, who visited the colonies with the Duke and Duchess of York. The" imports for April declined £1,899,000, and the exports increased £654,000, compared with April, 1904. The Britfsn gunboat Thistle is ashore off Cape.Knisterre. » "The Thistle is safe. Speaking a£ a farewell banquet given to Mr Choate, the American Ambassador, at the Mansion House, Mr Balfour said that he rejoiced that America was bound to Great Britain by ties more permanent than those of interest — namely, "common brotherhood." One million deaths from plague occurred in India during 1904. The. Lancet condemns the Government policy of concealment. May 8. The Shah of Persia has left Teheran on «. visit to Europe. Biondino, the alleged accomplice of Bresci in the assassination of King Humbert of Italy in July, 1900, fled to Zanzibar, and became a Mohammedan. He has now been arrested at Cairo. A treaty of friendship and commerce between Britain and Cuba has been signed at Havana. The favoured natioji clause Has been expunged • The differences between Britain and France regarding Muscat will be discusseJ at The Hague Convention iv June. Captain Pretyman, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, speaking at Ipswich, and referring to the recent sensational statements regarding the naval guns, said an accident to a particular type of gun. revealed a defect which was remediable. The guns w.ere perfectly fit for service if required. The Admiralty's reserve of o-uns was sufficient, but the publication ■of details was not desirable. PARIS, May 4. King Edward, in lunching with the

[ Marquis Breteuil, conversed with M. Delcasse, Minister of (Foreign Affairs, for an hour. BERLIN, May 2. Wliile the- German press is trying to minimise the significance of King Edward's 1 and President Loubet's cordial meetings, the King's reception of M. Delcasse is the [ subject of special comment. May 4. A sensation lias been created in Berlin over an article in the Tagliche Rundschan, which is based on information from AdisaI beba, stating that the Geiman mission to ' Abyssinia is an absolute failure. May 6. The German Navy League is utilising Penrose Fitzgerald's incautious remarks to further the agitation for an increase of the fleet. STOCKHOLM, May 2. The Norwegian Committee of Ways and Means has recommended the raising of a loan of over two millions. Swedish politicians declare that it is practically a civil -war fund. ROME, May 2. Two engineers died in the Simplon tunnel owing to the high temj^rature and) w«ak hearts. - May 4. Stromboli, sometimes called the lighthouse of the Mediterranean on account of the flames, or, rather, illuminated vapour, coming from the crater, is in violent eruption. May 7. The Kaiser, when visiting Venice, was scarcely noticed except by the Germans. The public was irritated by the Kaiser's request that everybody should be excluded from the Fine Arts Exhibition during his visit. ATHENS, May 2. The Cretan authorities decline to remove the Greek flag from public buildings, as requested by the representatives of the Powers. May 3. The Cretan outbreak is degenerating into robbery and incendiarism. Eight gendarmes have been shot. Prince George has asked for assistance, from the protecting Powers. A British detachment lowered the Greek flag on Government Hours at Candia, and also that which was flown at Retimo. May 4. Queen Alexandra was accorded an ovation at Athens. , CONSTANTINOPLE, May 5. The Sultan is mobilising 100,000 men to suppress the rebellion in Yemen, Arabia. NEW YORK, May 4. Five burglars blew up the bank at Gilbertville, in New York State, and stole £1200. They escaped on horseback, keeping their pursuers at bay with revolvers. The jury again disagreed in Nan Patterson's trial for murder in New York. May 5. Dr King certifies to two cures from cancer in the Flow.er Hospital, New York, by the insertion of celluloid pencils coated with a solution of radium destroying the cancerous cells without interfering with the living tissue. The other hospitals are experimenting -with the cure.