CABLEGRAMS. BRITISH AND FORE 6N. LONDON, April 17.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 19

CABLEGRAMS. BRITISH AND FORE 6N. LONDON, April 17.

The relations between Egypt and the Porte are becoming increasingly strained. April 18. By the capsizing of a boat on the Rivei Shannon five men were drowned. King Alphonso of Spain is visiting Princess Ena of Battenberg (his betrothed) at the Isle of Wight. The Dutch colonial press urges the DutcL Government to facilitate the transpoit oJ tin from the mines at Banka and Billiton, in the Dutch East Indies, snd to foster the exploitation of mines during the present boom. *J?residing at the annual conference o] the National Association for the Manua' Training of Teachers at Sheffield, Sir John Cockburn insisted that manua 1 training must occupy a much more important place than it has hitherto done in the curriculum of the schools if Britain hoped to main tain her great industries. ' A supposed extinct volcano at Palma, Ii the Canary Islands, is showing signs o] activity. • Father Martin, General of the Jesuits, is deadfAnril 19. ~ The .Ordnance Store building "at Wool•wichwas destroyed by fire. There was a narrow escape /from a great disaster. Sis firemen were injured. April 20. The troops in the Lens district have been increased to 17,000. It has been decided to increase thf British garrison in Egypt. Telegrams from Rome 6tate that the Pope has been confined to his bed s.net Tuesday owing to heart trouble. Di Sappoui attributes the illness to want oi exercise. April 21. The Pope is again according audiences. The increase in the garrison *in Egypt ii due to the unrest caused by the Turkish party and Germany. An explosion aloard the French gunnery instruction ship Lacouroune, during practice at Hyeres, killed three m-en and injured 22, of whoni five are expected to die. The prospectus of the New Zealand Iror and Steel Company (Parapara), with i capital of £650,000, has bsen issued. Mi J. a. Witheford, ex-M.H.R., states thai the subscription capital is assured if tin Government suspends the clause of th< Mining Act giving fhe right of pre emption. Sir John Forrest has started for Brindisi He ..considers that his mission has beer satisfactory, and believes that the transfe: of the State debts to the Commonwealtl will be well received in financial circles which consider that as the existing stock mature they ought to be repaid by Com monwealth consols. It is, however, un desirable to make any attempt at conver sion prior to maturity and until the new stocks are firmly established and popular Financiers believe that the consols wil ultimately command a higher price thai the State stocks, conversion on term; favourable to the Commonwealth beinj possible later on. A favourable oppor tunity for establishing the consols will b< ■when a considerable amount of State stock* is maturing. Sir John Forrest considere< that the Commonwealth should soon fin< it possible to take over the State debts and he is confident that the conversion t consols will secure a considerable saving. April 22. Sir John Forrest, in starting for Brin disi, further said that the Treasury fear that the withdrawal of more than £100,00 of silver coinage yearly would result ii considerable loss. Even at that rate i ■will take 20 years to withdraw the twi million circulating in Australia. The con tinuance of two silver coinage circulation for tbat period would be unsatisfactory If the existing silveT currency -were with drawn the maintenance of gold coinage a full standard weight, now borne by tb -Imperial Mint, would become a burdei on Australia. It would be necessary t {decide upon how much of that coinag*

! the obligation would rest. The establish- ■ ' ment of a different, silver currency mighi J also tend to widen, instead of tighten, the ! bonds of Empire. Such a currency would require careful watching to avoid depreciation by reason of the excess of silver, oi the public being inconvenienced through ar inadequate circulation. There was nc likelihood of the United Kingdom establishing n decimal currency in the r.eai ' future. It had been agreed that the question of a silver coinage decimal currency would be submitted at the next Imperial ' Conference. Sir John found that financiers regard-sd very favourably the Common1 wealth's status of credit. ' The court martial in connection with the ' recent ragging incident in ths -Scots Guards resulted in Colonel Cuthbert being relieved of his command. Captain Tiacy and the foui arrested lieutenants lose a year* 1 seniority. The lieutenant who was the ' victim of the ranging has left the regiment. ' The evidence disclosed that the ragging ' was riot connected with the victim's lacli of funds, but in consequence of the doctor's report that the lieutenant was suffering ' from an unpleasant disease due to his per- ' sona* habits, j April 23. ' There is a consensus of opinion amongst the newspapers that the judgment of the court martial will effectually suppress rag- ' ging in the army and navy. '■ PARIS, April 20. Professor Pierre Curi-e, the discoverer of radium, when crossing a road in Par : s slipped and fell heavily. A passing dray crushed him to death, i BERLIN, April 17. * It has transpired that Zanaida Smoljaninoff, recently sentenced for espionage a< 5 Leipzig, received £2000 annually for five 5 years from the Russian Government. r , April 18. ' i The villagers being unable to cope with . a fire at Haringen, in Alsace-Lorraine, the fire brigade at Basle (Switzerland) hastened to help, but the German Customs official* 3 would not allow them to pass ainless the 1 duties on the engines and appliances weie paid. The humanitarian fire brigade there- . fore returned to Basle. LISBON, April 19. Five Portuguese warships are anchoret! ' in the Tagus, under the guns of the forts. 1 Fourteen hundred seamen aie confined ir 1 barracks. It is alleged that undue severitj L> on the part of the commander of the Dor k Carlos caused the mutiny. 3j3 j ROME, April 18. 2 | To-morrow Sir Joseph Ward will propose " , and the representative fiom Egypt wiii ' second a motion in favour of univorsa * penny postage. Britain will strouglj 1 oppose the motion. r j April 22. x \ Mr A. Chapman, the Commonwealtt > Postmaster-general, telegraphs etronglj 5 advocating an Australian rendezvous io: the next Postal Congress. The length o: the voyage, however, is regarded as the great obstacle to the Australian proposal. 7 | The universal penny stamp proposal haJ * been received with interest, but is nol * likely to be aodopted. i \ April 23. 3 ] The Postal Union Congress has granted £ » vote each to the Commonwealth, New Zea land, the Transvaal, and the Orange Rivei 6 Colony. 5 The majority of the delegates to th< * Postal Conference are in favour of hold * . ing the next congress in 1911 in som< ' Australian city. 0 MALTA, Apiil 18. During speed trials af Malta the explo sion of a high-pressure engine killed thre< .- and injured four .aboard the battleshi] s Prince of Wales. 0 The torpedo destroyer Ardent collide* n with and sank torpedo boat No. 84. Thi t crew was saved. 0 j " ATHENS, April 23. ,- j The Olympic games have opened ii s Athens in the presence of 50,000 spec tators. ST. PETERSBURG, April 18. t The Novoe Vremya strongly advocate c an Anglo-Russian entente. The paper de a clares that Great Britain, after Germany o is Russia's best customer, while political!; c an arrangement is more important, a

Britain is able to guarantee th-e security o.f Russia's Far Eastern pocseasione. s BELGRADE, April 18. j The Servian Cabinet has resigned , because King Peter has refused to sanction r the retirement of the legicides until the t Servian-Austrian commercial treaty has , been concluded. CAIRO, April 23. r An Abyssinian outlaw named Marian has been raiding the Soudanese villages. r He killed 100 villagers, and conveyed to j Noggara 41 Soudanese men, 133 women, and a number of cattle. ' NEW I'ORK, April 17. The churches of New York are threaten- , ing to prosecute the Jockey Club owing to [ an epidemic of gambling. The club on the j first day of the season cut the wires con- , necting Belmont Park with a hundied poll \ rooms. All local bets were declared off. , Dowie, in retiring from the Zion presidency, accepted a low rate cf interest on ', his investments in Zion City. An Ausl tralian is now in supreme control. , April 18. , President Roosevelt, in a message to ] Congress, recommends that uniform, legis- , lation be passed in order to prevent a ! repetition of the recent insurance scandals. i The American Supreme Court, by a bare , majority, has decided that no State can grant a divorce when only one of the parties to the suit is resident in it. It is feared Hliat the decision illegitimatises r 20,000 children. . The American Trans-Pacific cable to . Shanghai has been completed. President Roosevelt and the J)owager Empress and the Emperor of China exchanged congratulations on the completion of the work. i The University of Pennsylvania has conl ferred the degree of Doctor of Laws on King Edward. I April 19. ! A sensation was caused by President ; Roosevelt's Message to Congress declaring j that the result of the beef-packers' trial in . Chicago was a miscarriage of justice. The , President says he can hardly believe that \ other judges will follow Judge Humphrey's ruling, which comes measurably near making the law a farce. He urges Congress to pass an act stating the real intentions i of the Legislature. OTTAWA, April 19. ' The Dominion House of Parliament has „ unanimously invited King Edward and ' ' Queen Alexandra to visit Canada. | Sir W. Laurier, the Premier, stated that jif they came it would be one of the B ' happiest events in the history of the J Dominion, and if they also visited the j United States it would oe a potent factor in cementing the Anglo-American Alliance. PIETERMARITZBURG, April 18. Mr Pless (late Chinese Controller of the Nourse Deep Transvaal mine) totally . denies the M'Carthy affidavit published in j. the Blue Book concerning the hanking of ? a Chinaman by the wrists and toes. April 19. The appeal of Willis to the Supreme Court g of Natal against his extradition to New t South Wales in connection with the land scandals there was dismissed. PEKING, April 17. i The Formosa earthquake was felt chiefly - in the hills, where most of the buildings r were destroyed by the March shocks. The people being on the alert diminished the c death roll. April 18. s The Dowager Empress of China has dismissed the Governor of Kiang-si for issuing false reports in connection with the . Nam-chang massacres.