INVERCARGILL BOROUGH LOAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 29

INVERCARGILL BOROUGH LOAN.

INVERCARGILL, January. 30. Tenders closed • this evening for the borough loan of .£17,000, the bulk of which will be used for' extensive additions to the •gasworks and the purchase of a quarry and cruishing plant. " The debentures carry 44 per cent, interest. The sum of £65,200 was offered at from par to £3 premium, and the £17,000 was accepted at an average premium of £1 10s. This result is indicative of the public confidence in the stability 01 the borough and the excellent piospects •f the district.

LONDON, February 2. The King and Crown Piince of Portugal have been assassinated. Three of their murderers were killed. The King, Queen, Crown Prince, and Prince Manuel were driving in an open carriage at 5 o'clock in Lisbon. When they were leaving the Praco do Commercio a group of men opened fire on them with carbines. The King and Crown Prince ;vere mortally wounded, and Princess Manuel w>a& wounded slightly. The Queen had a micaculous escape. She rose to shield the Crown Prince, but was not hit. The police immediately fired on the regicides. The King and his son were removed to the Naval Arsenal, having received three bullet wounds each, but they died shortly afterwards. The Portuguese Legation here states that at 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, when returning from the Villa Vicosa, and while passing Blackhorse Square in an open carriage, their Majesties, along with the Crown Prince and Prince Manuel, were barbarously attacked with revolver and carbine- shots. : The King and Crown Prince were killed. Three of the murderers were killed and three others arrested. King Edward, Queen Alexandra, and the Prince and Princess of Wales feel most poignant grief. They telegraphed their sympatfiy to Queen Amelie, and sent to the Portuguese Legation express ing their horrofat and detestation of the crime. London is startled, horrorstruck, and j full of sympathy. The Bishop of Stepney, at St. Paul's Cathedral, deplored the locsing of the Satanic forces fhoit were beneath the structure of society. The Rev. Father Vaugban, at Farm Street Church, said he -was lees surprised than shocked. No thoughtful man with a hand on Europe's pulse need be surprised at the commission of the motft diabolical crimes. Canon Wilberforce, Dr Clifford, and the Rev. R. J. Campbell expressed their horror from the pulpit. February 3. King Edward has cancelled all visits to the Court for the season, and has directed a month's mourning. He has also cancelled his proposed visits to Copenhagen and Christiania. The Pope was greatly distressed when he heard the news, and he exclaimed, '"Poor Amelie; now she may rea'ly be called the sainted Queen." He ordered a special service for the dead to be held in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday. The Archbishop of Westminster, preaching at Chelsea, made sympathetic references to the deceased, and asked for prayers for the souls of the dead royalties in all C'aitholic churches. The sympathy is especially keen in Catholic countries. LISBON, February 2. King Carlos was wounded in the shoulder, but the third bullet severed the carotid artery, and be died before he reached the arsenal. The Crown Prince wa6 wounded in the side, the jaw, and the arm. Senhor Figuerra, tihe King's orderly, fired, killing ona regicide. The police killed a second, and it is believed that the third committed suicide when in custody. The assassins had concealed their fivechambered repeating carbines beneath their cloaks. Prince Manuel's a<rm is in a sling, but there is no pain, and no complication^ are expected. It is believed that the assassins were foreigners, probably French and Spanish Anarchists. One of the dead murderers is a Frenchman, whose belt was filled with money, supposed to be the price of his crime. Queen Amelie had^ a long conference with Senhor Francof the Dictator, on Saturday evening. Demonstrations of sympathy are pouring in from all parts of Portugal. The people are willing to support fchs authorities. The shops and theatres and oafes immediately elcced. There is great grief and indignation. 'Ihe Queen assumes the Regency during Prince Manuel's minority. The city is quiet, and order is maintained.

The forts are full of political prisoners, and the police are paying domiciliary visits, which constantly re\eal stores of arms and bombs. The Government declares that the'army is not implicated in the attack on the throne, but a number of sergeants and subalterns in th© army and navy are compromised. Several Republican leaders have been arrested. ; The Republicans and Dissentient Progressionists at Lisbon were told that great events would happen on Saturday. An armed band attacked Senhor Franco's residence. February 3. A silent crowd watched the royalties alight from the Tagus ferryboat. The demeanour of the spectators displayed a I certain air of distrust and fear, though a , girl presented Queen Amelie with a bouquet. King Carlos exchanged a few words with Senhor Franco and other Ministers. i When the royal carriage was passing the Ministry of France, at the corner of the Rica do Arsenal, a young fellow, almost a boy, dressed in rough sporting attire, and with a revolver in his hand, rushed from the throng of spectators, jumped up behind the royal carriage, and I fired, wounding the King in the left side. Queen Amelie and the Crown Prince uttered cries "of horror and dismaj-, and the Queen rcse in. the carriage and tried to strike the assassin with her bouquet. The assassin then fired again, Meting th© King in the back. King Carlos lifted his hand and head, and then fell back in a state of collapse. Several people dashed forward, and dashed the regicide to the ground. He fired a third shot, but did no harm. Someone — probably a policeman — shot him dead. Meanwhile a tall, black bearded and moustached man, enveloped in a mantle, and who was standing near the Ministry of the Interior, being apparently the leader of the regicides,' drew a carbine which he had concealed under his cloak, and moved towards the carriage. He fired twice, hitting the Crown Prince in the- face and 'chest. He was about to fire again when a policeman knocked his arm up. The next moment a military officer killed the assassin with his sword. The other regicides then fired, wounding Prince Manuel slightly. Officers and police then emiptie3 their revolvers at the group of regicides, killing the third man. Prince Alfonso (brother of King Carlos) drove up in a motor car, revolver in hand', and escorted the royal carriage to the Marine Arsenal. The Queen was beside herself with grief, horor, and, shock. She uttered piteous cries as she turned towards her 'dying husband and son. I Both the King and the Crown. Prince \ were carried to the Medical Hall in the arsenal, and were laid on mattresses, ■while doctors were summoned. Blocd still gushed from the King's mouth and nose, and medical aid was useless. His death was due to two wounds — one in the right infra scapular region and the other in the vertebral column. Both bullets are etill lodged in the body. The Crown Prince only survived for five minutes. One bullet traversed his right cheek, emerging at the nape of his neck, ar.d a second struck the region of the sternum and pierced the lung. While the doctors were washing the j faces of the King and Crown Prince, the Queen was summoned to proceed to the Weighing House, wheie she was attending Prince Manuel while his wound was bein.g dressed. King 1 Carlos's last woids as he fell back in the carriage were, "The- Queen!" which were uttered in tones of anxiety and alarm. I Queen Amelie epent the night betide the dend. The crime lias apparently strengthened the loyalty of the army and the na.tion. The 'bodies now lie in state. The funeral will probably take place on the 10th inst. Prince Manuel took the succession oath on Sunday afternoon in 'the presence of the Ministers' Council and his Council of State. His proclamation to the people denounces the horrible, dastardly crime, which he says is unprecedented in the history of the country. He is confident that the nation shares -his griefs He promises to maintain the Catholic religion

and the integrity of the kingdom, and to observe, and cause to be observed, the political Constitution. He will devote all his efforts to the welfare of the country and deserve the love of the people. He also declared his intention to retain the present Ministers. The leader of tlie regicides lias been identified as Manuel Buica, 30 years of age, an ex-sergeant of the Seventh Cavalry, and an ex-primary school teacher. For the last eight years he has been a private teacher in The other dead regicides are apparently Portuguese. Queen Maria Pia (mother of King Carlos) has arrived. Her meeting with Prince iManuel wa,s most affecting. When at the arsenal Queen Amelie hastily sent for a priest to console the dying men. The Duke of Orleans (father of Queen Amelie) heard the news in Naples, and lie proposed to leave immediately for Lisbon, but a later despatch induced him to proceed to Egypt. Mourning is very general. Four months' public mourning has been ordered in Portugal. All Government oflioes and places of amusement are olosed until after the funeral. t PARIS, February 2. Lisbon correspondent states that King Carlos and the Crown Prince were return-ing from the Villa Vicosa, and had crossed the Tagus to Lisbon, where the carriages of the Court' officials were waiting at the landing stage near the Prado do Commercio. When the Royal Family were about to enter the carnage several individuals who had been crouching a few paces from the landing stage, at a sign from one of them, drew their revolvers, which had been concealed under their cloaks, and opened a fusillade. The King and Prince were struck with several bullets, and fell. The assailants then fled. The soldiers who were escorting the Royal Family fired, killing three of them. Some accounts say that five of the regicides were killed. BERLIX. February 2. The Kaiser is terribly shocked over the iragedy. MADRID, February 3. One of the dead regicides was a Spaniard, who was arrested recently in connection with the diecoveiy of bombs, bu.t w«hp was released. One of those arreriied is an Italian, who was engaged in an orchestra at the Lyric Theatre, and another is a young, weil -dressed man, who is so nervous that the warders are afraid to entrust him with a knife and fork at his meals. A third ma.n <ari'«eiied is a reporter, who i& apparently innocent. Prince Alfonso, who was. at Seville at the time of the tragedy, hurried to Madrid to- condole with the Countess De Paris, the mother of Queen Amelie. Reiiter states that a Madrid journal — El Mundo — states 'that a republic has been proclaimed at Oporto. Xeither confirmation nor denial of the report is obtainable in official or political circles. While deploring the tragedy, the Madrid papers consider that the l ate King's errors and Senhor Franco's absurd policy were contributory causes of the crime.

SYMPATHY FROM NEW ZEALAND. WELLINGTON, February 3. The Prime Minister, on behalf of the people of New Zealand, has communicated through his Excellency the Governor to the Secretary of State for the Colonies an expression of sympathy with the people of Portugal in the misfortune which has overtaken their country through the assassination of the King and Crown Prince.