CABLEGRAMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3034, 8 May 1912, Page 24

CABLEGRAMS.

BRITISH IN!* FOBEIOW v LONDON, April 29. The medical officer of the Port of London, in his report, states that seamen will continue to degenerate in physique as long as the same quarters are used for sleeping, living, and dining. They are also dark, dirty, and damp. , He urges that the men's quarters should be above deck ... April 30. In the House of Commons Mr Samuel announced that he had arranged for a full rate wireless service from London to New York at 8d per word, as compared -with Is per word for cablegrams, and For deferred plain language messages at 4d per word as compared with 6d per'word for cablegrams. A fire at Guy's Hospital severely damaged the biology department. The patients .were not disturbed, owing to the firemen's promptitude. Miss Amy Castles has .made a contract for five years to appear at the Imperial Opera-house at Vienna, commencing in September. Miss Dolly Castles is engaged to lead in a new musical comedy at New York in August. May 1. Twenty brakes fiiiled with Socialist Sunday school children paraded London carrying red flags, and afterwards proceeded to the May Day demonstration in Hyde Park. After 12 years' digging at Dover coal has at last been sent to the London market. The court-martial at Ishtib, who tried I the band who attacked a monastery and killed the inmaites. sentenced four to | penal servitude for life, and 39 others to ! vavious terms of imprisonment up to 15 j vears. May 3. The Government has already ordered 20 aeroplanes, and has authorised the purchase of an additional 30. Shares in the Peninsular and Orient Company have fallen to 335. The new issue of shares is the cause of the relapse. : It is suggested that the directors' action in issuing the new capital was due to a desire to checkmate operators who were I seeking to control the company. ! The Royal Mail Steamship Company is issuing 900.C00 ordinary stock, chiefly in view of development in connection with , the opening of the Panama Canal. j Hoesh, the aviator, when aeroplaning at Johannisthal, fell from a height of 100 ft, and succumbed to his injuries. Arnst, on has first appearance on the Thames, showed great power end im- j

pressed the spectators, though he is out of form. The Due de Orleans has sold his Wood Norton property to Mr Justice Eady. As a result of the Minimum Wage Act the Mine-owners' Association is advancing the price of coal 2s 6d per .ton. The half-crown increase in . the price is widely disavowed. It is considered that a shilling would be sufficient. May 4. Lord Feversham has sold to Mr Trick, of New York, Rembrandt's portrait of a Dutch merchant for £50,000. The Daily Chronicle states that the men on the lower deck in the navy are asking for an all-round increase in pay of 20 per cent. May 5. Speaking at Swansea, Mr Keir Hardie proposed that instead of a minimum daily wage there should be a yearly salary paid, whether it was made by good or bad workers, and whether they were idle or not. Ihe Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation has decided not to adhere to the demand for a minimum wage of 7s per day. The Bishop of Willesden, preaching to the Boy Scout* in St. Paul's Cathedral, said that though the movement was not five years old there were 600,000 Boy Scouts in the Empire and neaily 1,000,000 in the world. PARIS, April 30. The famous French aviator Vedrines is suffering from concussion, not fracture. He is recovering from the effects of his fall. At a Cabinet meeting the Minister of Agriculture stated that France's stock of corn was more than sufficient till the harvest; consequently there was no need to consider a revision of the tariff, but he would consult the Superior Council of Agriculture respecting any possible modifications, so as to allow the temporary admission of foreign corn. May 1. A woman named Coutourier has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment at Evre for fastening her two-year-old daughter to a post and incinerating her. She watched the child die in agony. Two other children died in 1911 under suspicious circumstances The express to Calais was derailed, and 10 persons were injured, including several English. The rails had been removed. It is assumed to be ati Anarchist May Day outrage. The man Hamon, of the Foreign Office, who last year was arrested for the misappropriation of money, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment, and fined 20,000 fr (£800). His defalcations totalled £BB4O.

May 3. Rembrandt's picture of a woman plucking geese sold for £19,000. May 6. Five barrels of powder exploded on the railway at Nancy. Five people were fatally injured, while four were seriously hurt. BERLIN, May 1. In the Beichstag Herr Noske said that British trade wdth German New Guinea had increased at a more rapid rate than German trade. .. . - Dr Solf, Colonial Minister, declined to 'make-the colonies an arena for party politics. May 2. Lieutenant Sprenger was killed at Rastatt in a duel with pistols with Dr Bruening, an army 6urgeon. May 3. In discussing the Samoan estimates in the Reichstag, Dr Solf reiterated his opposition to the marriages of natives and whites. He said the whole country would thank the Reichstag if it prevented mixed marriages. May 4. A bill which has been introduced into the. Prussian Diet empowers the Government to raise £5,000,000 for the purchase of land in certain districts in East Prussian and Schleewig-Holetein for settlement by German farmers, in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Poles or the Danes. May 5. The Kaiser has purchased a sheep farm at Windbok, in South-west Africa. His object is to make Germany less dependent on Australia, and to encourage Germans to settle there instead of emigrating to the United States. Herr Liebe, a retired Catholic missionary, who served in India and Japan, died suddenly. His heirs were astounded to discover that his treasures, which were in an old chest, were valued at £75,000. They included several hundred diamonds and other gems. May 6. It has been discovered that Herr Liebe, the retired Catholic missionary who died suddenly, was in possession of a poison cabinet containing sufficient to kill thousands. That from which he died was alone sufficient to kill a hundred. Corre-? spondence shows that he was recently) in communication with marriage brokers, and was advertising for a wife. The chemist (Julius Scharmach) and others, for supplying schnapps from drinking which many deaths occurred, were sentenced to two months' imprisonment. One publican was acquitted. ■'

CANEA, April 29. A British warship stopped and conveyed back to Suda Bay a Greek steamer bound for the Pirceus with those Cretan deputies aboard who had been elected to the Greek Chamber, but who were forbidden by the protecting Powers to take ST. PETERSBURG, May 2. One hundred thousand people have struck as a protest against the shooting at Lena. The Minister of Commerce stated in the Duma that the Government would make the fullest inquiry into the Lena slaughter, and would introduce a bill regulating the conditions of labour. B ° CAIRO, May 1. The Native Court sentenced Mohammed Farid Bey, a Nationalist leader, to 12 months' imprisonment for a seditious speech, and two editors to three months' each for publishing it. May 2. George Zervudachi, a financier at Alexandria, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for criminal bankruptcy. Hi* liabilities were £2,700,000. TEHERAN, April 29. The Government has begun a series of arrests of the members of the late Mejliss and other constitutional leaders. Five have already been exiled to Kashan. The arrests appear to be the outcome of personal vindictiveness. WASHINGTON, May 2. Senators lx>dge, Bacon, and other members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee are of the opinion that the Monroe Doctrine ought to be revised in order to prevent Japanese commercial interests from securing control of any territory in Magdalena Bay. Members of the committee sav that the possession of such a strategic position, even by purely commercial interests, is a certain menace to the safety of the United States. NEW YORK, May 2. During a May Day meeting in Union equare the Socialists tore down the Ameri can Flag and hoisted the Red Flag instead. The crown howled " Tear that dirty rag down !'' The police ineffectually tried to interfere, but were powerless. George Borup, Peary's aide, who accompanied him to the North Pole, was drowned in Long Island Sound. His canoe was upset by a heavy sea. .way 4. A monster suffrage demonstration comprising 15,000 people paraded the streets to-day. May 5. Teddy Tezlaff established a world's motor record over a distance of 303 miles. He averaged 78£ miles per hour. Gotch and Schoenlin have signed to wrestle for the world's championship on Mav 30. GEORGETOWN (Kentucky), April 29. Awakening from a dream about burglars, and hearing a man attempting to gain an entrance by the front door, George Southworth fired a shotgun through the windowblind, killing his brother instantly. CLEVELAND, May 2. An oil barge exploded and a huge quantity of flaming gasoline overspread the Guyahoga River and destroyed completely the docks. The firemen were unable to approach the conflagration. Five men were blown to pieces. A barge and tug and other vessels were also burnt. OTTAWA, Mxy I The Government does not desire to interfere with the tariff system, since the Tariff Commission Bill wo 6 killed by the Liberal vote in the Senate, as the increasing prosperity of the country might be injured if tariff tinkering were to be proceeded with. The Department of Commerce will first hold an inquiry, but it will be purely departmental, though with a view ultimately to the framing of a tariff measure. May 2. Mr Foster, alluding to the publication of the Taft-Roosevelt correspondence, said the revelations would furnish a remarkable vindication of Canada's decision in September. Reciprocity with the United States was now for ever buried. Henceforth they would all think Imperially.

May 4. The police are chasing two Indians in the hinterland of British Columbia. After murdering a European the Indians escaped from gaol, and murdered a Chinaman and shot dead a constable who was tracking them: RIO DE JANEIRO, May 5. In 1911 133,616 immigrants arrived in Brazil PEKING, May 1. The Foreign Ministers are satisfied with the Government's explanation regarding the Anglo-Belgian loan, and have authorised the resumption of negotiations for a loan of £60,000,000. TOKIO, April 30. An explosion wrecked the Hokkaido Company's Urari pit, and 283 miners are hopelessly entombed. LHASSA, April 29. The Tibetan forces are reported to number 10,000. A portion surrounds 1000 Chinese troops in the southern suburbs. 'Several buildings have been burnt, and the aggregate losses are said to be: Tibetans, 900 killed ; Chinese, 300 killed. The Chinese have captured the wife and children of the Dalai Lama.