BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3149, 22 July 1914, Page 24

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

LONDON, July 13. Giving evidence before the Venereal Diseases Commission, the head masters of Eton and Harrow gave it as their idea that sex instruction should be given by parents, while school instruction ought to be the special responsibility of the head master, who should exercise the greatest caution. The Sanitary Conference discussion on public health disclosed a general agreement that workers cannot get much further forward until the people are filled with a personal desire for health. The appointment of a Minister of Public Health was advocated. July 14. Over 100 delegates representing the British Association have sailed by the Orvieto. The Countess Russell has been granted a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights. When her husband wrote saying he would not live with her again she declined to take him seriously, and replied : “ I. regard your action as a form of selfdenial. You left me. on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I would really advise you to try a milder form of abstinence. like the boy who determined to give up soap during Lent.” Mr John Hissey, barrister, is suing for a divorce from his wife, the actress known as Queenie Mersill. Albert Whelan, the Australian music-hall artist, is the co- j respondent. Hissey, in his evidence, stated that he ran through a fortune of £30,000. His wife then claimed the right to fre- i quent night clubs with other men, and one day threw herself on the floor and j confessed to misconduct with Whelan. The case was adjourned. Owing to the Amalgamated Society of Engineers rejecting a levy for political pur- ; poses, there is no fund available for next elections. The society declines to assume I responsibility for Mr Duncan’s (Labour , member for Barrow) election expenses, and 1 has deferred a decision with regard to Mr Ba. rnes’s, (Labour member for Blackfriare, 1 Glasgow). July 16. The House of Lords rejected the Government’s Plural Voting Bill by 119 to 9. | Two workmen crawled through a small orifice into a large boiler, which Bad tar inside. Suddenly shrieks and smoke at- j tracted the attention of passers-by. At- ' tempts to rescue the men proved unavailing. It is supposed they dropped an elecjfric lamp, which ignited the tar. The

bodies, when recovered, were unrecognisable.

| July 16. i At the Health Congress, now sitting at j Edinburgh, Dr Williamson, health officer, j declared that 80 per cent, of the consumption . cases occurred in houses of three , rooms or under. | Sir William Anson’s estate was sworn at £125,511, whereof the personalty was £63,322. Sir Denis Anson inherited the real estate, but died before the will had j been proved. I The first licensed performance of Ibsen’s “ Ghosts ’’ was given at the Hay market Theatre. The play still appals, but owing -to the advance in public opinion it no longer shocks. At the Middlesex Hospital a case of I rattlesnake bite has been cured. The I sufferer a zoo keeper, whose condition was critical for 10 days | George King, aged 90, a Crimean vetej ran, refuses to leave the house he occupies ' at Exeter, although the landlord has removed the windows. He says he is deter- ■ mined to remain even if the roof is taken off, and denies the right of ejection. His wife and family are unperturbed. Hundreds of visitors were interested spectators. I Mr Leverton Harris (Unionist) was returned unopposed to Parliament for East Worcestershire, which seat was vacant through Mr A. Chamberlain’s transfer to I West. Birmingham ' Mr J. Ellis Griffiths, Under-secretary for the Home Department, sympathetically | received a deputation advocating the appointment of women police. He said the prejudices against women constables were more by women than by men. He recognised that the deputation represented a great body of public opinion. July 17. The terms of the Brazilian 5 per cent, loan, guaranteed upon the Customs, have been agreed upon with London and Continental bankers, under the leadership of Baron N. M. Rothschild. Twenty millions will bo issued immediately at £9O to £9l, and the remaining five millions later. Queen Alexandra, the Empress Marie, and Rrincess Victoria visited the Endurance to-day. Queen Alexandra presented two flags and a silver medallion of St. Christopher, which is to be the mascot j of the expedition. I George Cooling, of the Grammar School, Brisbane, won the Earl of Meath’s Chal- , lenge Cup for the essay on Empire Hay. j John Parr, of Waitaki High School, received honourable mention. j At Birmingham a kinema attendant was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for ! burning his wife’s will, because she left j him only £4 with which to buy a black suit in mourning for k”

Owing to a world-wide slackening off in the cotton factories, the American section of the federation has decided to slow down until the end of September. July 18. The plumbers have accepted the master builders’ terms. Eleven lines of warships, of all classes, are anchored at Spithead, under 25 admirals, awaiting the King’s instructions. July 19. Canon Rawnsley, preaching at, St. Paul’s to-day, deplored the lack of home life, which involved a' national peril. In the homes of the poor there was an unthinkable state of things. Children of three or ■ four years were openly defying their parents, who praised the spirit in a boy ■who kicked his father’s shins or cursed his mother to her face. There was the game canker in the homes of the wealthy, where parents were not revered, but rather tolerated. The parents were to blame for not making the home attractive. The News of the World states that the Cabinet has decided to abolish the office of Inspector-general of the Overseas Forces, as the advantages are not commensurate with the expense. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has occurrd at Eosierea. Edward Shaw, manager of the Senghenydd mine, was fined £24, and £2l costs, for breaches of the mine regulations.- The charges against the company were dismissed. PARIS, July 13. 31. Georges Rignaux, before the Academy of Sciences, exhibited an apparatus called the telephote, which solves for vision the problems that the telephone has solved for the ear in transmitting pictures in light and shade along wires. As the outcome of a blood feud between gipsies at Auvergne there was ’a pitched battle. Guns, revolvers, knives, and hatchets were used. There were many casualties. Three companies of gendarmes dispersed the gipsies. July 15. The police at Toulon arrested a German woman who was constantly caught in the company of naval officers on suspicion that she was endeavouring to obtain informatiaon on naval matters. July 20. It has been elicited that the Nihilists’ bombs w'cre not 'intended for either the Czar or President Poincaire. They were intended to blow up the Dieppe boat train with a view to robbing the passengers. BERLIN, July 19. Two hundred soldiers have been sent to deal with the Colorado beetles that are ravaging several potato farms westward of Hamburg. Apprehension is widespread that Berlin

is threatened with the earlier closing of cafes and dancing halls. This would mean that tourists and provincial visitors would ! cease visiting the capital. Brewers and ■ cafe keepers, however, were mollified by , the announcement that only the less proj minent resorts would be affected, and that ,no additional all-night licenses will be granted. VIENNA, July 15. Melounig, a guide, and four- tourists wmre found dead on the Grossvenediger ; Glacier. The tourists wmre frozen to death. Melounig was killed by a blow i with an ice-axe from behind. The theory is that the tourists killed the guide for misleading them. ROME, July 14. Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, and cousin of the King of Italy, is , iin a critical state of health. He is suffer- | I ing from fever, and it is found necessary | to give Lim intestinal injections in order to sustain life. July 19. j Lightning exploded a fireworks factory | at East Ellamere. Many persons were burned in the ruins. So far 10 bodies have been recovered. ST. PETERSBURG, July 14. Russia has turned a deaf ear to Persia’s ’ protest against the activities of Russian Consuls in Northern Persia. A reply sent through the Russian Legation indicates that Russia means to pursue her policy of absorption. The greatest and most continuous heat ' for half a century is being experienced in Russia. Monster forest fires are raging in every direction, and the effect of the drought on the crops is causing anxiety. For 24 hours the dynamite factory at Schuseelburg, Lake Ladoga, was threatened with destruction by a great peat fire. Troops endeavoured to stifle the flames with liquid mud Fortunately the wind changed, and the factory was saved. NEW YORK, July 13. Ninety nine thousand excursionists were marooned for hours on Coney Island on Sunday night owing to a breakdown in the electric power. Crowds stormed the cars and peremptorily demanded trans- ! portation, but wmre compelled to wait till j the power was restored. July 15. At Ironriver (Michigan) sliding sand caused a cave-in in the Balkan mine. Seven miners -were killed. They were drilling into the roof, when the quicksand j struck them. Of those who dashed for j the outlets seven were overtaken and smothered by the sand, which filled every crevice throughout the mine. ! A movement has been started against! skyscrapers, which are returning a profit j of only Si per cent.

July 16. Addressing a luncheon exclusively attended by women, Mr Roosevelt emphasised the necessity for getting the right , sort of women to enter politics. The Pro- : gressive party would, it it could, arrange to induce a number of women to stand as candidates. i July 17. ! Mrs Carmen has been indicted for manslaughter in the first degree of a lady ’ patient who was found dead in the surgery her husband, a' fashionable physician. Her friends have offered bail to the extent of half a million .dollars, j July 18. I Over the Rhode Island course the Reso--1 lute won by seconds over the Yanitie and two minutes over the Defiance in the , eighth elimination race. ; OTTAWA, July 13. I The recent oil discoveries in Alberta hai’c resulted in the formation of 400 companies, with £17,000,000. CAPETOWN, July 14. I The steamer Ayrshire had arrived and discharged part of her cargo when a fire was located. The hold was flooded and the fire extinguished. CALCUTTA, July 16. ; The Euryalus, bound for Australia, collided with the Orisso, bound for Java, near Achipur. Both were damaged, and the Euryalus will have to discharge all her cargo. SUVA, July 19. At the conclusion of the sitting of the Shipping Commission, Judge Alexander, the chairman, referred to the alleged action of the shipping companies in demanding freight for uncarried goods, which he considered equivalent to blackmail, and warned the companies concerned that the commission would report to the Governments of the Commonwealth and the dominion as to the existence of a rebate system.