NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 36

NEWS BY CABLE.

A NEW ZEALAND HERO. Lord Jellicoe, in a speech at Liverpool, said that the late Lieutenant-commander W. E. Sunders, of Takapuna, Auckland, who was awarded tho Victoria. Cross, was one of tho greatest heroe3 of the war. The story of his exploits has not yet been written, but Lord Jellicoe had had the incidents of_ the exploits printed, and he was sending them to New Zealand, where the gallant officer belonged. LOST MAILS. The Press Bureau states that mails from Australia- and New Zealand, containing' a few letters and many newspapers and parcels, were abroad a ship which was torpedoed. The posting dates, of the New Zealand letters were December 14 to 18, and the parcels December 12 to 17. A GIFT FROM THE POPE. The Pope has sent the King of Bavaria a medallion representing the Madonna, studded with diamonds and other gems. The nuncio, in presenting the medallion, described the gift as a token of the Pope's special friendship. GRANT TO LADY MAUDE, The House of Commons unanimously adopted a grant of £25,000 to Lady Maude. After Mr Lloyd George's glowing tribute to General Maude's services to the Empire he mentioned that he died a victim of the inbred courtesy of a fine character. He visited the plague-stricken area at the invitation of the inhabitants, who were anxious to welcome him for his many kindnesses, and" though he forbade his escort to eat or drink, ho • himself ran the risk rather than offend his hosts. There was cholera in the cup, and he died in a few days. Ho would always be remembered as one of the great figures there, not only for his achievements but for his character. EXHIBITION IN LONDON. The Foreign Samples Department of Overseas Trade has opened an exhibition in London. There are shown over 15,000 samples of enemy goods, collected since the war, with the object of , showing British manufacturers the exact* nature of the enemy trade with various parts of the Empire and other countries. The department has secured a vast quantity of valuable information relative to enemy trade markets. The samples already presented ■ include some from practically every part of the Empire, North America, China, and Siani, and others will be added. Manufacturers are allowed every facility to study them. DISASTROUS TORNADO. A terrific tornado swept lowa, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Farmhouses were blown away and towns wrecked. A kinematograph theatre at Winchester, in Kentucky, collapsed, and 12 persons were killed. The total death roll is 24. CRISIS IN SPAIN. Another crisis has arisen in Spain. Tele l grams, which are censored, indicate a conflict between the military and civil authorities, apparently due to the insistence of the army in support of the War Minister on the adoption, without parliamentary authority, of army reform. The army demand the military committees which overthrew the Government in June. The threatened crisis was averted by the Cabinet unanimously approving of the proposed military reforms. The Daily Telegraph's Madrid correspondent says that the Council of Ministers approved the Royal decree authorising an expenditure of £8,000,000 on increased officers' pay and on large increases in the army's strength, including one artillery and two infantry'divisions, also strengthening the naval bases against invasion. The public of Spain are astounded, believing that the decree j« unconstitutional, for there has been nothing similar to it in Spam's political history, and it is a heavy blow to democracy. ■Senor Gimino, Minister of the Navy, representing the Romanones section, resigned in protest, precipitating a Cabinet crisis; and later the Cabinet resigned. The King accepted Senor Prieto's resignation. \ TROUBLE IN CHINA. The southern Chinese have closed the Upper Yangtse. They fired on the Japanese gunboat Firshiha, and a party from the British gunboats Woodcock and Kinsha; also upon the Japanese steamer Tahung, which returned to Hankow bespattered by bullets. One passenger was seriously injured. GENERAL NEWS. . As from March 7 the British Government war risk rates to Australia, via. Suez, have been fixed at 120 s; via Panama, 70s. The explorer Stefansson has forwarded a message stating that he intends to spend another year in the Arctic. Sir Edward Carson has been re-elected chairman cf the Irish Unionist party. _ ■ Amundsen undertakes a new Arctic expedition next June, and will use aeroplanes and seaplanes in an effort to reach the Pole. The Palestine Restoration Commission of America has completed its plans for a Jewish University at Jerusalem on the site of the Mount of Olives. George von Lengerke Meyers, ex-Secvc-tary of the United States Navy in Mr Taft's Administration, has died of a tumour on the liver " Owing to the refusal of the Unionist members of the Portuguese Cabinet to adopt universal si'ffrag-j at the Presidential elections, the Cabinet has been reconstructed without the Unionists. The Premiership remains unchanged. The official explanation of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's death ig that he committed snicida owing to the failure of the negotiations to rid him of a sentimental tie for tho purpose of enabling him to marry a German princess. The newspapers comment on the insincerity of the explanation. The theory of murder is generally believed. AUSTRALIAN NEWS. After several protracted sittings the New South Wales State Assembly nassed the third reading of the Arbitration Bill. A fire destroyed the principal business premises of Koolamon. The damage is estimated at £20,000. Following a series of mysterious robberies of mailbaga, involving large sums of money, the Postmaster-general has offered a reward of £S(K) in connection with the abstraction of £I6OO in notes from the SydneyBrewarrina mail. „ The Lord Mayor of Sydney has challenged the Lord Mayor of Melbourne to decide which is tha premier city of the Commonwealth by the amount each subscribes

to the War Loan. Tb-3 Mayor of'Melbourne has accepted the challenge. A terrific- cyclone struck Double Island Point. Fears are entertained for the safety of the small steamer Adonis, with a crew of 10 aboard. The Methodist Conference sitting at Sydney resolved that an endeavour should be made to bring about a union of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational Churches. The annoal report of the New South Wales Prisons Department shows that the number of prisoners received in 1917, exclusive of inebriates, was 81G8 —the lowest on record. The military has prohibited all 20-round boxing contest.?. A strike lias been declared at the Broken Hill Central and Broken Hill Junction nines, and 800 men arc idle. It is announced that no unmarried strikers at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory (NewSouth Wales) who are eligible, for the army will be re-employed. A Bill is to bo introduced in the House of Bepresentatives giving the Controller of the Commonwealth line of ships the same powers as a railway commissioner, go as to free the service from political influence. The New South Wales Legislative Council passed the third reading of Ihe Judges' Retirement Bill, fixing the retiring age at 70. The Federal Government has granted £50.000 to the Halifax Disaster Belief Fund. The cost' of living in Sydney during. the past five years has increased over 50 per cent. At the inquest on the deaths of Thomas Davies and his family the evidence ehowed that Davies and his wife contemplated suicide. The • wife poisoned herself, a>nd Davies, a.fter shooting his daughter, shot himself. [Davies feared prosecution by the Ironmoulders' Union for irregularities in his accounts.] A MYSTERIOUS TRAGEDY. A mysterious affair is reported from Lismore. Robert M'Lean, a well-known farmer, and his three children went to fetch their cows, but shortly after they were all found drowned in a well. There is nothing to disclose whether the affair was accidental or otherwise. IDENTITY FRAUD. The ex-New Zealand soldier Joseph M'Auliffe, who " exchanged identity" in England with an Australian soldier, Graham, about to sail for Australia among the returned wounded, pleaded guilty at Sydney to forging a document whereby he obtained military pay, and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The judge in passing sentence added: " The New Zealand authorities desire that you be returned to England, from where you deserted, as soon as the military authorities are ready to send you. I make a recommendation that you be handed over." DEATH OF SIR. JOHN MADDEN. Sir John Madden, Chief Justice and Lieu-tenant-governor of Victoria, is dead. He was born- at Cork, Ireland, in 1844, his father being a solicitor, who cam© to Melbourne in 3857. He attended school in England and a Marist College in and afterwards at St. Patrick's College and the Melbourne University. He took his B.A. degree in 1864, and LL.B. with gold medal in 1865,and was called to the Victorian Bar the same- year. When about half-way through his law course at the university he turned his attention to medicine, which he eventually abandoned and completed his legal studies. In 1867 he received his LL.D., and was the first member of that university to pass the prescribed course for that degree. Dt Madden rose to a leading position at the Bar, and was appointed Chief Justice in 1893, in succession to the late Chief Justice Higinbotham. His political career began in 1874, when he was returned to the Legislative Assembly for West Bourke, and from 1875 to 1883 he represented Sandridge. He was Minister of Justice in the ' M'Culloch Government fron October, 1875, to May, 1577, and in the Service Administration of 1880. For 10 years Sir John Madden was chancellor of the University of Melbourne, and had ba-en" Chancellor since 1897. He was appointed Lieutenant-governor in 1899, having previously administered the Govern. Mit of the State in 1893, 1895, and 1898, and acted in a similar capacity on several occasions since He was kniedi+ed in 1893, created K.C.M.G. in 1899, and G.C.M.G. in 1906. He is survived by one son and five daughters. *» DEVELOPING INDUSTRY. The Sydney Daily Telegraph, in an article on the development of industry as an indirect result of the war, says that since the outbreak of hostilities and the consequent limitation of opportunities for transport, many hundreds of thousands of pounds have been invested in manufacturing enterprises. Factories are rapidly springing up, and an earnest effffort is being made to make the country more self-supporting in the day of commercial stress that is forecasted when th© blood-lust of Germany hes been' quelled. The paper enumerates numbers of instances of firms spending large sums to increase production. One firm has invested £230,000, with an additional £50,000 to follow, and the paper declares that 50- new industries could be written down off-hand.