NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3517, 9 August 1921, Page 37

NEWS BY CABLE.

BROKEN DROUGHT. London’s 70-day drought broke to-dav, when 10 points of rain fell in a thunder shower, which lasted an hour. FALLING OFF IN TRAFFIC. The Board of Trade returns for overseas passenger traffic in the first- half of 1921 show a decrease of 23,594 emigrants to places within the Empire, and an increase of 4899 emigrants to the United States, as compared with 1920. This ie principally due to Irish emigration to America in the first quarter. The total outward balance of overseas passengers for tiie half-year is 61,769, compared with 69,041 for last year, and 157,779 in the first half of 1913. GENERAL POST MORTEMS. A plea for universal post-mortem examinations to determine the cause of death was urged by Professor David Drummond in his presidential address to the British Medical Association. Medical men, lie said, widely supported the public allegation that a wrong diagnosis of the cause was given in 80 per cent, of deaths. Professor Drummond urged_ that great educational value would be derived from post-mortem examinations. A diagnosis was only a matter of opinion, ancl doctors would never improve their knowledge until they were entitled to claim a post-mortem examination. EARL HAIG'S APPEAL. Fail Haig, on the seventh anniversary of the war, appeals to the nation not to forget its debt to the men who stood between it and disaster. He states that over 1,000,000 ex-service men are stijjl unemployed, and that they, with their families, are suffering acute privations. THE STATELY HOMES OF ENGLAND. Jiie Duke of. Portland, addressing his tenants, prophesied the wholesale closure ot many historic homes in England. Owing to inability to maintain them the owners are seeking humbler homes. The Duke Sti-iu he was certain his successors would be unabie to live at Welbeck Abbey. Since the armistice more than a score of great titled landowners had been forced to sell poitiona of their ancestral acres, including the Dukes of Sutherland and Westminster. Hundreds of thousands of acres, worth milnone of pounds, Lad changed hands, mainly owing to the economic situation. BRITISH PRESTIGE IN CHINA. That Great Britain’s Alliance with Japan was tending to diminish Britain’s prestige and influence in China, where the trend of thought was of a. most progressive character, was a statement, made bv Mr Lenox •Simpson, successor to the late Dr Morrison as political adviser to the Chinese Government to whom Lord Burnham gave a dinner at the Savoy. Mr Simpson also remarked'upon the in-cre-smg penetration of American influence v.nioh was becoming a real power in China. SINKING OF BRITISH STEAMER. •4*. Hl ° Board of Trade’s inquiry into the oinking of ihe British steamer Spathari off the }. ortuguos© coast, on April 19. : -t ’was -yrmE , tn *L u !e en fT>neer (Thomas Maury) wiluilly scuttled the ship bv opening- tne sea communications with the engine room, and that the master and the officers did not try to ascertain the cause of the anc ‘ Prematurely abandoned the . Jalley’s certificate was cancelled, and that of gto master suspended for three months Pho.-o was no proof that the owner was inculpated. A NEW EXPLOSIVE. A new invention called methanometer which is capable of recording automatically a fractional percentage of fire-damp in mines has passed the final Home Office teste Its use w expected to reduce the risk of mine explosions to a minimum. SALVAGING OPERATIONS Several months’ work in attempting to secure gold from the wreck of the LaurentlU 111 Bough Swilly has produced only a °nn *°. f . bu , llion €ach valued at £l6(Xi. the Admiralty divers found the wreck broken up and tile treasure buried under hundreds of tons of metal which it » necessary to blast away. This is the fourth summer that salvaging has be mi conducted. EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY. ■A, violent earthquake caused panic in Leghorn, Italy, crowds evacuating the town. Other serious shocks were recorded in Zunigina district. A damaged building coliapsea m Bari, burying a number of persons. GENERAL SMUTS’S FUTURE. , A message from Philadelphia states that Colonel House, in a cable message to the Philadelphia Public Ledger, expresses the opinion that the time is not far distant when a “coionial” many become Minister fur iirit-am. Colonel House evidently refers to General Smuls. He urges that Mr Meighen Mr Hughes, Mr Massey, and General Smuts should all attend the Washington Conference. POPLAR BOROUGH COUNCIL. The appeal by individual members of the Poplar Council against the writ of attachment was dismissed, but the appeal by the council in its corporate capacity ‘ was allowed. A special meeting of the Poplar Council refused to levy rates to meet the London County Council's and the Asvlum Board’s demand, which has caused litigation. The council is appealing against ihe decision about the attachment writs. UNREST IN PORTUGAL. A toil's;ram from Vigo states that groups from the Lisbon garrison are picketing the sired-. Heavy artillery was placed in the streels and squares, ii is believed, in anticipation of an allenipted coup auaiust the Gowriim-u!. EXPRESS AND HOLIDAY TR UN collide:. holiday ii i in bound for Leeds from ' Bri.b linoton while the lalleg was pulling oul of Selby station. The express out through the first coach of the Bridlington train, the engine of which fell on to the signal cabin,

wrecking it. Two coaches were derailed. The three signal men jumped from the cabin when they saw the express approaching. The express kept tig; rails. Both trains were crowded. Fourteen passengers on the Bridlington train were injured. SURPLUS WOMEN. The Daily Express’s Berlin correspondent states that 15,1LU,000 women in Europe are doomed to become old maids. International statistics here show that the excess of women over men in Europe has in- ; creased by 10,000,900 since 1914. The i present surpluses are: In Germany, ! 2,o00,000; in Russia, 2,250,000; in Austria j and Italy, 1,000,000 each. It is estimated I that 35 per cent, of Germany’s marriage--1 able women will never find husbands. SIGN 1 FIG'ANT RETURNS. | The Commissioners of Customs and Ex- | else report lor the year ended March 31 I points out that the people’s increased | spending power prior to the present depresI s;on produced the following increase in 1 revenue over the estimated amounts: j Spirits, £j,603,000; sugar, £2,545,000; | motor cars, £886,COO; entertainments, | £879,000; matches, £597,000. Beer showed | a decrease of £4,422,000. The official rej turns of the wholly unemployed on July j 29 showed a reduction of 85,000 compared, j with the previous week. | RIOTS IN AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT. J According to a Prague message, remarks | by German Deputies, alleging provocative action against German towns in Chechoslovakia, caused a riot in Parliament. The police were summoned, and they removed the German members. Riots occurred in Au.ssig between the Germans and Czechs, in which one was killed and six wounded. GENERAL ITEMS. The Catholic Times states that the Pope has decorated Commander John M'Gormaek with the Order ol St. Gregory. Sir Eric Geudes, who is resigning his | portfolio shortly, has undertaken to devote tiie whole of ids time lor the remainder of the year to ! 'he work of a Select Committee on economy. Malateskt (the Italian anarchist sympathiser) and others, who were charged with plotting against the State, were acquitted. Mr Lloyd George will go to Scofand at Ae end of August, returning a month later, j % is likely to leave Southampton for | Washington on October 22. j A scheme is afoot in Denmark to conj vert- into a seaside restaurant U-boat 20, which sank the Lusitania, and afterwards was driven ashore on the west coast of Jutland. The province of Khorassan, Persia, has declared its independence. The Cuban President’s Secretary has announced that the sale of 1,000,000 tons of sugar to the German Government is likely to be effected. During the yacht racing at Cowes Fieldmarshal Sir liengv Wilson fell overboard from a yawl, but ne was able to keep afloat until he was rescued. The Waimana will sail from London on September 1 with 800 immigrants. Half are ex-service men, and the remainder are nominated immigrants. Official: The sth Lancers, the 19th and 20th Hussars, and the 21st Lancers will be j disbanded when their service exigencies permit. j As a result of the oppressive heat in Belj gium, farmers are working all night instead of in the daytime. Searchlights are j attached to cutters and binders. I The Department of Agriculture at Pretoria estimates this year’s maize crop at 12,000,000 bags., leaving a surplus of 2,250,000 bags for export. Great Britain has officially notified the League of Nations that the British Empire as a whole had ratified the Statute providing for the creation of a permanent Court of International Justice. The Canadian Government’s steamer Canadian Exporter, of 5493 tons gross, built in 1920, was wrecked on the Oregon coast. Her back was broken. She is a total loss. The vessel was valued at £300,000. Investigations in regard to clothing which fell to pieces hi British laundries established the fact that it was made of paper. It is believed that large supplies of papersuits were imported from Germany. The Belgian Chamber of Deputies adopted a Bril to enable women to become burgomasters, aldermen, and rate collectors. Married women must, obtain their husbands’ i permission before accepting posts. The Bill j excludes women from the police service, j The British Admiralty Court, heard crossactions arising out of tiie collision between the Benalia and the Patella. Mr Justice Hill, in his judgment, apportioned the blame in the proportion of two-thirds to the Patella and one-third to the Benalia. The French train bandits were all captured, killed, or wounded. The notice inspector who was wounded is dead. He was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour. Charier avowed that he and his accomplices planned an additional outrage j .involving many deaths. A device whereby it is claimed the teleI phone can be harnessed to submarine | cables lias been invented by Gaston Vincent and Louis Du Verger, two French engineers. 'lhe Government has sanctioned an experiment with the new device, which it is claimed can be applied to a!! existing submarine cables. AUSTRALIAN MEWS, The newsprint, imported into the Comj monwealth during the year ended June 30 |is valued at £3,461,000. The imports dur- ! ing the previous five years were valued at £7.100.000. j At ihe annual Melbourne si ltd sheep sales, ! except for a few choice lots, the demand I was poor. One hundred and sixty guineas I was pa.'d by a New Zealand buyer for n j Tasmanian merino ram. j By disallowing an application to appeal ! to the Privy Council, the High Court: of j Australia has now finally established ihe i principle that the C .minonwealth. within j the sphere of its own const it urion.nl activii executive nulluu ii \ over the Stale-, j i’nictically all the linkers in Perth (Western Australia) were dosed as a protest against the Government's refusal io raise the, price of the 21h loaf to 64 d: but. re Justice reviewed VlVe whole plii him'"'' ’ The schooner I<c* Musi!, limber-laden r... T.i -mania, slrnek a- r. of t ear Millieent. and wont to pieces. Tiie captain (a tied 80) and a crew of six jumped overboard iino Ihe raging pea. and after a hard fight reached the shore.

The management of the Commonwealth steamers is inaugurating a four-weekly service to the L inted ivmgdom, via Suez. The steamers will call at Colombo. The service will commence at the end of the year with the Moreton Bay, of 12,500 tons. l_his vessel is being built in England. I* our others are in course of const-ruction. The Governor granted the Victorian Premier's request for a dissolution of the Slate Parliament. Tho elections have be. n fixed for August 30. A petition was presented to the Federal Senate on behalf of primary producers in favour of a. reduction of the new duties in the tariff affecting them. The grounds of the petition are that no difficulties should be placed in the way of an increase in production, which is much needed. In the Maranoa (Queensland) by-election, to fill the vacancy in the Federal House caused through the death of Mr J. Page, Mr Hunter, the Country Party’s nominee, has established an apparently unassailable lead over the Labour candidate. Labour’s defeat is considered significant, in conjunction with the late municipal elections. Ex-Sister Ligouri, in a letter to the pre?6, protests against being shadowed in quiet places, where she is seeking rest, by people apparently desiring her return to Ireland. She says she does not intend to return to Ireland. She desires to remain under the protection of her friends, and in the meantime she asks for the protection of the police for lierself and her friends. Mr Ashford. ex-Minister of Lunds in the New South Wales Ministry, in a statement regarding the commissioner's report, denies that he was guilty of misconduct. lie added that no evidence, direct or indirect, of any impropriety was given against him. Tire inqu’rv was reopened at his own requesl. and he would not have dared to face another inquiry if he had not, been innocent of the allegations made. THE CATTLE TICK PEST. The spread of the tick pest in the North Coast districts of New South Wales is causing serious alarm. The dairying industry is menaced. The Under-Secretary for Agriculture, after an extended investigation, slated that £120,000 would be required for protective measures during tho coming season. £500,000 had been spent in the past 14 years in efforts to eradicate the tick. MISSIXG CANASTOTA. Advices received from Lord Howe Island | slate that wreckage and benzine cases have been washed ashore there. The wreckage is supposed to be from the missing steamer Caiiaetota. The wreckage, which was charred, includes a, number of casks of tallow marked “Pat,” which the agent of the Canastota states he believes to be identical with the markings on the tallow which was shipped on the steamer at Brisbane. GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION. Professors David and Ilowchin have returned from a tour in which they carried out geological exploration work in Central Australia. Professor David states that they found evidences of vast glacial action, surpassing in scale and magnificence anything found in the South Polar explorations. They also found in the Finke and Goyder River districts indications of a splendid supply of artesian water. MOUNT MORGAN MINE. At ihe thirty-sixth annual meeting of the Mount Morgan Company it was announced that the mine products during the past 14 years had realised £14,000,000. whereof £6,500,000 was raid to ihe miners and contractors and £2,500,000 in dividends to shareholders. The Minister of Mines refused tho Mount Morgan Company’s application for exemption from labour conditions for a period of six months.