NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 40

NEWS BY CABLE.

AUCTIONING INSURANCE POLICIES. A strange gamble on the life of a man who is at present in prison, with a fortune at stake, will be held on May 24, when the official receiver will auction the insurance policies of Thomas Farrow, who was one of the directors of Farrow’s Bank, and is now serving a sentence of imprisonment. If Farrow dies within a year the purchaser will clear ££O,GCO. If he lives for 20 years lie will get only a few 7 thousands. The annual premium is £3OOO. D arrow is 50 years of age, and is in good health. THE BOTTOM LEY CASE. Horatio Bottomley, in a lengthy statement, declared that teh prosecution had exploited a mare’s nest mainly because he (Bottomley) chose to keep alive the account which was originally opened in the name of the Victory Bond Club. He concluded rhetorically that, realising the new awakening during tha tragedy of Armageddon, he had consecrated himself to the service of his country. He became the King’s chief recruiting agent, and stood by the boys in the trenches. It was inconceivable that a jury should convict- him of lobbing them and their families. “if so,” he concluded, “may the tortures of the damned he visited on my soul when I cross the barrier.” EUROPEAN TRADE. Lord Inverforth, who is visiting Genoa in connection with the International Corporation for Developing European Trade, has secured the adhesion of Canada. Japan, Czec-ho-Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, and Sw 7 eden. These countries agreed in the aggregate to subscribe from £4,000,000 to £6,000,000 of the corporation’s capital of £20,000,000, of which the balance will be found by England, France, Italy, and Germany. The Australian Press Association correspondent at Genoa states that- Canada will contribute £1,000,000 towards the International Corporation. GENERAL TOWNSHEND. In tlie House of Commons, Mr Chamberlain, in replying to General Townshend, said that the Foreign Secretary (Lord Ourzon) had decided to refuse a passport to General Townshend to proceed to Turkey on the ground that such a journey at the present time would he the reverse of opportune, since it could not fail to be misconstrued by the Allies and by Turkey as an official mission. Consequently it would prejudice the present negotiations and would further delay peace with Turkey. General Townshend complained that this explanation regarding the passport was offensive. He asked if that was the proper way to treat him. Captain Gee later moved the adjournment of the House in view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply;. but the Speaker refused to put the motion on the ground that the matter was not now urgent. General Townshend informed his constituents that he will not seek re-election, finding that as a soldier he is not adapted to politics. INJURED BY A GOLF BALL. Mr Justice Sankey awarded George Thomas Castle, a chauffeur, £450 damages, with costs, in an action against Marcus James Chapman and the SI. Augustine Links (Ltd.). Castle lost an eye through a. golf ball driven by Chapman striking the wind screen as he motored past the St. Augustine Company’s links at Pegwell Bay. Castle, owing to tha accident, lost his motor driving license. The companypleaded that Chapman, who had gone to Australia, was entirely responsible. Players could see from the tee when a drive was dangerous to traffic. M AURETANIA ESTABLISHES RECORD. The Mauretania reached Southampton from New York. She touched 27i knots an hour and averaged 251 knots, establishing a world’s record. WELSH COAL. The Welsh coal trade is booming. The owners believe that it will eventually surpass the pre-war high-water mark. Preparations are afoot, for the investment of many millions of new capital for sinking new pits and obtaining the latest electrical and mechanical devices. ROYAL VISIT TO BELGIUM. Elaborate preparations are being made to welcome the King and Queen, who will ha visiting Belgium next week. After the conclusion of a State visit to Brussels the King will commence on Thursday a tour of the war cemeteries. The Dominion representatives have been invited to participate at their respective cemeteries. IT is Majesty will place a wreath on the Brussels monument to the martyrs, including Nurse Edith C’avell, and also a cross of sacrifice and a stone of remembrance in the British cemetery at ■ Terlincthun, where General Castelnau will speak. ITALIAN TOWN DESTROYED. Owing to floods the town of .Corato, of 45.000 inhabitants, was almost destroyed. The damage is estimated at 200,000,000 lire. The Chamber voted 9,000,000 lire for relief.

NAVAL DISARMAMENT. M. Raiberti, Minister of the Navy, m welcoming- M. Millerand (President) at Toulon after the latter’s toftr of the African colonies, declared that by not replacing the naval losses in the war France was seven veins ahead of the other Powers in naval disarmament, and really gave the "example which the Washington Conference suggested. . Millerand, replying, protested against tne stupid accusations of French militarism, lie said that France was only buying; her own security with her rightful reparations Her wtiole efforts tended towards peace. GENERAL ITEMS. Sir Arthur J Balfour has taken the title oi the Earl of Balfour. After suffering for several dnvs from influenza, M. Deschanel developed fatal pulmonary complications. pc ” ons „.": ere rilled and thirty inj ed m a collision between a passenger and a goods train between Birson and Bar ie Due, m 1< ranee. An unofficial message states that the Spaniards had a serious reverse in Morocco and were obliged to retire to bases at 1 otuan and Laroche. The police at Ottawa arrested 300 members ot the Longshoremen’s Union and charged tnern with 7 conspiracy and killing a c ” n _ stable during an attack on strike-breakers. As the result of an explosion, which was due to fire damp at a colliery at Lupini Rumania, there have been 160 casual lies. B’g-nty-two of these are either dead or ternbiy mutilated." jhe enquiries regarding the whereabouts . I-* ic Raymond (who lias been missin°* since the eve of hi s marriage, which was to nave- faxen place at the end of February) have proved fruitless, and the Australian authorities are not proceeding further. At the sale of the late Baroness BurdettCoutts’s pictures, Hoppner’s portrait of the Younger Pitt, painted in 1805, fetched 7000 guineas. Another Idoppner portrait realised 1800 guineas. Abbott’s portrait of Lord Nelson fetched 1100 guineas, and Raeburn’s portrait of Sir Walter Scott fetched 9200 guineas. , The King and Queen, their sons, Princess Beatrice, and the Queen of Spain, together with other royalties attended Prince Leopold Mounthatien’s military funeral in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. The body was laid in the vault in which King Edward was buried. The Emir of Afghanistan is contemplating building a new capital on the Charden Plain, near Kabul. He is also making extensive improvements to the summer capital at Paghman. The Afghan Customs returns for the past year showed a large increase. The Canadian Premier, Mr Mackenzie King, replying to a statement by a Liberal member of the House of Commons that there should be devised some more direct method of handling diplomatic questions between the United States and Canada than through the British Embassy, said that the Dominion Government was considering the appointment of a Canadian Minister to Washington. Mr D. Benjamin, of Sweet Bros., Ltd. (Sydney), who all his life has had faith in the number 11, drew this number in connection with sports aboard the. ship by which he was travelling. He went to Monte Carlo and backed it, winning nearly 20,000 francs (nominally £S00). The chief item on the agenda of the International shipping Conference, which is to be held in London in October, will deal with grievances as regards the immunity of State-owned shipping from liability to taxation. It is proposed that an international convention shall be framed placing Stale-owned maritime property on precisely the same footing as privately owned. Arising out of a formal friendly action in the Chancery Division, in which Mr John Quiller Rowett, the financier of the Quest Expedition, sued Sir Ernest Shaekletoo’s widow, Mr Justice Astbury appointed a receiver and manager for the ShackletonRowett partnership. Counsel explained that this action was necessary in order to protect Sir Ernest Shackletoii’s estate and Mr Rowett’s interest. Miss Beatrice Griuish&w, the well-known authoress and traveler, interviewed at Plymouth, paid a tribute to the Commonwealth’s administration of Papua, which, she said, was being better governed by Australia than by England. The treatment of the natives was really humane, and civilisation was being reached by easy but definite stages. Every hour I’m getting nearer and nearer,”" is the principle on which the latest aspirant—l7-year-old Doris [line hopes to swim the Channel. She is a disciple of M. Gone, and believes in autosuggestion. “If I can only think hard enough,” she says. “I’ll swim the Channel.” She is now training seriously at Brighton. She won a 14-mile race on the Thames in 1921. On the eve of inheriting a fortune of £40.000 under the will of a wealthy Australian woman, Mrs Croft, wife of a hawker, savs the London Daily Mail, died in a little cottage at- Darwen, Lancashire. She expected to receive the fortune in May, when the estate was wound up. but she was seized with a fatal illness when in a taxicab returning from Coventry. Gas oozing from a room in a lodginghouse in Toronto led to the discovery of Percy Brown, aged 79, lying dead and grasping iti his hand a report of a Conan Doyle spiritualist lecture, headed, “Death is beautiful and without any sense of pain.” “If this clipping is true, why should I linger here?” wrote Brown across the newspaper. A piquant sequel to Mr Hughes s recent refusal to allow some German engineers to land at Melbourne for the purpose of erecting the Morwell Briquetting Company’s plant is that, permission having been subsequently granted, the Germans now refuse to go. ’They declare that their wives will not let them, fearing they will receive a hostile reception in Australia. AUSTRALIAN NEWS, The food prices for April in N.S. Wales were 12 per cent, cheaper than in April of 1921 hut they are 48 per cent, higher than in July, 1914. A mg fire at Perth. W.A., destroyed the premises of Robert Harper and Co., merchants and manufacturers. The damage is £40,000. Sydney was captured on the sth by an armv of collectors gathering funds for the hospitals, the occasion being the annual hospital collection. The public willingly responded to the demands made on them. Senator John Adamson was cut to pieces by a train at Hendra. He had been in hail health for a considerable time, and it is stated that he threw himself in front of the train.

The Esperanto Bay and the Jervis Bay, the remaining Commonwealth steamers, which are due in Sydney on July 3 and 31 respectively, are now nearing completion. Olive Maddox, a -Crown witness in tha Ross murder trial, reported to the Melbourne police that a man fired a shot at her on Saturday night in a street in Fitzroy. The police are unable to trace the qjan. As a result of tha falling off in the inter-State cargo trade, five Adelaide steamers are idle in Sydney. It is expected that the approaching sugar season will call for increased tonnage shortly. Iho New South Wales Minister of Labour announced that the Parkes Council had declared bees noxious animals. Acting °n the advice of the Crown Solicitor, the Minister notified the council that there was no power to declare insects noxious. The Congregational Union in New South Wales resolved to recommend to the Congregational Unions of Australia and New Zealand acceptance of the amended basis of union as one on which the churches interested may reasonably unite. Dr Thrower, Bishop of North-West Australia. in instancing the effect of the aboriginal mission work in Kimberley, said I that he knew one native who became a thorough gentleman, a good Christian, and an interesting platform speaker, though six years previously he had eaten his aunt. Banks, who was associated with Maple in the notorious bushranging escapade at Neerim, and was charged with breaking and entering a store, has been committed to a reformatory prison during the Governor’s pleasure. ihe judge said no was satisfied that the lad had been influenced by his strong-willed, vicious companion, Maple. In connection with the recent tragedy at C'oogee, the Chalmers Fund Committee allocated £250 for a motor truck for Mr Chalmers, and in vested £1250 for the family. On the suggestion of Chalmers, £SOO was awarded to Beaurepaire (the champion swimmer) for assisting in the rescue at the C'oogee shark tragedy. The decision of Mr Justice Scholes, who found in favour of the two New South Wales railway employees who brought an . action against the Commissioners, claiming arrears of increased pay alleged to be due to them under the Federal award made oil the application of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, has been set aside by the High Court. Justice Scholes’s decision would have involved an additional annual outlay of £60,000 in wages. The committee of the Sydney City Council which is investigating the causes of the high cost of Sydney’s electric supply states that to produce- current valued at £356,000 in Melbourne cost £24,000, while the production of £943,000 worth of current in Sydney cost £147,000. On the Melbourne basis, it should cost only about half that amount. The Western Australian Prospecting Board has despatched a prospecting party of 10, under Captain Jones, to investigate the country to the east and north-east, of Laverton. The expedition will start with 14 camels and provisions for three months. The leader is to be paid £7 a week and the others £2 a week. All will share alike in any gold discovered. The inspector for the Caulfield Council, Victoria, reported that ho had found a stable which was 'used as a self-contained flat, with the stalls and feed-room converted into living rooms. The council is taking steps to ascertain what action can be taken in the matter. . . Mr W. M. Hughes (Prime Minister), while taking riding exercise at Grafton, New South Wales, on a tour of the northern district, was thrown from his horse. The Prime Minister fell heavily, and broke his collarbone, but the fracture is not- serious. lie was removed to Ins hotel, and will require a week to rest, ihe tour has been abandoned. . Consequent on the fall m the prices of wheat meat, and other commodities, the Australian public is growing restive and inquisitive regarding the continued retention by restaurants of the high prices of - meals established during the war time. In some cases slight reductions are now being made but there is no general movement in that direction. The keepers of restaurants claim that no appreciable reduction is, possible until the basic wage and high rents are reduced. A serious accident occurred to a pan y of" 31 tourists en route to Mount Buffalo, the famous resort. The earth gave way when the coach was approaching Eorrobin Point, and the horses were dashed o\er the bank, bringing the coach and passou„ers with them. Miss Templeton rolled 300 ft ahead of the coach, and broke both The coach fell 60ft, and was wrecked. The passengers sustained lacerations and shock, but were otherwise uninjured. A DEADLY DISEASE. The outbreak of a serious disease at Lowood, Queensland, which *.vas supposed to be medningitis, and which caused the deaths of several children, has now appeared at Ipswich. Six deaths have occurred m the hospital and a number ot other deaths are reported. Two children at Gatlovv also succumbed. The disease* is puzzling the doctors and so far nothing has been discovered to serve as a precautionary measure. All the patients died aftei a half to three days’ illness. ATTACKED BY ALLIGATOR. Harry Summerfield. who lives close to Alligator River, Northern Territory, was standing on the bank when a large alligator seized him by the leg and dragged him into the water. He jammed his thumb into one of the saurian’s eyes, and forced A to release him, but it then seized and broke his wrist. He poked his thumb into the other eye. blinding the alligator lie. then escaped badly injured, and nas take, to hospital TREATMENT OF HOOKWORM. There have been over 12.000 successful treatments of hookworm hv means oi carbon tetra-chloride effected oy Government agencies in Fiji. The test shows that 98 per cent of the worms were expelled after one dose, and SO per cent, of the individuals were cured by one dose. THE MISSING M ANDREWA. A settler at Forster reports that he found on the beach at Elizabeth Point nine hatch boards and a portion of a table and some rigging. This wreckage is believed to be from the missing Manurewa. The Manurewa’s crew of 30 includes four New Zealanders —Captain R. G. Holmes. of Thorpe; second mate, L. E. Peck, Auckland; R. Littlejohn, Wellington; D. M. Clark, Auckland

The steamer Kinchela reports that while on the way to Sydney from the Macleay River on April 28 she passed a email three-masted barque, believed to be the Manurewa. It is now stated the wreckage found at Point Elizabeth belonged to the Fitzroy, which foundered in June last.