NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3698, 27 January 1925, Page 45

NEWS BY CABLE.

BRITISH PARLIAMENT. LONDON, January 18. A decree has been issued summoning Parliament for March 25. AIR MISSION TO LAKE CHAD. PARIS, January 18. The Air Mission to Lake Chad landed near Epernay (France) owing to unfavourable winds. MINERS FATALLY GASSED. LONDON, January 19. Five miners were fatally gassed at the Kirkstyle Colliery, near Glasgow, this morning. LEAGUE OF NATIONS. LONDON, January 22. Advices from Berne confirm the report that Costa Rica has resigned from membership in the League of Nations. COMMITTEE OF IMPERL4L DEFENCE. LONDON, January 23. The Prime Minister (Mr Baldwin) has* invited Viscount Haldane to continue his membership on the Committee of Imperial Defence. HEAVY SNOWFALL. CONSTANTINOPLE, January' 23. Twenty-one feet of snow fell at Ardahan (Georgia), 47 persons being frozen to death. FIVE DAY WEEK FOR MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES. SYDNEY, January 21. The City Council passed a resolution directing its Conciliation Committee immediately to bring in the 44-hour week of five days throughout the whole service. NEW CHIEF JUSTICE APPOINTED. SYDNEY, January 21. The Premier (Sir George Fuller) announced that Mr Justice Street has been appointed Chief Justice, in succession to Sir William Cullen. WEST AUSTRALIAN STORM. PIERTH, January 25. A cyclone practically destroyed Roebourne, a small town in the far northwest. The damage amounts to many thousands of pounds. There are no deaths. PORT OF LONDON. LONDON, January 22. The Port of London Authority announces a reduction in all dock charges of 7j per .:ent., commencing in February. It is understood that all cold . stores in London will make a similar reduction. CHEKCING ALIEN INFLUX. MELBOURNE, January 23. Senator Pearce (Minister for Home and Territories) informed a deputation that in order to check the influx of alien migrants the landing money would be in creased from £lO to £4O after March 30. STEAMER HAVRE ASHORE. BRISBANE. January 22. A message from Thursday Island states that the steamer Havre, from Singapore to Brisbane, is ashore on King Island. No details are available. DISASTROUS TRANSCAUCASIAN EARTHQUAKE. COPENHAGEN. January 21. The Russian newspaper Isvestia states that an earthquake destroyed 40 Transcaucasian towns, and 200 people were killed. —A. and N.Z. Cable. BALTIC STATES FAVOUR ARBITRATION. RIGA, January 1«S. The conference of the Baltic States agreed to settle mutual disputes by arbitration based on the League of Nations Protocol. BRITAIN’S NEWEST SUBMARINE. LONDON, January 19. Britain’s newest submarine (XI) has been delivered at Portsmouth. It was built secretly at Chatham. It is the largest in the world. MARQUIS’S SECRET MARRIAGE. LONDON, January 20. The Marquis of Winchester. England’s premier marquis, whose wife died last Decomber, secretly married Caroline, widow of Major Claude Marks, financier, at the Savoy Chapel. BRITISH LEGION IN IRELAND. LONDON, January 19. At a dinner in Dublin at the inauguration of the British Legion in Ireland it was mentioned that Earl Haig had heartily welcomed 150,000 South Irish ex-service-men who were joining the legion. THE AORANGI. LONDON, January 18. The steamer Aorangi was met and escorted through the Panama Canal by American naval aeroplanes in recognition of the fact that she is the biggest motor ship to make the passage. PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE. MANILA, January 18. "When addressing the Senate, the President (Mr Manuel Quezon) declared that the Filipinos had definitely abandoned expectations of independence for the next four years, or so long as the Republicans held office. FRENCH INVESTMENTS IN RUSSIA. PARIS, January 19. M. Herriot has received M. Krassin, and it is understood that he intimated that the Government was not prepared

to renounce its claims to money invested in Russia by the French public before the war. WIRELESS COMMUNICATION. LONDON, January 20. A wireless amateur named Marcuse, residing at Caterham, had just . finished working with an Australian station at 6 o’clock this morning, when he received a faint call. He was surprised to loam that it came from Dr Rice’s expedition, whch is located in the wilds of Brazil. BRITISH LABOUR PARTY. LONDON, January 23. Lord Gorell, in explaining his decision to join the Labour Party, said: “I believe in the Labour Party just as I believe that while there is the three-party system we will have an unstable Government.” PRINCE OF WALES. CAPETOWN, January 23. The Prince of Wales’s itinerary covers the period from May 4 to July 22, of which a fortnight will be spent in Rhodesia. The Government is expected to vote a special grant for the purpose of giving a fitting welcome to the Prince. “THE BITE .OF 1914.” LONDON, January 23. Sir lan Hamilton, addressing the British Legion, said the bite of 1914 had hardly begun to heal before there was talk of Geneva Protocols, actually pledging them under certain quite possible circumstances to go to war again. A FAMILY MURDERED. LONDON, January 24. The sign of the cross made with a dagger was found on the forehead of each of eight members of a family discovered murdered in their beds at Jerzu. The police believe them to be the victims of a vendetta. DR EARLE PAGE. NEW YORK. January 24. Mr J. A. M. Elder (Australian Commissioner) announces that Dr Earle Page will not float a loan while he is in America, as was lately rumoured. His mission is to recuperate his health, but he may inspect hydro-electric and agricultural developments likely to interest his Government. NOTED AVIATOR ILL. CALCUTTA, January 22. Major-general Sir Sefton Brancker (Director of Civil Aviation in Britain) is ill in hospital here. His condition is serious. It is announced that his flight has been indefinitely postponed. It is considered probable that Pilots Allan and Codham will carry on alone. SHIPPING CONFERENCE. ROME, January 24. A conference of Italian, French, British, and other shipping companies will open at Sail Remo on Monday to discuss routes, tariffs ,and relations with various Governments. Precautions are being taken to prevent the Press obtaining any information regarding the conference. SHIPPING STRIKE. SYDNEY, January 24. The seamen still refuse to man the ships at Sydney, and the dispute seems as far off settlement as ever. The returned soldiers are awaiting the deregistration of the Seamen's Union to form a union of their own and man the ships immediately. SYDNEY HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS. SYDNEY. January 21. Last year the Sydney Harbour Trust, besides carrying out many improvements to the wharfage and lighting facilities of the port dredged the western channel. There are now separate incoming and outgoing channels 700 ft wide with a minimum depth of 40ft at low tide. These facilities are considered ample for modern shipping. PERSIAN MINISTER ARRESTED. LONDON, January 21. A Teheran message states that General Amir Tisht Ed-ar (Minister of the Interior in the Persian Government) has been arrested by order of the Minister of War on a charge of treachery to the army. The Ministers have just returned after a prolonged tour of the districts affected by the recent threat of civil war. CHURCH UNION. LONDON, January 19. At the invitation of the Dean of Canterbury, with the approval of the Archbishop, the Rev. J. D. Jones, chairman of the Congregational Union, preached in Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday evening. The Rev. Mr Jones has been prominent in the discussions upon reunion at Lambeth Palace. BREAKING AND ENTERING. LONDON, January 23. Robert Delaney, a civil engineer, 21 years of age, was remanded on a charge of breaking into Lady Northcote’s house at St. James place and stealing jewellery and documents, the latter including Lady Northcote's instructions in the event of her death. The stolen documents were discovered in a railway cloakroom. THEATRE FIRE AT TOKIO. TOKIO, January 21. Fire started during the ovening performance at one of the largest theatres in the Akasaka district, Tokio. Apparently there were no casualties, although there were 1500 prosont during the performance. It iB believed that some wore injured during the rush to get out of the building, widen was totally destroyed.

A DEMENTED POSTMAN. PARIS, January 19. A demented postman barricaded himself in a flat with a stock of revolvers and ammunition. He fired through the door, and kept at bay a strong cordon of police, who under cover of shields bored holes in the door, and fired poison gas cartridges through it. The madman was overcome by the gas, collapsed, and was arrested. DURBAN GRAVING DOCK. CAPETOWN, January 19. The outer caisson of the Durban graving dock, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, has been placed in position, and the dock pumped dry. Everything i 9 satisfactory. The dock is* intended purely for mercantile purposes. The dimensions are: Length 1150 ft, breadth at entrance 110 ft, depth 41ft. .FORTNIGHTLY MAIL SERVICE RESUMED. SYDNEY, January 20. With the departure from London of the Maloja, the P. and O. Company has resumed the fortnightly mail sea-vice between England and Australia. Some of the company’s vessels will call at Algiers and Port Sudan instead of Marseilles in the future. FRENCH RAILWAY ACCIDENT. PARIS, January 19. Derailed while crossing a river near Dijon, the engine and first coach of a passenger train were precipitated down an embankment. Five persons were killed. The father of a girl passenger imagining that his daughter was among the killed, threw himself into # the river and was drowned. It was afterwards discovered that his daughter was saved. SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE. SYDNEY, January 24. Both the Minister of Works and of Railways, and the Under-Secretary to the Department have received writs for libel, issued by one of the unsuccessful tenderers for the Sydney Harbour bridge. The papers have been referred to the Crown Solicitor with a view to defending the action. AIR ACCIDENTS. LONDON, January- 19. The Air Ministry announced that as a result of accidents t-o two Bristol fighters, as Ismalia and Ramleh respectively, Hying Officers James Alexander M‘Laren and Ronald Reid Bruce lost their lives. Flying-officer Alex. Sutton was seriously injured. Tire two last-named were occupants of the machine which fell at Rumlch. SUBVENTION TO DOMINIONS. LONDON, January 21. The Colonial Office explains that the Economic Committee which is shortly to be appointed bears no relation to the economic committee proposed at the Imperial Conference, and subsequently rejected by Canada. This special committee is dealing solely with the £1,000,000 annual subvention which the British Government is submitting this session. All the dominions have been asked to appoint representatives. “RED” MISSIONARIES. LONDON, January 6. The Bolshevist Revolutionary University has already sent out 320 graduates to preach Communism in Mahommedan countries, says the Riga correspondent of the Daily Mail. The institution has now despatched 365 Chinese emissaries to stimulate China's civil wars until the country has been sufficiently weakened io establish a Soviet. COLOUR PROBLEM IN SOUTH AFRICA. CAPETOWN, January 22. A Government Bill amending the Mining Act enacts that the regulations may provide for the refusal of the certificate of competency required for certain descriptions of work to natives and Asiatics. This, in effect, legalises the colour bar in mining work, which a recent decision of the courts declared to be invalid. ACTION SETTLED. LONDON, January 23. Sir John Simon told the court that negotiations had resulted in a settlement of the case North v. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim. The cross-examination of the plaintiffs’ witnesses produced a profound change in the case. Judgment was entered for Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, who did not press for costs owing to the esteem and honour in which they held Mr North. TRIPLE DROWNING FATALITY. PERTH, January 24. While Albert O’Brien, with his two daughters, Gladys and Catherine, and his niece, were returning along the sand from the Swan River after a crab-fishing expedition, they suddenly dropped into deep water. O’Brien and his daughters were drowned, but O’Brien’s niece, after a swim of 300 yards, reached the shore, where she was found by a search party. PROGRESS OF HUMANITY. LONDON, January 22. A Madrid message states that King Alfonso has been proclaimed honorary mayor of all the towns in the country. He said that the spirit manifested by the people was that of a people who loved work and peace, and were animated by the desire to co-operate in the progress of humanity. It was necessary that this fact should be known outside Spain. THE HOUSING PROBLEM. LONDON, January 20. The committee on the new method of house construction, y>i its interim report, recommends concrete dwellings as an alternative to brick. The committee specially favours those constructed by pouring concrete into moulds, as this system promise# more

houses and more permanent structures than any other system investigated. FOOTBALL IN SPAIN. MADRID, January 18. The popularity of football is ousting bull-fighting. At a football match between Barcelona and Palafrugell, the local referee gave a penalty kick to the/ visitors, from which they scored. A magistrate, who was watching the match, thought the visitors ought to have been penalised, and ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the referee and two linesmen. LONG-DELAYED PUNISHMENT. BRUSSELS, January 18. A court-martial at Liege sentenced to death two Germans (Colonel von Thesseman and Major Herdeirman) who were held responsible for the massacre of 121 civilians at Rossignol. The burgomaster of Arlen gave evidence that the assassinations were ordered and carried out with inconceivable levity, without trial, and without even the names or identity of the victims being ascertained and recorded. SYDNEY RAILWAY SMASH. SYDNEY, January 21. The Railway Board of Inquiry into the railway smash at Central Station a week ago found the equipment was in perfect working order and that the accident was due to the driver of the Ashfield train running against a series of signals and colliding with the outgoing • Ryde train. The board also found that blame was attachable to the fireman and guard of the Ashfield train. ALLEGED MISAPPROPRIATIONS. LONDON, January 20. The late Mr John Wilson’s niece, giving evidence in the Bank of England case, said whenever she left her uncle’s room Andeison shut the door. Her uncle's eyesight was of the weakest and he could not read print- or writing. A chartered accountant gave evidence that Anderson’s alleged misappropriation of securities plus interest amounted to £61,537. A GERMAN’S MAD DRIVE. LONDON, January 21. The Daily Express’s Berlin correspondentstates that a wealthy manufacturer named Ophuysen ended an illicit love affair by driving a motor car with his wife and two daughters full speed into a river wall. All were drowned except his daughter aged eight. The girl with whom Ophuysen promised t-o go to America endeavoured to commit suicide when she heard of°the tragedy. She was arrested. PARIS GIRL BURGLAR, PARIS, January 21. A burglar who rifled houses in the fashionable suburb of Sevres proved to be a girl of 25. She wore male attire at night, and was a fashionably dressed female in the daytime. She had six male accomplices. She owed her position as leader to her remarkable agility. She climbed up rain pipes and entered upper storeys, affixing a rope to enable her accomplices to follow. TOBACCO PROFITS. LONDON, January 21. A sensational rise in the profits from tobacco is disclosed by the announcement of the total dividend of the Imperial Tobacco Company for 1924 of 22£ per cent., requiring £7,500,000 fo-r payment. The sum of £500,000 has been placed to reserve, £250,000 to pension fund, and £500,000 has been carried forward. The share bonuses since 1916 have amounted to 183 1-3 per cent., totalling £13 ; 000,000 free gift capital, which is also participating in the tax-free dividends. MR ASQUITH. LONDON, January 24. The recent rumours that Mr Asquith had accepted a peerage are confirmed after inquiry, though it is not yet officially announced. It is stated that Mr Asquith has chosen the title of the Earl of Oxford. Mr Asquith's decision is attributed to the changed fortunes of the Liberal Party, and there is no likelihood of his re-entering the House of Commons. Mr Asquith had previously refused a peerage, also a Knighthood of the O liter. His acceptance will now facilitate the reorganisation of the Liberal Party. TREASURE SEARCH EXPEDITION. LONDON, January 21 The Scientific Expeditionary Research Association is appealing for £9OOO, without which the St. George’s expedition will have to curtail its itinerary, excluding Easter, Austral, and the Cook Islands. The Daily Telegraph, commenting on the St-. George’s expedition appeal, says tha4 £9OOO is little enough to ask from Britain and the southern dominions for an exploration of such interest and importance. The members of the expedition have already done great work of high scientific value, but the Pacific still offers baffling riddles. LONDON SLUMS. LONDON, January 20. Increasing agitation among religious and other bodies regarding London slums culminated in a private deputation from the London Municipal Society waiting on Mr Neville Chamberlain, Minister of Health, with drastic proposals. The speakers affirmed that 184,(XX) people are living in over-crowded insanitary areas; and 365,000 in dilapidated areas. Under tho present law eight yeaTS is required to abolish slums and complete the new dwellings. Mr Chamberlain, in replying, foreshadowed prompt legislation. MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. LONDON, January 18. An element of mystery surrounds the disappearance and present whereabouts of the Honourable Gwyneth Morgan, aged 30, the daughter of Lord Tredegar. She

vanished from the house of friends near Wimbledon, London, during the thick fog of December 11, clad only in pyjamas and dressing gown, and carrying £SO. The police instituted a* close search and dragged the ponds on Wimbledon Common. Then suddenly, for reasons which were not divulged, they abandoned their investigations; but anxious inquiries continue to be made by the parents.

SIR HARI SINGII. CALCUTTA, January 22. The Maharajah of Kashmir, through the press, denies the suggestions in the Indian and London newspapers that the £125,000 paid as alleged blackmail by Sir Ha«ri Singh was paid out of tho revenues of the State to the detriment of its a<iministration. He points out that Sir Hari Singh, apart from being heir to the throne of Kashmir, was really a rich man in his own right. He derived a huge fortune from his late father, who waa enormously enriched by the sale of th? State forests during war time. It is also denied that the people of the State desire to prevent Sir Hari Singh's succession to the throne. MEAT WORKERS’ STRIKE. LONDON, January 23. A lightning strike of a thousand River* side meat- workers employed by tho Union Cold Storage Company began last evening, owing to the dismissal of seven workers, one of whom is a transport union official. The company stated that staff reductions were necessary owing to tho state of trade. They had done, everything possible to help the men, in view of tho prevalent unemployment-, and would no longer be dictated to by a trade union. It is alleged that extremists engineered the strike, which is semi-official. Tho company repudiates the. allegation that victimisation had been exercised in re* gard to discharges. THE CROWBOROUGH CRIME. LONDON, January 19. Spiritualist research experts are* busily investigating the Crow borough crime, They are especially studying Sir Oliver Lodge's theory that the spirits of derers influence others to commit similar crimes. It is pointed out that Crowborough is only a fe*v miles distant from Crumbles, the scene of the murder by Mahon. January 20. When the C-rowborough inquest opened the father identified the body of Elsie Cameron. The coroner, at the request of the police, granted a long adjournment. ITALIAN POLITICS. ROME, January 18. With the abolition of plural voting, which was included in Signor Mussolini's original Bill, but which was withdrawn with the Government’s consent, the new electoral law follows the general principles of the English electoral law in every particular. An important alteration is the reduction of the period that must elapse between the dissolution of the Chamber and a new election from three months to 20 days, giving the Cabinet a better chance of choosing the psycho* logical moment at which to hold an eleclion. THE GOLD STANDARD. LONDON, January 21. The city editor of The Times definitely connects the recent visit to America of Mr Montagu Norman (governor of the Bank of England) with the question of the re* turn of the gold standard, which, lie says, may materialise before the end of 1925, when the embargo on gold export- is due to expire. TOKIO, January 21. _ The Government has released specie totalling 6,000,C00 yen, according to a statement by the Finance Department. It is understood that this will be the first of a series of similar releases during the current year. CABLE CHARGES. MELBOURNE, January 20. Referring to the London Daily Telegraph’s comments on terminal charges, the Postmaster-General (Mr W. G. Gibson) says the Commonwealth Government is prepared to reduce by 20 per cent, the terminal charges in respect to the classes of traffic for which the cable companies agreed to make a proportionate reductioix Ho says: ‘There are strong reasons in favour of terminal charges for cablegrams and a reduction by 20 per cent, is as far as the Commonwealth Government at present is prepared to go in connection with press cablegrams.” A WIDESPREAD ABUSE. LONDON, January 20. A sensation has been caused in the Rugby world by the action of the Scottish Rugby Union in cancelling all stand tickets sold at a premium for the Scotland v. France match at Edinburgh on Saturday. The tickets have been extensively advertised and are known to have changed hands for large sums. Persons who have paid more than the face value arc requested to communicate with the union’s solicitors. The secretary of the English Rugby Union, interviewed, said that the men had apparently devised methods of chocking a widespread abuse which other organisations were doing their best to prevent. THE WHISKY MERGER. LONDON, January 24. The Morning Post states that a meeting of Buchanan, Dewar (Ltd.), John Walker and Company and the Distillers Company (Ltd.), was’ held in London for tho purpose of discussing a merger. Twenty millions sterling is involved. The Daily Chronicle states that a workirg agreement is tfgarded as most desirable in view of Distillers Company (Ltd.) owning practically all the grain stocks of tiie whisky country. The Financial Times says that if tho whisky amalgamation eventuates the com-

bined concern will own the largest stores of matured and maturing whisky in the world, including practically all the chief brands and blonds of Scotch. The pending ainalgamtion is reflected in a recent big dealing in shares and a rise values. A HIGHLAND SENSATION. LONDON, January 18. A sensation Las been caused in the Highlands by the death of Captain John Middleton, aged 4b, an officer of the Black Watch and manager of the family estates in Perthshire. It is alleged that his father, Major William Middleton, a septuagenarian, while handling a doublebarrelled gun, fatally shot his son at theiT mansion at Baldarroch. The elder Middleton, who has recently been strange in his manner, has been detained on a charge of murdering his son. He collapsed under examination, and was placed in the prison hospital. Captain Middleton was seriously disfigured by the explosion of a bomb in war time. THE VATICAN PARIS, January 20. In the course of a debate on foreign affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, M. Herriot, discussing the withdrawal of the Embassy from the Vatican, declared that the Pope, while a temporal sovereign, had tf e right to ambassadors, but as a spiritual sovereign, charged with the spread of Christian doctrines throughout the world, he was not depreciated through being excluded from- the tortuous paths of diplomacy. France had always taken care to exclude the Church from internal affairs. It is rumoured in the lobbies that M. Herriot will probably eventually adopt a compromise, recalling the Ambassador and leaving a Charge, d’Affaires in contact with the Holy See. DEATH OF CARMEN SYLVA. BUCHAREST, January 19. The circumstances surrounding the death of Carmen Sylva (late Queen of Rumania) in her Rumanian castle during the German occupation in 1916 have just been revealed. The queen, who was 70 years of age, had been suffering from cataract. She became subject to spells of melancholia. Fnally the sufferings of her country during tlie German occupation made her decide on suicide. On a bitter February night she took a hot bath and dismissed her servants. Then lightly clad she stood at an open window for many minutes exposed to the icy blast from the Transylvanian Alps. When she was so chilled that she was unable to bear it any longer she closed the window and went to bed. Pneumonia immediately set in, and in four days Carmen Sylva died with a smile on hex lips. IMPERIAL CONFERENCE. LONDON, January 22. Mr L. S. Amery (Secretary of State for the Colonies), speaking at the Constitutional Club, declared that the policy of Imperial Preference was not a monopoly. A large measure of preference already existed throughout the Empire, but no tariff acted as well. The figures proved the unreality of the talk of British trade being excluded by the dominions. It would be a disaster to Britain if Canada became Ireetrade. The dominions gave Britain preference; therefore it was a clear case for Britain to do something in return. The Government came into power prepared within certain limits fully to carry out in every direction a policy of fostering mutual trade in the Empire and building up its strength. PRESERVATIVES IN FOOD. LONDON, January 23. A deputation from the provision trade Section of the London Chamber of Commerce waited on Sir Neville Chamberlain with reference to the recommendations by the Committee on Preservatives, and urged that, in deciding to what extent the recommendations should be enforced, the Minister of Health should take advice from experts, including representatives of the trade interests. Sir Neville Chamberlain said that he proposed shortly to circularise draft regulations, on which would be welcome the fullest discussion between his expert advisers and the members of the trade. He also promised that before any regulations were brought into effect he would give full and careful consideration to everything that the deputation had suggasted. AN ACQUISITIVE HISTORIAN. BERLIN, January 20. The historian Dr Karl Hauck, author of the “History of Civilisation of the German Empire,” in 60 volumes, has been aTrested on a charge of stealing thousands of documents and prints out of the Prussian archives between 1918 and 1922. When Hauch’s flat was searched it was found that he had filled it with the proceeds of similar thefts from the principal libraries in Europe. The depredations had been going on for 30 years. For many years Hauck had been living with a young Austrian, Karl von lionenlohe, who claimed to be an Austrian aristocrat, but who was really a tailor’s cutter. HohenJohe assisted Hauck to sell the manuscripts. Hohenlohe was made prisoner early in the war, but Hauck’s influence at the Vatican was so groat that he was able to secure Hohenlohe’s release.

“SEA UNITES THE EMPIRE.” LONDON, January 23. Speaking at a luncheon given by the Overseas League, which was attended by official representatives of all the dominions, General Sir William Birdwood, referring to the dominions, said they preferred to regard the sea as uniting, and not as dividing, the Empire. He said he hoped that no false ideas of economy would lead to a reduction of the navy.

He emphasised that the greatest crop that the dominions could produce was a crop of British children. He went on to urge that migration should be fostered among men of high education, and intelligence, with a wide perspective. The labourer emigrant was apt to lose touch with the Old Country, while men of education and imagination would be better able to spread the doctrine of what the dominions are among the people of the Mother Land. Therefore he advocated the dominions appointing special officers to foster migrate from the public schools.

GOLD FOR AUSTRALIA. NEW YORK, January 23. It is announced that the Equitable Eastern Banking Corporation is shipping 550,000 dollars in gold, and the Seaboard National Bank is shipping 500,000 dollars in gold to Australia. Neither concern would disclose consignees. Mr Von Heimart, assistant cashier of the Seaboard National Bank, remarked it was probably being sent to a Sydney bank. There is no special trade interest in the shipment, except that the Seaboard National Bank calculates the consignment will be a unstable business deal. The Equitable Bank stated that its shipment was purely an exchange transaction, pointing cut that the Australian pound wa3 now at a premium over the English, and in rectilication of the balances Australia was unable to obtain gold :r. England, thus completing the transaction through New York, where gold is plentiful. A shipment of gold to Australia was also made last week, the peculiar exchange situation making such consignments profitable for the first time ic recent history. THE ISLINGTON RECLUSE. LONDON, January 20. William MacFarlane, who was found in a semi-conscious state, suffering from the effects of starvation, and clad only in a loin cloth in a room in Islington, is 48 years of age, and has been certified to be insane. Ho formerly worked as a pattern cutter, and lived a starvation life. He saved every penny, and accumulated £IOOO. Then he lost £3OO in Farrow’s Bank crash. He also had a number of shares and certificates, which are new worthless. He apparently lost his mental balance, and wandered in the streets collecting rubbish and piling it in his room. A letter received from New Zealand, written in 1910 by Sydney Ball, a child who formerly lived in the same building, stated: 'T do not like New Zealand. Wish I could return with mother and daddy to out little room at Islington. I miss the halfpennies and ice wafers you used to give me.” CLYDEBANK EVICTIONS. LONDON, January 20. Eleven evictions took place at Dalmuir, adjacent to Clydebank this morning. There was little opposition. The barricade to one house was torn down by an irate woman. The tenant of another house was most abusive, and threw a kettle full of water on the -ejectors. Stones were thrown at the police. A street comer meeting agreed to reinstate the tenants immediately the officers left, January 23. In his address at a conference of the Property Owners’ Federation hold in London the president criticised the Scottish officer for not intervening in the Clydebank rent war. He declared that the situation at Clydebank was disgraceful, and at present there was practically “mob rule” there. The. property owner was deprived of his rent, not in the majority of cases because the tenants were unable to pay, but because some unscrupulous men had promised that if they were returned to power the AUSTRALIAN MERINOS. SYDNEY, January 23. The purchase by Sir Abe Bailey, the South African millionaire of “Zara,” the property of Mr E. Officer, one of the leading New South Wales merino breeders, is regarded with considerable concern by sheep breeders. The deal is one of the biggest on record in its way, and the shipping of the whole flock is considered of importance as affecting the possibility of future competition with Australian merinos in which the cheaper labour and rental conditions in South Africa will prove a big factor. A loading breeder claims that there can be no doubt that the purchase has been made for the purpose of establishing a straight out strain of merinos on the lines of the stud flocks in Australia with a view to creating a uniform type of wool in competition with the Australian product. The question is again being agitated whether it is wise to allow the export of stud sheep. A motion in favour of the prohibition of it was rejected at the last Graziers’ Association Conference, but it is likely to be submitted again at the next conference in Sydney,

CANADIAN LOYALTY. OTTAWA, January 19.

There has never been any serious talk in Canada either of annexation to the United States or of an independent existence apart from the British Commonwealth of Nations, declared the Premier, Mr M‘Kenzie King, in a speech. He said that Canadians generally would resent any revival of the annexation cry or any talk of Canada’s separation from the Empire. Such a vumour had been given publicity in the British newspaper’s of late, and there was said to be uneasiness in Britain over the prospect. Canadian people would resent and deplore any uneasiness on that score.

Discussing inteT-Imperial relations, the Premier said that neither an Imperial Federation nor an Imperial Council was practicable. The present system, known as the Commonewalth of British Nations, was much more desirable. Twenty years kgo Sir Wilfred Lnurier was charged with separatist tendencies because he called

the British Empire a galaxy of nations. After 20 years Laurier’s views were vindicated by the public utterances of his Majesty the King. AUSTRALIAN DINGOES. SYDNEY, January 22. The rapid increase of the dingo pest in recent years in various parts of Australia where these animals were formerly scarce has been causing grave concern to the sheep owners, who have suffered severe losses. Mr Lance Losque, the wellknown zoologist, who has Been investigating the subject for the past two years, and has just returned from an extended trip in Western Australia and South Australia, states that the pest undoubtedly is increasing rapidly throughout the continent. He says that there are dingoes to-day where there were none 20 years ago, and their ravages are causing immense losses. Some stations tad in the the last few years lost 10,000 sheep and lambs from their ravages, while the sheep tally in the West Darling country had dropped from 15,000,000 to 4,500,000, due largely from the same cause.

The dingoes, he continued, had not killed all that number, but because of the trouble they gave pastoralists had withdrawn from that country. The erection of dogproof fencing was adding a heavy burden to the wool industry. The increase and spread of the rabbits, which provided food for the dingoes, was one causa of the greater prevalence of the pest, and unless an organised war of extermination was quickly undertaken the wool industrv was bound to suffer much more seriously than it did at present.

PRICE OF PETROL. NEvV YORK, January 23.

Following a sensational decline in petrol prices during tne middle of last year, tne commouity made a proportionately high advance at the new reacning high levels nearly everywhere tbrougnout tlie nation. The btanaard Oil Company announced a cent and a-nall increase per gallon to-day, representing a total of 3£ cents since January 1. Other companies have followed this example- anu are lifting the price throughout East, fcjouth, Central and W est, bringing the wholesale price to approximately 22£ cents, and the retail puce to between 25 and 28 cents, depending on the locality.

The crude oil market has responded proportionately, the increase varying from 25 to 50 cents, the barrel prices now being from 105 to 325 cents per barrel, depending on the grade and quality. Shares in oil companies on the Stock Exchange reflected the increase, large gains being reported on nearly all issues of the Standard Oil Company, as well as independent companies. It is expected that the increased petrol prices will shortly be reflected in the export quotation, bringing probably corresponding increases in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East. The depletion of the stocks of many independent companies, and the enforced diminution of the output in order to offset last year’s disorganisation in oil production, is believed to be responsible for price increases. ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. LONDON, January 22. A sum of £SOOO was voted by the Court of Common Council of the City of London for St. Paul’s Preservation Fund. This is additional to £4OOO already contributed. The Chief Commoner, in proposing' the motion to give the money, said it was incumbent on the corporation to give a lead in the movement to restore the monument, which should bear not merely on Londoners, but on the Empire and the world. A special committee was appointed to confer with everyone concerned, including the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s. | Cr Pakeman said that drastic measures must be taken, even to the extent of closing the edifice for a considerable period. He said he hoped that the committee would approach the Government. It was noteworthy that the public hitherto had subscribed £144,000 to St. Paul’s Preservation Fund through the columns of The Times. j January 23. ■ Mr William Dunn, an architect, writing ; in the Royal Institute of Architects’ j Journal, declared with regard to the controversy -elating to St. Paul’s, that too much deference is being paid to Sir Christopher Wren, and all kinds of secondary causes are suggested and do bated before it is admitted that Sir Christopher Wren built the piers carrying the dome in a manner which present-day speculating builders would shrink from. Yet such is tlie ease. Mr Dunn, who is an authority on concrete, is of opinion that grouting and replacing stones are inadequate, and are both a waste of money and a serious I danger. The piers must be rebuilt with proper material capable of carrying a load. January 24. With a view to making the St. Paul’s Cathedral Preservation Fund an Empire matter The Times has requested the cooperation of the Australian Press Association in making an appeal for subscriptions which it has inaugurated. Tlie response in Great Britain is already remarkable, over 12,000 individuals having subscribed £165,000 Tlie fund is still mounting at the rate of several thousand pounds daily. The first cheque for £IOO,OOO was handed over to the Dean and Chapter on Friday.