NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 53

NEWS BY CABLE.

VICTORIAN BUSH FIRES. MELBOURNE, April 28. The recent destructive bush fires in the timber areas of Che ’State cost the insurance companies £150,000. BURGLAR SENTENCED. LONDON, April 27. Patrick Lynch was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for burglariously entering the New Zealand offices. EXPLOSIVE MISSILE. LONDON, April 26. Hugh Daly was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment in the second division. DRUNKEN MOTORISTS. SYDNEY, April 29. The newspapers generally commend the New Zealand magistrates stringent action in dealing with drunken motorists. DEATH AT SEA. SYDNEY, April 29. A wireless from the steamer Niagara reports the death of Dr Rvgate, the ship’s medical officer. BRITISH UNEMPLOYED. LONDON, April 27. The total number of unemployed on April 19, as recorded in the labour exchanges of Britain, was 997,000. This is the first time for several years that the figures have dropped below 1,000,000. PICTURE ACTRESS. LONDON, April 26. Betty Blythe, the film actress, is suing Mr G. B. Samuels, the producer, for alleged repudiation of an agreement to pay her £3OO a week to appear in the picture version of the book “She.” CHINESE MISSIONARY. PEKING, April 29. The Rev. K. Wilhelm, of the Lieben Zeller mission has been kidnapped by bandits in the Hunan province. The authorities at Yuan-Chow are making efforts to secure his release. STEAMER AGROUND. TOKIO, April 28. A despatch from Hakodate reports that tfie Chichibu Maru of 1540 tons went aground off Horomushiro (in the Kurile Islands) during a storm yesterday. Two hundred and thirty people are missing. ' INGREDIENTS OF LOAF. PARIS, April 28 Owing to fears of a shortage of homegrown wheat before the new crop is harvested the Minister of Agriculture has issued a decree permitting bread containing 8 per cent, of barley and rice. CAIRO MUSEUM. CAIRO, April 28. Owing to the impossibility of a mutual agreement, Mr John D. Rockefeller, junr., has withdrawn his gift of 10,000 dollars for building and maintaining an archaeological museum at Cairo.^ PASSBNG OF THE FEZ. JERUSALEM, April 26. A meeting of Christian and Moslem Arabs decided that the fez was not the national Arab headgear, and had no religious significance, and advocated the aooption of the European hat. MOTOR RECORDS. LONDON, April 28. At Pendyne Sands, Mr Parry Thomas improved yesterday’s records, covering a kilometre at the rate of 171 kilometres an hour, and a mile at the rate of 170.624 kilometer an hour. THE CALCUTTA RIOTS. DELHI, April 28. The situation in Calcutta is quiet as a result of reinforcements of police arriving and the rounding up of bad characters. The total casualties since April 22 are 45 killed and 375 wounded. TORCH OF FASCISM. ROME, April 29. “If I die all the necessary arrangements have been made for carrying on Fascism ruthlessly and with an iron hand,” dramatically declared Signor Mussolini in the Chamber of Deputies, in referring to the recent attempt on his life. SAMOAN COTTON. LONDON, April 26. Interest attaches to the arrival of the Clan Macwhirter, carrying the first 16 bales of Samoan cotton, consigned to the New Zealand High Commissioner for disposal after the experts’ report has been sent to Manchester. A VALUABLE ESTATE. LONDON, April 28. Mr Thomas Dyer Edwards, of Gloucester, left most of his estate, valued at £165,848, to his daughter, the Countess of Rothes, who was one of the survivors of the Titanic, and all his Australian property in trust to his grandson, Lord Leslie. OIL STORES THREATENED. SAN FRANCISCO, April 29. A telegram from Bakersfield, California, states that 6,000,000 barrels of oil were threatened when lightning started a fire in an oil reservoir containing 400,000 barrels, on a storage farm of the Standard Oil Company,

OLD ROMAN BUILDINGS. LONDON, April 30. The Cologne correspondent of The Times states that great importance is attached to the discovery in the Sporta Park of an historic Roman settlement, comprising eight buildings believed to include the best preserved Roman manor yet unearthed. CARRIAGE OF CONTRABAND. PEKING, April 29. A Chinese military court has given its verdict in the case of the steamer Oleg. The steamer and cargo will be forfeited. The captain was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. The crew were declared innocent, and will be repatriated at the Chinese Government’s expense. CANADIAN CUSTOMS. OTTAWA, April 29. The revelations before the Parliamentary Committee, which is investigating the administration of the Federal Customs Department resulted in the resignations of two members of the Civil Service Commission, Mr Clarence Jameson and Mr M. C. Larcchclle. WHITE STAR LINE. NEW YORK, April 26. Negotiations for the sale of tne White Mar Line fleet by the International Mercantile Company to the Furness-Withy Company and the Morgan, Grenfell Company, were completed in London to-day, according to private cable messages received here. EMPIRE MIGRATION. LONDON, April 26. Lord Burnham is to preside at a conference to be held on Mav 5 between the Council of the Empire Press Union, the High Commissioner, the AgentsGeneral, and the Overseas Settlement Committee, to discuss ways in, which the press of the Empire may assist Empire migration. TREATY NEGOTIATIONS. LONDON, April 30. The Helsingfors correspondent of The Times reports that Finland, Poland, Esthonia, and Latvia have agreed to inform Russia that they are unable to make nonaggression treaties, but arc willing to consider an arbitration pact. WHITE OTAR COMPANY. LONDON, April 29. The White Star Company’s report shows that the net profits were £319,837 for the past year. It says that the Australian and New Zealand services were showing signs of a recovery until the unofficial seamen’s strike brought complete dislocation, resulting in serious delays and heavy voyage losses. WIDOWS’ PENSIONS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. SYDNEY, April 30. Under the Government’s recently approved pension scheme for widows with young families, already 2500 claims have been granted, ranging up to £4 10s a week. Many more remain to be settled. It is anticipated that when all are operative the cost to the State will be £450,000 annually. FALL OF THE FRANNC. NEW YORK, April 30. Despite the agreement reached at Washington to fund the French debt, the franc continued to-day to hover around a record low level, dealings being made at 3.28 cents, while a sympathy reaction carried the Belgian franc down to a new minimum price for the year of 3.36. French bonds, however, reflected a favourable response to the settlement. IMPERIAL AIR SERVICE. LONDON, May 1. Sir Sefton Brancker in a lecture said that with an Imperial air service flying 60 miles and hour, New Zealand would be where Somaliland now was, Australia would be where Aden now was, India where Egypt was, South Africa where Morocco was,-and Canada would be twothirds of the way across the Atlantic. THE HARNETT CASE. LONDON, April 29. In a statement to the press, Mr Harnett said that as he had attained his object in clearing his own daughter’s name of a life stigma of insanity he did not intend to appeal against Mr Justice Horridge’s judgment. As a result of the litigation, instead of monetary compensation for his sufferings, his fortune of £20,000 will be swallowed up in the law courts. EMPIRE SETTLEMENT. LONDON, April 28. In the House of Commons. SSr Philip Ounliffe-Lister (President of the Board of Trade), replying to a question, said that migrants from Britain during the first quarters of 1923, 1924. 1925, and 1926 respectively were:—To Australia, 10,192, 10,159, 9035 and 12,160; to ' nada, 10,220, 10,998, 5865 and 8250; to the rest of the Empire, 6003, 6167, 7588, and ,83. SOVIET PENETRATION. PEKING, April 28. A Japanese news agency reports that the Soviet Government is planning to control the communications of Mongolia by constructing railways connecting Urga with the Siberian lines. Already it is negotiating with the Mongolian Government on this subject. The agency adds that Chinese political circles are strongly opposed the project.

IRISH REPUBLICANS. LONDON, April 27. A sensational arrest was made at Queenstown of an American from New York with a document concealed on his body. This was addressed to prominent Republicans, and it referred to a consignment of arms and ammunition from the United States to Ireland. The sum ot £BOO was also hidden on the prisoner. INSULTING THE FLAG. SYDNEY, April 29. A man named James Fletcner was fined 10s in default 48 hours’ imprisonment, for insulting the British Flag. He was listening to a speaker in the domain, and, pointing to the flag flying over the platform, said: “That dirty thing there is no protection for me,” and made other insulting remarks in the hearing of a police sergeant, who arrested him. CORSICAN BRIGAND. PARIS. April 26. Gendarmes ambushed and shot dead the notorious brigand Ronce Romanetti, described at “the Corsican Ned Kelly.” He was a picturesque figure, and ruled the wildest parts of Corsica for 16 years. He became involved in countless vendettas owing to the murders carried out during his brigandage. INCOME TAX TAXATION. NEWFOUNDLAND, April 29. Sir Richard Squires, a former Prime Minister cf Newfoundland, was found guilty to-day on a charge cf a breach of the War Tax Act by failing to submit income tax returns for 1918. He was fined 300 dollars. Sir Richards has already been fined 4000 dollars on similar charges, and trials are to follow on six charges covering the years 1919 to 1924. SEDITION IN JAPAN. TOKIO, April 28. The Appeal Court gave its verdict in the case of Sakai, a veteran Socialist leader and 18 of his follower: who were arrested in May, 1923, for an alleged attempt to organise, a Communist form of Government Sakai and six others were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment without hard labour. One of the accused was declared not guilty and others received sentences ranging from seven to eight years. BANK NOTE FORGERIES. LONDON, April 30. The Budapest correspondent of Ths Times states that, eluding armed patrols, thieves broke into the Government offices and stole bundles of records connected with the notorious Hungarian note forgeries, necessiting a postponement of the trial of Prince Windischgraetz and other prominent persons connected with the scandal. CANADIAN FRANCHISE. OTTAWA, April 26. Mr C. Stewart (Minister of Immigration) introduced an amendment to the Immigration Act in the House of Commons providing for the deportation of British subjects for political offences only after a conviction has been secured. The Minister explained that the amendment would remove certain discriminations against British-born residents of Canada who were not qualified to vote. SIR FRANCIS BELL. LONDON. April 29. ~ “I simply want to get three summers in succession, plenty of sunshine, and have a good time,” declared Sir Francis Bell on his arrival from America. “I did not inquire into America’s prob lems, and I don’t care a damn whether there are problems in America or whether there are solutions. I hope New Zealand will not take me seriously I am now a political back number. I propose to attend the Geneva Assembly with Sir James Allen and also the Mandates Commission on behalf of Samoa.” GIFT OF MOTOR CAR. LONDON, April 28. Mr Joseph Hall, financial secretary of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, was the recipient of a car valued at £SOO from his employer. The gift has raised a sharp controversy, recalling the one to Mr Ramsay MacDonald, on the question whether a trad union leader should accept a present from his employer. Mr Hall says: “The donor knows I cannot be induced to sell mv fellowworkers. Nevertheless I am returning the car so as to prevent any misunderstanding. PROBLEMS OF PEACE. OTTAWA, April 27. Speaking at Toronto, Sir Esme Howard, British Ambassa..** at Washington, declared that the three greatest political questions of the near future were the evolution of the British Empire, its relations with the United States, and tho maintenance of peace in Europe. Sir Esme Howard aaded: “If the League of Nations were to disappear to-morrow we wmld be compelled once again to join some European combination against any country which threatened to dominate the Continent.” NEW CHINESE REGIME. PEKING, April 29. The new military regime continues to deal drastically with Communists. Following the recent execution of the editor of a Chinese paper, who was charged with propagating Bolshevism, there has been a panic among ether Chinese editors who hitherto have displayed sympathy with the Reds. A number are hiding. There is panic also among a large section of University lecturers and students who are suspected of leanings towards Communism and many are fleeing.

NEW VESSELS BUILDING. LONDON, April 28. It is announced that the Treasury is giving the following guarantees under the Trade Facilities Act:— The Shaw Savill Company £675,000 in respect of the construction of two vessels, one at the Clyde and one at Wallsend. The New Zealand Shipping Company £400,000 for a vessel building on the Clyde. The Commonwealth and Dominion Line £600,000 for two vessels. ARAB STOWAWAYS. PARIS, April 29. Eighteen of the Arab stowaways on the steamer Sidf Ferruch are still missing. It is believed that 48 embarked at Algiers. Seventeen are unhurt, and two are in hospital, and 11 are dead. The authorities have forbidden sailing till the vessel has bee? thoroughly searched. Three of the stokers are alleged to have been responsible for the tragedy, as they must have known that the ballast was liable to be flooded in the event of a displacement‘of the cargo. SELECTOR’S LONELY DEATH. SYDNEY, April 30. David Lynch, a selector near Taree, has been missing for some days. When a policeman and a doctor broke into his house they were savagely attacked by a large kangaroo dog They saw Lynch’s body lying on the floor with the head blow off and a gun alongside. They had to shoot the dog before they could gain an entrance. Then they discovered that a large portion of the body had been consumed by the dog dining the five days it was locked in the rcom after Lynch’s death. BRITISH BY-ELECTION. LONDON, April 29. Owing to the death of Mr C. W. Crook, a by-election was held at East Ham with the following result Miss Susan Lawrence (Lab.) 10,798 Mr Jarrett (Con.) 9171 Dr Burgin (Lib.) 6603. At the General Election in October, 1924, Miss Susan Lawrence lost the seat to Mr Crook, the voting being as follows:—Mr U. W. Crook (Con.) 11,194: Miss Susan Lawrence (Lab.). 10,137; Mr E. E. Edwards (Lib. 6970. NAGA HEAD-HUNTERS. DELHI, April 29. Mr J. T. O. Barnard, leader of an expedition which was sent to the HuKwang Valley to liberate 3000 slaves, has returned to Calcutta. He travelled through the country of the Naga head-hunters to Assam. The cost to the Government of liberating the slaves was less than two lakhs of rupees. The individual prices ranged from £1 to £lO, according to age. Mr Barnard saw evidences in the Naga country that human sacrifices were still prevalent. There is an area of 10,000 square miles in East Hu-Kwang where slavery persists. MANUKA’S ROUGH PASSAGE. MELBOURNE. April 30. Tne Manuka, from Bluff, arrived 24 hours late owing to heavy weather. The ship encountered heavy gales, and great waves 40ft high swept over the forecastle, reaching at times to the bridge. Even when the centre of the disturbance was passed a heaw swell delayed the vessel, and rain squalls made the conditions unpleasant for the passengers. The officers stated that the storm was one of the worst they had encountered in the Tasman Sea. A NEW AEROPLANE. LONDON, April 20. The correspondent of the Daily Mail at the Hague reports that a Dutch engineer has invented an aeroplane with wings that can be moved up and down for the purpose of enabling the pilot to preserve his equilibrium. It is claimed that the machine will remain in the air twice as long as the present high-speed aeroplanes. “I believe that flying is safer than cycling,” said the Director of Civil Aviation, Sir Sefton Brancker, in an addess. He said he hoped that the airships now being built would inaugurate 12-day voyages from England to Australia. THE ITALIAN EMPIRE. ROME. April 26. Signor Mussolini’s Imperialistic speeches have aroused widespread demands for new colonies and suggested a re-partition of the ex-German colonies, which the newspapers declare would be much more valuable to Italy than to Britain or France, because Italy would extensively colonise. It is believed that Italy will shortly take the initiative of calling an International Conference to discuss re-parti-tion. QUEBEC LIQUOR LAWS. OTTAWA. April 28. Liquor disclosure sensntiens have moved from Washington to Ottawa. Inspector Duncan, a high official of the Canadian Mounted Police, swore that Jacques Bereau, a former Federal Minister of Customs, was furnished with large quantities of liq*. r free, from Government stores in the province of Quebec, with the connivance of officials of his own department who handled shipments on Bereau’s behalf. It was argued before a Commissioner that these shipments were merely taken from seized samples. BELGIAN AFFAIRS. BRUSSELS, April 28. The Foreign Minister (M. Vandervelde) said that one of his aims was to expand Belgium’s foreign trade. At present there was no question of the de jure recognition of the Soviet, but there might be commercial recognition if that were pos-

sible without hardship to those most vitallv interested. Referring to the recent burning of the effigy of Signor Mussolini at the village of La Vuvelde, M. Vandervelde said that such outrageous behaviour towards representatives of friendly countries could not be tolerated. ROMAN TREASURE. ROME. April 28. Signor Mussolini has ordered an immediate attempt to recover the Imperial treasure ships lying at the bottom of Lake Nemi. It will probably be decided to tunnel through tne side of an extinct volcano, the crater of which at present forms the bed of Lake Nemi, thus empyting the lake. There have been many previous attempts to recover the ships which the Roman emperors probably used as a summer resort. They are believed to contain untold intrinsic and artistic wealth. AN EMPEROR’S DEATH. TOKIO, April 29. Advices from Seoul report that the death of the Emperor of Korea has caused ' intense excitement in the capital. The police are finding much difficulty in controlling the great crowds which have collected in the vicinity of the palace to express their condolences with the Royal Family. It is stated that in their excitement they used sabres and killed one Japanese and seriously wounded a second. Prince Yi, whose contemplated tour of Europe has been postponed owing to the ex-Emperor’s death, succeeds to the Royal estates. THE EX-CROWN PRINCE. LONDON, April 29. The Germans still cheer when they recognise me,” said the ex-Crown Prince to a Daily News correspondent. “They will love me because I fought for my country and am ready to serve her in peace in any capacity, though I do not suppose it will be as President of the Republic, which would only prejudice Germany in the eyes of the world.” He added that the Russo-German Treaty was the most open and honest one made by any nation during recent years. It tended chiefly to isolate Britain which had repeatedly prevented Russia from entering the League. WINDING UP OF WEMBLEY ACCOUNTS. MELBOURNE, April 30. At a meeting of the Commissioners convened to wind up affairs with regard to tho Wembley Exhibition, Mr Bruce said that; a great educational work had been carried out at Wembley. There was not tho slightest question but that it had laid a solid foundation for greatly increased inter-Empire trade. The Prime Minister said that a detailed statement with respect to the 1925 Exhibition was not vet available, but the main figures showed that the total cost to the Commissioners was £77,818, and deducting £50,000 from the Exhibition Association, the co6t to tho Commonwealth was £27,818. AUSTRALIAN APPLES. LONDON, April 28. A special officer who was sent from Australia House to report on the marketing of apples at Liverpool, Manchester, and Hull states that the prices were most disappointing despite the quality, which was good, though there were some exceptions. The setback in prices could be attributed partly to the presence of stored American apples and partly to the arsenic scare concerning American fruit, from which the public did not distinguish Australian. The health officers at the three ports unanimously absolved the Australian apples from containing sufficient arsenic to require action. GROWTH OF SYDNEY. SYDNEY, May 1. Sydney claims to be the second white city in the British Empire. The city assess sor has compiled statistics showing the development of recent years. The unimproved value of Sydney in 1895, when the first valuatior of the city was made, was approximately £10,000,000.- By January Ihe improved value increased in that time from £53,000,000 to £141,000,000. The assessor claims that a further considerable development will be f hown next year when the revaluation again takes place. The new buildings at present being constructed in the city represent an outlay of / £2,750,000 ; FLOODS IN RUSSIA'. LONDON, April 28. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent state 9 that the Volga’s upper tributaries have overflowed their banks and the river Ivlazma has flooded the town of Orekhova. Eight persons were drowned and II bridges were destroyed. Many textile mills are idle as a result. Loss of life is also reported at Rigbinsk, whore the Volga is 50ft above its usual level. Scores of villages are flooded, and the inhabitants have taken refuge on tho roofs. Detachments of the Red army are blowing up the ice jams in the rivers in order that the waters may flow in ( their natural course. NITRATE SHARES. LONDON, April 28. The Daily Express says that there is a remarkable slump in nitrate shares. A dozen leading securities have fallen by £1,750,000, chiefly owing to the success of chemists who are making synthetic nitrate from the air. The Agua Blanca’s shares which were worth 33s 6d at the beginning of the present account are now worth only 20b, and it is announced that no final diivdend will be paid, though 50 per cent* was paid during the past three years*

Other nitrate companies experienced equally sensational falls. The value of (Santiago’s, which was 45s on Monday, relapsed to 22s 6d and now stand at 27s 6d. DAIRY' PRODUCE CONTROL. LONDON, April 26. The periodical, the Grocer, in a leader warns New Zealand dairy farmers against the Dairy Board’s latest proposals, which it interprets as meaning absolute control of shipments and distribution, probably also including compulsory price fixation and pooling returns. The Grocer says: “It is a foregone conclusion that this will antagonise every class of British trader. The proposals have already done the New Zealand industry considerable liarm. The board would be better advised to confine its attention to the New Zealand end of the business and to leave English importers and .wholesalers to carry on in Britain. DEBT SETTLEMENT. WASHINGTON, April 29 An agreement for the funding of Trance’s war debt to this country was reached late to-day when after a brief conference over the French reply to the request for a revision of the recent settlement otfer the United States Commission went to White House <*nd laid a proposal before Piesident Coolidge for his approval. Members of the Commission recognise that bitter opposition is likely to develop loth in the United States and France and that ratification by Congress this session is problematical* Tl>e payments are to be made over a period of 62 years on a total said to be agreed upon of 6.847,000,000 dollars in annual instalments of 30,000,000 dollars for the next two vears. graduating to a maximum of 126,000*000 dollars. PENNY POSTAGE. LONDON, April 27. In tae House of Commons. Sir Harry Brittain asked whether, in view of the fact that one dominion was restoring Imperial penny postage, and another internal penny postage, the PostmasterGenera i would bring up the question of Empire penny postage at the Empire Con ference. Sir William Mite bell-Thomson (Post master-General) replied; “As the financial position of this country would not allow the sacrifice involved, I do not think there is any occasion to initiate a discussion at the conference.’* Sir Harry Brittain: Will it be brought up there ? Sir William Mitehell-Thomson: I cannot say. EVADING THE CUSTOMS. SYDNEY, April 29. Two of the- Sydney agents of a London firm which exports goods to Australia, chiefly from Germany and Switzerland, pleaded guilty to several charges of evad ing payment of the Custom, duties and making false entries on the invoices with intent 1 * defraud the revenue. Each was fined £IOO and costs. Conns ’ prosecuting on behalf of the Commonwealth authorities described the case as one of premeditated and systematic fraud by reducing the value of the gpods shown on the invoices. The evasions, ho said, had been proceeding for three years He read correspondence from the agents to their principals disclosing the Methods to be adopted. WIRELESS PICTURES. NEW YORK, May 1. The Radio Corporation of America and the Marconi Wireless Company of England inaugurated a commercial radio picture service to-night., the first photograph sent to the New York Times being one of the speakers at a table at the Pilgrim’s Society’s dinner in London, held on Wednesday night. This was followed by a •ketch of Mr Houghton, the United States Ambassador, drawn by Mr Augustus John. The transmission was started at London U midnight, but static and mechanical troubles delayed the reception, which normally should have taken from 20 to 165 minutes per picture. The dinner photngranhs showed good likenesses of Lord Reading, the guest of honour, and of- Lord Desbcrough, the toast master. RUSSO GERMAN TREATY. LONDON, April 30. Sir Austen Chamberlain, in a speech in the Albert Hall, said that though at present he had not studied the Russo-German Treaty he hoped to find that the German Ministers, who had assured us that they would do nothing inconsistent with the achievements of Locarno, had kept their ■word. Britain, no less than Germany, had need of peace. Britain, whether in Germany’s case or the case of others, had sought to stir up trouble between nations, and Britain never jealously viewed, or attempted to prevent any possible improvement in other nations’ relations. The fact that Germany had signed a treaty with the Soviet seemed perfectly natural, but we had a right to insist that they should bj loyal to their professed engagejvMits with their partners at Locarno and did not incur obligations inconsistent with the fulfilment of the Locarno Covenant. . METHODS OF THE SOVIET. LONDON, April 28. Because lie acted as correspondent for the Daily News, a voung Leicester engineer named Edward Rimington, was expelled from Russia destitute after 10 weeks’ ill-treatment in a Soviet prison, although the editor had appointed him with the sanction of the Soviet Foreign Office. Mr Rimington wae arrested on a charge of espionage after telegraphing the story of M. Kameneff’s fall and was treated with •very conceivable indignity He was told that ho would be sentenced to death and i vea thrown into a filthy prison with 16

ethers who were not aware of the chargee against them. The Soviet explains that Mr Rimington falsely represented himself as a Communist. THE EARTH S AXIS. SAN FRANCISCO, April 27. Captain Thomas See. naval mathematician and Government astronomer at Mare Island, announces that he has discovered the cause of the variation of latitude or the periodic “wobble” of the earth’s axis. lie said he had demonstrated mathematically that the phenomenon of Polar motion or the shifting of the earth’s axis in the globe, which had interested scientists for years, was due to* the tides in the Pacific Ocean. The discovery was the result cf 40 years’ study of the tides. His hypothesis agrees exactly with astronomical observations in many countries over a period of 35 years. Captain See says that the discovery is one of the most notable triumphs in the physics of the earth. NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. SYDNEY, April 28. The arrival of large consignments of Victorian, Tasmanian, and New Zealand potatoes totalling over 30,000 hags during the past couple of days has caused a fall of £2 to £3 per ton. Prime Brownells dropped to £ls. The price cf New Zealand’s has been fixed at £ll to £l2. Contracts have been made for consignments of New Zealand tubers covering the next two months. Victorian and Tasmanian suppliers do not regard the New Zealand importations favourably and the indications are that thev are rushing forward supplies with the object of breaking the market where values have lately ruled very high. New Zealand swedes are selling up to £l2 a ton. Hie price of New Zealand onions, just arrived, Has not been fixed, but it is expected to be about £lB. EMPIRE WIRELESS. MONTREAL, April 26. Progress is so rapid at the wireless beam station in Canada that the officials in charge of the work now believe that they will be able to conduct the first test with England in a fortnight and possibly with Australia in five weeks’ time. The officials intimate that the Australian test also depends cn how soon the Australian station is ready. The transmitter apparatus for the English test arrived last week and is being installed at Drummond Hill, while the receiving apparatus is on its way and is expected to arrive this week. It will immediately be installed at Yamachische. The officials indicate that no attempt will be made to carry out the Australian tests until the English trials prove successful, and in this lies their greatest confidence. JOB PATRONAGE. SYDNEY. April 30 Under a resolution which was forced through the City Council bv the Labuur al derme., it is now necessary to secure nomination by an alderman before any appointment for unskilled labour can be made in any section of the council’s service. Net only the Reform aldermen, but some cf the labourites, strongly proagainst this form of patronage. The Labourite who moved the original motion protested that it had been altered in such^;; wav by the Labour Caucus as to make it absolutely unfair and unjust. *t now meant that nominations must he made by Labour aldermen, as the Reform aldermen had no power as regards nominations. He added that some aldermen appeared to have all the pull in regard to appointments. The secretary for the Reform Aldermanic Party stated that of 577 new appomtmen(s made during the past four months, 570 were nominees of Labour aldermen. A NOVEL LAWSUIT. . . . CAIRO, April 21. An interesting lawsuit has been begun on behalf of Mrs Folk, widow of an American, Joseph W. Folk, who was at one time Governor of Missouri, against Zaghloul Pasha and Mohamed Pasha Mahmud. co-defendants, for £200,000. i Counsel stated that Mahmud went to America to negotiate an agreement under which Mr Folk w*as to conduct a propaganda campaign in favour of Egyptian independence, receiving SCOO ‘dollars a month for two years, plus £IOO.OOO in the event of success. Counsel produced receipts showing that Mr Folk actually received 35,000 dollars and he affirmed that Mr Folk was actually engaged from 1919 to 1921 when the agreement was terminated by a cablegram from Zaghloul. fhe widow new sues for expenses, arrears of salary, and £IOO,OOO, counsel arguing that Egypt had become a sovereign and independent State. He described Mr Folk’s efforts towards the consummation of this condition. The hearing was adjourned. « THE HARNETT CASE. LONDON, April 27. Mr Justice Ilorridge, in the case of Mr Harnett, after hearing legal argument, entered judgment, with costs, in favour of the defendant, w hose counsel pleaded the Statute of Limitations. Mr Justice Horridge said that the defendant was liable from force of consequences of his negligence, even though the actual order for detention was made by justices. His Lordship disagreed with the contention that, though the jury had considered Harnett sane, he should be viewed as a lunatic for the purposes of construing the Statute of Limitations. His Lordship’s duty was to construe the statute, however regrettable the result.—Reuter. Mr Harnett, the plaintiff in the famous insanity case of 1924, claimed damages from Dr Henry Fisher, of SRtiagbourne. • iJNkLih - • AS* ■/**. r.jmfg

for negligently certifying him as insai* in ISI2. It was disclosed that Dr Fisher s certificate was partly based on a statement made by Harnett’s younger brother, that he had had wrangles about religious matters with the plaintiff, who was deeply steeped in sexual topics. The jury which heard the case awarded £SCO damages against Dr Fisher. DELIGHT IN KILLING. PARIS, April 27. A sensational poisoning case is reported from Nimes. Antoinette Sierri, a middle-aged lurse, was found guilty of poisoning six persons and was sentenced to death. Public indignation was such that 60 gendarm > were necessary to control the crowd at the Palais de Justice. •Sierri administered pvralion, which is used in viticulture to kill grubs and is heavily laden with arsenic. The first victim was an elderly maiden lady with whom Sierri had rio quarrel. The second was Sierris Italian husband and the third was her lover, who, she said, beat her. The evidence showed that Sierri danced round the man’s body, but experts scouted the notion that the woman was insane. They said that she had only lost her moral sense and seemed to delight in taking life. In no case was there any financial gain from the murders, two of the others poiso i«.j being a cm pie fr mi *ti n< M* rn rented a room. The prosecution alleged that Sierri attempted to poison five other persons, all of whom were her patients. Seme of them have not vet recovered.

OBITUARY

LONDON, April 28. The death is announced of Lady Mackenzie, wife of the former High Commissioner for New r Zealand. TDKIO, April 28 The death is announced cf Field Marshal Kawamura. He was a staunch friend to Britain. He figured prominently in the Russo-Japanese War. LONDON, April 30. The death is announced cf Sir Timothy Coghlan. He met Messrs Dunn and MTiernan, the New South Wales Ministers, and escorted them to their hotel. He felt ill and went Home, and died in a few minutes.—A. and N.Z. Cable. (Received May 2, at 5.5 p.m.) Though he had previously suffered from angina pectoris, Sir Timothy Coghlan lately seemed to be in the best of health, and was at his office today dealing with the completion of the year’s accounts. The newspapers pay a tribute to Sir Timothy Coghlan’s world-wide celebrity as a statistician, economist, and writer. He is said to have achieved a record .among Australian Agents-General in the amount of loan money floated for his State. BIRTH CONTROL. LONDON, April 28 in the House of Lords, Lord Buck master moved that the Government be requested to withdraw the instructions given to the Welfare Committees for with holding from married women information on the limitation of families. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that there were clinics devoted specially to such knowledge and there was no restraint on such inquiries Earl Russell claimed that every woman was entitled to such liberty. The Earl of Balfour said that the op position to the motion seemed to be based on religious grounds, but religious people were not all on one side. He could net see that religious people had a right to impose their ideas on women who were helpless because of poverty, or withhold from them information that was available to their richer sisters. Viscomt Fitzalan s*id that he and his Roman Catholic co-religionists would oppose such things to the end of time. The Lord High Chancellor (Viscount Gave! said he feared that the motion would permit workers without medical knowledge to give rdv?re. Tbe motion was agreed to by 57 votes to 44. PROFITS OF BAWRA. MELBOURNE, April 28. Objection has been taken by members of the Melbourne Stock Exchange to a statement in the annual report of Bawra that shareholders should consider the suggestion to vote £500,000 for settlement and research purposes. The committee of the Exchange has instructed the chairman to state that when members were asked for advice by clients they had been careful to warn them that the distributable funds might be reduced in the event of an adverse judgment in the impending litigation, and delay in the distribution of the funds might occur and other contingencies might arise which it was reasonably possible for the vendor and the investor to foresee, but they could not possibly have foreseen a course of action which would, in many instances, eliminate a large portion of the margin of profit on the possibility of which shares were bought in good faith by clients LONDON, April 28. Mr E. F. Hitchcock, Deputy-Director of War Materials in war time, in a letter to the press, states that the Bawra profits were derived prineipaly from Britain, and therefore, a proportion of the balance of £500,000 should be allotted to Britain. He proposed that £IOO,OOO should be devoted to the woollen and worsted trades Research Association at Leeds and £50,000 to the Textile Institute at Manchester. EX-GERMAN RULERS. BERLIN, April 28. The Government and the Coalition Parties failed to effect a compromise regarding the confiscation of the ex-rulers’ proporty. The Reichstag therefore has opened a debate on the Socialist and Communist Dill f, ■■ r i .

demanding entire confiscation without com pensation. The Bill has net the slightest chance of adoption aud after its rejection which will probably take place to-morrow, the proposal wi l ! be submitted to a plebiscite. Fifty per cent, of the electors must vote in its favour for the measure to become law. There was violent language in the Reichstag during the debate on the first reading of the Bill. Herr Rosenfeld, a Socialist Deputy, amid constant interruptions from the Right, pleaded for the Bill on the ground that the ex-Princes were insatiably greedy, and that the;, were responsible for the German people’s misfortunes. The German National leader, Count Wastan declared that the agitation for the Bill had been carried on with lies and terrorism. This produced uproar on the Left, while the Rignt parties shouted “Keep quiet in the Synagogue.” Count Westarp declared that the exKaiser had fled to Holland, not owing to fear, but because he believed that Germany would by that means get better peace terms and because he believed in President Wilson’s promises. When a Communist Deputy rose to speak for the Bill, the members of the National and People’s Parties left the House as a protest.