NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3801, 18 January 1927, Page 49

NEWS BY CABLE.

ANTHRAX FROM ELEPHANTS. ' LONDON, January 10. Four attendants at the zoo have con-,-tracted anthrax after assisting in a pos£ mortem examination on two elephants. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GENERAL L ELECTIONS. 1 ADELAIDE, January 11. Cabinet has decided that the South Australian general elections shall be held on March 26. COMMONWEALTH LOAN OVER- ' if SUBSCRIBED. SYDNEY, January 11‘. The recently-floated Commonwealth £6,000,000 5| per cent, conversion loan was over-subscribed to the extent of £505,000. ,i- COAL TRADE RECOVERING. LONDON, January 11. The Daily Telegraph’s Florence correspondent says that the Union Jack and other British flags are being prepared to welcome the arrival of the first British coal since the strike. FRESH TAXATION LEGISLATION. MELBOURNE, January 11. The Commonwealth Treasury -is preparing legislation to give' effect to the policy of abandoning to the States taxation on personal incomes in exchange for the cessation of Tier capita payments. BROADCASTING FROM CANBERRA. MELBOURNE, January 12. The Federal Government has arranged to., broadcast the opening of Parliament at Canberra and the Duke of York’s speech. HUGE SHIPPING DEAL. LONDON, January 14. The White Star Line has registered with a capital of £9,000,000, divided into 5,000,000 6} per cent, preference shares and 4,000,000 Ordinary shares to acquire the whole of the share capital of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company. c GERMAN HATS FOR ENGLISH HEADS. BERLIN. January 13. The extent to which Englishmen are wearing German hats is disclosed by figures showing that 1,708,000 were exported to England last year. NEW ZEALANDER’S ENGLISH ' ESTATE. LONDON, January 13. Colonel Blennerhassett Montgomery Blennerhassett, a New Zealander, left an English estate valued at £9029. EGYPTIAN CABINET. CAIRO, January 12. Each member of the Cabinet has voluntarily decided to forego £3OO of his salary annually. Other high functionaries are being urged to follow their example on a proportionate scale.

TURKO-GERMAN TRADE AGREEMENT. CONSTANTINOPLE. January 13. Gefinany and Turkey have signed a commercial agreement, including most favoured nation treatment affecting German chemicals and toys. and Turkish carpets and fruits.

AN UNTIMELY DEATH.

LONDON, January 13.

Archdeacon Hemphill dropped dead in a Belfast church while performing the wedding ceremony of Rodney Malcomson, the Irish international hockey player. The curate completed the ceremony.

M. MILLERAND.

PARIS, January 14. Following on his defeat in the senatorial elections, M. Millerand has resigned the presidency of the National Republican League. He will continue his practice at the bar. »

200 MILES AN HOUR.

LONDON, January 15. Motor manufacturers believed that they have at last succeeded in making a tyre capable of enabling Major Seagrave to attain the world’s motoring record of 200 miles an honr.

CHAPLIN DIVORCE CASE. £ LONDON, January 14. The newspapers have overcome the Divorce Act difficulty by publishing photographs of Charles Chaplin’s famous trousers and boots, which are now in the custody of the official receiver.

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME.

PARIS, January 12.

Cabinet has decided to seek an appropriation to build a monument commemorating the co-operation of French and British troops "in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

THE NEW EMDEN. CAPE TOWN, January 12. The new German cruiser Emden has arrived. At her bow hangs the Iron Cross awarded her namesake, the famous raider Emden. She intends to visit Cocos Island. —< ,

INDIANS IN AFRICA. CAPE TOWN, January 13.

As the result of the round-table conference, the delegates of the Indian and South African Governments announced that a provisional agreement has been arrived at, subject to ratification by the two Governments and Parliaments.

SPAIN. IN MOROCCO. MADRID, January 13.

An official telegram from the Spanish zone in Morocco says that auxiliary troops dispersed, with heavy losses, a strong force of the enemy, which was entrenched in the village of Harek. The rest of the zone is quiet.

NEW FASCIST CRUSADE. ROME, January 13.

The latest Fascist crusade is against music halls. Some here have already been ordered to close, a"nd the prefects of the provinces have been instructed to watch similar places and prevent the undermining of the m,oral and physical culture of the country .

RUSSO-JAPANESE TREATY. TOKIO, January 11.

Moscow reports the satisfactory conclusion of the long-negotiated RussoJapanese treaty, giving Japan huge forestry concessions in the maritime provinces of Russia. The Japanese regard the terms as exceptionally favourable.

A PARIS MYSTERY. PARIS, January 12.

The police are investigating the mysterious discovery of the body of a Londoner, Frank Parker, who was found dead with wounds in his head in a trench dug in connection with building operations in the Boulevard Hauffmann.

SMALLPOX AT SHEFFIELD. LONDON, January 12.

An alarming outbreak of smallpox has occurred at Sheffield, where eighty-five cases are reported. The public are rushing to be vaccinated.

Thirteen fresh cases have been recorded at Mexborough.

THE FRENCH CHAMBER.

PARIS, January 11. M. Fernand : Bouissou has been elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. M. Bouissou’s election .as President of the Chamber of Deputies is not regarded as a Socialist success, but as a personal triumph owing to his impartiality. He has been a deputy since 1909.

NON-INFLAMMABLE FILM. LONDON, January 12.

Sir-Herbert Blain is the chairman of a new company which has erected a factory at Rickmansworth for the production of a film claimed to be non-inflammable, thus eliminating entirely the danger of kinema film fires. It may be used in any room or hall. Successful tests have been made. The production is entirely British.

FRENCH BACHELORS. PARIS, January 11

The number of bachelors in France has steadily increased since 1920, when the Government decreed that a super income tax of 25 per cent, should be imposed on bachelors aged 30. The. number then taxed was 90,000. Last year it was £260,000.

A BORDER AFFRAY.

BUCHAREST, January 12.

A band of Bolshevist soldiers, allegedly aided by a gunboat’s searchlight, crossed the mouth of the Dniester near Bugaz and opened fire with a machine gun on Roumanian frontier post, killing one man. The Roumanians replied vigorously, scattering the attackers in the direction of Odessa.

SERIOUS SHOOTING AFFRAY.

SYDNEY, January 16,

As the result of a shooting affray in a railway camp near Kyogle, near the Queensland border, three men and one woman were injured, and seven men have been arrested. At least 50 shots were fired. All the victims are expected to recover.

ANGLO-ITALIAN RELATIONS

ROME, January 15. , Mr Winston Churchill has arrived on a private visit, and had Jn hour’s interview with Mussolini, who accompanied Mr Churchill to the doorway and • shook hands. The newspapers emphasise the point that while the. interview is of no political significance it shows the cordiality of Anglo-Italian relations.

EMPIRE MARKETING.

e LONDON, January 14. The Empire Marketing Board is concentrating on the advertisement of special commodities when thev are plentiful, whereas hitherto the advertisements have been general. The alteration is the outcome of long conferences with the dominion commissioners.

COMEDIAN’S NERVES AFFECTED

NEW YORK, January 15.

Charlie Chaplin collapsed at the home of his attorney, Mr Nathan Burkan to-day. A nerve specialist ordered the comedian to bed, and said that his nervous system was affected by the strain from the airing of his marital troubles.

EXCHANGE OF TEACHERS.

LONDON, January 12.

Mr M‘Rae, Chief Inspector of Schools in Victoria, is going Home via United States and Canada, spent a month on the Continent with a group of exchange teachers from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ceylon. He is firmly convinced of the great value" of the system 'of exchanging teachers and the desirableness of extending the movement.

AN ACTOR’S DEATH.

NEW YORK, January 13.

Trapped by flames blocking the stairway, the only avenue of escape, Mr Arnold Daly, aged 51, an actor and theatrical manager who gained prominence by first producing Bernard Shaw’s plays in, New York in .1892, was burned to death to-day in the fourth floor of his apartment.

COMMUNISM NOT WANTED. VANCOUVER, January 13.

Convinced that Communists allied to the Russian Soviet controlled the International Fur Workers’ Union of New York, ,the American Federation of Labour, meeting at St. Petersburg, Florida, took action to rid the organisation of Communistic destructive influences.

WOMAN’S FRANCHISE. OTTAWA, January 13.

A Moptreal message states :“We understand that New Zealand is the happiest country in the world. We know the women helped to make it so,” said Miss Idola St. Jean, who headed a committee of men and women which is leading a campaign in Quebec for women's suffrage, ■when received to-day by Mr Coates, ' who expressed great interest in their activities here.

MUSSOLINI’S LATEST. GENEVA, January 12

Signor Mussolini’s latest fancy is that all school children in Italy must wear the Fascist black shirt and' make the Roman salute to Mussolini’s portrait, which hangs in every schoolroom. The alternative is expulsion. Four thousand trained teachers were recently dismissed from their posts and replaced by an equal number of Fascists.

NEW SOUTH WALES FACTORY RETURNS.

SYDNEY, January 12

The factory returns compiled by the Department of Labour and Industry disclose that at the end of 1925 there were 11,836 factories in the State, employing 138,677 persons, compared with 11,559 factories, employing 134,716, at the end of 1924.

SALE OF HONOURS.

ROME, January 11.

A sensation has been caused in Italian society circles by the announcement of five arrests, including those of two high functionaries, Tosco and Della Valle, attached to the Order of Chevaliers, who are charged with selling the diploma of the Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy to a merchant for half a million lire. Other arrests are expected.

AUSTRALIAN COMMISSION.

NEW YORK, January 11. It is understood that Sir Hugh Denison applied to Mr Bruce to raise the Australian Commissioner’s office to the rank of a legation and to transfer it to Washington. Mr Bruce personally investigated the position in Washington, and found that the amount of work did not warrant the expense nor the necessity. He has replied accordingly to Sir Hugh.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING FIGURES. LONDON, January 10. The continued vogue of shipping fitted with internal combustion engines is revealed in Lloyd’s shipbuilding returns, which show that out of a total tonnage under construction in all countries at Deci .ber 31, 1933 motor ships accounted for 906,000 tons. The tonnage under construction in Britain was 760,000, which is 125.000 less than last year. The tonnage building abroad is 1,173,000, or 97,000 above last year.

LIFE HELD CHEAPLY.

ODESSA, January 12.

Because his professor demanded that he should cut his hair, an pighteen-year-old student named Jaroslaff Lampin fatally shot the professor -and himself. The youth was so proud of his hair that he allowed it to grow long. The professor suspended him for a fortnight for refusing to have it cut, and when the youth returned and the request was renewed he drew a revolver.

WORLD TOURISTS.

NEW YORK, January 11. The Franconia sails to-morrow on a world cruise, including Australian and New Zealand ports, -where her stay will be short. She will call at Auckland on February 18, leaving on February 21; Wellington on February 23, leaving the same day; Milford Sound, February 25, leaving the same day; Hobart, February 28, leaving the same day; Melbourne, March 27 leaving the .following day; Sydney, March 5, leaving March 8.

“CABLE TELEPHONY.” LONDON, January 11

The Eastern Telegraph Company, after two years’ experiments with a new system of regenerator »working, will inaugurate on February 19 instantaneous communication between London and Cape Town, having abolished relaying from St. Vincent, Ascension, and St. Helena, thus' enabling reception to coincide with despatch from London, which is as fast as . a perso' nis able to talk; therefore it is called cable telephony.

HOUSTON CHAMBERLAIN. BERLIN, January 12.

The body of the renegade, Houston Stuart Chamberlain, was cremated at Coburg in the presence of' a distinguished gathering, including the ex-Crown Prince (who deposited the ex-Kaiser's wreath),

ex-King Ferdinand, Prince Hohcnlohe, and Siegried Wagner, the extremist. The Nationalist organisations sent deputations. The officiating priest eulogised Chamberlain as a real Christian and 'a real German.

MINERS AND POLICE. DARWIN, January 11. Trouble has been experienced between the police and the miners at Marranboy owing to the police" seizing liquor intended for a Christmas meeting. The miners carried a resolution that they would forcibly eject one of the constables from the field unless an inquiry were held into his conduct.

The Administrator refused an inquiry until the ultimatum was withdrawn, stating that the law would be upheld 'at all costs. Meanwhile the. field is seething with unrest.

FEMALE FASHIONS. LONDON, January 12.

A speaker at a meeting of the Bradford Textile Society, complaining that the industry was heavily hit by women’s skimpy clothing, pointed out that it used to take two sheep to clothe a woman : now a silkworm could do it. Another curiosity of the spring fashion was. the vogue of calfskin coats and sports suits. They were usually of a natural colour, so it was pardonable if short-sighted people mistook women golfers in bovine garments for Jersey cows straying on the links.

GERMAN INDUSTRY. SYDNEY, January 13

Mr John Brown, a coal magnate, has returned from Germany. He said that in ten years’ time Germany would be industrially supreme. ■ To-day she was outstripping England and her Continental rivals, and by sheer hard -work and tenacity the people were forging ahead to a position which would soon place them in command of many of the -world’s markets. In a few years from now Germany—an industrial Colossus—would be astride the world.

ABOLISHING SLAVERY. DELHI, January 12.

Following the release of numerous slaves in the Kukuwag Valley, in the Southern Shan States, Northern Burma, last year, the Burmese Government has informed the Kachin Hills chiefs that slavery in their territory must cease. Compensation will be paid.

It is estimated that 5000 slaves will receive their freedom as the result of the efforts of the British Administration in Baluchistan. The ruler of Kalat, a powerful chief, announces the total abolition of slavery.

WITCHBAITING.

BERLIN, January 11.

A strange witchbaiting case resulted in a peasant bride of three weeks being tortured to, death at Haltern, in Westphalia. The young girl was married at Christmas and brought to hosptial suffering grievous injuries. When dying she said that her husband and his family had caused them, as a fortune-teller pointed her out as the witch who had caused cattle plague on her father-in-law’s farm. She was therefore locked up, and was beaten, starved, and slowly tortured to death. The fortune-teller and the husband's family have bee-i arrested.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR. AMSTERDAM, January 13.

The General Council of the International Federation of Trade Unions again rejected by 12 to 6 the English proposal that the federation should confer with the Soviet Trade Union Council. January 14.

The General Council of the International Federation of Trade Unions has passed a resolution assuring the Mexican people of the International Labour Movement’s support in resisting foreign aggression'and interference.

A CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM. HALIFAX, January 13. . Mr Jason Mack, president of the Nova Scotia Legislative Council, has written to the Premier, Mr E. N. Rhodes, refusing to resign on the request of the latter, who wished to appoint a Conservative successor. Mr Mack, who is a Liberal appointee, states in a letter: “There is considerable doubt as to the legal power of this Government to dismiss the president of the Legislative Council. In the circumstances I do not think it is in the public interest to adopt your suggestion to resign my office.”

BRITAIN AND GREECE.

LONDON, January 14.

The terms of the Anglo-Greek commercial treaty, published in Britain, agree, that the import -duty on Greek currants shall not exceed the present rate of 2s a cwt. Greece a.grees to leave the quantity available for exportation to be determined yearly on the basis of average export during the preceding three years plus a margin of 5 per cent, for probable increase in consumption.

TURKISH JUSTICE. LONDON, January 11.

The Constantinople correspondent of The Times states that during the last 21 months the Western Tribunal of Independence, stiting at Angora, dealt with 340 cases, involving 2351 persons, of whom 948 were convicted, 204 hanged, and 635 imprisoned for terms varying from one to 30 years. The principal charges were brigandage, plotting revolution; treason, and spying. The figures of the Eastern Tribunal have not yet been published, but it is believed that they are

heavier than those of the Western Tri* bunal.

ANTI-EVOLUTION LAW.

NEW YORK, January 15. The Tennessee State Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the AntiEvolution Law, but has reversed the famous Scopes conviction of .1925, because Scopes was fined 10 dollars, whereas the. legal limit to a fine by a judge is 50 dollars. The decision is a result of Scopes’s appeal against the verdict in the Dayton trial, at which William Jennings Bryan prosecuted and Clarance Darrow defended. /

A BIG SWINDLE.

LONDON. January 10. Francis Brearley and James Mason were remanded on a charge of stealing and receiving £lO,OOO to £15,000 from a Wellington architect, James Hector M'Kay. There is also a charge of con-, spiracy with a man not yet arrested to' defraud M'Kay of £15,000. It is alleged that the defendants unfolded a scheme under which M'Kay handed over money ostensibly to secure a share in £33,000 profits from a gamble in francs by the gang. Brearley bolted, but Mason re>mained in London till he was arrested.-...

MATCH MAKING. PARIS January 14.

It is reported that a big combine of match-making companies, including an American group, i- submitting to the Gov- *

ernment a scheme to grant them a monopoly, the largest part of the profit' from the sales in France to go to the State and 10 per cent. t" social works, but'-- only a part of th e profits from the sales in the colonies and foreign countries, to go to the State. It is believed that the combine contenu plates making the manufacture of matches a big French industry, and intends to export on a large scale.

BUTTER IN AUSTRALIA. n N SYDNEY, January 14.

The Butter Stabilisation Committee has decided that the price of butter is to be reduced from Monday next to 182 s a cwt. The decrease is due to the increased output of the local factories as a result of the recent rains and the keen? competition of New Zealand butter, of which since the middle of last month 21,190 'boxes have been imported into New South Wales.

DIVORCE REPORTS.

LONDON, January 14. In view of the non-publication of Divorce Court reports, special interest attached to a statement by the President, Lord Merivale, that a case under notice was one where the deterrent of pub' licity' was applicable. It was the third case that morning in which’ discussions seemed to have occurred between the parties concerning the most convenient mode of proving the case, though the judge did not suspect there had been collusion in this particular case.

AN EMBARRASSING SUCCESS.

LONDON, January 15. Extraordinary scenes were witnessed atthe opening of the new ice skating rinki at Westminster. There was such a demand for admittance that people literally . swept the building. All doors were closed, but hours afterwards cars and taxis unloaded skaters in evening dress until a great crowd had assembled outside. Officials appeared on the balcony and apologised. A rush was made for a side \ door, where hundreds crushed through.

POWDERED FUEL. LONDON, JaW.ary 16

In continuation of Commander Brand’s 1923 investigations regarding powdered fuel for the Australian navy, an English company which ow large deposits of brown coal at Morwell proposes to begin operations this year distilling oil from brown coal, one ton of which it is calculated will yield 15 gallons of oil. The residue will be used for the manufacture of briquettes, of which the calorific value is said to be equal to that of black coal. It will also be used in the form of powdered fuel for power purposes.

CARINTHIA TOURISTS.

MELBOURNE, January 11.

The "American tourists aboard the Carinthia expressed resentment at the attitude adopted towards them by a section of the press in Auckland and Sydney, stating that they did not expect the reception they received, and did not think that it was justified. It was stinging ridicule, and they resented it, and many of them would have been glad if they had - •not visited Australia. It v/as a shock to come thousands of miles pleasurably anticipating the visit, and to be received with disrespect and ridicule. ,

THE. SPINSTERS’ lURIEND. 1 LONDON--; January 16. Aiderman Holdsworth ’•> his mayoral year in Wallasey notablo by his public appeals for husbands for town’s 2000 surplus spinsters, resulting’ in manv happy marriages. The local women’s committee decided to present him with his portrait in oils, “in recognition of his services in ’• the interests of femininity,” it raised only £25 sterling towards the cost, which’ was 100 guineas. Th© -■• * has issued writs against 18 women members of the committee demanding payment. Their’ husbands are now holding a special meet* ing to discuss the question of meeting ths liability.

A MONTMARTRE ’ MURDER. J? PARIS, January 15.

A typical Montmartre crime rassionel was described in court when Isidore Ramos was charged with murdering a girl name Lilette in a restaurant where he was

dining. Ramos told the girl to look out of the window, and then drew a revolver and fired several shots, killing her instantly. Ramos told the court that Lilette’s frivolous nature made him wildly jealous. He expressed deep regret, and aaid he was mad at the time.

A waitress, giving evidence, said after monsieur killed madame he settled his bill very calmly, and gave'a much bigger tip than usual.

The jury found extenuating circumstances, and Ramos was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

ITALIAN EXCLUSIVENESS. ROME, January 14

The Popolo Di Roma triumphantly intimates that the issue for the first time is } minted on paper made exclusively from peal materials, adding: “This signalises the beginning of Italy’;, freedom from foreign paper pulp, thanks to the efforts of the Technical Commission appointed by Mussolini. The commission discarded the idea of specially cultivating pine, fir. and noplar trees, rnd concentrated instead on chemical treatment of by-products of local corn, hay, and rice.

M. SPAHLINGER. LONDON, January 11.

M. Spahlinger has entered the controversy with a letter in the Daily Express from Geneva, in which he says: “I have given up my life to this work, and the lives of others dear to me are similarly devoted. If my achievements are to be so easily discredited I should be glad to burn my secret and return to the Bar, for which I am fully qualified, and lead, for the first time in 15 years, a life owning an ordinary man’s share of the sunshine.

The Daily Express editorially refers to the statement as a threat, adding: “If M. Spahlinger has discovered a method of defeating the scourge, then, however tired and discouraged, it is both his duty and his privilege to give it to the world.” LONDON. January 14., The Lancet, emphasising the willingness of the Ministry of Health to-arrange an immediate investigation test, appeals editorially to M. Spahling-er to submit his remedies to independent investigation, “which is the only way to right him-with the medical world and to relieve him of difficulties.”

« CANCER AND MEAT. LONDON, January 13. An analysis of life among- monastic communities conclusively proves- that fatal cancer occurs in populations abstaining from flesh foods, and does not support Rollo Russell's contention that cancer is relatively low in such communities. So say Dr Copeland and Major Greenwood, members of the Department of Cancer, after an investigation of various religious orders in England, France, and Belgium. These investigations reveal that the ‘English Carthusian house contained 52 monks who lived according to rigid rules in a cell of four small rooms from which they emerged nightly to attend service lasting from 10.30 p.m. to 2 in the morning-, for a midday meal, and on Sundays for a weekly walk They do not eat meat or poultry even in illness, and they do not smoke. The Cistercians are wholly forbidden meat, while fish and eggs are allowed only as an indulgence to the weak.

MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.

ATHENS, January 13.

The Mediterranean Fleet, headed by H.M.S. Warspite, Admiral Keyes’s flagship, on which Mr Winston Churchill is a guest, made an impressive entry of the harbour on a week’s visit. There will be elaborate entertainments. The Greeks are organising special race meetings and football matches. A representative of the Foreign Minister welcomed Mr Churchill and escorted him to the' acropolis and to the museums.

CANADIAN LOYALTY.

OTTAWA, January 14# In speeches in the Quebec Provincial Legislature, the Premier, Mr Taschereau, and Mr Arthur Sauve, Conservative Opposition Leader, issued a warning- against the infringements of the rights of Quebec in any changes in Canada’s constitutional status, which might be the outcome of the Imperial Conference. Mr Taschereau, in the course of his remarks, said: “j think fidelity to our British ties is necessary for our national survival, and we should jealously watch over its preservation.”

j DIVORCE AND PUBLICITY. LONDON, January 14. Describing the procedure in the divorce Ipurts since detailed newspaper reports ' were forbidden by law, the Daily Express Buys: “The parties to a suit now. give evidence in rapid succession. Suit follows suit with almost equal rapidity. Barristers have lost much of their former emotional appeal. A dry recital of the circumstances is followed by the corroboration of a few witnesses. Then a formal appeal is made for a decree.” Newspapers now rarely publish even such skeletonised reports as the law permits. The opinion is expressed that this is. likely in the course Of time to encourage an increase of suits.

WOOL INDUSTRY.

LONDON, January 13. Mr William Hunter, in his presidential address to the British Wool Federation at Bradford, expressed his opinion that the industry had weathered the worst of the storm. If a safeguarding duty on worsteds had. been exactqd corresponding to the foreigners’ advantages due to depreciated exchanges, the industry might have avoided unfair competition. Nevertheless, when the spring orders were placed many London distributing houses would be likely to turn to Bradford instead of to

the Continent. He added: “There may be sudden fluctuations in prices after the colonial buying season closes owing to the unequal distribution of raw material and the differing circumstances in consuming countries, but generally they might expect improvement.”

GLASGOW STUDENTS HOAX. LONDON, January 13. Glasgow undergraduates organised an elaborate hoax in the interests of charity. They announced that an American student, “Ane Hapenny,” was swimming the Atlantic. They published daily bulletins of his progress from New York. Forty thousand people packed the-bridges and streets to witness his arrival. Accompanied by a rowboat, with a piper seated in it, skirling merrily, the swimmer received a magnificent reception. He landed amid cheering crowds, dressed at the quayside shed, and drove through the streets seated in a taxi drying golden curls and acknowledging the cheers of the crowd. It is revealed that the swimmer was a well-known undergraduate who swam only a quarter of a mile. Meanwhile the students were busy collecting among the crow-d on behalf of hospitals.

AUSTRALIA-AND UNITED STATES NEW YORK, January 10.

Mr Kermit Roosevelt announces that the Shipping Board Fleet Corporation has assigned Jwo vessels which have been converted into motor ships, the West Cusseta and the West Honaker, of 8000 tons each, operated by the Roosevelt Steamship Company, to the Atlantic-Australian Line. This actio- is due to the increased trade between Australia and the United States. The West Cusseta will sail on January 22 with a cargo of automobiles, oil, and merchandise, and the West Honaker will sail in February. Both steamers carry mails and accommodate passengers.

Mr Roosevelt said that commerce between two nations separated by great distances needed increased speed, larger cargo capacity, and economy in fuel. These needs were provided by motor ships, the installation of Diesel engines in these ships having greatly increased tthe cargo space, speed, and cruising radius.

SALE OF WHEAT.

MELBOURNE, January 14.

Representatives of the wheat pooling organisations in New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria discussed the system of selling wheat overseas, with the object of eliminating competition in selling Australian wheat in London The conference also dealt with the question of the advisability of introducing the Canadian system of contract on delivery of wheat to pools for a definite number of years. A further conference is to be held to consider making uniform arrangements for the contract system by all the States.

LEAGUE OF 'NATIONS.

LONDON, January 14.

“We know all about the troubles and failures of the League of Nations, but next to nothing of its normal work,” writes Mr Ramsay MacDonald in the Spectator, with reference to the suggestion bv Murray Allison that the League’s work should be given organised publicity; Mr MacDonald proceeds: “Unless there is a row or a Mark Antony speech, the newspapers reject Geneva news. It is deplorable but a fact. On the other hand, an advertiser can array the fullest facts in the most attractive form to fill up the tragic blanks of the news columns. The sum required might be distributed over the army, navy, and air force estimates It would be more effective in the long run for our defence than their arms, while to make them remove the need for their own existence would be both good humour and good business.”

GENEVA, January 13. Albert Dufour Ferlicc, : ex-councillor of the German Embassy, has assumed the duties of an under-secretary of the League of Nations.

AMERICAN ARMY

WASHINGTON, January 13.

The Military Affairs Committee has reported the War Department’s Appropriation Bill to the House recommending the expenditure of 357.925,518 dollars, an increase of 19,727,016 dollars over 1926. It was accompanied by a statement from, the committee that the United States must cither appropriate more money henceforth or further reduce the size of her army. The hearings revealed that practically every army witness declared that the economies were hurting the service efficiency; Major-general Chief-of Staff, stated that there were many desertions as a direct result of the unsatisfactory conditions. The Estimates provide for 11,961 commissioned officers, 1219 warrant officers, 115,000 enlisted men, and 6455 Philippine Scouts. Altogether 20,396,300 dollars is provided for air corps, and of this 3,383,550 dollars is for new planes. General Patrick, Chief of the Air Force, declared that the United States would rank second in world air power when the five-year aviation programme had been completed. He said that she now stood not'lower than third.

MINERS AND POLICE.

MELBOURNE, January 14.

Serious trouble at the Merranboy tinfields, in the Northern Territory, is reported. It is understood that the cause of the trouble was the closing down of a battery at Marranboy, where the miners allege that the police were engaged in espionage. A meeting of miners demanded the withdrawal of the constable from the field, and passed a number of

other resolutions, which the authorities regard as of so serious a nature that special constables have been sworn in. Messages received in Melbourne state that the warden has notified the representatives of the citizens’ meeting that the Riot Act will be read unless the resolutions passed at the meeting arc withdrawn. All work in the field is suspended.

CANCER RESEARCH. SYDNEY, January 14. Dr Warnford Moppett, a young Sydney biologist, attached to the cancer research department at the Sydney University, who is at present en route to the Medical Congress at Dunedin, where he will read a paper, has made what is probably one of the most helpful discoveries yet announced in connection with the treatment of cancer. His investigations revealed that X-ray waves of slightly different lengths ■have widely divergent effects upon living tissues. It is not unlikely that when this fact is recognised considerable improvement in design of X-ray machines for therapeutic purposes will ensue.

OLYMPIC STADIUM. LONDON, January 13. Covering forty acres, served by special tram lines, and equipped with an 88-acre car park, accommodating 4000 automobiles, the new Olympic Stadium at Amsterdam will be the most complete in the world. The main stadium is concrete and brick, and accommodates 40,000 people, half of these seated. The dimensions are 285yds by 185yds. It contains a football ground and a running track. Six hundred seats are reserved for journalists. There are also telephone rooms and forty-five phone cabinets. The Royal and official boxes are in the centre of the ground.

In addition to the stadium there are a swimming stadium, a fencing pavilion, a cricket ground, thirteen tennis courts, an art gallery, and gardens. The buildings are surmounted by a Marathon tower 150 ft high, from which will issue a permanent smoke column during the progress of the games..

DRESS-DESIGNING.

LONDON, January 14.

A salary of £15,000, plus commission, with holidays four times a year, includsix weeks in the summer, fifteen guineas .expenses daily for fashionable race meetings, and expenses for four visits to Paris yearly for a week each, six gowns a year, averaging £25 each, were among the terms on which Paquins (Ltd.), West End dress makers, engaged a dress designer named Mrs Fox Pitt in 1923, but cancelled it it a moment's notice in 1925, the directors alleging that she secretly charged five apprentices a premium of £2O in addition to £3O each which the firm charged.

Mrs Pitt asserts that the directors assented to her charging the extra £2O for distribution among the supervisors to induce them to teach the apprentices thoroughly.-

CANCER RESEARCH.

LONDON, January 10.

•Doctor Thomas Lumsden, who gave.up a prosperous practice to undertake cancer research at the Lister institute, announces that he lias made a powerful serum capable of destroying cancer cells Dr Lumsden began by_ treating cancer in rats, and then perfected a serum made from the blood and intestines of rats, which proved capable of killing cancer cells in test tubes. It must be emphasised that the serum at present is not applicable to human patients, but the Lister Institute believes that a distinct advance has been made and new light thrown on obscure aspects of the cancer scourge.

SAVED BY LIONESS. LONDON, January 11.

Captain Bostock, of Bostock and Wombwel’s circus, was saved from death in Leicester by a lioness springing upon a lion which had attacked him. He entered the cage to attend to a sick cub, when the lion broke through the partition and started mauling him. The lioness sprang on the lion, and there was, a terrific fight, in which the cubs joined with the mother and succeeded in dragging the lion off. Captain Bostock was able to crawl through the door, although badly torn. The fight continued till the animals were separated by the attendants. This is the second time the lioness has saved Captain Bostock.

REPARATIONS. LONDON, January 11.

TluV British Treasury has handed Sir Joseph Cook, High Commissioner for Australia, a cheque for £912,000 for reparations. The cheque represents 4.35 per ■ cent, share of the • ccumulated £18,000,000 British collection of 26 per cent. Customs duty on German goods during the time preceding the Dawes plan. Canada receives a similar sum, and New Zealand £310,000. This virtually winds up the pre-Dawcs balances. Henceforth Hie dominions will -draw a share of the Empire’s quota of the ordinary Dawes payment, from which the 'Empire in December 'received .£923,250.

BODIES IN A CAVf.

LONDON, January 10.

The bodies of two citizens of Manchester, who have 1 been missing since the beginning of the year—Marjorie Stewart, aged - 17, and Harry Fallows, who was living apart. , from . his wife —were discovereel in a cave at Winnats Pass, Derbyshire.; The previous week the finder encountered a man and a- wonian in the darkness at the entrance to the

cave. They asked him to extinguish the torch he was carrying. Becoming suspicious, he revisited the cave, and discovered the bodies and a bottle of prison alongside. It is believed to have been a death pact.

“THUS SAYS MUSSOLINI.” j( LONDON, Ja.'.uary 10. “I told my subordinates I must never see a woman in Palazzo Chigi. They interfere with efficiency and cause delay. They do not appreciate the businesslike character of work, introducing by their presence obligatory deference which is necessary in the company of men.” Thus says Mussolini in the British United Press article. He declares: “Work is a passion to me. This natural bent I attribute to temperament, training, heritage, and an indomitable will to reach the goal I proposed to attain. Adversity in youth year after year trained me to meet difficulties by hard work. The constant grind made me something of a working'automaton. If there is nothing to be done I create something. Above all, I have a great aim to restore my people to the glory that was theirs.” ,

NEW GUINEA NATIVES. SYDNEY, January 12. A wireless message from Bulolo states that ten carriers in charge of one police boy, while returning from Salamoa,( were attacked' by natives from Rabaul village. When in the vicinity of the village, four carriers, who were ahead of the main body, were attacked by natives. One hid in the long grass and saw his companions killed with tomahawks. The victims’ necks were then fastened with vines and their stomachs were cut open, the intestines pulled out and thrown in the Bulolo River. The survivor then escaped and reported the description of the murderers, which coincides with the twenty natives who escaped while being taken to Salamoa a few weeks ago, following on the previous murder. The fate of the other seven carriers and the police boy is unknown.

.. NEW GUINEA GOLD. SYDNEY. January 11. of gold from the New Guinea fields arrived by the steamer yesterday, valued at over £25,000. This makes a total of 41,0000 z. of an estimated value of £102,000, which has reached Sydney since the shipments began in August last.

Among those who returned were over a dozen disappointed miners, who were unable to get inland from the coast owing to the want of funds and difficulties of the route, or who were driven from the fields by hardships. According to other mining men. who have com southward in connection with the settlement of disputed claims, the flotation of further areas, and other matters connected with the fields, all the good ground in the Edie Creek area has been taken up. They, however, give glowing accounts of new and extensive finds at Watut, two days’ march north-west of Edie Creek. They state that the gold there is worth £3 17s 6d an oz, compared with £2 10s for the Edie Creek metal. The climate at the new field is described as temperate. There are good food and labour conditions, accessibility is easier, and the living and worki. g conditions altogether better.

SAVED FROM SLAVERY. ... BERLIN, January 14. The Government has just purchr ed a pretty Berlin girl who was a slave at Kabul. An Afghan tobacco merc’mnt, named Abdulla Khan, married her in Berlin in 1921, and during the inflation period decided to return home, taking his wife and child. They lived happily until the husband died, whereupon the girl was ' informed that according to the laws of Afridi Uribe she was her husband's pro-, petty, and therefore passed together with his legongings to his brother. The latter was willing to marry the Berlin girl, but the widow objected, and in accordance withjiis rights the brother-in-law sent'lter to the slave market. In order to rescue her from this fate the German diplomatic representative purchased her.

MUSSOLINI SEES HIMSELF.

LONDON, January 15.

“I believe I have faced more than the number of attempts on my life assigned to any man. It is ‘business as usual’ with me. On such occasions my first thought always is to' allav anxiety, and to ensure continuity of government,” says Mussolini in a final United Press article. »As proof of the benign spirit protecting him, Mussolini recalls that in war time he was in hospital suffering from 42 hand grenade wounds. The A strians began a week’s aeroplane artillery bombardment of the hospital. Wounded men rolled from their beds, but the shells took toll of the lot. “I remained helpless in bed, but was at last carried out the sole survivor after seven days of the most terrifying experience of my life.”

RUSSIAN CENSUS. MOSCOW, Januarv 14.

The recent census recalled an astonishing tragedy of fanaticism which was enacted at the last census in 1887. A small sect, known as the Uzbekistans, regarded the census takers as heralds against Christ, and chose to be buried alive in preference to answering questions/ As it was .essential that there should be one survivor, lots were cast, and a protesting youth, wita his wife and two children, was selected to enclose the rest in a living tomb. Chanting weird songs, intoning prayeio, and carrying lights. 24 men, women, and children descended into a cellar,, and the twenty-fifth cemented them in the tomb,

kneeling in prayer xmtil the Singing of the entombed,' including that of his own wife and children, ceased. Later the fanatic was sentenced to life confinement in a monastery, but before the recent census he was released, and went to the members of his sect and persuaded them to accept the census, thus averting a second tragedy.

LONDON NIGHT LIFE.

LONDON, January 15. Limousine after limousine drove up to the Marlborough Street Police -Court, dropping altogether 100 fashionable persons to answer summonses for breaking the lice'nsing laws. This is the sequel to the raid on the famous Kitcat Club, in which princes, peers, Cabinet Ministers, and parliamentarians arc numbered among its 5000 members. The court was crowded with fashionable persons in expensive dresses and furs, young men about town, arid elderly men of military bearing, constituting a .most remarkable collection of defendants.

Twelve pleaded guilty and were fined £lO each. The remainder of the cases were adjourned, including one against the management, calling on it. to show cause why the club should not be struck off the list.

The prosecution’s revelations of night life unfolded a sorry picture. Since opening in March of last year the liquor sales totalled £47,467, of which £25,000 represented profit. There was no suggestion of disorder or drunkenness, but it is remarkable that such a lavish establishment could be conducted on grossly irregular lines.

Five constables were admitted without question at midnight, and were served with a bottle of champagne at a cost of 30s. With it were five sandwiches, which had not been ordered, but for which £1 was charged. Two further champagnes were served in a glass jug, the bill totalling £5 15s. Everybody was drinking, having ordered the liquor before midnight, and putting the bottles under the table. An analysis of the nomination forms revealed that 20'X) had no proposer or seconder, and 1500 had no seconder. OBITUARY. LONDON, January 12. The death is announced of Sir John Scott Keltie, former president of life Geographical section of the British Association, at the age of 87. January 13. The death is reported of Sir Alfred Seale Haslam, inventor of a patent refrigerator.

ATTACK ON BRIDGE PLAYERS. LONDON. January 10. That bridge, in certain circumstances, is most harmful is the emphatic - declaration of Sir Arbuthnot Lane. In a letter to the Daily , Express he vigorously attacks idle women, playing all night with money provided by their husbands. “Such people,” he says, “are rarely of active dispositions, and are usually Stouter than the average consequently they prefer a sedentary occupation, such as bridge. Undoubtedly bridge, like most drugs, is beneficial in moderation, but poisonous in excess. When indulged in too long it hypnotises the players, and makes them blind to their own interests, as well as the interests of those depending upon them for comfort and . companionship. Followed excessively, it must have a deteriorating influence upon the intelligence, and react harmfully on health. It is detrimental physically and morally, and is too frequently associated with as excessive smoking and alcoholism. Most likely all this class suffer from the same complaint, which tends sooner or later to terminate what, to the community in general, is a more or less useless existence. Bridge fiends, like hunting and golfing enthusiasts, become an intolerable nuisance; but the latter recreations have the advantage of being carried on in the open air.” The Daily Express editorially says that a declaration from such a source is certain to create a great controversy. The mere statement that women who play bridge are stouter than the average ia Sufficient to overwhelm the writer.