NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 49

NEWS BY CABLE.

THE (PACIFIC CABLE. VANCOUVER, June 15. The last link of the second Pacific cable has been completed. LUNAR ECLIPSE. SYDNEY, June 16. •The lunar eclipse was considerably obscured by clouds, making telescopic observation unsatisfactory. . MR ZANE GREY. NEW YORK, June 13. Mr Zane Grey’s yacht stranded on Saturday at Ranjiron Island. She was refloated off the reef not badly damaged. THE PETERSHAM MURDER. SYDNEY, June 17. Norman Clyde M‘Ph er son, who was ■wanted in connection with the murder of Martha Quinn, has been arrested at Bathurst. SHEEP FROZEN. SYDNEY, June 19. Extreme cold in the western districts is causing heavy losses to sheep breeders. One land owner in the Warren district alone lost 1700 newly-shorn sheep, which were frozen to death. HEAVY RAIN FALLING. MELBOURNE, June 19. Heavy rain is falling over nearly the whole of the State, breaking the drought. In Adelaide rain is falling over the whole of the northern agricultural areas. M. BRIA ND ILL. GENEVA, June 16. M. Briand developed acute shingles suddenly, and returned to Paris to consult a specialist. He will probably need a month’s rest. GERMAN SHIP SALVAGED. LONDON, June 19. Utilising the spring tides, salvors filled the ex-German battleship Moltke with air and beached her, bottom up. Visitors to Scapa are using the keel as a promenade. GERMAN FORTIFICATIONS. PARIS, June 17. It is understood that the work of examining and reporting on the work of the destruction of Germany’s eastern fortifications has been entrusted to three military experts, including an American. CHILDREN AND FILMS. GENEVA, June 16.

The Council of the League of Nations, < on the motion of Sir Austen Chamberlain, is sending to all the nations a questionnaire as to the effect of films on child welfare. '&•! i THE ULIMAROA. J SYDNEY, June 14. < The departure of the Ulimaroa for-Wei- ' lington, which was scheduled for June 24, 1 has been postponed till July 8, as the 1 extensive overhaul of the vessel is taking 1 longer than was anticipated. COUNTESS DIVORCED. PARIS, June 16. The Countess de Janze, who was concerned in the shooting of de Trafford at the Gare du Nord in May last, has been divorced. The suit was filed prior to the ihooting sensation. SYDNEY EXHIBITION. SYDNEY, June 17. Arrangements are being made under the auspices of the Federal and State Governments for the holding of an Australian, New Zealand and International Exhibition in Sydney in 1931. SOUTH AFRICAN FARMERS. RUGBY, June 14. A party of 100 South African farmers arrived in London yesterday to study European, and particularly British, agri- ** cultural methods and markets for South African produce. They were received by the Prince of Wales at St. James’s Palace. ITALIAN TOUCHINESS. BRUSSELS, June 17. The Italian Government is leaving the Embassy here under a Charge d’Affaires ns an expression of disapproval of the Foreign Minister, M. Vandervelde, in an anti-Fascist demonstration at which Signor Mussolini was attacked. OBITUARY. LONDON, June 14. The death is announced of Mr Jerome K. Jerome. NEW YORK, June 13. Mr Coles Phillips, the prominent artist, is dead. MISSING DEPUTY RETURNS. LONDON, June 17. A great surprise was caused at a Communist meeting in Paris. Cachin was speaking, when in walked the missing deputy Doriot. On the commotion subsiding Cachin finished his speech, and claimed an amnesty for deputies against whom proceedings had been instituted, after which Doriot took off his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and amidst prolonged cheering, dealt with the Chinese revolution and syndicalist movement.

SKIRTS TOO SHORT. PARIS, June 15. A conference of leading dressmakers announced that they had reached complete agreement that present-day skirts are too short and are opposed to aesthetic taste. They decided that in future frocks shall be longer, though not quite ankle length. PRESERVING FLORA. SYDNEY, June 18. Owing to the vandalism practised in the past by certain individuals, the State Government has issued a proclamation protecting for a year "certain wild flowers and native plants. This step is taken to prevent the absolute extermination of many of the best native flora. SECRET DIVORCE. LONDON, June 17. Reference to secret divorce was made by the Lord Chief Justice at the Mansion House banquet. . “The courts used to hear divorce suits by the score,” he said. “Now they hear them by the thousands. Nevertheless, there are a great many people in England undivorced still.”'

AUSTRALIAN FINANCE. MELBOURNE, June 14. A conference of State Premiers preliminary to the Federal and States financial conference next Thursday decided that the States should work together in order to secure amounts equal to £8,000,000,- which represents the amount lost to the States by the withdrawal of the per capita payments. STRANGLER OF WOMEN. OTTAWA, June 17. Earle Nelson, a “gorilla man,” has been positively identified as the alleged strangler of a woman and a girl at Winnipeg within a week, and has been arrested. He is wanted for 20 similar stranglings in the United States. This degenerate’s hands are huge and hairy. Teeth marks on the victims and fingerprints on bedposts Jed to his identification. ' BRITISH BY-ELECTION RESULT. LONDON, June 17. . The Westbury -by-clection resulted: — Major Eric Long (Conservative) 10,623 Mr Harcourt Johnstone (Liberal) 10,474 Mr G. Ward (Labour) .. .. 5,306 At the General Election the voting was: Captain Shaw (Con.), 11,559; Mr C. W. Darbyshire (Lib.), 9848; and Mr G. Ward (Lab.), 4371.

CHEESE COMPETITION. BRISBANE, June 16. The results of the annual competitions in butter and cheese under the. auspices of the Factory Managers’ Association show that the Australian cheese championship was won by the Downs Co-operative Society, with 951 points. The Pitfsworth Co-operative No. 2 factory was second, and the Belvedere Company (New Zealand) was third. BEAUTY CONTESTS. MELBOURNE, June 15. A deputation from the Women Citizens’ Movement asked the Chief Secretary (Mr G. Prendergast) to prohibit competitions for girls in bathing suits at picture theatres. Mr Prendergast replied that, in the absence of a strong body of public opinion, and under the existing law, he was unable to prevent bathing beauty competitions. ENGLISH UNDEFILED. LONDON, June 16.

A conference on the English Language I under the auspices of the Society of Literature, which is attended by noted English and American litterateurs and ortho- I graphists, decided on the motion of Lord I Balfour to organise an international council of 100 of the best authorities in all I English-speaking countries, including Australia and New Zealand. MIGRANTS FROM LONDON. LONDON, June 17. Sir James Parr, at New Zealand House, farewelled 38 boys who are going out in the Tamaroa under the auspices of the Salvation Army, making a total of its migrants to New Zealand during the past three years of 448. Visitors to New Zealand House are exceptionally numerous, being almost equal to those at the Empire Exhibition display last year. I OWNER OF WHITE FANG. LONDON, June 17. The explorer and geologist, Mr Alexander MacDonald, who was asociated with Jack London in the Klondike gold rush | in 1897, after which London immortalised Mr MacDonald’s dog White Fang in his famous book of that name, has departed from London accompanied by his wife, with the intention of travelling 600 miles up the Fly River in Papua. He hopes to locate and live among the almost unknown pigmies. He say that his wife will be the first white woman to enter the heart of Papua. EMPIRE PREFERENCE. SYDNEY, June 15. When the City Council was discussing recommendations from the Finance Com-

mittee that a motor car to be bought for the use of the Lord Mayor, and that a typewriter should be of British manufacture, Aiderman Shannon, who said that he was speaking for the Labour Caucus, moved an amendment removing the restriction to British makes. He said that the committee’s recommendation gave undue preference to British manufacturers. He added that there were cheaper cars to be had than those of British make. The amendment was carried. BRITISH TRADE. LONDON, June 14. . The imports during May increased by £15,186,000, the exports by £17,512,000, and the re-exports by £4,818,000. The principal increases were:—lmports: Grain and flour, £2,576,000; food and drink non-dutiable £1,279,000, dutiable £1,815,000; oil seeds, £1,092,000; iron and steel manufactures, £1,268,000. Exports: Coal, £3,015,000; iron and steel manufactures, £1,025,000; machinery, £1,421,000; cotton and yarns and manufactures, £2,104,000; woollen and worsted yarns, £1,187,000; vehicles, £1,176,000.

RED NAVY READY.

LONDON, June 18.

The Daily Mail’s Riga correspondent states that the Soviet Rear-admiral Smirnov, attached to the Baltic Red fleet, informed the newspaper Pravda that the British squadron’s presence in the Baltic constitutes • a militant demonstration against the Soviet Government. He asserts that the British are trying to discover the Soviet’s naval strength. Smirnov says that now the Soviet sailors are inured to seasickness, the Red fleet is ready to take on all comers, and will defend Kronstadt to the death. VALUABLE RING MISSING. LONDON, June 17. The Bishop of London is deeply distressed at losing his episcopal ring during his world tour. He only discovered his loss when unpacking his trunks in London. He tried to remember when he last wore the ring. He thought Colombo the most likely place, and cabled there requesting a search. The ring was not found there, but his Lordship continues to hope that it may be found elsewhere. He pointe out that the ring is highly prized because it was presented to him when lie was first made bishon.

ARISTOCRACY IN BUSINESS.

LONDON, June 17.

No event indicates -the remarkable disappearance of the old prejudices of the English aristocracy and the educational aristocracy of Oxford and Cambridge more than the appeal of the Marquis of Winchester, whose title dates from Henry the Eighth, that University and Public School young men should enter the retail trade.

Less than 30 years ago a titled woman would Pot haVe dared to open a West End business. To-day such businesses are common.

SOIL SCIENCE. WASHINGTON, June 17. Professor Albrecht Penck, of Holland, addressing the International Congress on soil science, said that the limit of the population, with all cultivatable laud tilled, was approximately 80 billion. There were still vast areas to be drawn into the service of man, and also in the greater part of the world productivity per unit could be very much increased. Many denied that the white man could exist in moist tropics for more than one generation or so. He believed that the white man could acclimatise himself if he migrated step by step, and very slowly, from the high border regions into the moist plains.

WOMEN STUDENTS.

RUGBY, June 14.

The Oxford Congregation, by 229 votes to 164, decided to limit the number of women undergraduates to 620. The Principal of Hertford College, in advocating the limitation, contended that the maintenance of the present proportion of one woman to four men was appropriate to a university with a history and tradition such as that of Oxford. Miss Fry said that women were sick to death of discussing the abilities and disabilities of theirsex. They only asked to be trusted to help the university and not to be treated as a menace and a danger. CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. PARIS, June 14. The Petit Journal relates an extraordinary series of tragedies at Nice. A woman attempted to commit suicide and was taken to hospital. Her husband motored at night to fetch her sister-in-law, with two male friends, in the car. He collided with another car, and his car fell into a river, the three men being drowned. The conductor of a motor coach recovered the bodies. The motor coach started off again, but had only gone a few hundred yards when there was a II crash, and it was discovered that the coach had run down and killed a man pushing a handcart on which was lying an invalid, who was severely injured. WIRELESS RESEARCH. SYDNEY, June IS. Giving evidence before the Royal Commission on wireless, Mr E. T. Fisk, referring to the research department of Amalgamated Wireless (Ltd.), said that the staff was working upon an entirely new method of transmission, which might be useful for war purposes.

Mr Fisk claimed that the department had been in touch with many leaders of radio research i» the world, and said that although + he department was doing this work for the benefit of the public and the commercial service, in the event of war it would have an organisation which could hold its own with any other country in the world. A DESTRUCTIVE GALE. PERTH, June 18. A gale, which reached a velocity of 70 miles an hour over a considerable area, and which was accompanied by heavy rain, caused considerable damage to property.

A number of buildings ere unroofed and hoardings and fences blown down and trees uprooted. The Swan River has risen about 3ft. The ferry steamer services and the country air services are suspended. Other rivers are also reported to be in flood. The storm is described r.s> one o' the worst in the history of Fremantle, where steamers had to run out extra heavy mooring lines. Much minor damage was done. PAYMENT BY RESULTS. SYDNEY, June 15. In the Commonwealth Arbitration Court the Chief Judge (Mr Justice Dethridge), referring to piecework, said that he was in favour of it. The conditions that obtained in industry to-day, compared with other countries, could only be preserved if payments by results were adopted. The Judge said that he had very strong objections to degrading the first-class man in industry. He believed in giving the first-class man first-class wages. The Australian Workers’ Union representative replied that workers in Australia would not oppose piecework so long as they were guaranteed that the continual cutting of the rates by the employee would be stopped.

WRIT FOR SEIZURE. BERLIN, June 14.

There was a mild sensation when a bailiff appeared at the Tempelhof Aerodrome and announced that he had been instructed to attach an auction notice to the Columbia aeroplane unless Mr Levine paid £2OOO to Dr Puppe for medical attention while Mr Levine was on a visit to Germany in 1924. The machine was saved from seizure only after combined intervention by the American Embassy, the German Foreign Office, and the Prussian Ministry of Justice. The last-named body reprimanded the Tempelhof district judge who issued the writ. The settlement was based ou a cash payment and mutual apologies. FRENCH IMPORT DUTIES. RUGBY, Tune 14.

The effect of the French tariff proposals on important branches of British trade, based on particulars supplied by the chambers of commerce and trade associations. has been communicated to the French Government, and has formed the subject of conversations in Paris. The President of the Board of Trade (Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister) stated in the House of Commons to-day that he could not sav at present bow far the French Government would find it possible to meet their wishes, but he was led to believe that the tariff was likely to be less onerous in many respects than was proposed in the Bill now being considered by the Customs Commission of the French Chamber of Deputies.

MIGRANTS TO DOMINION.

LONDON, June 15.

“No country in the world offers better prospects to the man with small capital than New Zealand,” said Sir James Parr, at a meeting of the Colonial Institute at which Lord Jellicoe presided. Sir James Parr added that if migrants of this type were prepared to work and wait they could not go wrong. He appealed to retired business, professional, navy, and military men to consider the prospects of their families from this viewpoint. Lord Jellicoe remarked that he won--dered why Britishers ate Danish butter when New Zealand was available. He appealed to his audience to encourage the consumption of New Zealand and Australian produce. TRUNK MURDER CASE. LONDON, June 17., Robinson, charged with tho trunk murder, was committed for trial. Counsel for the defence suggested manslaughter. New evidence in the trunk murder case includes that of a bus conductor who said that a passenger boarded his bus on May 6, and tried to put a trunk on the platform. Witness helped to carry it upstairs. When the bus reached Victoria station the passenger had gone. Robinson’s counsel appealed that the evidence did not justify a committal on a charge of murder.. The cause of death was largely medical conjecture. The only actual version of the affair was given by Robinson himself. INSURANCE AGAINST SICKNESS. GENEVA, June 14. The Labour Conference is likely to adopt two important conventions, one relating to compulsory sickness insurance for workers and domestic servants, and the other relating to agricultural workers. The employers have notified that they will abstain from voting on the draft conventions; but the workers’ group, while

corjidering them far from satisfactory, wiC vote for them. Mention was frequently made in the debates of the work of the Australian Royhl Commission, and the opinion was expressed that if the conventions were adopted they would be valuable in any action contemplated by the Australian: Government.

The discussion at the plenary sessions indicated a general desire for a universal scheme of sickness insurance.

WORLD TARIFFS. " LONDON, June 17. The question of the British and German attitude towards tariffs, in view of the Economic Conference resolutions, continues to attract attention. The Morning Post’s Berlin correspondent says that there is an overwhelming mass of political and economic opinion in Germany, of which Dr Stresemann is one of the most conspicuous leaders, in favour of a general reduction of world tariffs, wherein Germany would almost certainly participate. Her-existing tariffs are not high. - The Customs last year amounted to 7.7 per cent, of the total value of her imports. A complete revision of tariffs is being’ slowly worked out, but it may be doubted whether this will stop at a one-sided reduction on the part of Germany, who is watching with disquiet the opposite ten- 1 dency elsewhere, notablv in France. MOTOR CYCLE RACES. LONDON, June 17. Terrific speeds characterised the Isle of Man tourist trophy races, demonstrating the remarkable advance in the motor cycle engine. One hundred thousand people were thrilled by the magnificent riding of the Irishman, Alex. Bennett, who smashed all records and averaged 75 miles an hour for 264 miles. His cornering was so accurate that his machine never faltered.

Stanley Woods, last year's winner, beat the record for the course circuit in the second lap, and beat it ag-ain at the seventy-first. Other competitors could not cope with Woods’s terrific riding. He passed a score of riders in three laps as he dashed down the mountain ; but at the hundredth lap he stopped owing to clutch trouble.

The senior motor cycle tourist trophy at the Isle of Man resulted: Alex. Bennett, 1; J. Guthrie,. 2; T. Simister, 3 : J. W. Shaw. 4. The winner averaged 68.41 miles an hour—a record.

SHERLOCK HOLMES. LONDON, June 16. Sir A. Conan Doyle, who has killed Sherlock Holmes in his new publication; “The Last Book on Sherlock Holmes, ’*• discussing his reasons, said: “I hate the old man. I am tired of him. From the beginning he has represented a type of literature in which I am little interested; but it was an excellent way for a struggling young man to get a foothold and money. Most fiction detectives reached their conclusions either by accident or by extraordinary unexplained processes. I decided that the thing must be reduced to science. Furthermore, detectives had such stupid names, such as ‘Ferret’ and ‘Sharp.’ Holmes’s methods are treated with great respect in France, where they are take.- seriously. I am proud of tho fact that the Department of Lyons police is called the ‘Salle Conan. ' Doyle.’ ” The author's attitude towards . is character may be summed up as a cold scientific detachment. He simply used him in order to tell an interesting story.

THE PEOPLE’S ARTIST.

LONDON, June 15

The Riga correspondent of The Times states that the executive of the Bolshevist Artiste’ Trade Union has requested the Commissary of Education to deprive M. Fedor Ivanovitch Chaliapine, the singer, of his title of the “People’s Artist,”-which was conferred on him during the early stages of the revolution, because he contributed 5000 francs to the support of unemployed Russian exiles in Paris. The executive says that Chaliapine must now be regarded as standing on the other side of the barricade, and therefore it must tear from him the high title of “People's Artist.” BERLIN, June 15. A message from Moscow says that •M. Chaliapine has been deprived of his Russian nationality op the ground that he • has aided refugees. LONDON, June 15. With reference to his deprivation of the title of the “People’s Artist” and his Russian nationality, M. Chaliapine explains that he gave a priest 5000 francsfor starving Russians and sang for poverty-stricken Russians without asking whether they were White or Red. The Tass Agency denies that Chaliapine has been deprived of the rank of tha “ People’s Artist.”