NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3889, 25 September 1928, Page 49

NEWS BY CABLE.

SOVIET FINANCE. MOSCOW, September 19. The Soviet is issuing a new internal loan of 500,000,000 roubles at 11 per cent LADY BYNG. LONDON, September 20. M. Pandeli Balli, a wealthy Greek merchant, left his entire fortune of over £750,000 to his niece, Lady Byng. M. Balli was a personal friend of the late King Edward. THE KING OF SPAIN. BUGBY, September 22. The King of Spain, who has been visiting Sweden, arrived in Scotland yesterday on a short visit to the Duke of Sutherland at Dunrobin Castle. PORT ALMA LAUNCHED. < LONDON, September 18. Swan and Hunter have launched the Port Alma, the last of four vessels for the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, which have been built for the New Zea land trade. THE FOREIGN SECRETARY. RUGBY, September 17. Sir Austen Chamberlain, who arrived safely at Havana yesterday in the liner Orcoma, which escapeci the force of the hurricane, spent some time ashore, to-day motoring through the country around Havana. INTENDED FOR DUNEDIN. LONDON, September 21. Forty-two ounces of hydrochloride of cocaine, which was intended for shipment to Dunedin, was lost from a motor van between the chemical works and London docks. Scotland Yard believes that the parcel was stolen. TWO MOTORISTS KILLED. LONDON, September-20. Stung by a wasp while motoring Sn Lincolnshire, Mrs Wright, of York, lost control of the car, which dashed into a tJegraph post, killing Mrs Wright’s brother and her sister-in-law, and seriously injuring the servant. Mrs Wright escaped.

THE WORLD POWERS. LONDON, September 20. Fifteen hundred delegates, representing 45 nations speaking 20 languages, will attend the 10-day World Power Conference which will be open on September 24 at the Imperial Institute to discuss fuel problems. Altogether 175 papers, containing 2,000,000 words, will be presented. TELEGRAPH CHARGES. BRUSSELS, September 22. The International Telegraph’s Conference has decided that the charges for code telegrams consisting of five-letter words should'be two-thirds of the ordinary rate extra for the European zone. Tenletter words will be chargeable at existing rates.UNEMPLOYED IN RUSSIA. LONDON, September 20. The Riga correspondent of The Times states that news from Moscow indicates that unemployment is increasing rapidly throughout Russia, after having fluctuated since January between 2,000,000 and 2,500,000. It is now about 3,000,000, including 500,000 skilled workers. A further increase is inevitable at the conclusion of harvesting. THE NATIONAL DEBT. RUGBY, September 20. A gift of £lO,OOO for the reduction of the National Debt has been sent to the Chancellor of 'the Exchequer by Mr Oswald Dobell, as “ a mark of gratitude to those who voluntarily gave or risked their lives for the Empire.” The Chancellor has expressed the Government’s appreciation of the patriotism inspiring this generous gift.

A SERIOUS LANDSLIDE. LONDON, September 22. ' A serious landslide has occurred on the Isle of Wight, 1,500,000 tons of cliff covering an area of 'half a square mile between Blackgang Chine and Niton coming down. It buried Undercliff Drive, a famous beauty spot, and 60 acres of land, and is gradually moving towards the sea. Fortunately no houses are involved. SETTLEMENT OF WAR DEBTS. RUGBY, September 16. The Bank of England to-day received the sum of £2,125*000 from the Italian Government, being the sixth instalment under the settlement of the Italian war debt to Great Britain. RUGBY, September 16. The French Government yesterday paid the sum of £4,000,000 to, the British Government aS a fifth payment on account of the French war debt. AUSTRALIA AND CANADA. WlNNlPEG,'September 22. An amendment of the - Canadian-Aus-tralian trade Treaty to stimulate the export of Douglas fir to Australia was suggested to-day by Senator Carroll before the Canadian Club. He pointed out -that Australia'was importing '£2,000,000 worth of fir from the United States and only

£200,000 worth from Canada. He suggested that in return Canada might take light wines.

THE NIAGARA. VANCOUVER, September 19. Amid cheers of a bfg crowd, the Niagara sailed to-day with the Australian Scottish party, the New Zealand bowlers, and Lord Lovat on board. The Australians sang favourite old songs to the onlookers, arid were given a great send-off. There are 479 passengers and 3700 tons of cargo, including apples, onions, salmon, and lumber. TATE PICTURE GALLERY. RUGBY, September 19. Through the generosity of Sir Joseph Duveen, the well-known art connoisseur, a further wing is to be added to the Tate Picture Gallery, primarily for the accommodation of the Turner drawings and other works. Sir Jpseph Duveen, in addition to many notable pictures given to the nation, has already provided an additional gallery, at the Tate Gallery for the accommodation of foreign pictures. DRUIDIC CEREMONY. LONDON, September 22,, After 1000 years the Cornish Gorsedd, a noted Druidic ceremony, was revived on a hillside near Penzance with the initiation of 12 bards, including Sir Arthur Quiller Couch. A Welsh Arch Druid the Rev. J. Williams, wearing a crown of copper oak leaves, performed the ceremony .with a stone circle older than Stonehenge, being surrounded by the Mayors of Cornwall and functionaries in flowing robes. THE OLD, OLD STORY. LONDON, September 19. A New Zealand farmer, Mr James Deason, who is,-visiting England, complained to the police that confidence tricksters had robbed him of £4500. He chummed up with three men at his hotel, and they submitted a scheme for the treatment of New Zealand meat. It is understood that Deason parted with his money to purchase plant ajid the patent rights.

POLAR EXPEDITION. PANAMA, September 19. Commander Byrd’s ship, City of New York, has returned to port with engine trouble. NEW YORK, September 20. A message from Norfolk (Virginia) says that the Byrd expedition whaler Larsen, with fou~ aeroplanes and three pilots, sailed to-day. Commander Byrd will join the Larseri at San Pedro (California). LEAD PRODUCERS. LONDON, September 19. A conference of representatives of the world’s lead producers surveyed the position of the world’s stocks and found them inconsiderable. It was arranged to provide against any addition to the present production and curtail it if necessary. The opinion was expressed that the consumption was now keeping pace with the world’s recently reduced production, and there is no necessity to take any immediate action to reduce the output. MENTAL DEFECTIVES. PARIS, September 20. Dr Temulouse, a specialist in nervous diseases, advocates the prohibition of marriage for confirmed inebriates, or sterilisation. He opposes the projected Swiss, law for sterilisation of mental defectives, because mental diseases need not be hereditary. On the contrary children of mental deficients are often exceptionally intelligent. But it is dif-ferent-with incurable drunkards, whose offspring are extremely prone to all kinds of intoxication.

RHODESIAN ELECTIONS. CAPETOWN, September 20. —

The . Rhodesian general election resulted in the Government securing a substantial majority. The Premier (Mr Moffat) was the only unopposed member. A surprise was the defeat of the Opposition leader (Sir Montague Frank Johnson). On the other hand; the -Minister of Agriculture (Colonel DuporF) was defeated. Labour, which was unrepresented before, captured three seats from the Government Party. SIR GEORGE WILKINS. ' NEW YORK, September 22. The engagement of Sir George Wilkins to Miss Suzanne Bennett, the Australian actress, is announced. NEW YORK, September 22. Miss Bennett, who is'-said to be a niece of Sir John Monash, confirmed the engagement. She said she was engaged three days ago, and that she met Sir George Wilkins for the first time when the explorer arrived in New York from Spitzbergen. No date has yet been fixed for the marriage. RUSSIA’S GRANARY. LONDON, September 21. Reports via Riga state that owing to the failure of the crops in the Ukraine, which is -Russia’s granary, the Soviet is

feeding 250,000 to 300,000 people and allocating money for cattle, fodder, seed, and grain. Two hundred thousand tons of seed and grain were purchased in America and distributed, but much has been eaten by the starving people. In the meantime there is a plentiful harvest in Siberia, but the railway is inadequate to transport it westward, and much is damaged or stolen en route. CAPTAIN COOK. LONDON, September 17. Direct descendants of Captain Cook, Mr John Kealey (residing at Middlesborough), with his son, daughter, and grandson, attended the Australian ceremony of placing a wreath on Captain Cook’s- statue at the Admiralty Arch. Mr Kealey said he was descended from Captain Cook through his mother, who often visited the explorer’s widow at her London house at Clapham, where Cook lived- after his return from his voyages. The house still stands, and contains the corridor of Cook’s quarterdeck, in which he paced thinking out problems. THE PRICE OF MILK. RUGBY, September 19. The dispute between the fanners and the milk distributors as to the prices ol milk during the 12 months beginning October 1 was settled last night after an eight-hour sitting of the Permanent Joint Committee. The agreement gives the farmers prices which work out at an average of Is 3d per gallon over the year. They gain an increase of five-twelfths of a penny instead of the seven-twelfths of a penny that they demanded. The retail prices now charged are 6d-per quart in the six summer months and 7d in the six winter months. Under the new contract 7d will be charged during eight months of the .year and 6d during the other four months.

GENERAL HERTZOG. CAPETOWN, September 21. The Prime Minister's preliminary General Election campaign is arousing interest by reason of the anticipation that the profits of the Namaqualand State diamond fields will be devoted to irrigation on an extensive'scale. It is hoped to dam the Orange and Vaal Rivers, whereby huge areas will benefit. An aeroplane every week brings a valuable parcel of diamonds to Alexander Bay. It is reported that approximately £5,000,000 worth has accumulated at Capetown, although the Government is disposing of only £6OOO in value monthly so as not to overstock the market, which recently improved. General Hertzog described amaqualand as a windfall. THE LATEST IN FILMS. LONIDON, September 18. .So-called “ Talky-soundy ” films, which carry their own musical and vocal accompaniment, are now likely to throw twothirds of kinema musicians out of work .in Britain in the next two years. It is estimated that another 50,000 musicians will shortly be thrown out of work in America, where the “ Talkies-soundies ” are thus effecting a saving of at least £1,000,000 annually. The Musicians’ Union of Great Britain, where more than 3000 orchestras have been brought into existence by kinemas, are endeavouring to obtain a guarantee that at least onethird of the musicians now in employment shall be retained by the industry to supplement the “ tinned ” music or deputise when the machinery is out of order. BRITAIN’S FINE SUMMER. LONDON, September 20. “ I have never known a more successful harvest than that just reaped in Britain,” says Professor James Long, the agricultural expert, “ and farmers in practically every district admit that almos't every crop is unusually good and has been reaped most quickly and cheaply, thanks to the prolonged fine weather.” Taking 100 as the full average, Professor Long estimates the crops at: — Wheat 98, barley 97, oats 94, potatoes, root crops, and hay 95. The Daily Express says: “ The marvellous summer in Britain has brought inestimable benefits. The harvest is expected to be a record, and health throughout the country is vastly improved owing to the unusually large” amount of sunshine. MODERN CHURCHMEN. LONDON, September 22. Mr Self, a well-known London business man, created a sensation at the Modern Churchmen’s Conference by his outspoken protest against verbiage arguments of theologians. Addressing a gathering largely consisting of professors, doctors, and divines of Oxford and Cambridge, Mr Self said: “ The business man doesn’t know where he stands. You pulled down the obvious thing in which he trusted, and put nothing in its place. There is too mueli Oxford and Cambridge '■'ftbout this conference, and the business man is aghast at the language of your -papers. The hearts of men in the business world arc full of hunger and desire for religion.” This dramatic outburst was- greeted with applause. ; . “ SEEING-IN.” LONDON, September- 21. Television synchronised with the human voice is an ' accomplished fact. To-day scenes enacted at a studio three-quarters of a mile distant were televised at a house in the West End of. London, where spec-

tators watched the operator ttirn a knob, making the image of a man appear on a glass screen. The man opened his mouth and said “ Good afternoon ” as clearly as if he were in the room. The spectators then telephoned to the studio and asked the man to sing. Immediately his expression changed and he sang a negro spiritual. There was a slight flicker on the glass screen, but the vision was as perfect as the kinema film a decade ago. It is stated that distance makes no difference. The experiment could be repeated across the Atlantic, though atmospherics might interfere with voice transmission as they do with ordinary radio messages across the Atlantic. TROTSKY IN EXILE. LONDON, September 20. The Daily Mail says that news has been received in London of several attempts recently to kill M. Trotsky, who is exiled in Turkestan. Trotsky himself revealed the plot in smuggled letters to friends abroad, including one to M. Rakovsky, in which he pleads for help against the Soviet secret police, who, he alleges, are the instigators. Trotsky describes how his little cottage at Almaata, 250 miles from the nearest railway, was thrice attacked by sharpshooters hiding in the trees, Trotsky and his son defending themselves with sporting rifles. The cottage was thereafter blockaded, only gifts of food from local friends averting starvation. He says he is denied lights, newspapers, and medical advice.

Moscow disclaims knowledge of the plot, and has despatched an investigating commission. Meanwhile, adds the Mail, it has arrested 33 more oppositionists, all friends of Trotsky. MODERN CHURCHMEN. LONDON, September 17. Dean Inge, in his presidential ad dress at the Modern Churchmen’s Conference, at Cambridge, said: “We are immortal spirits on probation. We have millions of years in which to work out our salvation as a species. The notion that civilised man ife a verv new experiment in Nature has hardly yet sunk into our minds. Incidentally Dean Inge argued that falsified history perhaps had more influence than true. He asked them to consider the mythical saints of the Church of Rome, with its bogus miracles and patriotic figments upon which children of all nations had been brought up. Historians might decide whether St. George was killed by diagons or was a dishonest army contractor who poisoned Roman soldiery with bad beef, or whether St. Joan of Arc was all for French patriotism, as Mr Bernard Shaw declared, or whether she was a barmaid who became the regimental mascot.

A GENEROUS GIVER. RUGBY, September 21. Mr Bernhard Baron (chairman of a well-known British tobacco firm), whose previous gifts to charities amount to more than £1,250,000 has set aside £500,000 for the benefit of hospitals and homes for orphans and crippled children during the next 20 years. A trust has been created, and the sum of money available each year will be distributed on the anniversary of Mr Baron’s birthday. The trust stipulates that the money available for distribution shall be applied in the proportion of 75 per cent, among Christian and undenominational hospitals, homes, and asylums, and 25 per cent, among similar institutions under Jewish control. Mr Baron is 78 years of age, and for several years he has celebrated his borthdays by generous disbursements. Last year he gave £lBO,OOO to charities. He was born in Russia of French descendants, -and became a naturalised Englishman many years ago.INSULTED AT A BANQUET. CAPETOWN, September 17. The Minister of the Interior, on behalf of the Government, apologised to Mr Sastri (Agent-General for India) for an unpleasant incident at - Klerksdorp on Saturday. Mr Sastri attended a municipal banquet given in his honour. The deputymayor interrupted Mr Sastri frequently, eventually shouting: “ We did not come to listen to an Indian.” In the hubbuu which followed the lights were switched off and stink bombs were thrown in the midst . of the assembly, the chemical bursting into flame. - The mayor summoned the gathering to the open air, and characterised the perpetrators as cowards. The deputy mayor, while disclaiming responsibility for the bomb, states that drastic action is necessary to counter the Government’s pro-Asiatic policy. CAPETOWN, September_lB. ' In connection with the Klerksdorp incident the. Prime Minister telegraphed to Mr Sastri his heartfelt apologies for the “ unwarrantable jnsult to you and your country.” He condemned the incident as “ the cowardly conduct of these hooligans.” EARL OF RONALDSHAY. LONDON, September 21. The final volume of the Earl of Ronaldshay’s biography of Earl Curzon reveals for the first time the bitterness of Earl Curzon’s disappointment because his life’s greatest ambition to become Prime Minister was not realised. When Mr Bonar Law retired in 1922 many regarded it as a foregone conclusion that Earl Curzon

would succeed him, and when the latter was invited to see Lord Stamfordham at Buckingham Palace he thought the greatest moment of his lifetime had arrived. Earl Curzon himself refers to his pleasurable anticipation in going to Buckingham Palace. . * I found that the almost unanimous opinion of the newspapers was that the choice lay between Mr Baldwin and myself. There was no quesion of the immense superiority of my claims, but it was Lord Stamfordham’s unpleasant duty to convey the decision of his Majesty that since Labour, the official Opposition in the House of Commons, was not represented in the House of Lords, the objections to a Prime Minister in the Upper Chamber were insuperable.” Earl Curzon wag buried with the disappointment of having missed his life’s ambition. He accepted the invitation to continue in the Foreign O.uce, and a week late r he proposed Mr Baldwin as leader of the Conservatives. ' OBITUARY. SYDNEY, September 18. The death is announced of Captain C. Spinks, formerly master of the Union Company’s principal vessels, aged 69. He was master of the Talune when he erned fame for salvaging the Perthshire in June, 1899, when that vessel was given up as lost. She was discovered with a broken tailshaft off Lord Howe Island, and she was 90 days out from Sydney. Captain Spinks was afterwards chief surveyor for the Marine Underwriters’ Association.

RUGBY, September 17. The death is announced of Sir Theodore Cook, who is well known in literary, sporting, and theatrical circles in London. He had been chief of The Field since 1910. Sir Theodore Cook was 60 years of age. After a brilliant scholastic and athletic career at Oxford, he' entered journalism, editing St. James’s Gazette and then joining the Daily Telegraph. During the war his spirited articles in The Field attracted much attention. He was knighted in June, 1916. LONDON, September 18. The death is announced of Captain Clive Maskelyne, the illusionist, from pneumonia while en route to India to appear in an adventure kinema film. The death is announced of Lord Durham, aged 73. John George Lambton Durham was the third Earl of Durham,, and had been Lord Lieutenant of Durham since 1884. He was a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards from 1877 to 1879, and was for some time Chancellor of the University of Durham. LONDON, September 21. The death is announced of Sir Oswald Mosley. Sir Oswald Mosley, who was 55 years of age, was the fifth baronet. The” title was created in 1781. The title falls to his eldest son, Oswald Ernald Mosley, Labour M.P. for Smethwick, who married Lady Cynthia Curzon, second daughter of the late Marquess Curzon of Kedleston. The new baronet was first a Coalition Unionist in the House of Commons. In 1922 he was elected as an Independent, and in 1922 he joined the Labour Party. LONDON, September 22. . The newspapers . are . speculating whether Mr Oswald Mosley will carry out his oft-repeated determination to refuse his father’s baronetcy. Legally he cannot avoid succession, but •he may choose not to use the title. A controversy between the baronet and his Socialist son is recalled, in which the father declared that if his son and daughter-in-law, who is a rich heiress, wanted to do something for the country they had better give up some of their wealth. The father said: “My son has every opportunity of doing good service to his country, instead of devoting himself to stirring up spite and discontent. He has not done a decent day’s work in his life. He was born with a gold spoon in his mouth, and has lived on the fat of the land;” LONDON, September 22. - The death has occurred of Sir James Beethom Whitehead, aged 70, who during a long diplomatic career was at one time British Minister at Belgrade.