NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 47

NEWS BY CABLE.

BELGIAN TRADE UNIONS. BRUSSELS, September 17. The trade unions agreed to a reduction in wages to assist in meeting the industrial crisis. The first reduction will be 5 per cent, off miners’ wages.

FRENCH WHEAT YEILD.

PiYRIS, September 17.

A serious decline in the wheat yield js feared. Experts are of the opinion that it may be necessary for France to import 35,000,000 quintals.

MANUFACTURE OF OPIUM. RUGBY, September 18.

The League Council to-day fixed the

ponference on the limitation of the - manufacture of opium for May 27 next. It will be preceded by a conference of the manufacturing States in London on October 27 and the League’s Opium Committee on January 9.

PRICES OF WOOL.

SYDNEY, September 18. A French wool buyer, Mr F. Bourgeois, who arrived in Sydney to-day, said that while depression characterised every industry the prices of wool could hardly be expected to improve. However, the average rate for the season would be about that of last year.

SEQUEL TO A MURDER. VANCOUVER, September 16.

Indications that Cozens Spencer, a former Australian film producer and lately a British Columbia rancher, drowned himself in a lake after slaying Eddie Smith, his storekeeper, and wounding D. Stoddart, an employee, caused the posse to abandon the search. He came here three years ago with a fortune.

EMPIRE FREE-TRADE.

CAPETOWN, September 15. At the annual conference of the Federated Chambers of Industries, the president expressed doubts of the utility pf Empire Freetrade, and advocated interdominion treaties, securing substantial preferences for goods on which they were most needed, leaving the balance of the goods for reciprocal trade with foreign countries.

NATIONAL FORESTRY.

RUGBY, September 15.

The National Forestry Commissioners pre negotiating with the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall for the lease of 5000 acres of Dartmoor in connection with a new scheme of afforestation. The com missioners hope to plant the area with Scotch pines, firs, spruce, and birch. Under their schemes 50,000,000 trees were planted in different areas last year.

BRITAIN’S WAR DEBTS.

LONDON, September 15. The News Chronicle, on the highest authority, denies the rumours that are being circulated in America that Britain is making representations to Washington with a view to reducing the payments to America of her war debts.

The newspaper points out that Britain thus far has paid the United States £312,460,000, of which onlj 7 £84,230,000 is repaid capital, leaving £909,452,000 Still outstanding.

MAIL SORTING PLANT.

SYDNEY, September 17. An elaborate mail sorting plant, which cwupied many months to install in Sydney General Post Office and cost £120,000, is now in operation, and an experiment carried out with 50,000 dummy letters revealed 100 er cent, efficiency. The whole thing is automatic, and is a purely Australian invention. There are 100 electric motors used in the mechanism.

OATH FOR WITNESSES.

SYDNEY, September 16.

The stipendiary magistrate (Mr M'Mahon), at the conclusion of a case in the Redfern Court, said that the oath administered to witnesses in court was a blasphemous formality. “ I suppost that 95 per cent, of the witnesses are untruthful, and the oath is simply inviting them to commit blasphemy. I think it would be very much better if the oath were abolished. It would make no difference to justice.”

NOISE OF TRAFFIC.

LONDON, September 17. At the Building Exhibition, which was opened at Olympia to-day, a special feature is made of the means and material for excluding the noise of modern traffic. Sir Bannister Fletcher (presi dent of the Institute of British Architects), speakirig at the opening ceremony, said that the British architects, were devoting much attention to methods of noise absorption.

NEW BUSES FOR LONDON. LONDON, September 19. A fleet of 100 buses which will shortly be running in London streets, driven by crude-oil engines, represents the most serious challenge to the supremacy of

petrol yet made in any' country. This , oil gives greater mileage per gallon, and < is cheaper than the cheapest petrol. The engine runs on neither the carburettor nor the electrical ignition systems, and ' the risk of fire is eliminated.

WHEAT PRICES.

ADELAIDE, September 20. A deputation of wheat growers asked the Premier (Mr Hill) to co-operate with the other State Governments to try to stave off a crash in wheat prices. One speaker contended that on the existing prices it would not be profitable to take off the crops. Mr Hill agreed to the course suggested.

EAST AFRICA.

CAPETOWN, September 17. “We deny the right of any European nation—England included—to act anywhere in Africa in conflict with our ideals,” was the outspoken criticism of the Minister of Lands (Mr Grobler) regarding a White Paper foreshadowing the British native policy in East Africa. The Minister dealt exhaustively with this question at the opening of the Transvaal Nationalist Congress.

ARMY DISCIPLINE.

RUGBY, September 19.

The “ King’s Regulations,” the bopk which is the authority on all matters affecting army discipline, has been amended to provide that minor defaulters should be given “ special or useful instruction appertaining to their corps ” rather than pack drill. Under the old regulations pack drill was compulsory when a defaulter, who had been confined to barracks, could not be found fatigue work to keep him employed.

THE BABY PRINCESS.

LONDON, September 18. The News-Chronicle explains that the delay in christening the baby Princess is due to a Presbyterian-Anglican disagreement. The Scots consider that, as the baby was born in Scotland, she should be baptised according to the ceremonies of the Presbyterian Church. The Anglican ecclesiastics, on the other hand, are anxious that she should be christened either at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, where the Archbishop of Canterbury would perform the ceremony.

THE TARIFF TRUCE. GENEVA, September 16.

Mr William Graham (President of the Board of Trade), in a conference with newspaper men, especially those representing the dominions, expressed the opinion that the tariff convention would not prejudice the Imperial Conference discussions, which would include any proposals, whether tariffs or preferences. If any change of policy were approved there would be ample opportunity for Britain to withdraw from truce before the next Budget.

BALMORAL CASTLE.

RUGBY, September 19. The Queen danced with some of her servants at the annual gillies’ ball at Balmoral Castle last night. All the indoor staff of Balmoral, as well as the gamekeepers and gillies on the estate and their wives and daughters, attended, and in addition the King and Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George took part. . The Prince of Wales had travelled over 500 miles to be present. On Wednesday he Hew from Le Touquet to London, from there catching the night wain north.

BRITISH AIR ROUTES. LONDON, September 20.

All arrangements have now been completed for a regular London-Cape air service. The first half of the service, between London and Lake Victoria, will be opened in January, and extended to the Cape a few months afterwards, with an eleven-day schedule in either direction. The journey through Africa from Cairo will at first occupy eight days, but later it is hoped by means of night flying ro bring the Cape within nine days of London. The service is primarily intended for air mails, but passengers will also be carried.

AMERICAN SAMOA.

, HONOLULU, September 20. The Congressional Commission on Saturday completed its Honolulu hearings on the question of “a Government for-. American Samoa.” American and Samoan witnesses nearly’ all favoured more voice for Samoans in the Government, under American supervision. A group of Samoan chiefs suggested a civil governor appointed by the President of the United States, with representation in the American Congress and local legislation by the native assembly.

The commission proceeded to Pago Pago to make further investigations.

A BUILDING BOOM.

RUGBY, September 16. The immense amount of building activity which has occurred in London during the last decade shows no signs of decreasing. In 10 years 250,000 new buildings have been erected, and the appearance of the capital has been changed. Shim areas have been swept away and replaced by more commodious and hygienic erections, old offices and shops have given way to new and far more spacious and beautiful structures, and several familiar landmarks have entirely disappeared. The building boom

is expected to continue and extend under the encouragement of the new Housing Acts.

BUSINESS REVIVAL PREDICTED. RUGBY, September 17.

Lord Melehett, chairman of Imperial Chemicals and a leading industrialist, who has just returned from Canada and the United States, anticipates an early business revival. He says that a more rapid transition to better conditions may take place than would at present appear to be likely, and that in the States«.there was a feeling that the worst of the trade depression is proportionate to the industrial depression, and that the relatively small 'setback to last year’s boom had been exaggerated. In Canada he found cool and well-founded optimism among the most responsible and best-informed industrial leaders.

THE ARTIC COASTLINE.

RUGBY, September 15. Major Burwass, the Canadian explorer and observer, who in the course of an aerial survey of the north magnetic polp and the hitherto unexplored Arctic coastline, found traces of Sir John Franklin’s expedition, which disappeared 83 years ago, sent back several relics, but he is retaining the documents he found to prepare a report thereon for the Canadian Government. It is hoped that these may contain some of Sir John Franklin’s records regarding his search for the North-West Passage. Sir John Franklin’s two vessels, the Erebus and the Terror, were abandoned in 1840, and no member of his party ever returned, all, it is assumed, dying from starvation or disease.

FAMOUS HILL 60.

RUGBY, September 19. Hill 60, where some of the sternest fighting in Ypres occurred during the war, has, through the generosity of Mr J. J. Calder, of Burton-on-Trent, been secured from all danger of vandalism, and will shortly be transferred to the Imperial War Graves Commission as a gift to the nations of the British Empire.

~ A previous message stated that at Ypres, on behalf of a groim who are anxious to boom the tourist traffic, workmen had begun to open up the famous Hill 60, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in wartime, exposing subterranean galleries which are still full of equipment, but the project was resented by the relatives of British soldiers who were blown up and buried on the hill.

HOARDING OF SILVER. MOSCOW, September 18. In connection with the silver hoarding campaign, a priest named Goozdeff was sentenced to death for hoarding £l7. Five nuns are awaiting trial on a similar charge. A message received last month stated: Four men, who were described as most mischievous hoarders of silver coins, have been shot by orders of the secret police, while others have been impn soned in a concentration camp for various terms. The official press agency explains that the secret police discovered that the buying and hoarding of silver coins were mostlj’ done by counter-revolution-aries, who wished to disorganise the development of socialistic reconstruction and undermine the credit of the Soviet monetary system.

EPSOM MURDER CASE. LONDON, September 17.

The jury in the Kesson case returned a verdict that the girl was murdered by strangulation, but that there was insufficient evidence to say by whom. The partly-clothed and strangled body of a young wom.r. named Agnes Kesson was discovered in a ditch near Epsom racecourse early in June. The police believed that the girl was hanged on a rce in a remote spot, then dumped in the ditch. Extensive bruises on the body showed that Miss Kesson made a terrific struggle for life before she was overcome. It was suggested that the murderer or murderers first intended to leav" the girl hanging in the hope that it would be regarded as suicide, then changed their minds and decided to put the body in a car and drop it along the road.

GIANT FLYING BOAT. RUGBY, September 17.

The biggest British flying boat ever made is to be constructed at the Supermarine works, Southampton. It will hSvc six Rolls-Royce engines of 3700 h.p., extremely comfortable accommodation for 40 passengers, and a range of 1000 dies, enabling it to make long journeys with only occasional descents for fuel. It will be a monoplane, and its huge wing, with a 140 ft span, will be six feet thick and will accommodate luggage and stores. Many new features are included in the desigr of the 100 ft long hull. The pilots and the engineers will have the upper deck, with a navigation bridge, to themselves above the passengers’ quarters, giving access to the wing and the engines. The machine will be all metal and will weigh 33 tons when fully loaded.

BRITISH INDUSTRY.

LONDON, September IS. Declaring that the British people were tired of the waste and extravagance of successive Governments and the slavish adherence of parties to economic theories, which lost all relation to the facts of modern business life, prominent industrialists, of whom Sir William Morris is

chairman, have convened a meeting for September 25 for the purpose of establishing a national council of industry and commerce.

The council will consist of business people, who are determined to secure the protection of home markets and to advance interempire trade. The conveners include Lord. Melehett, Sir Woodman Burbidge, Sir Cunliffe Owen, Sir Hugo Hirst, Sir Ernest Petter, and Sir Felix Pole. They point out that the depth and persistence of the industrial depression demand immediate action.

THE CANCER PROBLEM.

VANCOUVER, September 16. A cure for cancer may be expected before long according to Lord Moynihan, president of the British Medical Association, who formally opened the Banting Research Institute at Toronto to-day. The institute is named after Professor F. G. Banting, the discoverer of insulin. “ So much research is being done that we may expect some solution of the problem before long,” Lord Moynihan said. “No one can tell when some one will bring forward a solution. We know much more than we did five years ago as the result of treatment by radium. There are cases now to which I could almost say the word cured—but at any rate alleviated—by radium treatment that could not have been alleviated before.”

He also prophesied an announcement soon of a cure for Addisons disease, which was at present considered most serious*

BRADMAN AS PIANIST.

LONDON, September 18. Don Bradman, free of the cares of cricket, surprised the Columbia Gramophone Company by arriving at its studios with a music case and announcing that he proposed to make a pianoforte dance record forthwith. He sat down at the piano and made a highly successful record from the improvisation of two popular tunes—the first “An Old-fashioned Locket,” and the second “ Our Bungalow of Dreams.” This was not precisely what the company expected, so Bradman was asked to say something about cricket. He sat down and wrote a brief talk on the game, which he spoke, completing the record. in five minutes.

He then hurried to Thurston to See Lindrum and Falkiner. He greeted Lindrum, “ Hullo, Walter,” Lindrum replying, “Hullo, Don; I was just too late to see you bat,” to which Don replied: “I'm finishing as you are beginning.” REMARKABLE WEDDING. LONDON, September 19. A remarkable royal wedding occurred in a London registry office when Princess Marie Charlotte De Broglie, 74 years of age, the widow of Prince Amedee De Broglie, and the wealthy daughter of a sugar millionaire, married Prince Louis Ferdinand D’Orleans Bourbon, aged 41, the Infante of Spain, and a cousin of King Alfonso. The greatest secrecy was maintained. The parties arrived in taxi cabs. The French court had made a vain attempt to prevent the marriage on the grounds that the Princess was incapable of managing her own affairs and that the disparity in ages was too great. The Prince has been mixed up in one or two incidents on the Continent, and was expelled from France as the outcome of an alleged escapade in the Paris underworld.

The Prince, on being interviewed, said he had loved the Princess for 20 years. The attachment went back to his boyhood.

THE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY 7 .

RUGBY 7 , September 19. Orders for aircraft worth several hundreds of thousands of pounds have been received in Britain from abroad during the past few weeks. Britain is.at the head of the list of countries exporting aeroplanes and air machines. The Japanese and the French Governments are among those which have bought for their navies all-metal flying boats made in England and equipped with English engines. In addition to large orders for light aeroplanes, several fleets of monoplane passenger liners are being built in Britain for air routes abroad. One important Home order just being completed is that of eight 40-seater Handley-Page air liners, which Imperial Airways are to use on the service to India. These giants, which have a 140 ft wing span, with slots as large as the main planes of Moth machines, have each a speed of 120 miles per hour and accommodation which includes two lounges and a bar equipped with armchairs, and two huge holds for luggage and freight.

BRI TISH UNEMPLOYMENT.

LONDON, September 16.

The unemployed on September 8 totalled 2,139,571, an increase in a week of 79,127. The increase, which occurred mainly in the north of England, represents further depression in the coal, metal, id textile industries. The south-west of England actually showed a decrease. During the 16 months of the Labour Government the figures have increased by approximately 1,000,000, and some of the increase is due to the new Act,, which has been operating since March, which made the receipt of benefit easier. The prospect for the coming winter is ’-e--garded as black. A member of the House

of Commons, Mr John Bromley, at the recent Trade Union Congress prophesied tnat the unemployed in Britain would be 4,000,000 by February. The position of the fund is occupying the attention of the Government, as the premiums are insufficient to carry the present benefits and th: fund ' • nearly £60,000,000 in debt. Apparently there are only two courses open—either to raise the premiums or reduce the benefits.

In the meantime the railway companies are cutting down their staffs as much as possible owing to the heavy decline in traffic. 1

CANADIAN IMMIGRATION.

NEW YORK, September 17. Inquiries at Ottawa elicited the information that no new restrictions on white immigration have been imposed. The only restrictions to be applied are in respect to the amount of money in the possession of an immigrant and to contract labour. Owing to the current depression and the extensive unemployment, with the approach of winter, the immigration authorities are more closely applying these qualifications than at other times. The contract labour regulation is of several years’ standing, and prohibits the entry into Canada of immigrants under labour contracts, except in cases where the Minister of Immigra-/ tion decides that their presence is required. The Immigration Deparmcnt at Ottawa, moreover, denied the reports from Vancouver that some 200 Australians who are seeking entry into Canada are being held up, and that some of them are in danger of being sent back. The officials state that only one or two Australians were detained.

Restrictions on immigration into the United States of a similar nature were also announced at Washington a few days ago by the State Department. This is due to unemployment in the United States. Consuls abroad have been instructed to examine applicants for visas more closely for the purpose of limiting the number of entries under the provision of the law, which enables exclusion when there is danger of an applicant becoming a “ public charge.” Ordinary travellers are in no way affected either in Canada or the United States.