NEWS BYCABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 4041, 25 August 1931, Page 45

NEWS BYCABLE.

SER WILLIAM WATERLOW. LONDON, August 21. Sir William Waterlow left £58,000. WAR OFFICE CONTRACTS. LONDON, August 18. It is understood that Australian tenderers have secured the bulk of the War Office’s valuable half-yearly contract for frozen beef. DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. LONDON, August 22. The operation on the Duke of Gloucester was successful, and his condition .is satisfactory. The bulletin was signed by Dr Ernest Charles Lindsay. ANCHOR SHIPPING LINE. LONDON, August 22. The engagements of the employees of the Anchor Shipping Line will be-ter-minated on September 30, with the option of re-engagement on October 1 at reduced salaries. DIVORCED AT RENO. LONDON, August 18. A message from Reno, Nevada, states that June, the London musical comedy star, has divorced Lord Inverclyde on the grounds of extreme mental and physical cruelty. THE ARMY COUNCIL. LONDON, August 21.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the Army Council has decided upon economies in pay and pensions, and in subsidies for motor vehicle building and horse breeding totalling £1,500,000.

LONDON EXCHANGE. LONDON, August 20. The Stock Exchange Committee has decided to open the Exchange on Saturday mornings, commencing on September 19. It has been closed on Saturdays since July 14. PARACHUTIST KILLED. MADRID, August 20. A message from Laon states that, alighting by parachute from a private plane in a violent gust of wind, a woman was dragged half a mile, and was dashed against a tree at the Sissonne aerodrome, and was killed. THE KING’S YACHT. LONDON, August 20. His Majesty’s yacht Britannia narrowly escaped destruction in a violent gale at Portland. The vessel had dragged her anchors and was making for the breakwater when a tug got a rope aboard at the last moment. THE BOSPHORUS CROSSED. CONSTANTINOPLE, August 18. Anita Grew, the 22-year-old daughter of tire American Ambassador in Turkey, swam the Bosphorus from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmora, a distance of 19 miles, in five hours. This is the first time the feat has been accomplished. GRADUATE AS DECK-HAND. ~ ” i.C/KiZzoN, August 12. Mr Richard /ishburner, the 1928 New South Wales Rhodes Scholar, who recently graduated as Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford, will leave for Australia on August 29 as a deck-hand on the Port Hobart.

WORLD’S GOLD STOCKS. WASHINGTON, August 21. The Federal Reserve Bank repo- ted that the American gold stocks amounted to 4,983,000,000 dollars, representing nearly half the world's supply. Despite efforts- to check the flow to the United States the stocks are now 491,000,000 dollars greater than in 1930. CUBAN INSURRECTION. WASHINGTON, August 21. The United States Ambassador at Havana advised the State Department to-day that the capture of the rebel stronghold, the imprisoning of prominent leaders, and the loyalty of the army and navy presaged a speedy conclusion of the Cuban insurrection. ELDERLY TRIPLETS. LONDON, August 21. Charles Mayhew, of King’s Cross road, London, a bootmaker, and his two brothers (one in Australia and the other in. Canada) are triplets. They have just celebrated their ninetieth birthday. Charles, the eldest boy by half an hour, made boots and shoes for Charles Dickens.

LATE “TRADER” HORN. LONDON, August 19. “Trader” Horn left £1704.

Aloysius Horn, better known as “ Trader ” Horn, died in a nursing home at Tankerton, Kent, after a brief illness, on June 26. He was in his eighty-third year. He wrote “ The Ivory Coast in the Earlies ” when he was 73.

MR LLOYD GEORGE. RUGBY, August 19. It in stated that Mr Lloyd George has made such good progress following- his recent serious operation that it is hoped

to move him from his London home to his residence at Churt, Surrey, before the week-end'. After a short stay at Churt he will probably go to North Wales.

EARL JELLICOE. QUEBEC, August 22. Earl Jellieoe arrived on Saturday from London- on his way to Toronto to preside at the fifth biennial convention of the British Empire Service League, which will be opened on September 5. A salute of 19 guns was fired, and he was given a warm welcome by a distinguished gathering of military officials. SENTENCED TO DEATH. APIA, August 20. This afternoon the High Court, consisting of Mr Justice Luxford and four assessors, convicted and sentenced to death a coolie, Ching Sung, on a charge of murdering another coolie, Chan Chong, on July 5 at Apia, following a dispute about a gambling debt. The assessors asked that a strong recommendation to mercy be forwarded to the Governor-General of New Zealand. MARITIME UNIONS. SYDNEY, August 19. The Sun says that co-operation between the New Zealand and Australian Maritime Unions in combating any development in the Pacific to the detriment of the unions is likely as a result of the entry of the Matson liners into the transtasman traffic, consequently it is likely that the New Zealand unions will send a representative to Australia to formulate a programme. ALPINE TRAGEDIES. LONDON, August 20. The Geneva correspondent of The Times says that the Alps death roll has been increased by five with the deaths of two Germans on the Gruyaz Glacier and three Englishmen on Jungfrau. The latter were a section of a party led by Professor Finch and all were experienced alpinists. They were seen through a telescope to slip, and the rope broke and they fell into a ravine. ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA. LONDON, August 12. In order to encourage visits by principals of firms to Australia the Orient and the P. and O. lines are offering return tickets at £l5O, provided that the round voyage is completed in the same ship. Passengers are entitled to visit each capital in turn, or to leave and rejoin at any port, enabling them to have a maximum of 34 days on shore.

JACK DEMPSEY’S SUFFERINGS. NEW YORK, August 17. At Reno, Nevada, Jack Dempsey has filed a divorce suit, charging his wife with extreme mental cruelty. Several weeks of fruitless negotiation with the wife’s attorneys regarding a property settlement preceded the filing. Mrs Dempsey, who is at Hollywood, announced that she intended to contest the action. Meanwhile she plans to start a divorce suit against Dempsey in Los Angeles. GERMAN WAR MEMORIAL. LONDON, August 21. The Berlin correspondent of The Times states that the National War Memorial Committee has opened a competition for all “ artistically-active German citizens,” for the most suitable design for a memorial which it is proposed to erect in a- beautiful piece of secluded woodland near V eimar. The designs must be kept within the simplicity demanded by the needs of the times and the dignity of the subject. SHATTER ED ROMANCES. LONDON, August 19. Reno divorces do not hold good in London. Somerset House yesterday stopped three marriages in which the parties held Reno divorces. Over 20 such romances have been shattered in the past few weeks. A Somerset House official told a Daily Mail representative that many Americans come to London in order quietly to remarry after the publicity of a Reno divorce, but the United States decrees do not count in London.

SOVIET AND PEACE. RIGA, August 21. M. Stalin, when addressing the Collegium of the Foreign Commissariat at Moscow, said: “The economic crisis affects the proletariat throughout the world, therefore it behoves the Soviet to co-operate with the capitalistic coiuitries to maintain peace and ensure the welfare of the world’s proletariat.” He instructed the commissariat to revise the Soviet non-aggression pact for presentation to foreign Powers at the earliest opportunity. DEATHS IN THE ALPS.

LONDON, August 18. The Geneva correspondent of The Times says that the death roll of the Alps thus far in 1931 is 85. The latest tragedy involved two brothers and a friend who were ascending a mountain near Chamonix.' They were overtaken by a snowstorm at 11,000 feet, and were forced to spend the night

’in the open. One brother died, and the friend slipped while descending, and was killed. The surviving brother reached ; a shelter hut but died of exposure.

POSEIDON HEROES. RUGBY, August 20. Chief Petty Officer Willis and the other survivors of the submarine Poseidon, which sank near Weihaiwei r reached Plymouth to-day and received an official welcome from the Mayor. Willis and his companions, who were trapped in the fore part of the submarine for -several- hours before they- made their escapes by means of the new'y-adopted rescue device, have been granted special awards in recognition of the coolness and heroism they displayed. PROPERTY SEIZED IN SPAIN. MADRID, August 19. The- latest Government decree ordering the seizure by the State of all properties given by aristocrats as loans to past Kings has led to some remarkable cases. As an instance, the ancestors of the Marquis of Franchilla five centuries ago lent the King 84 ducats, or £4O, receiving in exchange several thousand acres of land which his descendants occupied and cultivated. The decree permits the State to claim all earnings from the land for the past 500 years above £4O. THE BAUER EXPEDITION. LONDON, August 20.

A message from Calcutta says that disaster has overtaken Dr Paul Bauer’s German expedition to Kanchenjunga, Herr Schaller and a porter plunging to death from a rack ledge into a crevasse when a rope broke. The tragedy was watched by Dr Bauer’s companions. Di Bauer declares in a message to the Statesman that the effect upon them was so uncanny that all of the party experienced a momentary impulse to follow the doomed men. The accident hap pened at an altitude of 17,000 feet.

THE MEUSE “ DEATH FOG.” BRUSSELS, August 21

As a sequel to the “ death fog ’ in the Meuse Valley, involving 75 deaths, heavy fines were imposed on the managing director and another director of a chemical works in the Liege district, from which area the poisonous gases are stated to have emanated.

Mysterious deaths occurred in the dense fog that enwrapped the Meuse Valley on December 5 last year. Many people were taken to hospital, and a number of cattle died. The “ death fog ” did not lift till December 3. THE CHURCH IN SPAIN. MADRID, August 20. The Government has issued a drastic decree prohibiting the sale of transference of mortgage of any real or personal property of the Spanish Church or religious orders. The banks have also been instructed to prevent any exodus of church capital from Spain, and stockbrokers are forbidden to deal in shares held in the names of Jesuits and other religious orders. Ex-King Alfonso’s palace will become the property of the people in September, and will be converted, together with its priceless treasure, into a museum. DR MARIE STOPES.* ROME, August 19. Dr Marie Stopes has been officially invited to speak on birth control at the International Congress on September 7. for the study of population. The invitation points out that propaganda will not be permitted,, and the subject must be treated from a purely scientific point of view.

In June, Dr Marie Stopes was reported to have received an invitation from Signor Mussolini to lecture in Rome on birth control. The London Daily Telegraph's Rome correspondent, however, cabled that the invitation was a hoax.

COFFEE AND WHEAT.

WASHINGTON, August 21.

An agreement was signed to-day between the Brazilian Government and the Federal Grain Stabilisation Corporation for the exchange of 1,050,000 bags of coffee for 25,000,000 bushels of surplus wheat. The details will be published later.

In addition to the coffee involved, a further quantity of coffee will be used for paying a New York concern for grading and granary services. It is understood that the coffee will be released into consumptive channels in monthly allotments, but not until after a year has elapsed.

THE PRINCE OF WALES.

RUGBY, August 18.

The Prince of Wales left his private landing ground on Smith’s lawn, Windsor’s great park, this morning in his own aeroplane. He will spend his holiday at Cape Breton, near Biarritz, as the guest of Viscount Ednam at the Chateau of Matignon. The Prince had-’to interrupt Iris journey more than once on account of adverse weather, and calls were made at Lympne, Le Bourget, and Tours. RUGBY, August 19. The Prince of Wales, who left Windsor by aeroplane at 10.30 yesterday morning, arrived at 9 o’clock last night at Chateau de Matignon, near Bayonne, where he is spending a holiday.

WHEAT AND COTTON. WASHINGTON, August 19. It is estimated that the Farm Board stabilisation operations for wheat and cotton show a net loss of nearly 150,000,000d01, representing about 30 per cent, of the 500,000,009d0l which Congress voted the board.

Exclusive of storage charges, it is estimated that the cotton losses have been G6,625,000d01. as last fall the Cotton Stabilisation Corporation held 1,300,(XK) bales, then selling at 10 cents per lb, whereas it is now selling at about GJ cents. Wheat purchases began in the spring of 1930. The board's holdings are 275,000,000 bushels, ..nd estimating a 25 cents per bushel depreciation the wheat losses reach 68,750,000d01.

LONDON EXCHANGE. RUGBY, August 20. The London Stock Exchange has decided to open on Saturdays on and after September 19. The practice of opening for the half day on Saturday was suspended in April, 1917, and it had not been revived, although Wall street and most of the Continental bourses open for Saturday business.

To-day's decision was taken, according to an official statement, “ in view of the situation in the country and the desirability of providing facilities for dealing.” It is expected that the provincial exchanges will follow the lead of London, which is generally well received by the press, which regards it as at effort to encourage increased business activity.

THE SPANISH REGIME. MADRID, August IS

Spain solemnly renounces war as a national and political instrument, states the draft constitution. Another -clause provides against the President becoming a Dictator, while another recognises the rights of private property. The Constitution, as finally drafted, vests the nation’s supreme powers in a single chamber Parliament, with a president elected by adult suffrage. The president will not be empowered to sign any declaration of war except in cases foreseen in the League of Nations Conventions, and then only after the exhaustion of every method of arbitration. There will be no State religion, but complete freedom for every creed.

STATE AND CHURCH IN ITALY, LONDON, August 18.

The Rome correspondent of the Daily Express states that an agreement has been reached in respect to the dispute between the Italian Government and the Vatican arising from the recent breaches of the Lateran Treaty and from attacks on the Catholic Action organisation. The terms at present are withheld.

The definition of Catholic Action, as given by the Pope is: “ Catholic Action is the participation of the laity in the apostolic hierarchy for the defence of the religious and moral principles, for the development of sane and beneficent social action under the guidance of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, outside and above political parties, in order to reste- ; Catholic life in the family and in society.”

CANADA AND NEW ZEALAND. OTTAWA, August 19.

“ We note with pleasure your deffire to enter into direct personal negotiations with the least possible delay, and we shall take up the question of time and place as soon as it suits the convenience of the New Zealand Government after tne general election.” So tlie Prime Minister (Mr R. B. Bennett) told the Prime Minister of New Zealand (Mr G. W. Forbes) in the most recent correspondence which has passed between the two Governments. This briefly summarises the present status of the trade relation negotiations between Canada and New Zealand.

Referring to butter Mr Bennett said: “ Our policy is to foster this essential industry, and we anticipate that, under normal conditions, Canadian producers will supply the home market, but it is probable that winter shortages will recur, and in any case so far as imports are necessary it is our desire to give preference to supplies from reciprocating dominions.” HELD FOR RANSOM. • SHANGHAI, August 20. After hope had been abandoned of finding survivors of the Indo-China steamer Kwongsang, which foundered in a typhoon on August 10, HALS. Sepoy discovered wreckage on Fuyan Island (60 miles north of Foochow). On inquiring of fisher-folk it was learned that bodies had been washed ashore and buried. It was also discovered that three or four survivors were captured by Chinese and are believed to be held for ransom. August 22. British and Chinese naval landing parties released three Chinese survivors from the wrecked Kwongsang and recovered the looted ship’s property after drastic punitive measures against piratical villagers who were located on the marshy Sintu Peninsula. Forty bodies from the wreck were reburied.

A previous message read: Caught in one of the most severe typhoons known on the China coast, the Indo-China steamer Kwongsang, of 2200 tons, is believed to have been lost with all hands. The vessel left Shanghai for Swatow, and was last seen steaming for

an anchorage behind Taichow Island, 250 miles south of Shanghai. There were 50 persons aboard) seven being foreigners. The vessel carried nearly 3000 tons of cargo..