NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 45

NEWS BY CABLE.

DAME NELLIE MELBA. LONDON, August 25. Dame Nellie Melba’s English estate V-as valued at £43,055. CANADIAN ELECTIONS. MONTREAL, August 25. Seventy-nine Liberals and eleven Conservatives were elected at the provincial elections. CANADIAN BANKS. VANCOUVER, August 27. The establishment of a chain of Canadian banks in the Far East is announced. THE BLUE FUNNEL LINE. LONDON, August 27. The - Blue Funnel Line has paid off the masters and the entire crews of 11 Vessels, which have been laid up. THE USE OF BENZOL. TORONTO, August 27. The Ontario Government has prohibited the use of benzol in all factories as being injurious to the health of the workers. WHEAT FOR CHINA. SHANGHAI, August 26. A message from the Foreign Minister states that the purchase of 378,000 tons of American wheat for 40.000,000 dollars has been negotiated. MEXICAN DEPUTY KILLED. ' MEXICO "CITY, August 25. One deputy was killed and four were Wounded in a shooting affray in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday night, when upwards of 60 shots were fired following a he'ated argument. THE TYPHOON SEASON. KOBE, August 27. The typhoon season is early and severe. The Korean Government announces that 40 fishermen are dead and 770 are missing as a result of the last big storm. HIS MAJESTY THE KING. LONDON, August 2G. The King left Euston station by the royal train for Scotland. ” That the public- appreciated the part played by the King in the crisis was shown by the great crowd on the railway station and the warmth of the cheers as the train departed. BRAZILIAN CURRENCY. RIO DE JANEIRO, August 30. The suspension of payments in respect to the amortization Federal loans was announced on Saturday after an arrangement with New York and Lon don bankers. The suspension of pay merits is indefinite, and is contingent on the recovery of Brazilian currency. THE MONEY MARKET. LONDON, August 29. New Zealand has placed £650,000 worth of three months Treasury bills, the bulk at 4 7-32 per cent. The money market considers that New Zealand got excellent terms at the price at which English Treasuries were allotted yesterday—B3/11 per cent.

FLEET OF PORTUGAL. LONDON, August 10. A contract with Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd., for the whole of the armament for the new Portuguese fleet, now in course of construction, has been given hy the Portuguese Government. The value of the order is about £900,000, and it was obtained against foreign competition. THE TIN INDUSTRY. LONDON, August 25. An international tin pool has been formed with the concurrence of the four Governments which are signatories to the agreement bearing on the tin-indus-try. The pool will release tin in accordance with a sliding scale and the initial release of 5 per cent, of the pool’s holding will become effective when the average London price in any completed month exceeds £l5O. RISING IN TURKESTAN. RIGA, August 28. Tourists from Turkestan reveal details of a recent rising in which O.G.P.U. troops suffered heavy losses. Rebels, led by Ibrahim Bey, Bokhara’s Robin Hood, captured a munition train on the Samarkand border, and they stripped 30 O.G.P.U. guards, cut the name of Mohammed on their backs, tied them to the rails, set fire to the train, and watched it run over the captives. LONDON’S BUILDINGS. RUGBY, August 26. Preparations for the floodlight illumination of the principal London buildings during next month in connection with the triennial International Illumination Congress and the Faraday centenary celebrations are nearing completion. Buckingham Palace is among the buildings which will be lighted, which include Westminster Abbey, “ Big Ben,” the tower of the National Gallery, the Nelson Column, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Tower Bridge.

LEAGUE OF NATIONS. LONDON, August 27. Owing to the pressure of work confronting the members of the new Cabinet and the importance of the decisions which will be taken during the next few weeks Lord Reading will be prevented from proceeding to Geneva for the League meetings. The British delegation has not yet been finally completed, but it is probable that Lord Cecil will be at its head. UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN. » LONDON, August 28. Mr H. L. Stimson (Secretary 7 of State to the United States Government), who returned to London from Scotland, proceeded to Downing street to make a personal call on the Prime Minister. The two statesmen had breakfast together, and the conversation, it is understood, turned naturally to the maintenance of the present excellent. relations between Britain and the United States. A “GOODWILL” SHIP. OTTAWA, August 25. Preparations for the despatch to Australia of a “goodwill” ship laden with Canadian goods for export to the Commonwealth are under way. So stated Mr J. E. Walsh, general manager of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association. The vessel is the Canadian Constructor, and she will leave Montreal on October 25 for Australia. A similar trip by the same ship from Australia to Canada will also be made. CANADIAN UNEMPLOYED. OTTAWA, August 26. Addressing 1200 Conservatives at Edmonton, the Prime Minister (Mr R. B. Bennett) declared: “ I will not put a premium on idleness. I will not make the thrifty bear the burden of the indolent. Some -of those who are idle believe that the State owes them a living, and some are refusing to work on the ground that the pay is insufficient. Any work is better than no work. They,will not be assisted.” NEW FRAGRANT ROSE. LONDON, August 13. Mr S. M’Gredy, a nurseryman of Portadown, Ireland, has perfected a new rose which has mystified French attar experts. Known as “ the Portadown Fragrant,’ the new rose possesses a wonderful aroma that grows stronger after the flower has been cut and increases until the flower dies. The discovery is described as the most interesting in the “ ” for many years. SPANISH AFFAIRS. MADRID, August 29. Bubonic plague has broken out in Barcelona. It is supposed to be due to contaminated clothing appropriated from a refuse dump outside the city There are 60 deaths, and 140 persons are in hospital. The whole city is lavishly disinfected. Trams, buses, and restaurants reek with carbolic. The Spanish Government, like most others, is confronted with a difficulty in balancing its Budget, and Cabinet has decided on drastic measures. CLUE TO A MURDER. BERLIN, August 27. A dying man who scrawled his assailant’s name on a sheet of newspaper with his finger dipped in his own blood put the police on the track of the murderer. The victim was a merchant named Schwartz, of Niesse, who had had a dispute with an acquaintance over 160 marks. A visit to a lawyer failed to settle the difficulty, after which Schwartz was shot twice in a lonely wood. A labourer found the incriminating name beside the body. HEIR FOUND. APIA, August 28. While quietly building a church at Funa Futi an old resident of Samoa. Mr Wellesley Foster, son of a former American consul at Tahiti, was advised by the Government of American Samoa that he had become heir to 2,000,000 dollars. The property, including 500,000 dollars in cash in Florida, was left to him by an American who stood godfather to him 59 years ago. Foster, who is married, will now be the richest man in the Islands. He is negotiating for the purchase of a fine residence near Government House at Vailima. AIR MANOEUVRES. LONDON, August 27. French and Italian air manoeuvres were started last night. The French manoeuvres arc being held over the town of Nancy, which is in darkness, The blinds of shops and houses are closely drawn and motorists are riot allowed to have even inside light. Sirens will sound and church bells will ring for three minutes if the attacking squadrons penetrate the city’s defences, when all the railway trains’ lights for a distance of 50 miles must be extinguished. Even signal lights must be put out. ' Nine hundred aeroplanes are engaged in Italy’s manoeuvres, which include attacks on specified objectives by successive waves of 50 machines. ’ Air battles will be wirelessly directed.

STATE AND VATICAN. ROME, August 26.

The dispute between the Vatican and the Government has been settled and : t is exported that the agreement will b< officially announced next week. • Both sides made slight concessions. The Vatican accepts the Government’s contention that Catbolic organisations are not to interfere with Italian politics, but must confine their activities to religious work. The Vatican also agrees to abolish all Catholic youth organisations. In return the Government gives the bishops the right to nominate clergymen as comptrollers of religious education and Fascist youth organisations.

TRAGEDY AT PICNIC. MONTREAL, August 10. Five couples left the city early yesterday in a motor truck for a picnic. V hile three men built a fire and prepared lunch in the country the remaining two men and five women wandered into the forest and found an unused cabin. Inside was a red box, which they brought outside and opened. The box contained explosives, and sud denly the powder caps exploded a dozen sticks of dynamite inside. Both men were killed outright, and the five women were knocked down and hurled about the grass. Their eyes were seared by the flames, and all except one were totally blinded

ADDRESS BY EARL JELLICOE. MONTREAL, August 24.

“ Let the next Imperial Conference speak with a united voice, ajid it will be found that the people of the Empire will be ready to respond,” declared Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoc when giving an address at a Canadian club luncheon to-day. He said it was palpable that each portion of the Empire must be prepared to make some sacrifice and modify some of its opinions in order that conclusions might be reached and a policy adopted which would be for the good of the Em pi re as a whole. For this reason it was important that those representing each portion of the Empire should make themselves thoroughly acquainted with the views held by the people in other parts.

GENERAL SMUTS IN LONDON. LONDON, August 24.

General Smuts, who was interviewed on his arrival in England, said that in some ways the present situation in Britain was as dangerous as the Great War, and might ultimately demand the same spirit of national and personal sacrifice. “ Some people are still oppressed with the thought of another war,” he said, “ I am more impressed with the possibility of a financial and economic breakdown, possibly endangering the whole structure of European civilisation. President Hoover has given a fine lead. If this is boldly followed while there is yet time Europe may pull through.”

During his stay in England General Smuts will preside over the centenary meeting of the British Association, which will be commenced on September 23. The subject of the presidential address will be ,f a scientific world picture of to-day,” and General Smuts will also take part in sectional discussions on the application of science to the problems of Empire agriculture and “ evolution of the universe.” SHIPPING DEPRESSION. LONDON, August 14. At least two ships are entirely manned on deck by certificated officers and a considerable number of officers are signed on in the forecastle of other ships, says the report of the Merchant Navy Federation, revealing the disastrous effect of the depression on shipping. There is' acute distress, the report states, among members of the federation in the United Kingdom, where 1048 captains, navigating and engineer officers are unemployed. The position in the dominions is equally serious where, in addition, there are large numbers of non-federation men unemployed. One captain who was deeorated for war service, is earning a few shillings a week scene-shifting and selling news papers; others are doing window cleaning, hotel and restaurant waiting, and door-to-door canvassing. Several are living in homes for the destitute, and walking the streets of London every day, diligently seeking employment. One officer recently collapsed exhausted near St. Paul’s Cathedral. ALLEGED MURDER OE GIRL. PARIS, August 28. Mystery deepens concerning the fate of a young French dress designer named Henrietta Caravaniez, whose body, clad only in an undervest, was found in a rubber canvas canoe off the Italian coast near Spezia. z The assumption is that she was murdered. She left Monaco in a fragile craft in the company of Alain Sabouraud, the son of a Paris surgeon. Their announced intention was to sail along the French and Italian coasts, then to make for Corsica. Mademoiselle was then dressed in beach pyjamas and a leather jacket. The craft was later found at Spezia. There is no news of Sabouraud.

It was first thought that the boat had drifted, that the provisions were exhausted, that the man fell overboard, and that in despair the girl committed suicide. The next theory was that the man shot the girl to save her suffering, and that he himself committed suicide.

The latest suggestion from Spezia is that the girl’s body was tied with ropes in the stern of the boat. Moreover, five days’ provisions remained, thus the police are inclining to the theory that she was murdered at some point along the coast, placed in the canoe, and set adrift, or alternatively that both were attacked by brigands while at sea.