NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15594, 10 August 1921, Page 4

NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL

' < ; : BILLION GLASSES OF TORT AND , ■-■?;■ NO-ONK TO DRINK ;.THEM. . "' LISBON, thine B.—Ninety million 'litres, or-nearly, a billion glasses of port and' other expensive table- •■ wines are . -•' lynig in the .cellars of wine merchants in ' northern provinres of Portugal, and there '"'", is no • foreign market in sight, In addi- ■\ Man, the growers and merchants have : - 63,000.(300 li.lres. of other wines which .' "also cannot be'sold at present., and as a . result 'the..,roimtry, is faciitt; an agricultural and economic, crisis.. * CHINESE FLOUR BEING SENT - ; , , ABROAD. For the first time in history, flom milled in China is being, sold in the :;imarkets .qf .Europe. Heretofore, China --has been a great buyer, of American flour, hut. recently the conditions have ; changed and the'Chinese are exporting -it in great quantities. There are great stretches of' land in China suitable foi ■raising .wheat, and a great deal of laboi .Tvailahie for the work at a very low '•" cost. GERMANY TO GIVE UP HER LAS'! : <-\ ■'.... .'■ . ZEPPELIN. FRIEDERTOHSHAVEN, Juno 6. ";..Germany is -about to lose her last V Zeppelins through the surrender of thi •passenger .dirigibles North Star and Lake Constance to the Entente, in accordance r . with.one of the stipulations of the Allied ultimatum. ,■ The .North Star will sail for Paris ■ this.week and Hie Lake Constmec will follow as soon as she can be prepared ■for flight. No Zeppelin will then be left jn Germany, «nd no more probably will be built. ■ BRITISH' TACT FIXES PRICE OF • " , . LIBERIA WIVES. - LONDON, June 6. —Five pounds ster: ling and no more, is to be the price of . ? a .wife," according to a recently ratified 'convention between*the Governments of Great Britain and Liberia. • . This convention regulates the relations between, the-tribes living on the border Jino between Liberia and Sierra Leon. , -. Women's rights are to be recognised, , .'•even in the West African jungle, for it is expressly provided in the convention ( that no claim can bo made in respect of a woman except by her husband, and, that no woman can lie erimpelled to re , .turn to a claimant against her will . .GERMAN U-BOATS AT SEA ONCE '■ . •'":•'•./■-; MORE. HAMBURG, June 3.—German sub marines j.n'ro again swimming the wave? in the ' form of , the newly launched tanker East Prussia, just completed fen , Hugo $1 tunes.. Teuton ingenuity loo!? , i, ■ ""two hulb?.of. the large submarine cruisers under coiist ruction at the end of the war, fastened them together side by side, • provide}!, this catamaran with upper works, bow,..stci'n. and , powerful Diesel motors, likewise of .submarine derivation, ."and evolved a highly modern .tank steamer. 3CO feet long'and of 33C0 tons 1 'capacity J . . A sister ship of the same construction i about ready to be launched will he j added under, fho-name." Upper'Silesia to : fetinnes' fleet. < Germain shipbuilding to replace war" < losses is now in full swing and new

ships, the construction of rrliicli was delayed until it was found the .Entente did hot intend to exercise it* privilege oi requisitioning new tonnage, now are taking the ■ water in rapid succession. {scarcely- a..day passes without chronicling the launching of some . German steamer, .j The first turhine steamer coii- '• structed; since;the war will be commissioned (nest month..' "GERMAN MOTOR ShTpBUILDING. .Files by'the English mail ' indicate - that a large proportion of the new German mercantile marine will consist of ,-motor vessels.-. Before" the ..-.war, German • shipbuilders' had given ample demonstration of their' belief in internal-combus-tion engines, arid among the motor ships which are now being built in Germany. fej are several of large size equipped with machinery of comparatively" high powen For the Hamburg-South American Line a large cargo ship is now on order in % which twin-screw Diesel machinery ot 6000 h.p. will be installed, and these engines,.although of the Sulzer design, are being manufactured in Germany; 'the Hamburg-American Line has' contracted for two 14,000-ton mixed cargo and passeriger vessels, also to be equipped with motors 0i.6000 b.h.p., and the first of these ships will shortly be commissioned. It may be .noticed that this power is : nichet than that of any existing motor vessels, >and it would appear that thr /' Germans.■are-making .attempts to lead the way in this new sphere of ship con--1 struction. For ,thc Hansa Cforopapy, of Bremen, the Weser Shipbuilding Yard is building a 9000-ton cargo ship equipped , with Diesel engines .of over ,3000 h.p., and at the new Deutsche Werft. in'Ham- . burg standardised motor vessels are bein? built. v It 'is understood also that Messrs. Blohm • and. Voss, the well-known Hamburg shipbuilding firm, are manufactur ing doubleractipg .Diesel engines for installation x in new trans-Atlantic vessels. this being a development of considerable technical interest in view of the belief ; held by a large number of engineers that '\z the .future of very high-powered oil en•'.gines lies in the double-acting two-stroke type.

EVEN SWISS IN FINANCIAL HOLE. J „ BERNE, June 4.—The treasuries uf Europe arc; all empty, , even V countries which' 1 took no part in thr i ■war. - Thus-. Switzerland, two and one- i half years'safter the armistice, is levying another-war tax, her accounts for : 1920 having - been 99,500,000 francs on the wrong'side: Ay-taxpayers have t< declare properly, income and war pro fits and other profits, and every taxpayer is receiving a, set of 75 questions ■ which obfigo hinj to declare all his pro- i perty, down to the pictures upon hit •• wall and even any rabbits he may keen \ for his children and all live 1 slock, eve! poultry. So inquisitorial are these question.' • that- a Large section of the Swiss press advises the public not to fill Ihem in. because they oat-Herod 'Herod,, and i. is expected ■■•that' the Government will be obliged, to withdraw them and substitute, some, elenrcr and less searching document. •' The eastoms- duties will shortly be very heavily raised in Switzerland Duties on. some articles will be elevalee as much as 500 per cent. The public is t protesting, but the Government declares that it must, at any cost, increase its revenues. During the war, the expendi tare on mobilisation was heavier than the country eould afford and the interest on the mobilisation debt must be paid. The post office is also heavily indebt- ' ed, partly because during the war it was prisoners of. war agency, by the Red I Cross and by numerous societies sending '* relief parcels to Austria-Hungary and elsewhere. Except for a few war pro fiteers, who-include many bankers, th Swiss ha,ve been impoverished by the war, just as- much as some oi the bel ligerent Powers. EXTORT BLACKMAIL FROM bookmakers; LONDON, Juno B.—A new form o' crime..which is proving perplexing- t< ; the police, is being indulged in by err tain of the rougher elements at the English racecourse. It has its out . cropping.* jn bold, open blackmailing o! bookmakers, but; without.', the finesse o! the (successful blackmailer and in armed light* between rival gangs of the crim- , inals themselves. There is a sort, ol Mafia among the g«ngf» which so tor roriwl the bookmakers that they are nTrnid to testify agninnl (ho r <?r r ptrat ' ■* ors. " ••'»'■■• -. ■ Recently fmit 1 members of naa gang went -to "at. least, fifty -bookmakers during tbp vaces and quietly but firmly

demanded J?! from each. li was given under threats of “doing in the bookmakers if they refused. In not one instance were, they refused, but a police inspector who. saw the procedure arrested (lie criminals and. they were convicted solely on the inspector's testimony, not one bookmaker appeared in court. Few English holdup men go armed, but. tbo members of lliese, gangs do. In one. instance a score of members of one gang belabored and shot at several members of another gang in a, crowded betting ring, resulting in several hospital eases, but. only a. few arrests were made, and only two men were convicted, owing to the impossibility of getting.evidence. Gang feuds and blackmailing are increasing and flic police are ineffective. BRITISH BATTLESHIPS. LONDON. .Tune 9.—Orders for two nf Great Britain’s new battleships, will be., placed with private firms at Chatham, late in July, according to tbo Westminster Gazette. The remaining two authorised will be constructed ttl Devonpnrl and Portsmouth. The price of tlu\ new ships is estimated by experts at £9.OCv).COD sterling. MEAT PACKERS DESIRE, LOWER WAGES FOR .WORKERS. CHICAGO, Juried. —A petition asking n reduction of wages of nearly ICO.CC'O employees in the meat packing industry was tiled yesterday with Judge Alscbulor of ihe United States District Court by file packing interests. Judge Alscluiltir is tbo official arbitrator agreed upon by employers, and employees under a continuation of a, watvlimo agreement. U.S. BILL TO PROVIDE FOB NEEDY ; FARMERS. WASHINGTON', June 3.—The Senate has passed a Bill, authorising the Secreturv of the Treasury to deposit- £lO,CSO.CCO with farm loan banks' to relieve distressed conditions among the farmers. They will, in turn, make loans to individuals, giving •tbo' treasury the mortgages on, farms n.s security. MANY TTALI.-i.nS TURNED BACK BY NEW C.S. LAW. NEW YORK, June B.—Nearly 1500 Italian immigrants at tin’s port and 1000 at Boston are belli lip as inadmissible under the immigration law which has just, gone inio effect. Officials selected a. number, .which exhausted the dune quota, and the remainder must be returned to Europe. • - «