NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16497, 1 August 1924, Page 7

NEWS BY CABLE AND MAIL

TERRIEJC TORNADO STRIKES BELFAST. BELFAST, June 24. —A terrific tornado, unprecedented in the history of Belfast, struck the city this evening, resulting in extensive damage. Many buildings were wrecked and a number of persons injured. CANADIAN DOLLAR COMING INTO ITS OWN. NEW YORK. June 30.-The Canadian dollar was quoted at less than one per cent, discount in the local foreign exchange market here to-day. The discount quotation of 31-32 per cent, was the lowest this year. £10,000,000 ORDER. BRITAIN TO BUILD A POLISH RAILWAY. WARSAW. June 11.—Negotiations with a group of British firms for the construction of 500 miles of railway in South-Eastern Poland are on the point of completion. The estimated cost of carrying out the work is £J0,000.000. NEW ZEALAND DELEGATION. MONTREAL. June 11. —The New Zealand delegation representing the newlyappointed Dairy Export Control Board left Montreal yesterday for New York, whence they sail for England to continue their study of the cheese and butter trade from the point of view of English distributors. The delegates were impressed with what they saw during their visit to Canada. To‘ MAKE STUDY OF ALASKA INDIANS. SEATTLE, June 24. —An ethnological study of the Eskimos of Alaska is planned by J. MacMillan Brown, chancellor of the university of New Zealand, who arrived here on Monday en route to the north land. Chancellor Brown is the author of a dozen books, a graduate of Oxford and .a resident of New Zealand for the past fifty years, although a portion of these years was spent in travel and study of the peoples along the coasts and islands of the Pacific. £2050 FOR A SALT CELLAR. LONDON, June 1-I.—High ,prices were realised for silver and jewellery at Htircomb’s (Cakler House. Piccadilly), the principal individual figure being £2050, which sum was paid by Messrs. Crichton Bros, for a massive Elizabethan sail cellar and cover, standing ltiin. high and about sin. across, dated 1592, On the four sides arc stained glass panels, and in the cover four medallions are inserted, as well as pieces of stained glass depicting Roman Emperors. The same bivers also gave £9OO for a similar item dated .185], 9Um. high and .‘Uin. in diameter; and £BSO for it salt cellar described as being made in 1549, in the reign of Edward'Y., with a cylindrical central support and a crystal ball on the top and quaintly decorated with masks and mermaids. HOT TEA KILLS BABY. DOCTOR’S ORDER FOR BURIAL. An inquest was held 1 at Rvtle, Sydney, lately, concerning the death of an infant, aged 14 months, who died at his parents’ residence from the effects of shoe*. It was staled by the child s father that his son had upset a cup of hot tea over himself the morning previous to his death. Dr. Rogers stated that, in his opinion, death was due to shock caused through scald. He said that he thought lie was quite within his rights in giving a certificate for burial. The Coroner said that the doctoFshould not have given the certificate without having informed'.tile proper authorities. It had been a case of violent death, and should have been reported l . However, he considered that death was due to an accident, and gave a verdict to that effect. £16,000.000 TO PAY.' HALF-YEAR’S INTEREST ON DEBT TO U.S. LONDON. June 11.—On June 15 a half-yearly interest payment of nearly 69 million dollars is due from the British Government to the United States. Hitherto we have effected some saving through the clause of the debt-funding agreement under which payment can be made in American Liberty Bonds at their face value. These bonds have been bought in the market below 100 and surrendered at 100. Now, however, most of these bonds are rising above 100. and the clause becomes useless. This means that the Government has either to ship gold from our gold reserves or to buy dollars, or gold, in the market. Purchases of dollars for such purposes are made through the Government agents in New York at varying rates. Taking the,current exchange rate as-a basis, the impending interest. payment would amount to about £16.000,000. A full year’s interest, with the annual instalment of principal, would amount on the same basis to over £37,000,000, or at the rate, of over £700,000 a week. This is .equivalent to about in the £ of income tax.