ROYAL VISIT TO BELGIUM.

Southland Times, Issue 19509, 8 May 1922, Page 5

ROYAL VISIT TO BELGIUM.

TOUR OF WAR CEMETERIES. LONDON, May 6. (Received May 7, 11.5 p.m.) Elaborate preparations are being made to welcome the King and Queen who are to visit Belgium next week. After the conclusion of the state visit to Brussels the King will commence on Thursday a three day’s tour of the war cemeteries. The Dominion representatives have been invited to participate at their respective cemeteries. His Majesty will place wreaths on the Brussels monument to martyrs, including Edith Cavell, and also the Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance in the British cemetery at Terlinithun, where General Castelnau will speak. GENERAL TOWNSHEND. RETIRING FROM POLITICS. LONDON, May 6. (Received May 7, 5.5 p.m.) General Sir Charles Townshend informed his constituents that he will not seek reelection, finding that a soldier is not adapted to politics. THE BOURNEMOUTH MYSTERY. MURDER OF MISS WILKINS. AN ARREST. LONDON, May 6. fßeceived May 7, 5.5 p.m.) Thomas Henry Allaway, aged about 30, was arrested at Reading on a charge of stealing a cheque book valued at two shillings. He has now been charged with the murder of Miss Wilkins. Allaway will appear at Bournemouth Police Court on Monday. The murder of a young woman named Wilkins, who was found in a field near Bournemouth, caused a sensation at the end of last December. Wilkins advertised in a London paper for a position as cook and received a telegram inviting her to go to Bournemouth immediately where a car would meet her at the station. It was reported that the girl was seen to enter a large blue car. She was never seen again alive. Scotland Yard discovered that several other women received similar invitations but refused for various reasons. The murderer, who was probably a chauffeur, was described as wearing blue uniform and smart but illiterate as all the telegrams showed. There were marks of a severe struggle, which agreed with the victim’s athletic record and flawless character. WELSH COAL TRADE. A BOOM. LONDON, May 6. (Received May 7, 5.5 p.m.) Welsh coal trade is booming. The owners believe that it will eventually surpass the pre-war high water mark. Preparations are on foot for the investment of many millions of new capital for sinking new pits and obtaining the latest electrical and mechanical devices. SALE OF PICTURES. HIGH PRICES REALISED. LONDON, May 4. (Received May 5, 5.5 p.m.) At the sale of the late Baroness BurdettCoutts’s pictures, Hoppener’s portrait of the younger Pitt, painted in 1805, fetched 7000 guineas, another Hoppner 1800 guineas, and Abbott’s portrait of Lord Nelson 1100 guineas. Raeburn’s portrait of Sir Walter Scott fetched 9200 guineas.