NEWS IN BRIEF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17349, 14 May 1924, Page 8

NEWS IN BRIEF.

A message from Sydney says : The Chinaman Ah Foon, who ran amok in Jnnisfail and killed another Chinaman, has been declared insane ami com milted to an asylum. An Auckland Press Association message says: A. Streat aged 06, died to as the result of injuries sustain©- 1 yesterday, when the horse he was driving bolted down Mountain Road. Ronald Nelson Thorn, 19 years of age, single, who met with an accident at Stanley Brook, Nelson, while bush falling, died in the hospital Just night. At the verdict, a verdict of accidental death was returned. A cable from Perth (Western Australia) says that the Premier, Mr Collier, states that for tlio past five or six years the deficit Jius been £650,000. This year will close with a deficit of about £300,000. That, lie said., was too high, being almost £1 a head of the population. The Vienna correspondent ot" tlio •Daily Express” says - that. two unhappy lovers committed suicide by cycling side by side 1 into the Danube at Pressburg. The girl rode up to her waiting sweetheart. They embraced, mounted, their machines and rode rapidly over the bank into the water. The London “ Evening Standard” considers that M. Poincare’s defeat saves the Dawes scheme from failure because as a result of his intransigeance the Anglo-Belgian discussions at Chequers on June .3 would have been fruitless, imperilling the Entente and the chances of European settlement. ’l'liree types of aeroplanes will shortly be constructed for the Drit'sh Air Ministry’s trans-Emipre service, eventually reaching to Australia. A feature will he mail carriers dropping hags by parachutes. Another type will carry many tons of urgent goods. The passenger planes will be luxuriously appointed. • • A cable from London says: The Belfast “Telegraph” says that Cardinal Lpgue stated that he had no confidence in Sir James Craig’s proposal lor a settlement by Agreement. It is too late now to brina forward proposals. No settlement of the Boundary question by these proposals, which would please all parties, was practically possible.”

A Wellington message says that the annual meeting of the Secondary Schools Association resolved that th* Minister and the Department of Education and the University Senate be asked to take the necessary steps to bring about an early application of the accrediting system as an alternative to ma t ricul at ion.

A thousand women delegates at London attended the opening of the National Conference of Labour Women. Resolutions urging equal franchise with men and pensions for widows were carried. The Sub-committee on Birth Control reported that, in view of the conflicting opinions of medical experts, it was unable to recommend the Minis try of Health to order that information on birth control methods should b 3 given at public clinics.

An Auckland Press Association message says: John Andrew Fox, taxidriver. was found guilty of the manslaughter of a constable on November 14, while returning from Papakura, in the early morning, his car colliding with a Chinaman’ B cart, with the result that Constable Todd was instantly killed. The evidence showed that Todd and others had been drinking in the city the evening before. They later went out to Papakura, where they had more liquor and also consumed a quantity in the. car during the return trip to town. The jury added in the verdict a strong recommendation to mercy, holding that prisoner had been led into the escapade by Todd. Sentence was deferred till Saturday.

A Wellington message says that- a railway clerk named Victor Roche Bond was before the Magistrate’s Court to-day on charges of forging two cheques for £l2 each. The cheques were passed on hotelkeepers, as being signed by D. Scott, of Scott and Mnrtindale, who gave evidence that the signatures were not his. The Chief Detective said that the body of the cheques was typewritten and he expected that evidence would be called to show that the type on the cheques was identical with that on a machine used by accused at his office. Application was made for the suppression of the name of accused as he occupied a position of trust in the Depai-tmen t and had a. good war service, rising from sergeant to captain. The application was refused and the case adjourned.

A Reuter message from Delhi says that the Raj has published the steel industry protection Bill in a Gazette extraordinary. It states that- the Bill has been undertaken in pursuance of the policy of discriminating protection to provide for fostering the develop ment of the steel industry by increasing import duties or granting bounties on certain articles, as recommended t>\ the Tariff Board. The Bill gives un fettered power to the Government of India to vary the protective duties, with a view to maintaining the effectiveness of protection against fluctuations. The Bill fully carries out the Tariff Board's recommendations. IU publication dispenses with the formality of introduction into the Assembly. The Bill is expected to meet with tin' unanimous support of the Assembly without much criticism.

A Loudon message says' that Si.Allan Anderson, addressing the annual international conference of shipowners at which 14 nations were represented including Germany, criticised flag discrimination as a dangerous and contagious disease calculated enormouslv to swell the expense of international commerce while shrinking its value to a shadow of what was needed to maintain the world on a pre-war scale. The nations should join in a protest against flag discrimination as an unwarrantable interference with the freedom of the seas. Discussing the safety line. Sir Allan Anderson added that the unsinking ship was a dangerous myth, the contemplation of which would induce false confidence. If the modern ship hit anything harder than water, it would sink despite the bulkhead and the loadline. He advocated the carriage of deck cargoes which would increase safety of life and enable vessels to carry larger cargoes leading to cheapenmg of timber.