NEWS OF THE DAY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LVI, Issue 8628, 10 December 1906, Page 5

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The heat wave continues unabated in the interior of New South Wales. Very high temperatures being recorded. The Victorian Premier slates that ho has instructed the Income Tax Commissioners to demand double duty and interest from Federal Ministers and public servants who, in the past, refused to pay income tax, as great expense was incurred in lighting the case. Hon. Dr Jameson, Premier of Cape Colony, advocates a South African Federation on the Canadian model.

Right Hon. Jesse Colling, on behalf of the Federal Government, handed to the Lord Mayor of London £:.'f>,ooo, whicli has been voted to the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Vice Admiral Touchard, with three warships, is at Tangier. Henri Rochefoit lias been fined £800 on a charge of defaming Madame Syveton, in connection with the deatli of her husband, who created a sensation in the latter part of last year by striking General Andre, late Minister of War, on the iloor of the French Chamber of Deputies. The London Simular<l states that the army and navy will shortly be iv possession of anew propellant unequalled in the world, giving Britain the advantage in small arms and increasing the value of the new quickfiring Held guns. Hon. A. Lytlelton, speaking al Edinburgh, expressed his great misgivings in regard to .self-government in Transvaal and Orangea. The federation of the States and the settlement of British farmers ought, lie said, to have preceded self government. The new battleship of the Dreadnought type, on which construction work has been commenced, at Portsmouth, has been named the Bellerophon. A Melbourne message states that a remarkable fire occurred iv a chemist's shop, in Flinders-street. The building was gutted, but the ilames were automatically extinguished, owing to the burning of chemical bottles, liberating fumes, which smothered the tlames. The Fire Brigade were not called upon to use their appliances. A band of thieves fired eight residential flats in New York, endangering the lives of five hundred persons, with the object of plunder during the panic. Japan is spending seven and a-half millions sterling, spread over seven years, to increase her navy. The Czar has given audience to Prince Witte.

The seamen's strike, at Odessa, has collapsed. Imports into Britain during November increased by £2,(502.000 and exports by £3,307,000, compared with November, 1905. Mr Sydney Buxton, Britain's PostmasterGeneral, estimates that alterations in postage rates agreed to at the Postal Conference in Rome will cost Britain £190,000 per annum.

In consequence of the London Morning Post having stated that the Colonial Conference had been postponed for a month, Mr Winston Churchill, Under Secretary for the Colonies, definitely announces that the Conference will meet on the date arranged — April 15th. Waihi shares are quoted, in Londcn, at £8 15s.