News of the Week.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue VIII, 23 August 1902, Page 469

News of the Week.

CABLE ITEMS. Prussia is establishing a German University at Posen. Lord Salisbury has gone to Homburg, the German "health resort. Sir Robert Peel has paid 15/ in the £ to all his creditors in connection with his three failures. A firm of butchers in Orange is arranging for shipments of" chilled meat from New Zealand. Russian banks recently cashed £490,000 worth of forged rouble notes. Twenty-five thousand Boers’ rifles, it is said, have not been yielded up, and it is believed they .are hidden. The “Daily Mail” says Lord Kitchener opens the Khartoum College in November. All the students connected with the Moscow disturbances in February last have been released. The Siamese Government has offered to appoint a French official to an important post at Bangkok. Mr Austen Chamberlain has been re-elected unopposed for East Worcestershire. Immigration statistics show an extraordinary increase in the number of aliens settling in London. Viscount Kitchener and Admiral Lord Charles Beresford attended a soiree at the Colonial Troops’ Club. Mr. Richard Marsh, the well-known trainer, has presented Lord Kitchener with the American-bred racehorse Democrat for a charger. The Indian Coronation Contingent had a great send-off on their departure from Southampton for India. Lightning set fire to a sixth-century chureh at Swanscomb. The bells were melted by the fire, and the Norman front was destroyed. Thousands of people are viaiting Westminster Abbey daily. The sum of £3340 was paid in admission fees in two days. Lord Milner is on a visit to Delagoa Bay, where he is the guest of the Government of Portugal. He was received with warm acclamation.

The Deutsche Genossenschaftsßank Berlin, has lost £ 173,500 owing to the chief of director’s speculations in industrial undertakings.

-An American Lead Trust is being formed, with a capital of £10,000,000 sterling, to control the output of the East Mississippi.

The Premiers’ Conference recommended that all the colonies should unite in a memorial to Queen Victoria.

The Campanile of the Church of St. Stefano, Venice, is sixty-five inches aslant, and is being pulled down.

A cyclone at Trenton, New Jersey, unroofed houses and wrecked factories. The damage is estimated at three hundred thousand dollars.

The King’s Coronation gift to Westminster Abbey is a golden crucifix supported at the base by figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John.

Mr J. C. Wason, member for Orkney, who recently seceded from, the Unionist party, and joined the; Radicals, has resigned, and appeals to his constituents.

An assassin fired four shots at Prince Obolenski, the Governor of Kharkov, wounding him in the neck. Another bullet hit the Chief of Police.

The steamer Whangape, which reached Sydney from the Bluff last week, with a very large shipment of sheep, experienced tempestuous weather, and lost 590 sheep. Those stowed below suffered most.

The age limit of candidates for admission to the Woolwich Military College has been fixed at nineteen years, and to Sandhurst nineteen and a half.

Disturbances have occurred at the closing of religious schools in Finisterre. A battalion of infantry and a large force of gendarmes are proceeding to the district.

Remarkable exhibitions of goodwill were shown at Lord Cadogan’s farewell at Dublin prior to leaving for England, after relinquishing the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland.

It is i eported that Mr Pierpont Morgan is seeking a controlling interest in the Western French railway in pursuance of his ocean trust schemes.

The colonies have promised £ 100,000 towards the Victorian memorial, including £30,000 from Canada, £20,000 from the Cape and £lO,OOO from Natal.

The Kaiser, at Stettin, launched the Kaiser Wilhelm 11., of 20,000 tons. The •steamer is for the North German Lloyd’s Company, and will have a speed of 23J knots.

The New Zealand ladies in London have formed a guild, with Mrs Seddon as president, to care for the New Zealanders’ graves in South Africa.

Two Parisians,’accompanied by two guides, were overtaken by a snow storm, and spent the night on Petit Plateau, Mount Blanc. The former were frozen to death.

Mr Tooth’s gift of £lO,OOO has been devoted by the Queen to the extension of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Association and the home for officers’ w’dows and daughters

News received from the Phillipines states that a party of Moros surprised an American outpost at Bacolod. A sergeant and a private soldier were killed and another wounded.

The authorities have disembarked five hundred homeward bound troops from the s.s. Aurania at Capetown, owing to the vessel being ovbvcrowded.

The will of.the late millionaire, Mr John W. Mackay, the “Silver King,” of California, has been proved. The estate is valued at ten million pounds sterling.

The Venezuelan revolutionists captured and sacked the town of Barcelona. Eight generals, 23 colonels, and 167 men are among the killed on both sides. Some women and children were also killed.

The chain presented by the King to the Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest distinction of the Victoria Order decoration. It was originally designed to be worn by royalties.

The exhibition of the gifts and addresses presented to the Prince and Princess pf Wales during their colonial tour last year produced £460, which has been handed to the King’s Hospital Fund.

The “Standard’s” Ottawa correspondent states that Sir E. Barton is inquiring of the Canadian Government respecting the organisation of the High Commissioner’s office in London.

The cargo of the Italian barque Pasquale Lauro is being landed in a better condition than was expected. It is believed that the loss by fire will be comparatively small.

The Women’s Franchise Bill, which was thrown out in the New South Wales Council last week, has been reinstated, read a second time, and passed through committee without amendments.

During a torchlight procession in Antwerp the municipal festival car, representing winter, took fire. Of the five women taking part in the tableau one was burnt to death, and the others were injured.

The London “Times” states that Mr Parkin, principal of the Upper Canada College, Toronto, will visit Australasia and the United States in connection with the Rhodes scholarships.

The Maharajah of Jaipur presented the King with a jewelled sword with a loyal inscription. The sword is valued at £ 10,000 sterling. The King will wear it in reviewing the Indian troops.

The French colonial party urges the sending' of the homeless natives of Martinique to the New Hebrides and the appointment of ait official to represent the settlers and keep fho authorities in Paris acquainted with French interests in the group.

The Hon. J. G. Duffy, in a temperate speech, entered a protest against the Coronation oath, which contained a gross, gratuitous and humiliating insult to the Catholics. The latter had fought nobly on behalf of the Empire.

A suggestion having been made that the Mansion House should open a Mount Kembla relief fund, the Premier has cabled to London tjiat New South Wales was quite able to cope with the situation.

While Mr Fair, brother-in-law of Mrs W. K. Vanderbilt, of New York, was travelling in a motor car at a speed of one hundred kilometres near Evieux the tire burst, dashing the ear against a tree. Fair and his wife were killed. The driver was seriously hurt, but not fatally injured.

The Cabinet considering the Royalist party the fcanentora of resistance to the decree* under the Religious Associations Law has ordered their strongest prosecution.

Fifty-four leading Princes have been invited to the Coronation durbar. which is to be held at Delhi in several months’ time. The area of the camp is seven miles by five. The Duke of Connaught is expected to attend.

At the inquest on Constable Guilfoyle (who was shot while arresting two men suspected of parsing counterfeit coins), a verdict of murder against some person unknown, aided by another person unknown, was returned.

The Durban correspondent of the “Standard” states that many of the Boers in the northern part of the Orange River Colony are only now learning for the first time of British clemency proclamations under the peace arrangements.

Owing to Russia’s refusal to relinquish the workshops and railways near the Great Wall until Niuchang line is evacuated, Britain's surrender of the Pekin-Tientsin-Shanhaikwan railway has bequ postponed till October unless Russia reconsiders her decision

The British Trade Commission, dealing with South African trade, reports that monopolies and trusts threaten to bar the development of the country. The prospects are otherwise satisfactory. There is an excellent opening for enterprising up-to-date manufacturers.

The National Geographical Society, of Washington, has engaged Mr Borchgrevinck, the Antarctic explorer, to take two ships on an Antarctic expedition, using reindeer and sleighs. The expedition will probably start In the autumn of 1903. Judge Caron, of Quebec, declined to make an order for the extradition of Gaynor and Greene, contractors, accused of defrauding the United States Government of nearly a million sterling in connection with harbour improvements at Havannah and discharged them from custody.

An insurrection has occurred in Jenchuan, and three other Korean provinces, against foreigners. Several Japanese merchants have been killed and many expelled. The Japanese Minister has demanded reparation, .and Korean troops have been sent to quell the disturbance.

News by the Chinese mail states that the Chinese cruiser Kai Chi was recently blown up near Nanking, through the explosion of the magazine. Only two escaped out of the whole crew, whose number is variously estimated at from 150 to 250.

Admiral Cuverville has appealed to the Government to submit the religious associations decrees to a Council of State. Meanwhile the judgment of the Lyons Court of Appeal declares that the fixing of seals on the convent school of St. Charles is illegal and orders their removal.

The Johannesburg Town Council ire petitioning the Government to grant facilities for housing accommodation. Rents at present amount to 40 per cent, of income. Many persons are encamped on Government land, owing to the difficulties of railway transport.

The “Morning Post’s" Johannesburg correspondent says there is a strong rumour that as a result of Lord Milner’s recent visit to Delagoa Great Britain will arrange to build a new harbour at Delagoa, the receipts from Customs and railways guaranteeing the repayment of the cost

On Sunday, 3rd August, at about 10.40 a.m., a couple of smart, shocks of earthquake were experienced at. Suva. The phenomena was over in a few seconds, probably ten. Each shock, which was very perceptible to many people, was sharp, and appeared to be from east to west and north to south. The day was a fine one. From Kavua and Levuka a similar shock, or shocks, is reported to have occurred.

The Governor of Natal, acting on the advice of the Ministry, has remitted the unexpired portions of the treason sentences of two years’ imprisonment and under. A Commission has been appointed to delimit sufficient land in Zululand for native locations.

Lieuts. F. Willis. Weir, McKillop, Lowrie, Moss Daviia, and Grace, Sur-geon-Majors Milne and Thompson, Suigeon-Captainl McLachland, Veter-inary-Capt. Neale, and 47 other New Zealanders have left Capetown for England.

The Allan, Elder, Dempster and Furness Shipping Syndicate have entered into a contract with the Dominion Government for a five years’ regular steamship service between Canada and South Africa, beginning in October.

The “Daily Mail” states that an Afrikander boxing team amongst the prisoners of war at Colombo (Ceylon), including Jim Holloway (who was captured while fighting for the Boers) asked permission to tour England and America and give exhibitions of pugilism.

The average estimate for August jf the harvest of oats, wheat and barley in Manitoba and Lower Canada is a hundred and fourteen million bushels. The Canadian Pacific Railway is unable to carry all the grain to the seaboard.

At the Pope’s request the Czar has pardoned Zierkousiei, the Catholic Bishop of Vilna, who was sentenced to life-long banishment for propagating anti-Russian ideas in Poland, and converting the Greeks to Roman Catholicism. M. Pobedonosteff, Procurator of the Illoly Synod, strongly disapproved of the Czar’s clemency.

The Premier Informed the House that the missing steamer Quiraing had been surveyed in February last, and everything had been found in good condition.

[The Quiraing is now fifty-three days out from Newcastle to Port Chalmers, coal-laden, and it is considered certain that she has foundered in the Tasman Sea with all hands, ■who numbered 22.]

The Kaiser’s censure of the Bavarian Chamber for its “meanness” in refusing to purchase certain pictures has caused great excitement in Munich, where the Kaiser is widely blamed for undue interference in the home affairs of the federated States. The “Weiner Allegemeine Zeitung” predicts that the Kaiser’s impulsiveness will increase Bavaria’s particularist tendencies. The sums mentioned at the Premiers’ Conference for the proposed annual contributions of the colonies to the Imperial navy include the following: — Cape & 50,000 New Zealand ........ £40,000 Natal ~....£ 35,000 It is understood that Canada will enter into a special arrangement for the maintenance of the navy. The International Harvester Company has been incorporated at New Twenty-four millions sterling have been subscribed The company hopes to decrease working expenses and underbid British makers of ploughs and.' threshers in the South African markpts. The lumbermen, sawmillers and manufacturers of woollen'. materials of America are combining on the lines of the Steel Trust. Reuter’s correspondent of the “Times” reports that Senussi, the Mahdi of Central Africa, is dead. [The Mahdi, es-Senussi, was tfie head of a sect which was by far the most powerful in Mahomedan Africa. His followers included the numerous and warlike Tuart>;s and the people of Wadai In the Western Soudan. Wadai, which extends from French Congo to the Sahara Desert, has a population of about a million. At ths end of 1899 a great Mahomedan rising was feared in Central Africa, inspired by the

Recently the Chamber of Deputies of Bavaria refused to pass a vote of 100,000 marks for the purchase of certain pictures. The Kaiser thereupon wrote to Prince Leo-

pold (Regent of Bav ' offering him money for tl- e, and at the same time exj ;s displeasure at the Chaml . . anness. Prince Leopold replied thanking the Kaiser, and stated that a member of the Bavarian Reitchrafs had given the requisite sum.

Nineteen thousand five hundred sheep were offered at Sydney stock sales. The supply is well within the requirements, causing a restricted competition. Two hundred and eighty-nine wethers, ranging from 24/ to 34/6 (one lot of 17 reaching from 44/), and 134 ewes, ranging from 22/9 to 36/9, were sold on account of New Zealand shippers.

Colonel de Stremy has been arrested for declining to obey the general orders to assist in closing religious establishments at Ploermel, near Rennes. Two priests near Angers received two months’ imprisonment for breaking seals affixed by the Government officers, and four mayors were suspended for disregarding instructions re the elos’ng of religious establishments.

Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson (Governor of the Cape) has appealed to the Boers to observe moderation. He notes regretfully the altitude of the religious bodies, and their utterances, which are not making for conciliation. He hoped he had heard the last of much of these utterances, which would only prolong the unrest. It is understood that Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson referred to the Rev. Bosman’s and other preacher’s sermons.

A cable to the “Sun” from Berlin says:—A balloon containing three German aeronauts recently fell into Lake Constance. The King of Wurtemburg, who was cruising in a yacht on the lake, saw the accident and hastened to the rescue. He personally saved the balloonists. He did not disclose his identity until the rescued men desired to reward the owner of the yacht.

A bushman has discovered an uncharted river to the south-west of Freeman’s Cape, Tasmania, and also reports that he has discovered alluvial gold in many of its creeks. The new river flows into the Jane, and ultimately into the Franklin River, in the western part of the island.

[This is in the most mountainous part of Tasmania, where many of the peaks rise to over 4000 feet above sealevel. The rivers are rapid, subject to great floods, and rush down through tremendous gorges.]

The Imperial Government is appointing representatives to co-oper-ate with the Australian and New Zealand Commissions of Enquiry into the charges made concerning the troopships Drayton Grange and Britanahips Drayton Grange and Britannic. Colonel Williams, of the Medical Service, Senator Playford, Dr. Greswell, and Messrs McLean and Thomson, members of the Federal House of Representatives, have been appointed a Commission to enquire into the case of the vessel.

Lieut. Hildebrand, the duellist, who was lately released from prison, was accorded an enthusiastic reception by his comrades, who entertained him at two banquets.

[Lieut. Hildebrand fought and killed a brother officer, Lieut. Blashowitz, last November, the duel being forced on him agains ( t his will. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, but the Kaiser recently accepted the view of Hildebrand’s superior officers, that he was blameless.]

In connection with the arrest of the man Tierler and Selina Sangal on suspicion of the murder of the latter’s husband, who was found with his throat cut at Dandenong, Savay, a .Spaniard, told the police that Tierler offered him £lO and promised him £lOO on behalf of Mrs Sangal to murder Sangal. The offer was repeated by both on subsequent occasions. Ultimately Savay promised, and the pair gave him a revolver. Savay stated that he did not do the

deed, and never had any intention <4 doing it- He threw the revolver inta the river.

Canada’s subsidy to the Allan syndicate's South African line is £30,006 per annum. Great Britain gives £15,000. The “Daily Express” asserts that the King and Prince of Wales and Mr. Chamberlain have interested themselves in this scheme. Arrangements are being completed between Britain, Canada, Allan’s Syndicate and the Pacific Railway Company for a fast (service from Montreal to Liverpool in conjunction therewith. A through freight service to Australia will be initiated and a fast regular service of steamers coupled together by the Canadian Pacific railway. There wall be pooling of profits on through freight.

Senor Corea, the Niearaguan Minister here, has received news of two attacks upon Nicaraguan ports by revolutionists, aided by the Colombian Government. This fact was made patent by the use of these revolutionists of the Colombian warship General Pinzon. The first expedition, according to the advices received here, comprised about 1000 men. These reached Monkey Point, near Bluefields, but owing to the heavy seas and a prevailing storm were unable to make a landing, and returned to Colombian waters. About the Ist of this month the revolutionists appeared again, and made a landing near Bluefields. They were attacked by the Government forces, and routed with the loss of several lives. Many of the revolutionists were captured. Included among the captives was one Wilson, an American citizen. The military authorities have consented to give hini a trial by court-martial, but it- is felt that his condition is desperate unless the Nicaraguan Government is disposed to clemency.

The captain and a portion of the crew of the Dutch barque Krimpen au dec Lek, recently wrecked on the New Guinea Coast, have arrived here. The captain states that the weather was so bad for 40 hours prior to the disaster that he was unable to take observations. The vessel crashed on to a reef at two in the morning, and was abandoned halfhour later. Terrific seas were running, and bumpingf her badly. She was leaking badly. The crew remained alongside in( the boats till daylight, and spent an anxious night. They landed next day and were kindly treated by the natives. Everything was lost, including the ship’s papers.

[The first news of the wreck of this vessel reached Thursday Island on July 29, when the ketch Whaup, from Daru, British New Guinea, brought in the captain and crew of seventeen, all told, of the Krimpen au dec Lek. The ship was valued at £7OOO. The wreck took place at Brompton Island, near the mouth of the Fly River, New Guinea. The Krimpen ail der Lek left Newcastle on July 3 with 1602 tons of East Greta coal for Java.]

The Indian troops, on visiting Westminster Abbey, were much impressed with the story of the Coronation stone, and saluted St. Edward’s chair.

[The mysterious sacred Stone of Destiny, which Is enclosed within the seat of the Coronation Chair, has a history so ancient that It fades Into legend. According to fable it formed the pillow on which the head of Jacob rested when he* dreamed of the ladder of angels at Bethel. It was stated to have passed through Spain Into Ireland centuries before the Christian era, and to have been taken to Scotland. In 850 A.D. It was placed at the Abbey of Scone, and upon It the Scottish' kings were crowned. In 1297 It was brought to England by Edward 1., and ever since the chair, holding under its seat the sacred stone, has been used at the coronation of English sovereigns. Tradition affirms that upon the possession of this stone depends the maintenance of the sovereignty of England. There is ns doubt but that its history dates back to a period when stones were an object of worship, and of this a trace remains in ilia superstition that, should a usurper take his seat upon the stone, weird sounds of protest would be heard to proceed from It. It is described as a dull reddish or purple sandstone, with a few small embedded pebbles, on which Is quarts, and two others of a dark material, which may be Lydian stone. The rock Is calcareous, and of the kind which masons would call freestone.]