CABLE ITEMS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue XV, 11 October 1902, Page 917

CABLE ITEMS.

■Lord Salisbury has gone to Beaulieu, in France. The Queen Victoria memorial fund has reached £210,000. The Capetown-Beira railway has been completed. The Berber tribes have submitted to the Morocco Government troops. M. de Witte, Russian Minister for Finance, is to visit Pekin and Tokio. Forty thousand troops line the London streets on the occasion of the Royal procession on the 25th. The Bank of Australasia has given its a 10 per cent. Coronation bonus. The Natal Government Is offering a bonus for the production of bacon and hams. Barings are issuing at par a Ja'-an-ese 5 per cent, loan of five millions sterling . The contributions given to the Queen Victoria memorial include £BOO from the Orange River Colony. The British-American Tobacco Company has been registered, with a capital of six millions. Whitman completes Lord Hawke’s cricket team for the New Zealand tour. The frontiers between Chili and Argentina and between Peru and Bolivia have been adjusted. Aiderman Sir Marcus Samuel has been elected Lord Mayor of London for the ensuing year. His Majesty King Edward VII., who is at present at Balmoral, returns to London on Saturday, the 11th inst. Fourteen deaths have been caused by an explosion in the Black Diamond colliery, "Washington Territory. The storms in Sicily have not yet abated. Troopers are busily engaged in rescue and salvage work. Prince Chun has married Yunghu’s daughter with a view to an heir to the Chinese throne. A new clause in army contracts insists that frozen mutton supplied must be exclusively colonial. The Japanese loan is quoted from a-half to one-and-a-half per cent, premium. The battleship Shikishma. which was driven ashore in a typhoon, has been re-floated. The damage is slight. The “Daily Mail” states that Zola’s estate is estimated to be worth £ 780,000. Serious earthquakes occurred in Guatemala and British Honduras on the 23rd inst. It is stated that it is probable that English and Canadian teams will visit Australia next year. Four thousand tin-plate workers at Llanelly, Wales, have struck in favour of an eight hours’ shift.. Sydney University is celebrating its jubilee by a series of elaborate functions. Sir E. Satow, British Minister in China, has begun the transfer - of the Shanhaikwan-Pekin railway to China. Eight hundred Venezuelan Government troops ■ have deserted to the Revolutionists. Mr. Reeves (Agent-General for New Zealand) has received several tenders for the Cape-New Zealand steam service. Six hundred and forty persons are being prosecuted for instigating the recent disturbances in the Charkoff and Poltava districts. The Roumanian Government contend that the Jews in Roumania are treated exactly the same as other Aliens, none of whom are allowed to buy land.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will accompany the King and Queen in the Roval procession through the citv on the 25th. Ismay. Imrie and Co. declare that the Mercantile Marine Company will try to have a mail-steamer leaving for America every day. Siam has agreed to allow* British merchandise to enter Kelantan and Trengganu on an equality with Bangkok goods. The Glasgow Town Council is asking Parliament for power to borrow £750,000 for the erection of houses for the poor. The body of Jellinck, the missing bank official accused of extensive defalcations, has been recovered from the Danube. An epidemic of diarrhoea is-raging at Flalton, Portsmouth, and is said to have been conveyed by flies frequenting the city dust heaps. The Home revenue for the quarter ended September was £30,455.000. The Customs contributed £ 8,390.000 excise £8,920,000, and stamps £1,820,000. Burgess was acquitted of the White Cliffs opal robbery. The jury disagreed on the second count, that of receiving, and Burgess is remanded. Two Unionist s'heares have been sentenced to nine months’ impisoiiment for forcibly detaining free labourers at the Corona station. Rowan has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in conneciion with the Hustler’s Gold Mine scrip frauds. A large shipment of Argentine, maize has arrived on the Sydney and Brisbane markets. Notwithstanding the improved conditions of the service recruiting for ■the infantry branch _pf the British army is proving unsatisfactory. A thousand miners in the Pentre colliery, Rhondda, Wales, have struck as a protest against the employment of non-unionists. The King’s South African medal recognises services rendered in £ne later, phases of the campaign and long service in the field. The Limerick Corporation has granted the freedom of the city to Mr O’Donnel, an ex-captain in the Boer army. Russian newspapers are urging the exaction from Turkey of compensation for injury by the construction of the Bagdad railway, which conflicts with Russian interests. The Marylebone Town Council has declined Mr. Andrew Carnegie’s’ offer of £30,000 for a free library, on the ground of the incidental expenses which its acceptance would irfvolve. Mr 'William Chamberlain, a gentleman of means, has been found dead, asphyxiated by gas, in Blair’s Hotel, Glasgow. He had a return ticket to Australia in his pocket. The “Herald” anounees the formation of a combination of dll the important. lead manufacturers in the United States, with a capital of sixty million dollars. Mr Hastings, editor of the “Western News,” published at Ballinisloe, has been sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for publishing incitements to intimidation. There are differences among the Birmingham unionists over the Education Bill. Mr. Chamberlain presides at a conference of his supporters, who wilt discuss the Bill. As the result of the Victorian elections the Government has secured a majority of 37. No less than 24 of the old members lost their seats. Two candidates forfeited their deposits. The new Paliament meets on the 13th inst. Practically the whole of North Martinique has been declared uninhabitable, and the townships have been

transferrwl to the southern district of the island. The recent speeches of General Andre, Minister for War, and M. Pelletan, Minister for Marine, have profoundly irritated Russian governing circles. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce has urged the Bari of Dudley (LordLieutenant) to request the King to establish a Royal residence in Ireland. Robert Harding Milward, a leading Birmingham solicitor, has been arrested on charges of misappropriation of trust funds. The amount involved is large. The “Shipping Gazette” believes that the Peninsular and Oriental Co. will shortly make Southampton, instead of London, the Home port, owing to there being deeper water at the former place. The mill strikers at Lille (which is a great centre of the textile industries) threaten to wreck trains if they do not obtain satisfaction for their grievances in regard to pay and labour conditions. Sir George Turner stated that in view of the House having negatived a loan policy for public works they would have to be constructed out of revenue. He w-ould consequently introduce additional estimates. A sensation has been caused nt Jena by the release of Lieutenant Thieli, who was sentenced in Januarylast to two years and a-half imprisonment for killing a student in a duel, the result of a drunken quarrel. Owing to the Nationalists' attacks, Dreyfus reluctantly .yielded to Madame Zola’s wish not to attend the funeral of her husband, lest it might cause a disturbance. ’Sir W. Laurier (the Premier of Canada) and the Hon. W. S. Fielding (Minister for Marine and Fisheries) have finished their trade conference with the French Government and have returned to London. They sail for Canada Ou Tuesday. The Grand Duke Nicholas, aboard the Russian battle-ship Georgei Pobiedonoser. is visiting the Sultan. Russia’s insistence that the ironclad should be permitted to pass the Kavack forts on the Bosphorous has greatly impressed the Mussulmans. The police have discovered that Italian anarchists are conspiring against the life of the Dowager Empress of Russia, now on a visit here. A number of Russian detectives have arrived, and are safe-guarding her. The seats in a show-tent at. Sant Joseph, Missouri, collapsed, and 1500 people were precipitated to the ground, amidst scenes of terrible confusion. Two hundred persons w’ere injured, .some fatally. A force.of Turkish troops had an unsuccessful encounter with a band of brigands in Thessaly, near the Greek frontier. The brigands were under the notorious Pharma*kis. The commander of the troops was wounded and five soldiers were killed. The Bmneror of Austria is distressed at the action of the King of the Belgians in denouncing the Princess Stephanie (the King's second daughter) at the funeral of the Queen recently. The Emperor has invited her to Vienna.. The underwriters of the New Zealand Shipping Co.’s steamer Waikato, which left Capetown for Port Chalmers on August 27, after repairing her broken shaft, are reinsuring at 20 guineas per cent. MacCarthy, the acting-editor, and Dwyer, the manager, of the newspaper “Irish People,” against whom summonses were recently issued on charges of intimidation, have each been sentenced to two months’ imprisonment with hard labour. Eight thousand miners have struck in the Pas de Calais district as a protest against a reduction of wages. The Premier states that he will resist the miners’ demand for a legal minimum wage but has promised to introduce a bill providing for fixed hours as a working day and old age pensions.

Herren Dochin and Hemin ger, dlrecr tors of the Rhetnan Macheim Chemfcal Company, of Germany, hare been arrested on charges of having falsified the books to conceal gradual business losses, absorbing- the entire capital of £ 125,000. The French Miners’ Congress has decided In favour of a general strike and Ihis instructed the National Committee to organise for the strike and fix a date for its eoiumenceineat The newspaper ‘Temps’’ says the Miners’ National Committee is wholly against the projected general strike. Colonel Pershing, in command of an American force, has captured and destroyed three forts in the island of Mindanas, in the Philippines. He killed 28 of the insurgent Moros and wounded many others. The Tung Chan College, closed during- the Boxer troubles, has been re* opened with an official staff numbering forty-eight. The people who participated in the ceremony included eight thousand Chinese who were formerly Boxers. Colonel St. Remy ami General Frater have been placed on half-pay for testifying- that the orders transmitted to St. Remy in connection with the closing of the schools maintained by the. religious orders were civil and not military. At the Redfern sales last week New Zealand sheep were in good demand in an improved market. Shorns sold at 19 z 3 to 23/9; woolledr, 28/6 tx> 36/. Cattle were below late rates. New- Zealand bu.l'locka, £ll to £34 5/; steers, £7 10/: cows, £l7. to £2O. Owing to tightness of money in New York heavy sales of railroad shares were made. A panic on Wallstreet appearing imminent, the Treasury released forty million dollars by announcing that the banks would not require to carry a reserve against Government deposits secured by Government bonds. This resulted in the immediate rally of stocks. ■ French troops have destroyed 17 towns and plantations in the Ngonnie district, French Congo (West Africa), as punishment for the natives disregarding an order to sell all their produce (gum, ivory, palm-oil, cotton, etc.) to the concessionaires holding the land. Sixteen natives were killed. The remainder withdrew to the bush. .1 The Imperial Tobacco Company has purchased the American Tobacco Company’s British interests, including Ogden’s, Limited. A British company has been formed, with a capital of six millions, to be culled the British-American Tobacco for the purpose of amalgamation with sueh tobacco businesses as are outside Great Britain and America. Judge Curran, at the Birr quarter, sessions, reduced the sentence recently passed on Mr. Burke, member for Birr, to a month, and confirmed, without hard labour, the sentence of five months on Air. Reddy, member for Tullamore, including three months tor not finding bail for good behaviour. Japan's claim to impose a house tax on foreigners has been referred to two members of the Hague International Arbitration Tribunal,' one named by Japan and the other by Britain. France and Germany. The arbitrators are to choose un umpire. A shocking disaster has occurred in the Tirpintwys Colliery, at Pontypool, Monmouthshire. Eight men were ascending to the pit’s mouth in a cage-, when the winding rope broke. The cage, with the men in it, fell 690 feet, to the bottom of the shaft. The miners were dashed to atoms by the fall. l The Anglican Church Congress discussed the question of Sunday recreation at Adelaide last week. Bishop Julius. of Christch,urch, pleaded for better consideration by the Church of the condition of those living in crowded cities, whose only opportunity of recreation was the Sabbath. Amidst applause, he said that where men were living in crowd; ed places he would as soon play a game of cricket with them on Sunday afternoons as preach to them from the pulpit.

The Canadian Pacific railroad shareholders have authorised the establishment of a steamship line for the Atlantic trade by purchase or lease, and, whether thia is carried out or not, they recommend that a faat service be subsidised, the directors meanwhile to select ports suited to the requirements of the traffic. Dr. Scheffer, of New York, has joiiucd President Roosevelt’s physicians. On Monday the President’s temperature was higher, and a fresh incision made in the wound showed that the bone was slightly affected, though the drainage oi the wound established was satisfactory. President Roosevelt's condition is reassuring. The “Times” says that the unoffioial visit of Mr Wyatt, the Navy League’s envoy, to Canada and Australia la ill-timed, eoming as it does immediately after the Colonial Conference. Th view of the fact that the colonial demands need to be handled with rare tact and discretion, it would be wiser not to attempt to force the pace. A typhoon, accompanied by a tidal wave, at Odawara, in Japan, overwhelmed many houses. It is reported that 500 lives have been lost. The recent typhoon drove the Japanese warship Shikishima ashore at the entrance to Yokohama Harbour. The total deaths at Odawara, Japan, by the typhoon and tidal wave amount to 200. An American international paper combine is attempting- to establish an enormous trust, embracing all the American and the bulk of the Canadian output. It is intended to operate in England and the colonies. The Edward Lloyd Company, the wellknown London firm, and other big paper-makers will -ppjse the scheme with the object of preventing the British paper trade falling under American control. The additional Federal Estimates necessitated by the non authorising of the loan total £ 257,000. The greater portion will be expended on Postal Department works. To make up the amount the sums proposed to be returned to the various States will be reduced as follows:—New South Wales by £ 109,000. Victoria £ 41,000, Queensland £ 5500, other States to a lesser extent. Mr Harris (a district councillor and honorary secretary of the East limerick Executive of the Irish League) has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour on charges of intimidation and conspiracy; and also required to find sureties for good behaviour or an additional sentence of three months without hard labour. The “Pall Mall Gazette” says that New Zealand's meagre and grudging concessions to debenture-holders and shareholders in connection with the Midland Railway in New Zealand ■may slightly impair the colony’s credit, which is badly undermined by the attitude adopted towards the de-benture-holders. Mr Dealkin supplied the Federal House with information contained in an official letter he bad received as to the condition of the labour marbet in South Africa. The gist of it was that from 12,000 to 15,000 people, including hundreds of Australians, were waiting in the coastal t-owns for permits to proceed inland. His opinion was that there were no opportunities for Australians in South Africa. General Velutini, the national delegate, arrested an employee of the French Cable Company, at Carupanor, Venezuela. The French consular agent intervened, and was also arrested. The cable has been cut, it is believed by the Venezuelan gunboat Restaurador. The French cruiser Tage is expected at Porto. The French Consular agent at Carnpanor, Venezuela, recently arrested, has been released. The principals of the American Beef Trust have succeeded in cornering the breadstuff market, and also in partly cornering the provision supplies, in Chicago. They assert that they are able to force prices as high as they desire.

Lord Kitchener, speaking at the Cutlers’ Feast at Sheffield. paid a tribute to the extremely valuable services of the gallant colonial troops, and. to the deep love of Empire uniting us all. He hoped Britain was taking advantage of the lessons of the war, and would render the army thoroughly efficient and wholly adequate to meet any similar dangers and so place the security of the Empire on an impregnable basis. The autumn lambing returns for New South Wales estimate the number of lambs marked during the present year at 1,662,000, from 8,115,000 ewes put to the rams, as against 8,115,000 ewes and 6,329,000 lambs for the same period last year. The percentage of lambs marked was 20J, against 69J last year. The estimated number of sheep, including the autumn lambs, in August, was 33,716,000, a decrease of 8,141,000 on the number returned at the end of December last. The cause of the decrease is almost solely the unprecedented drought. An individual suddenly handed the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, near Shipka, where he went in connection with the opening of a memorial church, a petition representing the Macedonian Committee, praying the Tsst to intervene and secure the amelioration of the condition of the Bulgarians under Turkish rule. The ‘’Times” states that as the result of pressure which M. Zirsovteff, the Russian Ambassador at Constantinople, brought to bear on the Sultan, the latter has increased the Turkish forces in Macedonia to three hundred battalions, in order to overawe the Bulgarian population. Another ease of the application of Lynch law to negro criminals comes from the Southern States of America. A negro, who outraged and murdered a white woman at Corinth, Mississiopi, was seized by an infuriated gathering of residents and was burned to death at the stake. The recent burning alive of the negro is described as a horrible spectacle. Front seats were reserved for the newspaper reporters and for women. The railways ran special trains to the scene where the negro was burned at the stake. The position of the N.S. W. Government is likely to be challenged over the action of the Attorney-Ge neral in recommending the release of Friedman, a well-known merchant and moneylender, who was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment on a charge of receiving a large quantity of stolen property. The Judge, in passing sentence, said if ft had been within ■his province to decide the case, he would not have found the accused guilty, but he must abide by the decision of the jury. Within 24 hours after the passing of the sentence Friedman was released. The press and public have raised a great outcry against what they claim is a deliberate ignoring of the jury system. Mr Tom Mann, the labour leader, who arrived In Melbourne last week from New Zealand, was welcomed at the trades Hall Interviewed, he said: “I would not care to express myself very fully with regard to some phases of life in New Zealand, but, speaking industrially. I would be exceedingly glad to find the same condition of things at Home. If any man at Home were to ask me about the place. I should say: You receive fifteen shillings more weekly for an hour a day less work. Of that fifteen you spend half, because of the higher cost of living. That leaves you a margin of 7/6, for an hour a day leas work.” Mr Mann spoke in high commendation of the New Zealand Arbitration Act. Trouble is feared in Nigeria, West Africa. It is reported that the Emir of Kano is making extensive preparations for war against the British. [Kano Is the capital of the negro Stats of Sokoto, which is one of the districts under the authority of the British Royal Niger Company. The Company's sphere of influence Is south of the French territory. Included In the country under the company are the large districts of Gando, Borgu, and Bornu : its headquarters are at Asaba. and there is a military station at Lokoja. on the Niger. The company possess the eoast line from the Forcndos to the Brass river. The rest of the coast and a large Inland region. Including Benin, on the west, and the Cross river country to the east as tar as the frontier of the German sphere, forms

the Oil Rivers Protectorate, or Niger Coast Protectorate, since 1891 tinder a British Commissioner. The ruling nice in Sokoto, with the emir referred to in the cablegram at their head, are the Mohammedan Fuiahs. In 1883 the Sultan of Sokoto granted to the British Royal Niger Company a monopoly of the trade. The area of Sokoto Is about 200,000 square miles, and the population Is estimated at some 15,000,000, who are Haussa and various negro tribes.l