THE OLD COUNTRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 19, 6 May 1908, Page 10

THE OLD COUNTRY.

The engineers‘and shipyard employees* strike has already cost the men lialff a million sterling. The Admiralty is inquiring for samples of tinned rabbits for supply to the naw.

Cardinal Logue, Roman Catholic Primate of All Ireland, and nearly all the Catholic Bishops urge the Nationalists to actively support the Licensing Bill. * Besides important realty, Mr. Stewart Clark, director of J. and P. Coates, Ltd., and ( lark and Co.. Ltd., who died a few weeks ago, left £2,000,000 personalty.

It is Announced that Sir Antony MacPatrick Macdonnell, Under fek»crctary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, is retiring with a peerage.

The by-election at Kincardineshire following the death of Mr. J.' W. Crombie, the sitting member, resulted:—Captain Murray (Liberal), 3960; S. J. Gammell (Unionist), 1963.

The remains of the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman were buried at Meigle, Pertsiiire. Five hundred wreaths were laid on the grave. Enormous crowds attended the last ceremonies.

The annual report of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, Ltd-, shows a profit on last year's business of £22,792. A dividend of 5 per cent has been declared, and the sum of £3235 carried forward.

At the annual assembly of the Baptist Union Dr. Clifford, President of the Baptist World Alliance, carried a resolution approving the Minister for Education convening a representative conference for the purpose of conciliation on the Education Bill.

Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P., addressing the Austral Club regarding Australia’s influence in the development of the Empire, argued that Australia was bound to be one of the great centres of civilisation, and a power in upholding and maintaining British prestige. Steady streams of stringently selected agriculturalists are availing themselves of the assisted passages offered by the Australian Governments to suitable emigrants. end last year’s monthly average is being exceeded. The Wincott Copper Company, which has failed, has filed statements showing that file liabilities total £462,643, of which but £70,071 is expected to rank for dividends. The assets are valued at £18,843. The engagement is announced of the Hon. John Ward, a brother of the Earl of Dudley (who is to succeed Lord Northcote ns Governor-General of Australia), to Mies* Jean Reid, a daughter of Mr. Whitelaw Reid (the GnUeJ Ambassador ). Mr. Harold C ox, Liberal M.P. for Preston, has emphasised the fact that the Civil Service and Revenue Departments have cost five millions sterling more per annum under the present administration than under the Balfour (Government. Replying to the congratulations of the High Commissioner for, New Zealand and the Agents-t General for -the Australian States on his appointment, the new Secretary of State for the Colonies (the Earl of Crewel promised to do his utmost to promote the interest of the colonies. Ship Builder's Lock-Out. The lockout in the shipbuilding yards of the north-east and west coasts is to be enforced from Saturday last. Thte negotiations for settlement failed. Six thousand employes in the shipbuilding trades on the Clyde have been locked out.

It is intimated ihnt the consequent, stoppages of other trades has thrown 80,000 men out of work.

Pan-Anglican Congress. A thousand -oversea delegates, representing 200 dioeeses. are to attend the Pan-Anglican Congress. : All the colonies. India, and the Ignited States, will be represented, and discussions will embrace all religious, political, and economic problems. Franco-British Exhibition. The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess, will open the Franco-Bri-tish Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush on May 11. President Fallieres will open the fine art section on 26th, and it is probable that King Edward will accompany him. Ten thousand workmen are employed getting the Franco-British Exhibition ready for the opening ceremony on May 11th. Jewel Bobbery. Jewels to the value of £lOOO were stolen yesterday from the dressing-table of the Hon. Mabel Vereker,' daughter of Viscount Gost, If is believed that the burglar concealed himself in the Viscount’s residence during the evening, and committed the theft after the family had retired for the night. k The Page Millions. In the claim for the Page millions the claimant, Page, sought an injunction to restrain the defendant, Walker, from interfering with his possession of a farm in the parish of Kingsbury. Mr. Justice Eve, in dismissing the case with costs, declared that the action was based on shadowy evidence and reckless statements. He wished that he had power to stop the proceedings. Fatal Tramway Accident. An electric tramcar got beyond control at Bournemouth, and funning down a hill at terrific speed was precipitated over a cliff into the gardens of Fafrlight Glen, 20 feet below. Seven of the passengers were killed and nine'seriously injured. Liberals and tse Tariff Question. Sir John Brunner, presiding over an enthusiastic meeting of the Liberal party, advised the Government to abandon the Manchester policy of laissez faire, since the Tory party had absolutely convinced the mercantile community that they meant to make a big effort for the benefit of trade when they regained power. Sir John went on to urge the Government to adopt a Liberal, sane, wholesome, ar.d sound trade policy, because when bad times came the mercantile community would accept an offer from the other side if the Liberals made none.

Resolutions were passed deploring Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman’s loss, and warmly welcoming Mr. Asquith. Floods in England. Floods in the Thames Valley have almost isolated Maidenhead, Eton, and other places along the banks of the river. A heat wave has succeeded the recent wintry weather, and the rapid thaw has resulted in the flooding of streams in Various parts of the country. Liverpool Docks. Liverpool, where the docks are all municipal property, is shortly commencing the construction of the new Gladstone Bocks, northward of the Hornby Dock. The cost of the new work is estimated at three millions sterling. Heavy Claim for Damages. Mr. Nicholas Luxemburg, a naturalised British subject and a boot manufacturers’ agent, of London, who was arrested as a political suspect at Odessa end detained , for a fortnight in a filthy iirison, has claimed £lO,OOO for wrongill imprisonment. He was released on appeal to the British Consul, but one third of his money Was retained.

Imperial Cable Rates. Mr. Henniker Heaton, the postal reformer, in the “Financial Review of Reviews, ” advocates a charge of a penny a word for telegrams throughout the Empire and eventually throughout the world. He urges the Honje and Colonial Governments to acquire all land lines and enler Imperial cables at a fair valuation, and work them for the benefit of the whole people. Preachers Wanted. Dr. Lowther Clarke, Archbishop of Melbourne, delivered at Great St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge, a stirring appeal to undergraduates. He emphasised the Church’s need of men both at Home ami in Australia, and also the hopefulness and power of her work, in those distant new communities of the English-speaking people. A New Zealand Musi can. Francis Hutchins, a young New Zealand pianist, has been awarded the Thelberg scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Francis Hutchens, a lad of about fifteen years of age, was born at Hawera, where he received his early musical training from his father. Prior to nis departure for London he showed exceptional promise and ability, and being very enthusiastic and earnest in his musical studies, a bright future is anticipated for him. Mr. Asquith’s “ Critical Time.” Addressing a meeting of the Liberal party at the Reform Club, the Prime Minister (Mr. Asquith) expressed warm gratitude at the confidence that had been reposed in him. Mr. Asquith said he attached little importance to the Liberal reverses at the by-elections. He admitted that this was a critical time in Parliamentary affairs. Jt was still necessary to defend free trade, and he hoped that an education concordat was possible, but the Liberals were unable to abandon either their principles or their friends. Though the Licensing Bill had met with an unprecedented storm of misrepresentation and vituperation, nothing the Liberals had done for years had given them more real foothold- among intelligent* people. The Government was determined rather to sink in attempting to solve this problem than not to attempt to solve it. Mr. Winstone Chur chill. Mr. Winston Churchill has accepted the invitation from the Liberals of Dundee to contest that constituency, and Mr. J. W. Philipps, Liberal member for Pembrokeshire, who offered to retire in his favour, will retain his seat.

The United Irish League of Great Britain has advised the electors of Dundee to support Mr. Churchill, whose declarations in regard to Home Rule are entirely satisfactory, and pronounced by Mr. Asquith to be the Government’s policy.

Mr. Churchill’s address to the electors of Dundee urges support for great causes before local needs, thus helping to keep the levers of social progression in the grasp of the Liberal party. Mr. J. Keir Hardie, M.R., referring to the by-election at Dundee, declared that with Stuart (Labourite) as a candidate the electors were unlikely to welcome the slippery young gentleman with a fatal facility for making promises whom Manchester had turned adrift after a fairtrial. Dundee Election. Sir Geo. Washington Baxter, a Liberal Unionist and tariff reformer and a popular manufacturer, will oppose Mr. Winston Churchill for the Dundee seat at the by election necessitated by the elevation of Mr. Edmund Robertson to the peerage. Mr. Stuart, a Labour candidate, will also stand. Nava] Disasters. Disasters to vessels of the British Navy have been alarmingly frequent of late, and the third within a fortnight occurred on April 27th. The scout Attentive, a vessel of 2940 tons and developing a speed of 25 knots, commanded by Captain Lewis Bayly,

Commodore in Home Fleet in charge of torpedo bo t destroyers, was leading right manoeuvres, accompanied by a lice! of fifteen destroyers. off the Knock sandbank, on t he’Kent ish coast when she rammed the d< atroyer Gala, a little craft of 590 tons with a. speed of 25A knots. The Gaia, which w s struck abaft the engineroom, was cut chan in halves. The afterpart sank, but the closing of the watertight compartments kept the forepart afloat, and the crew being all on thU portion, it was towed into shallow water, one of the destroyers going in and rescuing the crew. Dining (he collision Lieutenant Fletcher was killed in his berth. The scout Adventure also < . me into collision with the destroyer Riddle, but the damage was not extensive, and the destroyer was able to return to Sheerness. The Gala and fifteen other destroyers attacked the Attentive and Adventure, manoeuvring with masked lights in a very rough sea, at a speed of 12 knots. The Attentive, seeing that a collision with the Gala was inevitable, turned on her searchlight. Ihe Attentive struck the Gala on the port side, gutting her completely in two. Ihe forepart sank, but the stern part floated away, and subsequently -sank. AH the crew were rescued except Lieutenant Fletcher, who is supposed to have been killed while, asleep in his cabin. Ihe Attentive, after getting clear of the Gala,, struck, the. Ripple, knocking a large hole in her side, and Hooding two of the compartments. At the inquest on the bodies of those who lost their lives by the sinking of the British cruiser Gladiator, the coroner directed the jury that no criminal responsibility had been disclosed, and a verdict of accidental death was returned. On the battleship Britannia, voyaging from Queen sferry to Portsniouth, a boiler tube burst, seriously injuring live of the crew below. A third’ stoker has died as the result of injuries received when a water tube burst on board the battleship Britanni...