CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24903, 17 June 1946, Page 5

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Suspected Murder of Housekeeper.-7-Scotland Yard is investigating the suspected murder of a 48-year-old housekeeper, Miss Elizabeth Mac Linden, who was found shot dead through the head in a locked room in a luxuriously furnished house in Chester square, Westminster, which she had been preparing for use by the King of Greece. She had apparently been dead for about six days. Miss Mac Linden was slumped in a chair facing a telephone and fully dressed. It is thought she was trying to reach the telephone when she was attacked. No attempt was made to steal anything.—London, June 14.

U.S. Seamen and British Rations.— Four hundred United Stated seamen facing British rations threaten that they will not leave four ships which they have brought to Liverpool for Britain to take over, states ithe "Daily Mail.” Ninety of the crew of the ship Sea Perch told the captain that unless they were guaranteed immediate transport without having to live ashore they would stay aboard. The seamen’s main complaint was that in British hostels they received only one egg for breakfast, whereas aboard an American ship they are entitled to two eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and fresh fruit The captain said: “It may do these men good to have a spell of British rations. They have been overfed to an extent which would make even American housewives jealous. They have been better fed than the American forces or civilians.”—London, June 14.

Inflation in Hungary.— Hungarian inflation reached new fantastic heights to-day with the issue of a one trillion pengo note worth approximately la 6d. Such a note before the war would have been worth £50,000,000,000 —almost enough to pay off the national debt. The value of the note, at the rate inflation is mounting, is expected to fall to about fld within three days.—London, June 16.

Display of Russian Flag.—The removal of the Russian flag from the decorations before the Victorian Government’s Victory Day dinner is provoking much discussion in Melbourne. It was originally intended that the British, American, Russians Australian, and Chinese flags should decorate the walls of the Queen’s Hall at Parliament House, where the dinner was held. After a large Russian flag was hung, however, objections were raised by a Labour member, who communicated with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. As a way out of the difficulty, it was decided to exclude both the Russian and Chinese flags. The Soviet Minister in Australia was not able to be present through absence from the city. From flagpoles outside, the flags of all the Big Five were permitted to fly.—Melbourne. June 16.

Australian Labour Conference. — Bitter clashes are marking the annual Australian Labour Party conference which began yesterday. The main point at issue concerns a secret meeting of union officials in which plans were drawn up to remove Communist supporters or sympathisers from the State executive of the Labour Party. When conference adjourned last night there were three factions termed “official,” "centre,” and “right wing,” each with a ticket for the election of the executive of 32. Voting will take place today. Clashes within the party are believed to be a reason for the decision of the vice-president, Mr W C. Taylor, not to stand for re-election. He was prominent in the expulsion of Mr J. T. Lang from the party and was recently appointed a member of the Commonwealth Air Lines Commission—Sydney, June 16. New York to London Air RecordThe Pan American Airways aircraft, Constellation, completed a flight between New York and London in llhrs Bmih, which is 58 minutes faster than the previous record. The aircraft averaged 316 miles an hour.—London, June 15.

Russian Official Charged with Espionage.—Lieutenant Nicolai Redin, of the Russian Navy, has been arrested again on a new secret indictment charging him with espionage against the United States. The original indictment charged that Redin had induced Herbert Kennedy, a shipyard engineer, to obtain information about the destroyer tender Yellowstone. The new indictment corrects the original. —New York, June 13. Empire Press Conference.—Delegates to the Empire Press Conference today visited the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s factories at Filton, in Gloucester, where the Parliamentary Undersecretary to the Minister of Supply, Mr A. Woodburn, told of the newlyproduced ultra-heat resistant metal which would take gas turbine development a stage forward. He asked those in the Dominions to have as much faith in Britain on the basis of past achievements as during the war. “We promise we will not let you down,’’ he said. The Parliamentary Undersecretary of Civil Aviation, Mr Ivor Thomas, said he hoped that by autumn priority control on the international routes would be relaxed everywhere. —London, June 15. U.S. Manufacture of Jet Planes.— A British and American agreement will be signed soon enabling America to make British jet engines under licence, says the aviation correspondent of the “Evening News.” The Lockheed Company is mentioned as the negotiating firm. “The news will be a considerable surprise in view of the coming American attempt to break the British record of 606 miles an hour,” says the correspondent. It seems to substantiate the. claims that American jet designs are far behind British.—London. June 15. Death of Infant.— Six babies from the Stirling Castle, which brought war brides from England, were taken to hospital soon after the vessel berthed at Fremantle yesterday, and one aged five months died from enteritis. There are two other enteritis cases and three cases of measles.—Perth. June 16.