MAIL NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 314, 15 January 1902, Page 4

MAIL NEWS.

UPTON AND THE KIM

' I'cr R M S Sonoma .1! Aiifl:l,iii>! > SAN FKA X ( ISro. Dc :'<i A despatch from London s.iys that j .Sir Thomas Liplon hail ,1 lon;.' inter-! view willi tin- King. during which ins j plans were nntulded and L he AnierieaJ (.'up raees discussed. Tiie Kim: show- 1 ed the Keenest interest, and offered j suggestions He said tie tiioulylit 1! [ would he lia.nl lo build a. boat, to beat j the Americans, to which Sir 'i'homas i Lipton responded that he was at. least I eonlideiit he could secure a yacht a ; good deal better than the Shamrock j 11. When Sir Thomas had explained i ins reasons for tins belief, 1 tie King j appeared to he satisfied, and heartily wished him success. Sir Thomas also j conveyed to the King a recapitulation! of President Roosevelt's friendly comments on the King and upon Hnglami. Such formed the gist of the conversation between Sir T. Upton and (.’(dollied Roosevelt while the former was m the United Slates. The King was evi- ! deitlly much pleased, and in turn lie expressed much admiration for Colonel Roosevelt's personality, which, unfortunately, he knew only by hearsay. 1 The King takes a great interest, in the preparations for building another challenger, which are believed to he already on fool. Captain Sycamore, in an interview, said tie would shortly confer with Sir T. Upton, and he had great, hopes that, the .Shamrock HI. would he the result,. A despatch from London snvs Sir Christopher Furness, an English shipowner and sleelntasler, who has just returned from a trip to the United States, said in an interview that during his visit he had been greatly struck with the great improvement in | American railroads. American trade i | was busy extending in all direct ions. Hritisk masters must get their hacks to the wall itt order to meet this serious opposition. Sir .Christopher expressed himself as greatly disappointed to find that the younger generation of Canadians were crossing the border into the United States. He thought Canada deserved better support, from the iVlother Country. BRITISH FARiMJNU, Mr R. W. J-[anbury. President, of the Board of Agriculture, bewailed the misfortunes of the British farmer in a speech before the Farmers’ Club in London, lie contrasted 1 lie positionin' the British farmer with that 01 the fanner in the United States, where, lie said, the tiovernmeut assisted agricultural inlercsls, realising I hot the greatness of the nation depended upon the natural prosperity of Die country. Mr Ilanbury said lie considered agriculture in (treat Britain had been deliberately sacrificed lifty years ago to the building up of the manulacttiring interests of the country, and the anticipated result, namely, that, Ureal, Britain would manufacture for the whole world, had not been realised. Instead of this, the speaker said, the world was closing its markets against Great Britain, and the Government in inltire would have to take much greater interest in these matters. Mr Henry Chaplain, President, of the Local Government Board, addressed the Club, advocating restoration of a duty of one shilling on, grain. SNOWSTORMS. A despatch from London dated Decent Iter hi snvs the breakdown of kingland's telegraph system, which is still in a state of semi-chaos, as Ihe result of the recent severe snowstorms, has produced a widespread demand for underground wires. This system is already 'in use between London and Birmingham, and is being extended northward. The Post Cilice authorities point to Die enormous expense which would he involved 111 changing from overhead to underground wires throughout the United Kingdom, but those who arc agitating for the change maintain that Die loss caused by the recent storms would have gone a long way towards defraying the outlay the Post, Office dreads. It is estimated that London alone lost. tadU.dOD by that breaking down of the wires, white the railroads calculate their losses from Die same cause at, about, £lu,m>o sterling. Another objection put forward by the Government is that underground wires arc slower and harder to work than overhead wires. Though the damage was inflicted over a week ago, telegraphic and telephone communication between London and the provinces is still incomplete, and in some instances not, yet, restored. TERRIBLE DISASTER. A disaster occurred in 'Mexico on December 2d by the collapse of the City Market-house in Yaealecas. Forty lives have hern lost, and more than a score of persons badly injured, some of them so badly that they cannot recover. Among those entombed were several officers charged with the management of the buildings. The mar-ket-house was one of the largest buildings in Yaealecas, and was owned by the city. Its lower portion was composed chiefly of cold storage cellars, in which local merchants stored their perishable goods, and it, was in the haseament: section that a (ire slnried. The (lames had gained such headway that Die entire building was scon to lie j doomed, and the efforts of Ihe firemen j and citizens were devoted to saving goods in the storage compartments in the basement and on the first lloor. Hundreds of men formed into gangs and were busily engaged in the work of saving goods when the entire superstructure. weakened hv Ihe rapidlyspreading dames, collapsed, crushing and burying dozens of men engaged in the work of salvage. Those who escaped injury from the blazing ruins were so ■ terror-stricken Dial, it was difficult, to organise any effort at rescue, and (hose who had not been killed outright- could hear Die cries of victims in the ruins. There was no hope of rescue. The Fire Department is poorly equipped, and the supply of Witter inadequate. Effect ive resistance could not be offered to prevent the spreading of the lire. The (ire finally burned itself out, leaving many unfortunates buried beneath tons of wreckage. As soon as possible an effort was made to get out the bodies of the dead —but the heat drove hack the rescuers for hours.