CABLES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2061, 23 April 1907, Page 2

CABLES.

PRESS ASSOCIATION— COPYRIGHT. LONDON, April 21. Tlie Daily Mail’s Johannesburg correspondent reports that the Queen of Swaziland is prepared to cede to the Transvaal one-third of her country, comprising an area of high mineral worth,for a subsidy of £4OOO per annum.

The Financier newspaper inter- \ jewed Mr. Deakin relative to the consolidation of State debts. He stated that the Commonwealth Government would attempt something this year, if they could get the States into line. Mr. Chamberlain is improving, and instead of driving now takes walks. The late William Whitely bequeathed an annuity of £l5O to Lois Turner, Cecil Turner’s mother, in addition to the annuities to Louis and Cecil he is already under agreement to pay. _At billiards Dawson, playing Lovejoy, 25,000 up,made a break of 23,769 unfinished, including 11,798 cradle cannons.— OTTAWA, April 21. The Toronto Globe declares that the purpose of the Imperial Conference is not executive action, but the interchange of ideas. The FrancoCan'adian press is against the creation of an Imperial Council, which will change existing relations between the colonies and the Empire. MALTA. April 21. While manoeuvring in a night attack on the grand harbor of Malta on Friday, the destroyer Ariel struck the breakwater, and had to be beached a total wreck. The coxswain was drowned. LISBON, April 21. It is stated in Lisbon that a Portuguese Charge d’Affaircs will be appointed to the Transvaal to superintend the immigration of Zambesi natives engaged in the work of mining. HOME, April 20. The newspaper, Popolo Romano, published in Rome, states that King Edward and King Emmanuel, in the recent interview, discussed the question of limitation of armaments. ROME, April 19. King Emmanuel entertained British sovereigns at luncheon onthc Italian royal yacht. Count Tittoni and Sir A. H. Hardinge have issued a communique, stating that in a private manner King Edward is meeting King Emmanuel, giving fresh proof of the personal sentiment and affection Uniting them. The meeting is not actuated by political aims, yet it will produce the best effect on the intimately cordial relations of Britain and Italy. The interview was a promise and guarantee oftlie peace of the whole world. MELBOURNE, April 22. Tho Board of Control further considered the question of financing an English cricket team, and decided to forward the following cable to the ! Marylcbone Club: “Board will allow Marylebone half gross takings of . ground only, with a guarantee that

such half shall equal £10,000.” To somo oxtont it was guided by past expenses. The expenses of Warner s team amounted to £9700, and as much unnecessary expense on that occasion was admittedly through the managers wanting Australian experience, it is considered the guarantee ought to prove satisfactory. A swagman named William Panton was found near Kynoton, terribly wounded in the head. He died in hospital. Deceased and a younger unknown mail was seen on the previous day camping together. Tho ground was covered with blood and hair, and there were indications of a desperate struggle at the cam)). Panton’s mate has disappeared. Tho s.s. Moeraki’s horses landed in good condition. SYDNEY, April 21. At the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the Commercial Banking Company, Sydney, it was resolved to increase the capital to £2,500,000 by the creation of 12,000 additional £25 shares. An aboriginal identity, King Collier, died at Nnrribri aged 100. lie was a strict teetotaller. The fact of his having been hocusscd when young was the reason given for his lifelong abstinence. Rapid inroads on tho Australian trade by Germans are causing some uneasiness amongst shipping firms. Figures have been prepared showing that out of 720,000 bales of wool shipped in the present season 255,000 were secured by the North German Lloyds and German Australian lines. Fogwell has challenged Arnst to row early in July for £IOO or £2OO aside. He has put up a deposit. Much interest was taken in the election to fill the vacancy in the University Senate owing to a determined movement to secure a lady representative. Mr. Leverrier was elected, tho lady candidate being a bad third. In tho champion motor-boat race Fairbank’s 15-horse-powcr boat covered the eleven mile course in 31min 22sec, defeating the Invincible, of 1000-horse-power, by 4min. Mr. Forsyth, a settler of New Britain, who is visiting Sydney, states that German methods of colonisation are far more progressive than those of Britain. They carefully foster settlers, while the British authorities give no assistance, and let the settlers help themselves. The labor difficulty keeps back development. Nearly all the labor comes from German New Guinea, and the company which controls that possession restricts recruiting to 200 natives a year.

BRISBANE, April 21. The Fortunatus has been floated, and was expected to reach Sourabaya yesterday. There are no details.

Stevenson, billiardist, arrived by the s.s. Aorangi, en route to New Zealand. Speaking at a Mayoral reception,he said there had been great doings in billiards since he left England. In regard to the cradle cannon, he contended, for the sake of billiards, it should either be abolished or only allowed say three times in a game. It was only one stroke, and a man could stand in one position and his hand keep going like a piston. It was quite possible to start on Monday night and have an unfinished break on Saturday night. During his exhibitions in Australia and elsewhere he would not attempt the stroke, because it was simply a monotonous repetition. Amateur billiardists liked to see all-round billiards.

TWO SHIPS IN COLLISION. ONE SUNK AND THE OTHER DAMAGED. ADELAIDE, April 22. A serious double shipping disaster occurred yesterday morning. The ship Ardencraig, inward bound from London with a full general cargo, in the first instance collided with and sank the barque Norma at the Semaphore. The Norma was lying at anchorage ready for sea with 31,000 bags of wheat aboard. All hands with the exception of the watchman were below at the time. The watchman, after calling the crew, tried to warn the Ardencraig, but apparently was unheeded.

The incoming ship struck tlie Norma a heavy blow on the port side amidships, cutting her below the waterline.

1 The Norma immediately heeled over , and rapidly filled. Within ten min- "* ntes she sank in 7-J fathoms of water, i The crew got out the lifeboat-, and 3 with the exception of the carpenter, Johnson, a Norwegian, left the ship as she was disappearing. Johnson’s absence was not noticed till the boat reached the Ardencraig. A boat from the Ardencraig went to search for Johnson, but the man could not he seen owing to the darkness. A heavy sea was running. The ' boat got to leeward of the ship’s i position, and the crew found it im- > possible to row back inward. They - gradually drifted to the outer harbor l works, where they were picked up by ) a steam launch. Later on the steamer Jessie Dar J - ling, inward bound with a wheat car- ! go, approached the Ardencraig. The > master, Captain Ronald, noticing a - spar sticking out of the water, boro ; down, under the impression that some ■ one was clinging to it. Those on the Ardencraig warned frantically the I steamer to stand off, but- owing to a misunderstanding the Jessie Darling ■ steamed over the wredk. One of the i spars pierced her, and in five minutes i she was resting on the submerged vesi sel. The master and crew had barely time to get into the boat launched from the deck before the steamer foundered. ' The double disaster was unique pro- . bably in Australia. Although the disaster, occurred in the early morning, and notwithstanding that blue lights were burned on the Ardencraig, nothing was known until 8 o’clock, when the health officers went off, the signal which indicated there had been a collision being taken to mean fhere had been a collision during the ship’s voyage. Details of the collision did not reach the city till late in the day. The Ardencraig is only slightly damaged. She lost her fore royal mast and damaged some plates on the port bow. She is making water slightly. ' The Jessie Darling had 20,200 bags of wheat aboard. Accounts of the disaster are very conflicting. The captain and chief officer of the Ardencraig declare that no lights were visible aboard the Norma until too late to avoid a collision, while the Norma’s crew assort the proper harbor lights wore burning all right. THE PREMIERS. LONDON, April 21. Sir H. C. Baiinerman’s dinner to the Premiers was a brilliant function. The guests sat at an E-shaped table, signifying “Empire.” No speeches wore made, it being a nonparty assembly. Those present included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lords Alverstone, Lansdownc, Jersey, Onslow, Tennyson, and Car- 1 rington, also Mr Reeves, High Com- 1 missioner for New Zealand.