GENERAL CABLES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 19 June 1924, Page 5

GENERAL CABLES.

BALLOON RACE. BY CABLE—PEESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT Received June 19, 9.5 a.m. ' LONDON, June 18. Fourteen of the balloons competing in the Gordon Bennett race have landed. The Frenchman, Laporte, was trapped in an air vacuum above Chateau Thierry and remained suspended at a height of 9000 feet for eight hours. He jettisoned everything moveable in an effort to reach the upper air current, and finally he let out the gas ail'd descended 5000 feet, when the balloon drifted across the Channel and landed at Shore ham. Laporte is at present leading in the race, having covered 200 miles.—Sydney Sun Cable. PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. LONDON, June 18. The Cairo correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says the dispute between the Egyptian and Hedjaz Governments regarding the Mecca pilgrimage has been settled. Hussein has given assurances concerning the treatment of military and medical escorts, which caused differences last year. Therefore it has been decided to dispatch the holy carpet to Mecca next week. DECREES WITHDRAWN. PARIS, June 18. Seven thousand decrees for the expulsion of Germans from the French zone of occupation have been withdrawn. THREATENED POSTAL STRIKE. . OTTAWA, June 17. There is a threatened Dominion-wide strike of postal employees in protest against the downward revision pay of the Dominion Federation of Employees. Officials have advised the public through the newspapers to post important mails before noon on Wednesday. The Premier (Mr Mackenzie King) informed the House of Commons that the Government had received no official advice from the postal employees of the threatened strike. He explained that the Civil Service Commission undertook the revision of the postal workers’ salaries as part of a general revision of the pay of the entire Civil Service. Until the commission had completed its work he thought the Government could not properly consider the whole situation or make any recommendation to Parliament.