MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 April 1920, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

■By Elect tie Telegraph—Cop,, ight.j HOW FUNOK DIED. PARIS, Fob. 10. Tli t i Austrian Embassy officer, Rudolf Fiinck, was shot this morning as a spy at Pincennes, outside Paris. Another spy named Guaspare and educated at the “spy school,” and Freiberg,' was to have been -executed at the same time, but he was reprieved because it is feared that during the last few days he has gone mad.

Funck, who had Australian identity papers, was employed in a Paris hank ip 1914, and remained there until the end of July 1918, when he left for Spain. It was then found that he had beep informing the Germans of where aeroplane bombs and shells from the Big Bertha gun had fallen in Paris. He imprudently returned to fetch a trunk at Hendaye, on the frontier, and he was arrested, He died like a man. He asked that he should not have his eyes bandaged or be tied to a post, and he himself gave the order to fire.

YUKON TERRITORY. j THE GOLDMINING INDUSTRY. NEW \ r ORK, April 3. Despatches from Dawson state that the Yukop Development League is peti-' : tioping the Canadian Government to abolish the royalty on gold, because the mining industry is threatened by the depreciation of the purchasing power of gtdd- , . The League is also asking the Govern incut to amend the placer mining laws in order to permit of extensive prospect lug of the lower-grade place creeks and valleys, and to induce the gold-dredging companies to extend their operations.

AN INVESTMENT BOOM. LONDON ,April 6. English banks are alarmed at the largo speculative investments, and have decided to curtail customers birrowipg by a close scrutiny of the proposed investments, and to request *l' reduction of overdrafts. The hulk of investments for 1920 have gone into cotton and shipping shares, Cautious financiers anticipate a reduction of profits in these undertakings. On the other band, the principal Atlantic companies announce a considerable increase in freights. UNGRADED MINERVA. BRUSSELS, Feb. 10. May Minerva be depicted undraped: The question was asked in Parliament here, and fho Minister of Justice replied that the courts must decide. * \ young painter at Mons designet for a local arts club a poster in whirl oUnwed the coddess of war, who y.

also the goddess of the arts? holding ( palette in one hand and a statuette in the otHey. The figure was bare of any draping, and when the Public Prosecutor saw one of the posters on a wall he was scandalised, “Have these posters sempd,” he ordered, and took proceedings against the artist. "The inhabitants of Mons werq muck amused. A song describing the Public Prosecutor’s ire was hurriedly produced, and the boys and others have been heard to hum it when he passes. The Mons comic weekly has. devoted its entire number to the incident.