NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1920, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL.

WHISKY TORPEDOES. NEW YORK, May 10. In direct contradiction of the statement persistently circulated by the AntiSaloon League, Dr M. S. Gregory, director of the Bellevue Hospital, reports to-day .that the number of patients suffering ijpom over-indulgence in alcohol is daily increasing. The report forms the basis of a public attack upoß tbo Federal authorities responsible for the enforcement of Prohibition. Tlie extent to which smuggling has developed is ilustrated by a report from Detroit describing how electrically driven torpedoes loaded with whisky are b-e ing sent daily across the Detroit river frqm the Canadian to the American shore. The torpedoes submerge 100 feet and take 5 minutes to cross the river. They are emptied on the American side, ballasted with water, and sent hack to Canada for reloading. Dr Nicholas Murray Butler, one of the numerous Presidential aspirants on the Republican side, last night appeared as an advocate of light wines and beers, declaring that they are far less harmful to American digestions than iced water, the present national beverage. FAMOUS HOTEL TO C^OSE. NEW YORK, May 12. The Knickerbocker Hotel, at the corner of Broadway and 42nd street, in the heart of New York’s theatrical and commercial district, and one of the bestJciiown hotels in the country, is to be converted into an office building. Mr Vincent A stop, owner of the property, has purchased the lease oj the present tenant, which had 15 years to run, and has announced that the hotel will close after dinner on Sunday, May 30. Tim furnishings, which include many costly murnl dceorations, will he sold at a private sale beginning on June 10.

77 WEDS 73. LONDON, May 10. The marriage took place at Haslomere, j Surrey, yesterday, of Sir Mark Oldroyd, founder of the great Dewsbury woollen firm, to Miss A. J. Pattison, of Gainsborough. Sir Mark, who wi»ll he 77 on May 30, was knighted in 1909. His bride, who _ is 73, is a very old friend of the family, i She was companion to Sir Mark’s mother and, on the latter’s death, to Lady Oldroyd, who died last year. Sir Mark was Liberal M.P. for Dewsbury from 1888 to 1902. Ho was married to his first wife in 1871.