NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1920, Page 1

NEWS BY MAIL.

Aill RACE .PILOT biIASIiOS. PARIS, Sept. 26. Tho chances of the Gordon Bennett Aviation Cuff beiiig won by the United Stales in to-iilbrfow’s international race at Etaiiijies, neitr Paris, have been jeopardised as the result of a crash there of tile Cox aeroplane piloted by Mr Rolaiid itolilfs, a daring American airman. ltblllfs now lies in hospital with a biokeii shoulder, strained back, and cither injuries. M’r Rayhhaih, the sole British contender fbl’ the clip, created an excellent impression in his final test flight with the Martinsyd'e biplane. He attained a speed tif more than 175 miles an hour, "and the aptitude with which he manoeuvred his tiny machine led many to admit that lie stands a first-rate chance for the cttj>. SEASIDE MYSTERY SURPRISE. CHERBOURG, Sept. 27. A surprise lias been caused here by the verdict of Suicide to-day oil the bodies of three women arid a iridn which were washed up oh the beach at Tourlayille, near Here, on Friday morning. Tile post-mortem took place in the mortuary there, to which the bodies were removed when burial was stopped. It has become clear that tlie police have discarded the theory of robbery and murder, but why all four should have committed suicide has yet to be explained. . The correspondence found in the leather 1 bag belonging to the nian and picked up from the sea on Sunday is still being pieced together. One letter relates to an important sugar transaction at Havre, and I understand that the police believe that ST. Moskos, as he ha;-: proved to be, was concerned in large sugar robberies recently at that port. This afternoon the Paris police called at SI. Sfoskos’s address at 35, Rue des Ecoles. It is a small hotel in the Latin Quarter called the Grand Victoria. M. Sloskos last stayed there in September and October 1918. Tie occupied two rooms, using one as an office. SCARED BY AVALANCHE. CHAMONIX, Sept. 26. Considerable alarm was caused among the visitors and inhabitants of Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc, by the collapse during Friday night of parts of the barrier which pqjis in the glacier known as the Mer de Glace on the mountain side above the town. Water which had accumulated oil the glacier during the heavy rains of theprevious days poured through the gaps, carrying great fragments of ice and rock. The menacing roar of the avalanche rolling down the mountain side brought scared people hurrying out of their houses in the darkness, but iv damage to life or property by the boulders was done, though many houses were flooded and gardens caked iii ice. / The rain soon ceased and the floods subsided. Few visitors remain in Chamonix. The train service is normal. BODY WALLED-IN. NEW YORK, Sept. 26 All the Pacific coast is talking of the niost weird murder mystery in the history of Los Angeles, California. Four months ago Mr Jacob Charles Denton, 40, a wealthy retired man, disappeared frorii his beautiful Home there, which some time since was let to a ten- 1 ant. Yesterday the private detective who -lias beeii searching for Mr Denton since his disappearance came upon a large pile of earth in the basement of the house. This he had cleared, only to lay bare a bricked-in room without a door winch showed all signs of having been recently built. The walls were knocked in, and -Mr Denton’s body was found wrapped in a blanket and covered with earth. burglar swallows loot. BERLIN, Sept. 26. , Arrested here, Willi Pansin, a burglat < who formerly drove the Berlin police i chief’s motor car, was found to have j swallowed the proceeds of his latest rob- - bery. It was noted after his arrest that j ho walked with difficulty, and that his j stomach appeared abnormally large. The prisoji doctor advised him to undergo an operation, but Pansin refused. saying lie would rather be operated on at his own expense. Next day he was found jn his cell with a deep knife wound 1 , in his left side. The Berlin Post says that an X-ray examination revealed “a mountain oi foreign bodies” in Pansin’s stomach, including silver spoons, small forks, a number of screws, and a silver nail file. FIGHT WITH SMUGGLERS. POPERINGHE (Belgium), Sept. 23. . Berthen. a quiet little village on the Frsnco-Belgian frontier near Bailleul, has been the scene of an exciting smuggling episode. At midday a lorry laden with three tons of tobacco, valued at about 1 0,000 francs (nominally £2,800) was being driven from Poperinghe, where tlm tobacco was manufactured, to an unknown destination in France via Berthen. The French Customs post about a mile outside the village was rushed by the smugglers, but the officers gave chase on motor bicycles. A running fight followed. _ . Entering Berthen the lorry burst into flames. Whether this was by design oi by a police biillet penetrating the petrol tank is not known. Tho smugglers abandoned the lorry and made off. The police saved nearly all the tobacco from being burnt.