MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 December 1921, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

( AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION I SYNTHETIC GOLD MADE. I LONDON, Dec. 17. j Professor Irving, of the Fisher Uni- ! versify, lecturing to the London f Scliool, of Economies, suggested that j there is now a serious possibility that i German chemistry may devise a method lof manufacturing gold in the laborajtory for the payment of the indemnity. I“I am informed,” he stated, “that ' one German chemist had already succeeded in making synthetic gold from J baser metals. He has done so by means of an electric vacuum furnace. It only I remains for a. method of cheaper proI'duction to he found to allow Germany j to sufficiently flood the world with cheI mical gold so as to make the reparaItions a farce; and thus, Germany instead of paying any penalty will get enormously rich by exploiting this new philosophers’ stone. The Allies ought to have fixed Germany’s payments in S' kind.” OBITUARY. PARIS, Deo 17. i The death is announced of Saint Saens, the famous composer. ! NEW JAPANESE CAPITAL ! SHIP, j TOKIO. Dec 16. i A new Japanese super-dreadnought j five Tosa will be launched on Sunday. Her completion has been expected, aej cording to Japan’s original plans of naval construction. The unemployment situation in Japan owing to naval changes is becoming veto- serious. Many ef the shipyards acting on their own authority, have suspended all work. BIG BUTTER SLUMP. LONDON, Dec. 17. The Australian and New Zealand High Commissioners and Trade Commissioners have conferred together with reference to the butter market conditions, which are now going from bad to worse, every day. The slump is largely attributable to the existence of 800,000 boxes of a sni-plus of controlled Australasian butter in the Government stores. Each attempt to reduce these stocks is producing a further slump. It is reported that the British Government is considering a certain private firm’s offer to purchase the whole of these stocks. The butter traders believe that this ought to have been done a year ago. They now fear a repetition of the experience that followed on the sale of the Government stocks of meat. It is anticipated that Australia and New Zealand will make some pointed representations to the Home Government; next week.