MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Hokitika Guardian, 12 February 1926, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

[Australia & N.Z. Cable Association.]

GERMAN BUDGET BALANCES BERLIN, Feb. 11.

The Reichstag began the first reading of tha 1923 budget which balances at 7, II.().(’!)(),0,0 marks. The Finance Minister, Herr Reinthold, outlined tho Government’si programme. fie said there were 2.10) bankruptcies last month, aitid then? were approximately two million unemployed. The chief causes of the crises were a lack of capital and excessive taxation. Various economies would he effected, and extraordinary expenditure henceforth would I e covered by loans. A Bill would be included to reduce the present one per tent, turnover tax t» •(> and the companies fusion tax !mm lwo to one per cent. KfLLEI) BY EXPLOSION. COLOGNE. Feb. if. At the Cnrdouito works the Seldehuseii dynamite shed was blown to atoms, Cue being killed in the building. and another killed nearby. The cause ol tlic di aster i.- unknown. BRITISH IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. (Received this day at 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, Fein 12. ike Board ol 'I rude return shows the value ol imparts in January decreased by £11,238,0 ,‘0 as cam pa red with .January 1925. The principal items were raw cotton £9,321 ,(;*)(), world, timber 91.193X9 and oil seeds £l.-U7.0b0.

Exports decreased hv £8,370.003 mainly through the falling off in coal exports to the extent of £887.(9).). raw wool £1)92.1.33, cotton yarns and itumulaetures £3,2.,9,1:39. woollen worsted yarns and inaiuilin tines £1,213,C0T The only notable increases were in the following items among imports:— Rubber £3,7)82,039 and mmlVreus metals and liianulaetures £1.123,339. The value of re-exports of colonial and foreign products decreased by £1,5-11,003. TAKEN TO ELLIS ISLAND. NEW YORK, l-’eb. 12. The Countess of l‘atheart, who was detained on the C arinnuia since the vessel arrived on Tuesday leit the ship to-day and was taken to Ellis Island to lace a special hoard ol inquiry.

COUNTESS NOT V7AXTF.J). NEW YORK, Feb. ill. Th- • Board of Enquiry lias ordered the Countess of Ca.rinauia to be excluded from the Fnited States. AUSTRALIAN .MINERS AFFILIATE. LONDON. Feb. 12. Mr Frank Hodges (-orretaiy of the .Miners Fcdcrmiun) announces ike Australian .Miner-,’ Union leas affiliated with the International .Miners’ Federation. He hopes if will not he iong before a delegation from Australia mUmds the meetings of the international body. 1l is expected that the New Zealand Miners’ Union will be affiliated shortly. ARSENIC ON APPLES. NOT REMOVED BY WASH INC. LONDON. Feb. 12. Doctor 11. E. Bonk, the. well-known anaiyisl. in a special communication to the Society ol Public Analysis! 1 ;, says Hint, out of thirly-nne samples <>i apples only five we: e lie-- Ironi arsenic. Eleven contain;.l more than the statutory limit. Arsenic was found in Iresh Iruit to the extent of three per cent. Of that on the skin, he says that, contrary to the guneral view, arsenic cannot he removed hv washing the Iruit under a tap, and even scrubbing leaves an appreciable auiouni c:n the skins. CYCLING AND MOTOR PIONEERS. LONDON. Feb. 12. The deaths of two pioneers of the road are announced. .The first is Mr E. F. Fnrdon, at or Coventry, who claimed Lliat he made the first all steel bicycle with rubber tyres before 1838. The other is Monsieur Belmont, said to he the inventor of (lie internal combustion engine and the first man to drive 1 a motor car on the highways. RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS FOR V7O.M EX. LONDON, Feb. 12. The International Federation of the University of Women is awarding two research fellowships of £533 to he held in Australia ill 1927. The fellowships are to he used for a year lor reseaich hi biology, anthropology, economies, or colonial history. FALSE PRETENCES. LONDON. February 11. At the Bow Street Court, the Magistrate remanded for medical examination the New Zealander. Allred Dame: Walton, who, in the names of .lameDesmond, pleaded guilty to obtaining money by false pretences from -Miss Crichton Imrie. a New Zealander, and the proprietress of tea rooms. A detective gave evidence that the New Zealand office was inundated with complaints from Walton’s victims, from whom he obtained money by telling a tale of a lost wallet. Walton is aged 51. and was formerly a commercial traveller in New Zealand, Melbourne and Sydney. He was previously convicted in Auckland, Dunedin and Napier, and has been four limes in England since 1921. The prisoner’s brother came from America and olferei to maintain him. He pleaded that ser ions illness must have affected the prisoner’s mind.

“ Mrxixc; soviet.” LONDON. February 12

“ Rcoplc plotting to form a nulling Soviet are at the bottom ol the troubles in the coal industry,” said the Duke of Xurthumberlaiid. speaking al Birmingham. “Others factors contribute, but the prime cause is the fact that tliroofourtlis of the miners belong to an or-

ganisation aiming at the ruin of mines in order to get them and the auxiliary trades handed, lock, stock and barrel to themselves.”