NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 June 1926, Page 4

NEWS BY MAIL.

LOST TREAM. RE. ROALEi, Apiil 2(1. The recovery of the Imperial treasure ships lying at the bottom of the Lake of Nemi (in the Alban Alountains, near Rome), which for years has been the dream of Italian archaeologists, mav soon he an accomplished fact. Signor Alussolini, the Premier, has give'll instructions to the Alinister of Public Instruction, who has charge of antiquities and monuments, to take immediate steps to begin this important work. A commission charged to devise the best means to recover the ships began its sittings to-day. The most-favoured plan is to dig a tunnel through the side of the extinct volcano, whose crater is now occupied hv the Lake of Nemi, thus emptying the lake and rendering the recovery of Hie ships possible. The ships lie at a great depth below the surface. Plans for the recovery of these ships were made as far hack as the loth, century. Itconurda da A'inci. also worked on the problem. Sundry artistic objects, including two wolves’ heads carved in bronze, now in flic Diocletian Museum, have been recovered by various means from time to time. THREATS TO A JUDGE, LONDON, April 20. Shouts of defiance were hurled from tin? dock at Liverpool Assizes yesterday against Air Justice Rigby Swift, bv John Doogan. 45, of Garston, who was sentenced io live years’ penal servitude on a number of charges of demanding money by menaces and causing grievous bodily harm to Airs Ellen Alossop and wounding John William Salmon, a disabled ex-Service man. On similar charges Andrew Joint Doolan, 41, of Garston, who had acted with Doogan, was sentenced to three years’ penal servitude. After tlicv had been found guilty Mr Justice Swift said Doogan and Doolan were extremely lucky men. For some reason or other which he could not understand those who were responsible for making the charges had by some oversight or slip not indicted tl.ttn together, with robbing their unfortunate victims, or he would have orderd them to receive 24 strokes with tl, ■ “eat.”

Two rogues of pestilential character more desrving of corporal punishment lie had never had the misfortune to meet.

I Breaking away from the front or the dock where he was standing, Doo- , gnu, a * all and puowerful man, swept his guard on one side and pushing To the other end of the dock tried to get out, but ho was restrained by warders and policemen. Brought hack to the front of the dock, he shouted imprecations at the judge. Unmoved, Air Justice Swift declared it was useless to hope that anything he hr id would have the effect of reforming Doogan’s or Doolan’s character. WINE SENSE. PARIS. April 2G. Seventy wine stewards were sc-t an examination in white wines at the Paris Hotels School •in the Rue des Martyrs to-day. ~~ . Iliey were seated at a number of small tables. Each man had in fiout of him eight numbered glasses of white wine. The wines were from Alsace, Burgundy, Bordeaux. Anjou and Vouvray and were of different years and quality. The stewards had to identify each wine state its year of vintage, and add a few remarks concerning its quality. Tlie first place in the examination wal taken by AL Lecoq. who is about 30 years of age. He gave the right names and vintages for seven out of the eight wines, and was awarded the annual silver medal of the Ministry of Agriculture. ZOO SHIP PERIL. ROME, April 26. Scenes of panic occurred, in the har-

bour of Naples when the steamer Garibaldi, which, in addition to passengers, carried a cargo of wild animals for the Rome zoo suddenly sprang a leak.

Tho ship heeled over without warning, and the rush of passengers on deck was followed by the angry rears of lions, tigers aand other animals in the hold.

The ship had so great a list that it was impossible to launch the lifeboats, and tho passengers had to remain between the perils of the water and the wild animals for some hours till divois repaired the leak. FIRE TRAPS MAN. LONDON, April 26. Fire broke out early yesterday moruintr at the United Board Club in Queen Street, Portsea, Portsmouth. The club is carried on by the Free Churches for the accommodation of naval men, soldiers, merchant seamen and others. Eighty people were sleeping on the premises, hut it was thought 'that tlicy had all escaped unhurt. The fire, fanned by a strong wind, spread rapidly, hut the firemen worn able to save the lower part of the building. Then, after an hour’s work, cries of “Firemen! Firemen!” attracted attention, and it was found that Walter John Winter, a fireman in the White Star liner. Olympic, was still in one of the cubicles, falling material having I,locked the door and prevented him front escaping.

He was rescued and taken to hospital suffering from shock and slight burns.

burglar, scaled off. LONDON, -..April 20. A cat burglar who sealed a stackpipe at A. Cheyne-wnjk, Chelsea. S.W., the house of Sir Howard Frank, on Saturday night, took fright alter blundering into a room where two nursemaids were sitting. He made a hurried escape by sliding down the pipe lie had just climbed. He took away no property of any kind.

Sir Howard said So a reporter last, night that the man had carried out his attempt with extraordinary audacity. Many rooms in the house were lit- u]i at the time. He added :

1 am convinced, therefore, that ho must have bc«?n keeping a close watch on the place and had learned of the temporary absence from home of Lady Frank and myself. I have no doubt also that he had ascertained the fact that wo dispovd of our dog a. few weeks ago.

Before lie saw the nursemaids the intrdnder entered a bedroom where Sir Howard and Lady Frank’s two small sons were sleeping and passed into the day nursery. .'BOGUS BARONET. LONDON, April 20. Fen ten ces of fourteen months’ an three, months’ imprisonment with hard labour, to run concurrently, were passed by the Recorder (Sir Ernest Wild, K.C.) at the Old Bailey yesterday on Royston Gilbert Granville Jackson, 36. who pleaded guilty to bigamy and to theft. . Mr G. B. -McClure, for the proseciition. said Jaekson had had a. public school education. In 1910 lie was sentenced in Jersey to 12 months’ imprisonment for bigamy. “This man might have been an cx-eel'i-'iit actor.” added Mr McClure, ‘‘but instead of remaining on the stage be has spent a large part of his lile masquerading '>i.n. various ways, and has imposed on a number of women. When in Jersey he repivscnii-' himself to he a baronet. From a wn man with whom lie -lias been living recently lie obtained between £3,000 and £4,000. On many occasions 1 posed as a \ .0. His father is a man ol substance, hut his family will no! bare anything more to do with him.” RASSERS-BY KILLED. DAMASCUS, April 27. Daily fighting is taking place near

main city, excluding the salients of tho Salahieh and Midan quarters, which are the system of barricades which the French have now erected round the difficult to defend.

Bullets are whizzing night and day in those localities, while sudden fusillades sometimes burst out even in the heart of the city, the rebels shooting from the houses. The French troops are highly nervous owing to the difficulty of distinguishing friend from foe, and there is therefore much indiscriminate shooting and many harmless people are killed.

The other day a vague report that the rebels were approaching resulted in furious machine-gun fire straight down a street in the middle of the morning, killing ordinary passers-by. The Armenian and Circassian levies shoot anyone when there is an alarm and especially after curfew at 7 p.m. Despite the defensive measures, the rebels charge right through to the centre of Damascus in daylight, kidnaping wealthy notables and carrying them, off to caves in the mountains pending ransom. Several well-known citizens were kidnapped in this way last week. INDIAN RULER. BOMBAY. April 22. I am informed that the Bombay Government is considering the question of placing the administration of the Khnirpur State under different control owing to the misrule of the present Mir Ali Nawaz Khan. The State is on the verge of bankruptcy, solely due. it is stated, to the insensate and wanton extravagance of the ruler. Considerable unrest has been caused in tho State by the position that has arisen.. Tt is stated that there have been quarrels between the Mir and the new Wazir (chief adviser of the ruler), the latter vainly striving to enforce economy by the rigorous curtailment of the Mir’s personal expenditure. BOMBAY. April 22. Tho Mir of Khairpuv is alleged to have reduced the State to the verge of bankruptcy ns the result of heavy gambling on the Turf.—Central Nows.