OFFICIAL WIRELESS

Hokitika Guardian, 16 July 1928, Page 3

OFFICIAL WIRELESS

(British Official Wireless). SIR GEORGE WILLS DEAD. BRITISH TOBACCO MAGNATE. RUGBY. July 12. Sir George Wills, a former chairman of the Imperial Tobacco Company, died last night at the age of seventy-four. He belonged to the family of millionaires, of whom, since his father died nineteen years ago, .leaving a fortune of over £5,000,000, three members'have died, and each of them, has left over £1,000,000. In tho aggregate their fortunes totalled about £26,000,000, and in duties alone it is estimated that £10.000,000 has passed to the Treasury. Sir George was a generous stipporter of charitable, educational and other institutions, to which lie gave gifts totalling £500,000, including £300,000 to Bristol University.

NEW WORLD MAP

EXAMINATION TO BE MADE.

RUGBY, July 12.

Leading geographers from fortyseven countries are attending a congress next week at Cambridge, which is to lie held under the auspices of the International Geographical Union.

Many of the delegates are being receive! by tlie King at Buckingham Palace this week, and among other events of the visit are the reception by the Royal Geographical Society, another by the Lord Mayor at the Guildhall, which the Prince of Wales will attend, mid a Ibancjuet at Cambridge., over which tlie Foreign Secretary will (preside. A particularly interesting feature of the Congress will be tlie examination of sections of a new world, map, upon which experts have been engaged for many years.

Wireless has played an important part in its completion. Fifty-two observatories scattered over tlie face of. the globe, and representing thirty nations, have taken part in the task of verifying the world’s longitudes and in redetermining the configurations of the seas and continents. The principal stations for several weeks were exchanging radio telegraphic signals at the rate of thirty'a. day. Another factor in the checking of tho world map lias been the application of air photography to ordnance survey purposes. Representatives of the survey departments of the British Colonies and mandated territories are already in London, and have been conferring on methods of map-making as well as administrative matters, and several of them are going to Cambridge for next week’s congress.

BRITISH POST OFFICE. REPORT OF MINISTER. RUGBY, July 12. The Postmaster-General, Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, speaking in the House of Commons on the vote for His Department, said that Government securities held by Savings Bank investors had increased during tlie year by over .66,090,000 to £201.000,000. The amount of Savings Bank deposits had increased by nearly £2,000,000 to a total of over £284,000,000. , , . Ho mentioned that wireless telephony and broadcasting experiments with outlying parts of the Empire Vo re still in .progress, and said that the number of wireless license Judders in Britain bad increased by 207,000. or over 9 per cent' during the- last The postal service to March 31 showed a surplus of £8.850,000, the telegraphs deficit was £1.389,000 and the 'telephones surplus £120,000. Practically every Government in Europe believed that an efficient telegraph service was worth running at a loss.