NEWS IN BRIEF.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 52

NEWS IN BRIEF.

A London, cable states that consumptive patients hare been successfully operated on % - in London and on the Continent". , If this \ means- that a successful method of treating consumption has at length been found, f ,then it "is fhe "nipst important message i which has_ come 'along, the- wires for -many t a day. " . T i The United States warships on their way I to ~the Pacific t under the command of I Admiral Evans v have arrived', at Rio de » Janeiro. ' -„ i -The Austrian Government is establishing [ radium health baths at Joachinsthal, in k Bohemia. ', The selection of the jury for the trial of Thaw, "charged with murder, is com- ; pleted. . -.-•---". I . Owing to the- continued .dry weather the price- oi* milk, in Sydney has increased a. penny a quart. 'n ■ " r * \ ~ • The mari charged^ with attempting to i wreck a train- at -Hofsham. (Victoria) stated • that he did' it to .^see what the train would . do. He afterwards said 'he did not ' wish ■ to. wreck the .train, hut to give, the Sine > repairer a spill' from his trolley for turninor L . him off the- line. ~/ • : \ . __ The - hot weather in Victoria gave , pla.ee , ,"on the 9th inst.. to a good general -rainfall. :\ A fatal case of plague is reported from. [ - Brisbane The victim- was 'a man working r --in a coal hulk. ' The American Consul in Sydney has re- > ceived - tender forms from his Government • " for 60,000 "tons of "the best Newcastle - soat delivered at* Manila-."- '<* Extremely- hot weather prevailed -through- '_ out South Australia on the 7th. and Bth. inst. ; The - 'temperature in Adelaide on the 6th was 108deg in the 'sha^e. - The heat wave abated on tne 9th~ inst. " - The improvements on the battleship ColHngwood have been begun." They include raising the turret amidships, jWhich enables an all-round S're. * .""_*, A London cable announces the departure from Dundee of ,-Messrs Hud dart, Parker, and -Co.'s new- intercolonial steamer Uli-maroaifor-New - -^Mr W". J. Fowler, of the -TTn.ite*7 , States House- of Representatives Banking ' v and Currency Committee, has introduced ; bill pToyklinjf - V>r* tHo ">w»tTvlT«.-«val -r.r ' -v\ ' outstanding nationat»bank currency ■secured . on bonds, and" authorising Instead .a* currency based" on the general assets of each Bank. •*■-<-**_ The renort of the~ New South Wales Superintendent '«f)Police shows a decrease ir. serious crime in Sydney, but an, increase in drunkenneesJ 1",."■"--, -- "„"■"--, - j ~Mr"W. Ai :M'ATthur \has resigned as a director of the Bank-of Australasia, not of the 'Bank -of Australia.:, as-previousiy. .cabled. Sheridan,- ,the^, steike "leader,"' has been " 'arrested .at Johannesburs, ,on "a, -charge- -of onurder 3)f the- -dynamite out-- , rages during last summer's strike in .the Transvaal.. • - - -- - - ' \ Particulars of the -murder of Clinton^ the ', blacksmith; at, Daydawh,- Westralia, showj it to have been "a most cold-blooded affair.j The victim, was in the throat while , asleep and his head battered in. . Mr- Ernest Jardine, 'the purchaser of Glastonbury Abbey," has' presented it to the • Church of- England.;"*- -' J „Gape Colony is issuing a '3£ per cent. , million loan at 93£. The German Reichstag Budget Committee - voted j£1,5Q0,000 for harbour construction- in Heligoland After hearing a. confidential , -statement and. the reason for the eonstruc,i, i tions. • . -' The . Norddeuts"che Allgemeine Zeitung' states that in , thef, event -of • H>ric - £eim retaining" the presidency of the German Navy League, Prince Henry of Prussia, . with the Kaiser's,- concurrence, will draw his patronage f rom'the league.' A bomb thrown- -under the postal * van lat the Solokoff station,, on the -Vistula railway, Russia, , killed two, eoldiers belonging j to the escort, and wounded a driver, -four J ofßcials, -and nve-soldiersT The terrorists | then robbed the van and- escaped. Veltheim; "who is charged N Tvith t having [ demanded money, _accompanied .by menaces, j fe>m Mr Solly Joel, ' has been < remanded. ; ■ The prosecutor's cross-examination showed ■ that , Veltheim .had^olaimed tcf be the Fate Mr "Barney- Barnato's political agent,' The--prosecutor denied that Barnato had paid I Veltheim £1500." "- ; r A. farmer "at Slaitland^ N.S. Wales, was f attacked by anthrax -after skinning a cow. .-He died^in great, agony. , * " . ' j. The heavy rains ,and_ floods cofftinuein I Queensland. 'Portions 'of the. Ayr-Bowen l,ines- are , under ~wa^er, and traffic is suspended. _ " , There is a- severe epidemic of cholera in Arabia. Two thousand two hundred and sixty deaths have occurred at Hejay since December 13. Five - deaths at Constanti- • nople are also, reported. " „ ' The position as - -regards^ ' the wharf labourers' strike 'is unchanged. Both -in Sydney and ' Newcastle the "work is being done hf non-unionists. " ■, - Captain Rason, who is visiting Sydney, " declares that the " new Anglo-French .Convention for /the New Hebrides" will work wonders. While formerly, everything- 'was chaos, in the future there" will be law and order. * Matters ' are most 'peaceful and quiet under the new order, and things probably will remain so. We are unlikely to hear" of any^ more ~ disagreements. An acute v shipping' rate-cutting war has begun. " The* White Star and other members of the Pierpont Morgan shipping combine, including the Hamburg- American and Norddeutscfier Uoyd, have refused to increase _ their rates to the level of those of the- Cunarders, Lusitania, and Maure.tania. The Norddeutscher Lloyd" line has induced- the, Nippon-yusen-Kaishai to abandon competition, at the- ports-of-Sin-gapore, Bangkok, Hongkong,' Swatow, and Hoihou- _- The -dramatic .-rescue of jeome of the firemen was a feature of the, Parker Building, fire, New ;YorJc - The firemen were unable to throw water above the^eighth storey, , so a number -climbed to the roof, but .found they were unable to descend. Their comrades- from the eighth" storey of a neighbouring hotel shot life-lines across, which the firemen, -caught and -attached to a chimney. -They then descended hand over hand, amid - the cheers- oi 20,000 persons iri" the street. ' • ,

i " The new forepart constructed for the : liner Suevic has been united to the after • part. It will be remembered that the Suevic ,went on the rocks at Liza~rd Point 1 in March last. As she could not be floated | off, the after -part, which was afloat, wat cut away* by means of dynamite and towed ', to Southampton to be docked. Messrs Harland and Woolf, of Belfast, then^set to work to make a new bow, and thisr was also t towed to Southampton, where it has now been united ~to the- salvaged part. Messrs M. Thomas and F. Sutchins7have been elected- Southland delegates to the 1 conference of the Amalgamated Society oi 1 Railway Servants,- to ' be held : at Welling- ; ~ton. -Messrs W. T. Talboys and .W. Burnett were re-elected-" aa trustees Of the Benevo- [ lent Institution by the - contributors and life^ governors. - ' . Messrs A. Tapper and Ji'N.'- Brown were elected to the Hospital Trustees by a. meeting of contributors and life ".governors oi '^the Dunetfm Hospital/ . The Auckland . Harbour Board has decided to take into consideration' the advisability of establishing a depot for the storage- of coal for the use of his Majesty's j ships. - - - "- - ' " \ Inspector Gillies, (in charge- of the Christchurch police,- Estates tiiat "the feeling of ■ 'hostility tqr the police-in that city, is ooh- - fined to the larrikin element. ■ - . The Christchurch • Domain Board has received no reply from the Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister -in charge of_ the s late .Exhibition, suggesting that a sum "of money should be handed to 1 the board- sufficient" to defray the exp~ense of "putting 'in order- that part o"f"Ha.frley^Park on which, the Exhibition ■ -was held. ' "'■.'•' . "At ChTistehui^h Edgar Neate was committed'ior trial*;' on a charge of '^keeping a' . tote ' "' ; - k - " A 'boy named Crighton Huddle, aged eight, ' was . drowned in tfhe Tiver at Ongauhe, " Auckland. - ' s A- telegram" from Owhata, near Mongonui, states that "A. Balentine, who only arrived there a few days ago, was drowned wh>ie -bathing. - - - - The second, wool sale of the -seasoy at Njtpier was much more successful than the first. Bidding was spirited, aati prices of ;the December sale were fully maintained, a shade - higher ' being 1 obtained for - special lots. -The condition of the -wool -offered was - much . heavier than last- year^ owing to the dry weather. The demand for lambs' wool was keen. •'----- . ' - Information is to hand- from London of the flotation 'of tHe Westport Naval and Railway Coal Company; to" develop a valuable "coal aroa frf the Westport district "A considerable number ,of are ; arriving to work^ in the Westport Goal Company's .mines. Many of the new arrivals are" from*lvfew South Wale's. - -~_