NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 47

NEWS BY CABLE.

LORD STAMFORDHAM. Lord Stamfordham, wild was private (secretary to the King, left £143,707. VOX BULOW MEMOIRS. LONDON, May 18. The Von Bulow memoirs are being published on May 20 in a form accept-able-to Lord Lonsdale. PRICE OF PETROL. £UGBY, May 21. The National Petrol 'Distributing Companies announce a reduction of Id per gallon in their wholesale and retail prices from to-morrow. PROFESSOR EINSTEIN. RUGBY, May 19. The Oxford University Convocation to-day decided to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Science upon Professor Einstein at a special convocation on Saturday. BELGIAN POLITICS. BRUSSELS, May 21. On the fifth anniversary of taking office the Jasper Catholic Liberal Government resigned following a crisis in the Chamber over expenditure on frontier defence. LORD GLENAPP GRANTED A DIVORCE. LONDON, May 23. Lord Gienapp has been granted a divorce with the custody of the four children. The ■ suit was undefended. His wife was described as living in Paris and elsewhere. NOVELIST’S TOUR. SUVA, Mav 19. The Fisherman II sailed for Pago Pago. Zane. Grey is not definite regarding the future. He may proceed to Paumotua, thence to Mexico and California, and may return to the South Seas six months’ hence. MOTOR CYCLE RECORDS. ; BUDAPEST, May 18. j Siiheock is reattempting the record ' on the cement track. His cycle was repaired in 20 hours, spare parts being sent by air mail from London. Simcoek is the guest of the famous racing motorist, Walter Delmar. GERMAN EXPLORER. ; BERLIN, May 20. ! The body of Dr Alfred Wegener, ■ leader of the German Greenland expedition, who had been missing since October, has been found wrapped in furs by reverential Eskimos. The rescue expedition found the last traces of Dr Wegener s movements miles from Eisinette station. GOLDSMITHS’ COMPANY. LONDON, May 18. The Goldsmiths’ Company has offered ' London University £50,000 for a library at the new headquarters at Bloomsbury’. The university library already includes a Goldsmiths’ Library of economic literature, one of the most notable in the world. OLD MERCHANT SHIPS. LONDON, Mav 18. A committee of the Board of Trade has decided that a policy of scrapping old merchant ships is impracticable, as it is impossible to devise a scheme which would secure the necessary financial support from the industries concerned or operate equitably between individuals. MEN AND APES. TORONTO, May 20. Insisting on the kinship of man and ape, Professor Hill Tout, of the University of British Columbia, told the Royal Society of Canada that the blood reactions of man and ape were identical, and were totally different from all other animals.

GERMANY AND RUSSIA. GENEVA. May 18. It is understood in high quarters that Germany and Russia are indefinitely renewing the treaty which expires on June 20, under which both are pledged to neutrality in the event of a third Power or group attacking either, also both agree not to resort to a commercial boycott. POPULAR WAR SONG. OTTAWA, May 19. Urging the House of Commons to adopt stringent copyright measures, Mr Gitz Rice, the author, declared that he had never received-a cent for the famous war song “ Mademoiselle From Armentieres.” He was awarded 10,000 dollars in a suit against gramophone companies, but the lawyers got it all. THRONE FOR GERMANY. BERLIN, May 21. The Socialist newspaper Vorwaerts asserts that a secret meeting of Hitler’s National Socialists decided that their programme must include the restoration of the Hohenzollerns. Speakers declared that a candidate would be the exCrown Prince, who was reported to have attended the meeting.

EXPLOSION AT WORKS. BRUSSELS, May 22. Two explosions following a fire at the Coekerille Engineering Works shook the town of Seraing.. Windows were broken, and people rjishe.d from their homes. Fifteen workmen were injured, and one is missing. STOCK SWINDLE. LONDON, May 21. A New York message states that John Factor, known as “ Jake the Barber,” who is wanted in England in connection with alleged false stock operations amounting to huge sums, has surrendered to the Chicago police. He intends to fight the extradition proceedings. PRESENTED AT COURT. LONDON. May 18. The following New -Zealanders were presented at Court by Lady Wilford: — Mrs Leland Snell, Misses Patricia Allen, Nancy Beere, Valerie Beere, Kathleen Cameron, Esmae A’Court, Isabelle Lorrigan, Sybil Nathan, and Marie Moffatt (otherwise Te Kuhurangi Mawhete, granddaughter of the chieftainness Ereni Te Awaewe). EXECUTIONER RETIRES. PARIS, May 20. After executing 242 murderers during 51 years Deibler, the official executioner in Paris, is resigning and returning to his country home. Reviewing his career, he says that guillotining is not what one might call an easy life. One needs a steady hand and a quick eye. Deibler performed his last execution on May 5. His son-in-law succeeds him. EGYPTIAN ELECTIONS. CAIRO, May 21. Mn spite of the Opposition boycott 67.3 per cent, of the electorate polled at the elections for members of the Electoral College, which on June 1 will choOse from its midst delegates to Parliament. The result is regarded as a triumph for Sidky Pasha since the poll . is heavier than at the previous election. THEFT OF DIAMONDS. CAPETOWN, May 21. . April's diamond production from the rich workings named Kleinze Namaqualand, valued at £53,000, was brought by an escort of police to Springbok on Tuesday, registered at the post office, motored to the railhead at Bitterfontein, a village of 30 residents. During the night the mail bag was cut and the diamonds stolen.

FEAT IN MOUNTAINEERING PARIS, May 22. Dr Gregory, who is believed to be on the staff of Cambridge University, with his daughter and four girl friends, set out on May 18 to climb the mountains towards Andorra. The party returned safely to the chateau near Foix, from which they set out, accomplishing the rare feat of crossing the snowbound passes to Andorra. THE DEATH PENALTY. BELGRADE, May 22. Wearing a top hat and white gloves, the hangman executed a man who was sentenced to death for the murder of a gendarme. Th'” was the first hanging in Serbia. The death sentence has hitherto been carried out by shooting. The hangman threw his gloves a,t the corpse’s feet, and loudly cried: “ George Zhivaljevitch, I am not responsible for thy death.” BRITISH TEXTILE MERGER. RUGBY, May 22? The terms of the merger of six of the leading Lancashire textile machinery manufacturing concerns, with a total issued capital of over £7,000,000, have been prepared, and the directors will shortly submit the proposals to the shareholders and recommend their acceptance. The object of the grouping scheme is to eliminate wasteful competition in meeting foreign competition. JEWEL ROBBERY. LONDON, May 18. While the New Zealander, Miss Marie Ney, was entertaining convicts at Wormwood Scrubbs jewellery valued at £5O was stolen from her house. - A stranger telephoned asking if any articles of a • sentimental value had been stolen. Miss Ney replied in the affirmative, and described the articles. The unknown person promised to return them, and rang off. IMPERIAL ECONOMICS. OTTAWA, May 20. That there is a possibility of some delay in holding the Imperial Economic Conference in Canada was suggested in the House of Commons to-day by the Prime Minister (Mr Bennett). He said it had been the intention to hold the conference in August, but there were possibilities of elections in New Zealand and Australia, which might cause difficulty. COMMUNIST STRIKERS. ’ STOCKHOLM, May 20. The city is stirred by Communist strikers’ frequent clashes with the police,

resulting in. many being injured and many arrested. A crowd throwing stones from the steps of the Labour Exchange provoked a charge in which several suffered sabre cuts. Charging another crowd the police seized banners bearing inscriptions offensive to the Government. Order was not restored till after midnight. CRICKETER’S DEATH. LONDON, May 18. The jury returned a verdict that Cuffe committed suicide while of unsound mind. The body of J. A. Cuffe, the Worcestershire cricketer, formerly of New South Wales, was recovered from the River Trent. He had recently from New South Wales, and had talcen up his duties as cricket coach at the Repton School. 1 WELLINGTON FLOATING DOCK. LONDON, May 22. A floating dock 548 feet long, with a lifting capacity of 17,000 tons, is being launched at Swan and Hunter's yards at Wallsend-on-Tyne on June 30. The dock, with two tugs in attendance, will leave in September for a record tow to Wellington via Suez and Singapore. Mrs A. G. Barnett, wife of the secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board, will name it the Jubilee Dqck, in commemoration of the board’s jubilee. DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. LONDON, May 18. “ Give half your wealth to the poor and I will do the same,” is a challenge to Sir Charles Trevelyan by a wealthy Conservative as the sequel to Sir Charles Trevelyan’s recent statement that the world’s central need to-day is the better distribution of wealth. The offer is open for a week. Sir Charles Trevelyan is president of the Board of Education, and has been Labour M.P. for Central Newcastle since 1922. EMPIRE’S MANHOOD. LONDON, May 21. At the Royal Empire Society’s Empire Day dinner, at which the High Commissioners and Agents-general were present, Earl Jellieoe said he saw signs of weakening of the virile manhood, the public spirit, and the discipline which had built the Empire. Biitain was tending to reduce her armaments below the essential limit, and the Allies 'were increasing their naval strengths. Biitain alone had reduced hers since the war. SAFETY AT SEA. TORONTO, May 20. Professor Louis King, of the M'Gill Univeisity, addressing the Royal Society of Canada, said that a foghorn had been invented which would enable a ship to determine its exact distance from a danger point by means of simultaneous sounds sent out by radio, and picked up by a delicate machine on the ship. The difference in time between their arrival would enable an accurate calculation of the distance which the messages had coine.

THE KING AND QUEEN. RUGBY, Mav 21. The King and Queen have left Buckingham Palace for Sandringham (Norfolk), where they will remain over Whitsuntide. They return to London next Wednesday. His Majesty will give his annual dinner to members of thee Jockey Club at Buckingham Palace on June 2, the eve of the Derby. May 22. The Prince of Wales left Hendon aerodrome this afternoon for Sandringham, where the King and Queen are spending the Whitsuntide. FIRE TRAGEDY. LONDON, May 20. Cut off from the stairs and overcome by smoke six people, including a family of five with twin infants, perished in a fire in a condemned slum tenement at Hull. The firemen were informed that everybody had escaped, but when they entered the building they found the charred bodies of the family in an attic, where they had slept. The other victim was found in an adjoining attic. Six others were taken to hospital suffering from burns. DUKE OF CONNAUGHT. RUGBY, May 21. A slight operation was performed on the Duke of Connaught when a polypus, a solid mucous growth, was removed from his nose. This will necessitate remaining indoors for a few days. The duke, who is the King’s uncle, was 81 this month. His general health is excellent. Last night he was present at a private dinner party, while he expects to leave London on Saturday for his country home at Bagshot Park, where he is entertaining a house party during Whitsuntide. WOMEN MINISTERS. LONDON, May 22. “ The army and the church are the only professions that are unchanged. Women have not aspired to be officers in the army, but I plead with the assembly not to discourage women who have heard the call to a high and holy vocation,” said Lady Aberdeen present-

ing the Scottish Church Assembly with a petition signed by influential women in favour of the admission of women to the ministry. A motion was adopted to have tlie question examined by a special committee. POPE’S ENCYCLICAL. ROME, May 23. The text of the recent encyclical is published. It declares that the Church and its head have not Only the right, but the duty, of expressing an opinion on social matters, because they bear a relation to moral matters. The economic system must be reorganised to ensure a just distribution of capital and labour. lhe difference between the social classes must not disappear, because they were willed by God, but the proletariat must gradually be raised to a level of niodest well-being guaranteed by proper, fair wages. ARTIFICIAL FOG. PARIS, May 23. The creation of artificial fog to protect towns and villages in wartime is now regarded as a practical proposition. In the presence of Marshal Petain the whole village of Linselles, near Lille, was blotted out in half an hour from air and land. A compound containing sul plnirie anhydryde and sulphuric acid was injected into four long iron tanks hold ing lime. Immediately thick clouds emerged, causing only a slight harmless coughing among the spectators. The cost will be small and communities will be able to make their own protective smoke screens.

WAVE OF SUPERSTITION. LONDON, May 22. The Daily Mail s Constantinople correspondent says:— Thousands of Turks and Greeks, mostly women, sat up throughout the night awaiting the end of the world. They beseiged the observatory with telephone calls asking whether science supported the rumour that an Apocalyptic face would appear in lhe sky and proclaim in a thunderous voice the last judgment. The newspapers fruitlessly published caricatures of the face with a view to quelling the wave of superstition. The population was greatly relieved to-day. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.. KOBE, May 22. The official world is perturbed at the Government’s salary reduction scheme. The Judicial Department is most indignant. The judges held a conference and drew up a protest. After discussing the strategy in the event of a rejection of their protest, a go slow policy was rejected, because it was undignified judicially. Therefore acceleration - was advocated, especially as there is a case listed (a bribery charge covering £10,000) involving a Cabinet Minister at present lying untouched lest the disclosures should injure the country’s prestige in foreign eyes. CONFIDENCE TRICK. LONDON, May 19. Gazing in an antique dealer’s window a New Zealand farmer named William M'Naught Cavan and his wife were approached by a well-dressed stranger, who offered to guide them sightseeing the next day. The inevitable passerby dropped a rosary, which led to the old story that he was arranging to distribute his uncle’s legacy of £BO,OOO to charities. Cavan handed over his wallet containing £l6O as proof of his bona tides to act as distributor in New Zealand. He and his wife vainly waited for an hour in a restaurant for the confidence man’s return. Mr W. M'Naught Cavan, who was reported in the cable messages from London on Wednesday to have been the victim of a confidence trickster in London, was a Christchurch man, and was for some years in charge of the old High Street Post Office. He later went to Oamaru, and was subsequently trans ferred to the Savings Bank at Christchurch. He retired three or four years ago, and left Christchurch for England with his wife in January last. THE NELSON COMPANY. APIA, May 19. The Nelson Company was to-day granted leave to appeal against the judgment of April 21, and execution Was stayed against the fine of £5600. Security for appeal was fixed at £lOO. On April 21 Mr Justice Luxford convicted the Nelson Company, Limited, on 28 charges under the Seditious Organisations Ordinance, and inflicted a fine of £2OO in respect of each charge, totalling £5600. On the second series of charges under the Maintenance of Authority in Native Affairs Ordinance, the prosecution withdraw the charges. In his summing up the judge strongly condemned the defendant company. FORMER BEAUTY QUEEN. NICE, May 20. The murder trial of Mrs Charlotte Nirdlinger, a former American beauty queen, has aroused tremendous interest. She is charged with shooting her husband, who owned a chain of American theatres. She pleaded self defence on the ground of her husband’s cruelty, and was acquitted. She received a tremendous ovation outside the court. It was revealed that she married her husband three times. When first married she discovered that he was a bigamist and divorced him, but they re-married.

Jhe pair were divorced a few mouths later and were married for the third time two years ago. ?•

COAL MINING INDUSTRY. RUGBY, May 21. A more hopeful phase.in the coal situation was discussed by the executive of the Miners’Federation in London 10-day. Ihey considered letters from the Coal Owners’ Association stating powers were being sought from the districts to negotiate on a national basis for a settlement °n ; wages and hours. Hitherto the owners have adhered to the '>ew that wages could be discussed and settled only in the districts according to their varying circumstances and local requirements.

Mr A. J. Cook, the miners’ secretary, after the executive meeting, said that they would do everything in their power to facilitate successful negotiations so that peace in the mining industry niMit be secured. - o

MIXED MARRIAGES'. TORONTO, May 22. That the intermixing and marriage between Orientals and whites in British Columbia would not only settle race problems, but that the resultant race would be superior to both the present races is the opinion of Dr Charles Hill Tout,’ the Vancouver anthropologist. He said that in ten generations, if racial and cultural prejudice were broken down and crossbreeding continued, the characteristics of a new race would be fixed. Only by intermarriage to the fullest degree could there be a solution of the possibility of a race war. He thought that such a conflict was a possibility unless they checked up on their air of superioritv in dealing with Asiatic people and gave India self-government.

CENSORSHIP INSTITUTED. SHANGHAI, Mav 20. It was announced at Nanking' to-day that all incoming and outgoing telegrams throughout China would be subject to a censorship. Censors are being placed in all Chinese foreign telegraph and. cable offices. The foreign companies affected are the Great Northern, Eastern Extension, and Commercial Pacific.

Messages which the censors consider detrimental to the interests of China will be confiscated. Duplicates of commercial code messages must be submitted to the censors, accompanied by a written statement by the consular authorities concerned certifying to the genuineness of the messages. The Chinese Government states that this precaution is necessary owing to the increasing gravity of the internal situation.

THE BRITISH NAVY. RUGBY, May 20. The Admiralty has announced that it has been decided that two of the cruisers of the American and West Indies Squadron shall form a South American division to be under a commodore of the second class. These vessels will cruise in South American waters, and will join the main division of the squadron annually for exercises. It is intended that the new arrangement shall take effect when H.M.S. Durban arrives on the station to relieve H.M.S. Despatch, probably in September next, and a commodore of the second class shall fly his broad pennant on the Durban. Captain Lainepool has been selected for the post. Replying to a question in the House of Commons the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr A. V. Alexander) said that a new scheme of promotion had been approved by the Board of the Admiralty as the result of the report of a committee set up to inquire into the working of the “ mate scheme.” It was proposed to drop the title of mate and promote the selected candidates from the lower deck to the rank of acting sub-lieutenant. POCKET BATTLESHIP. BERLIN, May 19. Scenes of pageantry reminiscent of Imperial Prussia were enacted at noon at Kiel, when, in the presence of the entire German Fleet, President Hindenburg launched the pocket battleship Deutschland, hitherto known as the Ersatz Preussen. It was almost the sole topic in Berlin that the ship’s revolutionary superiority gives a new definition to “ Deutschland Über Alles.” A notable feature of the pageant was the presence of 10,000 school children in white in addition to 1000 war veterans. The veil of secrecy in Germany regarding the battleship has been lifted. It is claimed that her six and eleven-inch guns have a range of seven miles and ahalf in excess of the old type of guns, and also fire three times more quickly. Her light draught of 19 feet, plus her secret anti-mine apparatus, enables her to pass minefields and almost defy submarines. An extraordinary mishap resulted in the premature launching of the Deutschland. Crowds are speculating whether it is an ill omen. While Dr Bruening (Chancellor) was speaking of Germany’s pacific aims workmen removed too many wedges keeping the hull in position, and the ship suddenly glided down the slipway into the water.