GENERAL CABLES.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3501, 1 June 1920, Page 5

GENERAL CABLES.

FALLING PRICES IN BRITAIN. CLOTHING AND BOOTS DOWl\‘- .10 PER CENT. ‘Received 840. LONDON, May 31. Following the American example, Selfl'idge’s_, the great London firm of universal providers, advertise they are reducing clothing and booteprices ten per cent, and groceries five per cent, pointing out that owing to high prices America has ceased buying British goods and Australasiznx orders are much smaller. Other firms afe expected to imitate Selfl'id-ge’s.

BELGIUIVPS FUTURE DEFENCE. DEPENDS ON" OWN EFFORTS. Received 8.40. ' -BRUSSELS. May 31. M. Lenikin, Mixlister for Interior, in :1 speech, stated Belgium should have a well-organised. army, capable of preventing -.1 disastier worsv than that of 1914. Alliances -and milifary ar--I':l}lgenlelfts between ‘T Britain and France ought to furnish Belgium with means of defence, but their materialiSatimx was uncertain.

OONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. CONFERENCE ‘IN CANADA. Received 111.5. - OTTAWA, May 31. ‘ln welcoming the West Indian delegates to :1 »confel'enee for closer trade relations to Canada, the Duke of Devenshire pointed out the real question at issue was that of making the future of the Empire secure. If the Empire were self-suppcrting its security would he unqnestion:lble. Mr Amery, representing the Colonial ofliee, entphztsised the Imperial aspect of. the conference, and said he hoped the outcome would be ix widening of existing trade preference between thc-.Dominion ‘and the West Indies. V 1-lon. E. St. John, branch Attorney-Genex-al for Jnnmcizl, stated‘ that the colony was'pl'epal'ed to enter wholeheartedly into any great scheme for the consolidation’ of the Empire. Represent-atives from 9.1} the West Indies were present.

TROUBLE IN ASIA MINOR.

XPTACKS ON C‘ONVOYS AND TRAINS. Received 8.40. 4 DELHI, May 30. Fighting ngaiiist tribesnien in Mesopotamia continues. Indications are that the hot we:lthe.l' will see :1 reeru«le.=.cen<:e of activity, Things are quiet on «the Euphrates, w-here the .a\l'abs were severely handled by our troops, helped. by -zieroplanes. '.l.‘herr9 is :1 general f(‘(‘ii}]é‘ of insecurity. Latest reports from Bagdad state a train was derailed ‘by Arabs between Shar-ga and Bayi, apparently on the instigation of the Sharifiah Government of Syria, and several lives were lost. Attacks on convoys are occurring in the same district. Hostilities continue between two opposing tribes. ‘ It is reported the Shah of Persia is sufi'cring from heart stroke and has cancelled portion of his tour. "Sir H. 0. Norman, who relieves Sir Percy Scott at Teberan, has reached Basra.

SCANDALOUS CONDUCT. PEKIN, May 31. Dissipation of Russian State treas» ure is :3. crying scandal in the Far East. Semenoff commandeered two thousand pounds weight en route to the coast and squandered millions: on loose Women, the latter passing through Chinese territory with boxfuls of gold. The Customs held up 315,000 gold roubles.

AERIAL FLIGHT T 0 AUSTRALIA. ANOTHER AIRMAN STARTS. Received 9_25 a.m. ' LONDON, May 3].. Pilot Hinkler, an Englishman, on a baby Av:-0, left: Croydon at 4.50 in the n‘lol'n.i.ng to fly to Australia.

AMERICA AND MEXICO. Received 9.25 am. WASHINGTON, May 31. In the Senate the Foreign Relations Committee reported that it favoured the United States policing’ Mexican territory unless Mexico can‘ protect American. citizens’ rights.

UNITED STATES’ MISSION.

WASHINGTON, May 30. M. Painleve, ex—Pl-emier of France, who is en route to China, interviewed, said the United States should partieipate nmra.lly' an€f‘TrTiiterailly in the development of intelleétual relations with China. M. Painlcve added ‘that the United S-fates, owing to her geographical position,’ was destined to serve as :1 link be'twven Em-ope marl Asia.

A DISAS-TROUS CLOUDBU RST.

A LINCIOLNSHIRE TOWN ' OVER.WHELMED. LONDON, May 31_ Louth is a pleasant Lincolnshire town lying at the foot of hills on the edge of a flat marshy plain. A cloudburst occurred on the hills a few miles distant. Most of the townspeople were driven in doors by the rain. Man? were at tea. There was no warning of the disaster as the rainfall locally was not excessive. The flood waters burst in the doors and windows of houses, and many victims were trapped on the ground floors. One woman escaped by climbing at chimney. Three children were having tea with their mother. They mounted higher and higher to avoid the rising water until compelled to cling to the curtain pole. They then either collapsed from exhaustion or the pole collapsed. All the children were drowned. The chief police officer attended the telephone continuously for three hoursstanding in four feet of water_ The flood waters at Louth swept away bridges, houses and walls in a few minutes. The estimated death roll is fifty. Parties are now searching the debris. -Only one survivor was found among the occupants of a terrace of twelve houses destroyed. The fatalities include four firemen, who were swept away with an engine.

ENORMOUS DAMAGE DONE. SEVEN HUNDRED PERSONS HOMELESS. Received 10.5 a.m. LONDON, May 31. The damage at Louth is estimated at £250,000, and over 700 people have been rendered homeless. The river rose 10 feet in 50 minutes, and swept through the town at a speed lof 40 miles on hour. About 1000 houses have been damaged.

_ SHIPPING. Repeived 10.5‘a.m. ' LONDON, May 31. Al‘rived: At Panama, S.S. Otira. EX-KAISER -HAS HIGH I-lOPI-IS. “OF fimcomxfie :RULER 01? GERMANY.

Received 10.5. BERLIN, May 31. A doctor from Ameriugen states the Kaiser has high hopes that he will once more: become ruler of the German Empire. There ‘are indicafions ‘that Potsdam is the headquartlers of a new 1-evolutionary movement. Prince August Wilhelm is regarded as the loader of the military pa7l'tiy.

A MOVING MOUNTAIN. ‘ LONDON, May 31. A moving mountain is threatening the destruction of forty houses at M:Lerdy, IL co:Ll:_mining village in C-‘rlanlorganshire, Wales, on a. branch of the Taif Vale railway. The pressure is bulging the Walls and lifting the floors. .

ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE.

NIECESSARY FOR DEFENCJJ OF INDIA. New YORK, May 31. The New York Times learns from Tokio that Baron Hayashi, the new Japanese anlbas.<udol‘ to Bl'it.'liu, will take up negotiatiiozis for I'ellew.al of the Anglo—Jal.~a.nese alliance as soon as he reaches London. Japanese publicists who support renewal of the alliance say nlodifica’r.ions will be made in the renewal, but they point out that the Bolshevist menace to India. is one of the reasons why Britain should «losire at 1'(‘I10\‘\':1l. The same Cm'l'ospr_)n(lent I'opol'ts that‘ there :n'(-. continued lieavy withclruwulls by depositors from provincizll banl«:.=. Two small banks in Yokohama suspended pnymen‘f.