NEWS BY MAIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 362, 13 April 1910, Page 8

NEWS BY MAIL.

WONDERS 01" I'IYIXG. PASSENGER TRAFFIC BY DIRIGIBLE. TO SEE TIIE PASSION PLAY. London, March 21. J Day by day the acrupUuic ami the dirigible balloon are becoming more and , liwr utilitarian, and the real conquest .of the air is now on the horizon. Only a few years ago the statement that a j dirigible would be shortly in use as a ] means of dealing with passenger traffic j would have been treated with a certain j amount of derision, but such a thing is I now an accomplished fact. I The Passion Play, which is now being ! enacted at Oberamnierguu, in Upper Ba-1 varia, is attracting large crowds, and in i order to deal with the demands of the j .public for transport, and also with the i idea of giving them a chance of experi- ] eneing the sensations of flying, a diri- 1 gible will be used to carry passengers j from Munich to Oberammergau, a dis-1 tance of 43 miles. ! CHINA'S AWAKENING. " TRIBUTE FROM JAPAN. » London, March 22. The Japanese newspaper Jiji Shumpo, in an article dealing with the invasion of Thibet by the Chinese military expedition, considers that China's action is evidence of a new sense on her port of her sovereign rights, and her determination to enforce them, not only in Thibet, t ibut in Manchuria and Mongolia. The incident may prove the turning point in Asiatic history. •Sixteen naval and military officers under Duke Ithas Tao were booked to leave China yesterday for Japan to investigate the naval and military systems there. This i? taken to indicate that China will model her army and navy on that of Japim. A TERRIBLE STORM. THIRTY-TWO LIVES LOST. London, March 22. A terrible storm has bren raging off the coast of Portugal, such as has not been experienced for years. Those unfortunate fishermen who happened to be on the water when t.ho storm arose have mostly lost their lives. The occupants of four fishing boats, numberim: 32 man, were all drowned. Up to now five bodies have been washed ashore. • *»* i «"• JOHNSON-JEFFRIES FIGHT. ESTIMATED TAKINGS. Vancouver, March 22. The promoters of' the fight for the championship of the world between J. J. Jeffries, the unbeaten white champion of the world, and Jack Johnson, the colored champion, which it ii proposed will take place on July 4, announce that the price of seats will range from £1 to £lO, and not from £2 to £2O as announced heretofore-. It is anticipated that the takings at the fight will amount to £130,000. Nothing has,yet been settled with regard to the place where the fight, if it comes off. will take place. When the last American mail left there peemed to be a split between Messrs Gleason and Rickard, the promoters of the fight, and something chaotic was expected. Sporting men affirmed that the likelihood of the fight coming off was very' small. Mr. Spry, Governor of the State of Utah, who strongly objected to the fight taking place at Salt Lake City, is not so strenuous m his anto.srnism now and the contest may yet be held at\the Mormon city. TERRIBLE RAILWAY ACCIDENT. FORTY-THREE PEOPLE KILLED. Vancouver, March 21. A terribly disastrous railway accident has happened at Reinbeck, a town in the' State of lowa, U.S.A., accompani#d by much loss of life. The accident occurred yesterday morn-1 ing. It appears that two trains started the previous night, one for Chicago, and one for St. Louis, the chief city of Missouri, the former being bound for Minneapolis, the first city of Minnesota, and the latter for St. Paul, the capital of that State. When the two trains arrived at De Moines, the capital of lowa, they were consolidated, and sent on as one train over the Chicago and Great Western tracks, because the Rock Island tracks were blocked by a wreck. . The double train experienced no mishap until it got to Reinbeck, when the front engine became derailed and dragged the second engine and three cars from the track. The derailed cars were completely smashed, and 42 people were (killed and 80 injured. The latest advices received from Des Moines indicate that a conductor named Nauholz and a brakesman named Chas. Marrymott are among the dead. One enginer named Robinson was fatally scalded, and the other engineer and fireman are missing, and are believed to be under the 'wreckage. A relief train left Des Moines this morning for the scene of the disaster, and a motor car carrying doctors and nurses left for Marshalltown, the capital of Marshall County, lowa, where many of the injured have been taken. Reports received at Des Moines by telephone state that the train wreckage is on fire, and that the rescuers are fighting the flames to save the people who have been caught in the debris. The rescue work is proceeding rapidly at Reinbeck, and it if- stated that many of the passengers in the calafnity were killed outright. The suffering of the injured is described as shocking. So far, 43 bodies have been recovered.