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S.E. ENGLAND ELECTRICITY SCHEME. BRITISH MATERIALS TO BE USED.
The whole of the material used in the contract placed by the Central Electricity Board with the General Electric Co., Ltd, for one ruction of the overhead trans- mission lines in the south-east of England, will be. manufactured in Great Britain,
An official' of the company stated that the contract, tho value of which was approximately £500,000, wool cover the erection of the 132,000 volt line in the distric north of the Thamos, sirotching from Reading on the west to Peterborough on the north, and Ipswich and Colchester on the east- The total mileage of the overhead trans- · mission would be 254 milos, and the total actual length of conductor would be 1,300 miles.
The contract would be carried out by the Generat Electric Company with the assistance of their associated company, the Pirelli-General Cable Works,,Ltd., of Southampton, the latter company carrying out all the actual erection work. The work of erection would take in all three years, and employment would be given in the actual eraction work to between 500 and 1,000 men, addition to that employment would be given to large sumbars in the manufacturo of the stool towers. steal aluminium conductor, insulators, and other accessories.
In
The overhead lines are one section of the systóm of overhead linos covering the whole of England and Brot land which are being erected by the Central Electricity Board with the object of linking up the main ganorating stations throughout the country and affording a cheap supply of electric power in all districts.
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►
THE HOTEL FIRE INQUIRY.
INQUEST ON THE BODY OF
MR. WOODS.
BRIEF EVIDENCE.
"This inquiry is into the death of Mr. William Woods. You will return a verdict upon that, but I ahalf extend that inquiry to cover the whole question of the fire at the King Edward Hotel-as far as possible Its causes, history, the point of view, also of construc- tions and Fire Brigade questions. Anything that arises from that for the public benefit you, gentlemen of the jury, will deal with in the form of riders," said Mr. E. W. Hamilton yesterday when opening the inquiry into the King Edward
Hotel disaster.
sent.
}
SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1929.
CURBAN SUGAR.
HUGE LOSSES CAUSED BY CANE FIRES.
Havana, Mar. 15: The sugar crop at Violeta has been reduced to 75,000 bags by tane fires, which already have destroyed 32,500,000 pounds of cane, large areas of the cane de stroyed belonging to the United Fruit properties at Ortente,
A cane cutter at Camaguay has been arrested and charged with starting a fire which has partly destroyed a plantation there.
Cattle ranchers have suffered thousands of dollars loss.
Cessation of the destruction is unlikely until rain falls-Routers American, Service.
can.
WORLD CHANGES.
DR. MOTT ON THE FAST
AND THE WEST.
Mombera of the League of Good Fellowship were entertained at a tea party given by the Euro American Roturned Students As- sociation at the Hongkong Hotel yesterday afternoon, at which Dr. John R. Mott, internationally known for his work as Secretary- of the National Council of the YMCA. In America, was the guest of honour.. A widely travel- led man, Dr. Mott had given much thought and attention to the pro- blem of International" relations, and, his address was heard with appreciation by the large gather- ing.
finding of the body, transforence of the body to the Mortuary, iden-
Mr. Y. P. Law, President of the! tification, and medir evidence. Returned Students Association, Public Interest in the proceed-Then I propose we should ad- presided over the function, and in ings was evidenced by the large journ to view the premises of the extending a welcome to their guest number of spectators, both Euro-
of honour, expressed their appre-i pean and Chinese, who were pre-King Edward Hotel as far as we
ciation of his presence. and also 1 Finding of the Body, the hope that the example set by Dr. Molt, in its being so encourag- The first witness was Lanceing to their young Society, would Sergeant F. W. Allen, who was bo followed by many others no leas on duty near the Government famous than himself. offices in Lower Albert Road. He stated that at about 3 o'clock he heard police whistles sounded from the direction of the fire.
The following jury was em- panelled: Mr. N. S. Brown (fore- man), Mr. C. Little, and Mr. L. C. F. Bellamy,
One of those summoned to serve on the jury was Mr. John Fleming,
A Former Visit, who asked to be exempted on the
Replying, Dr. Mott said he felt ground that he was a directer of the China Land Investment Com-
After the fire was got under con- much at home amongst the gather- Ing comprising, 18 it did, pany, the owners of the bulling trol, he was assialing on the top
repre- of the King Edward Hotel, I am floor of the Savoy Hotel. He en- many old friends and the holder of 80,000 shares in thattered through a hole knocked sentatives of those whom he had met in different parts of the Company, the capital of which is through the party wall and got on $279,000 or thereabouts," he said. to the verandah of the King world. He found himself instant- The Coroner said that under Edward on the Ice House Streetly in touch with them and reapon- sive to the great objects for which] those circumstances, he would side. take the responsibility of dis-
they sought. charging Mr. Fleming front ser- vice.
Mr. N. S. Brown then asked whether the enquiry was into the death of Mr. Woods or Into the whole fire.
Scope of the Inquiry.
The Coroner: The position is this. This inquiry is into the the death of Mr. William Woods, You will return a verdict' upon that, but I shall extend that in- quiry to cover the whole ques- tion of the fire at the King Edward Hotel-as far no is pou- gible, its causes, its history, the point of view also of construc- Lional questions, and Firo Brigade questions. Anything that arises from that for the public benefit you, gentlemen of the jury, will deal with in the form of riders.
Mr. Brown: "I should like to point out that as a representative of several large fire Insurance companies, I am very interested from the point of view of the in- surance. I want to make that point clear."
The Coroner said he felt sure that that question would not weigh very heavily with Mr. Brown, add- ing that the enquiry was not a judicial one, and that the jury would make recommendations af- ter the whole inquiry was com pleted.
Expression of Regret.
Mr. Leo d'Almada e Castro, Jnr. (Instructed by Mr. Leo d'Almada e Castro, Snr.) appeared to watch the proceedings on behalf of the proprietors of the King Edward Hotel; Mr. Hin-shing 'Lo, (in- Alructed by Mr. Leo d'Almada, Snr.), appeared for Mr. J. Witchell, the manager of the King Edward, and Mr. H. C, Lec, of Mesars, Wil- kinson and Grist, for the China Land Investment Company, owners of the building.
At the outset, Mr. Leo d'Almada e Castro, Jnr., said "I have been instructed by the proprietors of the King Edward Hotel to tako his very first public opportunity on their behalf to express their' very great regret at the unfortunate occurrence of last Monday morn- Ing in which Mr, Willam Woods lost his life, and to express their very deepest sympathy with the re- latives of the deceased. This aympathy they also take this op portunity to express to the re- latives of the other unfortunate people who lost their lives in this occurrence: Mr. and Mrs. Robson, Mr. E. Seth, Mr. Kish, (and in this regard sympathy is also expressed to the American Navy), Mr. Haille, Mr. Cheung Hoi-kang, (the Secre- tary of General Chan), Mrs, Teuf Kan-ghui, Dr. Wong Kwong-leung, and Leung Kwan. The proprie tora also wish to extend their sympathy to Gener-I and Madame Chan, Mr. Andrew Piccioll, Mr. To Chat, and Mr. Ng Jor-ylu who re- ceived injuries as a result of the Bro.".
Only Formal Evidence. Mr. Hin-shing Lo: "I associate myself with the message of sym- pathy expressed by my friend on behalf of Mr. Witchell."
Mr. Leo d'Almada, Jnr.: "If I may add another word. The pro- prietors also wish to thank the Fire Brigade for the very gallant efforts on the morning of the fire, also the civilians who helped the firemen in their work.".
The Coroner: "I am afraid this inquiry will take a considerable amount of time. I propose this afternoon to take evidence of the
|
He walked to the end of the
His Brat visit to this Colony verandah and found a body
was made 33 years ago, and speak- with the feet turned towards the verandah, the position suggesting of the changes that had oc ing to him that the deceased had curred nince, Dr. Mott compared them with the conditions of other held on to the parapet of the ver- andah and had then fallen back-big centres, seeing in these condi- wards. Witness communicated tions tendencies working in the law of progress, or at tiines what with Sub-Inspector J. S, Dick,
Sub-Inspector Dick was then amounted to the law of retrogres called and spoke of having notified sion. Mr. Mons of the Fire Department of the finding of the body.
Mr. G. C. Moss, Station Officer of the Fire Department gave it as his opinion that from the pool- tion of the body it would appear that the deceased was hiding for protection from the flames be- tween a door and the partition between the King Edward and Savoy Hotel.
Muscles Badly Charred. Sanitary Inspector Frith the next witness called and spoke of removing the body to the Public Mortuary.
Constantly moving about the world as he did, it had enabled him to observe with a more dis- cerning eye the traits of those with whom he came in contact.
His observations had led him to form the conclusion that they were living in a very dangerous moment, with much that made for dissension amongst the nations through ruthless competition- commercial, economic, imperialia- tic, and little that contributed to personal and social service. Fac-
wastors standing in the way of mutual understanding would always oc- cur, and they had occurred in place where least expected, as for instance in the relations between England and India, between the United States and the Philippines, between the United States and Japan, between Japan and China and between England and Japan.
Dr. A. Cannon, Medical Officer in charge of the Victoria Mor- tuary, stated that he performed a post mortem examination on body which he personally was not able to identify as either Euro- pean or Chinese na. It was burned to the extent of the fifth degreo; explaining by that, that the mus cles were very badly charred.
Witness said that Inspector A. Nicoll stated at the Mortuary in his presence that without any rea- Bonable doubt he could identify the body as that of Mr. Woods of Australia.
In witness' opinion, the primary cause of death was that of burn- ing and the eccondary cause war shock and asphyxin. It was not possible to form an opinion se to the general physical condition of the Body owing to the state of the burns.
The Coroner: "Did anyone olac identify the body in your presence besides Inspector Nicoll ?"
Witness: No.
In reply to another question by the Coroner, witness said that it was probable that if asphyxia was not complete before burning, un- consciousness was.
Adjourned Until Monday. Sub-Inspector A. Nicoll was then called. He said that on March 11 he was present at the fire and saw a body in a dead box outside the Savoy Hotel in Chater Road. He then formed the opin- ion that it was a very tall man and added that the box made a tight at. The body was then wrapped in a blanket.
Subsequently witness saw the body at the public mortuary where he formed the definite opinion that it was that of Mr. William Woods. Witness stated that the last time he saw Mr. Woods was
on the morning of the 7th when he met the latter in Connaught Road Cen.
Recent Changes,
Since his last journey round the world he had become, aware of the marked lowering of the prestige | of the Western nations, a change which one naturally preferred not to uce, but which could not bo ignored by those who wanted to see things as they were.
He likewise found that there was great dissatisfaction with the treaties upon which had to be) based the external relations af each country, but stated that this dissatisfaction was also common ae between one European country and another. He found points of friction. in the relations of theso European countries; and quotoi the words of an Ambassador who, In recounting the lack of stability, spoke of one country as oscillating between fear and cupidity in its external dealingá,
The importance of
ICE HOUSE STREET
dates back to the time when Ice had to be.. imported from the North.
The importance of
ICE HOUSE STREET has recently been much increased.
The
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DISASTROUS FIRE.
The speaker dealt with the work THOUSAND HOUSES BURNED
AT ISIOKA.
ti
When two races were thrown against each other, when the worst because, whereas the former work- was drawn out of each race, it was ed by design the latter merely then that they needed superhuman drifted unconsciously, guidance and strength to lift them from what must be comparable to of the League of Nations, and that the deepest depths of hell. He of similar politics; machinery, as. wished, to be remembered as hav- factors which he refer to as
Tokyo, Mar, 15. ing said it, that in the conditions working by design; ad closed
Over 1,000 buildings were gut. as they were presented to-day, with an inspiring note on the work
ted, including two banks, two there was room for hopefulness; of the Y.M.C.A.
At the conclusion of his ad-schools, a cinema and other public as it was his opinion, formed from
a fire which broke an experience gained by close ob- drese, Dr. Moit was thanked by buildings, in servation, that the factors work- Mr. Y. P. Law on behalf of thore out at midnight at Isloka, 50 ing to-day to draw the peoples present, while Dr, E. W. Kirk, as miles north east of Tokyo. Several together far transcended in power President of the League of Good thousand people have been rend- and promise the factorn which Fellowship, also spake on behalf ered homeless but there have been
no casualties.Reuter. tended to divide. And this was] of his Society.
tral. The deceased, added, wit- DIRECTED BY THE MAN WHO MADE “SORRELL & SON"
ness, was about six feet three inches in height,
The Coroner then adjourned the proceedings, for ten minutes, dur- Ing which time he held a consulta- tion in his Chambera with the members of the jury. On tho court resuming, Mr. Hamilton An- nounced that the jury would view the premises and that the pro- ceedings would be resumed on Monday afternoon at 2.15.
"For the information of every body," said Mr. Hamilton, the sitting of this inquiry will tako place on Mondays, Wednesday's and Thursdays at 2.16 and wo shall probably sit fill five o'clock. That will be the routine for the next two weeks unless we are ton far behind."
LON CHANEY
in LAUGH CLOWN LAUGH
A Great Side-show
of life?
COMING SOON QUEEN'S THEATRE
TO THE