ite din 3 plans for 'say that the officials Who have for more than a' year to put| this airway into operation are peeved over the snag which has been struck would be a rather mild way of saying they are in high dudgeon. According to views oxpreseed in London the red hand of Moscow' is responsible for the failure to complete the "all-red" route. Riza Khan, Persia's new self-ap- pointed 'Shah; at one-time a humble member of the Persian proletariat and also said to have been a flunky at the British Ministry in Teheran some years ago, seemed personally to be well disposed toward Great Britain when he converted himself into a royul figure almost over night. An agreement was signed last year be- tween the Persian and British govern: ments granting. landing rights in Per- sia to the British. But the Persian Parliament subsequently refused to ratify the 'agreement. It has beén suggested that the Persian link in the air chain was withheld until such time as the British Government made somo handsome monetary offer for such a privilege. , == "Germans Get Concessions. Shah Riza is something of a dicta- tor, but go far he has done nothing to bring his Parliament to the point of ratification. In fact, the Shah is prob- ably bringing no pressure to bear on the refractory Parliament. As Persia is not a member of the Convention for the Regulation of Aerial Naviga- tion she has the right to. prohibit foreign machines from landing on her soil, Important concessions have been made, however, to a. Russo-Ger- man company. While Parliament was debating the agreement made with the British gov- ernment the Persian Government came forward with a proposal to open up a air service between Quretu, on Vital Statistics -- » Births 'Again Decline in Eng- land and Wales; Rate for 1926 Approaches 1918 Low Record London. = The spsactre of 'race suicide® has crept across the English Channel to haunt British social sta- tisticians. The English and Welsh birth rate for 1926 again has shown a decline, following the descending curve which has obtained since 1920, according to figures published by the Registrar-General. The rate for the calendar year was 17.8 per 100,000 of population. Against this the official report shows that the death rate of infants less thafi a year old 'was the lowest on re: cord. Scotland experienced a higher birth rate as well as a higher infant death rate than England and Wales. The 1926 birth rate tied that of 1917 and was barely higher than the 1918 rate of 17.7, the lowest on record for England and Wales. In France, where the low birth rate for years has pre- sented what is regarded as a grave national problem, the proportion for 1926 was 18.8 for each 100,000. Cancer, heart discase and tuber- culogis of the respiratory system led the list as causes of death in England and Wales. Women, the Reglstrar-General's re port indicates, were far more agile in dodging motor vehicles and in avoid- ing 'fatal accidents generally than were men. Also, the number of wo- men who committed suicide was less than half the number of men who nfet death by their own hands. The suicide figures were: Males, 3,009; females; 1,350. Accidental deaths: Males, 4,631; females, 4,274. British Grants Aid Migration Assistance Stimu- Imperial lates Affortestation South Australia Adelaide, 8. Aust---An in 4 as a nucleus for starting afforestation ,on a larger scale was recently an- nounced. by the State Premier, Rich- ard L. Butler, Representatives of the imperial '4 grant of £358,250 to South Australia yr the Persidn bofder, an Britain 'did n {suggestion, wl § | Persian, was hb to. 1 jproject, operated by Ge | inking up with the. Moscow i Here another "4ll-red" y acco to Brig.-Gen. Percy Groves, #ecretary of the Air League of the {British Empire, one with political as- | pirations behind. it. : ea ha The Brive gipeay be India was in operation at | 'ohce some eight months ago when Sir Samuel Hoare, the Air Minister, accompanied by his wife, flew to Delhi 'and back. The route was surveyed and prepared at heavy cost by way of Basra--the ter- minal at the present time--Bushire, Bandar Abbas and Chahbar. Substitute Route Considered. Unless the Persians relent it will be 'necessary. to map out a substitute link on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf,' a 'matter' now under considera. tion in London. Many difficulties would 'have to be overcome before such a landing place could be' estab- lished there, Soviet Russia has also met some re- buffs In Teheran, and one of her dip- !lomats was recalled from the Persian capital because he was not successful enough in his dealings with the Per- sian Government. Nevertheless, Mos- cow's official minions In that country {are exceedingly busy, and Russians i were supposed to be behind an at- tempt by wealthy Persians to obtain oil concessions in a district adjacent to certain areas where the Anglo-Per- sian company holds the drilling con- cession, The latest difficulty of the Persian Government is over the terms of a contract with Dr. Millepaugh, the American financial adviser. | without involving the taxpayer in any expense, between six and seven acres of forest. This is the second grant made to South Australia under the British policy of stimulating migration to the Dominion, Not long ago £260,000 was devoted to the development of a new wheat provipce, called Eyre's Penin- sula, where a great water scheme is being carried out, known as the Tod River project. to India Barred by Refusal to Grant | DON. CARRICK DOMINION CHAMPION Carrick shoots great golf but failed to class in American Amateur Tourney, Title eT BRITISH TANKS ENGAGE ag trees!" he muttered finally as he | | IN HUGE SHAM BATTLE Machines of All Sizes Sur- mount Obstacles on the Historic Salisbury lain London~A gigantic sham battle in which more than 200 British Army tanks participated was held recently on the historic Salisbury Plain. The tanks were of all classes and ranged from the tiny two-seater "Crabs" to the huge wagon varfety which fire eighteen-ponnder guns as they speed along, . The battle started at dawn with these metal monsters stretching over seven miles of terrain where every vconcelvable difficulty had been placed in their way. Squadrons of airplanes descended upon them unexpectedly, {géctions of the plain theoretically wis soaked with gas and steep gradients requiring all the skill the drivers couud muster had to be negotiated. Some casualties were reported. A {few tanks were unable to mount the Paul Redfern's solo 4,600-mile dash from ' Brunswick, Ga.' marked an ef- fort to break the existing long dis- tance non-stop record, made by Clar- lence Chamberlin in his flight from New York to Germany. From the take-off point at Brunswick, Georgia, ito the coast of South America fit is 11,676 miles. - To reach Rio Janeiro Idown the east coast of the southern }continent Redfern had 3,700 miles on fly. It wouldappear he is another loss to aviation pioneering, as no word of him has reached us. 2 ! greasy slopes of Beacon Hill and slid backward down hill. One "iron horse" got in a quagmire and had to be |abandoned. 'A crowd of several thousand wit. hessed the manoeuvres and showed great interest, particularly in the later "Crabs," which are the latest experiment in the tank line. "These [have a caterpillar track and also two jing south of a line running approxi-|have been told unnecessary stories | results in disaster, . wheels in the rear which are equipped Wwithi- balloon tires. At one point it was demonstrated how easily the "Crabs" could be camouflaged with foliage. Among those watching the demon- stration was a retired British cavalry officer. As he looked 'on he appeared more and more disgusted. "Christ: The Hope of the Empire turned away. rm seen fl amints The Geneva Fiasco London Truth (Ind. Lib.): I should call the recent proceedings at Geneva one of the most lamentable exhibi- tions of political folly that have been seen in the last fifty years. , .., The Conference was by its constitution the worst ossible 'medium for arriv- ing at agreement. How.can you ex- pect the professional fighting men of different countries, naval and mili- tary, to agree between themselves about the limits to be put on their own services, except under definite instructions from their political super lors? * Fighting is their business: in fact their raison d'etre. An admiral or a general charged to negotiate with the admirals and- generals of rival armed nations, can no more give away points to the other #ide In ne- gotiations than he can in war. If his Government has left open for discus- #ion any fundamental difference of opinion, his business is to look at it | as a fighting man, not as a pacifist. Governments have no business to put their admirals and generals into such a position. amir fitment The White Pine in Canada The botanical range of the white {pine in Canada extends from the At- {lantic ocean to the province of Mani- jtoba. It is confined 'to the region ly- imately from the southeast corner of Lake Winnipeg, through Lake Nipl- 'gon, along the height of land north of Lake Timiskaming, through Lake St. Jolin to Point de Mots on the St. Law: rence and Cape Breton Island. Good political timber is often de veloped on the stump. , * T= |and a never-ending source of romance fon the St. Patrick, British Government have had an eye n ) om Scotland, Several 'ha beai off d to the Gov- ri "for purchase and subdivision o- farts dud subaiential snesine : megalolifhic p nsequently the 600 per- long proved an enigma to sclentists {sons abroad the St. David and the 300 for novelists, Its ridme, a modifica- | were half-dressed, became tion of a Saxon term, means "hanging | the utmost efforts of the Stones." The Normyhs called the col: | hardly served to preven a panic lection of stones "Choir Gaur," or the | among the screaming fainting Giant's Temple. What the "stones | women and children, several of whom were originally used for has proved | were. injured in the confusion as great a puzzle as where they came | scrambling to 'the deck: : trom, for in the geological formations | Both mall boats, although consider sembling them. Fishguard under * their own steam, Excavations and {have proved that originally they form- | transferred to another steamer which ed two concentric circles 'enclosing | sailed for Indland affer considerable the tallest being 2214 feet and 3 feet | delay. A posed of the largest upright stones--| All cross-channe} steamers had ter- the tallest being 22@ feet and 3 feet) riblg crossings, among the "sifferers 4 inches thick--only , seventeen re- | baing Prince Henry, who after a hol- main, The inner circle, composed of | day at o Touquet, crossed from Bou- smaller stones, is exactly 9 feet with- | jogne to Folkes © + A'London ex- in the circumference of the outer, Although their origin has. been va-|gtone but nobody was injured. riously ascribed to the Phoenicians, | Air liners also had rough crossings Belgae and the native Druids, no con- | and needless to say the imclemency of vincing evidence has ever been pre- ihe weather seriously interfered with sented which would rationally solve seasonal channel swimming and the the mystery. it projected trans-Atlantic: flights. ee Mo Lies 2 a - . Scientist Goes to . " Live on Iceberg Takes Dog Along; Rubber Boat and a Phonograph Edinburgh, Scotland.--John B. Simp- son, a British sclentist, has left here with the intention of making his home on an iceberg for three months. He rakes Steering was accompanied by a Samoyede dog. Gear to Guide Car thr toro Dao ener] CONFIDENCE (IN. HORN: fields, 1 expect to be very comfort v s Anta able in my abode on some drifting ice- Fh ork Automoblle Tors borg. 1 shall erect & fur-lined tent, | for hishway traffic, have bos 50 unl. 'and I will warm it with an oil stove. 11 y 0 DAYS been 30 un I have plenty of reading matter and a realy - the fans © T. Strons. Ean oa wa hy Bal, or Con "I have no idea where I shall drift pany: t --~ kre I if Ahoy to, but T Have" a' collapsible Boat fn | Nee removed entirely. from 'automo. oitée 'of accidents biles the result would be a marked de- Goins crease In automobile accidents. 7 "Without horns," he points out, "it : Moscow Prepares =~ | would not take long for every one to Moscow Pravda. --Omé thing is quite | realize that safety depends on keeping ar:' we Shall Nave 'War, and that [the eyes and ears open, which is, ory Boon. .' Not #0" very long | after all, the only. sure and complete ago we sald that war would not be, | remedy for accidents. - A long step that we did not 'want war. We still [in the direction of greater safety. wil do not want it, but the latest events {have been taken when have forced us most seriously to pre- | that they cannot drive pare. . . . We by no means want to| While admitting tha frighten anybody "with i chemical avartare. 'In Some places we | that they have inoculated the average 'already notice the appearance ~of|driver with a falsé 'dense 'of security {panic and dread, 'where the people | Which often breeds 'carélessness and Urges Removal All Auto Horns To Ensure Safety Driver Should "Depend on ers-realize th thé horn, do 06 about the destruct rces of 8 "It automobile owners 'These stories have certainly err io : prould try to store red on | drive their cars," Mr. Stiong, the side of exaggeration. ' Science | "without the aid of thd electric siren must be militarized. . . © We sre con- | which is now standard equipment on fronted by a terrible 'danger. We [every car, I am sure they would find must not lose 4 single minute. Care- | themselves driving" with more care fully, watching our enemy, we must | than they had: 'éxercised since 'thet accelerate, our preparations. .. and first experience as drivers. Drive two victory wilt be ours. . blocks' through trafic without the use of the horn and you will find that yqu * more care than you have ov before to avoid accidents. Ips' 0flcat | counsel by the court;ipleaded the uns the horrors of | casionally prevent accidents, hs states | Ing his eyes fixed on the speaker. Caruthers Ewing, who, with Pra 8. McDonald, was appointed def: written law. Sa ge He reminded the jarors that'the de- fendant's affair with Emily Zambol the Porto Rican girlat San Juan, no bearihg on the murder two months for miles around there is nothing re- | ably damaged, managed to return to inter | He hupiet i the 1 ; the Negro's wife, and Waldemar Karl Badke, the measurements | when the St. David's passengers Were | angineman, while the schooner Kings way was in mid-Atlantic on its way to | the Gold 4 ca, He declared that when Battice saw his wife in the embrace of the engineman he became crazed and did not realize what he did from then until he had slashed his wife nineteen times with a razor. "Knives were in his mind," sald Mr. press train was derailed near Mald-| myuine "and ought to have been there; nothing else could have been." He pictured the defendant as "physh cally weak, cowed and crushed" fu the face of Badke, "the bully, coward anl | yellow bound." if ! Tultle Charges Premeditation ; Mr, Tuttle told the jurors thet the defendant had willfully intended (9 kill his wife from the time he fell ig love with Emily Zamot. The defense was untenable, he 'sald, because the only evidence to support it was the testimony of Badke, who he admitted, agreeing with: Mr. Ewing, was "an im- measurable liar. ro 3 + Every wound on Mrs, Battice "cried out for justice," he declared, and no {evidence showed that Battice had cver asked the captain for protection from Badke. ¢ : "I agree," he said, "that Badke Is a yellow dog and a cur. There {5 only one thing worse and thiab Is to take a man by the hand and say, 'Come aft, 'my wife is crying for you.'" Judge Anderson pointed out that the case would probably be a uniques experience for every juror and toll them to weigh: carefully the testimony of EmfigZamot. It, she sald, they should yer that the murder was committed (nthe heat of passion they could renfler a verdict of manslaugh- ter, and it they eblieved that ths de- jo had lost bis capacity to dis- "between. right and wrong at the time of the fatal slashing they could render a verdict of "not guilty," ef AMAZ KEEP MEN OF IN LUXURY ou Blo hey Do the Work and Fight- * "ing and Are the Rulers of + Their District Baku, Azerbaijan.--A tribe of Ama- gons in which the women fish and hunt while the men are locked indoors and kept in luxury is described as in- 'Habiting the* Zakatal idistrict by tHe 'Soclety for the Study of Azerbaijan, says Tass, the Russian news ageucy. The tribe is called the Yassl and Js of Dagestan origin. js The Yassal women, like the legen- dary Amazons, are described as abso rulers in the private and public 1. ibe." Th ey. tribes with and control farm work w