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THE PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCTED IN GOVERNMENT HOUSE YESTER- ~-DAY FOR THE PURPOSE OF\SEGU%- : ING VIEWS, IDEAS, ETC., IN RE- GARD TC IMPROVEMENT OF THE HARBOR AT CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROLX. V. 1. ; was atrended by a fairly large gathering composed of residents of Christiansted * and Frederiksted representing various business interests; the Despatching Sec- retary was present. The Board of Inquiry consisted of six members, ColoniE. Cor- - ry, chairman,Mr. Hull,editor of the Porto Rico Progress, Mr. Bobker, Mr. P. Land- ing and Miss Mac Rondeau stenogra- pher. After explaining the object of their mission here and reading out the notice as published in previous issues of this paper, the chairman stated that he” was prepared to hear those who had any- thing to say on the subject. The first speaker was Capt. A. J. Blackwood who, from his maritime experience, happened to be specially competent toanswer those technical questions with which the gen- eral audience was not familiar, although the chairman did not fail to say that par- ticular importance was attached to the question of what improvement was -de- sired while other technicalities might be passed over as the com mission could ob- tain answers to such otherwise. Capt. Blackwood, however, dealt with the mat- ter in detail and presented what is con- sidered indeed a very comprehensive sur- vey of tne harber improvement project and credit must be given the Captain for his non-partisan attitude in speaking on the topic which he considered from all sides and with due respect to all the rea- sons which animate the people of Chris- tianstedto aim at this fulfilment of an aspiration whieh they have entertained for upwards of half a century. The Cap- tain supplemented his discussion with a chart of the harboron which he had indi- cated the plans he proposed. Next_ on the floor was Pilot J. Plaskett who sup- ported the last speaker except with regard to the width of the channel which he considered should not be more than 400 feet instead of 500 as sugges.ed by Capt. Blackwood. Here followed views of Director L. V. Nielsen of .the St. Croix Sugar Factory representing the interest of the sugar industry at this end; Messrs. A. R. Mc Intosh, W. S. Abramson, and ¥F. Lunney speaking for the mer- cantile element; Postmaster Larsen on behalf of postal interests as likely to be benefitted by the scheme; Collector of Customs Daniel who furnished statistical information covering the imports and exports at Christiansted and Frederik- sted, the receipts of the respective Cus- toms, the number of vessels entered and cleared, ete. Mr. Douglas Armstrong appeared to take the view of the mat- ter that unless all rhe shipping busi- ness of the island now conducted via Frederiksted could be induced to Chris- tiansted the project contemplated is not S F Lol X 3Vip % worth the while. The other speakers ' shewed -up 'he _bandicap Christiansted . labors under at-present and all favored . the idea to have the harbor o_ened | up to commerce under any clreum- I ~ stanees: " Dr. Canegata and Mr. Me . Intosh called to attenticn that the - figures presented byedr. Daniel is- -1 "cluded a large percentage of the | business of the Bethjehem Factory a ' _eoncern located in Christiansted jurisdic- i tion, as well as of merchants of this ggni, - | for the reason that the drawbacks of in-- | porting goods by sea to Christiansted . proved less ccnvenient than to import | direct to Frederiksted and transport | overland, wherefore considerable business - was done in Wrederiksied with people | residing in this dis rict. This is of course | very true. In answer to the chairman’s | inquiry on the question of what local ' co-operation can be expected, which | point had not been touched upon up to that { time, Dr. Canegata thought that only . ~ labor should be reckoned upon as that 1 was all the island could afford. It was ~ his opinion that the interest taken in the . development of this port would secure | such local co-operation as may be avail-. | able. The hearing adjourned at 11.45 ° |- a.-m. ; , It is to be sincerely hoped that this | enterprise will meet th# support necess- | sary to assure an early undertaking of 1 the project which contemplates the open- ing up of eopportunities and the afford- | ingof facilities to resu-citate the dwind- ling presperity of this once flourishing town. TELEGRAM-. ST. CROIX STATION. ; New York, Jany. 3rd.—Raw sugar * 3 £ s ro g ~ opened steady at 42 for Cuba’s, cost 2nd ~ freight, equal to 5.39 for ecentrifugal. . There were sales of 23,000 bags of Cuba’s in port to alncal refiner at 48 cents, cost ~ and freight. Refined was unchanged at - 7.90 to 8.00 for fine granulated with only a light demand reported, ' Futures were quiet and after cpening about 5 points . lower continued to ease off under liquida- ' tion. Prices were at the lowest at noon. 1 London, Jany. 3rd.—A comprehensive .~ scheme for the establishmeént of credit- - bonds and other proposals having for . their object the rectification of foreign . exchange rates is understood to have ! been submitted by Sir Robert llnrne, pres- i ident of the Board of Trade, at a confer- . ence today with leading financiers of the - country. Sir Robert invited ecriticism, | as a result of which, it is anticipated, an ' important plan will shortly be placed be- . fore the cabinet and if adopted will have . backing of British financiers and insur- ance magnates. It is hoped the scheme also will assist materially in solving the unemployment problem. { London, Jan. 3rd.—ln addition to | other plans of reiief to the vast army ' of unemployed workers, the cabinet -proposes that the Govt’s. own industrial establishments shall be placed on short time to provide employment for the grealest number possible of< working people. This wil avoid furtner reduc- tion of the Government’s establishments and absorb many workers, who already have been dismissed. The Govt. is ask- ing employears of labzcur throughout the country to iake similar action and is ap- pealing to the Trade Unions to cooperate ~ in order to tide over the trade depres- sion. Madrid, Jany. 3rd.—One of the sever- al boats which put out from Villa Agar- cia to search ior the passengers and - crew of the wrecked steamer Santa Isa-* bel, 2,488 tons, returned today with 40 peisons, who had be n rescued. The vessel was on her way fr m the Canary Islands with 200 passengers and crew when wrecked. The Santa Isabel was totallv lost on Saturday night on he coast of Villa Garcia near Salvator. 45 survivors from the wrecked steamer had been taken to Rebazra, a viilage on the Galician coast. The captain of the wrecked ship was rescued, bui was -un- | conscious. Although official despatches are lacking, it is reported that many nassengers and members of the ecrew were lost. The Santa Isabel was enz»g- ed in coastwise service between Cadiz - and Coruna. It is officiaily stated ~that . all passengers on board were to tranship | at Cadiz for Buenos Aires. Messages ' from the scene of the disaster lack de- ; tails and it is believed that the remainder of the passengers :and crew have perish- ed. | Meibourne, Jan. 4th.— Australia won - the second ericket match today from Englaud by an innings and 91 runs: | Baltimore, M. D. Jan. 4th—For the . first time since December 12th, when | he was stricken with sickness, Cardi- nal Gibbons slept last night in his resi- | dence here, where he has lied and | worked for many years. He was re- moved yesterday frcm the Shriver Home at Union Miils. ’ ‘ London, Jan. 4th.—Terms for the ba- ~ sis of an Anglo-Amcrican naval alliance | are suggested” by ‘‘Scrutator’’ in the . Sunday Times, whose nom de plume . conceals the identy of a well-known per- . sonage. He suggests (1) England and the United States jointly guarantee com- mon rights on the High Seas in accord- ~ance with rules to be drawn up between - represeniatives or both countries. They ~and all other signatories to the agree- - ment shall make common ecause against - an enemy who attacks any one of them. .~ Consequently measures would be taken . to protect the rights of all as defined in . the agreement. Discussion of the propos- . -al brings out the poiat that Ameriea and England would be the first to define com- ) | mon rights, aud later signatories would be | obliged (o accept definitions of the two | charter powers, if they wished to parti- | clpate in its benefits.