Untitled

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9300, 30 December 1895, Page 5

Christians, but that the Divine light of grace and peace should show them them the error of their course. AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY. An important industry is about to blossom forth here in the shape of a well-found oil mill. Messrs Lever and Co., the Sunlight soap manufacturers, have laid down a plant capable of turning out some thousands of tons of cocoanut oil and oilcake. One prominent feature will be the absorption of the island trade in copra, instead of transhipping it abroad for treatmenl as at present. PARLIAMENTARY SITTINGS. A comparative statement of the work of Parliament since 18G0 discloses the interesting fact that there is a steady tendency to an increase in the length of the sittings. The average length from 1559 to 1886 was seven hours fifty-three minutes, while the average for the session just closed was eleven hours thirty-eight minutes. MR CRICK AND THE JUDGES. With the Departure of the AttorneyGeneral for Japan, Mr Crick has turned his attention to the Rofe case, in which it will be remembered Rofe, a solicitor, was convicted of conspiracy in the Butler divorce suit, and released under the First Offenders Act. In a letter to the Press Mr Crick demanded to know whether it was true that Mr Heydon, who acted for the Crown in the Dean case and defended Rofe, had had an interview with Mr Justice Backhouse before sentence was passed. In the Dean case Mr Justice Windeyer, when assailed, maintained a discreet silence, but his brother Judge has apparently allowed his letters to the Minister of Justice to be handed •to the Press. The Judge denies point blank that Mr Heydon attempted to influence his decision, while Mr Heydou describes Mr Crick's story as a fairy tale and a new edition of the " Three Black Crows" :— " That Mr Crick says that Mr Barton said that Mr Heydon said." Mr Crick reiterates that *Mr Hoydon admitted having been to see Judgo Backhouse and succeeded in getting him to take a different view of the case, but Mr Barton writes denying having heard Mr Heydon say so. The Daily Teleyraph takes up the tale, and says if the Judge thinks it necessary to come out into a public print to justify his reprieve of Rofe af f er sentence, the thing for him to explain is not the nature of the offence, but; the specia! claim of the offender to receive mvi« diously light treatment. Whatever the offence, why was Rofe not called upor to expiate it, like, for instance, the brother of Mrs Butler, who committed the first crime in trying to shield hi? sister's reputation from conspiracy slanders, and who is now in prison ? A TREACHEROUS BANK. The oyster bank at Newcastle may not be inaptly termed the Goodwin Sands of Australia. The wreck of the Durisdeer this week awakens memories of the terrible days of July, 1866, when, during a fierce south-easterly gale, the steamship Cawarra was battered to pieces in a few minutes, passengers and crew, with the exception of one man, perishing. At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 11th of July, the Cawarra struck, and twenty-five minutes later not a vestige of her remained. Seventy or eighty human beings were hurled into eternity in the presence of hundreds ashore who were powerless to render assistance. The same night tho schooner Seagull foundered with all hands. On the next day the dreaded bank claimed other victims in the shape of the barque William Watson, from Nelson, two of the crew perishing, and the ketch Caroline, which capsized, drowning all hands. Coming to more recent; years, the most noteworthy wrecks on the same treacherous spot are the barques' Susannah Godfrey and Margaret Gas- ! well, and the steamer Colonist. A DISINTERESTED CORONEJ3. Melboubne, December 28. The veteran Coroner, Dr. Youll, modestly divulged a tale of self-sacri-fice which deserves to be chronicled as illustrating the fact that the Civil Service has heroes as -well as tho more favoured naval and military services. Addressing a jury at an inquest on a drowned seaman, the Coroner remarked that dead mariners were much fewer than they used to be. This, he said, was all his own doing. In the old days sailors drifting home drunk frequently had to walk up a plank which would prove a puzzle to a sober man in daylight. As often as not the seamen fell into the water. The Coroner insisted that nets shonld be placed under all gangways, and many poor fellows were saved from a watery grave. The nets were a splendid notion, and, added the Coroner, " they were against my own interest too ; for in those days I was paid two guineas for every inquest. The net saved men and spoilt my fees." BOOM IN BICYCLES. Another boom is en evidence here, not in land or shares, but in bicycles. Some interesting figures published show the extent the pastime has taken hold of the public. In 1893 the value of 'machines imported was £18,000, in 1894 it was £27,000, while for the ten I months of the present year over £29,000 worth were imported. These figures are the importers' prioes. Owing to the machines comingin parts, it is hard to estimate the number of machines, but 3000 per annum is.probably near the mark. One writer estimates the number of cyclists at 10,000. PRESBYTERIAN MISSION STEAMER. The London Missionary Society has its own steamer, the John Williams, which has already visited New Zealand, while the Church of England Society has a mission vessel, the Southern Cross, well known to your colony. The latest addition to the religious navy is the steamer Day Spring, for the use of the Presbyterian missions in the New Hebrides. The little steamer reached Port Phillip after a tempestuous voyage of eightysix days and a half from Liverpool. She is a monument to the endeavours of the pioneer missioner, Rev. Dr. Paton, who collected money for her construction during a tour of the Old Country. The field is a somewhat small one to support its own vessel, especially as an excellent steam service already exists, and the wisdom of the

step wa3 severely questioned at the last New Hebridean Synod. However, the vessel is here and commanded by Captain Reynolds, cousin of the late Rev. Charles Spurgeon. She sets out from Sydney on her mission of peace on January 20th. A THEATRICAL " HOAX." The sensations of the holiday week were confined to indoor amusements. A Sydney audience had the spectacle of a man diving from the gallery, while those who patronised St. George's Hall on Boxing Night found their diverti.sement, not in the entertainment provided so much as in a " sell " received and the subsequent attention accorded to a ticket taker. It was proclaimed that the hall would be the scene of a side-splitting pantomime for one night only, entitled "Paddy in India," or as another placard denominated it, "A Black Pantomime." All the laughter was on the side of the promoters, with blackness remaining with the audience. There was a gocd house, chiefly the overflow from the other resorts. The first part opened the eyes of the audience. It consisted of a mediocre rendering of commonplace songs and visions, and the adventures of an Irishman with tigers and other beasts of prey in a setting of gorgeous scenery. A small riot ensued. The only man who seemed unconscious of trouble was a ticket taker till the audience rushed him. But for the promptness of the police the pantomime promised to look black for him. The only information he could give the enraged crowd was that the manager was out, and the ticket money also had gone out with him. The mob then wreaked their vengeance by demolishing the fittings of the house. A DISQUALIFIED JOCKEY. The jockey Stevenson, who rode Auraria for the Melbourne Cup, will not have an opportunity of riding that filly in the Champion Stakes, owing to his being disqualified at the Boxing Day Meeting for three months. Stevenson showed his contempt for the crowd, who made a demonstration against the horse, by extending his fingers to his nose at them. DISCOVERY OF TWO RIVERS. Brisbane, December 28. A brief telegram from the Hon. John Douglas to the Colonial Secretary has notified the discovery of two new rivers, on the Cape York Peninsula, surpassing in utility the Batavia Eiver. In view of such a discovery, and, despite numerous explorations and the opening of a goldfield, the vast territory of the Peninsula would seem to be still somewhat of a terra incognita. The location of the rivers is not stated, but if the direction is similar to that of the Batavia, which empties itself into the Gulf of Carpentaria, Jardine's expedition of 1865, traversing the Peninsula from south to north, must have missed the head waters of the new discovery. PASSED FOR THE IMPERIAL ARMY. Hobart, December 28. Lieutenant St. Hill, of the Southern Tasmanian Artillery, has passed the final examination for a commission in the Imperial Army. The AgentGeneral advises the Government that Mr St. Hill will be gazetted to a regiment at an early date.