OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 179, 24 April 1908, Page 4

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

the federal crisis over. MORE ABOUT THE BEGA. (FUOM OtJH srECI'AL COKUESrONDF.NT.I Sydney, April 18. Tho Federal crisis has passed, and all is serenely happy once again. Mr. Dcakin is not to leave oflico for tho present, at all events, and tho House, forgetting for the moment all abont (tho Federal capital and the overworked postal'servants, will busy itself with tho tariff, which has just come back from tho Senate with about 72 pages of amendments. It is quite right, for the peace of tho icommorcial community, that-the tariff should be settled at the earliest possiblo opportunity, and nobody will resent tho proposal to go on with it when tlio House meets next Wednesday after tho Easter holidays. But tho other day it appeared to bo tho belief of tho Prime Minister that, tho Federal capital question was of pressing urgency ; now it is onco again relegated to the background. The proposal for a Royal Commission to investigate, the administration of the . Postal Department—the motion which provoked all the hubbub—is also to await its turn. . It is to' come, after the tariff; andthose .who know "what"it is to get a'Tariff' Bill will realise what this means. The: Postal Department may get its turn ; iii- a month,'or in" a month of Sundays; meanwhile, the Government may come round to 'tho recognition of the fact that a Royal Conimission is a' better instrument than a Ministerial' Committee for tho'iuves-; tigatioiv of tlio' grievances complained of,; and may make no objection to Mr. Webster's motion when it comes before the House again. In the general result, also, if Mr. Deakin is resolved to retire when the Tariff Bill is through/'_the delay now agreed upon will give Sir William Eynp' a-better'.chance to arrange his, now Ministry... ■ '.' THE LOSS OF THE BEG A. The cause of the loss of the Bega is still enveloped in mystery. At the inquiry, which was opened at Bega last week, a solicitor, when called before'the Board, created quite a sensation by refusing to give evidence. Ho said liee did not recognise tho Board as a judicial authority, : and lie had already mado ;.a written , statement to the police. Tho Chairman reminded him that it was his duty-to .toll what ho could, about tho mishap; but still hp de.clined, and further whetted the interest or curiosity of the Board by informing them ' that. ho would -have spoken had the . inquiry 'been .held with closed doors, and that, he knew' more ; about 'the matter than ariybodyclse. This modest opinion might belong: to iriembers .of his profession: as a body, but tho "shipping company's .solicitor'was takingno ( risks, and : urged him to "'remember /that .any/ statements lie ,made ho would liavo to answer for. One . witness gave-evidence as to tho .list and its : shifting.to the other side. The list ■increased/and ho heard tho.ordor, "Man tho boats," .which-.was the"firsti intimation of danger. He 'got into a boat, and there'was perfect order*throughout/ The' whistles blow,. and 'blue-lights 'wcro, burnt.. -He was in tho boat." towing the./ wpmeri/ . and two sailorß wore pulling an oar behind J him. One of ; tliom -handed him'a knife,- saying, "Here, pass that knife .''aft,• and; out .;that paint6r." Ho jorked it back, and did not know if . it wont into the'sea, and ho could, not identify, the man who lfhntled it to him.

/ A lady, passenger said the boat Jpoked very deep; in , tho water.' Wliile 'in her berth at, sea she'heard water rushing .in// A .stoward called out; "'I 'cannot stop it." . That was 20. minutes - bofore 'leaving . the, ship. There was no aljirm among tho passengers; and l -'ten .'minutes after, 1 when sho:went 011 deck,.they were taking to. the boats, and blue • lights-,,wero ••bnrnin<t.' ; \ Tho - boat she' was in was: leaking terriblv, .'arid • for, .v. long time she [ bailed \vith_ a- blubher ; bont.V There' was, 'great,difficulty in keeping her'-afloat, as the: water'w?s up to their knees, arid any sea would liavo swamped Everything .that' was ,i)ossihle ; was .done {05 -t)in She . 'ihparjliit: suggested.in- tho ptliei'-bbat- to cut; theirs' adrift. '-. ' : - " ! A great deal of ovidonce remains 1 , to be lieard.- '• :•>. 1 ' ''- ■ THE.LATE MR. DAVID SYME.' . .Tho will:of n tho late'Mr...David Syme, proprietor. of the :.Melbpuriie : " Age;"',has been filed.for probate,' and shows that the estato has been. vnlufid at '£870,530.*' Tho" " Age " and " Leader '■ ' newspapers ,;havp been be-, quoathed ! ,to his . widow • vand; live - soils, and Emongst ytho other bequests i are following To /Mr.... Syme's nephew,. George Adlingtou Sym'e,; Doctor.' of Medicine,' £1000; to hisniece,:; Mary-; Jane " Lorrhor, ' £1000; Martha- Mary .Johnson, £100, 'as an annuity ■to be.paid quarterly; and Jario, Mary'John-'; son, £1000; £20 for tho -.purchase' of a■ ring .for Sir Samuel Gillqtt,' or-'such other, article of jewollery as ho may' sqlefct;to 1 Gottlieb, p. H. Sehular, cditor.of the- " Age,'!' £500; to> Benjamin HoaroJ. leader writer, ;£S00; to. John L. Dow', agrjpultural editor of tho " Leader,"") £250; td: Henry.,; Short,- editor of'the ''Leader;?': £2feo; ; to John Stafford Stephens, sub-editor ,of the " Ago," £250; to . John William Packer, accountant of tlio " Ago " office, £500; to -W. -Green, acting cashier at tho ". Age " bfficb;'£loo; to Harry ■Clark,!, printer of, tho. " Age,"'' £100; 'to' Charles Jackson, messenger, £100 ; to Thomas .Cranston,'coachman, £50 ; to William Bonos,gardener,: £50. .' - - ■ : ; " . -, Mrs. Syme is• ■to receivo.; an. annuity of; £3000; Mr. Syme's daughter'-Olivo the income from' £10;000 to bo v ? invested.'- A .suriv, of £50,000 is to be put to a : perpetual trust fund, to bo called- the " David ;Symo ; Charit-. able Trust," the; proceeds to go to Victorian public libraries, museums,: science and art institutions, and ; benevolent. organisations connected or identified with Melbourno. The "Age" and"Leader" are to remain the property of the sons until the death of tlio last surVivor, 'when- .tho distribution of his estate is-., to 'tako place; John Herbert and Geoffrey'Symp. arc-to' remain in.'charge of his business as under the direction of trustees. .; , ■ 'RAIN FOR THE,HOLIDAYS. y " New Zoalariders in Sydney for the last fow months had como to tho conclusion that ramwas an unknown article over hero, and though it was a comfort to bo able to feel .seouro in . tho knowledgo ..that best and'lightest, clothes could be worn week in and out, with no fear of a sudden change of tlio atmospherical elements'' to spoil. everything,, yet an assured - feeling of such .comfort'palls on a Neiv and he oyontually longs— distance, of course, having mellowed tho recollection—for a southerly buster, with its usual accompaniments, rain'and-piercing cold. Anxious'as ho-may. bo for a recurrence of such delights, • they aro, nevertheless, unwelcome when they come during holiday season. ■It rained in. Sydney on Good Friday, and as thero wasl neither cold nor wind to divert attention, it rained with : almost a feverish energy, as though malqng lip for'past negligence. It was then that those who-had been accustomed to a daily warning of a possible water famine, and reading .of','the supply coquetting with the "low water level," realised why, .with such ,a water supply, this city never suffers from' a -shortage of water. Here, Good Friday, unfortunately, is regiirdod by many as a day of pleasure; but tho'rain spoiled everything, and tho takings at the great agricultural shoiw wero £2000 less tliari those of the samb day last year. ; "OAKEN" FURNITURE. When is oak not oak? When it is "blue fig," declares Mr. R,.-Baker, curator'of tho' Technological' Musoum. ' Oak furniture is vory popular in Sydney, as everywlioro .else, and furnituro inen, recognising' tho demand, for this class of wood, endeavour to meet the publio want as best,they can.. How they accomplish this aim, was revealed in a lecture, which Mr. Bakor delivered on Thursday night, before tlio Carriago and-Wagon' Builders' conference. Ho had-seen, ho said, suites of furniture in city showrooms which purported to bo of real oak, but really tho wood was only blue fig, which grew not in England,' n6r even in America, but simply in this Stato of New South Wales itself, on tho rivers of tho North Coast. Ho admitted that tlio counterfeit polishod very well, and so closely resembled the nioro-fanious wood that it was very deceptive. This may bo a grain of comfort for tlio man who has ono of tbeso sideboards,' if the prico is only that of'blue., fig, whilst its appoarance may induco his neighbour to go on beloiving that it is tho raaJ. JVTa/ikftU.