AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 101, 1 May 1890, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE EIGHT HOURS' SYSTEM. SERIOUS DI'^TRFCTinN OF RTOOK. ACTION FOR BREACH OF PROMISE. MARIWACIE OF A MINOR. A DICTEKMINKD SUrCIDK. [By TeiiEOuaph.l {Our Own Correspondent.) [VKK B.S. TKKAI'O AT THE ULVVP. | Meldooknb, 22nd April. Tho annivorcary of tho eight hours' sj ntcm was celebrated with great success in Mel' bourne on tho 21st instant. Tho Governor attended tho sports, and wan entertained at luncheon. Replying to tho toast of his health, he said :— "I shall always look back to my first visit to this movemont with tho very greatest pfaasuro, bncaiißO I feol that I havo seen what I may bo pardoned for calling tho nobility of labour. I feol thot in this country workmen aro well organised, and thoy nro oonHequuntly 11 thoroughly law-abiding and loyal community, and J am quite huio that both thoy and tho ownern oi capital will kcc, as they do nw now, that capital cannot get on without labonr, and labour cannot got on without capital, und therefore there mubt bo mutiml rea°onablo concfißsions on both sides. lam glad to think that iv the paot thero has been this mutual ami reasonable concession, and Irom what I havo kccii of tho people of tho colony I am quite certain t v iat in the futuro the pamo happy stato of things will exist." A resident of N'umurukau, who was across tho Murray latoly, givus a graphic account of the 3tate ot tho country there in consequonco of tbo sovero locust plague which has provailtd for tho past three or four weeks. He travelled ovor the Itaroogu County lor about twenty milos, and not a blade of grass wai to be seen. Tho sheep aro in a frightful Btato through starvation, and lambing w on now. The condition of affairs is made all tho more serious as thero is no nourishment for oither tho owes or tho lambs, and so weak aro some of tho ewes that tho crows aro picking outthcir eyes while) they are lying on the ground too helplois to defend themselves, Across the rnns hundreds of sheep too reduced by hungor to walk woro soon. So general hau boon tho plague through the district that it is usoleßs to move tho stock, other places boing as bad. Tho insects are flying toward Mulwala and Uorowa, where ffro graen is plentiful and greon. Alfrod G. Jonos, a broker of Port Melbourno, for whose arrest a warrant has been issned on a charge of fraudulent insolvency, has mysteriously disappeared. His lifo i» insured for Ho v/iis last seen loaving in an open boat. It is bolicvcd to bo a cibe of shammed death. A breach of promise action, in which p;sthor Mario Stowart, of Tnaroba, Now South Walos, claimed damages from Jno. Duggan, has just boon heard at West Maitland. A verdict for plaintiff for tho full amount was given. Dncgan's defence was that aflor promising marriago ho found that Miss Stowart was of looso character. Dofondant was tho winner jof Tattorsall's .£50,000 swoop. Flying foxes are working tremondous destruction amoncst tho fruit crops in Home districts in Now Sonth Wales. Consequently tho Minister of Works has decided to mako experiments for their destruction with dynamito. Lady Parkos haß been safely delivered of a son. Rev. Nathaniel Kinsman has been committed for trial for marrying a minor without tho oonsont of hor mother. Tho bridegroom was oharged with threatening tho lifo of his wifo, but the case was dismissed. An inqnost held at Hobart concerning tho doath of an infant named Alfred Poolo, who was found doad in bed, and resulted in a verdiot of Death from Congestion of Brain, probably caused by an overdose of Winslow's Soothing Syrup. The jury added a rider to the effect that thoy considered it nndesirable, aftor hearing the medical testimony, for mothers to administer Buch a drug to children or adults except under medical advico. Richard Henry Britton committed suicido in Hobart Gaol by means showing great determination. Britton was on his way to New Zealand to visit a brother, when ho waß aDprehended on board of tho s.s Doric in Hobart on a charge of embozzling money while omployod as a Btorekoopor in the War Department. Ho had just retired from tho position after 30 years' servieo, and prior to that had beou a «oldier. Britton, who wai awaiting convoy anco to England to answer the chargo, filled a nail drum at the tap, and, carrying it insido of a closet, sooured tho door, tied his frot trgathor, and dpliboratoly put his lioad under tho water till ho was drownod. Amongst his effects woro two medals for sorvico in tho Crimea. Around thn edge of one is stamped the namn "Corporal Hy. Britton, Ist Dragoon Guards," and "Sobastopol." Tho heavy cavalry, of which hiß regiment formod a part, charged tho Russians at Balaclava on tho day of tho colobratfld " Light Brigado " incident. Tho other was the Turkish medal. Mr. Jno. .Hardy, a well-known solicitor, died in Ballarat, after a brief illness. The deaeasod gentleman, who wa» 55' years of age, was for many years a leading authority in matters rotating to tho mining laws, and in the days gone by he figijred professionally in all the prinoipal mining cases brought before the Courts for adjudication. Of late years Hardy, who got .£20,000 by the death of a brother, lost heavily in mining speculation and other' investments, and he died a poor man. At ono timo in Ballarat the practice of his profession brought in an annual income of £10,000. About twenty yoars ago ho was, it is estimated worth botweeu .£BO,OOO and .£IOO.OOO. Hardy, who was a native of Dublin, was unmarried. Ho was connected with the Old Colonials' Association, Ballarat, and tho Masonic fraternity. The cause of death was influenza acting on a constitution previously considerably debilitated.