INTERCOLOMIfIL BREVITIES

Evening Post, Volume LIX, Issue 112, 12 May 1900, Page 3 (Supplement)

INTERCOLOMIfIL BREVITIES

The compulsory destruction of sparrows is being urged in Victoria. At a wedding breaklasl at the Burra (N.S.W.) recently, 11 of the 13 who sat down were red-headed. The following "wanted" advertisement is from the Age (Melbourne) : "Lady Help, educated, musical, cheerful ; 3s week." In reply to a deputation the Victorian Postmaster-General said he could hold out no hopes of re-establishing the penny postage in that colony at present. The Noogoora burr, which until recently enjoyed the distinction of ' being strictly a Queensland^ pest, is now spreading in the border districts of New South Wales. A suggestion is made by an agricultural expert in New South Wales that exporters ghould be compelled to send abroad only butter from pasteurised cream. Mr. Philip Mennell, the well known editor of the British Australasian, has arrived at Perth (W.A.), and will visit the gold fields and- the timber districts of the colony. The residents of Ipswich (Queensland) have decided by a majority "of 225 to 62 not to permit any new publican's license to be issued in the munieipaiity for three years. An admirable full length portrait of the late Sir Anthony Brownless, Chancellor of the Melbourne University, has been painted in oils by Mr. John Longstaff for hanging in the Wilson Hall at the University. An old hermit named John Dyer, who lived at Bonegilla, near Albury, New South Wales, was found dead sitting on his horse. The eccentric old man was supposed to have been worth £5000, and to have died intestate. Some of the citizens of Sydney are raising, by means of shilling subscriptions, sufficient to purchase a horse, together with full equipment, to be presented to Colonel Baden-Powell on the relief of Mafeking Referring to a military appointment which has caused much dissatisfaction among the corps, the Minister for Defence pathetically remarks it is still possible to pitchfork men into military appointments in Victoria. According to a Queensland country paper the peewit is yery usefuil in destroying ticks. It is stated that these birds have been frequently seen perched on the backs of tick-infested stock, busily employed feeding on the ticks. Tlife Department of Agriculture, Queensland, has received a letter from Mr. Ludwig Becker, of Berlin, wljo appears to be in a large way of business, and who seems desirous of securing shipment y ot hawks' and other feathers for adornment. Numbers of persons who attended the W.A.T.C. Meeting at Perth (W.A.) recently, suffered from supposed poisoning, deemed to be due to the condition of tho bore water which is used at the course for drinking and other purposes. Some became seriously ill. According to the South Australian correspondent of the Pastoralists' Review the best fat merinos are fetching from 18s to 19s, and crossbreds from 20s to 255, while up to 30s has been paid for extra good. These prices are about double what they were last year. The spread of the water hyacinths is so general and rapid all over the Maclean district as to cause considerable anxiety, especially at the present time when water is getting scarce. It is considered steps should be taken for the eradication of the plant or to check its spread. The policy of the S.A. Government for the coming session has been announced hy Attorney General Gordon. Its main items are: — Household Suffrage, Companies Law Amendment, Factories Reform, Workmen's Compensation, Early Closing, and Land Values Assessment. Attorney General Gordon, of South Australia, claims an Australian record in having represented an elective district for 12 years without once being called upon to take the platform in defence of his seat. In the interim Gordon has held office in four Ministries, and was four times Leader of S.A. Legislative Council. Steps are now being taken to enforce the compulsory clauses of the Education Act in Queensland. A proclamation has been issued which makes provision for sending to school children between the ages of 6 and 12 years, unless there is a valid excuse, under a penalty of, £1 lor tho first offence, and £5 for the second or subsequent offence. Tiere died at Sydney quarantine station lately a patient named Mills on the day he was to be married. When he was overtaken by the plague his intended wife vainly pleaded for leave to go to the quarantine ground and nurse him. He was buried at the station, and his hospital number on a piece of wood hoisted over his head. The New South Wales Minister of Public Works stated at the opening of the Intercolonial Protectionist Conference recently that the present day Tommy Atkins was not equal to the men who fought at Waterloo, and that England's mercantile marine is manned by Scandinavians, Coolies, and Lascars — because England is not a protectionist country. The export trade in bananas from the Johnstone River District, Queensland, is steadily increasing. The quantity of fruit now exported amounts to fully 8000 bunches per week. As the freight paid ion the bananas averages about £40 weekly, some idea may be formed of tho value of the industry, which is chiefly in the hands of Chinamen. Most of the bananas are sent to Melbourne. Special thanksgiving services were held at St. David's Cathedral, Hobart, to give Mr. Borchgrevink and his companions an opportunity of returning thanks for their safe return from their Antarctic voyage. Special hymns were sung and special prayers used. An address was delivered by Dean Kite. The congregation included the members oil the Royal Society and many prominent citizens. The Board of Governors of the Adelaide Public Library received from Mr. Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, a request for a collection of mosquitos from Adelaide and its neighbourhood. The application will be granted, and the mosquitos forwarded to the Chief Secretary's Office for transmission to Mr. Chamberlain. What Mr. Chamberlain intends to make use of the insects for is not /Stated. A deathly silence has for the last month or two been creeping, over the Boulder mipes, says a Bulletin correspondent. Formerly the sound of the stampers could be heard like a Niagara for miles around, but now there is not a sound. The reason is nbt far to seek. The oxidised ore has almost given out, and there is no work for the battery. The only mines which can boast of still having any oxidised ore are the Boulder, Ivanhoe, and Horseshoe. A gentleman writing from Cunnamulla says the country is in a pitiabe state, and there is not a vestige of grass or herbage for a bundled miles, and winter is close at hand. Squatters are beginning to fed that the end is near. In many cases the scrub is coming to an end, and when the mulga gives out the remnants of the flocks mui^t perish. At Thurulgooi-a and Bundaleer the Scottish Investment Company is paying £1500 a month to scrub cutters to try and keep the sheep alive.