INTERCOLONIAL BREVITIES

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 18, 21 July 1900, Page 3 (Supplement)

INTERCOLONIAL BREVITIES

There are 6800 aborigines in N.S.W., and further missionary" effort among them is urged. The stock industry of New South Wales embraces two-thirds of tho industry of that colony. It is estimated that the coming census will show that the Tasmauian population is over 190,000. At the Greenmounb (W.A.) quarries last week the manager was killed by an explosion, his head being blown off. The gold yield of New South Wales for June was 14,922 ounces, as against 40,676 ounces for the same month last year. To educate children in remote parts of the colony, the Victorian Government is going to appoint a staff of travelling teachers. The Zeehan (Tas. ) district's ore output for June totals 2228| tons, of gross value £33,860, or more than £3000 above that of May. The combined implement and machinery manufacturers of Victoria have decided only to exhibit at the principal shows in the colony. A Board of Enquiry has reported to the New South Wales Government that State metallurgical works are not required by the colony. Mr. Donald Wallace's Lerderderg Estate, Bacchus Marsh (Vie.) was sold recently to Mr. James Sproule, of Flinders, at £15 10s an acre. The South Australian Premier considers that there is little likelihood of members of the Australian Contingents remaining in South Africa. At St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, on Sunday week, 700 members of the Catholic Young Men's Society received | Holy Communion in. a body. The Adelaide City Coimcil has petitioned the South Australian Legislative Council to> reject the Bill providing for the sale of the Adelaide tramways. The deputy Consul-General of the United States in Melbourne' donated £100 to the Melbourne Hospital in lieu of holding the usual 4th of July reception. At the irrigation colony of Mildura there are 25 miles of channels of varying widths* lined with concrete, and a further length of seven miles is being so lined. At the recent sheep sales in Sydney, Messrs. Kinch and Bennett (Tas.) paid the highest price of the day — viz., 600 guineas— for Mr. Tlios. Gibson's rani Loyalty 11. The gold received 1 at the Perth (W.A.) branoh of the mint during June amounted to 51,561 ounces. The coinage for the same period was : — Sovereigns, £125,792 ; half-sovereigns, £39,674. " " " Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, and Western Australia have agreed to establish a direct system of carrying postal parcels between Australasia and South Africa. It is stated that none of the Australian horses which have been taken to Africa will ever be fit for any further work. The campaign, it appears, takes all life and heart out of them Tho Victorian Treasurer has been able to announce " the collection of £66,775 more this year than last year, and the South Australian Treasurer reports an inciease of £97,687 in the revenue. The Gippsland (Vie, Rabbit Suppression League at its last meeting, reported that rabbits were" on the increase in the eastern porlioii of the- colony, and that the number killed in the jOtneo district alone was 52,115. Mr. A. J. Baker, who at one time was superintendent of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Master oi the Adelaide Hunt Club, died on the 4th inst. at his residence in North Adelaide, at the age' of 83. ' ' ' A Stallion Tax Bill is before the Queensland Legislature. The tax to be imposed is £5 a year for each stallion with a penalty of not less than £10 nor more than £50 for default in the matter of sending in annual returns of the stallions. The Department of Agriculture (Vie toria)" has offered a prize of £50 "for 'the best five boxes of tmtter for export, each of 651b weight, sent in for export tot the Government, Freezing Works. The butter has to be kept six weeks before being examined. The old five-decker British warship Nelson is being cut down to make' a coal hulk in Iron Cave, Syduey Harbour. Her timbers are as sound as when she was built," 100 years" "ago. t Her upper decks are to. be converted into pontoons ' and floating stages. A Chinaman, Joseph Leong Lay, aged 40, while suffering from delirium treinens and under the impression that someone was pursuing him, sprang out of the second story window of a- house in Little Bourke-street, Melbourne. He escaped with a fracture of the arm. The result of the "restricted association" system, introduced into tlie New South Wales prisons in 1897 with the view of preventing the manufacture of hardened criminals by association with old, has had most happy results. The number of convictions Jias steadily fallen. Since federation has been assured to Australia the women's franchise idea is taking deep root, and the movement, it is said, has so far won its way in Victoria that only those whose minds 'are influenced by the prejudices of sentiment are now found in opposition to the proposal. The Borung shire Council (Vie.) hay- . ing offered to , award a bonus of £300 for an effective method of coping with the sparrow pest, a number of schemes have been submitted to tne Council, and at its request the Department of Agriculture has appointed a Committee to deal with them. The Melbourne City Council has sub mitted pluns for increased accommodation at the Flinders-street Cool Storage Department which will cost upwards of Jt!oU,UUO to complete. One chamber will accommodate 20,uu0 sheep, another 14,000 crates of rabbits, and a third and fourth 924 tons of butter. A reward of £1000 is offered by the Queensland Government for the successful destruction of prickly pear, the conditions being that the substance used will be inoccuous to man and soil, will not be affected by rain, and shall be cheap and easily and quickly applied on a large scale. A test of 100 acres is required and eveiy plant must be killed. Returns prepared by the New South Wales Customs Department show that the wool exported to Great Britain and foreign countries from Sydney and Newcastle from Ist July last to 7th July totalled 552,458 bales, as against 646,477 bales for the previous season. Of tho total, 277,805 bales went to the United Kingdom, 95,530 to France, 83,961 to Germany, and 78,293 to Belgium. Mr. J. Mattick, pastoralist, of Hargraves, near Mudgee (N.S.W.), has tried dentistry for sheop with great success. He had a valuable American ram, which found great difficulty in masticating its food, owing to the loss of teeth. Artificial teeth were inserted, and the animal has since vigorously attacked its fodder. This is believed to be the first experiment of the kind in the colony. The New South Wales Minister for Works is arranging a scheme of light lines of railway. It is proposed to construct these lines principally in districts that are subject to drought. By this means the starving stock can readily be removed, or fodder taken up. The intention, Mr. O'Sullivan says, is to connect these lines with existing ones. The railways will not cost much more than ordinary roads, but at the same time a considerable amount of money will be naved byi carrying the mails free,