INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 131, 29 November 1902, Page 12 (Supplement)

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

A return giving the number of electoas on the Jjydney rolls shows that the males number 102,424, and the females 122,729, shoving an advantage for the latter of 20,305. The Victorian Presbyterian General Assembly has lesolved to request the authorities to entoice the law relating to "Tuttersali's" sweeps. Mr. Brown states, that the drought conditions of the Commonwealth geaeially aie so serious that tho Federal Government will be justified in convening a special session to deal with the matter. (Several cabmen at Albuiy (N.S.W.) assert that the Federal Government has not yet paid them for driving members about during the recent Capital tour. Returns from the annual Salvation Army self-denial effort throughout Australasia, amount to over £21,000. The oflicials of the Sydney Water and {Sewerage "Board are actively engaged in inspections to prevent waste of water. The restrictions have not yet been removed. A j-oung man was charged in Melbourne b.st week wit hinflicting grievous bcdily harai on a boy, who alleges that accused gave him 300 strokes on the body with a tea-tiee rod. The Queensland Government is being proceeded against by the owneias of the recruiting schooner Sydney Bell for, damages in connection with the recent trouble. The Central -Methodist Mission Medical Retreat at Warren Height (INT.S.W.), which has for its objacts the treatment and permanent cure of alcoholism, etc., was opened last week. In announcing that the passage money foe skilled artisans from England to South Africa is £4, the Sydney Plasterers' Union advises Australians not to leave Australia. The tender of the Outtrim-Howitt Ootfnpany (Victoria) for (he supply of 80,000 tons of coal per annum for two jears for the Victorian railways, has been accepted. A resident of Armidale (N.S.W.) the other day refused to pay a fine for the alleged illegal use of water, and went to gaol for 24 hours. Councillor Harry Brown, with 2639 votes, has been elected Mayor of Perth (W.A.). Senator Ewing polled 1837 rotes. Afc a meeting of the Sydney University Senate last week, approval was given to the scheme for increasing the fees payable by students and graduates obtaining degrees. The increases are for one year only, and are estimated to bring in. £1615. The temporarily completed Christ Church Cathedral, at Newcastle (N.S.W.) was_ formally opened by the State Governor last week. The Melbourne City Council has fixed the Mayoral allowance for the current municipal year at the usual amount, viz., . £1500. A Chinese leper has been discovered on a station at Camperdown (near Melbourne). The patient arrived from China two years ago. j In the Goulbum district (N.S.W.) a plague of grasshoppers has appeared, and farmers are turning stock into the ci>op3 before they are wholly devoured by the pest. The bed of the Darling River at Wilcannia, is absolutely dry for a distance of several miles. The heat record the otker day was 107. Afc a meeting of the Presbyterian Assembly of Victoria it was resolved to express satisfaction at the legulations under the Federal Public Service Act by which provision is made to protect the consciences of the public servajits in respect to Christian observance of the Sabbpth Day. A provision of the New South Wales Liquor Bill states that girls under the age of 21 (except the wile or daughter ot the lessee) shall not be allowed to serve in a bar. Another clause provides that any person found in a, hotel during prohibited hours (not being a lodger), unless for a, lawful purpose, is liable to a fine not exceeding £2. In the Supreme Court at Hobart recently in the case of Pearce v. the Crown, plaintiff obtained damages amounting to £250 for injuries received in a fall caused by a policeman pushing him forcibly in the execution of his dufey. The majority of the jury held that plaintiff was doing no harm, and that force was unnecessary. According to Mr. J. P. Gray (says the Sydney Telegraph) a, maize syndicate recently cleared £11,500 out of a shipment of 3000 tons, sold in Sydney. As a result of the drought the losses in the Dubbo district (N.S.W.) have been appalling. The wool clip will probably yield, at best, £65,000 ; cattle, nothing ; horses; nothing ; and wheat, nothing. At the annual session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria it was reported that the Twentieth Century Fund was not likely to realise the expected £50,000, and it was decided that the lime allowance to congregations to complete thsir payments should be extended to the end of 1905. The Rev. A. G. Cutts, a Church of England minister, was arrested at the Perth (W.A.) railway station last week. He was charged the same afternoon at the City Police Court with having assaulted a girl under the age of sixteen years at Geraldton. Accused was re.manded, bail being allowed. If they were not so irritating, and even humiliating, to a progressive community, the attempts being made by the Federal Postal Department to sweep every penny it can into its coffers would (says the Melbourne Argus) be amusing. Another new charge has come to light. If a registered article is not delivered within a reasonable period to any person, and complaint is made of this, the postmaster approached may require the person interested to write out and sign a declaration to this effect, and to pay a fee of 2£d before enquiries will be made. The Department is paid a special rate to ensure safe delivery of registered letters, and then it calmly demands, a second fee to find out what it has done with them. The exodus from Victoria to South Africa, has fallen off considerably during the last few weeks. " ° Some weeks- ago Major-General Sir Edward Hutton recommended that Major Lenehan, who was connected with the Bushveldt Carbineers in South Africa, should be asked to retire from the Federal Forces. Sir William i,yne, who was Acting Minister for Defence at the time, submitted official records in. le-ueet to Major Lenehan to the several membeis of the Ministry, but no action was taken. Sir John Forrest, who was in England at the time, has now decided to go into tho ' whole question again de novo. The mightiness of the snoid has not' yet (says a, Melbourne paner) wiiMiv dopailed, despite ti.e J^ue vi an older that I throughout the British nuny they ;uc to be used for cercniuui.il puipVes only. In Australia, however, the p.'^wg ot the j sword has been lespiicd evidently out of \ lespect for tho AustuliMi IJor.-o and the i Melbourne C.vvaiiy. A genuiul ouler iv i .sued Recently bels fun'- hit notwithstanding a previous v u-uetum mounted tioops aimed with the vunl niil be allowed, if recommended by >St ik coiii- ! niandunte, to lempoiaiiiy lc'ain tho weapons. A Hobart pre^s telegram states that ' a fishing party of four with rods went j in a boat to Little Swanport and caught i 600 bpam aggregating half a ton weight. ! Some of the fish weighed 4£i. „ ,