OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 8118, 18 January 1890, Page 3 (Supplement)

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

[From Our Melbourne Correspondent,

Saturday, January 11. AUSTRALASIAN SCIENCE ASSOCIATION. The chief event of the week has been the second Congress of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, which commenced last Tuesday, and will extend over next week. The Congress is being attended by the leading scientists of the different colonies, and a long list of papers of importance to the scientific world has been prepared. The inaugural meeting was held at the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday evening under the presidency of the Governor, the Earl of Hopetoun. At this Baron von Mueller, the president for the present year, delivered his opening address, in which he pointed out that the scope of the Association must not be understood to be limited to researches in the djmain of Nature, for it encompassed investigations in every department of knowledge. After referring to some of the most important recent discoveries, he alluded to the great possibilities that still lay before scientific men, and then touched upon some matters of local importance, fie enlarged upon the value of forest conservation, and argued that a fringe of forest vegetation should be maintained or created along each large river, in order to reduce the risk of floods. The growth of eucilyptus trees and pines should be encouraged on account of their hygienic importance. In regard to Australian scienti6c life, he pointed out that much had been done, showing the eagerness with which residents in the colonies pursued their studies. Young Australia had already placed, through the science societies, about 130 volumes in the libraries of the world, and a freshness pervaded these literary efforts commensurate with the ample originality of sources in new countries. In concluding, he remarked that, while the members of the Association were not entitled to engage in political discussions, they might venture to diverge from the strict path marked out by science votaries, and foster, through their bonds, the union of the Empire under permanent British supremacy. On Wednesday and Thursday addresses were read by the presidents of the various sections at the University Building?. These included addresses by Professor Threlfall, Sydney University, on astronomy, mathematics, physics, and mechanics; Professor Hutton, of Canterbury College, New Zealand, on geology and pal;i?ontology ; Mr R. M. Johnston, Regis-trar-Genera), Hobart, ori economic and social science and statistics; Professor Rennie, Adelaide University, on chemistry and mineralogy; Professor A. P.Thomas, Auckland, on biology; Mr W. H. Miskin, president of the Queensland branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, on geography; Mr J. Forrest, C.M.G., Commissioner for Crown Lands, Western Australia, on anthropology; Professor Warren, Sydney University, on architecture and engineering; Dr Ashburton Thompson, Sydney, on sanitary science and hygiene; and by Dr J. W. Agnew, Hobart, on literature and fine arts. The arrangements which have been made at the university, where the sectional meetings are being held, are highly satisfactory, every possible convenience being provided. The Wilson Hal! is uaed as a reception room, and writing and smoking rooms, ladies' rooms, journalists' room, parcels room, postal, telegraph, and telephone offices, luncheon rooms, and inquiry office have been set apart, and their locality may be ascertained by a reference to the plan which, with a map of Melbourne, is contained in the published programme. A handbook has been compiled by I'rofessor W. Baldwin Spencer, giving a good deal of valuable scientific and commercial information about the colony, and separate pamphlets have been prepared which state all the details in connection with the Congress. Excursions and entertainments for the delectation of members are of daily occurrence. On Tuesday a garden'party was given by Baron von Mueller in the University Grounds, and on Wednesday a convers-izione was held at ' the Town Hall, which members attended on the invitation of the mayor and Mrs M, Lang. On Thursday evening seats were reserved for'members at the concert of the Victorian orchestra. Yesteiday a garden party was' given by Sir William and Lady Clarke at Ruperts wood, and this evening there is to be a special concert in the Town Hall, under the direction of Mr Julius Herz, in which the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafola will take part. Provision was e,lso' made during the week for visits to the Newport railway works, the Botanical Gardens, the JRoyal Mibt and Picture Gallery, the works of the Hydraulic Company, the picture gallery of Mr R. 11. Kinnear, and the tram sheds. On Monday, the 13th in'sr., a visit will be paid to Langland's foundry, and there will bo an excursion to ballarat, as well as a conversazione at the University. On Tuesday, the I4th, an excursion will be made, and on Wednesday, the 15th, excursions, lasting four days, will start for the Australian Alps, the. Gippsland Lakes, and the Black Spur. On Thursday, the 10th, there will be an excursion to tree Gully. Members will also have an op portunity on Tuesday, the 14th, of inspecting Parliament House, the clerk of the Legislative Assembly (Mr G. 11. Jenkins) having arranged to conduct the visitors over the building. Dr Belcher represents Dunedin at the Congress, and has arranged to give two papers in the section devoted to literature and fine arts. The meeting of the Association next year ia to be held at Christchurch.

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT OAKLKIGH. The inquest on the Chinaman who was killed in the Oakleigh railway accident has been commenced, but has not yet been concluded. The evidence given by Edward J. Fitzgibbon, the engine driver of the colliding train, is instructive as to the haphazard way in which goods trains are being run in Victoria at the present time. His testimony, as reported in the ' Argus,' was as follows : I was in charge of the 10.25 up goods train from Warragul on the night of the 4th inat. We were ten minutes late in starting. The train should have left at 10.15. I reached Oakleigh about 1.21 on Sunday 'morning, Oa entering the station the'signals were all right, and on the platform I saw the shunter, < Redoliffe (the guards and' Mr 'Fraser, the Stationmaster. I did not notice-anyone else around the platform. The first thing done on reaching Oakleigh was to put some trucks off the train, which was done. I was then signalled to go back on to the train, which I did. When the guard coupled up the train he came from between the truck and the engine and called out to me to go ahead quick. I did bo as quick as possible, and J had just got the couplings tight when I heard a sharp whistle and then a crash. I was knocked back into the coal-bunker, »tid when I came to myself I shut thp regulator of the eDgine and pulled her up. There were two trucks attached to the engine. I then went back to see what was the matter.

By the Coroner : What distance had your engine gone before you stopped her ? •' V/itneas.; About thirty vards as near as J ean'judge. : The fireman, fi. J. Hall, was otl tlie ergine when the guard was coupling up, but I then lost sight of him. Whenl went back I saw the fireman, and further, that the other train had run into the tail part of my train. The guard's van was smashed, while the trucks were all heaped up together. I saw the fireman Hall and the guard of my train, who were standing near the wrecked van, both of them being uninjured. I also saw the shunter and the guard on the other train. The fireman of the other train, named Rounds, was lying down just outside the rail?,' and • separated from his engine by the distance of two trucks .from the point where the collision te.qk place. I was not hurt, but received a geyere, ghaking— I heard someone calling Diifc from within thp wrecked van, and attempts were made as speedily as possible to extricate the men buried iB the debris. My train had the usual two lights, one on each side of the van, and the guard and myself are both responsible in seeing that .these lights are placed there. The length of the train at Oakleigh station was reduced by six trucks. The time-table which I now produce is the one by which X had to run, that night and morning. The time-table records no time for arriving/in Oakleigh, but gives the departure time as 1.15 a.m. The explanation of the delay is. that X was ten .minuteo late in leaving Warragnl, a,nd had not been.able to make up the time. I was aware, that : there

was another goods train following me, but the time given for its departure from Oakletgh is 2.30 a.m. When I entered Oakleigh station the distance signal was against me, but the home signal, which enabled me to enter the station, was all right. There is sometimes a discrepancy between the two signals, owing to the wire on the longdistance signal not always working right. On these occasions, however, we are governed by the home signal. The distance signal can be seen by the drivers of up trains from Clayton road, a distance of about two miles and a-half. The home signal can also be seen from in or about the same place. For a short time our view of both signals is closed up at a distance of about threequarters of a mile from the station. The home signal and the distance signal are on different poles, and on opposite sides of the line ; but I could not estimate the distance separating each. The run into the station for a distance of three-quarters of a mile is perfectly straight. By the Coroner : Is there any possibility of mistaking the distance signal for the home signal ?

Witness: No possibility whatever to any man who knows tho road. The written regulation as regards speed on entering a station with any train is that the driver must have his train under such control as to bring it up, if necessary, at any point between the home and the distance signals. On entering the station there waa no lamp used by the shunter, according to practice, to direct me where to pull up the train, but someone called out to me where I stopped that it would do. When standing on my engine after the collision I looked back at the home signal, and saw it standing at danger. The signal was standing at danger before I began to shunt, and afterwards. When the guard told me to go ahead quick he seemed to be a bit excited, but I had no means of getting an explanation. This instruction waa given almost simultaneously with the sound of the whistle behind.

By the Coroner: Was the night rainy ? _ Witness : No ; it was a clear moonlight night, and there is no explanation I can give why the next train should have come into the station. The tail lights of the stationary train might have been seen by the guard at a distance of a quarter of a mile, and without lights it might have been seen a distance of fifty yards. If tho driver of other train had had his engine in hand, in accordance with the requirements of the regulations, he ought to have been able to pull up within a distance of thirty yards.

It is due to the engine driver to state that he has been working long hourß lately. A return which has been prepared by a departmental board shows that on the day of the collision, and for several days prior to the accident, that driver was on duty from 5 p.m. to half-past 3 a.m., or a period of ten hours and a-half a day, but during that time there were a number of stoppages on the journey from Melbourne to Warragul and back, which reduced the actual running time to seven hours and a-half. The principal stoppages were an hour and a-half at Warragul and half an hour at Oakleigh. The average time per day that Driver Nixon was on duty during October, November, and December last was eleven hours and aquarter. THE VACANT .rCDCiESHII'. The vacancy caused on the Victorian judicial Bench by the death of Mr Justice Kerferd has been filled up by the permanent appointment of Mr Justice Hodges. Mr Justice Hodges has not accepted the appointment without some hesitation. He had previously determined to return to private practice at the Bar rather than accept a renewal of a temporary engagement. Indeed, even if he had considered the offer of the permanent position on personal grounds merely he would have felt compelled to decline it, but he considered that there was much force in the argument that, having served for twelve months in a temporary capacity, it was obligatory upon him to meet the wishes of the Government. Is is not unlikely that the whole question of the increase of the salaries of the Judges of the Supreme Court may soon occupy the attention of the Government. Representations have been nude to the Attorney General that the salary, retiring allowance, and other advantages of the office are not sufficient to tempt a leading counsel in the prime of life to'accept such a position. The income of a puisne judge is L 3.000 a-year, and _of the Chief Justice L 3.500 a-year; but it is stated on the be3t authority that the year before last Mr Hodgei earned L 7.500 at the Bar, and last year Mr Hood, who has just been appointed an acting judge, received about L 9.000. The incomes of barristers are now much larger than they were some years ago. It i 3 said that the late Mr Justice Fellows, when at the Ihr, made about L 3.500 a year, but now many juniors receive L 3.000 a year, and some over L 3.500. The fees paid amount to more than doutye what they were in the time of Mr Justice Fellows. The Government will very likely be asked to consider the question of increasing the salaries of the judges for these reasons, and also because it is a fact within the knowledge of everyone that since they were last raised the cost of living has been very much increased. Mr Hodges accepted the poailion of aoting judge of the Supreme Court during the leave of absence of Mr Justice Webb on February 8, ISS9, He is forty-four years old, was born at Liverpool, and came 'o thiscolouy at an early age. He was educated at the Church of England Grammar Sohool, Melbourne, from which he proceeded to the Melbourne University. He was admitted as a bachelor of art 3 of the university in the year 1870. He was for some years private tutor in the family of Sir W. F. Stawell, then Chief Justice. During a portion of the time that Mr Hodges was a student at law he was a pupil of the present Mr Justice Williams, lie was oalledto the Bar on December 9, 1873. His practice was principally on what is popularly known as the common law side of the Court, but he was frequently retained in suits of equity. While on the Bench during the past year he was principally engaged in the Equity Court.

TWO CRIMINALS KILL A COMPANION. Two men named Patrick M'Ginley and John Harmer have been committed for trial on a charge of murdering William Hughes, who died last month from injuries inflicted by them in September. The'circumstances of the case are that the prisoners attaoked Hughes, whom they suspected of giving in? formation to the police, in Swanston street. A man named John C'Neil interfered, and the assailants made off as the police appeared. O'Neil escorted Hughes to his home, in Little Lonsdale street, and afterwards went out with him again, when the same two men rushed at them, and Harmer struck Hughes a, violent b}ow on the head with a sling-shot, while O'Neil was also severely maltreated. The as-ailants were afterwards arrested by Constables Lowiy and M'Leod, and were found guilty at the criminal sessions of an assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. M'Ginley was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, and Harmer to two years'. Hughes never recovered from the injuries which he received, and died on the 21st 'alt. from an absoess on the brain brought about by fracture of the skull. ADVENTUBE WITH A BUROLAB.

The Melbourne police have arrested a man who is supposed to be the burglar who en> tered the house of a North Melbourne resident early on Monday last, and stabbed him severely in order to effect an escape. To repeat the facts of the case, the burglar was discovered in the house of William Windover, in O'Connell street, North Melbourne. James Windover, a son of the proprietor ,of the house, gave chase, and succeeded in catching, the burglar in a narrow, right-of-way' near the place. He dragged him down the street to his father's ho\]se with the' intention of getting him iqside and keeping him there til} the police could be communicated with. The burglar, however, finding that he WBB being overmastered, drew a knife and stabbed Windover in four places. The loss of blood caused Windover to faint, and the burglar then made good his escape. Assistance was procured from the neighbors, and. Windover was taken to the Melbourne Hospital, where he was found to be severely injured, and was admitted to the institution.. The burg-, lar in making his escape left behind him a pair of bpots whioh he had taken off to enable * him to move more noiselessly about the house. The case was placed in the hands of Detective-sergeants E. O'Donnell and Whitney. On Wednesday they

arrested a man named John Johnston as the offender. Johnston was arrested on Tuesday night on a minor charge, and when brought before theCityCourton Wednesday the detectives thought that he corresponded with the description of the burglar given to them by the Windover family. An opportunity was afforded Mr and Mrs Windover, who both saw the assault upon their son, of identifying the accused, and they poked him out of a number of other prisoners. He waa then taken to the Melbourne Hospital, where the injured man recognised him as the person who had stabbed him. The more serious charge of burglary with violence waa entered against him, and he was brought before the Court on Thursday, when a remand was applied for until Windover is able to leave the hospital. HARIIAROU.S MELBOURNE. Mr Harry Barrows, manager of the Union Bank, Brunswick, was rather rough on Melbourne in a paper which he read the other evening before a meeting of the Bankers' Institute of Australasia. He ■ called hia paper ' The Barbarisms of Barbarous Melbourne,' and in his opening explained that the line of argument denoted by this title was adopted as a salutary set-off against the reiterated laudation of the marvels of Melbourne which was commonly indulged in. He proceeded to sketch out an imaginary tour of inspection taken by a stranger on his first visit to this city, and drew a strong picture, with ample detail, concerning the filth of tho city, the river, and the suburbs, which was charactered as an unnecessary disgrace to civilisation. Australian natives were alluded to as exhibiting " a bastard independence," which prevented them from recognising the equal rights of others as well as themselves, while their alleged habits of jostling in the streets, larrikinism, and excessive expectoration in public places came in for severe castigation. The incivility of railway porters wa3 described at some length with examples, as was also the inconsiderate habit alleged to be prevalent among some ladies who wore said to presume on the good nature of men with regard tn seats in public conveyances, and to accept sacrifices made for them without acknowledgment. The want of reverence for anything except self was deplored, and the excessive enthusiasm shown in the matter of football was classed as "Jumbo worship." A discussion followed, in which one speaker, who described himself as an Australian native, agreed with the greater portion of lesturer's address, and urged that a national association should be formed, which would sweep the Australian Natives' Association out of existence. A FAMOUS AKTE.'IVN WELL. Messrs George KaufTinann and Co., of Melbourne, have received nev. s that one of thti: bores at work in Charlevlle, Queensland, has struck a supply of arte?ian water which waa giving flow of 2,000,000 gal in twenty-four hours, which afterwards increased to .1,000,000ga1. The diameter of the bore was Sin, being the largest which has been put down in Australia. The greatest supply of artetian svater yet obtained in the world was a flow of 10,000,000 gal in twenty-four hours secured in the United States by a bore 14in in diameter. That recorded above is the largest flow yet found in Australia. MiArthur Cashell, the Queensland representative of Messrs Kaufl'mann and Co., has just come to Melbourne, bringing with him a sample of the water obtained. The bore was sunk by the Canadian pole system in the town of Charleville, and the bore brought up some petrified woods, including what was pronounced to be a good specimen of walnut. Intimation has also been received as to the fbw_ from the bore on the Nicholeche Station having increased from Goo,ooogal to 7'20,000gal per twenty-four hours.