AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 10401, 24 August 1897, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

At the Sydney Central Police Court the other day Senior-constable Knopp was fined £4 9s, with the option of a month’s impnsonment, for failing to report the finding of a gold watch, the property of a Chinaman; A sensation was caused at the meeting of the shareholders of the Blair Athol Gold Mining Company (S.A.) by charges of gross mismanagement, incompetencyj negligence, and breach of faith being made against the directors by Mr Gray, the chairman. ~|The manager of the mine was related to some of. the directors, and the men employed might be classed as a family combination. Charges were formulated calling for the strictest investigation, and a disposition was evinced on the part of some of the shareholders to criminally prosecute the directors, but the meeting adjourned to give them an opportunity of replying to the charges made.The revenue of West Australia for the past year increased by £984,000, that of Victoria showed an increase of £168,470, New South Wajes £57,424, South Australia £42,770, and Tasmania £36,005. , I Mr Peter Herbert, who has been governor of Darlinghurst Gaol since June, 1890, has retired from tho public service. The Sydney City Council have accepted a tender for the supply of 1,000,000 hard* wood blocks at £6 12s 3d per 1,000. Lady Gormanston (wife of the Governor of Tasmania), accompanied bv her two sons, left Adelaide for London by the R.M.S. Arcadia.

The Auburn romance, which ended in the attempted murder of an engineer named M‘Fadden and the suicide of the young woman Willis, caused a sensation in that usually quiet locality. It appear* that the girl had been following M'Fadden about for the last four years, but ha wouldn’t have anything to do with her. She had contracted a mad passion for him, aud went by train from Parramatta to Auburn to deliberately hunt for M'Fadden. When she came upon him the girl shot without any warning, and fired a second shot to make sure of killing him. Miss Willis was a very passionate girl, and on one occasion when M'Fadden went up the Clarence it is said that she followed him, and w hen he would not have anything to do with her ehe attempted suicide by drowning. but was rescued. Another time she is said to have attempted to cut her throat in an Auburn hotel.. She was continually making threats, and made not the slightest attempt at concealment. The unfortunate girl died as the result of her self-inflicted injuries next morning, and at the inquest M'Fadden admitted that he was her seducer* , The fast passages made by intercolonial boats, and the tendency of captains to hng the shore, gave rise to a question in tho Sydney House of Parliament the other night. Mr O Sullivan, who was . the questioner, deprecated the practice of cutting off corners, so to speak, to save time. He inquired of the Acting-Premier if he had heard of the wrecks of the Ly-ee-tnoon, Wairarapa, and Tasmania, and whether he was aware that in these and many other instances there had been a serious loss of life and valuable cargo, apparently through the practice of keeping too close to the shore. Did he not think it was unfair to the public, and would he take into his consideration the advisableneas of communicating with the other Australian Governments with a view to legislation forbidding this dangerous practice, except in cases ot distress, or when making for a port of call ’ Mr Brunker replied to the effect that it was not thought that any good would come of such a course. It was considered impossible to attempt to regulate the movements of individual vessels during storms and fog, sunshine and darkness, otherwise than bythe excellent regulations already in existence.

Competition, in journalism at any rate, is not quite so bowelless in Sydney as it is represented. When the ‘Star’ Office premises and plant were destroyed by fire generous offers of assistance were immediately made by the proprietors of the other Sydney dailies. Two of the offers were gratefully accepted, and the paper is now printed on the ‘Telegraph’ machines, and published at the ‘ News’ office. _At a meeting of the Bendigo (Victoria) rreetrade Association recently, Mr P. Phillips, the secretary of the Bendim> branch of the Amalgamated Miners’ Association, said that as the miners had not benefited in the slightest degree by Protection, after so many years, he intended now t° g° m strongly for Freetrade. The Sydney General Post Office building exhibits fifteen distinct fractures down the Martin place frontage through atones varying from one to six tons. At first the fractures were supposed to be due to subsidence of the foundations or to shrinkage between old and new portions of the building. It is now officially stated that the damage was caused by the building being struck by lightning. A Myhomedan funeral took place at Coolgardie recently, when Hadji Mools Merban, the high priest, was buried with full honors. The deceased, who was ill for only a few days, had been the head of the followers of Islam in West Australia for three years. He came from South Australia,. and is said to have been ninety-five years of age. About 300 Mahomedans took partin the ceremony.