AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 March 1907, Page 1

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

1 VICTORIA. ( There has lately boon a scarcity <,f hr}; on the Melbourne market. At Mentone £3BO was raised for the ■ relief of a boy named Brazier, who lost his legs in a railway accident. , “If I may use a vulgarism, I should ! like to tell Mr Boyd,” said a lady el- , ector to a candidate in the Victorian elections, “that ho is not the only pebble on the beach.” The Melbourne tramway receipts for February were £43,934, an increase over February of last year of £2637. The number of passengers carried was 5.136,514. At Mason Meadows ,ncar Ringwood, on Wednesday last, the Talbot Colony of Epileptics was opened by His Excellency the Governor and'Lady Talbot. Suitable buildings have been erected and a comfortable home provided for unfortunate epileptics who arc at present a burden to others and a misery to themselves. “Too often has the game of bowls been associated with beer,” said a 1 i Milan Councillor, when roioiciim that the Armadale Bowling Club had decided to relinquish their bar. Applications have been called by Bio Department of Agriculture for five supervisors under the Milk and Dairy. Supervision Act to bo chosen from over twenty who have passed the nocess.ny examinations. The appointments arc to he for, one year at first at a salary of £l5O and travelling allowances. °

A telephone message was received "f the night of flie 3rd hist. l>v the < aldeigh police from Miss Deteving in charge of the post office, Black Flat, that a lunatic had keen seen wandering about the scrub in a .nude condition. Two policemen wont out and found the man not far from tlm Mountain View Hotel, in the thickestnart of the scrub, hidden in a shallow hole, evidently made bv a prospector in search of gold. His naked feet were sticking out. He had only an old bit of flannel shirt on. and was covered witli a dirty old bag. He gave bis name as Henry Taylor, laborer, forty-seven voars of age. and .stated that lie had no home. He was a most pitiable obieet. bis body being sinipi v skin and bone. He was tional in his talk, but evidently suffering from exposure and starvation, and stated that be had no home and could not get work, and that in 1898 bo was in the Txow Asylum. Ho was lodged in the lock-up and next dav was sent to the hospital for treatmen t. The Bail wav Commissioners have adopted a pew system of monthly passes t hr Melbourne and suburban linos. It was found that some smart person bad discovered a wav of splitting their old tickets in half .and bv exposin'* the outside portion from a card case to “beat” tbo guard. A new material, “limp but durable.” has hern adopted, and distinctive colors and marks are used to enable the conductors to se P at, a glance what (he tickets are. This was a necessary in. novation, as IdO.OOO travel on (lie lines daily.

riio rn.'nl srwiro sviidicnlo onostjnii Ins hod 5:0 mnriv I'vjsjs .‘ml '"ms. so now jnpovlioris. ;m] flouinls. li;jvp inovp In ||ir» pnnf fr* film *r> l-.f. rr; l rnlilo on Hi* MiMrH U>.*m In onrif-o from Ansi ml inn filoq. Tim I,‘ifoqf, *ninnnTirppio)i t is flint Die eopfraet is to lio nroeed<-d with and that (he financial soundness of Dm vontnrn is assured. It is also s-ii,] Hi.-it f'ood reason exists fov Die belief flint slnnlinlldinir vnrds mill bo established ;it Melbourne and Sydtirv for flio construction of lioflt iimrebaiit ships nnd torpedo boats and destroyers.

The unsafch n meter <.f *fi c Victorian «rr;w7in<r is still Ihe subject* <>f discussion in trade circles, and one result is that in some directions a preference is heinu i'iv<Mi to Svdm v or TL'islvne butter for home buying. On Hie other hand. soum <if (he factories are showing loss wiliingrirss to sr.ll on the grade loaf. preferrine to male a an oiit-and-opt sale. Erom flip cducalioiial miinf <>f vipw. what i« in he recognised is that "rading i" Melbourne is onlv ono step in improvin'* the nn , i. litv pf Hip butler. an«l nrolvblv <bn most important work mill lip found to consist of direct, ins(nm 4 ion a 4 the factories. a matlpr deserving systematic treatment. QUEENSLAND. The revenue of Oncensland for February was £275.560, an increase of £58.884 on 1 lie corn spuming period of last year. The shipping companies of Queensland have refused to ship fruit unless freights are prepaid, so as In secure ■protection for themselves in the event of the consignments bring condemned. ( A difficulty is being experienced in Queensland in procuring sufficient railway sleepers. Other States are also said to be in a like predicament. A Svdnev paper says that the New South Wales Railway Department is looking forward to some arrangement whereby planting of suitable timber will bo undertaken on a large scale. Queensland farmers who have visited New Zealand have returned with tales of the high value of land over here compared with that in their own country. The “Queenslander” points out that to a country desiring immigrants (as is their case) the more moderate the quotations for land are the better. Anyway, adds the paper, farming and grazing lands in Now Zealand could ho purchased at a moderate advance on prices ruling in Queensland it the value were fixed on the true basis of carrying capacity, and not on acreage. “It must bo remembered also (adds the paper) that nearly all farms in New Zealand are useless until costly improvements have boon effected. Their hush resembles onr scrub, and their open country, if the soil is good, is generally a jungle of fern and tupaki. Tlrcso have to he cleared and English grasses sown before they will carry any stock at all.” NEW SOUTH WALES.

Seven fines wore recorded against a St. Kilda hotelkeeper last week for working Ids. eni])loyees more than sixty hours per week. Most of the employees so overworked wore women.

Clerks, as well'as workmen, arc being offered facilities to acquire cheap homes. Blocks are being allotted at Huntley under Closer Settlement Act. The Government grant £250 towards putting up a building that shall cost not less than £3OO, and a man with £SO cash can under the terms offered obtain a block and complete The total purchase in 31i years. Those not desiring a £3OO house can come under the workmen’s homes provision. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. It is proposed to erect a monument to Captain Sturt, tlie father of Australian exploration. “Such are the difficulties attending ■the administration of justice here,” writes a Port Darwin correspondent of the Argus, “that prisoners and native witnesses alike have been detained for over a year in gaol.” A pretty state ! of things indeed for a British community! The matter has been brought more prominently under notice than usual by the recent escape from custody of a native named Bobby, who figured as a witness in a murder case in 1905, and who, as a witness, lias been in gaol ever since awaiting the trial of the natives accused of the murder. The- case was remanded to the 25th of this month. WESTERN AUSTRALIA, y The revenue of Western,;, Australia for February was £261,688, as compared with £278,323 last year. In Western Australia? tpi experiment is being made to ascertain tint ofllaacV of cold storage in inti pi'wrvii|,hm df {wrtftjn JfMs nt frttH-i