Late Australian News.

Hastings Standard, Issue 117, 10 September 1896, Page 4

Late Australian News.

[N.Z. Times.] A Hawthorn (Victoria) publican has committed the peculiar offence of offering for sale whisky that was stronger than it should have been. A reef has been discovered at Big River, near Mount Arnold, Gippsland, which is reported to have given a yield of 7oz. to the ton. On a recent occasion at Newcastle there were 70 candidates for examination in cookery at the Technical College, and of these only seven failed to pass. Mr Speight, formerly Chairman of Commissioners of the Victorian railways, in company with 11. "W. St. Quintin, is buying mines at Kalgoorlie on behalf of a powerful London company. The steamer Dovcdale, which arrived in Sydney from Queensland on the 2nd in-t . brought 3591 tons of sugar—the large t consignment ever brought in one from, the North. In connection with the accident to W. Warbrick, the will-known footballer, at Sydney, it may be stated that he was progressing favorably when the last mail left, and that no fears are entertained as to any future ill effects from the fracture of the larynx, the injury which caused him to go to the hospital. At Albury, Dr Cleaver Woods, in the presence of a large company, gave an interesting demonstration of the Rontgen " X " rays, and with a fluorescent screen plainly showed metal substances through ordinary opaque substances. One of the party had had a portion of a fishhook embedded in his hand for 20 years, and the exact locality of the substance was disclosed. Reports from Central Riverina indicate that a scarcity of men is being experienced at some of the shearing sheds. At Paika, for a board of 45 shearers only 23 answered the roll. At one point on the Murray 650 men less crossed from Victoria this year. Some workmen excavating for a bridge at Maffra, Victoria, discovered a skeleton 10ft below the surface, and under a root Gin in thickness. Local residents hazard the theory that this may be the " real Tichborne," who is supposed to have lived in the locality 26 years ago, ant! to have been drowned. A record leap was made by a runaway horse at Dunolly. The boy who was riding the horse lost control, and the animal jumped the railing of a bridge -Ift Gin high, and landed in the bottom—a drop of nearly Oft. The lad was thrown with great force, sustaining severe concussion of the brain and serious injury to the face.

William Dederer —one of the Dederer brothers, who have confessed to the brutal murder of an Afghan hawker—remains very callous, and says he does not care if he is hanged so long as his brother Fred is also hanged. The remarkable feature about the case is thai the intense cold which prevailed in the Narrabri district preserved Ali Khan's body in a semi-frozen state, so that, when uncovered after being interred for three months and a half, although a portion of the body was decomposed, the features were perfectly recognisable. Arrangements are being carried out by the Queensland Government bacteriologist on behalf of the Central Babbit: Board, of Tilltoppa water-holes, Bulloo river, for tests of substances for the destruction of rabbits by inoculafcior. The experiments will be made wr.hin a innle-fenced area, the inside ■4ei.--e of -hicfa will enclose half a in'!-., and the two outer fences wit' bv h a mile apart, in order that thp <!keii~tid rabbits may not spread before the success of the experiments >n->trated. The sum of £2,200 is to be spent on the experiments. Mr Pound is a firm believer in Pasteur's theories, and maintains that the French scientist did not get a fair chance with bis experiments in Australia. A depuutation of unemployed received rather severe treatment at Government House, Sydney. The deputation waited upon His Excellency's private secretary, and was asked whether the draft of the petition to be presented to His Excellency the Governor was correct. He was told that it was. " In that case," said the private secretary, "His Excellency wili not receive it. Good morning." The petition was a long and abusive document, which called upon the Governor to dissolve Parliament, on the ground, among others, that it consisted of " an addle-pa ted gang of political pirates." It concluded by saying, " That Your Excellency will inaugurate an era of prosperity for this colony before a month has elapsed by dissolving Parliament is the firm | conviction of those who are of opinion that Her Majesty's representative will eo longer tolerate either a discredited Ministry or a useless Legislature." The following particulars are given in the Sydney papers of the horrible fatality about which a cable message was received in New Zealand:—A shocking discovery was made on board . the Newcastle Company's steamer Namoi upon its arrival. A member of the vagrant class had, tin perceived, stolen on board the vessel when it was lying at Newcastle, in the hope of obtaining a passage to Sydney as a stowaway. He secreted himself in the space between the two huge boilers of the steamers, and probably, lulled to sleep by the warmth, perished there, for, with the fires alight and full steam up, he was literally baked to - death during the voyage of the steamer. W hen found, the stowaway was in a crouched-up attitude, the lower portion of his body resting against one boiler, while his head lay against the other. One hand was clutching the steam pipe, as if he had died seeking to drag himself from bis hiding-place. The great heat emitted from the furnaces bad baked the body to such an extent that the features were unrecog-" miyJMe. No money was found in the jfoefiete of tbe deceased, and as prior to frost „

Newcastle a man answering to his description had sought unsuccessfully to obtain a passage " on the nod," it is assumed that the deceased was identical with the man who made that inquiry. The temperature of the hid-ing-place would be about IGOdeg., and so intense was the heat that the unfortunate man's legs were actually roasted, while his body was covered with most frightful burns.