AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Mataura Ensign, 28 January 1911, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

ENGINEER'S FLYING FEAT. BIPLANE'S SUCCESS. BY ELECTRIC TELEGRArH.—COPYRIGHT. PER UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION. Received January 28, 9.40 ,i.m. MELBOURNE, Jan. 28. An engineer namei Duigan has indented and built a biplane in which he las made several successful short lights. TOO MUCH RAIN. Received January 28, 9.40 a.m. SYDNEY, Jan. 29. Continuous rain has damaged the growing crops in various parts of the country. WORKERS AND LEGISLATION. Received January 28, 9.40 a.m. SYDNEY, Jan. 28. With an amendment in the Industrial Disputes Act the Government intends to provide that every worker may belong to an industrial organisation. BOYS AND DEFENCE. Received January 28, 9.40 a.m. i SYDNEY, Jan. 28. The indications are that not more than 60 per centum of the available j boys will be registered under the defence scheme by the end of the month. The Act provides a penalty of up to £lO i for failure to register. LABOR AND THE REFERENDA. Received January 28, 9.55 a.m. j SYDNEY, Jan. 28. j The Political Labor League Confer-j ence approved of the Federal referendum proposals, the speakers against! altering the State powers including Mr McGowen (New South Wales Premier), j Mr Holm an (Attorney-General) and Mr Neilson (Minister for Lands). TWO MONTHS UNCONSCIOUS. Received January 28, 9.55 a.m. SYDNEY, Jan. 28. A woman has died in the hospital after lying unconscious for two months, the result of a street accident. RADIUM IN NEW SOUTH WALES. Received January 28, 9.55 a.m. SYDNEY, Jan. 28. At a meeting of directors of the Radium Company a metallurgist reported that he had treated three tons of ore which had yielded an average of eight milligrams of radium bromide per ton, worth £2O per milligram; also 301bs of uranium oxide, worth 10s per lb. He recommended the Board to proceed with the erection of a plant. CHILD; LABOR. SYDNEY, Jan. 27. Mr Beeby (Minister for Labor) has issued a minute restricting the employment of children in theatrical and allied performances- to those above 14 years of age. AUSTRALIAN WORKERS. SYDNEY, Jan. 27. The annual conference of the Australian Workers' Union has opened. The report stated that the membership was now 48,000 and that the finances were in a buoyant condition. The sum of £25,000 lias been collected as the first instalment of a levy towards establishing Labor daily newspapers. The conference adopted a resolution favorable to the referenda, at the same time recording its disapproval of the action of some members of the New South Wales Ministry in showing a tendency to fall away from the movement which placed them in power, thereby tending to endanger its solidarity. HEAVY RAINFALL. SYDNEY, Jan. 27. Twenty-six inches of rain have been recorded at Tilbatilba since Friday week. THE POSTAL SERVICE. Received Januarv 28, 9.55 a.m. MELBOURNE, Jan. 28. The Federal Service Commissioner, reporting on the general dissatisfaction in the postal service, praises the present policy and states that the men's demands are unjustified. REARRANGEMENT OF HOURS. HOB ART, Jan. 27. At the Postal Conference to-day Mr 'lliomas (Postmaster - General) announced that from March 1 the post offices throughout the Commonwealth would close at 6 p.m., but arrangements would be made at the principal offices for a despatch at later hours to meet each locality. No alteration would be made in regard to facilities for the despatch of press telegrams. PRIESTS AND NATIVES. Received January 28, 9.55 a.m. SYDNEY, Jan. 28. Rev. Father Chevirevil (Procurator of the Marist Brothers' Mission in the South Seas) states that the Governor of New Caledonia visited Wallis Island to investigate the charges of clerical intolerance and afterwards condemned the Commissioner's action, and eulogised the work of the commissioners, against which the assertions of anonymous officers of an unnamed inter-island steamer carried no weight. The fact was that tin King and his Ministers enacted some stringent laws protecting commercial interests and the honor of women against adventurers. The statement that natives had to kneel while the priests passed by was absolutely untrue. The - custom was that of kneeling to chiefs, and the natives extended the same mark of respect to the priests, who were considered as chiefs. The statement that the natives seized opportunities to run away were untrue. They had always been of a roving disposition and they were free to travel, frequently do- ; ing so. They mostly, however, return- ; ed to the island.