AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Mataura Ensign, 27 September 1913, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

FEDERAL RECEIPTS DECREASE. BT ELECTRIC TELEGEAPH COPTEIGHT. PER UNITED PEESS ASSOCIATION. Received September 27, 9.15 a.m. MELBOURNE, Sept. 27. The Federal receipts for the first three months of the financial year show an alarming compared witlli! the corresponding period 1 of 1912. It is exjKJcted that the falling-off in sugar' alone will be £500,000 a year. The Customs and excise returns for the July-August period are £12.M0 less for the same period of 1912 and are down £70.000 for the first week of September compared with the same week in 1912.

A TASMANIAN TRAGEDY. Received September 27. 9.0 a.m. HOBART, Sept. 27. The Crown has entered a. nolle prosequi on the charge against Daniel Jones of murdering William Mullins. The circumstances connecting Jones with the murder were suspicions but the Chief Justice ruled that there was not enough to commit. The only connecting link between Jones and the crime was certain horseshoe prints in the vicinity of the- Sire, which it was said resembled the shoe of a horse owned by Jones and a boot worn by Jones.

A Lauueeston cable of July 7 stated: —Miillins was a fairly well-to-do farmer. Bad feeling lias existed in the district for years past among certain par- ! ties, politics being an clement therein. Searchers discovered the debris of a huge fire in a depression on a hillside, containing human bones, teeth t a staple used for straps, and a quantity of melted lead. Mullins was wearing heavy boots, with iron-capped heels, and a belt. No trace <;f these was found. The footprints of a large and small boot were discovered, also impressions of horses' hoofs. The theory is that Mullins-, when examining opossum traps, was' shot by a person lying in wait, •vnd the bodv thrown across a horse, and carried two miles to the spot where •he pyre had b-.-'on prepared.