AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 85, 12 April 1888, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Melbourne, April 3, It has been asserted that the successful action brought by Miss Starke, compelling the classifiers under the Education Aot to grant her an emolument under the fifth di-rision, will cost the country £1500, the decision meaning that 200 teachers, principally females, will receive the increment of the last four years. A peculiar accid«at happened to a woman named Evans in Melbourne last week. A whirlwind overtook her, and lifted her up bodily for a few feet, and in falling Bha dislocated her shoulder, and sustained other injuries necessitating- her removal to the Hospital. . A dynamite explosion, resulting- in severe injuries to two men, occurred on the Hcalesville railway line. The men, whose names are Moore and Sullivan, were engaged at work in the face of a tunnel, driving, when the drill struck a cartridge of dynamite wkich was placed ready for entering. An explosion took place, and Sul'ivan had an arm csmpletely shattered and the other broken ; Moore had an arm broken and was greatly bruised about the face. One of Sullivan's hands was subsequently amputated. A% the Maryborough Licensing Court, a number of claims for compensation for tho surrender of pub'icans' licenses, under the Licensing Act, t?sre htar.l. Of fcho cl\im<inis, ssveo nppli-d either as owners or occupiars, and in s&me cases as both, for sums amounting to £1980. The B«moh remarked upon such claims as pr*posterouß, and made awards whiou totalled £253 in tho aggregate. A number of applicants w»re represented by Mr Birred, who expresstd dissatisfaction with she smnUntss of tho awards, and gays notico of his intention to appeal to the Surreme Court a* ainst the decision of the Bench. A number of the claims submitted wera slruok oufc through tho claimants not giving 1 notice of the surrender of their licns's prior to tho passing of the short Aot of 1884. During the investigations the profits of the liquor trade wire shown by the evidence of ona witness, who deposed that he purohascd beer wholesale at the rats of 2s lOd per gallon, and retailed it at the rate of Bs. Brandy cost him £1 2s per gallon, and bio retnrn by retailing it was at the raU of £2 10a pr gallon. A young man named M'Namara, a resident at Elpbinston, and a young lady visitor had a wonderful esoape from being killed instantaneously by the bursting of a double barrelled gun. The young woman had expressed a desire to discharge the gun, and McNamara proceeded to load it, being unaware) that it had been previously charged. The lady appeared unable to hold the weapon steady, and MoNamara laughingly said he would hold it straight, a; the same time time grasping the barrels with his left hand. The lady pulled tho trigger, and simultaneously the barrel burßt, the force being so great that the muzzle end was carried a distance of about 20ft. The lady escaped with a few scratches on her hand and the nervous shook, but McNamara received a bad cut above tha eye, laying the bone bare. His left hand was seriously lacerated, and three wounds were inflicted on his left leg. Stdhby, April 3. Dandelong was visited by a terrific storm last week, which did considerable damage. The steeple of the Church of England was blown down, several of the beams going through the roof of the parsonage. The parsonage also suffered from the. gale. An iron tank was blown from where it stood to a place two streets away. Num-» bers of houses had the roofs blown off them, and fruit trees suffered V6ry muoh. A hailstorm followed tho wind, and the hailstones remained on the ground for hours afterwards. At the Water Police Court, Sydney, J. S. Williams, master of tho China Company's Bteainer Changeea, wbb charged with Allow

ing seven Chinamen, to eecapa on shore before) thoy had paul the poll tix of £10 each. Tbe prosecution w:s instituted as a teat oase, as the defendant had off red to pay £10 per heed for eecb. of t^e escape*?. Tho defendant pleaded gailty, bub urged that the crew bad kept ?t constant watch, and that; he h'ld taken every possible precaution in order that the law mighf, not be broken. 110 wa9 firxd £50 for each of tbe Chinaman, and ord<red to pay £10 per head poll tax and 5s 6d costs— in all £420 5s 6d. The prosecution was ins' i Luted by the Colleotor of Customs, under th 9 directions ol the Colonial Treasurer. Brisbane, April 3. The Lion's Den mine, Bhuated on a tableland, is reported to have been pl<ioed under offer to a Melbourne syndicate. As an instance of the value of this property, some eight tons of unpicked ore were recently treated in Sydney, and yieldrd 40 per cent of tin, Abraham Street formerly confidential olerk to Messrs Barne't and Co., the recent insolvents of Brisbane, was charged before tho Police Magistrate with tho embezzlement of sums of £100, £106, £59, and £70, roepeotively, The prosecutor intimated that the amount of the defalcations discovered was nearly £3000, The hearing cf the first charge was begun, and the oaße was r - nianded. t About 18 pearling luggers returned to Thursday Island the week from the Louieadee. All report than the water is too deep and shells are scarce, and that the weather has been too boisterous for pearling operations. Nine divers were paralysed for four months, and six of them died in Sooth I Australia. Adelaibb, April 3. Typhoid fever is growing to an alarming extent on the Barrier, and several patients who have been brought to Adelaide nearly BUOoumbed on the journey . A new and valuable invention for cleaning woels by means of bisulphide of carbon, and extracting at the same time the by-product and oils, has been patented here by Messrs Singer & Judgell*