AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7774, 21 October 1886, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

[redter's telegram.] THE SYDNEY JUBILEE FESTIVITIES; Sydney, October 20. The festivities connected with the municipal jubilee will be concluded tomorrow. MELBOURNE MARKETS. Melbourne, October 20. The manager of the National Mortgage Agency Company of New Zealand reports ,of the local grain market as follows —Shipping wheat quieter and weaker at 5s 3d to 5s 4d; malting barley dull at 3s 9d to 4s 4d; oats, New Zealand feeding, quieter at 3s Id to 3s 4d ; oats, New Zealand milling, rather weaker at 3s 4d to 3s sd; oats, New Zealand in bond, slow of sale at 2s 5d to 2s Id. THE MARAROA. . Sydney, October 20. The Mararoa, with the San Francisco mails, arrived to-day. THE TARAWERA. Melbourne, October 20. The s.s. Tarawera sailed this afternoon. THE SUEZ MAIL. London, October 19. The mails, per Sutlej, Melbourne September 7th, were delivered in London to-day. From our Sydney and Melbourne newspaper files received yesterday we extract! the following items of news A very disorderly incident occurred in the New South Wales Assembly on October 13, during the time that Mr. Abigail was ad- | dressing the House. That boo. member read a long list of appointments to the Civil Service, which he said had been made by Mr. Abbott. To this Mr. Burke responded, i " It's a d d lie," and then walked out of the Chamber. He was at once called upon by the Speaker to withdraw the words, and apologise for having used them; and he thereupon re-entered the Chamber, and said he would withdraw the expression. The Speaker said a mere withdrawal was not enough; an apology was necessary. "I will apologise," said Mr. Burke. " Thehon. gentleman," said the Speaker, "has used language almost without precedent in the House, and I hope he will make an ample apology." "I make an ample apology," replied Mr. Burke. " I say it is a d d lie, and I apologise again." For this he was again called to order, and then made a further "ample apology," and withdrew the words. Subsequently, he again interrupted Mr. Abigail, and it was intimated to him from the chair that unless the interruptions ceased he would be named as vexatiously interrupting the business of the House. A shocking tragedy took place at Foot* scray, Victoria, on October 13. A young married woman, named Mary Eliza George, drowned her infant in the underground tank, and then drowned herself. Her husband, Frederick George, who is engaged in a tannery, .missed his wife and child, and subsequently discovered both dead in the tank. On searching the room, part of an illustrated paper was found, with a few lines of a story describing an old tragedy in Ireland, and referring to a murder and to the acts of a madman. On the other side on the margin, in a woman's writing, were the words, "Fred, mad, mad." The deceased woman had shown no signs of madness, and was always a careful mother, and had been on the best of terms with everybody. Two children are left, the eldest of whom is four years old. What appears to be an organised series of attempts to wreck trains on the Great Southern Railway, in the neighbourhood of Goulburn, is coming to the knowledge of the authorities of the Railway Department. The police have been communicated with, and black trackers set to work to discover the perpetrators of the dastardly acts. With a view to preventing further occurrences of this kind instructions have been given for each settler between Bargo and Marulan to patrol his length of lino during the night, and it is likely that a pilot engine will be run at night in advance of all passenger trains, The Minister has directed that neither time, trouble, nor expense be spared in the efforts to discover the persons who removed the rail, and to prevent further disaster. The bore at Nullabar Plains, at the head of the Great Australian Bight, has been taken deeper, and has tapped an increased supply of water, which is now flowing over the casing. It is intended to sink still deeper, as it is believed that the supply will be greater. Messrs. Brady and Smith, prospectors, claim a reward of £1000 for the discovery of alluvial gold. The discovery is situated 15 miles due east of WankariDga. They say that they got two ounces of coarse gold from two hours' washing. A correspondent of the Adelaide Register telegraphs from Maitland, Yorke's peninsula, that a local party which went to Kimberley write confirming the reports as to the terrible distress existing at the goldfields. They had seen no sign of gold on the supposed field, and they described the field as a hoax. With regard to the proposed reciprocity treaty between Victoria and Fiji, it is understood that the idea of the Fiji Government is that Victoria should admit sugars and other natural products free of duty under special favourable conditions, in return for the free admission of certain imports from Victoria. The reception held by the Mayor of Sydney in connection with the municipal celebration of the Queen's Jubilee was arranged in the following order:—Melbourne, Hobart, Launceston, Wellington, Auckland, Adelaide, Brisbane, Maryborough, Geelong, Ballarat, Sandhurst, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Richmond, St. Kilda, Filzroy, Portland, Ararat, Beechworth, Prahran, Echuoa, Toowoomba (Queensland), Sydney suburban boroughs, Bathurst, Newcastle, Goulburn, Wagga Wagga, Albury. The Mayor of Melbourne was the first to enter. He was attired in his robe of office a dark furred gown, with breeches and silk stockings, and he wore round his neck a fine double gold collar. H«ving shaken hands with Miss Young and the Mayor, he introduced his associates the aldermen and councillors ef the city he represented. The Mayor of Hobart was arrayed in a very handsome costume, and wore a dress sword m well as a gold collar, and the Mayor of Adelaide was dressed in a somewhat similar manner. The Mayor of Sydney wore only his usual scarlet cloak, and was put rather in the shade by the splendour of the costumes surrounding him. The Sydney aldermen have not yet; taken to breeohes, silk stockings, and cocked hats, and they therefore also appeared al; a disadvantage alongside the visitors who had donned those articles of dress. They wore evening attire, without anything to connect them with the high offices they hold. The scene in the hall was an extremely interesting one. The platform was filled with costumes which were new to Sydney, while the dresses of the ladies were in the majority of instances elegant. Altogether, .about 500 ladies and gentlemen were present. When all the visitors had taken their places, the Mayor of Sydney delivered to them an address of welcome. Mr. J. O. Stewart, Mayor of Melbourne Mr. William Bundey, Mayor of Adelaide Mr. J. G. Davies, Mayor of Hobart; Mr. Hipwood, Mayor of Brisbane; Mr. A. W. Brown, Mayorof Wellington; and Mr. W. R. Waddel, Mayor of Auckland, delivered brief addresses.