AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11060, 11 May 1899, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. BRISBANE ATHLETIC MEETING. Sydney, May 10. There is a probability of Queensland ac< cepting the Amateur Athletic Union's sug«* gested compromise re dates of the Brisbane niteling. EXPORT OF RABBITS. Melbourne, May 10. Nearly two and a-half million rabbits werd exported last season, valued at over £90,000.

EARL BEAUCHAMP. Albany, May 10. Earl Beauchamp, the new Governor oi New South Wales, has arrived. MR. WITHEFORD. Sydney, May 10. Mr. J. H. Witheford is a passenger fol Auckland by the Alameda. He submitted definite proposals to the Government to subsidise the Australian-American service as a basis of future negotiations. 1 TASMANIA* MINISTRY. Hoeart, May 10. Captain Melies, M.P. for Glamorgan, has accepted the portfolio of lands and works. THE UNEMPLOYED DIFFICULTY. Sydxet, May 10. A Board has been appointed to inquire into the unemployed problem, with a view to indicate to the Government what should be done to permanently remove the difficulty.

A SHOCKING STORY. Brisbane, May 10. A girl, lost in the bush last week, was found to-day in a shocking condition. She was unconscious and lying in the glaring sun, covered with ants. She died shortly after being discovered. An investigation revealed the fact that the girl's mother and two sisters were lying in a wretched hut, dying of starvation. They were demented, and were practically living skeletons. The father died at Christmas, while engaged on a ring-barking contract. The woman continued the contract, but the hard work and insufficient nourishment drove all crazy, tho elder girl wandering into the bush* rV '