AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14188, 11 October 1909, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

CRUSHED TO DEATH.

A fatal mining accident occurred in Bendigo last week at the Londonderry mine, the victim being William Foley, a married man, 42 years of age. Foley got up into the top stope to work down the ground, which had been loosened. He was using a pick when a mass of stone, estimated to be five tons in weight, fell away from a hangingwall and crushed him against the footwall. It took the other miners a few minutes to lift the rock away from Foley. As they did so he told them where to insert the slabs being used to ease the stone away. When they would partially raise it he would say, "That's the place; it's easing me." He bore up with great fortitude, but at length, realising the hopelessness of his position, i-xolnimed. "The Lord have mercy on me; I'm done," and relapsed into a state of unconsciousness. Mb nad just been got out of the cage at the surface when he died. . ;■'.

SHOCKING BURNING FATALITY. A sad burning fatality occurred at Kyogle (N.S.W.) last Monday, A five-year-old daughter of Mi'. E. Johnstone, of Cedar Point, was playing in front of the kitchen fire at seven o'clock in the morning, when her clothes caught fire. The child rushed out to her father, but before help was forthcoming every stitch of clothing had been burned off. The child was severely burned all over, and died a few hours later.

HORSE IMPALED DURING RACE. An extraordinary accident happened during the running of the Welter Handicap at West Wyalong course on Saturday week (says the Sydney Morning Herald). After the horses started a dust storm swept over the course and obscured the rails on the inside of the straight running. The result was that Boree Jack ran' straight into the end post of the fence. The rail, a round box sapling, 15ft in length and over 3in*in diameter, entered the horse's chest between the brisket and the off shoulder, and, passing right through the full length of the body, protruded about 3ft beyond" the round bone, where it made its exit. The rider (R. Walker) escaped without any serious injury. Boree Jack was owned by Mr, David Weir, of Boree Park, near Wyalong, the well-known breeder of high-class pedigree stock, and.was in the hands of J. Laffan, the Cootamundra trainer, and the loss to his owner was a heavy one.

MOTOR TRIP TO MOUNT EDEN. Mr. J. J. Virgo, general secretary of the Sydney Y.M.C.A., who spent last month in New Zealand, related his experiences to a Sydney Morning Herald interviewer last week. "Mr. Virgo," says the Herald, "had little time for sight-seeing, but visited Rotorua. A motor ride up Mount Eden nearly proved disastrous. Just after starting the descent and in effecting a sharp turn the driver, a merchant of the city, lost control of the machine, which crashed into the. fence, breaking it away with the exception of a small stump of one post, which fortunately just checked one of the small wheels. Two or three inches further and a fall of 500 ft awaited the motorists. When Mr. Virgo left Auckland two days afterwards, the owner of the car was still suffering severely from nervous collapse." • FEDERAL CAPITAL. . At the session of the W.C.T.U. Convention at the Methodist Church, Newtown (Sydney), last week, the following motion was agreed to:—"That this convention urges that the Federal Government should inaugurate the Federal capital as a no-license centre, and so make it the model city of Australia." MARGARINE IN TASMANIA. It is reported that ■ 70,4601b, about 31 tons, of margarine, was imported into Tasmania this year and illegally sold as butter.