AUSTRALIAN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1212, 24 May 1895, Page 33

AUSTRALIAN.

Sydney, May 15. Before the Dean Commission Mr Pilcher, who is appearing for the defence, announced that the theory he intended to set was that Mrs Dean had been an arsenic eater for years. This he would prove beyond doubt. Evidence, he said, had also been received regarding the antecedents of Mrs Seymour, Mrs Dean’s mother, an important witness for the prosecution. Counsel for the Crown admitted that she had been sentenced for being concerned in a robbery at Melbourne. Sydney, May 16. The last American mail brought a large number of applications from American sportsmen and speculators for shares in the St. Albans stud lottery. A statement of the public debt of the colony shows that at the end of December last it totalled <£58,200,000, the annual interest payable thereon being £>2,205,000. The total interest paid since the first loan was raised has been .£30,373,000.. Instructions have been given to the Customs authorities that the duties lately re-imposed on oils, raw coffee, cocoa, sago, tapioca and rock salt should no longer be collected, and any duty paid should be refunded. The Customs officials believed themselves bound to collect the duties on

these articles after the delivery of the Budget. The G-overnment is receiving numbers of petitions against the abolition of the duties on native products and industries. Sydney, May 17. No less than 13 actions involving heavy claims for damages are on the tapis against the Railway Commissioners in connection with the Redfern collision in October last. An examination of the steamer Nineveh, which grounded off Botany Heads, shows that a number of plates on the starboard side of the bottom are badly buckled, and will have to be removed. The Rowing Association has instructed a crew not to take part in the eight-oared , race at Brisbane to-morrow, because one of the Victorian crew is alleged to have raced for cash in a bicycle race. It is believe d the crew will ignore the instructions. Sydney, May 20. The claims for compensation on account of the Redfern Railway collision range as high as .£30,000. In reference to the Redfern collision, 15 cases have been settled at a total? cost of £3600. Claims for £ISOO are still pending. Mr Wilson, one of those who was seriously injured, withdrew all his claims, declaring that the accident was unavoidable, and that, therefore, it was unfair to ask for compensation. •The troopship Tyne, with relief crews for H.M.’s ships Dart and Mildura, has arrived. Brisbane, May 16. In the two cases brought by Messrs Reid and Brown against the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for their expulsion from the House in September last both were nonsuited with costs. An appeal will probably be lodged. Rabbits are swarming over the New South Wales border, and devastating the country. The Royal Bank of Queensland is arranging to pay off the deposits locked up under the reconstruction scheme by the issue of 4 per cent, debenture stock. Onehalf of the first instalment has already been paid, althoug-h it is not due till 1898. The second half will be paid shortly. Last year the Bank reduced the amount due to the Government by £160,000. '' Brisbane, May 20. The two Kanakas, sentenced to death for the murder of a white man at Bundaberg, were executed in Brisbane gaol to-day. In each instance death was instantaneous. Melbourne, May 16. The work of the income tax assessors is almost completed, and shows that the total receipts from the tax are not likely to exceed £160,000. The Colonial Treasurer is disappointed at the result, as his estimate was £200,000. One interesting fact is that Civil servants’ salaries will contribute £50,000 of the tax. Melbourne, May 17.

The Aberdeen White Star liner Nineveh, 3718 tons, will be the first steamer to ship produce under the new agreement. She leaves on Ist June.

The directors of the Coal Creek Company, replying 1 to the charges of the Argus that money paid to the Company by the Government to assist in the development of the mine has been distributed among’ the shareholders in dividends, explains that it was not anticipated that imported coal would fall to the present prices, and as there was such a want of money during the time of the depression, they deemed it advisable to pay a dividend, so as to keep alive faith in the further development of the coal resources of the colony. The Hon J. W. Taverner, Minister of Agriculture, will submit a Bill next session to give comprehensive aid in developing the beet sugar industry. It is proposed to afford State aid to growers by means of a share in guaranteed loans for the erection of sugar works and mills in local centres, on the lines followed in Queensland. The Government analyst is conducting experiments, and pending the granting of assistance the Government advise farmers to grow beet for cattle-feeding feeding. Mr Taverner is convinced that the colony can produce the sugar required by it, for which it now has to pay a million per annum. The Age states that the Railway Standing Committee, as the broad, result of its investigations, has practically come to the conclusion that not one of the lines suggested in several parts of the colony presents the prospect of yielding a profitable return. r J he probability is that the committee will recommend to Parliament the construction of one or two of the most promising lines, with the object of finding work for the unemployed. The Minister of Public Works is strongly opposed to building lines simply in order to provide work. He intends to utilise the narrow gauge where necessary, and will possibly effect a saving by converting a number of non-paying lines from broad to narrow gauge. A cablegram from Calcutta announces that the tea market has opened at prices Id to l£d per lb higher than last season. Two Corporation contractors have been fined for paying smaller wages than the minimum stipulated in their contracts. Melbourne, May 18. The Government have authorised the expenditure of A 91,000 for re-grading railways and improving stations, and the erection of new works in different localities, in order to pi-ovide work for a large number of the unemployed. Howard Smith and Sons, shipowners, have obtained leave to appeal against the verdict with respect to the removal of the wreck of the steamer Gambier.

A Ministerial visit has been paid to village settlements in the Bendigo district where many of the settlers were found in a destitute condition. Pew attempts had been made to properly develop and cultivate the land, and the Minister of Lands i 3 greatly dissatisfied, and says the settlements have failed to accomplish the purpose intended by Parliament. Melbourne, May 20. The Government has severely censured Judge Moles worth for his remarks respecting the position of Judges in Bankruptcy. Ministers express the view that the course adopted was not the best way to obtain an impartial public opinion on the whole matter, and conveyed distinct and unmerited aspersions upon Parliament. The Government hopes that in future no Judge will, on grounds so devoid of foundation, avail himself of his position on the Bench to cast discredit on members of the highest Court in the country. The Government has received information that spurious diplomas are being circulated purporting to be issued by the High School of Engineering affiliated to the Ghent University. Adelaide, May 16. Mr Michael Davitt delivered his fir ,t lecture in the Town Hall last night, and was given an enthusiastic reception by a crammed audience. Adelaide, May 17. There is a miniature boom in the shares of some of the Broken Hill mines known, to contain sulphide ores, owing to a discovery by Mr Ashcroft, electrician at the Proprietary Mine, of a successful process of extracting the zinc by electrolysis. Adelaide, May 18. As an outcome of the Chicago Exhibition, a World’s Transportation Commission, which is making a tour of the world, has arrived here. The commission is making an inspection of all the known railway systems, and collecting information for establishing a system of correspondence which it is hoped will in years to come be of great service to all countries. The commission has already visited Prance, Egypt and India, and after touring the Australian colonies goes on to New Zealand. Hobart, May 18. Mr Wragge, the Queensland Governme nb Meteorologist, has established an experimental observatory on the summit of Mount Wellington, and claims that if a proper observatory is erected, it will prove of as much value to the Southern as the one on Ben Nevis is to the Northern Hemisphere. The Colonial Treasurer intends enforcing the payment at £BO,OOO of Government funds locked up in the Van Diemen’s Laud Bank. When the Bank collapsed the Government arranged to allow its claims conditionally to stand over, but the Treasurer now says the trustees have failed to fulfil their agreement, and it is necessary to enforce payment. The Bank protests, and the matter is being referred to the Law Department. Perth, May 20. The steamer Tagliaferro sighted the ship Aberfoyle off the coast flying signals of distress. The vessel is bound from Fredericstadt to Melbourne, with timber. Captain Robertson died mysteriously on Ist May, leaving three orphan children on board; while Mr Norton, the first mate, was washed overboard shortly during a heavy gale. As the vessel carried** no second mate her position was perilous, but the sailmaker volunteered to navigate her, and brought the ship to the coast. The second mate of the Tagliaferro will navigate the vessel to Melbourne.