AUSTRALIAN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1263, 14 May 1896, Page 36

AUSTRALIAN.

Hobakt, May t!

Replying to the Premier of New South Wales, Mr Roid, Sir E. C. X. Braddon, Premier of Tasmania, suggests that the Snares lighthouse be dealt with as an ocean light. Sydney, May 0.

The Government intend to convert the Pitt Town Village Settlement, which has proved a failure, into a casual labour farm under the control of the Department of Labour and Industry. Other village settlements in the colony have boon more successful, but the heavy cost precludes the further extension of the system. Sydney, May 7.

The Government has decided to make provision for Lady Parkcs and the younger children of the late Sir Henry, until permanent proposals for their welfare are submitted to Parliament.

The Postmaster-General proposes to connect Newcastle, Goulburn and Bathurst with Sydney by telephone at a cost of .£20,000. The service is to be available to the public on the bureau system. Some time ago a passenger on the voyage from Now Zealand lost his portmanteau, and a man named Hareford, arrested for vagrancy, was found wearing an article bearing the passenger's name. This led to the recovery of the goods. The same prisoner was accused of a similar offence at Newcastle, and was sent there for identification. On the return journey he attempted to escape from the train after murderously assaulting a warder with a decanter.

Hareford, who is confined in Darlinghurst Gaol, has confessed that, while working in the bush in the Wairarapa district, he murdered an unknown man by shooting him. The murder, he says, took place five years ago, and it is believed that another man is serving a sentence for it.

Enquiries have been instituted by the police, and as the result they think that Hareford's confession is authentic. Sydney, May H.

At the annual mooting of the Australian .Mutual Provident Society to-day, the report was adopted. The result of the ballot for the directors will not be known for some days. Sydney, May 9.

Speaking in support of the adoption of the Australian Mutual Provident Society's reports, Mr Richardson expressed his belief, without fear of contradiction, that New Zealand was the best assured country for its population in the world. The liquidator of the Mercantile Bank in Melbourne has declared a dividend of lOd in the pound, making (is 8d paid in all. lie does not anticipate a further dividend till next year.

The properties taken over from the debtors in 1891, valued at ,£98,000, appreciated in value last year to .£IOB,OOO. The annual report of the Bank of Adelaide indicates a general improvement in financial matters. The Bank occupies a strong position, and derived material advantages from the opening up of the mine.-, in West Australia. Although, as the Chairman said, tie year had been remarkably free from loss, the board did not feel justified in recommending a dividend of more than 7 per cent, per annum. Sydney, May 11.

News lias been received from San Francisco that the barque Centaur has been destroyed by fire at sea. She was bound to Brisbane with a cargo of wheat. Hareford's confession of having murdered a man in the Wellington district is found to be a fabrication. There is reason to believe that ho is not altogether unacquainted with the Now Zealand gaols, and the authorities of the latter colony believe that he is identical with a prisoner who escaped from custody some time ago. Adelaide, May 0. The steamer Argus, from Calcutta, lost three passengers on the voyage from cholera. The vessel has been quarantined, but will bo admitted to pratique after she has been thoroughly fumigated. Thursday Island, May G. A man named Clarke, engaged in pearl

' shell fishing, has boon fined in the aggre- ! sate nearly £llOO for removing shells of a j size less than is permitted by law. ; Melbourne, May 7. ' At an enquiry before the Board set up j at the instance of Mr Sangster, Mr Campbell, of Adelaide, gave evidence to the | effect that no part of the steamer Wen- ; douree was in such a condition as to warrant him in declaring that she was unseaworthy. What were said to lie cracks | I in the boiler were merely laminations. | Mr Mirams has obtained a verdict of £5 in the libel suit against the Argus. The question of costs has not been decided. Melbourne, May 11. The Sangster Board still holds on its wiy, finding fault with various steamers. One of the latest to come under observation was the Bay steamer Ozone. This vessel, which carries a large number of passengers down the Bay, was alleged to have hull plates so thin that a kerosene tin was of quite respectable thickness compared with them. It was said that a man engaged in doing repairs aboard had simply pushed a chisel through the plates. Counsel alleged that had a sea come aboard the vessel would have opened up like a basket. One survivor stated that the vessel was constructed in the flimsiest manner possible. It was useless to report to the Marine Biard, because the Board was constituted of owners, who therefore ; saw to their own interests. The Heard is now engaged in taking rebutting evidence.

Brisbane, May 7

The portfolios in the Nelson Ministry have been re-arranged. The Hon J. P. G. Koxton becomes Minister of Lands, the Hon A. .1. Thymic .Minister of Agriculture and Postmaster-General, the Hon R. Philp Minister of Railways and Mines, the Hon I). 11. Dalrymple Minister of Public Works and Education, ami tha Hon A. 11. Harlow, who has resigned the portfolio of Minister of Lands, remains a member of the Executive.

Brisbane, May 11

The steamer Fiado, bound from Noumea to Newcastle, has put in here with her boilers in a state of collapse.