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New Zealand Mail, Issue 1265, 28 May 1896, Page 41

The London correspondent of tho Bradford Observer announces that one ol the dynamite prisoners was released from Portland on the 27th March, and that others will shortly ho liberated. The Homo Secretary, adds tho journalist, lias practically decided on a policy of amnesty, without any formal or flaring announcement of its adoption. The men who were convicted under tho Treasonfelony Act will he gradually let out, and it is probable that before 12 months are over tho whole of the political prisoners will he free.

We have received from Messrs Gordon and Goteli a good-sized pamphlet on the West Australian railway system. A good deal has been heard lately, especially in connection with the recent dismissal of the Minister of Public Works, of railway mismanagement. But if tho management corresponds to the hook in which it is described, it must ho good. The description is the best and completest wo have seen of any colonial railway system. We road of tho various main linos and branches, of 573 miles of Government linos or 572 of private lines, of Pullman ears and many waggons, of tariff's, and ratebooks, of the suburban linos at Fremantle and Perth and their prospects, and of many things besides; and wo see honourable mention of our old friend Mr C. Y. O’Connor as the head of tho constructive branch. The fulness of tho information and the excellence of' its arrangement reflect tho greatest credit on the writer and compiler, Mr Frank Chambers. There is an excellent map, and the hook is most valuable to any one wanting to visit tho newest goldfields of the world. An experiment undertaken by the Victorian Agricultural Department to determine whether flowers will keep in ice was a failure. The chrysanthemums lost their colour when thawed, and presented a decayed appearance. Violets retained their natural hue, but tho leaves, and other green foliage that was also fiozen, went into a sort of pulp. “ There can be no hesitation in stating,” is the report of Dr Gresswoll, ‘‘that tubercleinfected milk is being daily and largely drunk in Melbourne, and yet there probably is not one amongst us who would hesitate to say that the risks of contracting tubercle infec* tion from this source are of the gravest,”