CABLE FLASHES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1285, 15 October 1896, Page 37

CABLE FLASHES.

The hearing of the appeals in regard to the Mercadool dummyism case has been begun at Sydney. The bodies of the two men Mulroney and Hoyden, drowned through the flooding of the Ashton’s Reef mine atßallan, Victoria, have been recovered.

Charles Stephenson, the New Zealand sculler, defeated Drummond in a race on the Tyne river, England, over a mile course, by four lengths. The suspension by the English Union of Payne, the Sydney cyclist, has been referred back to the Newcastle Board, and will probably be removed. Mr Harry Musgrove has arranged for a team of 20 Australian baseball players to visit America next spring and play a series of matches.

China has authorised the proposed Russian railway in Northern Manchuria, which will cross the Amoor and proceed direct to Vladivostock, but has refused to permit the construction of a branch to the Liaotong Peninsula. It is reported that Lord Salisbury and Mr Olney, Secretary of State, have exchanged Notes advancing the principles which are to govern the settlement of the Venezuela dispute. The situation generally is now clearer, though the dispute is not yet settled. Sir William Harcourt, addressing his constituents at Ebbw Vale, said he was in favour of ' cordial agreement with Russia covering the entire Eastern question. He would obliterate the Cyprus con vention. Separate action by England would be perilous, but he regarded it as useless to attempt to maintain Turkey. Councillor Strong has been re-elected Mayor of Melbourne. The case for the Crown in the City of Melbourne Bank prosecutions has been closed.

General Kitchoner, Sirdar of the Egyp-

tian Army, has arrived at Cairo from Dongola. Mr Cooke, of Melbourne, has arranged for direct shipments of Australian meat to several English provincial ports. Baron Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller, K.C.M.G., M.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., the distinguished botanist, died at Melbourne on Saturday at the age of 71. The Tasmanian Legislative Assembly has agreed to remit the interest due to the Government by the Bank of Van Diemen’s Land on the condition named in the Governor’s message. The Premier of Queensland, Sir Hugh Nelson, has officially denied a rumour that the Government will resign if the Council does not accept the Federal Enabling Bill as passed by the Legislative Assembly. The flagship has been ordered to return to Zanzibar, where she will be reinforced by other warships. This is considered to be the reply to German complaints that the British are ignoring the claims of Said Khaled (who recently usurped the Sultanate and obtained German protection) to the succession. The name of the ship was cabled as the Petard. There is no such vessel in the navy list, and the flagship of tho station is the St. George, 12 guns, 7700 tons and 12,000 horse-power. RearAdmiral, Harry H. Rawson, C. 8.; Captain, Geo. Le C. Egerton ; Commander, Wrn. S. Rees.

The New South Wales Colonial Sugar Company is refusing to confer with the Northern River sugar growers as to the conditions under which the industry must be carried on. It is stated that unless the growers are prepared to accept a reduction of 5s or 6s per ton on the present prices of cane, or the duty of £3 per ton is retained, the sugar-growing industry must come to an end.

On Fi'iday night two men, masked and armed, entered Crawcour’s pawnbroker’s shop in North Melbourne, and felled an old man named Stewart, who was in charge, ■with a bar of iron. They gagged and bound him, but he managed to make cries which brought assistance. As the burglars were escaping they fired a shot, and the bullet passed through Stewart’s coat sleeve. The old man was taken to one of the hospitals, and his condition is serious. Baron von Mueller died of heemorrhago from the brain.

The mine jumpers on the Rand have been heavily fined. The outlook in India in consequence of the threatened famine is gloomy. Mackintosh, a Victorian rifleman, won several valuable prizes at Spa (Belguim) and Gervejo. Lady Scott, and two men named Cockerton and Kast, have been ai rested in London on a charge of having libelled Earl Russell. Bail has been allowed.

An immense meeting, held at Capetown, passed a resolution in favour of the abolition of the duties on meat, wheat and flour. Sir Gordon Sprigg, the Premier, replied that it was impossible to do this while the South African Customs Convention lasted. The fire which broke out several months ago in the Broken Hill Block 11 mine is still smouldering, and smoke occasionally issues from fissures. The men working in the vicinity complain that the heat is sometimes almost intolerable. Work, however, is proceeding under and around the

seat of fire, and every precaution is still being taken to prevent air from penetrating into the heated portion of the mine. The pieced, patched and practically reformed Licensed Victuallers Bill has finally emerged from committee in the South Australian Legislative Assembly. Clauses were added penalising parents sending children under 15 for liquor, debarring brewers from holding storekeepers’ licenses, debarring both hotels and clubs from appealing to the Supreme Court against licensing board decisions, and giving a twothirds majority of electors the right to veto storekeepers holding a colonial wine license. The House agreed to make the experiment of the Gothenburg system at Renmark.