AUSTRALIAN SUMMARY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1352, 27 January 1898, Page 35

AUSTRALIAN SUMMARY.

Private advices received in Brisbane announce the death at Alexandria, on November 22, of Captain H. C. Pritchard, who went to the Soudan with the New South Wales Contingent in 1881. Th© Premier of Victoria has informed the Premier of New South Wales that premises for the storage of colonial produce can be obtained in London for £IOOO per annum. The offer will be considered, but meanwhile Mr Reid points out that the stores would have to be controlled by an independent person. It would not do to place New South Wales produce in the charge of a Victorian agent. During the past year 98 cases were reported to the Public Service Board of New South Wales, under section 49 of the Act. In 20 cases the Board recommended the dismissal of the officer concerned. _ Fortyfour officers were required to resign, the services of one were dispensed with, 1 resigned, 19 were fined or disrated, 10 censured, and 3 reinstated unconditionally. The Board refrains from,giving the names of the persons dealt with. When the Premier of Victoria, Sir George Turner, was in England, the Attorney-General was waited upon by a deputation from the municipalities, and urged to bring in a Bill authorising the municipal councils to undertake fire insurance. The deputation pointed out that the insurance companies had demanded a , large increase in their premiums, and that if the municipalities undertook risks they could no doubt insure buildings against fire at a less amount than the companies were asking. The Premier has given the matter his consideration, and expresses

himself adverse to the proposal, but be will bring the matter before the Cabinet. He fears that if the municipal councils found themselves unable to meet the claims made in the event of an extensive fhe, they would fall back on the Government for assistance. Mr John R. Eathorne, of Paddington, who has for years been endeavouring to develop deep-sea fishing off the New South Wales coast, states that a brochure entitled " Piscatory," or " Pish and Fishermen/'published by him some time ago, has reached England, and having been reviewed by the press, has attracted the attention of some expert fishermen, who have sent him definite offers. Among the letters received by Mr Eathorne are three from Mr Henry E. M. Studdy, who in his last letter expressed his intention of coming out with nets, gear and a crew, trusting to find a suitable craft on the spot for experimental purposes. The wages of crew, passiges of crow, transit of nets, &c, would co«t about .£3OO for six months, and he proposed to leave at the end of January or the beginning of February. Mr Studdy added :—" We have been studying a chart of the coast, and see nothing to prevent drifting off Sydney." Mr Eathorne wrote asking Mr Studdy not to leave till he heard from him again, and as there is a chance of a fair trial of deepsea fishing being made with all gear and by men who know their business, he asks whether there are not men in New South Wales who would assist in building up a vast industry of deep-sea fishing. The steamer Albany was in a cyclone off Onslow (Western Australia), when she had | a lively time of it. All deck cargo was . washed over the side, including two large

jarrah piles 41ft long. Her cabin skylight was smashed, and 3ft of water was in her saloon. The decomposed body of Mr Walter Syson, well known in chess circles in Queensland and New South Wales, has been found in an attic at the Brisbane School of Arts. Indications point to suicide. Beside him were an empty bottle and tumbler. A fire broke out at midnight at the goods shed, Perth (Western Australia) railway station. A good supply of water was obtained, and the flames were soon extinguished, but not till nearly .£IO.OOO damage had been done. The building and contents were insured for £IO,IOO. A number of firemen on a visit in connection with the annual demonstration assisted in fighting the flames. On the morning of the 10th instant, at 9 o'clock, H.M.S. Royal Arthur, flagship of Rear-Admiral H. L. Pearson, arrived in Port JacksDn, and about 6 o'clock in the evening H.M.S. Orlando cleared the Heads for Portsmouth. The unique spectacle of two first-class cruisers, each flying a Rear-. Admiral's ensign, attracted large numbers of spectators to the shores of Farm Cove, and both the incoming and the outgoing vessels were enthusiastically cheered. Rear-Admiral Pearson formally took command of the station. Considerable interest was manifested in certain 'quarters in New South Wales as to the extent of matter which the Colonial Secretary got through daily while temporarily acting as Pooh Bah to the Ministry. The pile of papers was at first stated to be from 2ft to 3ft thick. A more thorough investigation, however, enable the authoritative announcement to be made

• that the thickness of the stack of docut ments was really from sft to 6ft. No particulars were given as to the quality. A passenger named E. D. Hadfield, of i Eidsvold, who was on board the Tyrian, i from Sy , dftey--to r . H Brisbane, was pitched , overboard at night'"by a sudden heavy lurch of the vessel. - Heavy seas were run- , ning at the time. An hour was spent in | searching, and several life buoys were sent , | out without avail. I The letter of our West Australian correspondent (says the Sydney Evening News) more than bears out all we have formerly i. stated about the treatment of the natives in that colony. The Anderson case has, to a certain extent, forced the hand of the Government, and compelled them unwillingly to admit that the aborigines are illused, at times. But at the same time they demur at their blood-drenched linen being washed in sight of the other colonies. The old isolation idea still clings closely to the West Australians. In their way they are an Australian Transvaal, and regard the eastern colonies with distrust and sus- . picion. They would like their private preserve of niggers kepc to themselves, and, above all, their dealings with them, any such slight things as flogging to death, maiming, driving in chains, &c, not to be reported beyond the confines of the colony. Mr T. M. Slattery has definitely admitted his intention to contest King Division, Sydney, against the Premier, unless Mr Barton, Sir George Dibbs, or some leading member of the Opposition comes forward. He will support the abolition of the Land and Income Taxes, and will oppose Upper House reform. It is understood that Dr F. N. Manning, Inspector-General of the Insane, has in-

formed the Colonial Secretary that Be contemplates retiring from the public service of New South Wales at an' early date. Dr Manning has been 30 the Government service. The sixth session of the Australian Labour Federation's Provincial Council, held at Brisbane, decided in the event of Mr Ben Tillett's visiting Brisbane to urge the desirability of his visiting the pastoral and mining centres of Queensland, in order to bring under the notice of the Home labour organisations the condition of Australian wage-earners, and the presence of so many unemployed. At the Australasian Association's session in Sydney, a paper by the late Eev Dr W. W. Gill was read, dealing with " A Female Hermit of the South Pacific, with her song." The hermit in question was a woman, Inutoto, who, fleeing from her husband's ill-usage, took refuge in a cave on the island of Atia (Hervey Group), and lived there alone for many years, until a fowler, by chance, discovered her and restored her £o her husband. The cave in which she had lain so long in hiding was said to be one of the wonders of the Pacific Isles—a mile long underground, with innumerable windings, an arched roof, with columns of glittering stalactites and stalagmites.