AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1832, 17 April 1907, Page 21

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

FEDERAL WEATHER BUREAU. METEOROLOGIST’S SCHEME. Under instructions from the Minister for Home Affairs, the Commonwealth Meteorologist, Mr Hunt, has visited the observatories in the capital cities of the States, and has reported in respect of each State on the manner in which the meteorological service is conducted. It is . anticipated that by Ist January next the Commonwealth will be in. a position to relieve the States of the service. The Central Bureau of Meteorology for the Commonwealth will be under the immediate personal control of the Commonwealth Meteorologist, and among its other functtions will be the supervision of observing stations, climatology, weather predictions and storm warnings, summaries of current weather, the care of standard instruments, and the verification of instruments to 4>e used at the various observing stations, 1 maritime meteorology (it is prothat the central bureau will issue ocean forecasts for the ’entire Australasian States) and divisional land'forecasts. The bureau.'will issue forecasts of an advisory nature to its various division centres. It is proposed to divide Australia primarily into five zones. No. 1 divisional reports will be issued from Perth, and will practically comprise the State - of Western Australia. No. 2. division will have Adelaide as its centre, -its western boundary being the 129th meridian; while its eastern boundary, starting from Encounter Bay, will follow the course of the Murray to its junction with the Darling River, thence extending northwards along that river to .Bourke, and from there following a lino to Normanton and to the Gulf of Carpentaria . No 3 division will be bounded on its western edge by a line drawn from Normanton to Bourke, and on its southern edge by the Darling, Barwon, Mclntyre, and Clarence rivers. Brisbane will be the centre of this division. No 4 division will have Sydney for its centre, and will include all the Murray district lying to the east and south of the rivers above mentioned, and north of the Murrumbidgee. No 5 division will be served primarily from Melbourne as a divisional centre, and secondarily from' Hobart.- Its northern boundary will follow the course of the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers to Tumut, thence by a line to Cape Howe, and will include Victoria and Tasmania. At the central bureau the tcompilation of daily climatological charts will be undertaken. Provision will be made for placing the meteorological department in more direct touch with the telegraphic service of the Commonwealth. The desirableness -of establishing observatories at high level stations was also considered, but, in view of the attention the scientific world is now giving to investigation of other methods of studying the phenomena of the upper regions of the atmosphere, it is proposed to await results of such investigation . and to defer the settlement of the question for the time being. It is considered that at the initiation of the Commowealth Bureau of Meteorology the expenditure should be restricted to the perfection of the equip- _ ment of lower level observatories. TERRIBLE FIRE FATALITY. A MAN’S SELF-SACRIFICE. / * - - ' ‘ A terrible tragedy was enacted at Greensborough on Thursday evening, says the Melbourne “Age” of March SO, when James Hawkins, a resident of the village, who, with his wife andj mother, Mrs Sarah Gardiner, aged 85, lived in a small three-roomed cottage, was burned to death in distressing circumstances. The awful affair ■occurred about 4 a.m., and the deeply pathetic feature is that Mr Hawkins lost his life in an heroic, but mis-, -taken, endeavour to save that of his aged mother-in-law. Deceased, who was a steady,’ careful, and well-respect-, ed many had a habit of rising at about 4 o’clock, when he went into the sit-ting-room to have a smoke. While: he was.thus occupied he became aware; that the house was on ; fire. Finding! he co.uld not overcome the rapidly- ' spreading he roused his wife,! and got her outside in safety. She at. once became concerned foi the! safety of her mother, who slept in the' third;room, aiidvbegged her husband to save her. Mrs Gardiner had, how-! rover* got safely away, but this was tonOkaowa to either MX or Mrs 3mwkins, aina, withotrt a .moment's hesitaSfion* the courageous man plunged into; tho room, which was even then a mass y# flame. He immediately returned* > toying, ‘'Mother isnot in her room/ 1 ! lfrs thinking her motherHI in some part of the burning home, i&deavnured to ruah in again -herself, prevented byuher husband, * pushed her iatront >of him. iiie did portion of the blazing pfained him Wwn. hope •f escaping, and tiMWdhffcfo

the most desperate efforts of which she was capable to release him, she was unable to effect his rescue. She then rushed off for help, but by the time Mr Roy, a neighbour, arrived, the cottage was a heap of glowing ruins, deep in the heart of which was the body of the courageous but illfated Hawkins. When the fire was raked away, little remained of the body but cinders. The shocking fate of one of its best-known residents has plunged the little village of Greensborough into a condition of deep sorrow. Mrs Hawkins and her mother are both prostrated with grief and shock. At< a magisterial inquiry held at Greensborough by Mr J. S. White, J.P., a finding of accidental death by burning was recorded. No evidence was adduced to show howvfe> fire occurred. THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM. REPORT BY MR COGHLAN. An interesting Report has been received by the Premier of New South Wales from Mr Coghlan, the AgentGeneral, on the question of European immigration to Australia. Mr Coghlan points out that two caused which operate against emigration from Germany are the conditions of labour and the attitude of the German Government towards-the subject. The North German Lloyd Company is willing to place its services at the disposal of the Australian Governments with a view of securing good immigrants of agricultural type. To mqkc the offer effective, the shipping company considers that it should be the sole emigration agent on the Continent for a period of ten years. Mr Coghlan adds: — The inauguration of a movement to secure a stream of immigrants from Europe to Australia on a large scale will not be an easy matter. A large number of persons are ever willing to emigrate, but outside of Europe Northern Europeans know of only one destination, and that is America. Central Europeans and Slavs, while preferring America, go in small numbers to South America. Italians are the only people whose horizon is extended. They go not only to the Uni tec] State?., but also to Algeria and Tunis, and South America. At present it is all in vain that the “better land” of Australia is placed before them. Cheap passages or certainty of employment would alone tempt them southwards. The task of attracting European emigrants, if it he entered upon, must be made part of a pure business scheme. Several years will he consumed in reaching the people whom it is desired to secure, and influential agencies must he set to work. The moment is opportune for the inauguration of' such a movement, which, once? commenced, must be assiduously pushed forward and continued uninterruptedly, every step taken being part of a comprehensive and well-thought-out scheme. To do vigorous work for one or two years and then slack off would be quite useless. It would take two years to prepare the way and overcome ignorance and existing prejudice, and set the movement on its feet. Thereafter progress would be secure. Canada, which is so often appealed to as a model for Australia took eight years to overcome the preliminary difficulties of its undertaking, and I do not see that Australia can hope to attain success in a shorter period. Whether Australia, owing to seasonal causes, is in a position to undertake a continuous immigration campaign extending over a decade of years, is much open to question. Whether it would he prudent to introduce nonEnglish speaking pqople into Australia in great numbers is a matter of pqlicy which would need careful thoue;ht before being adopted. There is still ample room for immigration work in Great Britain. From 250,000 to 300,000 British horn emigrate from the United Kingdom every year, about half of whom go to the United States, and are lost to the Empire. Canada attracted last year about 90,000, and Australia could obtain as many immigrants as it needed were the conditions regarding passage and employment equal to those of Canada. STATE REVENUES. VICTORIA. NINE MONTHS’ INCREASE, £251*916. The State revenue returns for the first nine months of the financial year, E” * h were issued by the Treasury night, show that the Treasurer already received £251,946 more he did for the corresponding period of the previous year. While there are fallings off in the excise and territorial revenue, the railways and Commonwealth returns show handsome increases, the former of £115,893, and the latter of £114,186. The Federal Treasurer estimated that there would ho a reductiou for the whole.year of £131,466, but the unexpected proaper,rar. of the country has belied his esti-

Treasurer. For the first nine months of the current year the State Treasury has received £5,990,739, and the estimate for the year was £7,554,568, with an estimated surplus of £7OOO. During the last quarter of last year the revenue received was £2,065,123, so that if only that amount is received during the last quarter of the present year, the revenue will be over £8,000,000. There is, of course, every evidence that the next quarter’s returns will show further increases, while there will be a number of um expended votes, so that the surplus!' instead of being £7OOO, as estimated, may be anything from £500,000 to £700,000. The last quarter always provides the heaviest returns, and there is practically the whole of the income tax to como in. Owing to the Easter holidays falling in March, there are three days’ revenue to go to the last quarter. NEW SOUTH WALES. The State receipts for March include collections up to and inclusive of 28th March only, as compared with collections up to 31st March, 1906, owing to the Easter holidays falling this year at the end of March. The revenue totalled £1,006,898, a decrease of £71,361 on the quarter. There is a net decrease of £138,375, because the land tax in the 1906-1907 financial year was collected in December, but on the nine months there has been an increase of £708,018, the revenue over that period having to £9,715,380. THE NAVAL SQUADRON. WAGES OF AUSTRALIAN CREWS. A CHANGE OF POLICY. An important change of policy by the Admiralty with respect to the wages paid to Australians serving on the British squadron in southern waters has been sanctioned by the Federal Government, in order to assist the Admiralty to overcome the difficulties created by highly paid Australians and lower paid Englishmen having to work side by side on the same ships. Whether the change is a violation of the Naval Agreement remains to be seen, its central feature is a system of deferred pay. The Australian ‘ recruit is not to get his high rate of pay until the end of his term of enlistment. He is to be paid at the same rate as the Englishmen, and the balance of his money is only to be drawn when he leaves the Kingls service. In future r.o Australian will he allowed to join the squadron unless he agrees to defer his pay. Indeed, the extra pay is not to be claimed as a right at all. Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes describes it as “a gratuity,” and he makes much of the fact that the new system means that when the .Australian Jack Tar goes ashore at the end of five years he will carry betw'ean £250 and £3OO with him in this “gratuity” form. The admiral justifies the procedure by saying that “it will be the means of encouraging thrift, and will prevent a good many immoral practices which must he the outcome of high pay!” Whilst driving in a brake with her husband on the afternoon of April 1, Mrs O. Garrod, of Cobram, Victoria, was thrown from the vehicle and killed. The horse was young, and it tried to get away. Mr Garrod, who v'as driving, applied the brake suddenly, with the result that he was thrown on to the road. Mrs Garrod fell between the wheel and the body of the brake, and was carried about 25 yards and then thrown heavily to the ground. Assistance was at once forthcoming, but the unfortunate lady died within three minutes of the accident. Mrs Garrod was holding an infant in heP arms in the vehicle, and, although the child also was thrown out, it escaped injury. Mr Garrod received a severe scalp wound. An inquiry was held next afternoon before Mr H. Tuck, and a verdict of accidental death returned. The Australian naval construction programme will eventually include a new type of ocean-going torpedo boat destroyer. No vessels of the new type are yet in commission, but several are being built, and one, H.M.S. Cossack, was recently launched at Birkenhead from the yards of Messrs Cammell, Laird, and Co. Engineer Commander Clarkson, now on his way to England, has instructions to prepare a report on. this vessel with the utmost expedition, so that it may be in the hands of Ministers before Parliament meets. H.M.S. Cossack is one of five similar vessels, designed as oceangoing, high-speed destroyers, which the Admiralty have ordered. Its length is 270 ft, breadth 26ft, draught 155 ft. The turbine engines will drive triple: screws. The design, of the boilers will permit of heating by coal or liquid fuel. Speaking after the launch at a luncheon, Mr, JVM. Laird said the Cossack was the pioneer pf a new class of destroyers which it. was hoped! would make the existing type obsolete.. She was designed to have a speed greatly in excess of anar other vessel afloat. ;

A ghastly discovery was made on April 1, shortly before 7 o’clock, in the vicinity of the Logan road station, on the Manly-Cleveland railway line c Queensland. Shortly after a train had passed citywards, a human leg, that appeared to have been severed from the hip, fearfully mangled, was picked up beside the track. limb, which was stamped of clothing, appeared to have b®€n ,dragged a considerable distance. It is surmised that a train from Cleveland ran over someone. Th® police are searching along the line, but up to a late hour no further evidence of the tragedy had been found. Among the passengers arriving at Perth by the Victoria on April 3 was the Rev. Gobatb Joseph, a member of a Church of England sect whose headquarters are on the border of Ai> menia and Persia. To this sect is attached a bishop and an archdeacon and a number of priests, all Syrians, except the Rev. Brown. This sect is determined to send emissaries to all parts of the world, ostensibly for th® purpose of converting Syrians to th® Anglican faith. A customs official put various language testß to the missionary. A press representative, when talking to the foreigner, was surprised at his fluency in talking the English, language. He stated he had been ten years a missionary and twenty years a member of the Church of England. The customs official told him he could not possibly land. The chief officer of the Victoria (Mr Garwood) satd th® visitor could speak English well, and added that he probably would have to travel with the vessel to Sydney, back to Fremantle, and on to Colombo. Care was being taken to see that ho did not leave, and five men wer® watching him. The customs officer said: —“We applied the usual tests, and he failed to pass the dictation test, a short piece of fifty words. W® have had a number of this class of missionary arriving in Australia lately; they are always begging alms. ED® has no possible chance of landing unless the Minister of Customs grants him an exemption certificate for two months. He might have got this if he had let us know beforehand he intended landing. At Perth on April 4 Dr Haynes, who received an urgent message to proceed to North Beach to attend Harry Williams, found th.e latter dead on arrival. It appears he was bathing with his son, and they ventured out some distance, but in returning found th® current strongly against them. Williams, who was aged 64 years, reached some rocks, while his son swam to th® shore for assistance. Williams was washed off by a wave, but, being a good swimmer, kept afloat till rescued. The exertion, however, brought on heart failure. Williams was. a city councillor for twenty years. At Hamilton, Victoria, on March 25 a little girl named Pearl Jackson died from lockjaw. Some three weeks before she had fallen and sustained a trifling wound on the knee, which, foa* want of proper antiseptic treatment, became badly inflamed, with the ro* suit mentioned. It is not yet commonly enough known that lockjaw, or tetanus, is due to admission into th® blood of a specific micro-organism which is very common in dust, stable manure, sand, and other kinds of soil, and that all wounds should therefor® receive early antiseptic treatment. Mr Eliglish, an official of the Papuan Administration, has for some weeks been in Australia seeing various merchants, with the object in view of gaining their support for rubber, sisal, and manilla hemp, and other industrial tropical plants, which ha lias personally proved may be profitably produced in New Guinea. Th® results of his visit and of his conquest of initial difficulties in agriculture in Papua is that Mr English has decided fo give up his official post and devote himself entirely to tropical agriculture. He will return to Papua shortly with very heavy orders for sisal hemp, rubber, and manila. Mr English, finds a strong desire amongst Melbourne manufacturers to draw from Papua such raw material as the Commonwealth does not produce. With the return of the flagship to Sydney, arrangements have been completed by Vice-Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes for sending a party of Australian bluejackets to England for training in the naval schools. The party will consist of forty men, recruited from the Australian States and New Zealand, and they will join the R.M.SL Omrah at Sydney, sailing for London on 3rd April. The men will spend six months in the various school*, where the classes include torpedo work, gunnery, navigation, and seamanship. They will afterwards be drafted into one of the battleships of the Channel Squadron, spending eighteen months there to complete tbs course. .Upon returning t» Australia they will rejoin the ships of th® squa*raa her® as skilled rating®.