AUSTRALIAN CABLES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10719, 18 March 1911, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN CABLES.

[_I3Y ELJ-.ciiuc I; Apu—Coi'vitro'trr.]

(Pj::: Press Association.)

THE PLAGUE IN MANCH I'RIA Received March I*. at iU.-jo p.m.

Sydney. March 17. Mie Herald slates that there have bei-n nineteen million plague deaths in Maiiclntria.

Thursday Island. March IS

An official correct ion makes the number ni deaths by plague in Manchuria 1!XU)U0.

BRITISH SCIENTISTS. Sydney, March 1.7,

The British .scientists, en route to \ avua. tor the eclipse, were accorded a civic reception.

BUSHRANGING REVIVAL. Brisbane, March 17. Two men working in the Monnt Guthbert mine stole horses and took to the road. They stuck up . a number of people at the point of the revolver. There is great excitement and everybody iivtbc district is arming.

FATAL PRIZE FIGHT. ; Sydney, March 17. A post mortem of Jacobson shows that the organs were diseased. Whittaker has. been-bailed. :

ST. PATRICK'S DAY. . . Sydney, March 17. St. Patrick's Day was . celebrated quietly. -

FEDERAL PARLIAMENT. Melbourne, March 17,. The Federal Parliament has been further prorogued to May 3rd.

THE TRAIL OF A CYCLONE. Brisbane, March 17. A terrific cyclone occurred at Cairns. The telegraph wires are down, and many buildings have been destroyed, and in other cases roofs and verandahs have been bodily removed. The damage is over £IO,OOO,

. ' Brisbane, March 18. During the cyclone at Cairns .a cottage was lifted off its blocks and safely: deposited a few yards away. A great number of houses were badly damaged, whilst the. cargo sheds on. the wharves collapsed. The full force of the storm was felt at "Nelson and Mulgrave.. Houses collapsed and were unroofed and other, extensive damage was occasioned. There.■ were twelve inches •of rain in 36 hours.

VILLE DE DIJON REFLOATED. Adelaide, March 17. Tho Ville dc Dijon has been refloated and towed to the semaphore. A portion of her cargo has been lightered.

A BROTHERS' QUARREL. Sydney, March 17. Wellman was acquitted on the charge of murder of his brother.

[Two brothers named Wellman, residing at Glebe, after attending a party, quarrelled early on Christmas morning, and AYilliara shot Denis dead.]

SUNSHINE COMPANY DRIVEN OUT.

Received March 18, at 8.45 a.m. Melbourne, March 18. In connection with the cable announcing that the Sunshine Harvester Company was establishing a factory in England, Mr M'Kay states that it is intended to manufacture there implements needed for the Argentine trade which were previously niade at the Sunshine works. The Industrial Disputes Act was responsible for forcing the company to take the export section of their trade outside the Commonwealth. He says that the Sunshine works will maintain its present size, but it would have been doubled if the Argentine business had remained here.

PREPARING FOR WAR. Melbourne, March 18. As the result of negotiations which have been proceeding for some time the employers liave -drafted' a scheme for the defence cf employers arid nonunionists through strikes. It is proposed to raise a permanent fund, of £'200,000,. the interest whereof will be devoted to the -defence of the employers, the support of the Free Workers 1 Society, and the industrial education of free employees. The members of the Society will be assisted to the extent of half wages in case of a lock-out or strike. It is also int-ended-to found scholarships in connection with the Society in each branch or trade. "It is reported that the movement is receiving very strong support.

THE PRICE OF PERSISTENCY. Melbourne, March 18. ■ The strikers at the harvester works have already sacrificed over £16,000 in wages. Received March IS, at 10.10 a.m. Melbourne, March 18. There is a recrudescence of the trouble with the timber stackers. The masters refused a conference, and the men. thereupon dumped lime on the wharves instead of placing it in wagons. Work is at a standstill, and several vessels are held up. , As the outcome of the famous Osborne judgment an has been made restraining tlie Illawarra 'Colliery Employees' Association from joining the Coal and Shale "Workers' Association. The Australasian ease is the outcome of a proposal of tlio Illawarra Association to" subscribe funds to the other Association.

POTATO BLIGHT—COMPULSORY SPRAYING. Melbourne, March IS. At the Inter-State Conference the Minister of Agriculture decided that experiments would be. made. in all the States in spraying potatoes sufferiug from blight. The Conference held that the evidence removed all doubt as to the efficacy of the -method, which is to be made compulsory.

NEW STEAM SERVICE. Melbourne, March 18. Approval is given to the proposal to secure a direct line of steamers between Australia and Manchester. THE BIRTH OF THE NAVY. Fremantle, March 18. It is intended to increase the Government dock to 700 ft in order to accommodate the Federal cruisers. CORRUPT OFFICIALS. Fremantle, March IS. Two corrupt Customs Officials are recommended for dismissal for allowing Chinese to land. " [The trial of a Chinese storekeeper and a Cninese interpreter to the Customs Department on a charge of smuggling in Chinese resulted in interesting disclosures of how the new clium Chinese reach Australia. According to a statement made by the accused storekeeper,. this is managed by means of faked birth certificates and the connivance of certain Customs officials. The statement claimed that all the Customs officers were accused's friends.]

THE REFERENDA. Received March 18, at 10.10 a.m. Brisbane, March 18. The Premier's speech lias declared that those running the referenda .-ire the most intolerant people in the world. He says: "They are asking us to destroy the Federal. Constitution, which will either topple over on our heads or give place to unification:" Sydney, March 18. Mr Samuel Griffith, Minister for Works, has broken the silence which lie has maintained regarding the referenda, He has declared in favor o£ ultimate unification. 'Referring to the runiored split in the Labor party over the referenda, he said that there was not a split with Mr M'Gowen. . Mr JHolman and -himself believed that the Federal Parliament should be ' clothed with I potrer to enforce the new protection' of nationalist monopolies and give uniform industrial conditions, but thought that the powers sought" for were more than were actually required to give effect to these principles. THE SOLAR ECLIPSE. Received March 18, ai 10.10 a.m. 0 . • . v Sydney, March 18< Scientists visiting . the country , in connection /jfith the solar eclipse strongly j

urge tin' establishment, of a solar physics observatory in the Commonwealth. ] hey urge that the matter is of worldwide importance.

.V HOYDEN". Melbourne. March IS

A girl at I'.endigo, charged with behaving in an offensive manner in a public pliiee, appeared !i) Court dressed ill male clothing. For three months .she had posed as a boy. and worked at various employments—for a time as a policeman's assistant. The Court decided to give the a chance conditional on her assuming proper clothing.

MEAT FOR THE EAST. Melbourne, March 18.

Commercial agents ill the East report that 260,0001b of beef and 194,0001b of mutton will be required this year by the War Office in India. Tenders are to be sent to the Quartermaster-General in India before April loth.

DEFECTS IN, FEDER AL DESTROYERS. Melbourne, March 18. Defects have developed 'in the steering engines of the .Federal destroyers. Several times they; refused to work, endangering the safety of the expert.

CENSUS DIFFERENCES. Melbourne, March 18. The puzzle arising from the difference between the estimates of population on which the States receive subsidy from the Federal Government, may require the replacing of the estimates. The taking of the census of the Commonwealth cost £150,000.