INTERCOLONIAL. MELBOURNE, April 5.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 16

INTERCOLONIAL. MELBOURNE, April 5.

The Committee of the Presbytery appointed to investigate the charge of heresy against the Rev. Mr Ferguson, of Northcote, found that the book on spiritual law, though a natural work in harmony with the Swedenborgian system, is opposed aliko to the doctrines of the Bible and the Standards of the Presbyterian Church. ' April 10. j The Premier, Sir George Turner, has prepared the draft of an Old-age Pensions Bill, with a view to its introduction at the next session of Parliament. The principles of the mea&ure have not, however, yet been settled by Cabinet. It is anticipated that the railway revenue will show a further increase this year of a quarter of a million, making an increase for two years of- nearly half a million. SYDNEY, April 4. A serviceable rain is falling over the greater part of this colony. By the bursting of a water jacket in the Cuba mine three men named Richards, Jurotowich, and Grogan were badly burned. April 5. A fire at Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, last night, destroyed Brunner's box factory, Hcrschmann's cigar factory, and two dwelling houses. The inmates of the latter escaped with difficulty. A man named Jam was seriously injured jumping from a window. Four horses were roasted to death. Briggs, who murdered Miss Dutt, was executed this morning, Death was in- j stantaneous.

Advice has been received here that a new shipping company, with a capital of £200,000, has been formed at Trieste, for the purpose of establishing steam communication between that port and Australia.

April 6. | Richards, the victim of the accident in I the Cobar mine, is dead. j The Taviuni leaving to-night takes a i quantity of ammunition for the warships Porpoise and Royalist. 1 April 7. Kelly was found guilty of the manslaughter of Miss Flynn-and sentenced to seven years. In conformity with the decision of the German Government to send experts to the various agricultural countries of the world to study the methods of agriculture, Dr Hucho, professor of philosophy at the University of Leipsic, has arrived. He remains for several years to investigate the condition of the colonies. General Booth was interviewed on arrival here. He expressed himself highly satisfied with his own reception, and with the progress that the Salvation Army were making in New Zealand. The Govern- | ment of the colony, he said, had promised | to' give the reformatory boys into the care of the Army, and would give them grants for carrying on every side of the Army's social work. At the Mudgee criminal sessions John M'Coy was sentenced to death for ihe murder of ms wife, whom he had accused of infidelity. April 10. At the annual meeting of the Mutual Life Association- the directors presented a satisfactory report to the shareholders, which was adopted. The racehorse North British has been sold for 400gs, to be exported to India. BRISBANE, April 6. Wilson, whb is charged with the murder of the boy Hill at Oxley, has applied to the Crown for counsel to defend him, and | has.^iffl^onsequence been further remanded: '5 At a public meeting, chiefly attended by ! commercial men, an Anti-Convention Federal Bill League was formed. April 7. A pilot cutter has been found sunk on the Barrier reef. There are no signs of the crew. ADELAIDE, April 8. The official statistics of the wheat harvest show that the acreage sown was 1,787,000, and the yield 8,779,000 bushels, or an average of 4.91. The increases compared with the previous year are: Acreage, 266,000; yield, 4,764,000; average, 2.27 bushels.

A man named Chas. S. Ma-son, aged 49, re- : siding at Prahran, Melbourne, committed suicide at his home the other night by shooting himself with a revolver. He had been cut of work since September, and had become very despondent. He leaves a widow and two children.