INTERCOLONIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 16

INTERCOLONIAL.

MELBOURNE, May 30.

In connection with the arrest of O'Neill for the murder^bf his wife as the outcome of a drunken orgie, a jagged piece of pot was found in Mrs O'Neill's vertebrae.

May 31.

The Melbourne Presbytery have formally deposed the Rev. Hector Ferguson for heresy.

June 1.

M. Merlin, the specialist appointed by the French Government to inquire into Australian labour legislation, has arrived here. He will visit New Zealand.

The Chamber 5f Commerce cabled 'to the' London Chamber asking them to support the Agents-general in their protest against Imperial action in regard to the Pacific cable.

June 2.

The death is announced of Mr Samuel Kingston Vickery, Surveyor-general of the colony-.

June 3V ConAWtueM on £k° success .of dredjzin^

in New Zealand there has been a great r rusK here to secure dredging leases in (Victoria.

SYDNEY, May 30.

The schooner Failford was wrecked on entering Sydney Harbour. Her crew were caved.

The German barque Elbeck, bound from 'Melbourne to Newcastle, has been towed into Sydney, having been dismasted during a gale. The ballast shifted and the vessel heeled over 70 degrees, necessitating the cutting away of the masts. The crew worked heroically to accomplish the difficult task. After the vessel righted she drifted about for eight days till picked up by a tug.

May 31.

A Royal Commission has been appointed to inquire into the question of tuberculosis in cattle and the effects of consuming the meat and milk of tuberculous animals.

The heavy weather has completely broken tip the Tekapo.

The Aorangi brings news of great destruction of crops at the Carolines through tidal waves.

•' The R. W. Logan, an American mis1 sionary vessel, was wrecked at Mortlock Island. The crew and passengers were picked up by the British schooner Queen of the Isles. The same vessel also rescued 14 persons on the verge of starvation on the Augustine Island.

June 1. Price was found not guilty of grievously wounding the Rev. Mr Whitcombe, his brother-in-law, with intent to murder him. The Aorangi brings news that an open boat, containing the remains of nine men, drifted ashore at Corinto, Central America. Apparently the occupants had been dead for months. The bodies were terribly emaciated and distorted. There was not a particle of food or water in the boat. June 2. The Union Company have chartered the Bteam collier Werfa to replace the Ohau. Alarm is felt about the safety of the 1700-ton steel ship Red Rock, which left Townsville on February 28 last for New Caledonia, and has not yet arrived there. A reinsurance of 75 guineas per cent, has been effected. A quantity of wreckage was seen off the coast. It is believed to belong to the schooner Countess Erol, which has been overdue for some time. Baker has been acquitted of the murder of his child on the ground of insanity. A woman named Bayley, for the murder of her daughter, was acquitted on similar grounds.

June 4.

The German warship Kormoran has been repaired, and has sailed for Samoa to replace the Bussard.

The boiler of the small steamer Omeo, lying at the wharf, exploded and the vessel sank.

The force of the explosion sank the John Amess, another small steamer lying alongside, and carried large pieces of debris many yards over adjoining buildings and the adjacent shipping.

There was no one on board, and fortunately there were no casualties.

The steamer Lindus, bound from Newcastle to Melbourne, went ashore on the Oyster Bank this morning. Her position is critical. The crew are safe. There is no prospect of saving the Lindus.

June 5.

The Lindus is full of water. She lies over, the wreck of the steamer Colonist, the latter's ribs piercing her bottom.

The Daily Telegraph published a leader commendatory of the New Zealand land settlement scheme. It says that there is little danger, according to the present outlook, of the New Zealand Government losing anything by this daring pioneer movement.

H.M.S. Pylades, which has arrived here, will relieve the Royalist.

There is much activity in mining circles re gold dredging. The Government have already received applications to lease 20,000 acres of river flats.

The Marine Board found that the loss of the Tekapo was due to the wrongful act or default of the captain in navigating too close along the coast. He has been called upon next Monday to show cause why his certificate should not be dealt with. NEWCASTLE, June 3. The overdue schooner Countess of Errol Las arrived safely.

ADELAIDE, May 31

Under arrangement with the other colonies, the Government have agreed to extend Colonel Gordon's term as inspector of warlike stores for the colonies.

June 2.

The Marine Board found that the wreck of the Loch Sloy was caused by an error as to the ship's position, by the nonreduction of her speed when land was known to be near, by an insufficient lookout, and unpreparedness for anchoring. The board considered that if the vessel liad first been put to port instead oi on the

starboard tack she might have escaped. Two more bodies have been recovered.

June 3.

There is a mining boom here, and at the Westralian Exchanges prices for Westralian gold shares have advanced largely during the last few days.

BRISBANE, May 31.

Mr Wragge predicts that in a very short time the weather will have moderated round the spot where the Perthshire is supposed to be, but that shortly there will be heavier blows between Australia and New Zealand than tfcose which caused the recent disasters.

The police are renewing their inquiries into the Oatton murders.

June 1

In the Legislative Assembly Mr Curtis's amendment to the Federal Enabling Bill was riiled out of order. An amendment providing that the referendum be extended to every adult white male in the colony was defeated -by 33 votes to ' 32.

June 2,

Mr Reid, the New South Wales Premier, is visiting Queensland, and has received an enthusiastic reception from the Federalists.

The Legislative Assembly have decided that the Federal Referendum shall not be taken in this colony before August 31.

June 4.

The Government have engaged Mr Ben Tillett to deliver a series of lectures on Queensland emigration in the agricultural districts in England.

ALBANY, June 5.

Mr F. Villiers, the well-known war correspondent, arrived by the Orient for a lecturing tour on the Khartoum campaign.