INTERCOLONIAL MELBOURNE, March 4.

Otago Witness, Issue 2556, 11 March 1903, Page 23

INTERCOLONIAL MELBOURNE, March 4.

Dr Clarke war enthroned Bishop of Melbourne with impressive ceremony in the Cathedral. Two hundred . thousand sovereigns were to-day shipped to South Africa. In the Assembly tht Premier announced that the Government had selected Mr Thomas Tait, manager of j the transportation department of the Canadian-Pacific railway, as commissioner of the Victorian railways, at a salary of £3500. As j£gards the presentation of the petition to the French Chambers in favour of a New Hebrides protectorate, Sir E. Barton says that the Federal Government are keeping a sharp eye on New Hebrides interests, and there is no likelihood of any advantage being gained ! by France in tha^ respect. There will j be no action by the Imperial Govern- j ment except by representation through j the Federal Government. The - Joint Commission that the British and French Governments propose to appoint to deal j v.'ith the land question has not yet been constituted. Sir E. Bartou states that he expected ] the notification of the termination of the ' Peninsular and Oriental Steam Naviga- j tion Company's mail contracts by the Bnci^h Postmaster-general, who had acted on behalf of the parties interested. He hoped, for a quicker service tinder the i

new contract. Provision tvouM also have to be made in accordance with the Australian Postal Act for the employment of only white labour on the steamers. He believed this change could be effected without any great trouble. March 5. It is understood that Mr Hudson, general manager of .the Tasmanian railways, has been offered one of the vacant railway commissionerships. March 7. Mr Fitzpatrick, Acting Commissioner, \ and Mr Hudson, general manager of the j Tasmanian railways, have been appointed to the vacant railway v commissionershrps j at a salary of £1500 each. ■ SYDNEY, March 3. The New South Wales and Victorian Methodist Conferences have adopted j resolutions opposing the totalisator. j The Methodist Conference decided to , appoint a married minister in Norfolk \ Island and proclaim it a circuit. j The imports of New South Wales last year were valued at £23,974,000, and the exports at £23,554,000, including New Zealand imports £1.195;000, and, exports £680,000. j Mr Fehon, Railway Commissioner, ex-] presses himself as struck during his 'recent visit with the prosperous condition ■' of the pastoral, agricultural, ariH 'mineral J industries of New Zealand. The rail-! .ways, he says, are working up to a high standard, while the general appearance 'of prosperity is heightened by the absence of groups of unemployed. March 5. The constable guarding the Premier's house surprised a burglar attempting its entry. Shots were harmlessly exchanged while the man was escaping. The spell of intense heat has been succeeded by good falls of rain over the southern half of the State, which promises to extend. An interesting ethnological discovery has been made at Bateman's Bay, the sight of a prehistoric camp. It yielded a large collection of polished stone axes < and other warlike stone implements. A fine series of rock drawing was also discovered. It is thought, that the implex ments, etc., Were connected "with the ' sacred ceremonies of the ancient blacks. ' March 6. Excepting in the districts north and west of the line from Wentworth to Grafton, serviceable rain is falling over the State, and will enable ploughing in many districts. The Rev. Tremayne Dunstan has filed . a statement of "his affairs in bankruptcy, which shows liabilities amounting to £3106 and assets valued at, £74. The Governor-General, replying to the Evangelical Council's petition for the ap- , pointment of a commission to inquire , into Cardinal Moran's Samoan charges, j , stated that his advisers had given the i matter their fullest consideration. As j the persons concerned live outside the Commonwealth jurisdiction, it had been 1 decided that they were not in a position to get all the evidence necessary to • satisfy a commission, but, the matter I being one for the Imperial authorities, he had forwarded the petition to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who would no doubt be seized with the seri- j ousness of the Cardinal's charges. He j added that in his personal opinion the J council would be justified in forwarding ' a full and accurate report of the Cardinal's speeches containing the charges to the Imperial authorities. A heated correspondence is going on in the newspapers over the action of the Government in first deciding that St. Patrick's Day should not be a holiday and then, after correspondence between the Cardinal and the Hon. E. W. O'Sullivan, Minister of Works, making the concession that civil servants would be allowed to leave work at noon and be paid for the whole day. The concession did not satisfy ttie Cardinal, who at a meeting of the Lt. Patrick's Day Celebration Committee, suggested that the toasts of the Government and Parliament be omitted at the luncheon. He had previously referred to the insult which, through the weakness of the Government in refusing to grant St. Patrick's Day as a public holiday, had been offered to the Catholic body, and he predicted the t Government's overthrow, significantly ; ' adding that it would be idle for the i ' Premier to expect men and women of | Irish parentage to cast a vote for himself or his friends if he persisted in refusing concessions for St. Patrick's feast. Protestantism is up in arms, and, through the medium of numerous letters in the press and meetings, is protesting against the Government's supiueness in making a concession as the apparent result of the Cardinal's political threats. _ March 8. A girl named Eva Jackson and a com- [ panion, bathing in the surf at Manly, were carried into deep water- Exciting rescues ensued, but Eva Jackson sue- , cumbed to the effects of her immersion. '

The race for the sculling championship took pl&ce to-day. From a good start, Pearce led for the first mile, Tressider, rowing well within himself, keeping within easy range. At the end of a mile Tressider shot to the front, established a long lead, and maintained it without effort, winning by seven lengths. Time, 21min 2o^sec. Pearce was overmatched. Tressider was practically never asked to race from start to finish.

March 9,

A row of shops in Bourke have been destroyed by fire. The damage is estimated at £7000.

' Sir J. G. Ward, interviewed, gave" IS glowing account of New Zealand's position. He says that every test that is usually taken to ascertain the financial position of a country, if applied to New, Zealand, will show that the possibilities of a slump beginning do not exist. There is no dearth of employment. The revenue is increasing, reductions in taxation have been made, and the savings of the people are increasing* enormously. . - ADELAIDE, March 3. The excitement' continues over tha Arltunga gold find, and Has been heightened by the reported -discovery of two new 15in reefs, showing ,gold_ freely. Many are leaving for the field, including a number. of well-known mining" men. ! Several earlier claims, it is stated, are j giving rich returns. • Prospectors are warned of the necessity of being well [ equipped and financed, owing to the disj tance, difficulty of aotr-i, and scarcity of water and food. March 5. An earthquake at Nairne shook the^ , houses and- opened the doors. - . . I March 9. ] The whole colony experienced .further, splendid rainsJ An inch and "a-half fell ' during the last 24 hours. j BRISBANE, March 3. ! During a storm at Booroondarra sta-^ tion a- tree was blown across a tent, killing one man and injuring eight otihers. ;■ -* March 4. " A well-known miner named Green lefta note in his hut stating that- he in tended going into the bush to collect i pile of brushwood and set -fire to it;. mount it, and blow out his brains. The police discovered the. scene, of the fireanflhuman remains in the ashes. The Premier to-day 'received London cable advices to the effect that Australian 3 per cents, are quoted at 90. - This is probably the lowest figure that- will be reached. It is further intimated that j rumours concerning the depressed state of the London market caused the failure of New Zealand's flotation. The cable i concludes: "Resources engaged other t directions." This is taken to mean that numerous loans projected from other countries on the London market have absorbed all present resources of available money. The words "Crusade ended," appearing in the cable, are taken to indicate that the attacks against colonial securities have ceased. These advices will probably induce the Queensland Government to withhold its loan fojr the present, March 6. . . Queensland's gold yield last year, ex1 eluding smelting works returns, is, 640,4630z, valued at £2,720,000,* an in-, crease of £179,000 in value as compared with the previous year. March 9. A departmental telegram reports that a terrific cyclone is raging at Townsville. Cabs were overturned in the streets. Telegraphic communicalidn is now interrunted. TOWNSVILLE, March 8. The s.s. Tsinan has arrived from Hongkong with the second engineer suffering from smallpox. One suspect and a number of Chinese and Europeans are quarantined. PERTH, March 3. The police at Port Cunningham report that a party of four divers went ashore. Subsequently a survivor stated that one of the party had killed two others, Malays, whose bodies were recovered, along with a stick and knife. The murderer escaped to the bush. March 7. MXogan, Bert Leighton, and Harry Jones have been committed for trial for

the recent bank note robberies.