INTERCOLONIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3003, 4 October 1911, Page 27

INTERCOLONIAL.

MELBOURNE, September 26. The Cadet enrolments have reached 153,775. The total effective strength is 90,404. September 27. The. Railway Commissioners' report shows that the net revenue from the State railways is 4.24 per cent, on the total debt of the railways. The Defence Department called for tenders for 88,000 yards of water-proof khaki cloth, but only 32,000 yards were tendered for. Failing to obtain the

J material in Australia, the department intends to call for outside tenders. September 28. Professor Spencer hais been appointed Protector of the Aborigines of" the Northern Territory. A cloudburst, accompanied by a fierce gale, did severe damage at Bendigo. : Though only a small area was affected, a ! number of buildings were wrecked, and people and debris swept to considerable [ distances. Mr Jordan, a farmer, was ' seriously injured, through his house collapsing. The silver communion service which was presented by Sir William Clarke to a' church at Sunbury, and stolen seven j years ago, has been found buried under a tree. The rain unearthed it. September 29. Debris from the wrecked buildings at Bendigo was carried two miles. Lumps of ice the size of a man's fist fell, covering the country like snow. There was .a phenomenal hailstorm at - Williamstown and Footscray, and much damage was ] done by the flooding of shops and factories, j The Federal Government has fixed the J gauge of the Kalgoorlie-Port Augusta rail- ' way at 4ft B£in. The Federal Government has agreed to a suggestion which has been made by the New Zealand Government that military officers should be exchanged, but in view of tiie difficulties confronting the Defence j Department in connection with the introduction of the new defence system it is suggested that the exchange should not commence until the end of 1912. October 2. The 10-mile track amateur championship of Victoria was won by Murray. Time, 56min 30sec. The coastal steamer Despatch was driven ashore at the lakes' entrance. She is breaking up. The crew were rescued. | ' SYDNEY, September 26^ j Mr Hblman has selected a site at Tunj curry for prisoners' tree-planting camps. j He proposes immediately to clear 1000 acres and allow the work to proceed. j The prisoners in camp will be allowed : to earn money and a remission of their sentences. They will also be taught scientific farming to enable them to take up land at the conclusion of their sentences. Madame Desturler, a smallpox patient by the steamer Vanlinschoten to Sydney, has succumbed. Besides smallpox, she was suffering from a tropical disease, j which was the real cause of her death. j At a local government conference today Mr Griffith foreshadowed legislation ] giving municipal bodies power to plan ! suburbs and build houses for letting. September 27. Madame Melba recently contracted an attack of influenza. It has now developed ' into bronchitis. Under the advice of her doctors she relinquishes her engagements for this week in connection with her grand opera company, i During the voyage of the Moana 1 jewellery valued at £IOO was stolen from the luggage of a passenger named Dunj mor. J The entries for the National Rifle Association's annual prize meeting, beginning on October 6, total 1500, and the prize money amounts to £SOOO. September 28. Hagney is willing to take up Stevenson's challenge to row a five-mile'"race on the Panramatba for £IOO, and to allow the New Zealaader £25 expenses and an equal division of the gate. j Another large theatre is projected in Sydney. The Lord Mayor has recommended the City Council to accept Mr ; William. Anderson's proposal to transform, portion of the Victoria Markets into ; a theatre. ! Bain has fallen over the greater part of the wheat belt, and has been of great j service to many growing crops, which I threatened to be a failure. ; September 29. i Rich wash, yielding soz to the load, has been struck at Ophir Creek, near Orange, where Hargreaves made his first discovery of gold. The City Council is calling tenders for the conversion of a portion of the Victoria Markets into a theatre. ! J. R. Maekay, a well-known batsman, c*s retiring from first class cricket. He met with an. accident some time ngo which seriously affected his eyesight. The Anglican Conference adopted an ordinance for the appointment of honorary canons. . September 30. Madame Melba is making a good recovery, and expects to be able to sing early next week. October 2. The barque Bream has put in at Noumea after a sensational voyage. She encountered a storm, and was on her beam ends for two days. The bulk of the rigging and deck fittings was carried away; and a seaman named Roberts was lost overboard. The crew were 70 hours without sleep or food. Mr Justice Gordon, of South Australia, has been appointed chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry. ADELAIDE, September 27. During the year ended in June the railways earned £2,041,000, and the working expenses were £1,257,000. October 2. The King's Prize was won by Pascoe with a score of 254. BRISBANE, September 26. In the Assembly the Sugar Works Bill was read a third time to-day.

September 27. The bush fires have destroyed immeme* areas of grass in the Charleville and over £20,000 sheep have been burned, PERTH, September 26. A stage collapsed at Chaffer's mine today. Thomas Denman was killed and George M'Leod was seriously injured. PERTH, September 28. The WestraJian Alliance has reconvr mended its members to support the Labour party, "because the Government declines to amend the licensing Act. FREMANTLE, September 27. Mr Frank Wild, a member of Dr MaW son's expedition, has arrived here. Ho' expresses the opinion that, taking all things into consideration, Captain Scot( has a better chance than Captain Amund< sen of first reaching the South Pole. THURSDAY ISLAND, September 29. The ketch Gertrude has been wrecked* She has valuable mails aboard. October 2. The steamer Eastern, which has arrived from the East, has been quarantined. A* fireman died from smallpox after leaving Port Darwin.