INTERCOLONIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3034, 8 May 1912, Page 25

INTERCOLONIAL.

MELBOURNE, April 30. The New Zealanders now staying here entertained Sir J. G. Ward at dinner. Sir A. R. Guinness was present. May 2. As the steamer Peregrine, with over 100 passengers and a large general cargo, was leaving for the River Plate she sprang a leak. The water gained rapidly, and the captain beached her at the entrance at the bar to prevent her sinking. The passengers were landed. The damage to the cargo is unknown until the steamer is temporarily repaired and reberthed. The first year of penny postage has resulted in a decrease of revenue in all the States except Victoria-, amounting to £46,002. Victoria shows an increase of £50,240, making an increase in the whole Commonwealth of £4238. May 4. There have been satisfactory trials of the two motor trains imported by the Victorian Railway Commissioners. They developed a speed of 60 miles an hour. The Federal wireless station at Hobart has succeeded in establishing communication with Suva. Mr Williamson announces that Madame Melba has agreed to bring another grand opera company to Australia two years hence. May 6. Burglars entered a fruit shop and stole £IBO. SYDNEY, April 30. Colonel Wallack, Commandant of the Victoria Forces, has been appointed Commandant of the New South Wales Forces. Mr Hazleton, of the Irish Home Rule delegation, announces that the total amount collected in Australia and New Zealand for the Irish Home Rule fund is £26.000. May 1. Alderman G. T. Clarke has been elected Lord Mayor of Sydney. Mr Clarke was formerly Mayor of St. Kilda (Dunedin) and town clerk of South Dunedin. Mr Griffith has arranged for the purchase of a State sawmill and joinery works at a cost of £50,000. The recent wave of burglary and other crimes has led the Inspector-general of Police to apply to the Government for permission to increase the city constabulary by 250 men. It is proposed to introduce a system of night patrol plainclothes officers, in addition to these on the'ordinary beats. May 2. The epidemic of crime continues, and is creating a feeling of insecurity among suburban residents. At Belmore a man was stuck up and violently assaulted by two maskeid armed men. who robbed him of his money and jewellery. Two jronberies from dwellings are also reported. A masked man entered an hotel bar in the heart of the city in business hours and threatened the barmaids with a re-

vciver. Their screams caused the intruder to decamp. i Three more burglaries were reported to the police to-day. In one case the occupant fired two shots, but the intruder escaped. I Two men entered a jewellery establishment in the heart of the city in broad daylight and asked to see some diamond | rings. They seized one, and escaped beI fore the jeweller could cross the counter. I Mr M'Gowen read an unemployed deputation a 6harp lesson. He said that some of the applicants for work had refused jobs at 9s to lis a day. In reply to statements that people were committing suicide, and that babies were • starving in Sydney owing to a scarcity ' of food, the Premier undertook to guarantee that no one need starve in New South Wales. Mr Riley, who was badly injured as , the result of an explosion of gas at Homebush yesterday, is dead. In reply to a deputation requesting the establishment of city meat markets, the Premier (Mr M'Gowen) said they well knew that certain interested parties were tightening their grip on the industry, so that the producers would need all the facilities they could obtain in order to reach the markets of the world as favourably as possible. At the annual conference of the New South Wales Temperance Alliance a motion in favour of amending the Liquor Act for a straight-out vote, with a simple . majority to decide the issue, was nega- ; tived by 24 to 13. A motion favouring the reduction of open hours for hotels was adopted. i The birth-rate for April wa 6 the highest ' since April, 1897, and 11 per cent, above the average for the last five years. Arrangement have been made for the Government Statist to draw up on anthropometric standard for the children of the Commonwealth. i May 3. I A campaign has started with the object of raising £20,000 in 10 days in order to assist the Young Women's Christian Association's building fund. May 4. Another link with the old bushranging days has been snapped by the death of Mrs Lewis, whose house near Bathurst was " stuck up " by Ben Hall's gang and three horses stolen. j I May 5. ' 1 The price of the 21b loaf will be increased to cash and 3£d booked from to-morrow. I The Hospital Saturday collection ! amounted to £BO3I, which is a record. Last yea.r, the previous best, the collec- ! tion was £7239. I In his evidence before the Food Commission the manager of the Meat Packing Company said that some of the meat that was packed in Australia was re-labelled in London and sent back and sold here under the name of a well-known English firm. Canned tongues bearing the English brand were worth 4s a dozen more than the ! Australian brand. BRISBANE, April 30. A new four-storey building in Edward and Mary streets, occupied by the -Queensland Agency as a wholesale drygoods store, has been destroyed by fire. The damage, which is estimated at £45,000, is covered by insurance. A number of man-o'-warsmen from the gunboat Gayundah were standing on the roof of an adjoining building assisting the brigade, when part of a wall fell on ' them. Walter Oldham was killed and Alexander Smith was injured. May 4. In the course of his evidence before . the Education Commission, a travelling I teacher stated that he found that 35 per , cent, of the parents visited were unable to read or write, and that 6ome children j were without any education whatever. j May 6. At the eight hour procession to-day there was a record display. The Tram- i way Union carried a banner inscribed ! " Legalised to Wear Badges" and with the figure of Justice with the bandage removed from the eyes. ; HOBART, May 3. The Presbytery of Hobart adopted a

resolution favouring the closer federation of all Protestant Churches in preference to the present scheme of the union of Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists. May 4. In answer to inquiries made by the White Star Line as to berthing accommodation for a steamer having a length of 675 ft and a draught of 35ft, which the company is building for the Australian trade, the company was informed that there is ample water for such steamers, and that the building of a thousand-foot pier for mammoth liners is well in hand. * May 6. A Tasmanian firm agreed to purchase the New Zealand vessel the Handa Isle, but the Customs authorities stepped in and demanded 30 per cent. duty. It is likely that the negotiations will fall through.