AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 857, 8 November 1916, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

MALTESE HELD UP. NOT ALLOWED TO LAND. By Cable. — I'ress Association. — Copyright. SYDNEY, November 7. Two hundred Maltese have arrived in a French steamer, hut have mil been permitted to land. A proposal to send them to Samoa is under consideration. The Mai lose favour the suggestion, v. EARLY CLOSING. NEW PROPOSAL VETOED. (Received November 8, 10.40 a.m.) SYDNEY, November 8. The Legislative Council struck out the clause in the Liquor Bill permitting the sale of soft drinks in hotels after 0 o'clock. GERMAN LANGUAGE. PROHIBITED IN SCHOOLS. ADELAIDE, November 8. The House of Assembly passed a Bill closing Lutheran schools and prohibiting the leaching of the German language in primary schools. FIRE EPIDEMIC. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. (Received November 8, 9 a.m.) SYDNEY, November 8. As the result of the series of fires in the city recently, and the revelations in connection therewith, many large business houses have adopted drastic precautionary measures. VALUABLE PRODUCTS. SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS. SYDNEY, November 8. The Rev. Joseph Campbell's experiments in the production of paper pulp from noxious weeds, of vegetable dyes from scrub trees and native plants, have met with pronounced success. Paper mills and woollen manufacturers have thoroughly tested his products. Pending the formation of a powerful syndicate, he proposes to erect a plant at Kanima, near Cairns, to execute trial orders, valued at £15,000. He expects that the iirst paper pulp will be available in January. AN EXPENSIVE RAILWAY. BOARD TO INVESTIGATE. MELBOURNE, November 8. Owing to allegations of waste in the construction of the KalgoorliePort Augusta railway, a board has been appointed to make inquiries. The original estimate of the cost of the railway was £3,988,000 inclusive of £291,000 for rolling slock. Up to July last £3.20T),000 had been spent on construction. It is now estimated that the completion of the line and the provision of rolling stock will involve a total of £6,918,000.