AUSTRALIAN TELEGRAMS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 10198, 2 January 1895, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN TELEGRAMS.

Melbodkne, January 1. Mason, who wa<j in custody on a charge of causing the death of his brother nt Carlton on Christians Eve, was discharged by the coroner's jury. The chemical works of Felton, Grimwade and Co., situated at Port Melbourne, were destroyed by fire on Monday, 'fhe damage is estimated at £130,000* and insurances amount to £9000. The fire brigades were exposed to much danger owing to the explosive nature of the contents of the burning building. The fumes arising from the burning mass of six hundred tons of sulphur were overpowering. Sydnky, January 1. Including the loan moneys there is close upon two millions of cash in the J banks to the credit of the Government. H.M.S. Orescent, with relief crews, arrived on bunday. She returns to England with 600 time-expired officers and men, H.M.S. Curacoa has sailed for England. An English firm is making arrangements to export timber suitable for carriage building* railway sleepers, and Etreob paving, and they hare already secured contracts for the supply of several million feet, and hare obtained wharfage accommodation. The firm expect to employ a large number of hands, both directly and indirectly. A cable has been received announcing the loss, during a hurricane, ol She barque bouthern Chief, of 1219 ton 3, off bhe Oalifornian Coast, while on a voyage from Puget Sound to Adelaide with a cargo of timber. All hands were lost. A new department, to be called the Department of Labour and Industry, will take charge of the Labor Bureau and possess functions akin to English Board of Trade. It is not intended to ap. point a special minister to the position, and it is believed the Hon. J. Garrard, Minister for Public Instruction, will take charge. An extraordinary case has been before the Courts, in which the Bey, Clark, Anglican clergyman, sought to obtain a writ of habeas corpiu against his mother-in-law to regain possession of his wife. The applicant alleges, that whilst he was conducting divine service certain persons broke into the vicarage and carried off his wife ; he subsequently being committed to a lunatic asylum on the evidence of his mother-in-law and a medical man, but was released after a detention of 17 dayn. The wife, in her evidence, denied that she had been abducted, and stated that she left of her own free will, and was proceeding for divorce against Clark on the grounds of cruelty. The court dismissed the application. Hon. J. Garrard leaves for Mew Zealand on Thursday to enquire into the labour settlements in the colony, and will subsequently visit Adelaide on a similar mission. The Miners Delegates Board of Newcastle has decided, by an overwhelming majority, to resist the proposed reduction in the hewing rate, and, on the other hand, will demand an increase of 4d per ton.