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Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 11687, 21 February 1902, Page 4

Counsel received a staggerer at the Melbourne General Sessions recently when Mr Hodges, the Chinese interpreter, iiuormecl the court that a Ceiestial wi:/.css then uiicer examination had stated that a certain arrest 4iad taken place " 14 days before the winter sun entered the solstice. ' " For heaven's sake," said the bewildered lawyer, "aont start us off along the confused track of Chinese astronomy. I thought the arrest took place in the summer." Of said Mr Hodges, " witness was speaking of the Chinese winter/' " And what does it all mean in plain English?" The interpreter laughed the laugh of a schoolboy who had been asked the plainest sum in firstform addition. "Of course, i: simply means ihat the arrest took place 1* L dr.ys berore "what- vou call Christi'-as Day. The "Oh r ihat the wearer of the vrig and gown uttered at this perfectly cleur and apparent answer oke volumes. .The bush fire reported as lwvlnff broken Vt at Glenaroua ha.s t.-Uitc.s the M'i.br.urr.e rgus '*) assumed alamdnjr nropM linns, has been burring ner<-e:y ever since, in its effects In*'* sin pu.»-<ed the -I-'in done on Black Thursday." Many lousands of acre> of irn.ss land. R-ith houses, stables, stacks, e'c.. -have been swept awoy by t e fire. Tne rwind, veering - round in all directions. <lefied the efforts of a nuir.c-i-.iis body or "workers, who frequently Lad to beat n iasty retreat to save their lives. So strong was the wind that bn r nt-out embers were driven into Kilmore. a distance of 2bopt twelve miles. Added to the im-

mense loss by the fire, a large quantity of stock are missing, and those remaining will have to be sacrificed, as there is not a blade of grass to be seen for an area estimated to cover several square miles. The burnt-out district presents on all sides nothing but a blackened, chaired mass of country -with an occasional house standing, and the carcases of sheep and cattle lying around. The flie is still burning, and during the night the flames lit up the sky for miles around. Nothing is definitely known as to the origin of the fire, but is is partly attributed, to rdb-bit-trappers. Australian meat exporters are (according to the London correspondent of the " Age' J losing their chance of getting a footing in the markets of the west and south-west of England through their slowness in extending the system ol direct shipments. The trade is being largely taken by River Plate mutton, the average quality of which is now as good as anything that conies from Australia,. nnd sometime: equal tc the best New Zsaluiid mutton. The L-ouw j .Ajiifcrican meat is delivered in great quantities at Liverpool, and as the steamers employed afterwards go to Cardiff for coal supplies that port is being made another important distributing centre. Obviously there is little room there, or in the adjacent city of Bristol, for Australian mutton, which has to be carried from London cold stores by rail. It is not necessary to emphasise the point. Every Australian exporter must know that English railwav rates are about the highest in the work!—that they have been one of the chief causes of the ruin of the local agricultural and fruit growing industries. There is no use in expecting a wide distribution for any of the cheaper Australian products, which must bear the burden of such rates if they are to reach consumers outside London.