AUSTRALIAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12027, 28 March 1903, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN.

tfnited Press Association —Per Electric Telegraph—Copyright. Received 9.53 a.m.. March 27th. A LIBEL ACTION. SYDNEY, March 27.

A writ for libel arising out of the St. Patrick's Day trouble, claiming £2.000 damages, has been issued by Mr Crick, Secretarv for Lands, against Mr T. M. Siatteryj formerly a Minister of the Crown. 'I he criticisms complained of appeared in an interview widi Mr Slattery which was published in the Catholic Pi ess, in which the action of the Ministry was criticised, making special reference to Mr Crick. It is also reported tint Mr Crick has initiated proceedings against the Catholic Press for publishing the remarks. Received 12.5.a.m.. March 28th. SERIOUS RIOTING.

The Rev. Dr Dill Macky addressed a largi- meeting a: Wyalong for the purpose •;f forming a branch of the Protestant Defence Association. The audience was thrown into confusion by a sudden report of fire-arms, .followed by a fusilade of stones and glass bottles on the roof. A mob gathered outside, and attempted to enter the hall. A panic seemed inevitable, but those near the doers barricaded them, and the police outside were powerless to quell the disturbance. Eventually the Police Magistrate arrived and ie.-d the Riot Act. A stone came through the window arid struck a man severely. After reading the Riot Act a number o:" arrests were made. The walls outside were marked with revolver slnts. One man named Gray had his eye gouged out, after leaving the meeting, and is in a critical condition. Tour men have been fined for rioting.

TUBERCULOSIS. MELBOURNE. March 27.

At the meeting of the British Medical Association an interesting paper was read by Dr Fox. on the treatment of chronic ti'f.<e:i-ulo'is by electric currents of high tension. Tie stated that the results obtained on the continent wtie remarkable. There was a di.continuance of sweats. an inn-ease of appetite, and death of bacteria.

IMPERIAL DEFENCE. In reference to the cable message commet.t'mg on tiie debate on the fmnerial Defence Estimates, and to the "Times"' remarks about the incohe.encv of the policy, and its beine responsible for the failure of tlse Imperial Conference. Sir E. Barton state- that the impression was not made on !iim thar iiiiestinns of land and sea defence :-!>ould he'dealt with separatelv. but each on its merits. Dealing with the telations between Australia and Britain, he said : "There was no doubt that we found that the expectations raised in England were greater, both in naval and military directions, than were, at anv rate at present, likely to be realised. The chief difficulty under which we laboured at each end of the cahl%,service was that there was not sufficient knowledge of conditions and requirements. The views that obtain at the other end are due to the fact that the charges for cables, however they have beeii reduced lately, are by no means, cheap."

He did not wish to trespass upon the functions of the Press, but whenever Australian papers had increased cable news, concurrently, with the reduction of rates, they had bestowed a great advantage on the cornmunitv. MURDEROUS ASSAULT ON A CONSTABLE. A gang of larrikins, resenting Constable Bartlett taking up his residence in a street they frequented at Brunswick, proceeded to the house armed with crowbars and bricks. Constable Bartlett was standing at the gate, and one of the mob hurled a brick in his face, fracturing his skull m two places. He lies in a critical condition. The youth stubbornly resisted arrest.

MISHAP TO A WARSHIP. BRISBANE, March 27. The German waiship Moewe, bound from Sydney to New Guinea, put in at Moreton Bay leaking. The leakage was due to the breakage of a small pipe under the waterline. Two pumps were kept going to keep the water down. The broken pipe has been repaired.

HOP HARVEST. HOBART, March 27. ihe hop harvest is almos<-, completed. The average yield is 1100 cwt to the acre.