THE COMMONWEALTH.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVI, Issue 14912, 3 December 1912, Page 11

THE COMMONWEALTH.

Australian cruiser, fully manned. Press Association —Bv- Tel.--Copyright. MELBOURNE, Dec. 2. Senator Pearce lias been advised i that tho 'nil number of ratings have | been placed aboard the cruiser Mel- ' bourno. Sho is undergoing her Jin.il overhaul, and will sail for Australia early in Jiumnry. i NORFOLK ISLAND. ' SYDNEY, Doe. 2. Negotiations are proceeding with the Imperial authorities regarding tho : proposal that Norfolk Island should be taken under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, but no finality lias been reached. ALARMING DISCOVERY. A number of milking cows at the R.ookwood State Hospital and Asylum arc suffering from tuberculosis. Twelve ' hundred patients are contained in the establishment. ENDURANCE, CHAMPIONSHIP. Walter Brent, with 100 hours' piano playing at Bat-hurst, claimed the world's record. Potatoes arc ai, £lO, n fall of £2. VICTORIAN IMMIGRATION. The Victorian Government is negotiating to bring out twenty thousand immigrants next year. MATERNITY BONUS. DO PER CENT CLAIM IT. Received 9.5 p.m., Dec. 2nd. MELBOURNE, Dec 2. Maternity bonus claims average 357 daily. The births in Australia total 400 daily, therefore 90 per -centum of tho mothers aro claiming tho bonus. NORFOLK 'ISLAND. AUSTRALIA'S DUTIES. Mr Fisher, the. Premier, referring to Norfolk Island, said: "Wo shall probably talco it, but it will bo as a duty, not as a good thing. Tho Imperial Govehiment is not keen, as far aw T know, either to retain or to part with it. Tho Commonwealth has enough to do at home, but it must face its duties in tho Pacific. I do not favour special efforts to extend Commonwealth control in tho Pacific, but Australia does not desiro to have other people crowding round her in the Pacific. That would bo no joke."