AUSTRALIAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5158, 17 January 1895, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN.

I. . .» '. : ; [Spkcial to Pbess i ,Asbo-iation.] H.M.S. ORLANDO. , SYDNEY, Jan. 16. H.M.S. Orlando, with Admiral Bridge will shortly make a visit to the various colonies. She is expeoted to leave here j about a fortnight hence, her route being ! Melbourne, Adelaide, Albany, Hobart and then New Zealand; HOME FOR CONSUMPTIVES. A gentleman named Hall, recently deceased, after making a few legacies, left the bulk of hiß estate to establish a consumptive home for the respectable poor. ADVERTISING FOR UNEMPLOYED. SYDNEY, Jan. 17. The Minister of Publio Works states that between £300,000 and JS-00,000 will be spent on roads in the colony within the next three months. AGri-ttT-GENERAL. Speaking at an up-country agricultural show, the Premier said the Agent-General's j office in London must be made more useful to the people. There must be a marked change in the sphere of the AgentGeneral's operations, which should be less diplomatic and display more commercial activity. , LAND FOR THE PEOPLE. The Government is sending an expert irrigationist to Bourke to plot out four j hundred- acres in the vicinity of the artesian bore in twenty-acre farms. The Government' will also establish an experimental farm to illustrate the beßt methods of irrigation. SIRT. M'ILWRAITH. BRISBANE, Jan. 16. Sir Thomas M'llwraith has sailed for England for the benefit of his health. CANNIBALISTIC HORRORS. PERTH, Jan. 16. One of the ringleaders in the recent cannibalistic fea3t givea gruesome details of the affair. He stated that one native impaled a boy by ramming a pointed stick down the lad's throat, and then roasted him. A SWINDLER. MELBOURNE, Jan. 16. A man travelling under the alias of Count Volasco has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment on the charge of obtaining money nnder false pretences, bb recently mentioned in cablegrams. VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT. The Legislative Council has rejected the Alien Bill, which reduces the fees for naturalisation and recognises naturalisation papers of other colonies. During the debate on the Premier's statement that Sir J. B. Patterson, exPremier, had approved generally of the action of the Government, one labour representative protested strongly against the action of the Government, alleging that the House of Representatives had been insulted by the Legislative Council, and that the "back-down" by the Turner Government was worse than anything displayed by the late Government. Mr A. Deakin feared that the Government had . not realised the seriousness of the position, and said he regarded the fall ia tbe colony's stocks as due to the rejection of

the Land Tax mil. The action of the Government, he thought, amounted to almost a sacrifice of principle. He considered that the Government might have adopted a course which would have asserted the right of the Lower Chamber. This, I he conoluded, wonld have been better for the Government and the country. j MELBOUBNE, Jan. 17. The Premier hopes to prorogue Parliament at the end of the week, to enable him to attend the conference of Premiers and the meeting of the Federal Council. I THE CABLE SEEVICE. The Argus says that so far as the Euro- I pean businesa is concerned, the West I Australian, telegraph service ia a deluaion j and a snare. While we depended only on I the Port Darwin line, the liability te J interruption was alwayß taken into ; account, but when the Eastern Extension I Company laid a cable to Eoebuck Bay J communication was thought to be abso- J lutely safeguarded against severance, j The Argus suggests that the Postal Conference Bhould take the matter in hand j and either coerce or cajole the PostmasterGeneral into bringing his department up to date. A deputation from the Chamber of Commerce waived On the PostmasterGeneral and said the Chamber was unanimously in favour of the Pacific cable beinglaid at an early date. They pointed out that the present route had failed thirty -six times in eighteen years. The president thought the Eastern Extension Company would be glad to continue without any guarantee. Mr Duffy, the Postmaster-General, agreed j that it would be a good thing to have a telegraph line mainly through British I possessions and a great advantage in time of war. It was understood that the cable would cost .61,800,000, ahd in the present | condition of things, Victoria was not in a position to go in for it. He was afraid i the cable would not pay at the start, though ultimately it would. All countries likely to be benefited by the Pacific scheme Bhould be called oe to pay a share of the undertaking. ! THE COMMEECIAL BANK. ' The balance-sheet of the Commercial I Bank shows a net profit for the half-year j equal to 'about H per cent per annum on the preference share capital. A note- \ worth statement in the report is that the ; payment of deposit receipts falling due 1 chiefly in 1898, to the extent of nearly half a million, has been anticipated. LOED KINTOEE. • ADELAIDE, Jan. 17. Lord Kintore, who left yesterday for ;, London, received a most cordial send-off. PUNISHING NATIVES. THUBSDAY ISLAND, Jan. 17. A number of natives belonging to British New Guinea have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging- up to .ten years, for murdering .i_l een natives who took refuge near the Fly Eiver during _ -ol-