AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10977, 17 June 1903, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

A CHINAMAN'S PECULIAR BEQUEST.

A number of men connected" with the East End -Market, Adelaide/, had^ a surprise When attending the funeral of 'a Chinese hawker named Ponyng Fung. There waa a large attendance of Chinese, and, during the ceremony,- small paper parcels were handed to eacn of them. As the English party was .leaving the graveside each was handed" a similar parcel, and, on opening them, they were found to contain, a florin. It appears that deceased had, by his will, provided that each Chinaman attending . the fnnoral snould receive 6d (in three instalments)! and' each "/European 3a. „- _--", >\ -^ISYDN-EY. LOVE TRAGEDY.- t ■ -i . A young 1 man named Arthur Strahan was placed on v trSjl 1 'at' '.S^ney ''cW^ed, with wounding) .Coopfe with' -intent' '<tO' murder, her;^ n iqe^|Heii l w"dis" ( addresae's to iai'iss Cooler, Hhd!, oh iffl everting ] of 11th March, \vh,ile the,y rr wei^ walking . along Clarence Street, hd'o!reif a razor and j injlicted two' deep gashes iii th 6, young;, lady's neck. "When 'arrested* ".be explained" that jealousy was- the cause. Miss, Cooper, . under cross-examination, said she. was , not in • love with accused, and" they were not going; to be married. Accused ■ gave evidence, , and said he. waa very much in^love with Miss Cooper, who, he added, "made-j out sho was in love with" me." He* had j been drinking on the. day of the assault, and was dazed. We put his hand into his pocket. to get his pipe, but instead, of that had- got -hold of a razor he had' borrowed -j from a barman and- which he had , placed I in,-. his pocket.- .He pulled the razor, out arid then lost his head completely. The jury returned a'-verHiet of guilty; adding a. recommendation -to mercy on adcouht oft p-tisone'r/a youth aj^ previous character. < Sentence of death is to- be recorded. • '

A GAMBLER'S ADMISSIONS.

% , At" the Sydney Police Court last week a young man n^me'd Prank Stuart, an accountant, was commitfced for trial on a charge of stealing £hd forgery. A large sum .of money is involved. Accused was accountant to^ t Messrs D. S. McPhail and" Sons, and in a statement he made he admitted that all the money he took from the firm,, about 'i>l2oo,'~"had gone in horsexacing. For the past nine months he stated he had been taking- moneys of the firm and backing horses on the racecourse every Saturday. . Two_ bookmakers gpt the principal part* of it; in fact, they got w6BO Out-, of every .£IOO that he loTt;._ 'He uWet to bet in town with other ■bookmakexa, T»\*t djid not )bf}e much* wijii .ihbm, r as»he used tq,'near]y Jpld hj s own* When>h'e\won''he put" thq money "in; his -pocket', and-'^puld lose ' it. on .the next. Saturday^ Ho. spent about J650 of the mpney, in clotiießV'"Wh.en Ue. took", cheques' belonging jto"th^; ; fir'nT he used to place 'them to- his credit 'in < the Ci^y Sank, „and- draw ,agai^s.t,, same ,o.n Saturdays' before going to the races. .H^e used to write ordera himself and sign, Mr MoPhail's name to fheni. "A cheqtle would then be -signed, v*and he- 1 would «Mih/it at the Bank of- New South Wales 'kud 1 appropriate the money.' *< fieavy-'baii waa , allowed.- '■) \ ■ ■ .■■ , ■ • - ' ' -'

SAND AS "A FfiI|TILisER; Some time ago attentiqn was directed in The-'Ago'^to; the' probable benefit, that would, sccruej-.to the soil in~ the northern areas, especially 1 that "of a clayey character, from the top-dressing of sand. spread over .it , by. dust*, storms. . Farmers ■ and graziers now. .state. that- the anticipated benefit is already apparent,- especially on hard grass lands, over which the dust debris was distributed in considerable depth, and where the rapid growfch of grass now iB clearly due- to th* 1 fertilising' • influence of the- top-dressing. '■ Most of- 'the -socalled sand -is of course really soir of the best quality, and }n many places where it has been deposited^ to a depth of two •or three feet over^v strip four- or. five ' yards (wide under the Ice of fences, farmers are utilising these portions of their paddocks for the 'cultivation of pumpkins or root crops. -

DYNAMITE CAP IN FIREWOOD.

On May .29, Mrs Fergusspni wife of Mr James FennisSon, of the Boulder Telegraph department (W> A.),' was sitting with a lady friebd.in front, of .the.fire,. at het residence, when an explosion occurred, which* seriously- iniured her, besides shattering tho chimney and smashing the <Jo«> tents .of the room* • As v the, result, of inquiriesr. the detectives are' satisfied ■. that -a short piece of fuse 'attached to a- dynamite, percussion ca^ Jiad been placed' in' 'a piece of firewood- .A .woman,"' Mrs -Cbarn* , ley^'and »h«*r son have ,;been -arrested- on suspicion", of ..complicity, .in .too, supposed crime* . Jt is said that Fergus'so.n was, for Eqme months, ."keeping company/-' • with, th.c daughter of tic woman who has been ar- - rested, but. that two .months ago he' matHeiti his .picsejit wife,"- whaicarae over ,fro.m Melbourne for ' the . purpose. ' Mrs" J» -Ferguagon is makii;g ( progress towards recovery.

' POVEUjTY AT BALLAEAT JiAST. ,

. \The Salvation Army authorities report •that creat poverty, .exists -in Baltaqrat East, ,an 4 thnt some families «ie «ntir&ly-.des<*-tatD. Staff-Cuptain Phillips, v?Uo Iva4j«et poncluded, a. 'tour through. i;he ; distiict, states tliafc toiiny of the pleople at present, being; relieved by the Army ftre iriDuters, and! in some instances, fathers have been unable to.ear-n more than }39 per week. In one case only 2s 6d had been dr'attu for a fortnight, and tho family., broke their, fast on Wednesday, on. the last. piece of 'bread there was in the house.. The. Salvation •Army has instituted a poor fund for the ■relief of'the-pb'ver.ty-stricken.-aud thp officers state -that the relief has to. be. ,givl&n" with tl&e utniofit delicacy,' for these people,, though 'poor, ~in v many ( instances wquld father starve itha'n let their poverty < be known." :'-.'.'"

GENERAL NEWS,'

-n ,• . - . "„■•>-« * The' body, u>f »'a ,fni«ii' Thon>as 4SulJivan; aged '53,/- was 'foujid? between t\jro. toga kt £be ba<sk of Wandary Station', Forbes. The \xfty wars clothed in 'a' coat and shirt.- The .■cause/ of death was starvation' and exposure."' „--■' . , • . ' ' " , ""'Orio-.oveiiing recently a herd of 140. cattle -were "placed in a small pa^dopk ■on the >Dandonongr -road, and -next morning' no fewpjt tb an '4B of the animals were dead. It was .-at firat th'ou^A' th^tj^he ,he.rd~ had suffered' fro^ { ;9ome A £nfg^w£ disease or had /eaten someVjjopojip'us >e,ed. but, on a, ,dos^r Jinspecition, rwaßr waB found that the ddafl beasts? were "blown" through, having catctt«-too touch of the plaTit- knbwn' as "C*pe-:-weed,".sahe!<.^addcickttin which /thet vresiefl placed co»t<aiiito|f-''a,ln2c»r4aii'K'errowth qf , wat-|glaiit»^«Thft Tividently suffered -iroati Sgony.i "•><'■-■;< ,■••■. ■ \-'l ' The bursting of ,»'■ water : pine an inch. in diameter.' caused extensive 'damage in the" •irnjpbr^ establishwont of Sfeßsts Fitzgetald Bros., North Melbourne. The- pipe runs along the inside of the ceiling throughout the' whole of the bubiness- establishment, to.supply the lavatories on the first floor with water. The breakage occurred at a )oint almost in the centre of the shop, but whether ' from ' overpressure - or defective nlumbin" is not known.,. The water poured down civer the stock, causing" srreat damacje to silled, satins, and. almost every conceivable kind of. cloth' and, woollen material, . TU«e • was between' ,£40.000 and £50,0Q0«worti£ of stock stored on the premises, and. it is. estimated that fnllv £2000 worth" of damage was caused by the water. The- premises were' insured aerainst fire, but riot against. wat<>r, a-nd 1 the damage moans a dead loss to the firm.