AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13330, 20 March 1911, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

" ELECTRIFIED STEAMER. Luminous Rigging. ~ : .y. .. FREMANTLE;' March .7. The steamer Otterbnrn, • which arrived from Now York thiy .afternoon,, met with a sensational' experience during the voyage. On January 39. when a little .north of the equator, an electrical storm was encountered. The vessel was struck I v lightning, the fore-topmast carried away, and for some seconds the whole ship, was charged with electricity, causing the wire stays to phosphoresce. The Manila ropes were so charged with electricity that one of the officers, catching hold of a rope attached to the syren, received a severe shook. The Otterbnrn had on board a full shipment of case oil, including benzine, and when the lightning struck the vessel the officers fully expected the cargo to ignite. No damage, however, was sustained. 1 DRINK AND CRIME. The relation of drunkenness to crime from the legal viewpoint was expounded at the criminal sessions in Perth (W.A.) recently by Mr Justice McMillan. In sentencing live prisoners, in whose offences drink liad been a factor, his Honor said ignorant people were liable to misconstrue the dictum of the Chief Justice of the High Court that drunkenness was never a defence unless if amounted to unsoundness of mind. The coinmonsense view expressed in the criminal code of West Australia was that where particular intent was an-cle-ment of an offence, evidence of intoxication was relevant to show that the accused person had not the capacity to form the. intent.