COMMONWEALTH.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 20, 13 May 1908, Page 6

COMMONWEALTH.

The death is announced of Mr C. C. Kingston, ex-Federal Minister of Customs.

An old pioneer colonist named Costello died at Goulburn on May 8 at the age of 111 years. The death is announced of ..Mr. J. H. Young, a former Minister of the Crown and late Speaker. The Board of Enquiry into rhe Murrurundi accident has found that two of the officials were guilty of gross negligence.

The death is announced of Mr. C. B. Fisher, aged 90, the father of tne Australian turf.

A member of the Clerks’ Union states that 90 per cent of the warehouses in Sydney sweat their clerks and evade the early closing law< A eoal train ran into a coach at Bellambi. The coach was smashed to atoms, and the driver, Bennett, was killed, while two passengers were seriously injured and eleven slightly. A lire gutted Campbell and Co.’s furniture warehouse, running from Clarence to Kent streets, Sydney, on May 4th. The stock destroyed is valued at £20,000, covered bv‘insurance.

Thg fall of a crane caused the collapse,, of the roof of a building being erected at Ultimo,, N.S.W.. and a dozen men were buried in the ruins. Six were injured, and taken to the hospital, but none seriously. . . ■ J (The Premiers’ Conference resolved that the providing;Of more lighthouses on the Australian and Tasmanian eoasts was a matter of urgent pressing necessity, and the Federal Government was asked to take definite action in the matter. The Underwriters’ Association has been advised that the four-mastedl barque ’ltalia, 3109 tons, bound from Newcastle (March 17) to Iquique, with a cargo of coal, has been wrecked near Valpariso. The Rev. Macaulay Waverley was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Assembly. In an address he stated that he had realised that Socialism was a movement that had come to stay, and that it was a cause to be reckoned with. The duty of the Church was not to' stand aloof, but rather to try to influence this movement and shape its destinies. Earthquake in Tasmania. A severe earthquake lias been felt at Zeehan, Gormanston, and Queenstown. At the latter place the shock was most severe. Crockery was shaken from tha shelves, and people fled from their houses in terror. . . The Pearling Disaster. It is estimated that the number of drowned in the pearling disaster was six whites and one hundred coloured divers. Forty luggers and three schooners were lost, and the damage is estimated at £40,000. One Japanese was' rescued alive after being in the water for five days, and a Malay was picked up after three days* clinging to a deck-house. It was at Geoffrey Bay, where most of the luggers were sheltering, when the hurricane burst upon them with terrific fury. Anchor chains were snapped and the luggers crushed into one another, causing a acene of fearful confusion.

Many of the crews were crushed by the grinding together of the boats, and the screams and cries of the men are described by those on the spot as awful. f' A Doctor’s Stirring Career. Dr. Home, of Traralgon, has succumbed to injuries received in a motor accident. He had an eventful career. He enlisted in the Cameron Scouts during the Boer War and was shot through the lungs, making a remarkable recovery. K Subsequently he went to China, where he was attacked by bandits and severely wounded in the conflict, the Chinese Government paying £lOOO compensation. Scottish Fishermen for New South Wales. The representatives of 5000 Scottish fishermen arc inspecting the New South Wales fisheries. One of the delegates expressed the opinion that he has seen sufficient .to convince him that there was an unlimited supply of fish on the coast, and millions of tons of fish could be converted into fertilisers, giving employment to 1500 men. A big canning export trade could also be established. It was expected that a large emigration of Scottish fishermen will follow the report of the delegates. The Braybrook Disaster. Professor Kernot’s report on the brakes of the Bendigo train states' that they were feeble and most unsatisfactory. . Driver Milburn’s report, now published, states that lie applied the brakes but they failed. He then reversed the engine, but the train rushed past the home signal and crashed into the Ballarat train. Socialists and Religion. A delegate who visited Broken Hill gave the Presbyterian Assembly a lurid picture of the irreligious condition of Broken Hill. There the forces, he says, are organised against Christianity as in no other city in the Commonwealth. They had an aggressive and almost triumphant Socialism, that made a scorn of sacred things. Children were gathered into schools oh Monday and taught to beware of church and ministers, while meetings of the Labour Unions were held on Sundays. The statement is indignantly refuted by heads of the Anglican, Catholic, and Methodist churches. The Standard Oil Company at Work. A stormy scene took place in the Federal House of Representatives during a discussion on the flerosene duties. Sir William Lyne interjected: I am told there is no use in going on because the Standard Oil Company have members in their bag. Mr. Reid (Leader of the Opposition), rising to a point of order, characterised this as a slanderous statement. It was a scandalous thing to say. It was giving currency to the infamous slander uttered outside the House that a member could be bought in connection with the tariff. It was most abominable that the greatest slander ever cast on members should come from a Minister of the Crown. Sir Wm. Lynne interjected: I say deliberately that the message has been brought to me. Amidst a storm of dissent Sir William added that the company had been to every member, and had tried to get a promise. The company had got a list of members who had promised them support. “S<> much has been said about this outside,’’ he went on, “that I turned a representative of the company out of mV office. It is a scandal that men shoo’d be sent from America to force the matter through. 1 cast no imputation on members, but we have hail quite enough of this from America.”' Asked how members wore influenced, Sir W in. Lyne said ‘‘by persuasion.” lie did not know that a member was bribed. 'I he noisy scene continued for a considerable time, members hotly attacking Sir Win. Lyne and denying being approached by the Stanndard Oil Company. .I*.vent milly Sir W in. Lyne withdrew tl:e charge unreservedly. Pressed to give the name of his informant he stated that the information came from one of his colleagues.