OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 209, 28 May 1908, Page 2

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

NEWS AND NOTES ON THE WEEK,

A TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

THE FAT EOF THE ORION

(FROM OUIt SriXlAI, CORRESPONDENT.) Sydney, May 23. Thero is no longer any doubt of tho fate of tho Orion, for wreckage of the missing vessel has been found, and thus it is now clear that she has gone down, probably with all bands. Tho Orion, a small wooden steamer, practically new, of: 210 tons gross register, left Stanley, in the Duck River, on tho northwestern coast of Tasmania, on May'G, bound for Melbourne, and was never . afterwards heard of until this wreckage came out of the darkness to tell the .tale of disaster. Sho had. oil board fifteen passengers, and a crew of twelve, or twenty-seven peoplo in all, and, so far as is known, all these have perished. One of the passengers, Mrs. Watt, had her throe children with her, and another, Mrs. Robert Stewart, was accompanied by her two children. Heavy westerly and south-westerly weather was prevailing as the vessel left, arid increased in violence the next day. It now ooems that tho steamer was blown through the Strait eastward, and, judging from the fact that the wreckage—four lifebuoys and an alleway door—was found on the western side of Long Island, near Cape Barren, it is considered likely that while running for shelter, or drifting helplessly—if she had broken down—tho Orion struck a reef. 1A funnel and ladder belonging to the steamer have since befin picked up, 26. miles north-east of Tasman Heads. An idea of tho terrific woather which the steamer must have encountered may be gained from the fact that tho Mahinapua, which left Burnie, bound for Strahan, on tho "day following the. departure of tho Orion from Duck River, had to plough her way laboriously through immense seas, and at one stage of the voyago was travelling only at the rate of two knots an hour. 1 ' LABOUR CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND. ■ . ' ; Colonel Denny, who has just leturned from a visit to New Zealand, has given a representative of the "Sydney Morning Herald" some interesting impressions of the industrial conditions of the Dominion. "New. Zealand appears to. me to have great prospects, for, being almost purely an agricultural country; there 5s a" smaller chance of suffering from financial crises experienced by other countries. The conditions in tho Dominion are in striking contrast wnh those prevailing in Great Britain. There we depend almost entirely on industrial pursuits, and are happy in having the colonies to supply us with"food and clothing at the most moderate possible rates.' This enables us to make headway against foreign competition. The idea seems to. prevail in New Zealand that the relations betweon the employers and the employed can only, be regulated by the Government, whereas in England the wasters and men prefer to settle matters, themselves. Tbe result is that industrial disputes in Great. Britain' are really on the whole, infrequent., One occasionally hoars of them, of course, but it is only natural, in settling complicated relationships, that there should be some friction. As a general rule, however, labour disputes in Great Britain are few and far between for a country. of such groat industrial interests. " The only danger , which I can see is that the demands of labour in New Zealand—of course as yet I know nothing of the conditions of Australia—may. become, one might say,. almost - excessive ;■ at any rate, that is the opinion of those best qualified to judge. The old idea of a community of interest between employer and employee—between capital and labour —appears to have been practically ' abandoned #n.-; JTiev/.Zealand. One great danger, which I. foresee as a result of tho iiew,pp;iditipiifi.jß,ih^pepple r .pf,all,ranks and classes''"of society may eventually come to consider work a hardship, and a filing of which tho least is douo,. tho better. Personally 1 do hPt think that that was the intention'- of' the 'Creator,' and- 'if carried to ex- '■ treines oven a' great agricultural country may • find it, difficult to make progress/ ! "Of course, you must understand," Colonel Denily added, "1 am.hero to learn, not to preach, but theso aro my impressions." ■ V 'ASSAULTED IN A THEATRE. Unrehearsed scenes in the body of a theatre, aro frequently more amusing, .and always more realistic,, than the diligentlypractised, stage: representation. Sydney play- 1 goers have witnessed several of these/lately. Some ,have been' 'of the melodramatic' type, and one had to defer to a'real court of law, to unmask the .villain. : : At'tho Central Court on Monday,' John'_ Allen' and John Lester ,were proceeded against on summons, charged with having assaulted, Thomas Bennett at tho National Amphitheatre on April 24. Bennett stated 'that oh that; date he attended the theatre, and'paid 6d. for a seat in.tho gallery.' After lie had held possession'of tho seat for ■ upwards of ' lialf' an' hour, Lester came in and requested him to move along. Ho prof6rred : to romain where lie'was. Lester said, "You'll have to shift"—his object boing to mako room fpr someone else. Witness endeavoured to show'that possession was nine-tenths of the law. After arguing the point, with the dignity that invariably characterises these dobates, Allen, a' man apparently "clothed in'a little brief authority" came along,-and, taking 'him by tho waist, lifted him from the seat lie. had so covertly guarded.. In the'dangling, attitude lie tried to regain the. seat, but his efforts wero futile, and resembled an acrobatic performance. Whilst in this helpless position, ho was informed that ho would either have to. change his seat or go out. ' Outraged dignity, more than a disposition. to bo headstrong, prompted him to choose the latter course.' He was assisted to tho top of the stairs, and: his quick descent, ho attributes not to accident, but to a malicious kick from Allen, who added insult to injury by -remarking when lie fell,."That shows you're drunk." He never' gave tho men any provocation; and he was a total abstainer. Several witnesses gave, evidence that complainant declined'to move up' when requested to do so, and that' no violence was l used towards him. Assaults'would be pretty frequent ■if violence were' permitted whenever a person refused to comply, witli this sometimes unreasonable' demanu. Witnesses, who were not in sympathy with Bennett, said ho slipped down the stairs. The cas.e against Lester ;was dismissed as being trivial. Allen was ooiivicted, aiid .fined £4, with 275. costs, in default; ono month's hard labour. Ono week was allowed-in which to pay. Notice of-appeal was given. "MOTHER GOOSE." ' - Legal proceedings are threatened over "Mother Goose," as Messrs. Blake and Riggal of Melbourne, acting on behalf of the management of Drury Lane, London, have issued a'writ against Mr. J. C. Williamson, of Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne/ Plaintiffs as assignees from the joint authors of the (pantomime "Mother Goose," claim from defendant the payment of all profits which defendant has obtained from the performance' in the State of " Mother Goose" during tho twelve months preceding the date of issue of the writ; in tho alternative plaintiffs claim a sum of 40s. in respect of each such performance; and an injunction to restrain tho further_ performance by defendant of such pantomime. Mr. Williamson claims that he has infringed no one elso's rights, and that he is not likely to do so, as liis rule is to scrupulously pay whatever copyright charges he is liablo. for. A WINCHMAN'S TERRIBLE DEATH. A fatal accident of a, terrible character befel a wincliman on tlie steamer Ardova, Donald M'Neil; at Port Pirio, ou Wednesday. Tho steamer had just completed loading a shipment of lead; and M'Neil was attending to his duties close to tho winch, which was working slowly, when tho wire rope attached to a barrel got caught round ono of his legs. Ho mado a dash to cut off tho steam, but tho rope gavo him a jerk, which evidently caused him to turn more steam on. M'Neil was instantly dragged under the winch. His thighs were almost reduced to a pulp, and tho lower part of his body was terribly crushed. Death took place in the hospital shortly afterwards. Deceased shipped at Newcastlo on this voyage of tho Ardova, and was about twenty-six years of nge. He was a native of Inverness, Scotland.