AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2150, 15 January 1881, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

[Br Tklhqbaph.] [Per b.b. Tararua, at the Bluff,] MELBOURNE, January 7. A grand wool show during the week, commencing 7th March, will be held in the Town Hall, for the benefit of the charities. £3OO will be offered in prizes, and all the colonies will be invited to compete. There is nothing stirring in the political world. Mr Berry returned to town from a short holiday and is preparing to go to Sydney. A Bill providing for the establishment of an Australian Court of Appeal has been drafted by the Attorney-General, and the other Bills to be submitted to the full conference are likewise being prepared. Mr Mollwraith, the Queensland Premier, who was a passenger by the Siam, was entertained yesterday at the Athenaeum Club by several leading residents of Melbourne. Replying to a toast, he said, with regard to the projected trans-continental line, that it was not merely a Queensland but an Australian affair, and its accomplishment would have an important influence on Federation. Mr Service leaves for Europe in March, and it is expected that be will resign his seat for Maldon during his absence. Important changes have been made in the system of granting appointments in the Railway Department. Mr Patterson has decided to leave all appointments to the general manager. The returns of gold for the past year show that the total export of specie was nearly three million, a slight decrease on the previous year. SYDNEY, January 7. Mr Hawson, a resident of Wiloania district, nearly lost his life travelling to Oanlkse. He was twenty hours without food or water, and saved his life by burrowing in the sand for shelter from the sun. Another man was saved by sucking blood from his arm. The intense beat in many parts of the country continues, and it is feared that disastrous effects will ensue unless rain falls. Bush fires are causing much damage in the Darling district. The total export of wool for the present season was 137,000 bales. Great preparations are being made at Albury for the celebration of opening the railway on the 28th. ADELAIDE, January 7.

The agent of an Hong Kong firm is communicating with the Government with the object of establishing a steamer service from Hong Kong to Adelaide, via. Port Darwin. The contractor is willing to bind himself for siz trips annually. The total value of the exports of the colony for 1880 amounted to nearly five million, whereof agricultural produce was nearly half.