Late Australian News.

Hastings Standard, Issue 321, 13 May 1897, Page 4

Late Australian News.

(Evening Post.) For the year 1896 the population of West- Australia increased by 1)6,711. A quantity of the choicest Victorian grapes has been forwarded to- London for presentation to thr? Queen. Wool importations into Europe from Australasia and the Cape for 1896 were valued at £25,000,000. The export of butter from Victoria to England for the season just ended totalled 7895 tons, valued at £736,913. The N.S.W. Premier, who is also Treasurer, said he expected to reduce the expenditure next year by a quarter of a million. There are in Victoria 97*14 females to every 100 males, but in New South Wales the percentage is only 86-67. The Public Works Committee, Sydney, has under consideration a proposal to construct new Houses of Parliament. Premier Eeid says he is not in a position to appoint a Royal Commission to enquire into the sugar-growing industry. The estimated population of Victoria is, according to the Victorian Statist, 1,174,888, and of New South Wales 1,297,640. Mr Lavender, Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Public Works, is enquiring into the tick question at Brisbane. The amount paid to date for the expenses of the Federal elections in New South Wales is, the Premier states, £17,427. The total value of imports at Sydney for the week ending 24th April amounted to £326,078, and of exports to £120,956. Many Indians and Hindoos have recently arrived in the Mac-lean district (N.S.W.), where they are engaged in farming pursuits. A young woman named Agnes Howe has been committed for trial at Melbourne, charged with the manslaughter of her infant. A lad named Booth was clawed by a platypus at Timagogue, near Kempsey, and had a narrow escape from death by poisoning. The petitioner in one of the sensational Melbourne divorce cases set down for July claims £3OOO damages from the wealthy co-respondent. In his financial statement Premier Reid said the land tax produced only £260,000 instead of £330,000, which was the revised estimate. At Melbourne a deputation from the Mayday Committee unsuccessfully sought permission to march in a procession through the streets. The Sydney swimmers P. Cavill and J. Hellings have left for England by the Orizaba, and will compete in the English championships. A home for the aged poor and infirm is to be erected at Began (N.S.W.) to commemorate the completion of the Queen's Record Reign. The Minister for Public Works, NewSouth Wales, proposes to proceed shortly with the construction of a number of railways. One day last week, in New South Wales 60 trucks of starving cattle were conveyed by rail from Cowra to the Monaro district for grass. Large numbers of sheep are dying in the drought-stricken districts of New South Wales, and many butter factories are at a standstill. The Agricultural Departments of Victoria and New South Wales have united in the importation from France of phylloxera-resisting vines. At Kensington races, Sydney, on Saturday week last, T. Gardiner,_ who rode Idica in the hurdle race, was killed, his horse coming down at the last jump. The Victorian Government Statist estimates the population of the Australasian colonies at 4,323,148, being 2,304,666 males and 2,018,482 females. A committee of advice has been appointed by the Government in Sydney to recommend what form the celebration of the Record Reign should takeThe colony of Victoria for the year 1896 suffered a decrease of population to the extent of 60,863, while the increase in New South Wales was 19,770. The Rev. J. D. and Mrs Landels, Dr. Agnew, and Rev. W. Watt have left Sydney for the New Hebrides, where they will engage in missionary work. The revenue of Queensland for April amounted to £293,795, an increase of £15,000 compared with the previous April; taxation showed a decrease of £6OOO. It is estimated that for the first four months of the year the value of the gold exported from Australia has amounted to nearly £5,000,000. At the wool sales to date in the Sydney market 432,404 bales have been disposed of, as against 437,192 bales for the corresponding period of last year. Owing to the continuance of the drought in New South Wales the Railway Commissioners have decided to reduce the rates for the conveyance of stock to other districts by half. Owing to the complaints as to the conduct of Indian hawkers in the Albury district, New South Wales, the police have resolved to oppose the granting of hawkers' licenses to them. A meeting, convened by Lady Hampden, was held at Government House, Sydney, to consider a proposal to commemorate the record reign by establishing homes for consumptives. Premier Reid expressed the hope before leaving for London that the next session of the Federal Convention would so mould the Draft Bill as to make it acceptable to the people. The Hughenden (Queensland) Stock inspector reports that during the past month the cattle in the district were in splendid condition, and in one instance only suffered from tick. The new dairy expert of New South Wales, in his report on the exhibits of butter and cheese at the Agricultural Show, states that many of the exhibits were of second-rate quality. The Attorney-General of New South Wales has prohibited the publication in

tha newspapers of any statements maue by the prisoner Bull v. v bearing on the charges brought against him. j I-.*{!';-otiatioos are being onclucted, ! siiyj the Sydney Daily Telegraph, l>v a j New Zealand syndicate for the e.-itab- « lishment of a new line of steamers t(* j run fro.':? New Zealand coastal ports to Melbourne. The Victorian Minister for Argiculture is in favor of the co-operation of the Southern colonies with Queensland in securing the services of an eminent scientist to study the tick disease. The Minister for Lands, N.S.W., states that the first of the experiments on the expenditure of public moneys on Crown lands, to make them available for settlement, has resulted in an emphatic success. An immense number of Queen's Diamond Jubilee medals are being struck at Melbourne, to the order of Shire Councils and Victorian School Boards, for distribution to children on 20th June. The cultivation of ramie fibre has been suggested on the northern rivers of New South Wales. Experiments at the Lismore Government farm have proved that the plant can be successfully grown. It is stated that George Dean, of North Sydney poisoning notoriety, is taking his incarceration very badly. He is said to be bordering on lunacy, and reports concerning his condition are now before the officers of the Prisons Department. Although the pilotage rates had been reduced, it was a significant fact, the Sydney Premier said, that the revenue had not materially decreased, showing that Sydney and Newcastle were becoming the mercantile headquarters of the Southern Hemisphere.