AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 December 1923, Page 1

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

tUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION. MFAT STRIKE. / ADELAIDE, Dee. 4. Thy meat trade trouble is unsettled. The city is practical l ;- without fresh meat. Canned meats and lisli are abnormally in demand. NEW SEASON’S WHEAT. SYDNEY. Dee. *l. A few samples of the. new season’s wheat shown are reported to he of excellent quality. Some f-rops are yielding better than anticipated, but in other districts crops are light, or are practically a failure. KELLY FOUND GUILTY. .MELBOURNE, Dee. 4. Kelly, who was charged on the twenty-seventh of November with burning the corpse of Airs Overall, was found guilty, and was remanded for sentence. DUTCH NEW GUINEA. -MELBOURNE, December *l. The report that the Duko of Aleehlenl erg is negotiating for the pure-lfu.se i*: Dutch New Guinea is officially disi redited in Federal circles, while the Netherlands Vice-Consul is inclined to it-gard the report as a joke. DEATH OF ACTRESS. SYDNEY, December 4. At the District Court, William Porter a- d his wife Agnes Porter, claimed £SOO compensation under the Workers Compensation Act from J. 0. Williamson in respect to the death of their daughter, Phyllis, who died as the result of burns received while playing in the “Peep Show” at the Opera, House m Wellington, New Zealand, in May last. Early in the ease, respondents stated they were w illing to pay £225 compensation, which, was accepted. MAD INCENDIARY. SYDNEY, December 4. A man believed to he William Pcrotl alias Edward Moon who wa,s hoarding for some time at a. house, in Kandwick, became eccentric in his behavimr* am! received notice to quit. He left the premises, but returned in the early morning, ninioved a portion of tin* roof and entered the house, to which he set lire. Then he went to an adjoining park, ami committed suicide, by hanging. The fire was easily .subdued. NMW C< LAI FT DI SCO V F RED. W ELLINGTON, Deitember 5.

A comet, invisible to the unaided eye, and probably a stranger in the sense that it is not an old one returned, has been discovered by a. Wanganui observer, Mr Moorfdtead, who is a member of the New Zealand Astronomical Society. Tho discovery was reported hy him to l)r Adams, the Government Astronomer, by a telegram dispatched last night. His message reads; “linnet in field with Ep-.-ilnj» 2 Arno; motion westerly; magnitude 7 to 8.” The star referred to as marking the region in which the comet was seen is about half-wav between Beta Tiiangulae Australis and Theta Hcorpii. which arc known to most people who study the heavens. I lie position is unfortunately poor for observation, as it is low down on the southern half of the sky. It is, in fact, directly under the* South Pole at midnight thumb t. Those who have telescopes with circles can locale the position from tho following particulars: Right. Ascension, !('• hours 55 minutes; Smith Declination, 53 degrees 5 minutes. Dr. Adams. Government Astronomer, says that Mr Mouiehead.’.x sec-end repot' Minimus the correctness of his observation when la* first discovered the comet, whoso magnitude is seven to ei'dit. It is uni visible lo the naked eye and cloudy weather h..s lately prevented observation at* Wellington. Mr Muorshrnd may he entitled to tin award of a medal, which is made I** Hu* first observe*- ol a new comet, by th* Astronomical the Society ol the Pacific, at San Francisco.