BEYOND THE DOMINION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 116, 17 December 1908, Page 5

BEYOND THE DOMINION.

A terrific storm oft" the coast of Western Australia has wrought terrible havoc with the pearling fleet at Broome. The full extent of the disaster is not yet known owing to the telegraph lines being down, but it is feared that many boats and a considerable number of lives have been lost. Rubin and;;Davis' schooner and 17 luggers, Goldstein's 21 luggers, and another schooner and 16 luggers are reported missing. Rubin's schooner Bux is a total wreck. The captain reached the shore after being in the wacer for ten hours. • The body of the mate, Young, and the bodies of a number of coloured men have been washed ashore. The storm is described as one of the worst that ever struck the coast. It did great damage ashore, wrecking houses and telegraph lines. Much wreckage and thousands of dead seabirds are scattered along the shores. Japanese survivors from Rubin's lugger R >y, report that four of the coloured crew were drowned when she foundered.

A shocking tragedy is reported from Armidale, New South Wales, where a waitress at a hotel, was found murdered in her bed. The room was shared with another waitress who said she saw a man in the room. The man escaped by a window, and the girl aroused the landlord. The girl O'Leary has been arrested. At the inquest, the proprietor of the Central Hotel deposed that O'Leary came to his room early in the morning and reported that Miss Kelly had burst a blood-vessel. He went to the room and found her lying with her throat cut. O'Leary afterwards told the story of the man escaping through the window. Meantime O'Leary had changed her clothes in witness' room, and the police discovered partiallyburned portions of clothing, apparently blod-stained, under the copper. Witness was unaware that there had been a fire there since Saturday. As far as he knew, deceased and Miss O'Leary were on good terms. Dr Scott deposed to finding blood on Miss G'Learys' petticoat, underclothing, ani fingers. She accounted for this by saying that she had sat by the bed holding the dying girl. A big three-bladed pocket knife was also produced. One of the blades had blood marks. Dr Scott said the blood found on O'Leary's clothes was not where it should have been if she had been holding Miss* 1 Kelly. Some portions of O'Leary's clothes were missing. The murdered girl's sweetheart deposed to giving her an engagement ring on Saturday night. He left her at 11 o'clock all right.' The inquest was adjourned till Friday. The unrest in India continues and latest cables report that excitement runs high at Calcutta owing to the arrest of Mitra, the editor of the native newspaper Sanjibani, on a charge connected with students' dacoity. Dutt, a prominent Eastern Bengal seditious leader, who was arrested at Barison, and Baboran, editor of the native newspaper, Swarajya, have' been sentenced to seven years im-' prisonment, on a charge 6f sedition.

Numerous additional arrests have been made in connection with the Bengal seditionary movement, including landowners, journalists, and students. It has now been discovered that the conspiracy is a long-standing one, and much more serious than was at first thought. It includes well organised special sections for establishing newspapers, collecting rams, and making bombs, for collecting funds even by raids, and watching the movements of the police.

The outlook in the near East bears a much-improved aspect and every hope of a peaceful settlement of the Balkan difficulty is entertained. The question of reforming the House of Lords is bulking largely in the public eye at Home The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Lloyd- George) addressing a gathering of Welshmen at the National Liberal Cloub, declared that the whole fortunes of Liberalism would be staked on one attempt to shatter the sceptre of the House of Lords. It may be, he said, the final struggle between democracy and aristocracy. Mr Asquith states that he is not prepared at present to take any action on the report of the Earl of Rosebery's Committee, for the reform of the House of Lords.

Sir S. T. Evans (Solicitor-General), speaking at Nantymoel, Glamorganshire, prophesied that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Lloyd-George, would, in his next budget, adopt the principle of a graduated income tax. Personally he hoped it would be possible to increase the estate duties on millions devolving at death.