AUSTRALIAN.

Te Aroha News, Volume 1, Issue 45, 12 April 1884, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN.

Melbourne, April 4. — Rumours are current tbat Mr Berry will shortly relinquish the portfolio of PostmasterGeneral, retaining only that of Chief Secretary.

Melbourne, April 4.— An inquiry into the Little River rail way collision commences on Saturday. Mr Hickman Molesworth (County Court Judge) will act as President of the commission of inquiry. Craik, the driver of the passenger train, has died from the injuries received by him in the collision. A list giving the names of 23 persons seriously injured has been published. Many others are slightly injured. Everything tends to confirm the frightful nature of the shock. Trucks were heaped upon one another for a distance of 20ft., and the tenders a-top of the engines. The scene was one of desolation. The state of the injured was most pitiful until assistance arrived, land this was not till four hours had elapsed. Biddle, the Werribu station-master has confessed his responsibility for the catastrophe. The staff system is, it appears, partially in abeyance on the Victorian lines. Accounts of the Sunbury disaster state that the explosion was terrific. Several trucks were smashed, and the fire-box, weighing half a ton, wag blown a distance of 300 yards. The woman killed by the railway collision has not yet been identified. The secondclass carriage, which was next the tender of the passenger train, and was smashed to pieces, contained twenty passengers, nearly all of whom were injured, some being pinned to their seats by the broken timber. Among these were Mrs Beath, whose thigh was broken ; Anna Peet, injured internally ; Mrs Milne, suffering from concussion of the brain ; and Phoebe Harriß, seriously injured, and now in a state of coma. The engines of both trains have been rendered useless by the collision, and great damage has been done to rolling stock. The traffic for some time was suspended, but is now restored. It has been ascertained that the stationmaster at Werribee was absent at a concert when the collision occurred. The latest news to hand from Sunbury ■tates that the driver of the engine, the boiler of which exploded, is very seriously injured, and is not expected to recover. The fireman's body has been found some distance from the engine, where he had been thrown by the force of the explosion. Baddle, the station-master at Werribee, who left his daughter in charge of the station, and thus, it is alleged, caused the disastrous railway accident, has been suspended. The Government have decided to institute an inquiry into the circumstances under which the accident occurred, outside of the departmental investigation.

Melbourne, April 4. An inquest was held to-day on the bodies of the victims of the Little River railway accident, but in view of the strict investifation into the disaster which is about to be eld, the verdicts returned were merely of a formal nature. The second-class passenger who was killed has been identified as Mrs Johnson, of South Melbourne. Melbourne, April 5. —It is expected that Mr Service, the Premier, will relinquish the portfolio of Minister of Public Instruction, ,-and it is probable tbat the Hon. Wm, will form a Cabinet ; also, that .Mr Gillies, Minister of Railways, will be to the Department ot Public Works.

Further agricultural returns published give the yield of wheat in Victoria this season at fifteen and a-half million of bushels. The average yield per acre thus remains at 13 89 bushels. The annual intercolonial (Victoria v. New South Wales) 8-oar boat race was rowed to-day on the Yarra River, and after a close contest was won by Victoria by half a length. An inquiry into the collision between the steamships Wairarapa and Adelaide was commenced to-day by the Victorian Navigation Board, and was adjourned till Mon-

Sydney, April 3. — All the British inen-o' war in port will fire thirty guns on Saturday next, and Sunday will be observed as a day of general mourning for the death of Prince Leopold.

Syjdney, April 4. — Showers of rain, which for some time past have been greatly needed, have been experienced here, and the fall has been pretty general in the country districts.

Sydney, April 4. — New Zealand wheat per bushel, 3s 3d : New Zealand oats, 3s ; maize, ss. Sugar Company's No. 1 pieces, ! per ton, £34.

I Adelaide, April 4.— Wheat per bushel, 3s lid to 48. Flour market very flat. Town brands, £9 10s to £10; country brands, £8 10s to £8 15s. Freights to London, 35s to 455 ; ditto, sailing, 30s to 40s. No charters to report. Market firm. Brisbane, April 4. — The revenue return 3 for the quarter ended the 31st March are published to-day. The revenue for the quarter amounted to £590,000, being an increase of £34,500 compared with the corresponding period last year. The land revenue for the three months show a decrease of £37,500, but the receipts from all other sources have improved.

Sydney, April 7. — Heavy rain has fallen pretty generally throughout the colony, and the empty dams have been replenished. The downpour in Sydney has been exceptionally heavy, fully ten inches having been recorded since the 4th inst., and parts of the city are flooded. Some damage has also resulted. i Bishop Barry preached in the Anglican j Cathedral yesterday. The sermon was most eloquent, and contained special reference to the late Prince Leopold. Sydney, April 5. — Dr. Barry arrived this morning, and met with a hearty reception from the clergy and laity. Addresses of welcome were presented to him, and special services were subsequently held in the Anglican Cathedral.