AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 50, 21 August 1911, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

EMPLOYERS' ASSURANCE. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Adelaide, August 19. The prospectus of the EmployersMutual Assurance Company has been issued. Its object is to make a definite stand against the demands of organised labor. It has a capital of £IOO,OOO. A CRISIS DENIED. Melbourne, August 19. The Premier denies that a political crisis is looming. CONTINUED DRY WEATHER. Sydney, August 19. Csntinued dry weather in the Northern table-lands and North-West is causing anxiety about the wheat crops. AN EMPIRE EXHIBITION. Melbourne, August Ifl. The State Cabinet has decided to ask the Commonwealth and other States to join in holding an Empire Exhibition in ono of the principal capital cities in 1912 or 1913. LACK OF DIVINITY STUDENTS. Sydney, August 10. The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church attributes the lack of students offering for the ministry to the want of home piety, materialism, and the inadequate salaries offered. When young men saw what the average income of Ministers was, they hesitated, and resolved to enter commercial or other pursuits. SYDNEY TELEPHONES. ■'■' Sydney, August 19. The special commissioner's report on the telephone system finds that it is very unsatisfactory in many respects. The most serious defect is bad line construction. He advocates running on strict commercial lines, and deprecates the centralisation in Sydney and suburbs. He declares, that salaries are disproportionate to officers' responsibilities. SUGAR. WORKERS* STRIKE. Brisbane, August 19. The waterside workers at Mackay have refused to .budge from their attitude regarding non-unionists. The crew of a lighter have struck in sympathy. "PETER THE PAINTER." Perth, August 19. It is stated that the idea connecting the Russian arrestee with "Peter the Painter" has been exploded, but the authorities decline to state whether they are still trying to connect him with the Hounsditch affair.