AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2770, 31 January 1895, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

From the Ist of February Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania will have the same time. This is in accordance with the zone system. The day is of 24 hours, and the equator is divided into 360 degrees. Divide 360 by 24, quotient 15, Each 15 degrees is a zone therefore, and each zone is ahead of the next by* an hour exactly. That is the new system in a nutshell. All the colonies mentioned are in the same zone. South Australia is in the next zone, and will be exactly an hour behind. To Victoria the difference will mean that her time will make a jump forward of 20 minutes on Ist February. We will rise 20 minutes earlier, go to bed 20 minutes later, and so forth. At present there is a diff^ rence between Melbourne and Greenwich 0 f 9 hours 40 minute's and some seconds. In mture the difference will be 10 hours exactly. Sydney and Melbourne differ now by 24 minutes 37 seconds. In future there will be no difference, Adelaide and Melbourne differ now by 25 minutes 34 seconds. In future they will differ by an hour exactly. The new system will gieatly simplify matters undoubtedly. If we have to rise 20 minutes earlier, we will in return have 20 minutes more twilight. The growth of Mildura is shown by the fact that this yeer there are not less than 2000 acres under apricots alone. The trees are not all bearing yet, but when they are the yield will bo fwt. from each tree, or four tpua to the acre. The apricots are dried in the sun. It takes 61b of green to make lib of dried fruit. Dried apricots bring 9d per lb wholesale in Melbourne, and 8d or 9d in London. At these rates the return from an acre is £46 13s 4d, and after expenses are deducted £2l 13s 4d and acre is left to meet interest, cost of picking, sundries, aud living expenses. With regard to the recent cable message that tho Loudon shipping companies are combining to raise rates and fares, tho Argqs writes : —“ We do not think they will be successful uutil a decided improve-

ment takes place in the outward traffic from England. They are not suffering from low rates, but what does injure them seriously is the want of cargo and the paucity of the passengers’ list. How on earth they expect to improve either the one or the other by raising rates it is hard to tell. They had better rest content until times improve, in the meantime cast about for expedients to reduce expenditure.” Sydney burglars the other night left the following note on the top of a safe in the Sussex street post office ; “ Tools broke. Be back to-night.” The Lyceum Hall, in Campbell street, also engaged the attention of thieves, who smashed open the safe, and finding no valuables, wrote on it: “ D hard luck ! Never mind ; cheer up.” Statistics taken in Sydney on Saturday and Sunday show that in Sydney 20,778 persons visited nine places of amusement on Saturday, while only 5650 attended the services at a similar number of the principal churches in the city on Sunday, of whom 3000 attended St. Mary’s Homan Catholic Cathedral.

The total amount of gold exported from Western Australia last year was 207,1310 z, valued at £787,098. Yilgaru contributed 136,8220 z, including 105,3200 z from Coolgardie, and the Murchison sent 52,9460 z ; 16,254 came from Pibarra. The Ballarat Licensing Reform Committee has decided to forward the following questions, submitted by Dr Thornton, Bishop of Ballarat, to the British consuls at Gothenburg and Bergen :—l. Is your system found in practice to have a marked effect in abating intemperance ? 2. Is it the fact or not the fact that the consumption of liquors at public refreshment shops by women and by a class of persons unlikely to frequent liquor shops under the old sytem has increased under the new ? 3. Is there reason to suppose that any evil other than intemperance is fostered by the new system, reducing the value of its effect in abating drunkenness? 4. Was the initial cost of the adoption serious ? 5. Has voluntary contribution to charitable and philanthropic institutions been decreased thereby ? Mr William A. Netting, a member of the firm of Page and Netting, well known in Sydney commercial circles, has been committed for trial for committing a malicious assault on Stephen Inch, a prominent officer of the RegistrarGeneral’s department. A dispute arose on statements alleged to have been made by Inch concerning Notting’s sister, and Netting went to Inch’s office and assaulted him so cruelly as to leave him in a semi-conscious state. He was in the hospital 11 days after the assault. Notting and Inch are both prominent yachting men.

A tragedy in humble life has been before the Police Court in Melbourne. Henry Wylie was charged with abducting two children of a Chinaman, Lin Sing, with whose wife he had eloped. The charge broke down. On Wylie leaving the court an irate elderly woman attacked him vigorously, but he managed to elude her, when she transferred her attention to Mrs Lin Sing’s sister, who had to bear the brunt of the attack, Wylie, it was alleged, had been married to the old woman’s daughter, and the latter had committed suicide in consequence of Wylie’s conduct with Liu Sing’s wife. In spite of the hot summer weather, the butter industry keeps up in Victoria. At the Kilmore factory the output is a ton a day. At Boort, far iu the interior, about £3OO per mouth is circulated by this one creamery alone in payment for milk, the average price being about 2 15/16d per gallon. The season has bean so far very favourable to the dairy farmers, grass being everywhere very abundant.—Otago Daily Times.