Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Saturday 20 January 1894, page 20


NEWS OP THE WEEK.

THB Homestead« Act, 1893, by proclamation dated the 10th inst,, came into force on that date.

WE bare to. acknowledge the receipt of £2 2B. from " a Friend/' towards the Parry Memorial Fund. .

THE Postmaster-General received the follow» ing telegram from Forteeone on Friday week c Steady rain all night. The river is rising slowly, and is now at high flood.

TER mails for the United Kingdom whioh left Perth on December 15th, and were trans, mitted from Albany by the B.M.S. Oroya, arrived in London on the night of Saturday, the 18th inst

Ona Adelaide correspondent, telegraphing under Sunday's date, announced the arrival in Adelaide on Saturday, by the B.M.S» Himalaya, of Sir George Shenton, MX.0.. and Mr. J. A. Wright, M.L.C. <

MB. Walter James has definitely decided to come forward aa a oaadidate for the repre-sentation of East Perth in the Legislative Assembly, at tho ensuing general election.

MB, C. G. MILLAH is expeotod to return this week from his vint to tho Greenbuahes tinfields.. The objeot of his visit is to make enquiries in connection with tho working of the concession lately granted to Mr. Beid.

THE lowest tenders for the undermentioned works were submitted by the following-Mingenew Post and Telegraph Office, H.W. Linthorne ; Pingelly Agricultural Hall, Thorne, Bower and Stewart.; Roebourne Gaol shelter shed, W. C. Forsyth.

ANOTHER candidate for the representation of a mining constituency has come forward in the person of Mr. F. Illingworth, of this oity. Mr. Diing worth has definitely decided to stand for Nannine, and proposes, to enter the field against all oomere.

,.. , . ~Í>¿»

AM intimation has been cabled to Sir Maloolm Fraser, Agent-General for tho oolony, that bis term of office, whioh was originally for Çwo ysars, has bern extended for Another year. Thia means that Sir Malcolm will oontinue to

hold the position of Agent-General unttl April of 1895.

WB learn that Mr. John Musson, who ¿Was fined £30 and sentenced to three months im-prisonment for the illegal sale of liquor in connection with an unlicensed dub, has aban« fiened* the appeal, and paid th* fine. Mr. Musson is at present confined toois bod by *> seripns illness.

MB. S. J. CHXFPEB, derk to tho Attorney General, has furnished a summary of the oases dealt with in the Perth Police and Looal Courts for the year. The numßer of local court cases was 1,862, execution summonses 230, judgment summonses 96. In the polios court 1,785 oases were dealt with.

IT ia the intention of the Government to employ the Premier dredge in extending the deep water in the inner harbour at Albany, it being proposed to give a considerable increase to the 27feet area. ThiB will neces-sitate the dredge being retained in King George's Sound for a further period of about two months and a half.

ACCORDING to a return published by the Oeraldton-Mtirchieon Telegraph, the value of exports from the port of Geraldton for the year ended 81st December, 1893, waa as fol» lows. The figures in parentheses represent the value of the exports for 1892 Î-WooL £72,416 ( £59,790 ) ; sandalwood, £9,864 (£5,916) ; lead and copper ore, ntl (£276) «. gold, £102,256 (£71,830).

THB half-yearly meeting bf the Progressive Political League was held on Wednesday at the Oafè de Paris. The offiaere for the ensuing half-year were eleoted, and the principal busi-ness transacted besides that waa the adoption of a resolution instructing the delegates-to the Central Counoil to endeavour to secure the addition of free, eeoular, and compulsory education by the State to the platform.) -

THE following message bas been received by the Icspeotor of Telegraphs from the station-master at Onslow :-" As there ia no probar bility of tile line east of Fortesone being restored for some tune, please notify pnblio that telegrams for Roebourne and northern ports will be in time for despatch by a.«. Albany, if received at Onslow not later than 10 a.ra. Thursday, 18th inst."

ANOTHBB oandidate is announced for the Yilgarn electorate, in the person of Mr. J. J. Cassidy, who took a prominent part in the "mining strike at Yilgarn some years ago. The following are tho candidates now an-nounced as intending to oonteBt the Yilgarn electorate: Mr. de Hamel, Mr. W. Cameron, Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Joseph Bogers, Mr..C. J. Moran, and Mr. Cassidy.

MB. Henry Briggs, headmaster of the Fre-mantle school, notifies in an advertisement appearing in another oolumn that the nest term begins cnrJanuary 22nd. As a proof af the well-deserved progress made by this ex» .«Bliebt Bohool,. the number af mames mitha roll for tbs lott six years is of interest,, j Sh* {figures are aa follows «-1808,; fil :N ISJ9, «tö«

THE six windows to be ereoted in St. George's Cathe ¿ral, ia memory of the fear lads who were drowned in the Swan Hirer-Hale, Parry, Wittenoom and DanoMi-are arriving this week by the R M.S. *. Austral, and will be at ouoc Bet np in the

Cathedral, under the ^supervision ot' Mr. J. Talbot Hobbs. They are of beautiful work-manship, and will great y add to the beauty of the Metropolitan Church,

OH Saturday, the PoBtmaster-General received the following thlegram, dated Onslow, Jan. 13, 11.30 a.m., from the telegraph station-master at that plaoe:-''Ashburton river came down last night nearly a banker. This morning running strongly and rising. Onslow Hardey Junction mailidue yesterday ; not yet arrived. Probably will not arrive for few days if river ooutiuuea running strong." Other telegrams relating to the floods in the Nor'-west are published ia another oelomn.

THU survey of the line of telegraph from Southern Cross to Coolgardie was concluded on the 5th January. The contractor, Mr. B. G. Pratt, experienced several difficulties whioh delayed him from starting from the Crossland he did not commence the survey until the 1st Deoember. Toe distance was 115 miles by line, or by road 130, and that the contract was completed in five weeks, is evidence of the energy with weich it was

conducted.

A TELEGRAM'from Broome, via Port Darwin, on Friday week, received by the Pcstmaster General, states :-" No steamer is going /"South for several weeks. The Boodarie line-

man is starting again thia morning, but it is doubtful if be can oross the rivers. If be . wantB men he will engage them at the Yule Elver station. The natives say that the Yule River is flooded, and tho lino all down about the river. Condon station reports that . the lineman is. starting out. this, morning to

assist the Boodarie lineman in repairing .the

t. line."_?

THE annual meeting for the eleotion of officers of the Brian Boru Brauoh No. 260 of thc Irish National Foresters waa held in the Hibernian Hall, Fremantle, on the 9th inst. Tbe following were elected for the ensuing Six months:-CR., Bro. Hughes ; S.C.R., Bro. Byrne; Sec., Bro. McGrath; Treas., Bro. Wholley; S.W., Bro. Holmes; J.W., Bro. Soden ; S.B., Bro. MoGinley ; J.B., Bro. Gordon. Bro. Mahon, P.C.B., performed the installation ceremony. Songs and recitations of a national charaoter wound up the pro-ceedings.

A PBTVATB telegram received in Perth on Monday, dated Roebourne, states that aoyolone took place oh the 9th January. The Union Bank premises at Roebourne and Cossack are safe, but immense damage has been done the town and the runs. The telegram appears to have been «ont from Coesaok to Broome and then transmitted to Bangjoewanjie, then to Port Darwin, round by Adelaide, and thence to Perth, taking four days in the conree of transmission. In another column we publish a telegram received by . the Postmaster General and giving details of tho oyolone.

BATHES a foolish «tory has been geing round, on the usual paragraphical course of such Items, to the effeot that part of Paris was about to be paved with mahogany, says " Aoglo-Australun," in a reoent European Mail. My readers will not be surprised ts heir that this mistake arose tram the fact t'iat wood from the Western Australian eu edyptus tree,' known as karriwood, ie beiug used in the gay city., I remember that not long ago someone seeing this very substance going down iu South Loudon imagined that red briobs were being laid Î

, Oy Friday week Mr. de Hamel addressed a 4^hwge meeting in the Town Hall. Mr. de

Hamel is ono of the candidates for the re . presentation of Yilgarn in the next Legisla-

tive Assembly, and his audience was, in conse quence,l&rg«ly composed pf miners and others 2 interested in the gold mining industry. Mr. / ''? de Hamel spoke for nearly an honr and a half ? touching upon a humber of topics, and at tbe Í conoluBion Of hie address answered a number

of questions, after which a vota of confidence un the candidate was passed and the mooting closed. Tbe meeting, at times, waa very . lively, bnt, it. ia needless to say, thoroughly

". orderly, j

(fsjGoa Tjctoria Plains correspondent, writing

bunder date" January 12th, writes : After a'

spell of very hot weather, the last few days have been quite pleasant. Harvesting ie finished, except in one or two oases, and the yield ia, on the whole, satisfactory. Meetiogs of members of both .Dandaragan and Vie-lem Plains Bace dubs have been held, and dates have been fixedjfor the meetings, Thé Dandaragan races ate tó^;jcs|to>^la|ÍB^on. EaBter Monday, and'tbe PlajnB alubjhbpBits meeting on the 4th Aprils The programe

is the sams aa last yeiar, the only altération ms/lë bein£Ä in the penalties Á.'óalrri^ lin the Ladies' Purse by . winners, tf'.¿ whioh -?£re réduoed from 71b., and 101b.,

An interesting performance took place at Government House on Tuesday night, when, in the presence of His Excellency and a few guests, Herr Dvorak, nephew of the famous composer of that name, played several pieces on the violin, of which instrument he is a professor. Herr Dvorak's playing was greatly appreciated by His Excellency and those

present, and he was ably accompanied by

Professor Hers, who presided at the piano with his usual skill. The Government House party, consisting of Lord and lady Percy

Douglas, Mrs. Brind, and Miss Watlins, as

well as a few lovers of music, who were in-

vited to hear Herr Dvorak, were much pleased with his performanes, and heartily wished him a successful career in Western Australia.

MR. W. J. STEWART, of Newcastle, met with

an acoident on Saturday. During the morn i ing he drove Sir Arthur Stepney, Mr. G. T. Simps m, M.L.A.. and others round the New castle district, and having left them at Coor-ing*, was returniagr home when the horses bolted going down Ccoringa Hill. The brake failed to act, and whilst going at their utmost spaed Mr. Stewart was thrown violently ont, receiving eoveral vry nasty cuts and bruises, besides a severe shaktnv. The baggy was overturned and completely smashed to piece?. Tho boree*, after freeing themselves from the buggy, continuad their mad career and were not stopprd till they reaohed Nowoaetíe. One of tho horses-a very valuable ono-wan badly out. Mr. Stewart was attended to by Dr. Mayhew on his arrival at Newcastle.

ONE of tho prisoners engaged on the dredge Black Swan; at the Canning-, dropped dead on Thursday. Deceased was a Malay, named Assan, and was under sentence of ten years imprisonment from Roebourne. He had be?n employed for nome years past as stoker on the dredge, and was engaged ia that capacity on Thursday. He waa told by Mr. Passmore, jan., to tura off steam, and went below to do BO. Finding that steam was not terned off, Mr. Passmore looked below and Baw Assan lying at the bottom apparently quito dead. Restoratives wore at once applied, but with out effect, deoeasod hiing thea dead. The body was conveyed io the Fremantle prison by Mr. Passmore. A postmortem examina-tion, made by Dr. Hope, disclosed 1 he fact that the canso of death was aneurism of the heart. An inquest is ooneidored unnecessary by the Coroner.

ON Sunday evening last au imprassivo and suitable In Memoriam eervioe was bold ia the Wesleyan Church, Guildford, for the lat** Mr. F. H. Monger. The church was draped in mourning for the occasion, and seats were reserved fer tha member* of the town council, who Attended the service for their late mayor. The ohuroh was full when the service was commenord by tba organist, Mr. Johnson, playing " The Dead March," in Saul. After thie*the hymn " When our heads are bo «red with woe " was sung by the 09ngreation. Prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Varley, and lessons were read. Mr. Johnson sang, as a solo, "He wipes the tear from every eye," and several anthems and hymns were rendered by tba choir. Tho sermon preached by Rev. T. Bird was well calculated to com-plete a service that will long.be remembered.

IN connection with the recent produotioa of tho original comio opera, The Handsome Rantom, at Government House, and whioh is to be publicly performed at the St. George's Hall on Thursday and Friday next, we bave been shown a aeries of clever sketches of characters and incidents in the opera, drawn by Mr. H. Williams, the artist from Mel-bourne, whose sketshes of Coolgardie were recently referred to in these columns. Mr. Williams has reproduoed in excellent and artistio fasbion individuals and episodes in the little play recently so sucoeBsfnlly performed at - Govern-ment House, and they display him in the light of a facile artist. The sketohes will be on view at Messrs. Smds and McDougall's during the next few days. It may be men-tioned that Mr. Williams has opened an art studio in Perth, in tho St. George's Chambers, adjoining the Cathedral grounds.

THE weekly meeting of the Guildford Chris-tian Total Abstinence Union was held on Monday last in tba Wesleyan school-room. Mr. Lyddington, of Gingin, an old member of the Society, oocupied the ohajr, and gave a very cheering address. Several choruses were rendered by the Society's choir with good effect. Mrs. Liddington contributed a violin solo, which was well received; Mr. Leach, a reading; Miss Worth and Miss Withnell, a pianoforte duet ; Miss. Bead, a very eCootivè pianoforte sold; Messrs. Pad-bury and Gill, a vocal dust. Solos were given by Mies Worth, Miss Turton, and Mr. Poaree. The attendance was largs consider-ing thc excessive heat, and the good pro-gramme gave much satisfaction. ' Tba Society is free from debt and the number of members is now 138. It was a matter of general regret that Mies Ackermann was unable - to attend a meeting in Goildford during her recent trip, as the Union is the result of her previous work in the town.

AMONGST the passengers who left Perth by mail train on Friday week, were Mr. and Miss Stenart, who travelled to Albany te join the ;B.M.B. :Orn»we, in .whioh vessel, they -intend proj&e8bg to England. Mr. Stenert occupied the position of manager of the Bank>of New South «Wales in Perth for the past three and a half years? and is ' now taking a well earned holiday, principally for : the sake of his health, prior to taking up his residence in New South Wales. ] During tis stay in WeBtern Australia he mada

"many friends. He took a particular interest i in church work. Mies Steuart also left a large circle of acquaintances whó will muoh regret that she will not return to the colony... She possesses a great love for-children, and was never so happy aa when; she was assist-ing at some entertainment for the little ones. Her genuinely charitable disposition and many acts of kindness* to the p00r, both in Perth and elsewhere, will be long remembered. The Mingenew correspondent the Geraldton-Murchison Telegraph writing under date January, 4th; says, A man named Edward

Wimbridge, who bas been knocking about here for some time, was found dead in a well about 10 miles beyond Oxenham's and 30 miles east of Mingenew. Woogea ia the name of the well The news was brought in on the night of the 1st inst., and P.o. Simpson went out next morning. Deceased had been drinking rather heavily lately, but could not have been drunk at the time, as he was passed by a man going eastward to whom he appeared to be sober. Wimbridge is supposed to have been in the well about eight days, but Simpson says there was no difficulty in recognising him, besides whioh a pocket book with his name in it was found in one of bis pocket». The water in the well is within a foot cf the surface and several strong stakes are across the well so that it is not at all likely that the unfortunate man could have fallen in accidently whilst endeavouring to get a drink. COMMENTING upon the death of the late Bishop Parry, the Pall Mall Gazette says: " The death is announoed from Perth, Wes-tern Australia, of Dr. Henry Hulton Parry, the Anglican Bishop of the See. He waa not connected by any known genealogical ties with the family of the late Bishop of Dover who, by-tho-by, was born at Government House, Sydney, while bis father, the famous Arotio explorer, was discharging (he com-mercial rôle of commissioner for the Auetra

lian Agricultural Company. The late Dio-cesan of Perth presented an uncommon phenomenon-and it was hie only deviation ! from the commonplace--it tbe., í act that

besides being a bishop himself his father hid been one before him. Antigua was the latter's See, and here his son commenced his ecclesiastical career aa a curate. Hu had

risen to bo Bishop Coaùjaator of Barbadoes,

when he was translated to Perth in 1876. He graduated at Balliol, and waa a well intentioned, if not an exactly strong, prelate. No doubt his suooesaor will be selected with a regard to the expandiug vigour whioh just now characterises the 'coming colony \\a. the( mundane sphere." 1

ABTJBONG gale was blowing inland on Thursday afternoon, making the river very rongh an J choppy. A boat containing four meoibers of the yacht club put off from the club's jetty and got underway, making for the Spit, where tho gentleman alluded to purposed indulging in tho luxury of a swim. They had assumed their boating costumes, and one of them being unable to find bis nautical cap picked up an old bonnet, which was found ia the shed. ' They had not gone very far when the boit was struck by a heavy sea and oapEized, the occupants being thrown into the water. They hung on to the boat, swimming with it back to the jetty. But from the shore one gallant mem-ber of tbe Yacht Club Baw a woman's bonnet

bobbing ap and down in the water with a bead inside it. He put off in a boat and was most strenuous in his efforts to rescue tbe owner of the bonnet. When, however, he was near enough to give assistance he discovered the sex of tho ' wearer of the misleading head-gear, and being aware that the , bonnet covered the head of an expert swimmer, bis enthusiasm entirely vanished. The little mistake baa caused a great deal ot amuse-ment ia nautical circles.

AT a meeting of the Albany Chamber of Commerce on Monday week, the following letter waa received from the Premier, in reply to the Council's letter of Deoember 6th on the subjeot of subsidising ia. looal mail Bteamer to trade between Albany and Euola :-" Premier's Office, Perth, Deoem-ber 29th, 1893. Sir,-lu reply to yonr letter of the 6th inst, forwarding me a reso-lution of your Counoil, to the effeot that it does not advocate Esperance Bay being made a place ef call for intercolonial steamers, but urging that a looal steamer, trading between Albany and the Eastern ports should be subeidieed, I beg to inform you that I should be very glad indeed if I could assist in the very desirable object whioh you have in view, but I find that tile Govern-ment already pay ¿3400 per year for a monthly service by sailing ship, and that this contract will not expire until the end of next year. I fear, therefore, that. the Government would not be able to subsidise two services at the one time. However, if you will place before me any offer that you bav« in regard to this matter, I shall be glad to give it careful consideration.-I have the honour, Ac, JOHN FORREST, Premier." It was resolved to publish the letter and to make enquiries for'steamers offering. -

AT the sixtieth session of the' Edinburgh Geological Society, held recently^. Mr. Albert P. Calvert contributed a paper on " Western Australia and its Gold fields," a ooantry whioh, he said, comprised 700 million acres, showed the strongest auriferous and other mineral developments, and contained the riohest gold« fields in the world. Mr. Calvert proceeded to give a résumé of the several goldfields of th* colony, and described their geological features. A comparison between the -progress of the Western Australian goldfields and the early results from the South African goldfields showed that, whilst seventeen years elapsed before tho South African field produoed £200,000 worth of gold, the fields of Western ' Australia exoeeded that sum in the seventh

year, It also showed that the output for the first seven yeats of the West Australian fields ? had been more than double the output for the first seven years and bad exceeded by nearly £70,000 the output for the first fourteen yews from South Africa. .These results had, been obtained, notwlthstandingMhe faot that hardly any of tho mines lu Western Aus. tralla bad¿ owjug to lack of capital, been ¿ai yet efficiently worked, and that a very small

portion of the gold-bearing area hMfé Won ?

prospected. À cordial vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Calvert for his paper.

THE Swan Brewery Company received by last

mail from Melbourne the two certificates won by their excellent stoat at the recent Inter-colonial Wine, Fruit, and General Products Exhibition. The oertifioatas are oí them, selves admirable specimens of lithographic work, but their peculiar value is that they testify that against all comers the bottled stout manufactured at the Swan Brewery, Perth, not only held ils own, but to >k the lead, winning both first and second prizes. Á less gandy testimonial ia the spontaneous

eoomium the stout baa earned from Air Surveyor Gibbs, who writea thai " last year I left two bottloa of it in our oimp on the river, and although it was qaite unprotected from the vioWt changes of temperature th«t must have taken place during the year, the battle we opened was in splendid condition and quire equal (o tbe best imported atout." Mr. Hardwiok, the manager, has acquired the great secret of brewing a pleasant and sound porter, and that it does not deteriorate in the frequent changes of temperatura to which it may be subject, is proof that it containa nuthing of a deleterious nature, but that its constituent parts are absolutely of the purest

and best.

THE Nor-West Times of Dec. 30th, reports : P.o. J. Crockett returned to Roebourne on

tbe 24th iuat., having captured Bolly, the aboriginal charged with the murder of a lubra, at Look's -t*tion. Kelly, it will be remembered, murdered a black woman about six y«ars ago, for which be relived a sent moe of five yearo. His term expired some months ago, and shortly after his re-turn from Bohn«Bt he committed the crime for which he is now arrestad. Kelly was at large for three months before be WSB oaptured, and his arrest gave no little trouble. P.o. Crookett states that when he first caught sight of the native he was stand . mg on a tree, unarmed. The constable

dashed tot him, bat the native took to a ravine, and ha was lost sight of. He was followed by the constable asd the three natives fae had with him. Presently tbe pursuers came across Kelly's gun in the fork of a tree, and shortly after saw the native crawling through the grass with a tomahawk in bis hand. They eventually discovered bim under a large boulder in the ravine, and the constable covering him with hie revolver very little further trouble was experienced in arresting him. Kelly gave no bother on the way back to Roebourne, and be waa brought before the oourton Wednesday, but the case was re-manded. P.o. Crookett had two native prisoners under his charge at Mulga Downs when he set out to arrest Kelly, but when he returned he found they had escaped, having broken their handcuffs and chains with atones.

MB. EDWARD STANFORD bas decided to iaene a new edition of his well-known serieB form-ing his ." Compendium of geography and travel." It will be remembered that the first volume of that series published by Mr. Stanford waa the volume oa Australasia, in eluding Oceania, by Mr. A. B. Wallace, of whom the book was eminently worthy. It was, probably the moat interesting publica-tion of the kind so far given to the world, as to the animal, floral, physical, and el biological peculiarities of Australasia, of whioh the com-pilation treated. The new edition bas this, the first volóme of the old series, divided into

two, one half being taken np with Australasia ! proper, that ie with Australia, Tasmania, and 1 New Zealand, and amplifies the valuable in-

formation given previously. It is, however, <

a blot in the book that so little pains have been j used to bring up our own colony to date. ¡ For example almost the only refer- 1 once to gold is in connection with the Kimberley field. There is, how-ever, the consolation that anything written in the oourae of last year abont the gold pro-duction of Western Australia would bsoome obsolete so soon aa to need of itself a fresh revision. Still in a number of other small particulars the book would have been the better, oven with regard to the other colonies, if some gentleman familiar with the country had gone over the proofs. Bnt in any shape, and with all drawbacks, we welcome with real pleasure the reappearance of this most admirable series.

THE writer of the City article ia the British Australasian, remarks :-I am often asked as to the beet safe investment afforded by the Aus-tralian colonies for non-speoulative person?, I have no hesitation in recommending the guaranteed bonds of the Midland Bailway of Western Australia as an ezoellent stock for those seeking a safe four per cent, invest* ment and something more. The WeBt Australian Government guarantee principal and interest, BO that, the stook is quite equal to the ordinary Government four per oent. stack, and in addition there is the security of 3,000,000 aerea of land, and a nearly completed railway running through a district for the agrionltntal potentialities of whioh I oan personally vonoh. In regard to the Midland Ballway of Western Australia, I am glad to see that the WeBt Australian papers to hand by the mail strongly endorse the views I have always championed as to the desirability of a wisely-considered colonisa-tion Boheme being carried out. in con-nection with the Midland Ballway Company'* Boheme. The W.A. Land Company have made a mess of magnificent opportunities, and it now reste with the Midland Railway Company to redeem thé land graut system from,the undeserved opprobrium under whioh lt labours. If Mr. Bond oan oarry through a scheme of blois settlement os the linea te Ï¡rojeáis, the Government of Weitem AM

afforded to the Midland line, and he himself will be regarded as a benefactor by what Sir George Grey would tbe call the " millions yet

unborn."

THE first annual meeting of the Fremantle Branch of the Progressive Political League of We»t Australia wis held on Tuesday evening at the Gommel eial Hotel, High Street, the president, Mr. B. Snel'grovo, in the ohair. There was a large attendance of members, and a number of nsw members wera enrolled. Tb-5 secretary, Mr. Wv UH Thompson, reid a report embodying the r-suits of the work undertaken by the pro vi ional officers and committee. Toe report s'iow<td that op to the present 280 nam a bad been enrolled as oUim'tniB to b' entitled t> tbe franchise at tbe fort';o tining elections. Mr. Biker, seo. retaty of the Perth branch, informed the meeting thar, branoiie* had bron formed or wera in cou-fe of fuimation at North Fre-mantle, Geraldton, Bunbury, Southern Cross, Northam, and York. He congratulated the F rem tn tie brandi npoa the unqualified euc cess it had achieves since its formation in the regietrat ion of claims under the Electoral

Act Thurs was no daubs that the time bad * arrived »h°n the people should look to them-selves to alter tbe present condition of affairs. Tba WEST AUSTRALIAN in a leading artiole on Thursday last very aptly pointed out that it wr.« necessary that they should band them-selves together in proper organisations and use their president J es tue monthpieces through which to vent their grievances. Toe same parter also mentioued, referring to tbe recent Kortb*rners meeting, that thatassacia I tion could not find the semblance of a griev-ance to bring forward against the Govern-ment. (Ling bur. i Briefly thia, indicated how greatly a change was needed. Mr. W. F. Williams and Mr. Moadly also addressed the ineetiug. The f o lowing officers were elected : -President, Mr. B. Snellgrore; vice presi-dent, Mr. W. Meadley ; secretary, Mr. W. Thomson ; treasurer, Mr. W. F. Williams ; committee, Messrs. G. F. Carlton, C. J. McMullen, W. Thurston, C. Mole and Fowlis, with power to add to their number. Dele-gates to Central Council, Messrs. fi. Sne l grove and W. F. Williams.

A GENTLEMAN who resides in Highgate has, aooording to the London Daily Telegraph, been brought into a curious difficulty by doing a generous notion. (Ie is a retired doctor, a very mild and peaceful mau. For many yeats now he has been in the habit of spending the winter in Borne and always stayed at the same hotel. On hts last visit a youbg Italian waiter eipresfed an earnest desire to come to England, where he might learn English and aleo gain better wages, and asked the doctor to use his influence to obtain a situation for bim. Tho hotel pro-prietor gave the youth an excellent character,

and as the visitor also liked bis manners and his willingness ss a servant, be wrote to a friend near Liverpcol who wanted a valet.ani the Italian obtained the place. Nothing more oocurred for some time until the retired dootor reoeiveda letter from his acquaintance in Lancashire stating that the lad had mis teriously disappeared. He bad done his work well, had given every satisfaction, there was nothing missing-in foot, he had gone away leaving his wages and all his other effects untouched. Subsequently he reoeived another communication announcing that tbs Italian's body had been found in a caial, and that it was supposed h n had accidentally fallen in. Enolosed was a newspaper report cf the inquest, with th* verdict tf found drowned. Tba retired dootor wrote to the lad's parents, who reside not far from Borne, narrating the sad affair, and a IBO sent them all their son's property and the wages due to him. lu reply he got a letter from them aoousing him of having assassinated their bey and inform-ing him that they would have their revenge en him the next time hs came to Bemq. He waa jost beginning to make bis arrangements to go there for the winter when he received this unpleasant letter, and he at once wrote to the hotel proprietor asking hie advice on the matter. The latter replied that, muchas be desired to bave tho Englishman's patron-age, he mast strongly advise him not to come to Rom», as the people were sore to carry out their threat. The medical mau is there-fore deprived of his usual winter sojourn, and is now in terror lest through some secret sooiety be may be called on even in London for the Italiana know his address-to answer for the life of a man whom be did his best to befriend.