Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Tuesday 29 March 1887, page 4


The Brisbane Courier

TUESDAY, MAUGE SO, 1887.

The reduction in the Bank of England rate from 3 1/2, at which it was fixed but a few weeks ago, to 3 per cent, which was effected last Thursday, was anticipated and foreshadowed by the course of the open money market On the 16th instant the outside rate was 2 3/4 or 3/4 percent below the bank rate on the 22nd instant it fell to 2, or 1} per cent lower than the official rate. So great a discrepancy could not long obtain, and the reduction by the bank to 3 per cent was apparently a foregone conclusion, judging not merely by the outside rite, but also by the sudden access of applications to the market for loans. Indeed, it now becomes a matter for conjecture and speculation whether the official rite will not be even further reduced before long. At present the outside rate is If per cent complied with the official 3 per cent, and the bank reserves are £17,100,000, which is about .£000,000 more than they were by the previous weeks return, aud they are 50 per cent of the liabilities With these hige reserves aud the political honzon clear-for the visions of AV ir Ii ive apparently melted away into nothingness-the confidence of capitalists and investors is restoied, and Hoods of av ulablo money appaiently mun date the maiket once moie Hence If per cent pei annum is tlie price of money in

Lo nib ud street

And it is to be noted that thiee of the Austi alasian colonies-New °outh Wales, New Zealand, and Tasmania-have lain 11 wait foi the tide, and t iken it it the flood Sydne) put in au appearance with a murna pal loan of ¿330,000, bearing 4 per cent, the minimum tendel pi ice of which was fixed at pai Hie conditions were thus identical with those of the list Queensland loan, but the results weie distinctly in fivour of the Sydney lownCouncil loan, foi the tendéis therefoi leached £523 000, md the average puce loaliaed was ovei £101 3s In 1884 Sydney Municipality borrowed and then the loan w is a 5 pei cont one, and it realised at issue £109 r)3 , and it was lately quoted at £115 on the Stock Exchange So that it is evident a 4 pel cent lo m oflcred at par w as a new ilepaituie fully warranted On the 23id instant, the day after the heavy fall in the outsido rate h 11 taken pi ice, the Auck

1 md IT arbour Ti ust invited tendéis for a loan of £100,000 bealing 5 per cent, the minimum tendei pneeof which wis fixed at pai This loan is to ho pi iced on tho 31st instant The Aucl land Haiboui Boan! has

aheidy twice ippuiled to the London mar ket-m 1877, when it obtained ibout £150,000 at 6 per cent, receiving ¿£105 per cent, and again in 1882, wheu it bon owed £150,000 at 5 per cent, receiving £101 12s Gd percent Both these loaus are now quoted it about £108 Tismania appears with i Municipal Loan for Launceston of £150,000, be u nig 4 per cent, the minimum puce of which is fixed at £07 Launceston does not appe ir to ha\o offeied her niuui cipal bonds on the London market before, and the loan now announced, for a fit st essa), displays n wholesome confidence on the pai t of the council But, perhaps, the new loan, like that of the city of Hobart, which was obtained seven years ago, is guaranteed by the Government If the municipality is suppoited indguaianteed bj the Government, it mi) leasouably look for as good terms as the Tasmaiiiau Government

itself

As the home market acquired a tone of easiness, the puces of good securities naturally lose Money let loose for mi e«t ment tin ns first to the best class of invest

nients and thus Australian Government debentures BIIOW a legular aud steul) im ploiement The following tabulated state meut of prices will exhibit the beneficial effect on this chss of security, which is caused by an easy money vi irkefc -

Al ireh 13th Ilth 17th 21st A let « in 1 per eel ts 103} 10!} - io N vbitliA) les 3} pei cents - 93 91} <n ísevSouüi A\ iles li i couts - - 107} lOsJ South Au trail n I lier cents 101 101} - -Queen lan 1 1 pei cents - 100 100} -Isow /enlim!-I per coi ta OB 07 17} ns î,oi ¿Q linds i er cents 100} 100J - -

New /1 aland 4 per cents seem to have itti acted most ittentiou, possibly because theio is uioie scope foi au improved pi ite in these, the quotations being so low, compared

with other Australasian bonds

At all ei ents it is ev ideut that the stock

niatketshaie full) itcovoied norn the pime tint possessed them some six weeks ago, and ii hich vi as occisioned by a sens itional telegiam ni tho Baily Ncxcs, to tho efiect that war between Germany and France was inevitible and immediately to be begun. The panic was worst in London, bad in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, and moderate in New York. The tre-mendous consequences of a panic on tho London Stock Exchauge may be estimated from the fact that, as the total value of the stocks and shares quoted in the stock list is about £5,500,000,000, a general and average decline of 1 per cent in price means asia lukage in ) alue of £5.1,000,000 and 111 panic time the iver ige fall is sure to far exceed 1 per cent In the present instance, the erne « as not long delayed, and probably pnces are as high non as they weie before the " nish , but the losses to hist), mcon s delate, aid uTnghttd sellers can doubtless be couuted b) ni iny millions

J he homo mai) efc now shows eveiy indi

cation of ease, ind, we fear, dulness The revival ia trade may keep off stagnation such is that which 1 ist year w ltuessed, but the fall in tho late will bring new com-panies and lo iiiB upon the maiket, and the calls ou the avail ible capital -will be mail) and îaiied Oui Treasurer may ludulgc in a bnef vam ugiet that some kindly piophot did not persuide him to hold over his loan Aa events have turned out, had

it to be floated to-day, his exchequer would probably be richer by many thousands of

pouuda.

Tins heavy cloud that has BO long hung over the sugar industry in this colony is beginning to show a silver lining. The bounty system, both iu the United States and ou the Continent of Europe, is be-ginning to yield results widely different from thoso expected of it, and like all economic schemes based on interference with the natural laws of production, is evidently doomed to early extinction. Its effect, so far, has been to reduce the price of sugar in England, the ruling market of the world, to little more than half what it coats the American, French, or German con-sumer. In other words the bounty paying governments have, for the sake of bolstering up au artificial industry, consistently " pro-tected" the foreign consumer, aud facilitated the establishment of many foreign in-dustries, dependent on an abundant and cheap supply of sugar as a raw material, at the expense of their own subj'ects. When, for the ostensible en-couragement of the beet sugar manufacture, various Continental countries first originated the plan of paying bounties on the export of such sugar, all for a while went well. Capital was everywhere forthcoming for the new investment that was to be independent of the plebeian laws of supply and demand and of the capricious fluctuations of the ordinary market, and everywhere huge factories arose to engorge the produce of

millions of acres that had hitherto fed the

surrounding population but were henceforth to be devoted to the growth of the raw material of an industry that was destined to rear a few colossal fortunes and pauperise large sections of the working population. Por some years the factories, co-operative as well as private, paid good dividends out of the subsidies they received from the revenue, and although the taxpayers were fleeced for the benefit of the few, and con-sumers had to pay heavily for their sweeten-ing, nobody complained ; partly, perhaps, because the wisdom of authority is prac-tically less open to question on the Continent than in free-spoken England, and partly be-cause any accompanying inconveniences were cheerfully borne under the impression that the foundations of an important and permanent industry were being laid which should bring prosperity to millions yet

unborn.

The spirit of this halcyon dream has long undergone a sinister change. The artificial profits pocketed out of revenue by the great companies and private manufac-turers stimulated competition for export, wherein the sole potentiality of profit lay, but left the home consumer without redress against the high prices persistently maintained by the producers, who, as far aa the inland market is concerned, have ever acted with the most charming unanimity. This competition for export, being based solely on the receipt of so much public money for each consignment sent beyond sea, was of course regulated by no such prudential considerations as regulate ordi-nary production. Instead of adapting itself to the greater or less demand it proceeded wholly unchecked, and, becoming reckless, ended by flooding the English market to a degree that made the industry unprofitable iu spite of the bounty. During tho last five or six years some of the leading esta-blishments iu Germany and AustroHungary have experienced serious re-verses. In Austria especially, some time ago, the discovery of the delusivo nature of the new panacea for national unhappiness brought about a complete panic, in which millions of capital supposed to be securely invested was rudely wiped out. In the German Empire mattera are very little better. The Deutsche Zuckerindustrie for December, 18S6, gives a list of six establish-ments xvhose united losses during the past year aggregate £101,864, and mentions two others that have been compelled to go into liquidation.

These figures would be of no great consequence if they were balanced by corresponding profits in other instances, but of such no examples are given, and tho pre-sent aspect of the sugar industry, as depicted by its representative organ, is a gloomy one indeed. The unreason of the policy of continuing to foster an industry whose excessive development is becoming ruinous to all who engage in it appears at length to have attracted the attention of the Prince Chancellor, and one of the latest items of intelligence from the German Empire is a proposal to amend the law regulatiug the payment of sugar bounties by reducing their amount. As Germany is the principal factor in maintaining the chronic glut that has for several years past existed in the English market, this measure for reducing the competition in production and export of beet sugar will not bo long in making itself felt far beyond the limits of the countries immediately interested. As a first step towards the gradual abolition of the bounty system, it will infuse fresh energy into the agricultural popu-lation of countries like Queensland, where the growth and manufacture of sugar is favoured by the climate aud needs no adventitious aids in order lo develop into a great and permanent industry. When once our planters can bring themselves to realise that the " fall in sugar," which has brought many of them so loxv, is chiefly owing to artificial causes already in process of removal, and only in a slight degree to the unsettled state of the labour question, they will be able to enter upon, their reviv-ing pursuit with a j'uster seuse of its capa-bilities, a more persevering determination to overcome the difficulties still in their path, and-what is more important stillthe guarantee of accomplished facts (the most logical guarantee of all) for their ultimate and enduring success.

IT has been our unpleasant duty on several occasions to draw attention to the carelessness displayed by the officers of the Electric Telegraph Department in supply-ing the shipping intelligence of the colony as published daily on the board at the Telegraph Office. Scarcely a day passes without some glaring mistake being made or some important information being omitted altogether. Why this state of affairs should be allowed to continue we are at a loss to understand. It is true that when from time to time attention is called to it there is a brief ammendment. But in a short time those whose business it is to gather and publish the shipping intelligence which is so eagerly sought after by a very large proportion of the com-munity, and who are paid for it out of the public purse, fall back into their old habits of careless indifference. The result is, that the shipping intelligence (1) is worse than

farce, being often more misleading than instructive. We might give instances of gross offical carelessness by the score, but will for the prsent, at least content ourselves with a few, and

trust that the Postm «t rlenval will take immediate steps to reS this very serious cau'e foi compW 7 such careless inattention to duri mT «

part of the officials concerned ^Zi h* disgrace to their dep irtnient, and 0UL? never to be tolerated The inst5 we select aro these The steamerV

Yangs left Brisbane for RocU L^U

direct last Friday week and nffifSS

was heard of her until she had cleared Keppel Bay early ou the followinc W«? uesday moinmg on her return trio b, Bnsbiue Now a steamer going to liocl hampton from this port has to pass Cal Capricorn and tho telegraph station oa Se! View Hill before reaching the Rockhampton wharf, so that altogether foui reports cor.

cermng the movements of this steamer weio entnely omitted Again, the haran» Irvine, fiom Loudon, with a heav) freight and concerning whose movements manv persons weie naturally inteiested, anchored 11 Keppel Bay on the 24th February fogf and in due couise berthed alongside the whirf in Eockhampton to complete the dis chai ge of her cirgo, which had been beimn in the Bay Officially, that vessel is ¡tül at sea, and so far as public shippinc information goes might now be posted at Llo)ds as consul eitbly oieidue Yet auother instance The barque St Patrick arrived at Cooktown fiom Manport on the 24th Febiuaiy No intimation of her ai rival has so far appeared on the shipping boui d The'syatem adopted by the depaitment with regard to shipping intelligence might bo improved were it divested of just a little of the led tapism vith which it is adorned, but still the system ia by no me ins lesponaible for the seiious omissions just noted, oi for the scoies of omissions and inaccuracies that h ive occuired fiom time to time The rule obseri ed by the various shipping clerks at all the Jx oi them ports, is that the news of tho ai rival or departure of a vessel must be supplied through one of the Customs officnla, notwithstanding the fict that the arrival or departure of such A essel must in most instances be known in the telegraph office, as »he would be re poited to that office from several places before actually îeachmg the wharf ni case of amval, or putting to sei if leaving the port. It is a noteworthy fact th it the ports from which information of this kind ia moat un i diable, so fal as omissions aie concerned aie Maryboiough and Rockhampton, where vessels must of necessity be reported to the local telegraph offices fiom sever ii places either befoie anivil oi before putttng to sea The infoimatron fiom Cooktown is very often twenty four hours old before it reaches the Brisbane public, and thin it is ofteu mcoirect and incomplete

A CASE which his been recently heaid at Mai y boiough denial ds the atteution of the immigration authorities Catherine M'Carth), in immigrant b) the Eostimuster, has after due investigation been sent to Woogaioo is i lunatic She showed si^ns of uisauity on the voy ige, and accoidiug to the sub niau on of the vessel was violent at the depot in Plymouth It is lo tina point we wish to dnect attmtion We have been led to understand that all soils of piecautions aie now taken to prevent people suffeiuig fiom lunic), oi in curable disease, or uioially élisqu ilified from coming to the colon) as assisted nunn "rants Of what value aro these precau ions if Cilherine M Gai thy could show signs of violent lun icy it Plymouth before setting foot on the vessel w Inch w as lo com ey her to Queensland, and yet not be stopped The official tlnough whose negligence she was shipped should, we veutuie to suggest, be relieved fiom all futuie lespousibihty in connection with lins Government AVe need not say much about the importance of gu irding against the shipment of improper lmtuigi nits, for every ouo dmils it Ihe Government eau oui) piotect itself by coming shaiply dow u on eveij case of uegh genee on the part of those who are em ployed to inspect tho candidates for assisted

p issages

-~~ ? i

It ia stated in well informed circles that Admnal Ti yon has rophod to tho coraaimuca tiona from tho Gov ornmont respecting a pro posai to tr) the ohargos against Lioutenant Iloakoth by couit martial that tho matter waa beyond Ina juriadiotion, and that therefore he w na unable to order tho court martial aa re quested Tho oase ia now undor tho considera

tion of tho Government

The Criminal Sittings of the Supreme Court wero oponod yestorda) heforo Mr Justice Mein Tlio firbt caso taken was that of Bdlv, an abongiual, who was tried and acquitted of the ohaige of feloniously killing another black follow named Cabin Boy at Boggy Creek James Howe thon ploaded gmlty to several charges of ombezzloment from his cmplo)er, Mr Charles 0 Reilly, and was remanded for sonteuco Tho court then adjourned until this morning Tho windows of the court wero kept dosed all day to provont an) noiso entering fiom tho street Tho atmosphere consequently became very heated md vitiated early m the proceeding«, and towards the last became almost unbearable If the court sits dad) for a month, as is expeoted and under such conditions it will bo attended with serious injury to tho health of the officials and others who havo to attend

A man named Joseph Culvorhouso was fined £2 b) his Honour Mi Justice Mem yesterday morning, for non attendance as a juror at the Ciimiual Sittings of the Supremo Court AVilham E Bernard was excused from servico as a fnend attended and stated that ho w as ill at his ie»idonce at Toowong, and was uuablo to leave his bed His Honour said that ho wished it known that a certificate of a doctor was not sufficient to excuse a wntne-s for nonattendance, for both ho and tho other Judges had found that such documents could be obtained whon tho persons had been found to bo quite eapablo of attendance to their duties If therefore, a juror was unable to attona through illness or accident, ho should see that a doctor or some other person was Pfei*nt at tlio opening of the court to depose to the facts

The following probates have been granted during theweek -Alfred Hubbard builder, late of Southport-personalty ¿I'O, *° Lu« beth Hubbard, of Southport, widow Frederic* Orme Dan all, lato of Cheltenham, inS>ma..

probate (letters of administration.*"*V»> £4700, stamp duty £17 to Wm H) M**T> of Brisbane, solicitor, Wni Cirter, PuMl0fi late of Dmerald-personalti £400, under affidavit of xalue, to James Camerford nu cloifeyman, and John O Rourke of ÍIOCK hampton, railwii) contractor John ue «.>

Brereton late of Sydney, N S W - personalty

£7200 under affidavit of value, £8913 14s. 6d.

under Succession Duties Act, stamp duty £133 14s 2d., to Victor Le Gay Brereton, of Brisbane: Olivia Vance, widow, late of Rose-wood-personalty, £260 under affidavit of

value, £535 under Succession Duties Act, stamp duty £5 7s , to John Macfarlane, of Ipswich, and Francis Wm. Johns of Ipswich.

Letters of administration were issued in the estate of Thomas Campbell, farmer, late of

Blantyre-personalty £50, to Mary Campbell

of Ipswich, widow.

The Post and Telegraph Department notify

a railway telegraph station (R.T.S.) is now open for business at Palmer-road, Cooktown

line.

A telegraph messenger named Edward God-

sall, was riding out towards Woolloongabba

along Stanley-street yesterday evening, and

when opposite the Divisional Board's office

his horse shied from a tramcar and carried him with great force against a spring van coming in the opposite direction. The horse was knocked down and Godsall thrown on the road He was picked up and it was found his right leg was broken a little above the ankle. Dr Thomson, who was pa-sing at the time, put fi, If» phnta lempo-anl) and Scmor-concinble^namif'an took him to tho hospital No

Ismo can b* attached to the (Inver of the sp tug van vv ho was on lm light side of the xoàdatthctimo At latest accounts tho lad

wa* progi essiiigfavouiably

¿U named M'Devitt was tnLon to the hôpital vesterday afternoon, and died in tho cour e of tho oveniug IVom what can bo tethered of Ins histoi), it appears that ho was :" "atient nt tho hospital about tinco ) eats ago, uffcrmg norn an unu-itod fracture of tho th r" Attct remaining some timo in tho hosmtslhe vvnssent to Dunwich, where acme was effected Not long ago ho returned to "Bnsbane vrhero ho was working as a labomei till 1 ist Trida? lix mg m a tout m ono of tho suburb» On Tuday he fell ill, and boc uno wor o and was bionght to tho institution by his mates v o toiday Tho actual cause of death i supposed to bo apoplexy

An accident of rather a serious nature occurred near the Albion railway station on Saturday last. A boy named George Mann, son of James Mann, an old resident of the Albion district, whilst riding a horse was thrown on to an embankment and kicked in the loins, the animal shying at a passing peram- bulator. Dr Fitzgerald from the Albion, and Dr Byrne, from the Valley, were quickly on the scene, and, after an examination, no bones were found to be broken, but the lad had sustained a serious concussion of the brain and serious injury to the kidneys. The lad was still in an unconscious condition yesterday.

The Australian Gai dons, Albert-street, woie last night crowded b) about 1700 pel sons on tho occasion of a glove contest between Gcoi-re Mulho" md, of S) dney, md Geoigo Powell, of Bnsb me, for £200 lu the sixth lound Powell's nirht arm w as scon to drop by his side, but he fought on until tho tenth round, when his brother rushed into tho ring, and, eomng Powed, gave tlio victoi) to Mulholland Powell's right aim was subsequently examined bv a surgeon, who found that ono of tho bones near the elbor was broken, and the elbow-] oint senou 1) injured

A sctatch handicap sailing lace, fiom the Hamilton to King Island, took place on Saturda) afternoon The following were tho handicaps - Nyoola, 22ft, cciatoh , Lola, 20ft, 10mm Vagabond, 25ft, Sunn and Snen, 2oft, 15mui Tho N)oola took the load at first, but got becalmed neal Doughboy Creek by going too far m under the shore Down the L) tton loach the Lola held the lead with vanmjf suioess In tho Boat Passage the «uni di"d aw ty for tibout a quarter of nn hour after which a light easter!) bree/o spring up which tho Lola used to tho best ad-vantage, arriving first nt King Island at o 62 pm, the order of tho mnvnl of tlio olhoi bolts being as follow -Nyoola, 5 15, Vaga-bond, ?) of Siren, G 1 Tho mees stnrltd at 3 pm Allowing foi the handicap tho Lola beats tho witch bott by 12mm , tho S'ren b) 5mm , and the Vagabond b) 3mtn

Tlio etntract for tlio ortction of the Congto¿rationnl Clnuoli at Milton has been signed, ¡mci the lcqui ile excavation is already m progress

The c ntl actor is Mi Andrew Phillips, of South Bri bane Tho church, which is tho gift of Mr T G Ci ibb, will affoid ampio accom-modât on for all immediate loquiiemouts, tho dimcn ICH bein-c G3ft -Ï 33ft within, and the cougrig ition vv ill be glad to know that tho contractT oxjnesses his intention to complote the erection as pxpeditiously ns possible

Mr V R Tiivloi, the patentee of tho whito ant exterminating pamt, has manufactured an entine! nimmo pamt which has just beon tested b) the Jlaiboius and Iti-eis Department Tlio Lucinda w is painted with it about ~i -e mouths ago, nnd when dooked somo da) s since, her bottom was found io bo very clean, and tho paint was us«d a second time The gunboat Gayiuidah was alsa painted last week, nnd owners of p-ivate vessels give n good opinion of the pi pa ition It is c1 umed that tho pamt wall last longer than otliors, presoivo timber, ami 1 cop aw ay cobla

The adjoin nod annual meeting of the share holdors of the Bitshauo Exchange Coinpan), Limited, vv is held m tho board room yesteiday afternoon Mr Piancis Gill presided, and there wore present Mo3sis T TJnmaek, J Stodart, A A Mac Diarmid, J R Baxter

Bruce, and B Smauer The ohaiiman, m mov -ing tho adoption of tho report and balance

sheet, which were tikon as tend, said ho regretted tint the) had not a larger balance to credit n= was anticipated at tho last board meeting but it had to be considered that the) Ind passed through a year of de-pression The directoia could not pay a laiger dividend than last )ear, but 7 pei cent had boen declared, and a balanco of £18 10s 4d was earned forward The number of sub-

scribers Ind faUcn off, but in all probability matters would bo more successful this year as the secretar), Air C Luck, had the namo of being active in his duties Mr Mae Diarmid seconded the motion, which w ns then agreedjo Tho report showed that during the past )oar thero has been a deeien=e in the numboi of subscribers diminishing the revenue by -£105, but foitmntely, this lins been counterbalanced bv lncrcsed îoceipts liorn rents, board-room meeting c0 the total leceipts for the year berne- £139S los Id , usaganut £1118 10s lOd f r the prenons ) oai The i esulte of the yeai 's tnn-actions show a sufficient profit to enablo tbe ] ivment f f a dividend of 7 per cent, besides camm-' f<rward a balanco of Í18 10s A vacincv having ocetuaod m tho office of -ocreta-v applications were invited by advertise-ment which losulted m the appointment of ¡M H Co vrt nay Luck, tho present secretar) lae loUovvm, directors were elected -Messrs J Modirt B Smauer, F Gill, J Stevenson, and C O R-iUj Mr T Welsby was roapPomt»d '»'iitor Mr tTimnck suggested that -J/auneas should he spent in fees to bo dismtm ed among th" new directors according to

CJ attend mee A short discussion ensued, and the meeting temira ited öfter the chairman tnddeehr 1 the dividend payable

TT"" orhnnn monthly meeting of the com-mittee oi {\Q Queensland United Licensed

nllcr \.s o lahon was held at the secrosr' ° l ° Te teiday afternoon-Mr T - i on p i^cut, in tho chair There wet e »~epr°cit Alessrs P White (vice president), » mun nd (treasurer), P Murphy, H T ,,," i? Hl r'-°n, B Klaa sen, J Greaves, »MP Bw« (Valley) Tlio minut»s ofprc

o i ra t TI * a= read by the secretary, were - ,7^1 Conespondcnce was read IntVo''p"i \ " Clal brano,1,'s> outward-to

00104 ,i sVc-etary-, Licen£>ln_ Inspector)

bia i« R siornations from Messrs ^'ouson Catbush, and Willcock, were read JM accer ed th-jnarh theiI ]mvi__ dlspooed of 1 * i1 !?t0 bui"1DC6ses, and ceased to bo

n e lui lers A vote of thanks was pas«ed

m vU DD ÍOr hxb nhl° ste>vaids_ip whde " i ' » position of chairman, and ho was * J t J toiiinue as such, but refused Tho

_ 7t?" sc"lfl"men '«e proposed for election

a in « v a tncies in the committee -Messrs Ivor. ' A entle-r* ^"^gT, Beech, and

A fire broke out shortly after 1 o'clock this morning in a wooden building comprising two shops at the comer of Berry and Leichhardt streets, Spring Hill, belonging to Mr. J. Myora. Ono portion of the building was occu-pied by Wm. Smith, greengrocer, and the other by Charles Fenn, tailor. The fire apjiears to have originated somewhere noar the partition between tho two ?hop3, and Smith, who was awakened by tho glare and noise, ruBhed down to the fire station and gave tlie alarm. Superintendent Hinton and his men wero soon on tlio spot, and though Smith's placo was almost gutted, Eonn's had only tho roof destroyed, but of course the remainder of the place was flooded with water, doing a good deal of damage to stock and furniture. Smith's property waa insured for £300 in the Queen's, and Fenu's

for £100 in tho United.

The punt Southern Cross, which capsized in tho raoe on Saturday afternoon, was again overturned on Sunday, seriously endangering the lifo of ono of tho boys in her. This lad, who is about 12 yeara of age, was sailing the l>unl a littlo way abovo tho bridgo, when she toned over with him. A strong ebb tide was running, and boy and punt were soon beneath the bridge ; seizing ono of the stays of tho bridge, he made fast tho painter of tho punt to it, hoping to retain her until assistance carno ; but tho rough barnacles on the iron-work soon woro the frail ropo through, and the punt drifted down tho stream, much to the horror of some people assembled on tho bridge, who thought tlio boy had been drowned. However, ho retained his hold, and soon after a boat manned from tlio Commercial Rowing Club shod went to his aid, and took him on board. They afterwards went in pursuit of tho punt, and towed it ashore with great difficulty below the Alice-street ferry. The littlo fellow, finding that none of tho gear was missing, appeared perfeotly well satisfied with his ad-venture, and smiled contentedly, though wet and shivering, to find that his centreboard was still in its place.

Mr. F. Katca, M.L.A., forwards us the following telegram from Melbourne, under yesterday's date:-"Messrs. Chaffey Bros, and myself met by appointment, and arranged for Mr. Chaffey to visit Queensland nt the be-ginning of July next. I hnvo secured aonio now varitiea of wheat for seed purposes suitable for the Darling Downs climate. Mr. Geo. Chaffey and myself leavo to-day for South Australia by overland oxpreaa."

The annual meeting of subscribers to tho Brisbano Hospital will bo held in tlie office of tho Queensland National Association, on Thur.-dny, 7th April, at 4 p.m. The report and bahinco-slieot to bo presented nt that mooting will be found in our advertising columns.

A mooting of creditors in the estate of Lamb aud Willis was held in Mr. E. E. Simth's office yesterday. It was decided that tho estate bo wound up in liquidation, Mesara. William and J. J. King to bo trustees. The trustees wero authorised to sell tho estate to tho debtors at 12s. Gd. in the pound, and to accopt promissorynotes nt six, nine, twelve, fifteen, mid eighteen months, secured by second mortgage over Mrs. Lamb's property.

Billy, tho aboriginal, who was found asleep on tho floor of tho Polico Court dock while being tried for manslaughter, was found in a similar position white tlio Supremo Court was trying him for tlio samo offeuco yesterday. Billy hua bad loga, and was allowed a chair in tlio dock, but onco more tho proceedings did not interest him, and ho sank from tho chair to tlio floor and Blopt pluoidly. AVhon Judgo Mein heard of tho fact ho lind Billy awakened and told bim " You must keep awake, Billy ; you can Bleep to-night, when"-. Ilia

Honour d'd not finish the remark.

The annual meeting of tho Brisbane Hurling Club was held last night at tho Globe Hotel. Mr. J. J. Hayes, ono of the vico-chnirmen, occupied the chair. Tho uimunl balancesheet was read by tho secretary, and Ehowaid tho total receipts tobe £07 lös. fi^d., thodiabursemonts, £S1 3s. ljd., and tho balance on hand £1G 12s. 4d., togother with n complete plant in good ordor. Tho following oföcora were elected for tlio onsuing year :-Putron, Sir A. H. Palmor, K.C.M.G~; president, Mr. M. B. Gannon ; vice-presidents, the Hon. A. J. Thynne, Messrs. J. J. Hnyes, Gralton, and Poter Murphy ; lion, treasurer, Mr. AY. Helion; hon. Beoretary, Mr. John Helion; auditors, Mesara. AV. Thallon and M. B. Kearney ; committee, Messrs. J. W. O'Brien, O'sullivan, Carroll, C. Byan, O'Connor, Morrisy, Horgan, M'Grath, AV. Fallon, Kearney, P. AAliite, Mulligan, Buckley, Dillon, Meade, J. Fallon, Cashin, E. Ryan, Smith, and J. Forguaon ; practico captains, Messra. W. Helion and O. Ryan; aaaiatant captains, Messrs. Morrisy and Horgan. A committee waa appointed to endeavour to engage a suitable steamer for a trip to tlio Bay and have a hurling match nt Lytton on Easter Monday. A very hearty vote of thanks nmidst ringing cheers was accorded to Mr. S. R. O'sullivan, the outgoing hon. secretary, for tho valuablo services rendered by him to the club as its father and principal promoter, with many expressions of regret that ho had not sufficient timo at his disposal to continue the duties he had so well and ably discharged.

The following cricket matches wero played on Saturday in addition to those already re-ported :-Rosewoods v. St. Georges, played on tho pitch of the latter, and resulted in an easy victory for the Rosewoods by G6 runs. The highest ecorera for tho winner« wero Good (25), Miles (16), and Hill (14), and for tho losers, Kelly (9) and Schlosner (6). Good and Hill bowled well for the winners. A match was played nt Albert Park between the A'ernons and Second Gregorys, and resulted in a victor)' for tho former by 3G on the finit innings. Tlio Gregorys winning the tops sent the Vernons to bat, and made a score of Go runs, of which G. Anderson (13) and AV. Sheehan (IG) woro tho principal scorers. Tho Gregorys then went in, and raado 29, of which A'cnthem (0) and Green (8) were the principal scorers. The Vernons then went in for a second time, and made 53 runs, of xvhich W. Sheehan (16), Guilfoyle (10), and Shearer (13) wero the principal scorers. Tho Gregorys, with 80 to catch, went in, and when time was called had six wickets for 16 rims. 'The match was thus drawn by tho first innings.-A Church of England Association match be-tween teams representing All Saints and Christchurch resulted in favour of the fonner, who scored IG in their first innings and 38 in their second: Christchurch scored 21 in their first and 22 in their second innings.

A deputation of fruiterers, tobacconists, <fec, waited on his worship the Mayor yesterday to request the use of the Town Hall for a public meeting to protest against tho recont action taken by the police for tho stoppage of Sunday trading. Alderman Hooker introduced the deputation", and Messrs. Makin, Bishop, Gamble, and others briefly addressed the mayor. His worship in reply granted tho free uso of the hall for tlie meeting on Friday even-ing next, but declined to take the chair. The deputation thanked his worship for his cour-tesy and retired.

One effect of the electric light thrown suddenly on a ehip is apparently to confuse those in charge of her, and this may add to the valne of the light as a means of defence. It appears that the men in tho forts at Port Phillip Heads practico doing this, with the fol-lowing result, as stated by tho Argua :-" The Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company have j'ust written to the Conirnissioner of Trade and Customs complaining that the practico of throwing the electric light from the forts at Port Philllip Heads on to their vessels while entering the port, and keeping it on them while steaming through the passage, has placed their ships in the most ' nzardous posi-tion. The officers have been quite dazzled by tho brilliancy of tho light, and consequently have only been able to take tlio proper hearings with the greatest difficulty.''