Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Friday 30 January 1891, page 4


. '' SUMMARY OF NEWS?.-'

The annual general meeting of the Civil Service Association was held last evening, when the report and balance-sheet were adopted and

office-bearers balloted for.

I -At' the half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the Queensland National Bank yesterday, the directors' report was adopted, and a dividend at the rate of 12 per cent per annum was derelated. ' ' ? a

-' Messrs. Cooper and Moffat, candidates for the position of councillors in the Ithaca Shire Council,' addressed a meeting of ratepayers last night, and received a very good hearing.

> Superintendent Peut has presented a report to the South Brisbane Fire Brigade Board, recommending them to procure a floating fire engine. - At

the annual meeting of the Queensland Blue Ribbon Society held last night, the report read stated that the society had induced 500 persons to sign the pledge in Brisbane during the past year. >.'/'-» < ( <

Councillor ''Kibble was unanimously elected president of the Toowong Shire Council for the ensuing year. ' ? an?

At the City Police Court yesterday, Francis Tunmer, accused of perjury, was discharged. Fresh, evidence was taken in the GoldsmithTaylor: cases,'' and the accused were further remanded

for a week. - The

monthly meeting of the South Brisbane Fire Brigade Board was held yesterday after

noon.' r

y Ratepayers of the Coorparoo Shire were ad-dressed last evening by Messrs. Barnes and Marriott, Candidates for the two vacancies in the Shire Council. a ' ; ' Tenders for supplies for the Ipswich Hospital for the ensuing half-year were decided yesterday, except in the cases of meat, groceries, and farm and dairy produce, which were postponed till to-day.

Mr Thomas Robertson has been elected

Chairman, of the Normanby Divisional Board, and Mr. W. H.-Ackerley, of the Purga Board. > < Messrs.. Mathieson and Gray, Railway Commissioners, '?$$& -Mr. H. C. Stanley, visited the Brisbane Vaseline yesterday. Mr. H.'ÍJtántoh, one of the candidates for No. 1 Ward, South Brisbane, addressed the latepayers in the School of Arts, West End, last evening. J The

polling for the election of members to

serve on the Redcliffe Divisional Board took place yesterday.

A son of Mr. Bell, of North Pine, was severely injured on Tuesday evening by the accidental discharge of a gun.

The telegraph' and telephone wires in Romastreet are to be removed and taken along the North Quay.

A son of three George Agnew, M.L.A., was kicked by a pony on Wednesday afternoon and rather severely wounded.

Mr. A. L Petrie has been elected chairman of the Hamilton Divisional Board.

For the Redcliffe Division, Messrs. Silcock, MaO'DonneQ; and Brookes, were yesterday elected for" So. 1 Subdivision and Messrs. Tubbs, Walsh, and Ham for No. 2.

A seven-roomed house at Coorparoo was burned last evening, involving insurances

amounting to £1250.

Constable Quinn cut his throat at Barcaldine yesterday, and is' not expected to recover.

The Bank of North Queensland has declared a dividend of 5 per cent.

A small cutter loaded with copra, and with two men on) board, reached Sandy Cape yestorsays t The men state that they were blown off the coast. of Noumea seven days ago.

. William , Blackett committed, suicide at Lithgow on Wednesday by blowing his brains

put.

The intercolonial cricket match New South Wales v. Victoria was won by the former by an innings and- 94 runs. _ Mr.

Wragge has returned to Sydney from Noumea and the New Hebrides, where he has established meteorological stations.

?" The Mercantile Bank in Sydney has decided to amalgamate with the Commercial Bank of Australia, i ' <

. A loan bill for £1,886,000 has been introduced

in Western Australia.

At the invitation of the local agents of the B.I.S.N. Company the members of the Melbourne Harbour' Trust and a representative gathering of importers and merchants took lunch yesterday on board the steamer Mombases, which is the largest vessel that has yet' gone up the Yarra River.

The question of opening the sittings of the Federal Convention to the Press and public has been discussed by the representatives at the Federal Council. Sir S. W. Griffith is in favour of the' deliberations being held in private. l The

schooner Surprise, with a cargo of coal while being towed from Newcastle to Sydney, sprang a leak and sank. 2

An amendment on the Address in reply was moved in the New Zealand House of Representatives yesterday.

. South Australia has issued a Si per cent loan of £1,200,000 at a minimum of 98.

The London wool market remains firm at the opening rates of the present series, and competition is keen. '

. Isolated outrages and damage to property are still reported, in connection with the, railway strikes îniScothind. . There

is some excitement in financial circles in New York, Mr. Jay Gould having threatened to withdraw. from the Stock Exchange in consequence! of a quarrel with the directors. .

- A bill has been introduced in the American Senate empowering a company with a capital of £1,000,000 to work a telegraph cable from San Francisco to Hawaii, Samoa, and Japan.

The French Government have declined to recognise the right of the colony of Viel area to terminate the postal convention except through the Government of' Great Britain.

t One hundred and sixty-eight persons were killed by the recent colliery explosion in Pennsylvania. '

1 Mr. Bradlaugh, who has lately been seriouslyill, was according to latest reports unconscious.

Slavin and Mitchell will hoxton rounds in London in February 9

Mr Goschen, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered a speech, on financial matters at! Leeds on Wednesday.

The men who struck at Perth have resumed

work. The

Chilian revolution is still progressing,' and the French Pacific squadron has been

ordered to ÇWû,_\_ ;

According to an American writer there is a most remarkable tree or shrub in a small gulch

near some springs, about 12 miles north of Tuscarora. U.S. It is about 6ft. or 7ft. in height, with a bank which, at its base, JB three times the size of a man's wrist. It has innumerable winches and twigs, and resembles somewhat/the barberry tree or bush and Renoua to certain localities in the Eastern States. But its remarkable characteristic is its foliage, which, at certain seasons of the year is so luminous that it can be plainly distinguished in the darkest night for a distance of more than a mile, while in its immediate vicinity it emits sufficient light to enable a person to read the fine print, to foliage is extremely i link, and its leaves resemble somewhat in size, si cape, and colour, those of the aromatic bay tree of California. The luminous property is evidently parasitic, and consists of a sort of gun any substance, which, upon being transf served by rubbing to a person's hand, imparts to it the same apparently phosphorescent light while that on the leaf entirely disappears The Indians regard it with superstition and will not approach it even in the daytime i t they can avoid it. They have a name for it, which, literally interpreted, signifies " witch- tree."