Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 15 September 1894, page 16


COUNTRY NOTES. .

Oui* Kempsey correspondent writes Business is very dull. Farmers are hard c work, and appear to be hopeful, saying tha the season so far is the best they haye ha for years past.

The rabbit pest, it is reported, is spreading to an alarming extent on many stations in the Cobar district, and in the direction of Nyngan and Pangee Overflow, and Honeybugle. There is not a vestige of grass about Budgery, Hermidale, and in

towards Nymagee there are millions of rabbits. The wallaby pest is also very great.

^Ät Inverell the stallion parade unde the auspices cf the P. and À. Associatio: took place on. September 5 on the ahoi ground. The exhibition of blood stock an draught was splendid. The number o sires on view was far ahead of previou years. The military sports were also ai attraction. About 800 people were on th ground.

A recommendation has been mad hy the finance committee of the Newcastl Council to reduce the number of employee from 41 to 6, which if adopted will meai ' a saving of ¿64000 per annum. The an

nouncement has caused consideraba anxiety amongBt the corporation laborers some of whom have been employed by th council for many years. '

At Young the local volunteer corps which is under the command pf Captan Millard, was, on. September 5, inspectée by Major-General Hutton. ' A review wai held on Quartz Beef Bill, and the corpi were engaged for two hours in the inspec tion. In the evening the Major-Genera ¿nd his staff were entertained at a smok< concert in the Brill Hall.

Our Deniliquin correspondent writes: À Bon of John M «Nicoll, drover, accidentally ? met his death on Sunday. The boy, agec

13 years, was leading a young horse by the bridle, which was thrown over his arm when a dog rushed out and commenced barking, which caused the horse to reai and plunge, and in doing so kicked young M'Nicoll in the head and killed him.

- Our Kempsey correspondent writes: There have been several meetings at different places on the river recently tc discuss the advisability of starting the migar cane industry again, and it is to be hoped that the farmers will^give it a trial, as it is evident they will have to try something more than maize growing, and it is stated that sugar has been grown successfully on this river in the past.

- At Newcastle on the everdng of September 5 a- peculiar accident occurred in Grainger-street, by which Mrs. Munsie, an aged lady, - had her , arm badly fractured. Two young men on returning from singing practice had an impromptu race . down the street, when one acaidentally'collided with Mrs. Munsie, and knocked her down. " The young man escorted the poor woman home, and rendered every possible assistance.

The annual flower show in connection with the Church of England, Forbes, will be held in the Town Hall on October 24 and 25. At a meeting a schedule of plants and flowers was drawn up, and stallholders appointed. Mr. J. H. Thomas was elected hon. secretary, and Mr. E. Hargrave hon. treasurer, and a strong committee to assist in carrying out the work ¿nd to bring the show to a successful issue.

An old resident of the Bombala district named Mr. William Kesterton ?was found dead on September ll near his residence with a bullet wound in his head. It is thought that in mounting his horse he accidentaUy fired the /Winchester rifle which he was carrying. Much sympathy is felt with his widow and family. Mr. Keaterton's brother, it is stated, also lost his life some years ago by a gun accident. -

At Bowral a complaint has been lodged against the Mayor for impounding a petition in connection with :the division of the municipality into wards, by declining to forward it the Government until the oouncil has considered it. The petitioners hold that the Mayor has no right to do so,' and the Colonial Secretary has been written to on the subject; which is to be also mentioned ih'the Assembly. '

' At Inverell the quarter sessions opened on Monday, before Judge Coffee. There were two criminal cases. William Adams, charged with cattle stealing, pleaded guilty, and was bound over to be of good behavior for two years, under the new First Offenders Act. William Preston, charged with larceny, and

escaping while in custody under committal, I was found guilty and sentenced to 16 J

months' imprisonment.

From Newcastle for the week ended September 7 the export of coal to ports beyond the colony was: Victoria, 16,050 tons, Tasmania 900 tons, New Zealand 4634, tone. Hongkong, 2050 tons, South Australia 46Ö0 tons, South America 11,342 tons, United States 3333 tonB Queensland 280 tons, Manila 2400 tons, bunker coal 1000 tons; total, 46,589 tons. The arrival of wool at the local sheds for dumping and shipment to date for the season amounts to 5308 bales. The figures for the corresponding, period of last year were 3397 bales, thus showing an increase of 1911 bales. The Damascus went forward last week with 1606 bales of wool, 1 bale of hair, and 4 bales of basils.

Our Lithgow correspondent writes : At the local collieries matters are a little brighter, as the following figures will show. The output of coal from the Lithgow collieries during the month of August was 14,518 tons, as against 12,963 tons for July, and 12,756 tons for Juno. - There is, however, plenty more room for improvement. The Vale Colliery has now 24 coke ovenB in full working order night and day, and is turning out some splendid

coke.

Fifteen tons of merchandise were received from Nelligen by a Queanbeyan firm of storekeepers on September 6, the freight being 55s less than the railway rates. In addition to this saving the teamsters lay out a large portion of their earnings with the storekeepers. In this case about ¿822 was returned over the counter, and the expense of haulage from the railway station to the plaoe of delivery, namely, 2s 6d per ton, is

also saved.

Our Bingara correspondent writes : The remains of a man, who had apparently been dead about 12 months, were found on Monday in the bush a milo from John Moffet's, on the Warialda and Moree road. A blanket and portions of clothing were around the body. There is no suspicion of foul play, as from the position of the corpse it would appear that the" man had camped under a large tree which had fallen across the body and caused death. There is no clue às to his; identity.

At- Cobar the quarter sessions opened on September 5 before his Honour Judge Gibson. John Smyth, an old offender with four previous convictions, was convicted of assaulting and robbing Thomas Mathews. He inflicted two

serious wounds on the prosecutor's head with lumps of stone, severing an artery and nearly causing death. His Honour sen-tenced him to six years' penal servitude. A second charge of larceny from another person was withdrawn. Ah Puey, con-victed of shooting at Wong Suey with intent, was sentenced to two years' hard

labor in Dubbo Gaol.

Our Cootamundra correspondent writes: The weather continues very boisterous, cold, and wet, 2in of rain being registered during this month. The roads throughout the distriot are impassable. The wheat crop especially is very backward, and want fine weather. Shearing will commence at the end of this month. There aro a large number of men on the look-out for this shearing. Few of the shearers from this quarter went out basic thia year, owing to the disturbance between squatters and shearers. Thé clip promises to be good in quality and quantity.

. At Wollongong a meeting of the Harbor Trust was held on September 7. The chairman proposed a motion to meet only once a month, but it was not carried. The . éngineër wrote offering to accept a reduc

tion of ¿8200 off his aalary until a better' financial arrangement could be made for the work of harbor making. The letter

waB referred to the finance committee. The

chairman reported that a deputation from the- trust waited upon the Colonial Treasurer, and asked him to give them the

unexpended balance of the vote of Ü9000 i

before the trust's formation. The Treasurer

replied he would consult the Attorney

General about the matter.

A large meeting was held under the aus pices of the Cudal Railway League for the purpose of urging the Minister of Works the necessity for conneoting Cudal, which is a very important agricultural centre in the Central Division of tho colony, with the Molong-ParkeB line at Gregra Station. This route has already been surveyed and charted on the Government plans as one of

tho lines to be constructed. In order to

enable people in the district to compete successfully with other parts by facilitating the means for transport, the meeting decided to urge that tenders be called for the construction of a line from Gregra to Cudal at the earliest opportunity.

Our Tumut correspondent writes: Some of the local miners have been doing a little in chrome ore, but now they find themselves" blocked by the strange action taken by the Railway, Commissioners, who, after having decided, to take chrome to' Sydney in 200 ton lots at 12s 6d per ton,

at which rate the miner could make a little

out of the speculation, suddenly raised the traînage for such lots to 16s 6d. Before the chrome industry started the railway truoks were mostly returned empty, and so they will be again if this singular policy prevails; for the chrome miners will give up in disgust. These times, surely half a loaf is better than no bread.- Much indignation is felt here.

A meeting of the Newcastle Borough Council was held on September 7, when the principal question for consideration was that of the alleged illegal interment of the late Wallace Brown in the

Church of England Cemetery on August 29. The case had been dealt with against three defendants, viz., first, a Mr. Brown, relative of deceased, which defendant had pleaded guilty and had been fined, and against Very Rev. Dean Selwyn and his curate, Rev. S. C. Grime, who were accounted accessories to the fact in allowing the burial to take place. Alderman W. T. Gibb moved a resolution to the effect that this council is of opinion that immediate steps should be taken to maintain the bylaws dealing with burials by reference to the Supreme Court. The motion was carried.

! At Liverpool an effort is being

? made to raise tho amount necessary

to meet Lackay's loan and interest. The negotiations with the Bank of New South Wales have been satisfactory up to a certain point, but they now require .to .have proof that tho loan was advertised. Tho council so far have been unable to give the necessary proof, and have instruotod tho clerk to write to Lackey's solicitors in order to find out if the provisions of the Municipalities Act have been complied with in the matter of advertising the loan. If this guarantee is obtained, it is more

than probable that the bank will advance j the money, and thus allow of tho matter

being settled amicably. !

At Blayney two geological lectures

were delivered in the Town Hall on September 6 and 7 by the Rev. J. Milne Curran, F.G.S. There was a fair attendance on eaoh occasion. The lecturer handled his subjects in

a very able manner and was ac- j corded a hearty vote of thanks j

on each occasion. The rev. gentleman is much impressed with the appearance of the district, which he considers good gold-bearing country. He was surprised to find the Annandale Copper Mine idle; as with the . smelters and the railway siding to the

furnaces he considers that a large number of men could be employed and the shareholders receive good dividends.

Our Braidwood correspondent writes : Considerable local excitement has been occasioned by the appearance in our midst

of one of tho smallest men in tho world. His name is Thomas PeterB, son of Mr. T. Peters, , of this town. Although born and bred in tho district, very few people know of his existence, as he has led a life of complete seclusion. He is 20 years of age, and is only 2ft 8in high. He ia strong and healthy, and does not suffer from the slightest deformity. His limbs aro no larger than those of an ordinary boy of 6 or 7, but his head has roached it3 normal development, ita circumference being 21in. Hi8 mental faculties aro likewise Bound, although his ideas are very simple, which is attributable to tho secluded life he has led. So infantile is ho in his predilections that he evinces the most decided objection to trousers, and will not go outside without having his petti

coats on.

At Singleton the fourth annual meeting of the Northern Rifle Association was held on September 5, 6, and 7. There was" "only a moderate attendance-the strong westerly wind blowing . was not a favorable condition - but the shooting was very good. Warrant-Officer Tidswell waa in charge, and, aa usual, gave every satisfaction. The following is a summary of the best shooting :-Aggregate five highest scores :. Sergeant D. Hooker 94, S. S. Dufty 93, Sergeant GK Hawker 90, Sec. M'Leod 90, 'C. H. Morton 88. Continuous aggregates :-. Special prize (fat bullock, presented by Hon. H. C. Dangar, value ¿4) for best six scores: Sergeant D. Hooker, Singleton, 141; S. S. Dufty, Tamworth, 137. Aggregate best eight scores during last two days, five prizes: Sergeant D. Hooker, Singleton, 189; S. S. Dufty, 187; Sergeant G-. Hawker,. Victoria, 182; C. Morton, Parramatta, 176; A. C. M'Leod, Tamworth, 174.