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WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
Perth, February 3.
Mr. William Samson has been appointed
Consular Agent for France at Fremantle.
A Court of General Sessions has been established
at Banbury.
The Supreme Court, criminal jurisdiction, is
now sitting in Perth. The Gascoyne native
shooting "case "has resulted in the acquittal o"
the prisoner.
The weather has been very warm. Th
highest reading of the thermometer in the shade
last Sunday was 105°.
llixm Boabd.—Afterafortnight's interval
the Board held * meeting on Thursday, February
3. A recommendation was made that the •
Cape Borda lighthouse reserve should be, enclosed
with an iron fence. It will seem singular
to use iron po8ts for scrub fencing, but the 4
object is to.pnyentjbto. fanof the fence at any
time by bush fire. lib. A. F. Gardiner, of the
Engmeer-in-ChieF.i Department, reported the
completion of survey for a jetty, 660 feet long,
at Franklin Harbour ; and the Board selected a.
site bearing about east from the sea end of the
imposed approach, -running 1,188 feet in a
direct line from Main-street, OowelL The jetty
will extend into 6 feet of water at low tides. It
is suggested to use local timber—pine—in the
construction. The runner of the Prince Alfred
Sailors' Home was appointed seamen's runner.
Only one other-licence will be issued for the
present under-the regulations for engaging ere ws.
Upon an offer made at the request of a Warden
by a private firm for indenting £oods required
from home by the Board, it war resolved to call
the Treasurer's attention to the desirability of
letting a contract for indenting for the department.
The discussion that took place on the
subject showed that the members regarded 0ie
present sjstem of indenting through the Agent-
General as very unsatisfactory. The effects of the
methods under which vessels are berthed to suit
the interests of merchants were amply illustrated
by a correspondence as to the grounding
of the Levant at Port Pirie. The Harbour
Master, reporting on a communication from the
Adelaide underwriters' Association, wrote that
ships were chartered to go to certain wharfs,
and that as a rule the masters did not properly
ascertain whether they could safely berth
ibeir ships alongside those wharfs. What
ma required for proper berthing was
to make the accommodation at all th
wharfs equal, and adequate to the requirements
of the ships using them, which could only
be done by all parties concerned agreeing to
deepen alike instead of in patches as at present.
The Levant, which was bound for Coombe's
Wharf, was moored alongside _ Hart's Wharf
overnight, as she could not get into her berth,
and in the act of warping thither in the morning
she grounded. It will be remembered that
one argument used for the Govpnaent buying
the wharfs was that under public control complaints
arising out of the method referred to
would be impossible. A wholesale infringement
of the explosive regulations appears to
have obtained at Mount Gambler, but the Inspector
has been instructed to henceforth
enforce them strictly. Mr. Simpson made
another vain effort to be allowed to produce
evidence!op his claim under the coal contract.
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