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GENERAL1NEWS.
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Major PiUrington invited all the gentle
men who joined biui ia the Hunt Club meet
to dinner at the Court Hotel the same
evening*
The dredge ' Black Swan,' which ha8
for some time past been lying near the
mouth of the Swan Biver, is to be removed
dnrinet the early part of next week to Perth
Wflfan* jrli omi it- will Via omnlnvpA in fur
ther reclaiming the north foreshore on the
western ode of the New Recreation Ground,
thus iiKTifaging the area of that_reserve.
Owing to the indisposition of Mrs.
Anderson the Mikado could not be repeated
at the Gaiety Theatre, FremantJe.last even
ing. We are therefore requested to inform
those who booked seats for the peiformance
that their tickets will admit them on Satur
day evening, when Mr. George Burnette
(NanM Poo) will take his benefit. We
feel confident that the Business Manager
will have a bumper house, as he has obtain
ed the patronage of several of the officers
of the Fremantle Volunteers and a
number of the leading citizens of the port.
Seats can be booked at Messrs. Stein &
Co., Fremantle. ' The Mikado ' will be
played at St. George's Hall, Perth, on Mon
day and Wednesday, 2nd and 4th June.
There was a clean sheet at the Fremantle
police court this mining.
A correspondent writes to us, over the
notn-de-plnme of ' Precaution,' as followB :
; — At the last general meeting of the W JL
Turf Clnb the Secretary of .that body dwelt
in bis report a good deal upon the improve
ments which had been effected on the Club's
race course ; but he apparently forgot one
very important tiling. For years past fires
have 'occurred on the course during the race
meeting, which were so doubt due to the
quantify of silver grass which grows upon
the ground. On each occasion the werk of
extinguishing the flames has devolved upon
the police present, though it is well known
that extinguishing such fires is very hard
work, yet those constables, who freely gave
their Invaluable assistance.have never been
even thanked by the W.A.T.C. Committee
for the work they have done, nor have any
steps bean taken to prevent therecurrenc«
of 'what may probably one day prove a
most serious mishap. Therefore it would
be only prudent for the Committee to at
once have the silvergrass eradicated from
the race course.
Capt. Kinsella, Mrs. A. Turner and child,
and Mr. G. Webb are passengers from
BSigi.nu? per O. K. M. S. Orizaba, which
will be due at Albany next Sunday.
We understand that some of the men en
gaged in the traffic branch of the Eailway
department have suggested to Mr. Roberts
that, with a view to showing their sym
pathy with him, they should stoke. Mr.
Roberts, however, strongly impressed upon
the men the utter wrong in doing or even
TiiTrHng anything of the kind, as also he de
precated .most strongly any agitation on the
question 'pending his appeal to the Secre
tary of State.
On 'Change this morning there was a
slight fall in the leading stocks, Centrals
having changed Ti«nls at 24s- 6d- and 25s.
while Frasers were cleared at 3s. lOd. In
tin Bunbury (pro) were wanted at 6s. 6d.,
with sellers at 8s. and for contributing 2s.
was offered, without sellers. For Floyds
(pro) 4d. was offered, with sellers at Is.
while contributing Spring Gully were in
demand at 2d., without any sales being
effected. The other stocks were altogether
neglected.
A football match will be played next
Saturday, commencing at 3 p.m , between
the abeve named Clubs. The following
players will represent the Parks ; — G.
Brown (capt.), F. Webber (v.c), A. A.
Moffat, C. Muirson, G. J. Uorton, O. Lewis,
P. James, O. E. Burton, P. Keekshan, T.
P. Stanley, W. Walsh, C. McGann, W. W.
Edwards, W. O. Mansbridge, A Fraser,
W. Dalziel, J. Webb, A. Birch, W. Alien,
and T. Hart.
We have been requested to state that
owing to so few tickets for the Perth Yacht
Club ball to be held to-morrow evening,
having been sold at Fremantle, the propos
al to run a special train fiom the Fort in
connection with that occasion has been
abandoned.
A gentleman at Fremantle received the
following wire yesterday from a trust
worthy source at the Ashburton; — 'Mr.
Hamlet Cornish returned from the gold
field to-day. Original find completely
worked out, 300 men on the field. No
correct find.'
Messrs. E. T. Peate and R. T. Robins 'm
were the only passengers by the train leav
ing Albany for Perth yesterday, in thejsa
loon. There was one second-class passenger
for Fremantle.
At the Supreme Court yesterday the argu
ments on the case of Kelly v. The Adelaide
Steamship Co. were concluded, and the
Court reserved its decision.
The special -jury case of Corbet t v. J. H
Monger will be heard on Tuesday next at
the Supreme Court:.
A general meeting of the W.A. Cricket
Association will be held at Sttickland's
Hotel at 8 o'clock this evening, to elect a
committee under the new rules.
M Hioham & Sons, Drapers, Grocers
and General Furnishers, will open up ex
Nairnshire, Valetta, and Beseel, now ab«at
due from London, ah immense stock of
Drapery, etc., etc., which will all be
marked at a small margin of profit to effect
speedy clearance, rendered necessary by
contemplated improvements to be effected
in premises as soon as the Winter Sale is
over. — Advt
The other day the West Australian in
serted a paragiaph, in support of the Act
ing Commissioner of Kadways, but at the
expense of the Postmaster General. The
paragraph referred to stated that it was in
consequence of the parsimoniousneSB of the
Post office that the mails already conveyed
by the Great Southern Railway to Narrogin
could not be brought on to Perth without
delay. It appears that the Acting Com
missoner of Railways demanded from Mr.
Sholl a sum of JE15 t j run a train which he
afterwards reduced to £10. The Postmast
er General paid this sum once before, but
on the present occasion, his vote for the
conveyance of mails having run out, he
could not authorise a farther expenditure.
The cost of running the train was but £2 or
JB3, and yet the Acting Commissioner with
everything ready at B^verley would not
pblige the public, unless at a profit — a
fictitious profit, inasmuch as the money
would only have been going from one poc
ket of the State to the other. The Rail
way shows annually a fictitious revenue of
.£1200 for the conve-aaue of mails, and yet
on one occasion, such as that referred to, an
expenditure of JE2 or £3 could not be
thrown in. And it may be pointed out
that although the Railway Deparrwent is
paid for the conveyance or mails, the Rail
way pays the post offi e nothing, nor does
it pay for its telegrams. It surely seems
incredible that a Government which pro
fessedly studies the intei--sts of the Colony,
should allow the Railway Department, to
remain in its present unsatisfactory
state. If the members of the Govern
3Dent are not able to grasp the details of a
somewhat technical Departm .'at, they' must
be aware generally of the state of things
existing, and should appoint a royal Com
missioc consisting of gentlemen who can
grasp the situation to enquire and report.
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