Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Friday 5 February 1909, page 8


GENERAL NEWS

THE INCOMING MAIL STEAMER.

I The R.M.S. China kit Fremantle at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and is expected to arrive at the Outer Harbor at noon to-morrow She is appointed to sail for Melbourne and Sydney at 6 p.m. to-morrow.

A FATAL ACCIDENT.

The City Coroner will hold an enquiry at Port Adelaide today into the causa ot the death of Leon John-on, who met with an accident while working on a steamer on Tuesday.

PORT ADELAIDE FERRIES.

, The Port Adelaide City Council, who

control the ferries on tne river, have con-cluded that they could be better man ged .f worked by the council than by a cont.-actor. The question of doing so has baen con-sidered by a ferries committee, who on Thursday- evening recommended the council to provide two motor ferry boats at the Central ferry, instead of the present rowboats. This was adopted, and the commit-tee was arked to consider the question ot running the ferries' municipally frem tue termination of the present conti act, or rr-ake arrangements for a fresh con ract to cover the time that will elapse before the motor boats will be ready.

GOVERNMENT RESERVES.

The following reserves have been pro-claimed by the Government:-School re-

serves in hundred of Yatala and at town of | Penneshaw, hundred of Dudley; insitute Te serve, town of Penneshaw; forest reserve, hundred of Pflaum; police-station reserve, town of Penneshaw; Marine Board resarve, hundred of Davenport.

ROYAL COMMISSION ON

INSURANCE.

The position of secretary to the Com-

monwealth Royal Commission on Insurance! has been filled by the appointment, w^ta j the approval of the Commonwealth Govern-

ment, of Mr. C. H. Wickens, associate o. i the Institute of Actuaries, London, and statistical compiler in the Commonwealin Bureau of Census and Statistics, who has] up to the present time been acting secre tary to the Commission.

INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS

At the annual meeting of the Australasian Institute of Minin-z Engineers, held on January 29, Mr. L. \V. Grayson was m tin chair. The report and balance sheet Lt tht year ended Decemoer 31 last were adopted. The report showed_ a sub stantlal increase in membeisuip.' Dur

ing the year vol. xii. of trnnsact.on , and vol. iii. part iii. of proceedings were

issued to members, and contained valuable | contributions by members to the m ninD literature of the day. Tne financial state , ment showed a credit balancé of £400 on | fixed depos.t and £¿6 to current account.

A PET SHARK.

A good story about a pet shark is told in the "Taranaki Herald." Lieutenant Gold

finch, who succeeded Mr. R. Henry as care- j taker of Rtso.u-.ion Island, tne oird sane tuary.in Preservation Inlet, states:-'Mr.

Henry reported that ne nad a. tame shark, j wh.ch he fed «very morn.ng. His last in- [ junction to me was to be sure and feed tli< shark. ? It used to follow mm out in ths bay whenever he took tne boat out. I air fond of pets, but, hang it all, 1 could no1 extend my affections to a shark, and I pur-posely neglected tne brute. J) or some time after Mr. Henry left the shark appeared at the boat harbor every' morning, and a= sure as 1 took the dinghy out to tne launch he w ould follow me. une day I was in an awful predicament. 1 went out to the launch, and wnilst attending to the engine the dinghy got adrift and blew ashore. 1 wa.ted for some hours, and wondered how on earth I was to land-Mrs. Goldfinch wasn't here then, you know. There was nothing for it but to swim. I had a good look round for Henry's pet, satisfied myseJ that he was not under the launch, dived oveiboard, and swam asüore. 1 am quite sure I never swam quicker in all my life. Several thoughts ran through my mind; the

chief one was whetner the shark woiiid feed | off me since I had denkd him ma customary

breakfast. Fortunately for me, he did not I appear, otherwise I might not have been f

here to-day."

, PASTEL DRAWINGS.

Mr. W. P. SanforeT, a New 'Zealand artist, arrived from the' eastern States Lsf weeK wita a collection of pastel ora-rings in color and sepia, which Messrs. G. h.. C. Stevens and Co. will sell by auc-t on at 2.30 p.m. nexit Wednesday at the Exchange room, Town Hall. The collection includes over 100 pastels, which'illustrate tne most beautiful scenery to be» found in tne taree islands of the Dominion'.

A LARGE EEL.

On Tuesday evening last a large eel was caught in the River Murray, near Blanche-town. The fish, which measured 5 ft. 7 in. in length, and weighed 27 lb., was on exhibition yesterday in the window of Messrs. Jackman & Sons, King Williamstreet, and was a source of attraction throughout throughout the day. Among those who inspected it was Mr. Zietz, sub-director of the Museum. "A very difficult subject, eels," he remarked to a press representa-tive. "There are not enough specimens obtainable. All eels are much alike, and it requires a scientific examination before it can be decided to what species a parti-cular specimen belongs. This eel in the window is unknown to me; in fact, we have never received a Murray River eel at the Museum. As regards conger eels, four species have been found on Australian shores and described, but this is a fresh-water eel." Mr. Zietz has made arrange-ments to obtain the specimen, which will be classified and, included in the list of South Australian fishes, which the subdirector is preparing.

PROTECTING BiKDS ON SMALL

ISLANDS.

" At a meeting of the native fauna and flora protection committee of the Field Naturalists' section or the noyai Society, held on Wednesday afternoon, the sub-ject of allowing the breeding-places of na-

tive birds and seals to be disturbed on the islands" in the gulfs was discussed. Seve-ral members spoke strongly against the action of the Government in granting licenses for the collection of guano. One member said on 'The Spit" at-Kingscote ue had seen the bushes burned do.vn, and these were the only bit of shelter that the birds had in an open "nesting ground, A number of young terns, which were to-tally protected, had been boxed up and landed at Kingscote to send away. It was urged that the Pages, in Backstairs Passage, and Dangerous Reef, in Spencer's Gulf, -where the hair seal and a number of sea birds bred, should be totally protected; also that Casuarina Island, known as "Hie Brothers," off Cape de Couedie, on the south coast of Kangaroo Island, should be protected, as the rarer fur seal bred there. It was resolved to join with the South Australian Ornithological Association in waiting upon the Commissioner of Crown Lands at an early date to ask him to take action. A sub-committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. S. Dixon, M. Symonds Clark, and E. Ashby, with power to add.

A PROMPT REPLY.

While Mr. F. G. Beach, proprietor of the Cafe Français, formerly of Hindley street, Adelaide, was under examination in Sydney on Monday before the wages board appointed to deal with the restaurant industry and its conditions, the secretary of the employes' union, in the course of a long question, in which he submitted that the union was in a position to send fully qualified, sober, and reliable men to em-ployers at short notice, asked whether such a guarantee would not be a boon to em-ployers. Mr. Beach promptly signified his acquiescence by stating, "I'll tell you what I'll do; I'll give you an order for a girl cook now." There was a burst of ap-plause from the spectators in the gallery (says the "Sydney Morning Herald '), ac-companied by various expressions of ap-proval. The Registrar (Mr. G. C. Addi-son) promptly suppressed the disorder, and said the court must not be turned into a registry office. But the business had been done, and the union secretary at once went outside to make arrangements to fill the

vacancy.

ROMANCE OF A PRECIOUS STONE".

The Ruskinite doctrine that wealth con-sists in the possession of goods that we cm use is illustra »ed in a story whica was told by Major J. R. Sankey, at the Queensland Government Office, in the Strand (s.ates a London journal), where the magnificent blue topaz is on sale in which the Queen took special interest when she saw it at the Franco-British Exhibition, rem irking, "What a beautiful thing it is; it is like a drop of limpid sea water." Professor Sketchley, the eminent geologist, once visited a remote mining camp in North Queensland. His atlention was arrested by a crystal which lay exposed to view on a box, and he was surprised to be_ told by

a miner that it was kept as a missile ready .

to be thrown at a dog which m'ght 'steal ; fipme meat, lae miner responded to the j

professor's expression of surprise by laugh-ingly telling him to put the stone in his pocket. He did so. and this is the gem which, after bein-j cut, was pronouncad to be the largest blue topaz of last century,

f.nd is now lo be seen in the strand. Once the jewel nearly came into the possession of the King. An arrangement was made for his Majesty- to inspect it with a view to

purchase. But the sndden illness which j postponed the coronition eilso prevented i the appointment being carried out. ]