The bill of Inding issued on perishable consignments also requires overhanlin at present the companies concerned accent
atiff figure per ton. absolutely norsk, whist charging & pretty The rowilt of the inguiry is that ree sentatives of English butter merchants ave come out here to do business on the instead men come xs in the wool trade, if facilities for dealing with producers, such as an open market would aff-rd, were only instituted Mr. Taverner, the State's Agent-General in London, who has been recalled to answer charges of corruption made against him at vtnquiry. by two ex-officials of th: agricultural department, has arrived. The Premier at first intended to have the alleged irregularities enquired into by select committee of the House, but on further consideration has decided to deput~ supreme Court Judge, Mr. Justice Beckett, to hear the charges. A_grent deal of public interest will be manifested in Mr. Taverner's eXamination, as he has always been a minent man on the political side of the producing interests, Captain Cook's Ship Endeavour.
Mr. O'Sullivan, ex-Minister of Public Works in N. 8. W., has been under the impression that the hull of Capt. Cook's Endeavour was still afloat in English ters, and commissioned the Agent General to make inquiries, and these re sulted as follows:—Mr. Bladen finds that after Cook's return to England the Endeavour was sold by the Admiralty, and no further mention of her can be found in the official papers. Recent research has, how-settled the question of her subsequent movements. What seems to be relable testimony goes to show that she subsequently did service as a whaler under the new name of Liberly, and flying the French fig. In 1793, in' consequence of the war between England and France, she was put in at Newp rt, Rhode Island. U.S.A. and meeting with a mishap in that barbour was condemned xs unseat worthy, and left to decay. There is in existence the certiGeste of the gentleman who was British Consul at Rhode Island in 1834, who had frequently seen the hull of the Endeavour at low water, that 2 post which stood in one of Newport's streets for years was cut from the vessel's eel. The post was subsequently uproot-and removed toa store, where it proved It is ature. She tified," observed the chronicler, " but the owner prizes his adventurous log 80 much that we fancy no similar application would be entertained for a moment.' Mention is made of other curios manufactured from the ship's timber. "It would seem from all accounts," says Mr. Bladen, thst numerous relics must exist, but in fifty years with a constant mov. ment westward, they are, no doubt, well and the identity largely lost."
Horses for the Philippines, Amongst the passengers by the E. and A. steamer Australian recently arrived from Hongkong was Lieutenant Ashe, who has been sent ax the representative of the Manila Administration on a horseflesh expedition. It seems the ies in Manila require a breed of hardy ponies as remounts for thur colonial forces. Lieut. Ashe states thst both Chinese and native ponies had been tried and that both had proved unsuitable for remount purposes. He intends sen away a batch of Queensland ponies if they can be had at a reasonable figure. he intends proceeding to the Southern Sates to see what stock was on of Victoria breeds x good line of hardy -s on Phillip Island, but not at present in numbers to mevt'a large demand. These, moreover, command good prices in the local markets, going at times up to £12 per head, unbroken. Ho: mit will no doubt inspect thi his own opinion as to their suitability. Sunday Opening of the Maseum.
For twenty-one years have the doors of the National Museum and Art Gallery hoon closed to the public on Sundays. By a recent motion the Assembly decided to open the institution to the public on Sun-3, and the sum of £100 was voted to-ards the extra cost entailed. The attendance on the first Sunday opening proved how much the public appreciated the movement. From two till fi the hours on which the public ted, and shortly afer the former hour had struck, a steady stream of visitors was discharged incoming trams and trains, jos have been Istely dispensed with, that it was impossible accurately to estimate the number of visitors who attended the initial opening. The majority consisted of working men with their families, who during the week have no leisure for such an outing, and to whom the institution has been up todate as a sented book. At their next meeting the trustees will decide as to whether the Public Library shall also be opened on Sundays.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.