Prophet Dowie' seems to have experienced a worse time in London than he to here in Australia. The London correspondent sends by this mail some details of the prophet's hasty exit. After his precipitate flight fiom London to Boulogne, he decided to sail to America from a French port. This intention he ultimately abandoned, preferring to juin the Lucania at Ligerpool. Clisely watched by reporters of London papers he found it difficult t" beat en uvobserved rettest. Shipping out of his hotel bya back entrance, he was shadowed to the pier by a pressman mounted on a cycle, His destin.tion being kept sveret, instructions were wired to London (0 watch for his arrival and departure. At Charing Cross half-a-dozen pressmen. gut on to his hack, and Were mot easily shaken off, although he adopted the ruse of driving through Hyde Park in a private carriage. Arriv-ingot Huston, he was still in sight of a "Bally Mxil" man, who travelld to Liverpool in the same train, axd only abandoned the chase when the, prophet: had stowed himself safely in his cabin aboard the Lucania, in preference to spending the night ashore Do-'e's last act was to send a message to his disciples in London, intimating that any gifts which their devotion to the cause mizht prompt them to send, were to be addressed to him at Zion City, carriage paid."
The Year's Surplus.
Mr. Bent as Premier and treasurer, was recently in the enviable position of being able to announce that the working of the financial year 1903-1904 had rest-ted in a surplus of £575,000. Of this sum £175,000 woul! be repaid to the trust funds. 'The remainder is to devoted to urgent public works. £60,000 la to Lo allotted towards the completion of the new central railway station, which' work has hung fire for fully three years, owing to the Tow tide in the country's purs:
'£30,000 is set aside'as grants to shire councils for various works, principally roads nnd bridges, whilst the remainder is to be spent in all manner of directions where late expenditure has been reduced almost to nil.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.