Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-22
AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS
OF STATES HAVE A
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

SYDNEY, March 22.-Australians are dis
cussing with & great deal Of energy the
right Of the various states to be represent
ed at the conference Of colonial premiers. to
be held in London in April. Lord Elgin
has dispatched an Invitation to the prime
minister Of the commonwealth only, and
the officials of the different states feel that
they have a very real grievance. One paper
bluntly says that the states cannot both
have their cake and eat It, too, and having
voluntarily merged themselves in the COM
monwealth can no longer be expected to
secure the treatment of independent col
onies.
Some of the Kanakas who have been de-
ported from Australia have been induced to
go to Fiji to work In the sugar plantations
there instead of returning home to their
islands in the South Seas. The great ma
jority, however. have been taken back to
the New Hebrides and landed at the places
from which they were recruited. The work
of repatriation has not been without in
cident. for there was more than chance
that If the returned Kanakas were not
landed among friends they would be killed.
One of the repatriation steamers, the Leuo-
neuwa, landed an elderly man and his wife
and two children at Quarrie. Malaita, a
place which has a particularly evil name
among recruiters. These children, aged
seven and twelve. were both born in
Queensland, and attended school there. the
elder, girl, speaking and writing Eng
fish as well as an average child
What their fate will be in being sent to
live among Savages Is only matter or
conjecture. but they wept bitterly as they
left the ship. Orders had been given that
the family was not to be landed unless
friends from the old mans village were
there to receive them AS the boat neared
the shore the Kanakas' face broke into
smiles, and he repeated again and again
as he recognized people. Him all right.
He and his family were landed amid hun
HaI q
returned by another steamer, the Tambo,
were equipped as Salvation Army de-
tachment with uniforms, instruments and
big drum. The idea Is to extend the
army work throughout the islands.
A tale Of a sensational sea voyage just
told here Is so romantic that it is being
made the basis of a tale of sea life by an
Australian story writer. The incident is
founded on the report made by the cap
tain of the Canadian mail steamer Moana
Of events which occurred on the British
barQue Don. vessel well known in all Of
the Australian ports. During the voyage
from London to Victoria, B. c., the crew
of the Don preached the cargo and thus OBJ
tanning unlimited quantities of liquor soon
became riotous and eventually mutinous.
When the Don was off Cape Horn, hove too
in rough weather, the drunken crew at
tempted murder. They seized an unfortun-
ate Spaniard named. Hoppe whose only Of
Tense was that he refused to join in their
orgies and were in the act of throwing him
overheard when Capt. Roach, at the point
of the revolver, saved the mans life. For
thirty-six hours Capt Roach sat at the
forecastfe door with siX-chambered revolt
yer in his hand, announcing that he would
shoot the first man that again attempted
to procure liquor from the hold. Meanwhile
the sailors, in their intoxicated state, were
singing ribald songs. shouting and fighting.
During this time the Don narrowly escaped
Shipwreck on what is known Horn
Island.
The clause in the new Victorian gaming
suppression act, which prohibits the making
of waSers on a race course between book
makers and women was responsible for
some comical Incidents at Pennington race
course on the opening day when the law
had to be observed for the first time on a
registered course. Many women on the
opening day who are in the habit of fire.
quenting the betting ring, and who know
more as rule about the proper price of
horse than the doings Of the government,
attempted to make wagers as usual. but
were indignant when the bookmakers de-
clined to do business. One feminine hacker
who had evidently made up her mind That
she had a certainty in her possession, in
sisted upon being laid odds. and threw the
money into the bookmaker's bag, at the
same time demanding ticket; while an
other, who had been told that the law did
not permit betting with women on race
courses. sent her son to put the money on.
but was again disappointed, as the son was
obviously under the age of twenty-one, and
according to the new law could not make
a pct. Inc attempt VI tie legislature "
stop this kind of betting, however. has
evidently failed. for bets are being made
through male friends and expressions, Il
backed that one!' Il backed the second"
were as frequently heard as ever among
the women in the grand stand.
People in New Zealand, white and Maoris
alike, have been making much out of Sir
John Gorst, who went out to Christ Church
as a representative at the exhibition which
Is being held there, and his presence has
revived memories of the stirring times OF
more than forty years ago when he was
civil commissioner at Waikato. Rewi. the
old Maori chief who ordered Sir John to
quit the district under penalty OF death,
has been gathered to his fathers. but sew
eral of his fighting men were alive to greet
the distinguished visitor.