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The Torbay Estate.
PROPOSED REVERSION TO THE
GOVERNMENT.
la the Assembly on Friday night the Pre
mier gave notice of the following resolu
tion :-" That this House having considered
the proposed agreement laid on the table be
tween the Government and Millars' Karri ?
and Jarrah Forests Ltd. being a* modification
of the Torbay railway concession granted to
Messrs. C. G. and B. F. Millar on the 18th
day of November, 1889, approves thereof."
This resolution refers to the Torbay Batate
of about 22.000 acres which was granted to
the Messrs. Millar in consideration of build
ing the tine to Torbay and working sawmills
there. The Messrs. Millar built the line and
worked sawmills there - for some years and
then removed their milla to Denmark where
they are now being worked by a company.
- One of the conditions of the contract was
that a twelfth of the 22,000 acres should be
cleared and cultivated in «ix years and an
other twelfth in 12 years. They spent about
£10.000 upon clearing land but then aban«
doned it because they found that it would be
impossible to keep the land clear unless their
operations were followed by settlement. At
that time there was only a small demand for
land and selectors preferred to accept the'
liberal terms offered by the Government. All
these years, therefore, this fine estate .within
easy reach-of Albany acid served by a railway
has been practically closed to settlement. We
understand that the offer that the Messrs
Millar make ia, thatcher will allow the
estate to revett to tte wovernment in consi
dcation of their getting the fee-simple of
the ten miles of line to Torbay, which under
the contract had to become the property of
the Government in 14 years. As this lin« is
of no use to anyone but the Timber Com
j any, nerving as it does only their Denmark
Mills, it is a very fair bargain for the Go
vernment. The greater part of the land was
ringbarked by the Mess's Millar years ago, so
that settlers should be able to enter npou it
un ter advantageous condition«. Should the
resolution being brought forward by the
Premier bc paBBcd, this 22,000 acres of land,
mofet of it admirably suited for mixed farm
ing and orchards will be thrown open for
se tlement, and the effect upon the welfare
of this part of the colony should be great.
Had the Messrs. Millar not endeavored to
comply with their contract, and had they
ceased their connection with the district,
they would have hsd to forfeit both the
line and the land, but as they made an at
tempt at great cost to clear and us? the land
and as they are now carrying on large mills at
Denmark where they employ many hundreds
of hands, they deserve fair treatment from
the Government and Parliament. Vye trust,
therefore, that the resolution moved by the
Premier will receive support in the Assembly
and that it will be carried, lt would also be
well it the hands of the Premier wera
strengthened by representations from the
local bodies, the Town Council and
the Chamber of Commerce.
THE W«ATH3B.-The meteorological
observer at Albany (Mr. J. Norman) gives ns
the following notes upon the weather during
September :-The highest reading of the
barometer during the month was 30 271 at 9
a.m. on the 28th, while the lowest was 29 426
on the 3rd, the mean reading for the mon'h
* being 30.008. The mean temperature for
the month was 57.5, the maximum reading
of the thermometer being 73.4 at 3 p m on
? the 29th, while in* minimum waa 41.8 on
1st. The raiufall for the month was 3.70,
against 3.4S for «he corresponding- month
last y ar. The total fall for the nine
months has been 29 57, against 24 90 for the
similar period last tear. The average fall
for the first nine months of the ye>r is 29.50.
The averaere rainfall for the 18 years ended
T»ecf mbor 31, 1897, was 31 43, so that we re
qoire a fall »f nearly 5:n. during the ensuing
quat ter to bring the fall up to the average?
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