EASTERN COMPANY'S COMPETITION..' . Sloctric Ta]ej,'raph-Uoi>j right— UnltoU ft bs , ABBOCiHtIOn. ! LONDON, Nov. 9. It is officially announced that the ;. tender for the Pacific cable amounts to . £1,895,000, and miscellaneous supplemen \ tary expenditure amounting to £80,000, making a total of £1,975,000. The com pany have undertaken to complete the line by the end of 1902 if allowed to start at the New Zealand end and work back wards across the Pacific cable. Ihe Committee's engineers' estimate oi £1,467,659 was made before the rise in gutta-percha. The Committee unani mously recommend acceptance of the Con struction Company's tender. I At the Eastern Extension Company's meeting Sir F. Barry stated that' the . standard of revenue had been maintained since the tariff was reduced, and there might consequently be further reductions of sixpence on January 1. If the stan- I dard was maintained there would be ad ■ ditional reductions of sixpence in Janu | ary, 1902, and 1903, when the rate ' would be sixpence lower than the pro , posed Pacific tariff. There would also tbe a much faster service. Sir F. Barry I thought that the Company had not much to fear from the Pacific cable. Ho hoped the Cape-Australian line would be opened at the end of 1901.
AUSTRALIAN.
