OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 308, 1 April 1881, Page 2

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

(From our own Correspondent.) Sydney, March 19. . The Government Railway Policy was declared qn Wednesday evening last, and if the'whole of the items are agreed to, the colony will be committed to an expenditure of over eight and half millions. The scheme has met with a great deal of approval, as it includes the most of late. The heaviest item is £2,755,000 for the construction Of the' Connecting link between the -Gtetf Northern line, theprescnt termioos of which is at Newcastle. -The junction — points will b$ Homebush and The line will be a double one, in order to accommodate the coal lraffic which if expected to be very large. Then the ' Kiaraaand Wallangong railway—rgiity,. eight miles, has been scheduled, whilst another line of one hundred and thirty miles, starling at Goulburn, .thq ... southern line will pierce the maghificent Monaro district The first extension of the Western Railway towards Wilcannia is proposed,.with a line of one hundred and eight miles to connect the Southern and Western lines, at distance varying from one hundred and seventy two to two hundred and thirty miles inland. The bridge over the Murray* at ■ Albury, to join the Victoria railway, is another item upon this liberal programme, besides several small branches. The policy will be discussed early next - week.

Very few events in a private family ■ • could cause such a sensation in Sydney; h“ as was produced by the circumstances attending the marriage of ) Dinah Levey, fourth daughter ; of; tyt Montague Levey- The . ; Synagogue longf before the brides arrival was crowded to excess. Wreaths ; of •’ flowers • bfemg ' ■ suspended from pillar to pilar. When the bridal party arrived, the eight bridesmaids took theft 1 plhces t bride) The brides mficent blending of white satin, ostrich . .■ 'feather, point de Venise, and clouds of tulle. Afterftl|e .qejremon|-|vas flPipr, guests numbering about 146“ sat down to a banquet—before ascending ,15 the T feast, a surprise awaited the company I. Mr Henry Retfen, - ’ •; showing an interest in < his neice, welcomed the bride, 1 Mrs Loula -Haert, 1 by playing the “ Wedding March,” on a grand piano. When the : -dPighted plaudits had subsided, the bride and bridegroom, with three of the bridfiS maids and groomsmen, according to an old Hebrew custom, danced a quadrille, ■ and this over, the sumptuous dejeuner began. The crowd in Wynyard Square. \vas universal, and the day will long be*' remembered by all who took part in the festivities. ; Sir Henry Parkes is about to .take A trip to England for. the benefit of his health! and < i ticipated that Sir John Robertson will

rein the Government; , . . .y. : : -i The balloon ascent which took' place v - J on Wednesday, night had an upjqeky termination. At the commencement the gas was of; a very inferior quality, and would mot .lift - -the Aeronaut, <: >. L Estrange," pluckily determined ;®ol to) disappoint the crowd, and started away in a sling, he rose with a wiod that wWigl taking him out to' sea, so, sVcing'the danger, he immediately cbmtoefriced'to lower. The balloon. came down on a house in and aeronaut landed with a fjew bruises. . Everything would have been welt' had ’ not a person in a house adjoining opened, his windows, although warned not to do so, and the light in bis room ignited the. gas, , which . blazed | upL | making a grand’ but ’awful spectaclfer ’ The man was severely scorched, mid ! the house gutted. v , TJhe streets, after . the fire, were thronged .by.,bYer 20,000 people. L’Estrange is 1 " ’alt' right, but has suffered a by the dOstriSS- ’• tion of his, balloon. .»»&.. ■ be brought before PaJliameuf,. with Aview of putting a stop to similaf fdoi-' hardy undertakings. Early yesterday morning Lieut B. Haynes, one of the most capable and . trusted members of the permarie&lt ’ artillery, committed suicide at the Victoria Barracks by cutting his throat with a razor. Mr. Haynes was fat several months suffering from ia. traUSti fusion of blood to the brain, and in all / probability this was the cause of the rash act. The deceased gentleman was a brother of Mr John Haynes, subeditor of the Bulletin.

; Alphonse Bechet was, after a careful investigation into thfe burning down, of his warehouse, committed to take his trial at the next sessions. Bail was allowed..

Shipping Companies beware ! Some. few months ago the Queensland National Bank shipped from Brisbane, by one of the A.S.N. Company’s steamers, a quantity of gold valued at L7OO. The gold, through some unforeseen circumstances, never reached the City Bank here. The result was that the Bank sued the A.S.N. Company, and the jury gave a verdict for the plaintiffs to the rvalue of the gold| ■ ? dust lost in transit. This seems hard, , as no sufficient proof has yet been atd- ‘ duced that the gold dust ever went on board the steamer. ■ i < ; :

An acquatic event of great interest 1 came off a few days ago between Rush and Pierce, of Rockey Mouth. The race was for the Championship i of ■’ Avxstralia and a trophy of Ltoo. Rusk : took a lead from the start, winning a hard rowed race by one length. Pierce' T was favorite at the start. Rush, it is reported, elated: by hia ll*te sitcpess# | has decided on rowing Laycqck on his v return for LSOO aside. In reference to the Town Hall work ? further disclosures of.k nature have been made within the pawj? 7 ;.{ few days. It appears fpom: Architect’s report that the total amOUßti' -n of masonry supplied and paid for up; to date consisted of 7,700 cubic h but that 100,000 had been charged in the books. Mr Mcßeath, the City Council, offers to" y the Council to the .extent of in connection with the, of the Town Hall, and tries Ma«S*>W»H|W. -y himself. It is generally. y : action will be taken at agpflii Mr Mcßeath. ’ ‘ A public brealrfast^as;^ Town Hall, on 3,-!,, Mr William Forster, return to the colony from ,-&gtand. Between 70 and 80. pre<* b sent, and the proceedingSipß| veiy enthusiastic. Mr. Fotster' -

interesting and Jelling speech, in v. he said hewould take his seat in the Assembly as an independent in m, a:- ’ give fair support to the Govern ment. Mr William Mason, the engineer fur existing lines, and recently for tram-

ways also, has resigned his position in the Government service. Mr Mason \ has been in the above situation for about 26 years, and it is said he bad ■ applied for a year’s absence on full pay. *. Thi Minister declined to accede to the request, hence Mr Mason’s resignation. f News from'Mount Brown diggings is not of a very cheering character. All saining operations have been suspended, 3 owing to scarcity of water. Most of • the diggers are unwilling to leave, and purpose remaining till rain falls. Hun- ■ dreds areon the road from Wilcannia, in spile of the warnings. We have had a plethora of musical performances, lately. Henri Kettea ' haihardly completed his glorious oonr :: Ceri& .in conjunction with the Austrian Band, when M. Henri Kowalski, great pianiste, was engaged to play several nights at the new popular Gaiety Theatre. Kowalski is a finished , player, but he lacks the passion of the Pleyel monarch. Ketten, with rather questionable taste, .returned front Mel* bourne, and gave a. charity concert; in the middle of the Kowalski season, and then the Gaiety was thrown open to Hie public for the same evening, and the audience permitted to pay what they liked It nee® hardly be said that our charitable institutions have been considerably benefited by this harmonious war.

Now the Austrian Band are playing in theQaicdenPalace, which is brilliantly JignthdTof thepurpose.. Boetna . and Signor PAlma have now co-operated With ■ the '■ the result is rtt; title 'greatest musical fetes; ever heard in this Jty. It is really a treat to have such a fine singer as ,Mdme. Boeraa, accompanied by the; :bestaodmost complete orchestra that: -has yet been; brought together in Ailsttralla. A‘ grahdTahcy dress ball, under of the: band, is to be given m. the GardenJßalace-on-the sth April. It will be a br|yian|fffam ,7 , .- : ;