VICTORIA.

Press, Volume V, Issue 558, 13 August 1864, Page 3

VICTORIA.

Our r»e~? fro:n tins colony eitenos the 3Otii alt- but does not include anything of partlCUllf Ullportiince except tfie continued agitation m favor ( o< Hγ. "Wilson's sclieme. .A. meeting » a 9 held to (luctiss the subject on the 27rli I>J the Centml Committee of the Anti-tmnsportatioTil>easue. Opuiions botii favorable an I a Irerse to the project were esnressed, bsit it wa? admitted on all hands that mO r2 decisive proceedings tlmn kad yefc been UkCll with respect to the trau*portntion question sliould be adopted on ths part of the colony, itr. Wilson gave the commutes plainly to understand that, whatever course ther might pursue, t!ie scheme vrouid be prosecuted by liimself aud thoso who chose to cooperate vrith him. l r itiraately, aftt , r several motions anl hnd been proposed and withdrawn,

the following was unanimously carried :—" That this council, feeling deeply the necessity for instant and more rigorous action, and being ot opinion that such action should not be left to private individual*, hereby declares that the timo has arrived when it becomes the imperative duty of the Government to introduce and enact such Legisia* tive measure as may be found essential to protect society from tho evils of transportation." Among those who spoko ou the question was Mr. CVShunassy who, while expressing his'adherence to the principle of Mr. Wilson's scheme, thought that legislative net ion was necessary, first on the part of the Parliament of Victoria, and next on the part of every other parliament in Australia. In the course of his speech he declared he was sure that none of them desired that anything should arise to extinguish the feeling of loyalty which animated the people of Australia; at the same time, it was impossible for any man who had read the history of" tyranny and cocrciou—especially when connected with the history of a free people, jealous of their rights and liberties - to disguiso from himself the result to which any determined action on tho part of the; Australian people must necessarily lead. Hβ had made up his mind on that point, and he would bo prepared for the very worst alternative rather than submit to Australia being known for all time as " the convict country." The Co>~demxbd Criminals. —At the meeting of the Executive Council held on the 27th, for the purpose of deliberating upon the case of Harrison, the decision arrived at was that the sentence passed upon the prisoner should be carried into execution upon Wednesday next, the 3rd of August. The same day was also appointed for the execution of the convicts" Woods and Carver. This decision wa» immediately forwarded to Mr. Wintle, the governor of the gaol, by whom it was at once communicated to each of the prisoners.— Argus. Areivaii of Roberts. —By the Great Britain, steamer, Mr. John Roberts, the champion billiard player of the world has arrived. To recount the details of his great battles on " the field of the cloth of green " would require a volume. Mr. Roberts comes to Australia to show us what excellence can be achieved in the scientific game of which he is so great a master; and as Australian! welcome whatever is distinguished, Victoria will doubtless be glad to receive with due honor the champion of billiards, who has won fame by defeating all comers, and has beaten by odds all the best contemporary players.— Ibid. Acclimatisatiok. —At the weekly meeting of the Council of the Acclimatisation Society, a letter from Dr. Officer was read reporting that both the salmon and trout in Tasmania were going on as well as could be wished. Dr. Officer also, on behalf of the salmon commissioners, accedes to the request of the council that Mr. Ramebottom may come over to Melbourne and superintend the removal of the young salmon here to their permanent home, when the locality shall have been finally decided upon. A conversation in reference to this matter took place. Mr. M'Leod, who resides upon the borders of the lakes, attended the council for the purpose of giving information upon the subject, and all his remarks were in favor of the selection of the Tambo as the beet river. Mr. M'Leod said he had a general knowledge of all the rivers of the colony, and that, in his opinion, none could compare with the Gippe Land rivers as to suitability for the salmon ; the next best, in his opinion, being undoubtedly (he Yarra. Dr. Black laid before the Council a letter ha had received from Mr. B. T. Firebrace, in which, after pointing out the excellence of the Gippe Land streams, he remarks, " I think I know the state of public feeling in Gipps Land sufficiently well to be able to state, that during the twelve months that it would be necessary to have an experienced perion in charge of the fish, the residents there would charge themselves with his expenses, and also undertake such cases of superintendence as might be delegated to them." A letter from Mr. Moore, of Sydney, ' was read, stating that he had shipped the male alpaca, per City of Adelaide (this, the Superintendent reported, had arrived safely), and that the female* would be sent per Rangatira—a free passage having been liberally granted for these animals by the directors of the A.S.N. Company. — Ibid. Enolish iJiKDS. —The following paragraphs show that the attempt to acclimatise some of the English birds has been attended with success :—Mr. XfoWGO* men, of Springdallah, (says the Gfrenville AdvoeaM), informs us that a pair of fine English thrushes may now be seen in his paddock, bopping from bueh to bush, and by their delightful notes bringing back to the memory of the immigrant sweet associations of the home country. It is to be hoped that these bird* will not share the (ate of the blackbird that a few months ago took up its abode in the same place, but was shot by some Cockney sportsman.—- 4. We are glad," says tho Ballarat Evening Post, "to notice that the sparrows lately let loose by the local Acclimatisation Society have adapted themselves to thia j town, and five of them can be seen daily, sporting themselves amongst the trees at the roar of the Bank of New South. Wales." Mobgak in Victobia. —Lovers of sensation, and the purveyors of sensational news, are making quite » hero of the bushranger Morgan. The false report circulated in Melbourne on Wednesday, of his cap* ture, rapidly spread throughout the country with wonted exaggeration. At Geelong, the appearance of a police-van guarded by a half-doxen troopers, conveying two long-sentenced men who had been transferred from Ballarat to Geelong gaol, tent til the idlers gaping into the streets to spread the rumor that Morgan was taken. At Sandhurst it was reported that he had been recognised at the Castlemain* station, taking a ticket for Taradale. While at Castlexnaine, crowds rushed to the station to see the robber pass through Castlemaine from Kyneton, on his way to Sandhurst, by the twenty minutes past three p.m. train.— Argus.

JtrVEIOXE BTOOBMATOBY AKD TBAllinr© BHEP. *

The duty of calling attention to the establishment of a juvenile reformatory and training ahip ie » pleasant one. It is only to be regretted that the occasion has not arisen before. That question, famons in Victorian annals, " What shall we do with our boys?" has a special reference to the juvenile criminals of o-ar community—a class, unfortunately, actire, and precocious. Sooth to say, we have hitherto not done much for theetrny h'ttle waif* floating about colonial society. We have cent them to prison, where bad h»« been made worse. Wβ have lodged them in Pentridge, where they hare certainly been better treated—instructed both in letters and in work until their sentence terminated. After then, however, we have cared nothing for them. We hnve left them to depend upon private charity, or to return to their Eastern Market prowlings and Rov.ieo lane life of filth and vice—a rare course to make "Artful Dodgers " of the smart, end " Bill Sykescs" of the brutal. Late in the day as it is, there is now to be a change in tho system. An effort is to be made, not only to reclaim the lads, bat to remove them from the scene of their temptation* Boys hare an almost proverbial longing to go to Sβ*. •■> wild boj3 in particular, and this passion has been turned to good account in England, by meant of a> Government training ship in the Mersey. The success attained there being great. It is evidently desirable that the experiment should be tried here, unci tliii is what ia notr being draft Mfwfw*mental HMo oei ••{>•... .... .. ~, J3»y, near the mouth of tJao ~¥ajrm t fox- tKe purpose ? and the old Deborah, winch in lie* time liai under* gone transformations both many and strange, ia notr Ling convened Into a ju*enlk lllip. Jllst ftt present there ie not much to b* eeen in the "Deborah. The -t-cssel was only taken possession of % month ajji>, and, consequently", there bae not been time ad vet to do much in the way of fitting her up. There arc twenty-five latbon board, under the <&a?go of one ordinary and one naval instructor. The boys rise early in the morning, stow away their hammocks, and wash down the decks. Thie over, they go down to a breakfast of hominy -, and afterwards they are inspected, to ascertain whether they have washed and cleaned themselves properly for the day. They are ; Iheu liaudedorer to tho naval instructor, who k«ep§

them employed during tho morning holystoning the decks, poii-huig brasswork, and in the general cleaning operations sailors nre put to. At twelve o'clock! they are mustered for dinner—soup, the soup-meat, i potatoes a: (1 bn-sd—and the meal over, they art j allowed hrilf-an-hour's pUv-time. At one o'clock | they go to school, where they remain until half-past three. They can .-ill read, more or less, it may be remarked, and many of them write \er\ lair hands. School over, : .irther half-hour's play is given, and then comes sn • v ,r - Wnen the meal has been partaken oi .' " are sung, and word is passed to trice-ur> J ..mocks. The next half-hour or so the lid- r wed to converse freely ; but after the ringing vi Uie sleep-bell silence ia strictly enjoined. The diet and the life appear to agree with the youngsters very well They all look healthy and i clean—how much healthier and cleaner than in their ; vagabond mud-lark state may easily be imagined, and ] the scales showed that one of them, a shrimp of a lad, had increased eight pounds iv weight during his ! znoem's experience. In a little while their training will become much more instructive. A barge is to be procured at once, in which they are to learn to pull a boat. The Deborah also i> being rigged up with roasts and yards ; and when thU work is completed, j the bo\s will he regularly instructed iv the mysteries of handling ropes, setting and reefing sails, couraing the ship, and the general duties of a sailor. j Much will depend —it is to this point we desire to call attention —oa the willingness of masters of ships trading to the port to give employment to the lads. If they are not taken away from the place, the scheme fails iv a material point. It is desired, not oaly to put the lads into possession of a trade or calling, but also to remove them from old scenes and bad companions —to give them a fair start in life. It is honed that will, in due coarse, visit the w~r.!, to for themselves of the aptitude of the pupil-, aud now anl theu to tnke one away with thtjiij, should they be in need of assistance. It must not be aui>|.»t> -d that the hvls are all criminals. The majority of ii:em are homeless little wanderers, more binned ag:iin>l iv ;-oc\:e:v than sim.ing. They have been, uuk.iniiv treated on the one element, but it is Loped tiiev «:il f.ov well on another. The experiment i> one winch wiil be watched with interest, and ild s-.iv-cess \» Hi be- gratifying to all. Pi-rriio-I'xifiioMA. —The Aye, iv an article on the eprt'aJ of pieuro-pneumonia in Australia, gives the ivsuu of exp'Timeuta made under the auspices of the- Farmer' Society, for tho purpose of testing the Vina*.* of mnoculation as a preventive of p2euro-pnea:iionia. Of the 57 head of cattle, diseased ;;:id heaiiln, that were pat into the paddock together, 20 died uuJ 1 escaped. Of the diseased tittile not operated upon, 11, or 35' per cent., died. Of the 10 he ill!iy cattle not operated upon, o, or oU per cent., d< A. Oi the diseased cattle operated upon, liiere vk.j uUo-eti:er 05, of which 11, or 31i per cent., died. vh these latter, ?o:no were iuuocu'ated and sonic taccinaited, wiiii varyicg result.-*. Fifteen head were race mated by iir. Graham Mitchell, and 6, or 10 per cen:. of the lot, died. Twenty-two head ■were iimucuhilcJ by others, of which I escaped, and. five, or 25 percent., died. The whole may be suminariseJ liitis.: —Of the cattle which were healthy when pul into the paddi-ck, aud not operated upon, 60 per cent. died. Of the diseased not operated upon * 35i per cent. Of the cattle operated upon by vaccination, 40 per cent, died ; by innoculation, 25 per cent. Clearly enough, the cattle operated upon had the advantage of the others which were left to themselves, whetherLealthyordiseased. The experiment also tells in favor of innoculatiou as compared with the other method. The large proportion —50 per cent. — of healthy tattle which died, also shows the necessity for keeping the diseased separate from the healthy, luu lUiiioi-roljF been rcroinmended fay ail profeseioruil m-n. L)n {lie wliole, the experiments, as Lrr fltfWT §*) * r V TaUtuWC) bitf bj no <I<?9WF9 flg regard-d Uii.-.vnlue of either inuocuJaiion or -vaccination as a cure or preventive of pJcuro-pueum.on.ia. _Ajst Esli-exsiite X!i«? following story of an amusing but expensive telegraphic blunder is going the j-oimd of tlie Aur-lralian papers : —lt appears tlie South Australian lodic* keep innumerable birds as ptts, and these liulo pet* consume a large quantity of cauary coed. Th<? market short of the article, :* keen watciisr of the minor wants .of the colony despatched from his oiiice to a firm of some standing in Sydney, the following message : —" Buy up all the canary aced you can find, and ship." To Melbourne tlie message dew, and was retransmitted to Albury ; but here the operator seems to have been at fault, and he sent forward " carraway," instead of canary. Now, stocks of carraway seeds in Sydney were heavy; bat not questioning the correctness of the message, a broker was immediately set to work, and some purchases wero made by him at sid per lb. Soon, however, it got whispered about that was buying up all the carraway seeds. This caused an immediate rise, and to monopolise the article as much, as Is 2d was given. The confectioners' little stocks were all eagerly laid hold of, and Sydney was left, comparatively speaking, without a pound. The buyers congratulated themselves on having done a fine trick, and the wire conveyed to Adelaide the following message : —" Seeds purchased, will ship by next boat going to Adelaide. The Rangatira, s.s., then en route to the Sound, conveyed them to Adelaido; and although the advices accompanying tho consignment spoke of it as carraway seeds, yet the seed merchant, incredulous that such an error could hare occurred, ordered all the barrel* to be opened, and then, to his amazement, found his mistake. No other course left open, and carraway seeds at a discount in Adelaide, the whole consignment was re-shipped to Sydney, where, on arriral, the value fell to 4kl per lb." Tlie loss on the transaction was nearly £400 all arisiug from a misread telegraphic message.