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Evening Star, Issue 5966, 26 April 1882, Page 2

Barnum is to bring his mammoth show to Australia at the end of the year, and Jumbo, the elephant whose removal from the Zoological gardens has set London by the ears, will be one of the attractions. The 'Hobart Mercury' reports that Mr Jacob Cohen, of Jerusalem, Tasmania, is the happy father of one of the smallest infants that have ever seen the light of day. The babe, a girl, is aged about five months, and weighs 41bs. the length of its body being not quite 17in. Some Shag Point miners found a mans body at the mouth of the Shag river yesterday. The body was that of an elderly man, the head being quite bald, and the forehead being very prominent. The man when alive was passed by several parties in the vicinity where the body was found, and he was spoken to, but gave no reply. He was evidently a stranger. The detectives in Melbourne recently searched the house of some low characters there, and found a number of burglars' inplements, two of which were of an unique description, and their existence in the Colony was never known before. By means of these implements the firmest and most secure door-locks can be opened from the outside, regardless of the key being in the lock on the inside.

A peculiar disease has broken out among the horses in the Dubbo (New South Wales) District. The animals become swollen in the hind legs, stagger, and die. At first it was attributed to over-driving and want of water on long stages, but latterly buggy horses and horses in stables in the town have been attacked. It seems to be a contagious disease. The town common is littered with stock dropped by travellers, and the air is putrid with decayed carcases. Some three or four months back the headless trunk of a man, whose head had been cut off, was discovered at the Deep Lead, near Stawell (Victoria), and as there were no apparent means of identification the matter remained wrapped in mystery. For some weeks Detective Forster has been investigating the case, and he at length succeeded in establishing the identity of the remains by the clothes found near the spot. The murdered man is believed to have been a navvy who was employed in the construction of the Dimboola Railway, and was named Charles F. Forbes. The inquiries made by the detective have resulted in the arrest of a man named Robert F. Burns on a charge of murder. The evidence is circumstantial, but very strong. At half-past seven o'clock this morning an eight-roomed house in Clyde street was discovered to be on fire. The flames had got too secure a hold on the building to enable the Brigade to save it or its contents from destruction. The property was owned by Mr G. W. Eliott and was occupied by Mrs Charles Eliott, her children, and a servant. Mr C. Eliott being at present away from Home. There can be no doubt but that the fire originated in the parlor, for it was the only room in the house in which a fire was burning when the family retired to rest. Mrs Eliott was awakened by her children crying out that the place was full of smoke, and on getting up to investigate the cause she found the parlor full of flames. The building Avas insured in the New Zealand office for L4OO, and the furniture in the National office for Ll7O. _ T The Morniugton Temperance Hall was formally opened on Tuesday evening. It is a spacious building with galleiy, being well adapted for meetings and entertainments. Cr Stansfield was chairman ; and Mr John Bathgate gave a suitable address, in which he referred to the advancement the township of Mornington had made within the last sixteen years. Halls like the present one served to nourish the district, and were engines of social progress and refinement to tho inhabitants, helpful in the instruction and recreation of the people. Such institutions benefited the population, and were the land-marks of social improvement. The Hall was then declared open under the name of "The Temperance Hall"; the National Anthem was sung, and three cheers given for the Buccess of the enterprise. A concert and dance followed, and a most enjoyable evening was spent, Miss and Master Smith supplying the instrumental music. Mr Russell was M.C., and Mr Waters catered,

There will bo a sitting in Banco at the Supreme Court to-morrow.

The local option polling at Gabriels and Weatherstonea was against the increase of licenses of any kind. The search party have returned to Queenstown without finding any trace of the remains of Mr Raymond, who was drowned in Pyke Creek. The congregation of St. Paul's (Presbyterian), Oamaru, have decided by a majority of 217 in favor of the introduction of instrumental music, the voting having been 234 for and 17 against. At Christchurch on Saturday one William Kennedy was locked up for drunkenness. On Sunday morning when a constable went to the cell he found the man very ill. Kennedy was at once put in a cab and Bent to the hospital, but died on his way to the institution,

Our Tuapeka contemporary has been informed that a well-known resident of Clarks Flat intends petitioning Parliament at its ensuing session to make full enquiry into the bona fides of certain applicants who recently purchased at auction deferred-payment sections on run 106, Waitahnna West. On the Pope being informed by Monsignor Stonor (uncle of Lord Camoys) of the attempted assassination of the Queen he expressed his horror of the crime, remarking that everyone must regard the Queen of England as the most estimable of European monarch*. He at onoe gave orders for a prayer to be said in all the seven great churches of Rome as a thanksgiving for Queen Victoria's escape. The South Dunedin Congregational Church held a successful soiree last evening. A bountiful tea, of which about 300 persons Eartook, was provided in Naumanns Hall y ladies of the Moray place and South Dunedin churches. The subsequent meeting was held in the adjacent Town Hall, which was crowded with an enthusiastic audience. The Rev. T. Tonkinson presided, and the meeting was enlivened by appropriate and well-rendered solos and anthems from friends in the Moray place choir, under the able direction of Mr S. Little. The Rev. Dr Roseby delivered a very suitable address on the maxim too often misapplied—" Business is business." Messrs J. W. Jago, H. E. Shacklock, J. B. Thomson, E. M. Moss, and J. Smith also spoke in succession, the two last-named gentlemen expressing the thanks of the meeting to the ladies and the choir for their respective efforts to promote the evening's enjoyment.

Local option polling in Mornington Second Ward to morrow.

We have to remind our readers that the concert in aid of the Burns Statue fund takes place in the Garrison Hall to-night. The list of performers is a strong one, and the programme well arranged. The Albion Cricket Club's concert and dance is on Thursday evening at the North Dunedin drill-shed. Mr R. Wilson will be in the chair. During the interval the prizes won during the past season will be presented to the winners.