AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 9774, 2 August 1895, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

A sad accident happened ;at Arkstone (N.S.W.) recently. Three children were playing outside the house of Thomas Clayton, when by accident a rifle that was standing inside was knocked down. The charge exploded, and the ball, passing through the slab walls of the house (which are three inches thick), grazed one child on the shoulder’ and passed through the head of Clayton’s youngest child, injuring it> so severely that there is uo hope of its recovery. Two miners named William Edge and Thomas Hannah were roasted alive on Sunday morning, 14th July, at Gaffney's Creek, Victoria. They were mates, but Hannah lived by himself in an iromroofed hut near the Albion Hotel. Both men were at the hotel on Saturday evening. Hannah went, home at 11.30. Edge slept ou a sofa bed in one of the hotel parlors. About three o’clock on Sunday morning, however, Edge got up and insisted on going to his hut, some two miles down the creek.- He must, however, have gone to Hannah’s hut instead. About 4 a.m. Robert Flannagan, a boarder at the Albion Hotel, perceived Hannah’s hut in flames. He aroused Constable Polmear, who vigorously endeavored to beat out the fire, bus a high wind wks blowing, and the hut was soon a mass of flame. The roof had fallen in, and the constable was badly scorched in his efforts to rescue the charred bodies of the two men which lay inside. Mr Flannagan assisted the constable, and at last they succeeded in dragging the ghastly remains from the blazing hut,—

The bo.dy.of George Venn, laborer, was found hanging to a mallee tree in a paddock at Bargorang (Vic.) a fortnight ago. Venn had cut a vein in each arm at the elbow with a knife, which was found in his trousers pocket covered with blood. His bedding and his clothes were saturated with blood, and after opening his veins he had evidently hanged himself. Amongst his effects was a pocket-book, in which he had written a letter to his brothers and sisters in Border Town, South Australia, wishing them goodbye, stating that he was tired of living, and that drink had been his min. He also wrote that he would end his life by bleeding himself to death. He could hear people talking all round him. Venn, who was forty years of age, had been drinking in Warracknabeal.

A fracas occurred iu Bendigo recently which caused much sensation. A man styling himself “Professor” Richard has been giving lectures and exhibiting his powers as an electric healer. “Dr ” Stanley and his wife are also visiting the town, and announcements appeared in the local papers which show that no love is lost between the parties. Stanley met Richard in Mitchell street and assaulted him. Stanley appeared to get the worst of the encounter, and Mrs Stanley went to her husband’s assistance. She gave Richard a severe trouncing with a horsewhip, cutting his head and hand. Richard had a warrant issued, and Stanley and his wife were arrested on charges of assault, but were afterwards bailed out. In the watchhouse books A. M. Stanley, who is sixty-six years of age, and an Englishman, and Amy F. Stanley, aged thirty-nine, a native of England, are described as specialists. Thomas Madigan, seventy years of age, who was undergoing a sentence of six months’ imprisonment for vagrancy, died recently in the Ballarat Gaol. A few years ago Madigan had both hands amputated at the wrists in consequence of injuries sustained while engaged in pile-driving. At the Launceston Police Court the proprietor of the Criterion Hotel was fined 10s and costs for not clearing his hotel of all persons except lodgers at half-past eleven o’clock. Three men who were found iu the house after that hour were fined t ':2 each and costs. The magistrate staled that it was known that trade was carried on in many hotels in the city after half-past eleven at night, and sometimes the hotelkeeper was not altogether to blame, for he could not get some people to leave the house at that hour. He was not disposed to make any difference in the future in the fine indicted on the publican and those found iu the hotel after hours.

The officials of the Victorian Health Department report that several of the burial grounds in that colony are contaminating the water supplies, and they recommend dial the greatest care should be exercised in future to see that sites on which the water ledge are not selected. In this connection an extraordinary story is told of one of the Gippslaud cemeteries. The last two burials in this ground were slated to have been carried cut only after the gravediggers had overcome strong resistance on the part of the coffins concerned. It is usual for interments to lake place under ground ; but here it was a case of going under water, which rose in the graves to about 4ft from the top, and the coffins floated halfway down. The burials could not be completed till the coffins had been pushed down with poles and held there till enough earth had been thrown iu to weigh them down. Under the circumstances it was almost necessary to load the coffins with weights, alter the method adopted in burials at sea.

Who says that the Victorians are not born gamblers'/ The Melbourne branch of the A.N.A. think that there would be “a speedy reaction in financial and real estate circles 5 ' if the State sanctioned a mammoth lottery “ whereby large numbers of properties now practically locked up in liquidation ” could be disposed of. And million prices are suggested—tickets not to exceed five shillings each, and to be purchasable at any railway station or post ollice ! What a tongue the 0.0. M. of Australia has, to be sure. Addressing the electors of Sydney the other evening, he said that if Premier Reid had toiled as much as he (Sir H. Parkes) had done it would be impossible for lus small brain to be accompanied by such a huge belly. The Premier’s wretched speeches contained not one principle. Not one intelligent purpose was put forth. Was it any wonder that he should decline to stand idly by and leave that destroying man to put his hands upon institutions founded by men whose boots he was not worthy to clean. The Rev. Canon Tucker, of Melbourne, has succeeded in experiments made by him to extend the capabilities of the “ magic lantern.” He can produce from seven to ten pictures in panorama fashion at one time. The arc on which these pictures are thrown can be extended to a length never hitherto attained, as may be judged from the dimensions of that used in 1 The Temple of Light ’ --an entertainment initiated by the reverend inventor and the Rev. Dr Strong. The series of views extended from one end to the other of the Melbourne Town Hall. The proceeds of the exhibition are to be devoted to defraying the liabilities incurred by the clergymen named in promoting the village settlements which they organised for the relief of the unemployed in Victoria.

A boom in rabbits has set in in Victoria. By the steamer Nineveh, of the Aberdeen line, which left for London last month, the Department of Agriculture is making a shipment of about i2o tons of frozen poultry, game, and rabbits. The quantity of rabbits is about 100,000, most of which are already sold to English buyers, the shipments being made iu execution of orders. As examples of the orders in hand it may be mentioned that one firm lately received an order for shipment at the rate of 300 crates per week, and another firm at the rate of 200 crates per week ; and as supplies from the districts iu which the trappers were at work a few months ago have fallen off, the concurrence of an increased demand with a diminished supply recently caused the Melbourne market to advance from 3s 6d to 6s per dozen. In addition to the shipments to London by the Nineveh, a good-sized shipment of game and rabbits is being sent to Cape Town by this vessel. A trial shipment of rabbits was recently sent to Japan. —‘Argus.’ The fire on board the kerosene-laden vessel Hilaria is taken by the Victorian Customs authorities to afford ample vindication of the steps taken by them in warning the captain not tp leave the outer anchorage until it was definitely ascertained whether he had a box of detonators on board or not.’ As has been explained, it was a matter of doubt whether the combustibles were included in the ship’s cargo. The captain did not know of their whereabouts, and as a cursory search failed to reveal them he decided to run the risk of their having been shipped, and he brought his vessel alongside the Port Melbourne pier on his own responsibility. While cargo was being discharged

the lx)x of detonators was discovered in the vicinity of;the captain’s cabin, so that had the fire occurred at an earlier stage the result might have been awkward for the captain. Mr Hake, the chief inspector of explosives, made an inspection of the vessel, and found conclusive signs that some of the kerosene had become ignited' and added materially to the flames.. This fact, he considers, gives practical proof of the wisdom of his contention that kerosene-laden vessels should be placed under special restrictions while in port.—‘Argus.’ . - The widow' of Fire-superintendent Gee, who lost his life at the fire on board the ship Hilaria in Hobson Bay, has received the following letter of condolence from the Acting-Governor “ Dear Madam, With the rest of the community I was shocked at the dreadful and sudden death of Mr Gee, your husband, and most sincerely grieved at the swift and terrible affliction which the sad event bore to you and your children. I venture to offer to. you my very deep sympathy in your sad position, and to express my earnest hope that you will be able to extract some comfort from the fact that death came to him in the course of noble duty, and that, since it was Heaven’s will that he should go, he died as well as a man can hope to do. —With renewed sympathy and good wishes, believe me, dear madam, yours sincerely, John Madden.” For the hero of the fire, Deputy Chief-officer O’Brien, who descended the burning hold that ho plight rescue his friend and, comrade ‘while hundreds of cases of kerosene were exploding around him, there were many messages of congratulation. Amongst them was the following letter received from the Acting-Governor : “My Dear Sir, While the thrill of pride at your noble act of heroism during the burning of the Hilaria is still upon us I desire to express to you my own admiration, and 1 am sure that of all the world who shall hear of it, of your character and conduct. An act of such desperate valor, and one so far beyond even the high standard of duty which cur nation expects of its best people, redeems mankind from the imputations of selfishness so often cynically attached to them. To men who do such things as you have done praise is not the reward most acceptable, but the pure gratification of an innate noble generosity. I cannot, however, refrain from expressing my keen admiration of you, and deeply regret that what would have been your best recompense —the salvation of your comrade’s life—has been denied you, though your splendid best was done to achieve it.—May 1 have the honor to sign myself, dear sir, most sincerely yours, John Madden.” The debate on the Governor’s Speech in the Queensland Parliament occupied a fortnight. Mr Glassey, Leader of the Labor party, ignoring Mr Power, the recognised Leader of the Opposition, moved that the Speech was nob satisfactory. The Premier plainly said that the Governor had purposely made the Speech as bald as possible in order to give the other side a chance. When the vote was taken only thirteen said “Aye”—the Labor members had it all to themselves. Practically there is no organised Opposition, and, as the Government are able to show a surplus of £IO4,OiX) for the financial year just ended, it is not probable that active movement against them would receive much public sympathy. Railways in every direction are being demanded, but it is understood that no scheme of borrowing will be presented. One or two windfalls have come into the Treasury, and probably the expenditure on public works will not much, if at all, exceed these. The farmers, who have long been crying out for a reduction in railway rates, have been gratified, and the Government, beside the kudos thus obtained, are lucky in being able to announce that each of the main lines shows an increase in its earnings. Mining promises to revive. Both in the far north and within twenty miles of Brisbane prospecting is going on.