AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1749, 13 March 1874, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

The action for libel brought by Mr G. R. Ireland, the comedian, against the proprietors of tne Licensed Victuallers' Gazette, has concluded in the Supreme Court. The libel consisted in a criticism on Mr Ireland's acting in the part of " Faust " on the occasion of Mr Dampier's first appearance at the Theatre Royal. The article described Mr Ireland as a care- ' less, slovenly actor ; said that he was very tame in the performance of the character, and that his dress was not suitable.. There was no plea of justification ; the defence was 3imply that it was a fair criticism without any malice ; that as an expression of opinion on a dramatic performance it was privileged, whether it was true or untrue ; and that as a matter of fact, in most respects, it was true, and was corroborated by the opinions of other critics. Mr Justice Williams told the jury that the truth of the criticism did not affect the case ; if they thought it was written fairly, honestly and justly, and from conscientious motives, the verdict should be for the defendants. The jury deliberated three-quarters of an hour, and then returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages LI OO. • -.",,'.' .,

"A rather amusing incident occurred the other .day not one hundred y miles from the quiet and rural town of Donald, near St Arnaud," relates the Clunes Guardion. " A happy couple, just married, both^f bashful temperament, the lady being notea ■* for her absence of mind, arrived at a certain hotel the first day of her wedding! /j tour. In the middle of the night the' lady aroused every inmate of the hotel by screaming out that there was a man in her - room. She had quite forgotten her marriage that morning, and it was only after her poor unfortunate husband had been, kicked out that she happened to recollect ■' it." The Queensland correspondent of the Argus says:— "The latest reports from the Palmer gold-field are to the effect that there are between one and two thousand miners on the diggings, with onlyalimited . supply of the necessaries of life ; that many persons.have. been hemmed in between flooded rivers, and are living on horseflesh ; and that a party has been Bent by the Commissioner of Police to look for a road from Cooktown to the Palmer, via the Daintree, heading the rivers that cross the present track. Cooktown has now a population of two thousand, which is daily increasing ; and houses and stores are being built as ' rapidly as men can be engaged and material found. There has been much suiter- : ing, but fortunately little or no loss of human life, on board the vessels that have left Brisbane for Cooktown during the ;' past month, the storms on ' the coast having been unusually severe, and both steamers and Bailing ships heavily loaded. Many horses have been lost on the passage, especially from the Thomas Brown, to which ship the authorities at Brisbane demurred for a considerable time to give permission to proceed to sea; and the Lord Ashley steamship narrowly escaped shipwreck about three weeks ago during a hurricane of unexampled severity that swept . the northern coast between Rockhampton and Mackay. The development of the new gold-field will be seriously retarded by the rainy season. s ; r

The rush to the Palmer (says the Sydney correspondent of the Argus) continues unabated, and vessel after vessel is laid on for the Endeavour. From every goldfield in the colony we hear the hews of men leaving to go to the far north, yet the ; accounts do not warrant any rußh. On the contrary, the letters that come down are all full of warning! : The place is for the present outside the range of squatting operations, and animal food is scarce and - v dear, nor is gold by any means so abun- , dant as to tempt the men to risk everything to get it.. From South, Australia, the Argus learns' = i that within the last day or-two we have had sad proof that it is not simply from the elements that danger in connection with the line is to be apprehended. After a long course of treacherous quiescence the blacks have risen en masse, and at-; tacked the whites at the Barrow's' Creek station, on one of the, most isolated localities on the line. It is not long since Mr R. C. Watson, now in Victoria, relinquished charge of the station, vowing that he would not rim the risk of returning there again. His successor was Mr Stapleton, an experienced operator, who been previously located at Tennant's Creek, and who agreed to the transfer in the hope that his health would be benefited thereby. In this he has not been disappointed, but he has paid dearly for a little* extra robustness. As soon as he had gained the. shelter of the station ■ it was ascertained that he had received two severe, spear wounds, and these have since proved fatal. . Another man named Frank was killed outright, and two or . three others were more or less severely : injured. The seven white men and one' '' black boy residing at the station were" v outside parleying with some natives when; they were set Upon by a host of savages who had managed to creep up to. them.unobserved. Stapleton was the first to receive a wound, but the spears fell thick and fast, and poor Frank received his deathblow soon after. Being quite unarmed, the whites were at. the mercy of their assailants, who had taken the precaution to post a strong detachment of spearmen : in front of the only entrance to the station. By running to another part of the building they managed to throw off this force and make good their entrance. Once within the walls they were safe, for, in anticipation of danger from the hordes of blacks who infest this part of the country, the station has been built as a sort of fortress, with a scanty stock of ; windows and a plentiful supply of port* £ holes for rifles. : ; ; •

The Hon J. T. Peacock, has written to the . „ Lyttelton Time* exposing the conduct of the Rev. Mr Lingard, Episcopalian minister; of Christchurch, who threatened to discharge the organist if he did not withdraw from an ' engagement to assist at the opening of an, ,i ; organ at the Wesleyah Churchi ..., ..,''. ■'.!,> ..,;,.,.','.