AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1859, 21 July 1874, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

The International Gig crew has been selected, the Brothers Fitzhardinge and the Brothers Clarke being chosen. They commence training at once. A boy named Scott, son of the member for Springsure, dropped dead suddenly beside a well at Dunwich, whither he had proceeded with some companions on a boating excursion. It is stated by the Peak Downs Telegraph, that the country between the Peak Downs and the Gulf of Carpentaria is rapidly being taken up. A gentleman who lately came in from the north-west portion of the colony reports that settlers are continually pushing out in the direction of the gulf, and that new country is being applied for daily. The Diamantina country is nearly all occupied. A most favorable account is given of the northwest portion of the Queensland territory. Another case of incendiarism, making the third within a few weeks, came under the notice of the city coroner on the 9th inst. On the night of Tuesday, the 30th ult, a four-roomed wooden cottage, off Railway -place, Sandridge, owned and occupied by George Stewart, a woodseller, was found to be on fire in about a dozen different places, but the neighbors soon extinguished the flames. All the fires were in the paper and canvas lining to the walls of two rooms, and the paper was found to be saturated with kerosene. The only person in the place was Stewart, who was found by his son lying on a bed. The wife said that her husband was not quite sober earlier in the evening. The house was and has been for years insured in the Victoria Company for LIOO. At an inquest the jury found that the place had been wilfully set on fire by some person or persons unknown. " Mr Kent, of Sebastopol, has sent to the Mining Department," the Ballarat Courier says, a " a model of a new system for signalling up and down mining shaftsOn one side of the shaft there is a long rod down to the bottom, and a hammer provided for each level. A similar rod, provided with the same number of hammers is furnished on the other side. The one line is for communication with, the top, and the other for communicating with the men below, or at the different levels. Provision is made for each level to have independent communication with the surface, and for the braceman to know the level from which he is being communicated with the moment the signal on top sounds. The contrivance is of the simplest description, and probably the more meritorious on that account." " Another old identity, the Ballarat Courier says, "has just passed away. The notice in our column referring to the late Mr John Mackintosh will doubtless recall to old Ballarat residents this old colonist. He was engaged in the intercolonial traffic from 30 to 40 years ago, having commanded the first colonial-built craft engaged in the trade. Since then he was for some years in the honorable East India Company's service as master. He settled in the Ballarat district in the early part of 1852, but having for the last two years suffered from paralysis, he has doubtless been overlooked in the busy struggles of life." A miner, named King, with his two sons, Albert and William, one 21 and the other 16 years old, were working in a tlaim at Sago Hill, on 7th July, when the roof of the drive fell in, killing Albert King, and bruising the others. The father was not seriously injured, but William King was brought to Ballarat Hospital, bruised in the face and back very severely. "A most daring attempt at robbery, if not murder, was perpetrated at Suttongrange," the Mount Alexander Mail reports, "last Saturday night. A man named William Craig, in the employ of Mr Robert Patterson, was sleeping in a hut a little distance from the residence of his employer. About the middle of the night he was awakened by a noise as of some one stirring in his solitary dwelling. On peering out from beneath the blankets he saw to his astonishment a man whose face was covered with a veil, and who had an axe in his hand, standing just inside the door in the act of striking a light. Craig made no alarm, but keeping hia eye upon the intruder, he saw him take a haisty survey of the place, and then put out light. Being in the far corner of • the hut he tben, by the aid of the dim light from the open door, saw him creeping noiselessly and stealthily towards his stretcher. Waiting until the man's arm was within his reach, Craig now suddenly grasped hold of the handle of the axe. Then commenced the tug of war — the would-be midnight robber and assassin making the most desperate efforts to wrench the axe from the hands of Craig, and the latter meanwhile as ■trenuously endeavoring to wrest it irom his. While the struggle was going on Craig kept calling out as loudly as he could — ' Murder ! murder ! Mr Patterson — Hely ! help !' His cries awoke his employer, who at first thought Craig was dreaming and had the nightmare, but as they continued and waxed louder and louder, he got up, and going outside, said, 'What is it, Craig V On hearing Mr Patterson's voice, the man suddenly let go the handle of the axe, and making for the door, got clear away. In the struggle the veil which the man was wearing fell off, and both it and the axe are now in the possession of Mr Paterson. Craig had been paid up the day before, and at the time he had L 9 in his trousers pocket under his pillow. There is little doubt that the robber's purpose was tc obtain this money, either with or withoul violence, as the case might demand." The case of murder or manslaughter re ferred to in our Sydney telegrams i 3 re ported as follows in the Sydney Momim, Herald : — " It appears that a colored mai named Joseph Mase, keeps a fruit an< coffee shop in Clarence street, and a sea man named George Bosphorous, employee onboard the Kembla, endeavored to ge into the house, and partly succeeded when he was ejected by Mase, and oi making a second attempt, and while comiu; up the steps, Bosphorus was kicked in th throat by the colored man. The effec was the almost immediate death of th former. As soon as Mase found that h

had probably killed deceased, he went into his house, and, escaping out of the back-door, thought to avoid being taken in custody ; but, within an hour of the occurrence, detective Elliott lodged him in the watch-house at the Central Police Station. Deceased is a widower, but has several childrer." From the Melbourne Argus we learn that the council of the Victorian Rifle Association at its meeting on Monday, the 6th inst., had under consideration the proposal of the New South Wales Rifle Association to send a team of riflemen to England, in order to compete at the Wimbledon meeting of the National Rifle Association in July, 1875. After some discussion it was decided that a telegram should be at once sent to England, asking what inducements would be offered to an Australian team visiting England, and what matches would be open to them at the meeting. As the Wimbledon competition is now proceeding, it is anticipated that the council of the N. R. A. would hold a meeting on receipt of the telegram, and send a full reply by the mail steamer leaving England on the 10th inst. If this information is received by the steamer arriving here in September, the members of the Victorian Rifle team who visit Sydney to compete in the Intercolonial matches will be able to talk matters over fully with the council of . the New South Wales Rifle Associa-' tion, and some decision on the subject may be arrived at. It is anticipated that the cost of sending a team of 20 men home will be about LSOOO. It is proposed that they should go by way of California, and on their return journey try conclusions with tbe American and perhaps the Canadian riflemen. A private letter has been received from one of the New Zealand crack shots asking to have that colony included in the team, condition- ' ally upon the competitors from thence bearing their share of the expense. As taere are many good shots in New Zea- ' land, it is more than probable that this request will be acceded to, if it is defi- : nitely decided thar a team shall be sent ] home. j " Andrew Hume and a small party left ' Sydney for Newcastle in the steamer Mor- ( peth," the Sydney Empire reports, " last ' Thursday night. They were accompanied by a gentleman who has interested him- ■ self in the proposed search for the white ( man whom flnme declares he met with ] among the blacks in North-west Australia. ( The party were franked by the Govern- ' ment to Murrundi, and will from thence J . make their way towards Coonamble, ' which place they will make their final ' , starting point. The search party con- \ ' sists of Hume and three other expe- 1 rienced bushmen. The expenses of the j < journey have been defrayed by a number j of gentlemen who think it worth while to ' test thoroughly the truth of Hume's ; { story, and whatever may be the result of ■ the expedition, as far as the finding and ; i bringing back of Classen or the Leichardt ( relics goes, there can be no doubt that much valuable knowledee respecting the country through which their route lies will be gained. Coonamble is upon a creek which runs into the Castlereagh, a tributary of the Darling. The exact route they will adopt from thence towards their ] destination has not been disclosed. The < equipment of the men will be complete, a I liberal fund having been subscribed for i their outfit, and we shall wait with some i anxiety for an account of their ex\e- i riences. The party consists of — 1. An- < drew Hume ; 2. James J. Gascoin, late ] staff-sergeant in the Defence Corps ; Jas. i Forrester, a native of the Colony, accus- ] tomed to bush life in the Monaro and 1 New England districts ;4. James Stokes, i who was employed on the construction of 1 the Northern Territory telegraph line at i the time when Hume was in those parts. I They carry instructions in duplicate as to ] discipline to be observed, route to be J taken, and correspondence where pos- < Bible." i Some interest has been occasioned, > says the Argus, by rumors which have ( been circulated relative to the transac- i tions of an importing firm in the boot and shoe trade. We learn from the Cus- 1 toms authorities that the firm alluded to i is Messrs Callaghan and Co., and that all < the goods in bond belonging to this firm < have been seized, and the Commissioner s has resolved to prosecute the firm in the 1 police court. It appears that some years < ago, when the Hon. T. T. A'Beckett was j Commissioner of Customs, attention was ' called to the very low figure at which the goods imported by Callaghan and Co. I were invoiced. In explanation Messrs Callaghau said that they sent the money home io the manufacturers, that the goods < were specially made for them, and that the < invoices submitted showed, the price charged them by the English makers under these circumstances. The Customs authorities, according to Messrs Callaghan, accepted this on condition of 25 per cent, being added to these invoices. This arrangement has been in force ever since, but recently the officers of the department have considered that the department was not being; fairly treated, inasmuch as the goods thus invoiced were sold under an ordinary invc ice. Messrs Callaghan maintain that this is an advantage to which they were entitled, as by supplying the money they were virtually the manufacturers in England. The Customs authorities demur to this view, and, as we have already stated, the case will come before the police court. "Residents of the city," writes the Ballarat Evening Post of Thursday, " were shocked this morning by a rumor that Mr R. O. M'Coy, who has been principal of the Ballarat College upwards of 10 years, had committed suicide by cutting his throat at his own house. On arriving at the scene of the occurrence our reporter found the rumor only too true. It appears that for months past Mr M'Ccy had been in the habit of threatening to destroy himself, the last occasion being about 2 o'clock this morning, when he bade his wife and family " Good-bye," with an intimation that they would not see him alive again. Mrs M'Coy, being alarmed at the threat, and his strange manner, sent for the police, but on their arrival he was found to be sound asleep on the bed with his clothes on. A request was made that they should remain all night, but as there appeared to be no danger of Mr M'Coy carrying his threat, they shortly afterwards left, Mrs M'Coy stating that she would send for them if them were required. Nothing unusual happened from that time till about 7 o'clock this morning, when the decease i a'oae and went to the bathroom, \ adjoining his oedroom, ostensibly for the purpose of taking his morning's bath, but Mrs M'Coy, being suspicious of his movements followed him in a minute or so

afterwards, when she was horrified at finding him with his throat cut from ear to ear, and a razor fn his hand. She immediately took the instrument away, and put her hand upon his throat in a vain attempt to stop the flow of blood, but this of course was useless. He then fell down, and she ran out for assistance. The first to arrive was Mr John Kilpatrick, M.A., assistant to Mr M'Coy, who remained with him till the arrival of Dr Butler. Everything that could be done was at once performed for the purpose of relieving the sufferer, but despite all efforts he expired at a few minutes past 8 o'clock, or rather more than an hour after the perpetration of the rash act. Drs Whitcombe and Hudson were also in attendance, but th« deceased was never able to speak after the wound was inflicted. Constable M'Breen soon arrived, and took charge of the rooms pending the holding of the inquest, which took place at 12 o'clock, when a verdict was returned that the deceased met his death by suicide whilst in a state of 'temporary excitement.' The excitement arose from Mr M'Coy's forced resignation of his position as principal of the Ballarat College by the trustees. The unfortunate deceased leaves a wife and family of six children, the eldest being 13 years of age and the youngest barely three months." From Maryborough we hear that the bodies of Thomas Hocking and Richard Bennett, who were entombed in the crosscut in the Duke and limor mine on the 1 5th of May last, were recovered on the 2nd inst. Neither of the men had been able to escape from the crosscut, which they had entered from the main drive, the rush of water and drift being tremendous, carrying the cap-piecs, props, and other heavy timbers into the crosscut, which was completely filled up. This crosscut, which is onlf 14ft in length from the centre of the main drive and 1000 ft from the main shaft, was struck this morning. Shortly afterwards the body of Hocking fell into the new drive from the breastwork, which gave way from the centre of the cro&scut. He was apparently in a stooping position when he fell forward. Bennett was lying on his belly at the other end of the crosscut, jammed by the gravel. The distance between the two men was about 12ft. Death Avas no doubt instantaneous. Of course the bodies are greatly decomposed. Bennett's hands hands had hold of a slab, which they so firmly grasped that it took the force of two menu to unloose them. Hocking was married, and has left his wife well off. Bennett has relatives at Ballarat, and is supposed to be | married also. Everything had been prepared in anticipation of the recovery of the bodies. Shells coated with tar were sent below, and also plenty of chloride of lime. The bodies having been put in the shells were brought up the shaft, and that of Hocking removed to his own residence, while that of Bennett lies at the office on the claim.