Late Australian News.

Hastings Standard, Issue 356, 25 June 1897, Page 4

Late Australian News.

THE MURDERER BUTLER. It is said that Butler was not ignorant of anatomy ; and it was thought by the goal officials that he was probably aware that the place where he cut himself with the tag in front of his throat, below "Adam's apple," was not a dangerous one. Whilst in prison he once asked for a book from the library which he imagined dealt with anatomy ; but he found when it was taken to him that the title was a misleading one, and that the book was. upon quite a different subject. It was not considered by the gaol authorities that Butler really intended to mortally injure himself. They think that his intention was to do something which would delay the trial, and thus give him a more extended respite of life than he otherwise might have. In sentencing Butler the Chief Justice said: Frank Butler, —After a most patient trial, and after you have been defended by able counsel, the jury, having deliberated, have found you guilty upon the most convincing evidence of having committed a most cruel and atrocious murder. You cannot expect mercy at the hands of your fellow-men. You have outraged the laws of the country in which you are by committing this most diabolical murder. I say that you cannot expect mercy at the hands of your fellow-men. But there is One to whom you 2an appeal for mercy, and I beseech you and adjure you that you appeal to the Almighty, who will, if you approach Him properly, grant you mercy, and no matter what your sins may be will forgive those sins. I adjure you to do that. You can have no hope. The Chief Justice then passed sentence of death upon the prisoner in the usual way, concluding with the words, " May the Lord have mercy upon your soul." MISCELLANEOUS.

On May 26 Frank Croktt, a wellknown Gippsland jockey, left Gmeo (Victoria) for the Dargo races, which took place on the following day. A few hours after leaving he stopped at a digger's hut on the Upper Livingston, and had some tea and toast, refusing an invitation to stop all night. It was raining as he left the hut, and when he had gone about three miles further the snow cauie down so he.ivily that the track was covered. Croker turned back, with the intention of making the hut, but he utterly lost himself, and for nine days he wandered about the •wild Sugarmat country leading his horse. The Sugarmat is the plateau between Omeo and Dargo, and it stands at an elevation of from 4000 ft. to 5000 ft. It is exceedingly rough country, and is usually heavily covered with snow at this time of the year. Day after day he wandered, sleeping at night in any hollow tree before a small fire made of bark, leaves, and such branches as he could pull down, for the snow was so thick that he could not find any fallen timber. He burrowed under the snow, and pulled grass for his horse, but he had nothing for himself. One night, numbed with the cold, and exhausted from hunger, he rolled into the fire, and did not recover himself until his clothes had been badly burned. On the ninth day, as he was wandering along leading his horse, the poor animal falling at times from weakness, he heard voices, and and presently he saw two little girls. The children, however, ran away frightened when they saw his lamentable appearance, but when Croker called out "Oh, for God's sake, stop ; I am lost," the girls waited for him, and led him to Box's Hotel, on the main road between Omeo and Bright. From the time he left the hut on the Upper Livingston on the evening of May 26th until he reached Box's Hotel on June 4th Croker declares that he had no other nourishment than water and an occasional mouthful of snow. Croker's practice of wasting, which he often resorted to to keep his weight down, seems to have stood him in good stead. Dr Fenton does not regard his case as serious. The man who comes to read your gas meter is equally as objectionable a3 a debt collector. So thought James Nicholson, a resident of Balaclava, Victoria, when he allowed his three dogs the other day to rush out and bite Edward Siggers, who had called to inspect the meter. Nicholson also in a general way denounced the laws of Australia, and in a special degree the one relating to the supply of gas. The Courts shortly afterwards supplied "the sequel to the episode by imposing a fine upon Nicholson of 40s, and 40s costs. About 2 o'clock one Sunday morning the inmates of a house in Stockton, New South Wales, were aroused by the slamming of doors. Investigation showed that the doors and windows were open, and a few minutes later a man was discovered under one of the beds. A struggle ensued, the result of which was that the stranger, who was of powerful build, made his escape. A man named James Jarvis, a sailor, was subsequently arrested, and was committed for trial on the charge of burglary. Two men in Sydney were sent to prison for three years a few days ago for an audacious theft. They jumped on to the footboard of a tram on its way to Paddington, and one of them snatched at a purse in the hand of-a lady passenger. In the effort to retain it she was dragged or fell off the tram, and had to be taken to the Sydney Hospital. The salaries paid to variety artists can readily be gathered by the report of a recent action, when Mr Arthur Garner sued Mr Pnilip Goatcher in the Supreme Court, Sydney, for breach of agreement. Last year Mr Garner went to England and engaged a company for the Palace Theatre, anew house of entertainment, which was to have been opened at the end of 1896. Among tbe contracts entered into by

him were the DSerines, £SO a week for -1-1 weeks ; Bellman rn-I wife, £22 per week ; Henry Leo, £SO a week for three mouths, with the option of an ext<?Bsion for 3, 6, or 9 months ; the Wintarfccns, £3 a week for -11 weeks ; Anio;iio, £BO per week ; Knovdes and wife, £75 per week and 5 per cent of the gross receipts* "My Fancy," £2O per week ; Huline Bros, £SO per week for 44 weeks; Herr Grace, £65 per week for performing baboon and donkey, and the services of groom ; and Pantzer Bros. £SO per week for 44 weeks. His own salary as manager was to be £2O. When the company arrived in Australia the Sydney theatre was not ready and performances were given in Melbourne. They were unsuccessful. Mr Goatcher declined to go on with the agreement. Mr Garner calculated that if he had been allowed to run the company in Sydney there would have been a profit of £SOOO for 12 months. For the defence it was stated that Mr Garner had entered into extravagant arrangements, and the venture proved disastrous. Mr Garner estimated his loss at £6OOO, of which £4OOO was borrowed from Mr " Tattersall's " Adams. The only question for the jury was one of damages, as the agreement was admitted. They awarded Mr Garner one farthing. The trial lasted two days. Mr Garner staoed, in the course of the case, that during his nine years' connection with Williamson, Garner, and Musgrove he made £40,000. He afterwards went into land-booming, and by 1892 had lost all he had made.