AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5328, 12 March 1879, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

(per, Ringarooma, at the bluff.) Melbourne, March 5. Lord Normanby's commission has not been received yet. He holds his first levee on the 12th ''instant, and will visit Ballarat on the lOfch'for the regatta. The City Conncil intend [.entertaining him at a banquet. Lady Ntfrmanby's health is improving. Lord Hervy Phipps is appointed aide-de-camp, and Mr LePatourel private secretary. The Newman electors have memorialised the Government . respecting the injustice done to them in connection with the West Bourke election. Mr) Graham Berry and the associated banks disagreed about the terms for the loan. ■ The latter named £95 10s as the minimum for a five million loan, while Mr Berry contended for par. His colleagues have telegraphed to him not to take less than £98. Private letters state that two Italian war ships, commanded by the Duke of Genoa, will visit Melbourne at the end of the year. A prospector obtained 66ozs of gold for two months' working in, the North Gippsland mountains, but the locality has not been disclosed. The Governor attended the great Autumn Race Meeting on the Ist instant, and was much cheered. The Hurdle Race was won by Dutchman, Forester secoud. The Ascot Vale Stakes by Petreval, Chesterfield second. Danrwell won the Brunswick Stakes, Tom Kirk second. Bosworth won the St. Leger, Wellington second, His Lordship third. Sussex won the Keilor Stakes. The ship Leonidas has been chartered by the . Indian Government to convey the first shipment of coolies to Fiji. Bush fires have been frequent and destructive in the conntry districts of Victoria. The Portland train narrowly escaped being crushed by a huge falling tree. The driver put on full steam, and so got the train clear before the tree came down. The Victorian Government have approved Mr Lalor's scheme for settling the border Customs difficulty. He has returned to Sydney to further negotiate the matter. It has been decided to construct the International Exhibition building of brick instead of wood. The additional cost will be £8000. Mr William Clarke, a Ministerialist, has been returned for Footscray by a majority of 122 over the other candidate, also a Ministerialist. The Kellys are believed to have returned to Victoria. Sir John Coode's report respecting harbor improvements at Melbourne is expected by the next mail. The schooner Eliza Firth, from Greymouth to Melbourne, encountered a terxific gale on the 21st February, lasting three days. Sydney, March 4. Inspector Connor, of the Queensland native police, has arrived with twenty black trackers. He has been invested with full authority to follow up the Kellys. Mi* Parkes proposes to introduce a comprehensive Qducational system next session. The first of the new torpedo boats attained a speed of 16 knots ; it is expected to work to 20 knots. Brisbane, March 4. The Government have stopped all immigration, owing to the depression in trade. Several illicit stills have been detected. Three white men were murdered by blacks at Suliman Creek, North Queensland, through the treachery of a black boy.