AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2607, 13 May 1869, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

{From the Argus, April 30 to Mag 4, inclusive.) “ Among one of the novel industries,” says the Mount Alexander MaU, “ may be classified the cultivation of liquorice, a remarkably fine specimen of which valuable root, in the green state, was left in the hands of Mr Heed, of the Talbot drug store, who pronounces it in many respects superior to the imported article.” A case of mushroom poisoning, that nearly had a fatal termination, took place, the other day at Warrnambool. Mr J. P. Cave, after partaking of some fungi believed to be mushrooms, was taken ill with a violent vomiting and rigidity of . the limbs. Medical assistance was promptly called, in,. and the life of the patient, was with diflculty saved. The visit to Victoria of His Excellency Kir James Fergusaoni the dew Governor of South Australia, .promises to be a pleasant one. He will, during his abort stay, remain a guest of our own governor, but bis .movements ate Uncertain, It: is not at all likely that he will appear much in public, but nevertheless, we believe, he has accepted the invitation of the « natives of Ayrshire/’ resident io Victoria, to a dinner at Spott’s Hotel, <u Thursday next. He has also promised to be present at the ,k vice-regal command” performance of the Theatre Boyal Ibis evening.

At the meeting of the Adelaide Anglican Synod on April 29, an exciting debate took place on the ritualistic question. The following motion was carried almost unanimously : —“ That in the opinion of this Synod it is of the highest importance to the unity and wellbeing of the Church of England, that the bishop be earnestly requested to use his influence for the correction and prevention of such evils as are known by the term ‘ Ritualistic ’ or ‘ Romanising,’ in keeping within the tenor of his lordship’s address at the opening of the Synod, and that all the ceremonies of the Church be strictly curried out in accordance with ihe directions of the Common Prayer-book.”

“ In almost every part of this district,” says the Wangaratta Despatch, “ we have good accounts of the vintage, which has proved itself larger, perhaps, than that of any former season. On the Murray the work is nearly over, and although in our own neighbourhood the vintage is always a week or two later, yet, still, nearly ail the reports are satisfactory. Messrs Docker will have over 14,000 gallons of wine, against 11,000 last year. MrC. A. Reid, of Tarrawingee, has made 7000 gallons. The vineyards in and about the town have yielded a large crop. In some cases the yield of grapes has been enormous, and two extraordinary instances have come beneath our notice. Mr Webster, of the Moodemere vineyard, near Wahgunyah, has made 2000 gallons of wine, besides having sold two tons of grapes off three and three-quarter acres of ground; and Mr C. A. Reid, of Reidsdaie, ha* got 700 gallons of Maalbec off about threequarters of an acre.”

The case of Everest v. the Bank of Australasia, tried in the County Court yesterday, was one illustrative of the liab'lity of banks for money deposited with them.*' Some time ago, Everest deposited with the bank a sum of £55, a deposit receipt for the money being handed to him. He put the receipt (which puported to be given to George Everest) in a box which he had at a restaurant in Bourke street, where he was lodging. The box also bore his name in writing. He left the box at the restaurant, and went to Wagga Wagga for some months. On bis return to Melbourne he applied to the bank for the money, and was informed that it had been paid, the deposit receipt being shown to him, purporting to bear his signature for the £55, but which he pronounced to be a forgery. Thinking that the bank should not have paid the money, he brought this action. Judge Pohlman held that the plaintiff had been guilty of negligence in the taking care of the receipt. He ought not to have left the document in a box in a place where any one who chose to pay a shilling could spend a night. The plaintiff was, therefore, nonsuited. The old tactics of “ King Cobb ” have been brought into play to keep any other line of conveyances from plying between Sandhurst and Spring Creek. Two lines had been competing against each other—Cobb’s and O’Connor’s—and a week ago matters had been brought to such a pass that passengers were conveyed the fifty miles for 2s 6d. This had the effect of driving O’Connor and Co. out of the field, and, as a natural consequence, up went the fares—ss, 7s 6d, 10s, and 15s were the alterations effected in about as many days in the cost of transit between this and Sandhurst. It is quite possible that if things had progressed satisfactorily the fares would have risen to something like 255, or 6d per mile ; but unfortunately for Cobb his old antagonist had only been quietly resting his wheels and recruiting his horseflesh. On Saturday afternoon the main street at Spring Creek resounded with the loud cheers of the miners as O'Connor’s conveyances from Sandhurst pulled up in the centre of the township. The resumption of the competition meant the resumption of cheap fares. O'Connor, it appears, is content to convey passengers for 7s 6d. Placards were speedily posted through the town announcing that the fares by Cobb’s coaches had suddenly fallen 15s to 2s 6d.

“The Ballarat Corner men.” writes the Geelong Advertiser, “ are, generally speaking, net down as a very sharp lot, and they fully deserve the de.-cription. Sometimes, however, they are too sharp, and an instance of this kind occurred on, Tuesday, when our old fellow townsman, Mr L. Kitz, who for years carried on business as a jeweller in this town, was walking in Sturt-street with a black leather valise in his hand. He was cogitating on business in general and his own in particular, when his reverie was disturbed by an old acquaintance, a well-known character at the Corner. ‘ Hullo,’ Kitz, old fellow, how are you ? What will you take for that box of yours ?’ Before Mr Kitz had time to reply, M‘— said, ‘ I will give you £5 for it.’ ‘ If you will,’ says Mr Kitz, ‘ it is yours.’ The two then adjourned to the bar of a public-house, were they were supplied with a blank cheque, which was quickly filled in by M‘—, who was not aware that Mr Kitz had given up the jewellery business, and taken to colonial wine selling. Imagine bis surprise when, after carefully unstrapping the case, instead of jewellery, he found medicine bottles containing samples of pure Albury. The bar was full of people, for whom he was only too happy to shout, and further gave £1 to the hospital or poor-box to be let off his bargain.” The Australasian Woollen-mill Company, whose factory at Footscray for some time past has been at a standstill, is at present in a state of transition. Many who pass by the buildings when travelling to Geelong or Ballarat, have been struck with their deserted appearance and want of progress. Two men might occasionally be seen within the nineacre paddock chasing goats from the enclosure, and the sound of a hammer might sometimes be heard echoing within the empty buildings, but nothing could be seen or heard to warrant the conclusion that the building was being erected by an enterprising company for the purpose of turning some of our extensive wool staple into manufactured cloth. But things are changing; a new directory has been appointed, and they have taken the sensible plan of ordering efficient machinery from home, which they hope to have erected and in working order before the end of the year. By the schooner St. Kilda we have dates from Natal to the 9th of March. She brings back a number of diggers who went by her to try the African goldfields, and a cargo of sugar. The news from the diggings is of the very scantiest. The distance from D’Urban, indeed, is so great that the absence of news is scarcely to be wondered at. A prospecting party 1 from D’Urban bad sent id an official repeat, which was to the purport that they had* worked the Untwalomi goldfield for threie months, sinking shafts from six to thirty feet deep, and in that time obtained only twelves specks of gold. A government party of whites'and Kaffirs, on the same field, had cut about four miles of race or sluice, and had only got from a quarter to balf-an-oonce of gold. At the Umzinto goldfield the same party had. been unable to obtain a speck of gold. Better prospects bad been got at Umblaijga, but the supplies having tun short, the prospectors had been obliged to leave it before they bad fairly tested it. One of this party—Mr George H. Watson—was an old Australian digger. A native, who had arrived' in D’Urban from the Tatin goldfield, after a journey of twenty*seven days’ duration, reported that the diggers had all left that field and gone northwards into the territory of the chief Mosena. They had been received in a kindly manner, and had commenced to work quartz reefs, which showed gold. A company of twenty-one men, among whom there were several old diggers, and who called themselvas the Glasgow and Limpolo Company,-had started from Potchefstroom for the diggings, accompanied by a party who styled < themselves the Australian and New Zealand Company. To this we may add. that from Messrs Crook and Salmon, who are passengers by the St. Hilda, we learn that three districts on the rivers Umgbeni, Tngeli, end Umtwaloomi bad been well prospected, and the ground thoroughly tested by several independent parties,and that only the colour of gold had obtained. Quartz abounds, and a quantity, about lOOOlbs, was , shipped to England for analysis. A test of quartz, however, from the same lot, was made by a practical chemist at Pietermaritzburg, but he failed to discover the remotest trace of gold in it. Altogether, the miners who have returned speak Strongly against the South African goldfields, , Few persons are aware of the enormous J regress recently made in a certain colonial Idnstry—originally humble, but now assum-

ing dimensions quite imposing—viz., the bottling of colonial ale and stout for home consumption and export. This has already given a large stimulus to the local manufacture of ale; for it is not in Melbourne, as in London, or other large English towns, where persons of the middle class send their servants to the neighbouring public-house for daily supplies of beer for the family. Here, persons in similar condition must keep their ale or stout on their premises, and it is practically impossible to do so in the cask ; in the first place, because few houses are provided with proper places for storage; and, secondly, because the ale brewed here is mostly of a light quality, more palatable than strong, and only to be kept where there is what publicans call a “ quick draught.” English bottled ale and stout are generally speaking, too expensive for common use, and hence, for the convenience of families, this new industry of bottling has been established. It was first regularly commenced, we believe, by Mr Kidson, of Collingwood, who began by bottling Wild’s No 3 ale, and succeeded to a large extent—so large, indeed, that his example was speedily followed by the Carlton Brewery, Abbotsford Brewery, aod other brewing firms. Not the least encouragement for them was the easy and cheap way in which bottles were obtained. For many years the millions of bottles brought here from England were utterly out of demand, and the majority were consequently destroyed, as many a heap of broken glass in the suburbs can testify. The colonial wine trade, and now the beer-bottling trade, have changed this aspect of affairs, hut still bottles are procurable in Melbourne at much below the English price. Hitherto, the great drawback to the bottler, as well as to the consumer, has been the difficulty of sending out the ale and stout all of one quality. But, gradually, even this difficulty is being surmounted. In one case a regular bottling company has been formed, which turns out Wild’s ale and other fermented productions at the rate of nearly 2000 gallons a-week, and in order to secure an average quality, keep 4000 dozen pints and quarts constantly in stock. Other similar establishments not quite so large are also to be found in Carlton, Collingwood, and Richmond, and with a healthy competition thus established, the public may fairly expect to be well and properly supplied in this respect.