AUSTRALIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2930, 31 May 1870, Page 2

AUSTRALIA.

(From the Argus, Mag 16 t« Mug 1 9 | The Agricultural Distillery ami fjn raV Sugar Company have been succe - their ing a large amount of sugar-bee pro bable plantation at Footscray, and » '■ ' the that before long the sugar oJit y in plants will be a marketable comr any Melbourne and its suburbs. 1 le jDg 600 now invite tenders for lifting am pPpiantatons of the beet now growing J rkg tion, and conveying the same; to ; the di ,. The heaviest floods ever f lg US) are trict, a telegram from bale i r TlieljTers being experienced in GipP* iating tb* have overflowed their bank ’ j .unbonded flats, and at Stratford the b j have by a sheet of water. Ufloufly int£ -' been swept away, and tra ( flood i» rupted. We also learn oi expected at Wa W* d v '’ co ming down the water being reported to oe tom Murrumbidgee. . yw terday did*

' requested the City Bench to send his three —two little girls and a little boy—to the Industrial School. He stated that be bad only just come to the colony, that his wife had died on the voyage out, and that the friend with whom he had been stopping wss now “ moving,” so that there was no place for the children. He was ready to work, • but could not obtain employment, and was “ waiting for something to turn up,” in fact. ■ The mayor refused the application, and told the man that if he would meet him at the Kew Asylum next morning, he would find work for him. The man promised to - attend.

The vintage in the Sandhurst district has in many cases, our correspondent informs us, “ been spoiled through the rain getting to the grapes before they could he gathered Several of the Axe, S-hcepwasb, and Imu vignerons suffered severely through wailing too long before gathering their vintage in order that the fruit may be thoroughly matured, as of late it has been the cry that the somewhat unpleasant taste of some of our wines was owing to the grapes being

gathered when not ripe. However, Bruhn Brothers, of the Emu Creek Vineyard, gathered their vintage in time, and the quality is very good. They made 5«00 gallons from the produce of about 18 acres. Several of the vineyards in the neighbourhood of the three creeks mentioned are being enlarged ; in fact, vine-culture in the district Is making great advances.” The first sale of tweeds manufactured by the Albion Company, on the Barwon, was held yesterday, at Geelong. There was a very large attendance, and after a little speechifying and drinking of champagne to the prosperity of the new company, the sale comnunctd. ') here were in all 62 lots, comprising upwards of 6000 yards of cloth, of various patterns, and all of first class manufacture ; but the pieces were, with two exceptions, too large fir private buyers, otherwise it is probable the prices would have been more satisfactory. In the two cases mentioned the pieces were only 17 and 17J yards respectively, and reached the highest figures, the other lots averaging fully 50 yards each. Melbourne, Ballarat, and Geelong were ail well represented, and every lot was sold at

prices varying from 4s to 4s sd, or an average of about 4s lid, per yard. This was generally considered a low figure, considering the superior quality of the cloth. Something in the nature of negative evidence of the extent of what are called the Cape Paterson coal-fields is being just now afforded. Mr T. Bury, whose name has long been associated with coal-mining in this locality, has just received from a friend a letter, dated “ Kilcunda, Bass, May 11, 1870,” which states, among other matters, and on Hhe subject of the coal seams—“ Of course you have heard of the coal seam on fire. 1 did not give it any publicity when in Melbourne; but lam certain you would be astonished if you were to see it now. It has been on fire now for the last 14 weeks, and

still shows no signs of diminishing. At •one time I was going to give it publicity—but to what purpose 7 Here is an extensive coal mine within three miles of water carriage, and although, according to Mr Selwyn’s theory, there never was any coal mine there, it is now blazing up, and hundreds of tons on fire.” The writer concludes with complaints thu for want of means this coal mine cannot be wrrked. AJbout seven months since, Herr von Guerard, the well-known artist of this city, sent to the Emperor of Austria, through Professor Hochstetter, a copy of his “ Australian Landscapes,” published by Hamel and Ferguson, of Queen street. Each of the lithographs was tinted by the artist, so as to give full effect to his original designs; and the Emperor was so much gratified by the work that be signified his intention of conferring some distinguished mark of his favour upon Herr Von Guerard, whose father had been court painter to the Emperor Francis Joseph the First, while one of his ancestors had received from the Duke of Lorraine the liereditary knighthood which has devolved upon the artist. By the present mail Viscount Canterbury has received the cross of the order of Francis Joseph from the Emperor of Austria, with a request that he will forward it to Herr Von Guerard, which faas been accordingly done. It may be interesting to mention that Professor Hochstetter these “Australian Landscapes” the subject of a paper read before the Geographical Society of Vienna, illustrative of the physical aspects and character of these colonies, with which t e Professor’s voyage in the Novara had made him personally acquainted. It is satisfactory to find that-local art is thus assisting to popularise a knowledge of Australia in central Europe, and that Imperial honours are being bestowed upon colonial artists. . , The subscribers to the Lancashire Labourers Immigration Fund may be interested to hear that the first instalment of the Wigan Emigration Association has arrived in the colony by the Great Britain. The party is composed of two classes of emigrants. Bazendale, the originator of the scheme, and three brothers named Brooks, come oat un ler the warrant system their proportion of the pas-sage-money having been subscribed by the association ; the remainder, comprising some six or seven families, were selected by Mr Verdon for free passages, and are wholly Government emigrants. The latter will be forwarded this morning to the Immigration Depot at Geelong, in which district they will no doubt soon meet with employment, but Baxendale and his friends remain for a few days in Melbourne. Any friends of the movement who may de ire to he placed in communication with the psrty, or who may feel disposed to promote their views in any way, are desired to communicate with Mr John Everard, M.L.A., or with the editor of this journal. All the immigrants belong to a very useful class of labourers. Like most working men residing in the mining districts of England, they are accustomed to both farm work and mining, and can turn their hands to either description of labour with equal facility. Even the most rabid anti-immigration-ist must admit that these are just the sort of people we require in Victoria. The Treasurer, Mr Francis, made his financial statement last night, in a speech which lasted for upwards of three hours. He took a much less favourable view of the revenue than his predecessor, Mr Berry, who he considered had over-estimated the probable receipts for 1870 by £196,900, principally by expecting to receive too much under the heads territorial and customs. While the late Treasurer proposed to expend £3,750,852, Mr Francis believes he will be able to bring the expenditure of the country within £3,498,127, from which must be deducted £38,699 for recoups from the railway and waterworks loans. This makes his estimate of the expenditure £291,324 lower than Mr Berry’s. This reduction is brought about in a great measure by cutting down the estimates for public works, upon which £IIO,OOO less is to be spent than was proposed by Mr Berry. The net result is that whereas Mr Berry expected to carry forward to 1871 a balance of_ only £9066, Mr Francis expects to have at Ins disposal of 1870 a sum of not less than £92,000" The discussion upon the statement was reserved until to-night, when the debate will be resumed by Mr Berry. Before the House rose, Mr Higinbothara, referring to a passage in the Treasurer’s address, stated his intention of objecting to any money being spent upon immigration this year out of the general revenue until the matter had been discussed by the House, which led to an intima ion from the Government that the whole question of immigration would be brought before Parliament at an early date. A meeting, which was attended by about 1000 persons, was held in the Alfred-hall, Ballarat, on Monday night, for the purpose of considering the advisability or otherwise of free or assisted immigration. The mayor of Ballarat presided, and the following resolutions were carried unanimously : That in the opinion of this meeting the principle or Government assisted immigration is unjust, inasmuch as it involves taxation on the class with whom the imported labour is intended to compete, and should therefore be discontinued.” “ That on behalf of this meeting the mayors of Ballarat and Ballarat East be authorised to forward the foregoing resolution to the Government, and that the members for the district be requested to oppose aoy system of aided immigration.* The

Courier states that Mr Rodier was anxious that copies of the resolutions, signed by the chairman, should be forwarded to Mr Gladstone and the editor of The Times, but Mr Dyte objected—firstly, that such a course would be derogatory to the dignity of the colony; and secondly, that it would be an improper departure from the programme which had been drawn up ; and the suggestion was not adopted. Some hot words were used with reference to Mr Micbie and Mr James, but the only show of anything like opposition was made by Mr M'Dowall, who thought that the farmers were entitled to have cheaper labour than they at present enjoyed. The idea whs hooted by the meeting, and as Mr M'Dowall could no longer obtain a hearing, he gave notice that he would look for one through the press. A very curious specimen of the iguana tribe, found a fortnight ago at Port Augusta, South Australia, has been shown to us alive. The reptile was about 4in or sin in length from head to tail, and 2in or more across the widest part of the back. The surface of its body was covered with scales of irregular size, and thorny prickles or spines, the prickles on the back being large and sharp-pointed. There were two long spines on the upper part of the head, exactly like a pair of horns, and a protuberance or hump on the back of the neck near the shoulders, likewise horned. Tire upper part of the body was generally of a dark colour ; variegated bands extended across the back, the principal hues being reddish-brown, yellow, and grey. The scales and spines on the under parts were greyish, and the spines much less prominent than on the upper surface. The name by which reptiles of this sort are vulgarly known is that of “ Mountain devil ” —suggested probably by the horns on the head. The person who showed the specimen to us had himself brought it from Port Augusta, feeding it on the way with sugar. Jt was to be submitted to Professor M’Coy for inspection. The repMle would seem to answer very closely to the description given of the Agamides, or Old World Iguana, spoken of as having been found in Australia, and which has received the name of “ Moloch horridus” from one naturalist (Dr Gray) on account of its singularly repulsive appearance. “Mountain devils ” have been found before this in northern parts of Australia. The specimen shown to us was stated to be half the size of some that had been caught. The West Australian “jarrah” timber is looking up, and fresh demands are arising for it. The Ballarat company is to commence operations immediately, and there is a fine field before them. They are not, however, to work a monopoly, for a rival company from India is expected to make its appearance. The liberal inducements held out to both these comp mies insure them a fortune if they only carry out the programme they have laid down. Some month or six weeks since an endeavour was made at Adelaide to damage the reputation of the jarrah of this place, but the report of a board of public officers, convened to examine the timber, gave their verdict highly in its favour. Some piles in a jetty only constructed a year or two ago were found to be defective, but on examination they were not “ jarrah ” piles ; other piles of jarrah in the same jetty were quite sound. A very good test of the durability of this timber was brought to light only a few weeks ago. A sapling of eight inches diameter was erected 21 years ago on the Fish Rock Beacon, off Fremantle, where there is a heavy wash. Guys in the shape of iron chains were placed to keep it steady, and the lower part of the post was sheathed with copper, tin examination the iron chains were rusted, broken from their stays and twisted round the post; the copper sheathing was eaten away, but the timber, of which several pieces were purposely splintered off, proved to be as sound as on the day it was erected. It was curious to see the attempts that had been made by the sea-worm to bore through it; they had penetrated but a very short distance, and given it up as a bad job, evidently finding something not agreeable to their palates. It would be difficult to secure a better testimony to the good qualities of this invaluable wood. The beacon still stands, and may last for a second term of 21 years. M. Poussard, who, with his unfortunate compatriot M. Douay, delighted the people of these colonies some years ago with his exquisite violin-playing, has lately achieved a remarkable success in Paris. The French critics are in raptures with him, and there is a singular unanimity in the opinions expressed in the musical and other journals of that city. In a packet of about a score of French newspapers we find the roost striking agreement as to the great powers of M. Poussard. La Siecle says—“ He does not remind one either of Sivori, of Paganini, or Vuuxtemps. He is himself, and must remain himself. His manner is his own. He both astonishes and delights.” The Journal des Debate describes his “ Caprice Hongrois ” as “an inspiration original, brilliant, and humourous.” Le Public speaks of him as having “ taken rank among the best violinists of the time.” L’Opinion Nationals says—“ He has an exquisite ear, a perfect intonation, style, spirit, and a command of his instrument, which enables him to overcome the greatest difficulties with a most perfect success.” La Palrie exhausts complimentary epithets in his praise, and describes his power of melody as “without limit.” Le Charivari says he is “ Le lion musical de I’hiver,” and in another number has a “ croquis” of him with Paganini touching the end of his bow, and the title is “ The soul of Paganini enters into the body of M. Poussard every time he returns to the earth to play his violin.” In Le Monde Illuslri there is a short biography of him, by Pierre Veron, who discourses of him in a manner at once graceful and sparkling. In short, they all speak in the same terms of unreserved praise. From other sources we learn that at a recent private concert given by M. Ollivier, the Prime Minister, and at this moment the most conspicuous public man in France, M. Poussard was enthusiastically applauded by the connoisseurs, of whom there were many present. As M. Poussard may be said to have received the first marked recognition of his great talent in this city, it must be a source of no little satisfaction to those who wrote with enthusiasm of him to know that their commendations have been so signally ratified in Paris.