AUSTRALIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 3200, 17 April 1871, Page 3

AUSTRALIA.

(From the Argus, April 8, to April 8, inclusive.') Before the City Bench on Thursday, John M'Masters, an irresolute and nervous looking young man, pleaded guilty to stealing a coat from a stable. It was stated that wheo he was in gaol previously he wished to be honest, and that the Rev George Maokie, to give him a chance, collected a considerable §am of money for him. i*n his coming out, £6 of this was invested in a passage ticket by a steamer to New Zealand, a farther sum was laid out in purchasing some merchandise selected by the prisoner and shipped to New Zealand, and the reat of the money was fooHtthlygivea tothe man himself, who got drank, speotor IOBt the money, and twice missed bis passage to New Zealand. He then stole the coat. The ticket money bad not been lost, as it was paid on condition that it should be refunded it the man did not get the passage. The Bench, willing to give him another chance, and' being; desirous that the goods should not be lost, remanded the pri-oner for a week, in order tbst the truth‘of the statements made might be ascertained. Oar telegraphic intelligence contains some interesting particulars received by way of Brisbane, of discoveries made by the searching - party led by Sub-Inspector Gilmore, which seem to make it probable that some relics of the ill-fated Leichardt expedition have at length been found. It will be recollected That upwards of two months ago Mr Gilmore, who had before been,on the same mission,; was despatched with some native police to’ investigate the truth of a rumour that there' was a white man living with a tribe of natives: somewhere near Cooper’s Creek. Mr Gilmore now returns, and reports that on getting tq the creek lie proceeded, conducted by some of the blacks, to s'place named Wantata, where the blacks bad heard that white men • bad been. There three skeletons were found, together with some pieces of moleskin and waterproof cloths. Enough seems to have beenegtoanei from the blacks to make if appear that the men whose remainswer^ . discovered were Europeans, who hadfiome to Shut place upwards of 20 years ago, and to raise a strong probability that farther inquiries based upon the information now gained may, after this long lapse of time, yet avail to clear up the mystery which has hung over the gallant explorer’s Lite. A case of self destruction of a most deterlmined character took place yesterday morning, or the. previous night, at Lovelock’s horse bazaar, Bourke street west. A dealer named James MMntyre, living off Wellington street, Collingwood, who had been for some time past given up to habitual drinking, and was warned in rain that some calamity would _ result from his indulgence, was accustomed to attend at tbe~bazaar, and bn Saturday night slept in a hayloft there. Daring next day he ■aid he wanted a nobbier badly, and borrowed a few shillings from a groom, who advised him to go home, and he promised to do so, . bat did not, and again slept in the loft. On Sunday afternoon, being seen lying in a waggon, hewaa f againreeammended togo home, and promised again to do so, but did not, anil ; wraa seen at a!xmt6.«’aloek on -Tuesday■ evening lying in a waggon. Yesterday morning, at about 10 o’clock, M'lntyre was found dead,;hanging to the hoop of a waggon by a striped silk handkerchief which was round his neck. His feet were near the ground, and it was supposed that after fastening the handkerchief round his neck he jnmped forward, and thus choked himself. An inqnest will be held on the body. The deceased is stated to have been a digger and horsedealer in New Zealand, and to be a married man. “ A very good-story,” says the Ararat Advertiser, “is current in the town scent the recent visit of the Chief Secretory. Sir James and his lady travelled in their private carriage, which was horsed at the various stages by Cobb and Co., and driven by one of their most experienced whigs. The Chief Secretory bad scarcely alighted at Scott’s Hotel, ere he was waited upon by. Cobb and Co.’s 1 irrepressible ’ agent, who, while calling ostensibly for orders,, .adroitly contrived to introduce politics, and. talked volubly about the railway and potatoes. Charmed with bis reception and the urbanity of the Chief Secretary, he descended .the stairs, exclaiming gleefully, robbing his .hands, * I was the first to have an interview . .with him.’ He discreetly avoided stating at that time what bad transpired at the 'interview,’ but it leaked out afterwards. In the evening, when - a number of the most influential people of the town waited upon, the Chief Secretary, they were not . a little surprised at the prominence which 'potatoes’'occupied in the preliminary conversation which took place before the subject of therailway was introduced. ' Do you grow your own potatoes 7’ asked Sir James. ‘ No,’ replied Mr Walker, ‘it is not worth onr white to do so while we can get them better and cheaper from Warrnambool.* The Chief Secretary was also under the impression that oats would not thrive in this district, but in that respect he was quickly undeceiven by several large growers who were present. All wondered where Sir James had got his information from, but the next morning the my stery was revealed. As soon as the Chief Secretary had left Ararat, the 'irrepressible’ could'no longer restrain bis exultant feelings; rubbing his bands with glee, he boasted or his achievement of the previous day, how he had stolen a march upon them all, interviewed the Chief Secretory, primed him about the unproductiveness of the country around Ararat, where they could not grow even their own potatoes, and pointing out that the- country between this and Ballarat was still less fertile, and remarkabtelor nothing but-its sterility. -He con-: gratuiated himself upon having stolen; a march' upon the inhabitants of Ararat, knocked the railway on the head, and secured for the coaches a monopoly of the road.”