A U S T R A L I A N .

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 07, Issue 239, 7 October 1872, Page 2

A U S T R A L I A N .

[In addition to our telegraphic news by the . Claud Hamilton on. Fiiday, we received another despatch from Auckland, which arrived jby the Alexandra trom Sydney, and from which ;we cull such items as liad. not reachedius by the former route ]. . . ,- -. -''<:' ' MELBOURNE.'}'k i '."*'..",-.'."•..'■.'.'.' Hugh Sco(tt, tho accountant of tho Bank of Australasia !at': BalUrat, has been arrested for embfzzling £400, and sentenced to^twelvemohtK's'' imprisonment. '. '-•. ' • " ■'■ "■' '-:':-■■>'Y_ The Education Bill has been denounced-from 1 the altar, of the.Roman Catholic Churchat.Balfast, in this colony.; . > , ..<■' „}; ,-,-.- 4-; Ihe Exhibition opens on November^..- *: '<■.. 5 A cargo of Java sugars has been soldat £38.to i £40; # •:•■.• -j :•«•:'!--' s -y,-->. Considerable "sales of Guinness' Stout are reported; 120.hogsheads realised:£6 6s.'! .1 '■. f,_f Californiah advices quote sugar a't' J£&7 to £42. Mauritius news states that sugarsarevery scarce^ Yelibws-and soft whites' at extreme rates. ..-■-.; ,: •• • : SYDNEY. ..r •<• >X? f The funeral, of Charles Nathan,.was ;,atten&ecl, by all the, principal residents. 'The procession was a mile'in length. ' ; '•"; ''k'. '" : '-";,''.,' At an adjourned meetiiig of tjie'g'eantienV^do "of them formed themselves-intb a--ferciniile Marine Reform Association. ' Tlie chairman. Mr John^ Lueka's,-M.L. A., announced that branches would? be formed. at Auckland and Brisbane, kn k A large niirhber bfrnen are returning from the Charter's.Towers diggings" without,money... „A,. late'telegram. stales,that the police are 'unableito' maintain order;- and ttiitAne men tlir'eaieb.to burn, down the stores';^and rush tbe steahfers. ' ' :.: '"'/'..!•".'','■' 'NEWoAS'rLEI,,! k'Z< "'k'.':ll The barque" James ,Hamnieli -has,;been;;-pur-: chased by McKay, of Canterbury, for £3665"/ , ■ , ' '' '''""''* '"ADELAIDE. The Trc.isurer's budget was .delivered ;on the 26th September. /Tdifc|reVenile for {tl_e year was £727,060"sh0'wing a deficit oY £30,6*06."' The Customs lievenuq was 7 a uuarter ot a, million... Lahd"sale's' realised £i'5 0,000;: ''railway' reVenu'e'"' £30,000, i-,: r ;0r..f:.-..r.-: 'y ■.:.,:,- 4V ■.!>■■{ A":', :Y, For eontfn}ta^ri ip tf,new^ is^fmu.th prge.

Fijian debentures to the amount of £3000, bearing 10 per cent, interest, have! been placed in Auckland at £80. A shot fired in the face, of Bell Hill, Dunedin, a few days since, is stated to.have brought down 2000 tons of debris.^ The charge of powder was 2251b!?, deposited in •a bole fifty-two feet deep and four inches in diameter. .'0 ,': . i:- 7 : - ; ' . '•'•■' Postal Service Report. — The thirteenth annual report of the PostmasterGeneral of* the Colony contains a deal of interesting information, and shows the progress that is being made in this department, a steady increase, being displayed in each of its branches. During 1871, fifty new officoa were opened, and thirteen closed. In -that year there were 188 inland mail services in the Colony, of an aggregate. length.' of 5096 miles. Of these services, 64 were performed by coach or mail cart, 92 on horseback, 13 on foot, 15 by water, and 4 by. rail way. The number of miles travelled by these during they ear was i;050.368 at a cost of about £23,000, being. an average of only o^d. per mile. The number, of head offices in the colony was 12, and of iul>~ offices 466. The revenue shows aninprease of about £4000 on that of the ..previous year, being £47,054 against £43,086. Of registered letters th? re' were 34,679, showing! . an increase of 4000 over the previous year. Of money orders, there were issued 36,291, the amount transmitted being £1.57,397. Of this sura there were transmitted to places within the Colony, by post £77,214, and by telegraph £11,322. To the. United Kingdom, 44,197 were sent, and to the Australian Colonies, £24,653. The orders issued at places beyond the Colony for payment in New Zealand represented, by the United Kingdom, £6217, by the Australian Colonies, £5914. The revenue derived from the commission charged on the orders issued in 1871 was £2608, being £241 in excess of that received in 1870. A reduction has recently been made in the commission charged on. Telegraph Money Orders from sixpence to fourpence in the pound. During/the short period which .has elapsed since the reduction was made, the increase in the number issued in this class of orders indicates > that this mode of transmitting small sums of money within tlie colony is liable to be largely made use of. Of the statistics showing the amount of business transacted in the Postoffice Savings' Bank, we have already published an abstract. The alterations in the cdiors of the postage stamps, which at the time, of its being effected gave rise to much speculation as to the possible reasons for the change is thus explained:-—-'' lt having been discovered that Ihe colors in which certain of the denominations of the .postage- stamps were printed were liable, by chemical process,' to be bo altered as to resemble tbe colors of stamps of higher value; in order to the protection of the revenue it was deemed advisable to alter the color of such stamps. These are now so arranged that the.'effect of any change in the. colors will be to assimilate them to those of postage stamps ,pf lower value." To the report -is attached a comparative table showing the revenue derived from the several postal districts in the colony in each year from 1858 to 1871 inclusive. The following were the amounts received during" tho last named year:--- Wellington, £24,040; OtagOj £15,044; Auckland, £12,549; Canterbury, £9072; Westland, £3395; Nelson, -£2556; Southland, £1696; Hawke's Bay, £1569; Marlborough, £1201; Taranaki, £820. The total revenue for the year was £70,249, againßt £55,780, in the previous year, and '£6o24 in 1858. 'The' most interesting event of the week hnVbeeh the result: of the great ocean race beetween thai steamships Great Britain and Northumberland. Accustomed as: we are to tbe regular movements and punctual time of. steamers,; it yet appears wonderful that two vessels leaving two differmt. ports, of England, following their own tracks, and not sighting each other on the way , should make that long run in times, differing only' by a few hours. * Tlie interest of the veryjlarge number of friends of the " Old Britain " was raised to a very high pitch when the Northumberland got into portyfirst, and the %rrivaUof thel:old ship the second day after,. and the news of th'eexcellent ruja.she h*_d made, occasioned the utmost satisfaction. We often hear of the great .improvements of steamboats, engine^ andmacbihery ;wK^ m_de, J but J it._eeras^ alf ialo leay efy^sielsiasrto speed pretty m iich as theiy ,were. ;K I*iis : evident j* thaiwthe i old ' ship of. Brunei,, the (k^el of which; was laid y do whWom'e 'kSty'je&ri ago, when oceali steanr.- ;; navigation; was ;in"lts infancy,' is at;tbis .j daj*7 afc>J|e ijfteiltf to hefld hser 'own against a young rival "-possesßing all ; the v. modern^ 7bi^f^je^ more miles in a day than the old orie: ; ; __:! usaal^the fact of:such passages being made, Clia£__o^j^y^^

nothing that we did not know before. The shortness of these runs may be taken as affording proof that vessels" steaming home that,, way would be making a very long passage against prevalent head winds. Bat for a mail route, we want a course which can be run at even times pretty well all tbo year round, and which is as practicable one way as the other. — Australasian. A Representative Parrot — Amongst the distinguished colonists of high: reputelately returned after a European tour, says the Australasian, is the clever talking parrot who has for some years been an institution at a leading Melbourne hotel. His owner intended to win the first prize with him at the Cryslal Palace laternational Show of talking birds, but was, unfortunately, too late in entering the competitor. He, however, entered the exhibition with the bird on his shoulder, and our feathered representative is said to have utterly confounded the ornithological congress by lis volubility, his impertinence^ his slang, and great powers of insult. No member of any known Legislative Assembly could have excelled him, and it is questionable whether a more thoroughly representative, example, of. - a Victorian politician could be selected as Agentgeneral. There is, however, a truthful directness about him incompatible with diplomacy. He had scarcely been restored to his accustomed corner after his circumnavigation of the globe, when an old acquaintance made some friendly adva_ces, which were very promptly .repelled with the allegation, " You're drunk, you blackguard," a statement which could not be truthfully contravened. What May, Haepen to a Frog in Australia.— -We; are.indebted to a friend, whose veracity is unquestionable, for the following 6tory : Some few years- ago he was travelling in Queensland during the dry season, when ior month after . month no rain falls to moisten and refresh the thirsty land, accompanied by a black boy who was in his employ. The water failed them, and when they were beginning to suffer, for. want of it, they- came on the bed of a creek which had evidently been a considerable stream, but which was perfectly dry. The gentleman was disappointed, but the boy said, " Neber mind, massa; me find him prog. " The master said he didn't want prog, he wanted water.. "« Neber mind, me find," was the reply, and thereupon he commenced with a stick scooping a hole in the now dried creek. Presently he cried out. " Look massa, do you see him track ? The gentleman couldn't make out what the lad meant, he saw no tracks. At length, however, the mystery of the "prog" was solved. The boy put his fingers into a corner of the hole he had scooped out,, and pulled out a fine frog, well distended; taking it between his finger and thumb, be squeezed about a tablespoouful of water out of it, and then set to work again and caught more, until they managed to get a pint of water, which fhey boiled, and made their tea. It is well known that when the dry weather comes, even in this part of the. country, the frogs embed themselves in the mud, and remain close prisoners until therein comes. For a good proof, only go out any evening after rain,, and you will hear how merry the poor froggies are; but we never heard of their, being put to such a novel use before.