LATER AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1445, 6 July 1868, Page 3

LATER AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

SYDNEY,

EARTHQUAKE IN NEW SOUTH: WALE 3. By the arrival of the Lorenzo Sabine, we have received Sydney papers to the 22nd ult. The principal item of news is the occurrence of an earthquake in New South "Wales, which, while it would scarcely have caused a Weliin"--ton man to turn in his bed, gave rise to no sligEt consternation in the sister colony. It seems to have been most severely felt at West Maitland, where the S-t/dney Herald's correspondent speaks of; *'lalling ceilings, .broken glasses from shelves, ornaments from mantlepieces, &c." At Windsor, too, it was felt as severely

The trembling was felt most by perfons in bed who had not quite fallen asleep, though many who were aaloop were awakened. Accounts vary as to thu effect of the shock, md seem to differ according to the particular position the person was in who felt the sensation. Some say it was like aa if their bed was rocking, others complain of a forcible up-heaving. The (•■rockery in some houses rattled, and the window* shook aa if a violent atorra was raging. Persons who felt the shock became very much alarmed, and various were the imaginations of the cause. Many were under the delusion that robbers had invaded their premises, and made diligent search to discover the delinquents but the mystery could not bo solved. The vibration was experienced "cry generally throughout the district. A child of six or seven years of age was pitched out of bed. The night was calm and clear.

| Hobses for New Zealand.—i. mob of broken and unbroken horses (says Saturday's Newcastle Chronicle), numbering about sixty, were yesterday shippod on board the barque Bongal, now loading here for New Zealand. They were recently purchased at an auction sale in Maitland, and were, we understand, bred on well-known stations in t!ie interior. Some of them looked very fine animals. There is h good demand for horses at piescnt in New Zealand, Tub Harobaveu Teagedv.—An bust of thb Mubdeiieb.—The following ia a copy of a telegram roceived by the Inapector-Qeneral of Police from sub-inspector Medley, giving some particulars respecting the arrest and identification of a Chinaman, believed to be the murderer of Mr. Leo, near Hargraves: —''A Chinaman arrestod half a mile from ths scene of the outrage. Found in hiß hut a daggerknife in a sheath, a Crimean shirt, saddle, and some sperm candles in a paper case. All these articles have blood marks upon them. The caudle case has a brand corresponding with that on those stolon from Mr. Zee's i-tore. The prisoner's hut had been previously eearched, but the things found subsequently were not then in it—they must have been put'in after the search was made. The Chinaman's boot agroes with the track left hy the murderer. Hi* statements aro all contradictory. The daughter of the murdered man identified him by his voice amongst ten other Chinamen as the man who came to tlio place and asked her father for beef immediately before he (her father) ciied out for help. If the man arrested is not the actual murderer, ha i» an accomplice."

Chaegb op Embezzlement.—Some surprise wa? occasioned in the city oil Saturday afternoon by the alleged disappearance of a confidential clerk to Messrs. Alderson and Sons. His employers, on discovering serious defalcations in his accounts, at once placed the matter in the hands of the police. Last evening Detective Blootnfield succeeded in arresting the mit-sing man in a hotel in George-street, and hu will be brought up at tho Police Court this morning. Market reports, telegrams, he., will be found in another part of the paper.

VICTORIA. I3y way of Newcastle, we have Victorian intelligence to the 18th ultimo, and Tr.smaniau to the 18th. Flour we notice has a downward tendency in the markets of both these colonies. The only political'news is the following:—

La«t night, o:iys the Argus of tho 18th, some progress was at length uiade.in tho Legislative Assembly towards the unlocking of the Treasury, so ardently desired by tho pnb:ic at large. Th«i anticipation of an exciting debate had drawn together a considerable number of the public to listen to the discussion, and the galleries vrere well filled. Tho Houie itßelf did not present so remarkable an appearance aB it has done on some previous occasions, the Ministerial benches being moderately well filled, while those of the Opposition were not so crowded as they sometimes have been. Mr. M'Culloch's motion for the suspension of the standing orders to facilitate the introduction of hia motion on the subject of Supply, was opposed by Mr. Fellows, on the ground that it was without precedent, the standing orders never being suspended when opposition was made, even by a single member. He stated, however, that the Ministry would not resort to any factious course, but would leave the matter to the House itself, after a warning as to the dangerous consequences which might result from the adoption of the pmctice sanctioned by tho motion. After a short debate, in which Mr. Higinbotham, Mr. VPriron, and Mr. Duffy argued in favor of the power of tho fiousato suspend the standing orders, the motion was agreed to. It was then agroed. on the motion of Mr-Langton, that Supply should be granted, and hia Excellency's speech was ret'orred to the House in committee, and a resolution in favor of Supply being granted was adopted, reported to tho House, and agreed to. Mr. Langton then moved that the House should go into committee on the following evening, but Mr. M'Cullooh proposed Tuesday, which wai agreed to on a division by thirty nine to sixteen. Mr. Langton taunted hon. members opposite with making great professions of a desire to relieve the distress of the country, while at the same time they were constantly placing unnecessary obstacles in the way. Mr. Higinbotham therefore suggested Friday, in which Mr. McCulloch concurred and bo tho House said Friday. Mr. Fellows stated that tie Estimates were ready, and would hare been laid upon the table next day bat for the last rote of the House, and added (in answer to Mr. Duffy) that they would answer the question, whether the Ministry proposed to inolude the Darling grant. The notable dovice of suspending the standing orders, therefore, has merely been ft waste of ingenuity and time, and—as Mr. Fellows humorously pointed out —has literally done nothing whatever to assist the early bringing on of the question of Supply, which, in the ordinary course, would have coma on on Friday. At a later hour Mr. M'Oulloch'i motion, that a grant of £2,756,805 was required, and that an address to his Excellency, praying for such an appropriation, should be presented, was adopted. A new plan of meat-preserving has been perfected at Oolbinabbin, Mr.' J. F. Winter's station. An antiseptic is used, and the carcasjs are then perpared for the market in a patent meat-preserving chamber. It is stated that the process iB the result of two years' of study and experiment by Mr. Winter and Mr. H. Thompson, an engineer. One of the Lincolnshire rams offered for sale at the recent sale at Barwon Park has since died, and the fleece when stripped off weighed' 13 J lbs., being an unusual quantity for so young a sheep. An instance of the durability of colonial wood, the Hobart Town Mercury reports, has been witnessed at Mr. Robert Walker's, mill. A water-wheel, constructed of Huon pine, which has been at work on this gentleman'B premises fur nearly fifty years, has recently undergone examination, and has been found to have suffered little from its lengthy service,' being almost as sound as on the day of its erection. The Mattbithts.—From Mauritius, the Melbourne | Argus has dates by the brig Edith Smith to the 2nd of May. The files contain no news of any importance, beyond the wreck of tie French ship Coblert, at Point-au-Diable. The crew were saved. The ship was on her pasßage from Nantes to Reunion, with' a general cargo, when the occurrence took i place.