AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4404, 24 December 1875, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

A telegram from Brisbane states : "The escaped Communists found on Double ' state that the were engaged for nearly three years in making their boat. They made their, escape from New Caledonia in daylight, cutting the boat's painter, and setting, sailwhen unobserved; but they were afterwards' pursued by two small steamers, and fired on, which obliged the escapees to lighten their; boat by throwing nine outof 17 sacks of flour' overboard. The breeze freshening to half a gale the boat sailed well, and outstripped the steamer. The were without a compass : but one of the number was able to take rough., calculations. On the eighth day out the last drop of water was consumed. They reached l<-nd four days later, their feet and legs being- much swollen. M. Simon, the French consul of Sydney, writes to the Sydney Morning Herald:—"l see by the telegram' in - Wednesday's Herald, that five escapees from New Caledonia, and who have arrivedin Queensland, are said to be Communists. X have just received froqj the Governor of New Caledonia ec description of the men, who are ordinary convicts sent to gaol with hard labour, two for robbinginhabited houses, and they were both sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with hard labor; A third man, for issuing bad coin and r'istri'iuting it, was sentenced for life with hard labor. A fourth man for robbery under aggravated' circumstances, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with hard labor. The fifth man, for commiting robbery and murder, was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment with hardlabor. The boat was not built by them, but was robbed irom the Government of New Caledonia. They were and were loading flour, and whilst the" officer in charge of them was in Tiig office writing, they took advantage of his absence and made sail with 17 bags of flour belonging to the ■ Government of New Caledonia." A match between nine members of the Geelong Chess Club and the third class ofthe Melbourne Chess Club took place on ths 4th December at the rooms of the latter. There were 19 games played, of which ths Melbourne men won 10, the Geelong men 2, and 1 game was drawn. The losers were entertained by their opponents at luncheon. Referring to the recent murder on Mr. Wreford's Marrada Station, on the Darling-, a correspondent of the DeniUquin ChronicU states that on the 15th November two men, named Anderson and Brown, engaged at the station, quarrelled, and that Anderson pulled Brown into the river, kept his head under the water till he was drowned, and then drowned himself. With the aid of blacks, the bodies have been recovered. Mr. Richardson, P.M., held an inquest, and a verdict of wilful murder was returned against Anderson. Two men who were looking on at the time of the murder never interfered, faaring that their fate would be the same. Both Anderson and Brown were pretty drunk, having got grog from one of the steamers that passed up the river. The Postmaster-General of New South Wales stated in the Assembly on December 2 that Mr. Forbes, one of the sureties for the Pacific mail former contract with which Mr. H. H. Hall was connected, had made a proposal through some of his friends for the • payment of a sum of mcney in order to obtain a release from his obligation under the contracts. The proposal had been referred to the New Zealand Government, and until it had been considered by that; Government he did not feel at liberty to mention the amount. It was, nowever, more than sufficient to cover all the costs in connexion with lair proceedings, and was, in his opinion, suffi-' cient to induce the two colonies to release Mr. Forbes from the penalties. It seems probable, from the official correspondence published in the Sydney Morniyg,Herald, that the execution of the bronze statue of Captain Cook, to be erected in Hyde Park, Sydney, will be entrusted to Mr. T. Woolner, who has executed statues of Lord Bacon and Prince Albert for Oxford; of" Lord Macaulay for Cambridge, of William the Third for the Imperial Parliament, of Lord Lawrence for Calcutta, and "of Mr. Godley for New Zealand. Mr. Woolner believes that the statue, including plinth, willbe 13ft. high. This is necessitated by the 3 height of the pedestal, which is unusually large, in order to allow the figure to be sees by every vessel entering Port Jackson. A special general meeting of the member* of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation was held in the hall at the rear of the Rourkestreet Synagogue, oh Sunday the sth, with reference to the appointment of a minister. About twenty-five persons were present, and the president, Mr. Simeon Cohen, occupied the chair. The resolution carried in last was rescinded, and it was resolved that a minister be appointed at a salary of £500 per annum, with an allowance for a suitable residence, the appointment to be for fir« years, the appointee to be paid half-salaiy - from the date of embarkation to arrival at Melbourne, and if married, his life to b* ' assured in the sum of £1,000. Bootless Temptation.—A member of tb» ; Colored Church was the other evening ,co&.- : versing earnestly with an acquaintance, and. , seeking to have him change into better paths, but the friend said that ha was .too often ' tempted to permit him to bccome a Christian. " Whar's yer backbone, dat ye can't rose up and stand temptation ?' exclaimed the good_ mar. " I was dat way myself once. Right in dis yere town I had a chant}© r t& &teal a pair e' boots —mighty nice ones, too. Nobody iraa dar to see me, and I reached- out my . .hand., ah(J i'de debbil said take 'em. Den; a &oofi~ sperit whisppred /uj-, ma -.}et JBoo~te alone." '' An' you didn't takb 'em ?" " Ne; sah —not much. I took a pair o' cheap shoes' off de shelf an' left dem boots alone -". Vickiburgh Herald. -" oL (sor continuation of new tee Sqgphetmk)