LATER AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4406, 27 December 1875, Page 3

LATER AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

A fire took place on board the ship Sir John Lawrence, lyin<* in Sydney, but was speedily extinguished. The only damage done waa by water, and the wool v 1 1, , have to be discharged. Two vessels, loading at Brisbane for London, were obliged to re-laud some bales of wool, being heated. Mr. Hariin retires from the head-master-ship of the Brisbane Grammar School during the ensuing year. The trustees have invited the co-operation of Dean Stanley to choose a successor. Richard Lee, charged with publishing an obscene publication at Melbourne, was acquitted. In the champion scnV'ng match on the lower Yarra, to-day, between Christie and Cazaly, the former won. Both boats kept together till near the winning post, when Christie drew ahead, winning by half-a-length. After passing winning post, Christie's sliding seat broke and his boat upset, but the occupant £o to land safety. \ man committed suicide at Melbourne, on December 19, by blowing out his brains. His name was Mankoritty. He left a letter, shewing that jealousy and the conduct of hie wife caused him to commit suicide. It was the annivercary of his wedding day, and he determined to scatter h ; 3 bra°"s over his ■wife's body, that she might reuember it. Mr. Longmore, at a meeting last night, said that twenty-one members of the Opposition were pledged to "stone-wall "policy. Mr. Walker's beche-de-mer fishery, near Cooktown, is reported to have realised a profit of £5000 in sixteen months. Sir Alfred Stephen h->s been gazetted in England as lieutenant-Govcrnor of New South Wales. A patient has died at the Melbourne hospital while undergoing an operation under the influence of chloroform. A fire occurred at the Evening News office, Sydney, by which property to the value of nearly £3000 was destroyed. Great dissatisfaction is felt in Sydney at the non-arrival of the Co'ima. In the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Ministers stated, in answer to qnestions, that the Vasco do Gatna and the Cyphre'nes did not leave Sydney in terms of the contract; that the amount due by Mr. H. H. Hall for the use of the Fitzroy Dock was £1029 17s Id; that £3279 9s Id had been paid to the late company of which Mr. Hall was manager in excess of what they were entitlad to; that the penalties under the bond amounted to £50,000; that the Government had not oonsidered the question of regulating the erection of dividing fences of pastoral tenants ; that the Western coal companies were not indebted to the Railway Department; that obscene telegrams had been sent to persons in Yass, and that the matter was under investigation by the department. Mr. J. S. Smith moved the adjournment of the House to call attention to the unsatisfactory replies given by the Postmaster-General to his questions respecting the Pacific mail services. The facts disclosed that the country had been swindled out of £53,279 9s Id under the late contract, and we had no reason to expect that the new service under the management of Mr. IL H. Hall would be in any respect satisfactory to the colony. The hon. member proceeded,to reflect upon the character of the general manager of the ]?acific Company, Mr. H. H. HalL and was called to order by the Speaker. Mr. McElhone expressed his intense disgust at the speech of the hon. member for Wellington. The PostmasterGeneral regretted he was at present unable to afford as full information in reference to the Pacific Mail Service as he could desire, which was owing to the incomplete state in which the busiaess stood, and the necessity the Government were under of consulting the Government of New Zealand. Mr. Hall was the tuthorised agent ef the company, and it wjs not for him to question the propriety of tlat gentleman's appointment. He had refused, with the concurrence of his colleagues, to sanction any departure from the condition! of the contract, and he had caused notice to be served on Mr. Hall that the company would be liable for any penalties which it might incnr through the departure of the Vasco de Gama via Auckland, or the employment of the Cyphrenes in the direct service between Sydney and San Francisco. He also explained the extent of the indebtedness of Mr. Hall to the Government under the previous coutracts, and stated that Mr. Forbes had offered a large sum to be released from his obligations as a surety for Mr. Hall, and that the offer had been referred to the Government of New Zealand for its decision as to whether it might be accepted. After some remarks from Mr. Charles, Mr. Long, and Mr. J. S. Smith, the motion was negatived.

The cricket match played in Sydney between a team from Tasmania and the Sydney Alberta was won by the latter. The strangers •were, however, more successful In a match against a country team. A prospectus of the Queensland Steam Packet Company, capital £250,000. has been issued. The motion brought before the New South Wales Asembly to grant a sum of £2000 to Sir Charles Cowper's widow was negatived. A girl eleven years of age, attempted suicide h Melbourne by poison. She had j been corrected for a fault. The Japanese Commissioners have left Melbourne, per Somerset, for Yokohama. A mat named William Eaatseigh died in Melbourne, it is supposed, under suspicions circumetinces. A laqbelonging to Melbourne, after being three days and nighta lost in the bash, without food, has been recovered. : . A private Loudon telegram received in : Melbourne states that tallow has advanced to £5). Three .thousand cases of salmon sold at 10a; wheat, 6s 4J<3 to 6s 5d ; malt, :10s 7fd. ' Thirty-six feet frontage, on which are two ■hopsin the best part of Collins-street, was •old fir £19,000 to Mr. Glen, music-saller. - Tw|» distinct ahockeof earthquake wwe- ' felt "at Wilson's Promontory on the 2nd Dβ-, cembir, each lasting eight or ten seconds. Thesjirere f ,precedecL, by a' long rambling , Mrtin, •Bβ of the French refugees, has beeij arrested at Marjborough, under a warpnt signed by- the Governor, underthe Exfradition Treaty. He was originally sentenjed;to twenty years, for assassination.-

ThePremieroftheNewSouthWalesFarliament, acting in the capacity of Treasurer pro tern made his financial statement in the Legislative Assembly this evening. Taking first that portion of it affecting commercial circles, ;we may state that he proposed to reduce the number of dutiable articles ; from fifty-seven t» tnirty-three. Those which are to be added to the free list are : Bacon and and hams, gunny bags, bicuits, blue, cordage, doors, ginger, maizena and cornflour, mustard, oilmen's stores (sauces and pickles), paper (wrifcting and fancy), pepper, rope, sago, salt, sashes, shot, shutters, spices, timber (dressed), timber (rough and undressed), vinegar. The whole of the annual revenue collected from these only amounted to £30,118. and he proposes to reeoup the revenue for its abolition by increasing the duty on manufactured tobacco, to 2s 3d, and and on leaf to 2s 6d. Those are the [only alterations in the tariff intended at present, but Mr. Robertson expressed a hope that it might be simplified still more next year. When Mr. Porster made his financial statement last April, he estimated that the surplus at the end of 1574 would be £805,384, instead of which it has increased to £895,055. This year's surplus was, of course, only estimated; but, if the estimate should prove correct there will be a net increase of £414,368. The Premier anticipates that at the end of this year the accumulated surplus from previous accounts will be £1,424,045. The revenue for 1876 he estimates at £4,166,900, and the expenditure at £3,917,007, leaving a further surplus of £249,892 to be added to previous credit balances, from which he proposes to do what has never yet been done by any colony in Australia, namely, to pay off, m one year, from consolidated revenue, £735,800 of the publie debt, and then held a surplus of £938,137. In a very concise form the actual state of the public debt as contracted, and further responsibilities a3 authorised, was stated, showing that the colony now owes £11,473,437, and there is £2,064,733 more negotiable without consulting Parliament. Next year's debentures are provided for, and there will be no more redeemable until 1888. With all the figures and accounts submitted, there were none that presented snch a satisfactary aspect as that which showed that on the 31st of October the actual balance at credit of the Consolidated Revenue Fund was £1,901,690. The Culgau Castle, from Liverpool to Melbourne, out two hundred days, has been posted as missing. Pifot Gaunson, of Melbourne, has had his certificate suspended for six months, for offering a bribe to (Captain Payne, the harbourm.jster. ; j ■ Funds are being' raised for the erection of a homoeopathic hospital in Melbourne. Several Lirge sums have been promised. A private London telegram, dated December 10, states that wool is unchanged in price. The new sales begin on February 15. 'Jin is quoted at £80. A_ South Australian farmer, after persisting in a lawsuit for a number of years, has succeeded in recovering an estate worth £20,000. The steamship Taiaroa, 299 tons, from Glasgow, bound to Dunedin, New Zealand, via Cape Town, put into Hobart Town for coals,, She brought the intelligence that her commander, Captain Gilpin, K.N., died at sea on the 3rd ultimo. While at dinner on thE 2nd ultimo, two days after leaving Cape Town, Captain Gilpin was observed to suddenly fall back in his chair as if paralysed. He was removed from the table by the officers, who used every endeavour to bring him to. After his seizure he never spoke, and died next evening, On the evening of the 4th the body was committed to the deep. It is supposed that the cause of death was a, paralytic stroke. The deceased was formerly master of H.M.S. Valiant, and left the navy for the purpose of settling in New Zealand, with his wife and three young children—boys, aged respectively 8, 10, and 12, and was entrusted with the work of taking the Taiaroa to her destination, and on board the vessel are his wife and family. Captain Gilpin ■was p. native o£ Plymouth, England, and 46 years old. Twenty pounds damages were given against a Melbourne detective officer for an illegal arrest.

Letters received from England by the mail state that a very strong professional eleven cricketers are coining to the colonies at the end of the year. The team will include all the best players. Sir Redmond Barry -will shortly leave for England, on leave of absence. Hovrlen Brothers, tinworkers, Melbourne, have called a meeting of creditors : liabilities, £6000. The New South "Wales Government has Sxicreaeed the duty on tobacco by 3d on manufactured and 6d on leaf tobacco. The duty now is 2s 3d on the former and Is Gdon the latter. The captain and several of the crew of the Lady Darling, schooner, arrived in Queensland from a labour cruise, -wounded with spears. In the case of Captain Macfarlane, of the emigrrnt ship Kapunda, ch»rged at Townsville with a breach of the 35th clause of the Passengers Act, the evidence mras conflicting. He was fined £100, and £20 for surgeon's expenses. The lesser penalty was inflicted, as no actual suffering from short provisions ■was traced. The fine was paid. A verbal notice of appeal wa» given, and the captain is prepared to enter into a bond for £10,000. A large number of old South Australian civil servants are availing themselves of the provisions of the Act for obtaining leave to visit Europe. Mr. Elder, of Adelaide, has bought the racehorse Gang Forward, which won the Two Thousand Guinea Stakes in 1873. The Kev. J. Thorne, Bible Christian, and head of the Good Templars in Adelaide, has been appointed emigration lecturer in England.

By the brig E. K, Bateson, Captain Eury, which arrived in Sydney from the South Sea Islands, the following communication has been received with respect to the murder of Keyse, which we have already reported : — " Gilbert Islands, latitude 1.51 N., longitude 173.4 E., October 12, 1875. — Last December Mr. St. John Curtis Keyse was landed on this island by Captain Eury. These was also landed with him a young white woman, who gives her name ae Mrs. Glover, and says ehe is an Englishwoman. On the 29th of December, 1874, he received from Ten Tiraau, the principal chief or king of this island, a writteu permission to land and live on any part of this island that he (Mr. Keyse) should wish, also promising full protection to the life and property of Mr. Keyse. On June 2nd, 1875, Mr. Keyse was shot, and instantly killed by a native of this island, vrho ie still at liberty, and will not be punished by the nativesof these islands unless they are compelled to do so. Immediately on hearing of the murder, I went to the village where Keyes had lived, and assisted Mr. E. EandoJph in bringing to this village the corpse, woman, children, and things. As the woman and children were left without protection, I took them to the mission premises, placing them in a house occupied by the family of a Hawiian iniseionary, where they have been 1 ever since. The woman is, and has been, in destitute cirenmstances, and has wished to leave this place at the first opportunity. Captain Eury consents to take her and her children to Sydney, where she says she has friends. I shall accordingly place her on his (Captain Eury's) brig on Thursday, the 14th inst/, to be taken to Sydney. Thia letter I write at the request of Captain Eury.—Yours truly, Horace J. Taylor, Missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." Commodore Hoskine has hoisted hiu broad pennant on board ELM.B. PearL Master Kruse, violinist, who was sent home from Melbourne by public subscription, ipassed a very favourable examination in Germany. --■■-•• ■ ■ - _ Captain Bedwell's recent surrey ot ttte Queensland coast shows thai Lady Elliotts Wand, Bunkers, and Capricorn groups, 'were ascertained to-iie-tbree miles too far to the eastward of the position laid down m wanting charts ; Bock Cod Shoal -was found to be nine miles west by south. o£ ite assigned position. Several new shoals were discovered in the vicinity of Broadsound,

being of a shifting character. Captain Bedwell will be unable to complete the coast i survey to Cape Palmerston before the end of ! next year, in consequence of a minute examination being necessary. The new Theatre Royal in Sydney has !been opened, and is much admired. I A qurntity of jewellery stolen in Melbourne has been recovered through information given by the thief. . Mr. Samnel Bennet, proprietor of the ''Sydney JSveniny News, has been tried and acquitted on a charge of contempt of Court. .The alleged contempt" Tras by commenting upon a case before the trial had concluded. A short time ago the Spanish authorities at the Ladrone or Marianne Islands arrested, Captain Hayes, of the brig Leonora, an American shipmaster, on a charge of kidnapping, and he has been, it is believed, removed to Manila, to await his trial. The Hotiglcong Times learns that two or three years aga a Captain Hayes, also of the brig Leonora, was arrested by the British Consul at Samoa, in the Pacific, on a serious charge I of kidnapping; but befcre he could be sent to Australia to take his trial he escaped on parole. Hr. Hume Rothery, to whom the ca?e was referred by the Home Government strongly evpressed the opinion that if ever Captain Hayes came again within British jurisdictioa he ought to be tried for the grave offences imputed to him. I understand that the Committee of the Aborigines Protection Society have represented the above facts to Lord Derby, and that his lordship has directed the British Consul at Manila to endeavour to ascertain whether the Captain Hayes who has been arrested by the Spaniards is identical with the person of that name whose alleged piratical career in the Pacific occupies no inconsiderable space in recent Blue-books.