AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5492, 24 June 1879, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

5 [PEIU&S. •WAKATIPtJ.'] J NiwSouthWales, June 17. i An incident occurred at the execution of the , aboriginal, in conßequenoe of the exiating » agitation for commutation. The Sheriff ex- ' punted a reprieve at the last moment. The [ criminal, noosed by the hangman, waa wait- ' ing. The Wordgate bell rang, and the Sheriff, thinking that a reprieve had arrived, sent a messenger to stop the execution. The 1 executioner really did not or pretended not to hear the word, and pulled the bolt of ' the drop. The Sheriff waß terribly scared. 1 It proved, however, that it waa not a reprieve. The Agricultural Society of New South Wales have received from the Mikado an interesting collection of the productions of Japanese industry. Mr. Butler, Q.C., resuming praotice after an absence through illness, received congratulations of the Bench on his recovery, rone to speak, became pallid, and sank back into the chair dead. The police discovered, in a shanty in the suburbs of Sydney—the residence of a stonemason and his family—the mass of the stolen property from the neighbourhood of Trinity College. The Music Society in London have arranged a local elementary examination in Sydney. A curious case of mismanagement occurred in connection with the opening to the diggers of the police-paddock. A young warder measured off the claims, and set to work, when an order arrived from the Minister that the men were to await the official proclamation a month later. The order was afterwards rescinded. A miserable thief, named Watson, was condemned to three months' imprisonment, for stealing the butter awaiting the Sunday charitable breakfast for the indigent poor, of which he had frequently partaken. A shocking buggy accident occurred in Adelaide to Mr. and Mrs. Byrnes and child. The pair of horses, bolted, and all were thrown out. Byrnes lies in a precarious state. Mrs. Byrnes had the flesh torn and hanging round her face. The child has died from the injuries. A man died through inhaling the fumes of a Gib. packet of dymanite, which ignited, consequent upon being left too near the fire by the deceased. Three new morning papers are announced to appear in Sydney on July 1. The Telegraph and Courier at Id each, and the Advertiser at >,(1. Mr. Angus Mackay, of Sandhurst, is to be manager of the Telegraph. Mrs. Hannah Hall, of Ohio, member of the Society of Friends, who arrived by the San Francisco steamer, is about to hold a meeting to expound her views. The agitation for the commutation of the sentence of death on Metcalf and Wilkinson becomes intense. The outraged girl was brought down to Sydney, and with Metcalf's mother had a personal interview with the Governor, but the injured girl hardly spoke. The Governor was frantically abused at a meeting, and in the Evening News. Tho scaffold was actually erected when the Executive gave way, and commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. The Assembly has approved of the extension of the railway from Jimo to Narana. Considerable excitement was occasioned by tho report that the Kellya were believed to be on board the brig Alexaodra, from Melbourne to Newcastle. The police boarded her on arrival, and found no foundation for the rumour, which originated in Melbourne. Mrs. Martin, who figured in an extraordinary divorce proceedings lately, had her husband bound over to keep the peace. Queensland, June 17A resolution was moved in the Assembly to the effect that £5000 be placed on the estimates as a bonus for the first £500 tons of marketable iron produced in Queensland. The resolution was withdrawn, in view of the depressed iron trade iu other parts of the world. A select committee has been appointed to inquire into the tho railway workshops at Ipsvcich, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, and Brisbaue. Brannelly, the landlord of the Criterion Hotel, Brisbane, was arrested on the charge of manslaughter, by causing the death of his infant child through negligence and lack of nourishment. Ivelly and Leon gave a sacred musio performance on Sunday, in the Brisbane Theatre. The coinpiny san« negro hymns with coloured faces, and Leon, dressed as a I woman, sang " Miserere Woming." The blacks have been spearing horsea in various parts of the Palmer district. Surveyor Starkoy reports that they are very bad near the Mclvor River. In Jack's party ho saw four speared horses, but their own horses escaped molestation. Victoria, June 17. The Victorian Cricket Association is to b« dissolved, and a new association formed under amended rules. The Aye announces that it will be enlarged to 36 c.tl.imus next Monday. The next incoming steamship of the Orient line will be via tho Suez Canal, instead of the Cape, in consequence of the reason of a large number of packages awaiting shipment by her for Sydney for the International Exhibition. At Messina, Major Smith in a speech on Saturday, the 14th, announced that the Government intended to make the franchise fur the Upper House the same as for the Assembly. At a meeting of the unemployed, at which about 300 were present, a memorial was adopted for presentation to the Government. Th ro i 3 no opposition to Mr. Zox in East Melbourne. Much dissatisfaction exists in Fitzroy at the choico'of tho Government candidate, and a Conservative party will bring forward Mr. C. R. Blackett. Thompson, Mace, and Hicken appeared at the Criminal Court on the IGth, and was remanded until the next sittings, as Foley had not been arrested. Foley is quietly teaching boxing, 4c., in Sydney. Lady Normanby's health is still occasioning anxiety. Satisfactory intelligence has been received by the Australian and European Bank from country and suburban branches, and nearly all depositors have consented to coutinue business at the bank. It was agreed to , advance any sum required by the directors i to enable them to make a fresh start, and 1 business has been resumed. Mr. Calwaith, the Queensland Premier, waa married on the 14th to Misß Massa, sister-in-law to his colleague, Mr. Palmer, Colonial Secretary. After July, no private work will be permitted in the Government workshops. On the 12th, upwards of a hundred Chinamen arrived at Georgetown from the Hodgkinson, and about 150 from Gilberton, have ( gone to Lane's Creek, 20 miles distant, where < they are getting coarse gold. Scortischini, a Catholic priest, has been i stabbed by a man named McGolilrick. Tho S priest was trustee of the assailant's late brother, who left all to his wife, save some i insignificant charitable legacies. McGoldrick : resented this disposition. Scorteschini is slowly recovering. j The " Vagabond" races with a gambling maohine. Telegrams from the Hodgkinson state that the Chinese have reported that the Europeans have driven them from work, under the threat | that they would use firearms.