AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6000, 9 February 1881, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

[per S.s. ringarooma.] JSTEW SOUTH WALES. - Sydney, February 3. ; At Parramatta, > a man was stuck up and robbed'by two men on Sunday, and severely beaten about the head. The robbers afterwards tried to enter a dwelling.

There is a reported pearl fishing discovery on the.Ovens river.- A prospecting party is out in'the same locality for gold. At Corbargo, a rush has taken place six miles up the coast, and two miles from Corunna.. There are about fifty on the field, and the prospects are three and a-half pennyweights to the dish in the highest instances. The ground is private property, and only a limited number are at present allowed to work. At Newcastle, a Scotchwoman, named Jane Mack, has died 99 years and ten months old. She was in full possession of her faculties at the time of her death. The Government have made considerable reductions in the rates of carriage of goods on the railways, especially agricultural and.' dairy produce. In regard to railways, recently prepared statistics show that after paying the working expenses, there will be a net return of £499,308, which pays over 4 per cent, on the capital invested on lines open for traffic, or nearly 1 per cent, in excess of profit yields in 1579. The Government has appointed ■Mγ. Sharpe to be magistrate' at Temora, in place of Mr. Dalton, who lately disappeared. Efforts to float the Collaroy are suspended till the next high tides. She lies in a deep bed of sand for the time being, and has the appearance of being ~ At Temora magnificent stone was got fi"bm Burke's reef casing, which yielded highly , payable prospects. The excitement is increasing in the neighbourhood of the claims in the vicinity, which are being actively worked: Every inch of available ground is being contested. Splendid gold-bearing stone was struck in Fahey's claim. The Parramatta boy, Critchson, who was shot by his uncle, Gazen, is almost recovered. VICTORIA. Melbourne, February 3. Mr. John Mclntyre contests Maiden on Mr. Service's resignation. The Constitutional Committee have selected Mr. Walsh as its candidate for East Melbourne. Mr. Coppin placed himself unreservedly in the hands of the committee. At a bush fire at Lobbarde, near Heathcote, a man named Robinsou was burned to death. £5000 worth of the 6 per cent, debentures of the borough of Sale were put in the market, and tenders were sent in for £42,000 worth, all above par. One institution offered / io take the whole at £112 lls 7d. / The consideration of the charge of heterodoxy against the Rev. C. Strong, of the Scots Church, in respect of his views respecting the atonement, has been postponed until next month./ Mr. Berry has written to Mr. Gaunson urging him to retire from the contest for East Melbourne in favour of Mr. Levi, the Ministerialist candidate. The sufferers by the late railway collision are progressing favourably. Experiments have been made with a loaded train on the Beaufort line, where a steep gradent occurs. No difficulty was found in stopping a heavier lode than Newman's engine was drawing. The BanK of Victoria declai-ed a dividend of 9 per cent., with £9327- carried forward. The National Insurance Company declared a dividend of S per cent., with a bonus of 6d per share. The Commercial Bank has declared a dividend of S per cent., and £5000 carried to the reserve. Dr. Cairns' funeral on Tuesday was largely attended. The service was previously held in Chalmers Church. The ministers of all Protestant denominations were present. A meeting was held on Wednesday, to consider the desirableness of erecting a fitting testimonial to the memory of Mr. Lyster. At the Hospital Committee meeting on Tuesday, notice of motion was given for a general inquiry into the management of the institution. Mr. Graham has been rescued uninjured, after being 105 hours at the bottom of a well on Perricoota station. One leg was held fast by a slab. A man named Watson was arrested for shooting at a sjirl called Perry, Fitzroy. Jealousy is said to be the cause. Disagreement has arisen between Mr. Clark and the Harbour Trust. The former will not permit the silt to be deposited on any part of Hobson's Bay. The trust in their reply pointed out that if the decision was adhered to £40,000 worth of machinery would be rendered useless, and they would be compelled to dismiss the whole of the employes engaged in dredging. No outright betting on the Autumn Meeting has taken place. The bookmakers lay a thousand to four on the double—Cup and Handicap. Porter, the engine-driver injured during the recent explosion at Sandhurst, is dead. Tbe steamers Despatch and Albatross arrived from the wreck of the Hereford on Tuesday. The former brought a large cargo, and returned to the wreck on Tuesday. Only two pumps were taken by the Despatch on the last trip, both of which got damaged. Additional pumping gear will be despatched, It is stated that the cargo, brought from the wreck to Melbourne, will pay the cost of the purchase of the wreck and expenses. Four Chinamen were arrested on Tuesday for making cigars without a license in Little Bourke-street. It is". likely the police will arrest more.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Adelaide, February 3.

Some time ago the Government wrote to the Canadian Government asking that arrangements might be made to allow our wines to be admitted into the Dominion duty free. A reply has been received, declining to enter into arrangements on the ground that the Canadian Cabinet had increased the duties on all classes of imported goods, for the purpose of carrying on heavy undertakings. Six members of the Council have ceased to hold seats by the effluxion of time. To-day writs for the elections were sent out, and only await their turn. A gathering of farmers and others at Mount Gambier yesterday met Mr. Oliver Cooper, from Victoria, who was ready to undertake the management of a factory for the profitable utilisation of milk, potatoes, and pigs. The gentlemen present agreed to bear the cost of procuring the apparatus to make experiments in milk-condensing, and to use a hundred gallons a day, in order to test the market. If successful, a company will be formed, and the industry immediately commenced on a large scale. Bacon-curing and potatoe-preserving will follow. Mr. Fowler, of Adelaide, who lias abandoned the idea of establishing a cheese factory, says that it will take a hundred tons of preserved milk if the quality is good. The case of Mr. McLoughlin, the doctor ©f the Sorata and Mr. Derrington, the editor of the Port Adelaide News, in reference to the death of a woman passenger by the Sorata, from neglect, is settled. The defendant is to publish an expression of regret that the article complained of was unaccompanied by the verdict of the Coroner's jury ; each party to pay their own costs.

QUEENSLAND. Brisbane, February 3. Mr. Watson has sent in a progress report of the flying survey of the trans-coutinental line from Roma to Carpentaria. He arrived at Charlesville on the 21st ult., and says that the country may be classed as similar to that between Stawell and Murtoa in Victoria. He believes that an efficient line can be constructed at a reasonable cost. A third of the adjoining land is excellent, but scrnbby. Half of the land will eventually come under cultivation. The two men named -Morley who were proceeding to Mackay in an open boat, which capsized in a squall, reached Rattray Island by swimming, whence they were rescued by the Claverhouse. A Portuguese barque, the Yellers, from Port Douglas to Melbourne, with a cargo of cedar, was wrecked on the Pioneer rocks, Whit Sunday. The master and crew were landed at Bowen on Tuesday.