Intercolonial News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 271, 7 April 1877, Page 19

Intercolonial News.

The residents; of certain portions of New South Wales, are . in;arms against the present extraordinary sales of country lands to squatters, and a correspondent writing from, Moulemein to the Deniliquin Chronicle, urges that a petition be presented from the children of the colony that is,, from those. under, sixteen years of : age and able to, sign-—to. his .Excellency the : Governor, or to Parliament, on the subject. It is argued that if the present course is persisted in the result mustinevitably follow that they will foe driven from their native land, as there will be little or no employment in the country, whilst the towns will contain a surplus population. Few colonial Governors have possessed finer abilities or evinced a greater eagerness to learn all there was to be learned about the colonies as a whole than Sir Charles Du Cane, late Governor of Tasmania, and it is very pleasing to find such a man bearing testimony to the capabilities of the colonies. Speaking in his county—Essex—lately, Sir Charles said: “I do not believe in any great financial or other catastrophe impending over Tasmania. Nor do I believe in the ultimate ruin of any country which undoubtedly possesses great and comparatively undeveloped resources, and which beyond all others upon earth, save perhaps portions of New Zealand, is to nay mind suited to be the home of English men, women, and children.”

Decidedly one of the most novel catches that has ever been made on a cricket ground, the Hamilton Spectator states, was that which disposed of Mr. Chandler on Saturday in his second innings at Cavendish. He was batting in splendid form, doing pretty well as he liked with. the bowling, when Captain O’Connor sent him in a slow one. This he got hold of very well, and sent it away to long-on—a low, skimming hit, that but for a strange accident must inevitably have been the means of adding six to the score. One of the Cavendish players (Mitchell), who was standing at midon, made an attempt to catch it, but missed, the ball travelling altogether too fast for him to hold it. Suddenly the leathern sphere disappeared ; none could tell where it had gone, those in the field, were nonplussed, the spectators,wondered, and the batsmen continued to run. Then Mitchell recovered from the shock he had received, felt a lump in the body of his shirt, put in his hand, pulled out the ball, and joyfully, cried, “ How’s that ?” “ Out!” said the umpire, and Chandler had to retire, very crestfallen at his bad luck. The ball had struck Mitchell on the wrist, ran up his sleeve, ripping it, up as it went, and safely lodged itself in the body of his shirt. 1

,^ r t 3 a ® afc ?y h « ar a great deal of the „ 7 Victoria which is anxious to break up . la^ ge states of that colony. In fact so perQT , j. 1 a f e the yin their endeavors to secure their at Ca P italists are taking alarm, and the nn -. Promises to be most detrimental to the d ae that “one gentleman connected with squatting pursuits in Kiverma, who was in treaty for the purchase an estate near Castlemaine, has relinquished is intention of settling down here, and has purchased a property for £60,000 in Tasmania, spend the summer months. Another, who was accustomed to spend £4OOO a year m Melbourne, has bought an estate winch, cost him £30,000 in New Zealand. In o instances the motive for investing the money out of this colony was the apprehension o confiscation. Selectors who wish to sell are already beginning to suffer from the same cause, as the market value of their property has declined in some instances 30 per cent.” A musical prodigy has been brought out in Melbourne. A late issue of the Daily Telegraph says :—Ernest Hutcheson, aged five years and a few months, is the son of Mr. E>avid Hutcheson, of Carlton, and the little teiiow is undoubtedly a prodigy. The child was introduced to a few musical people vester«ay at Mr. Allen’s, in Coliins-street. Perched on his knees in a chair he performed the fantasia by Gautier, from “ II Trovatore,” a fantasia, by the same composer, from Don Giovanni • the siege of Rochelle,” by Chotek : Ha Sympathie,” by Comettant ; and a number of other difficult selections ; and the execution, time, and expression of the performance was more than extraordinary. The child had not muscular strength enough to bring; out the full tones of the piano where they were required but he proved that he knew exactly •I T.,r ß k ould . be do ne, though he could not do Mr. Julius Herr tasked him severely by striking chords on the piano when his back was to the instrument, but the child named every note in each case -without any hesitation, and. never made a mistake. It is ten months since he first touched a piano, and he has had no tuition further than what he has received from his father, who states that the boy has “chiefly taught himself.” He sits down to. the piano, and sometimes plays for hours without stopping, “ reading ” the most difficult music with ease. Mr. Herr- will probably take the charge of the little wonder and it will be interesting to watch his career. Ihe Stoclcton Independent says :—“lt is a well-known fact that in the manufacture, a bone dust used in the process of refinincr sugar large quantities of super-phosphates are* necessarily produced. The product is very valuable as it is next to guano, the best known fertiliser m use, and as its Jproperties are condensed it can be applied to exhausted soils with little trouble. Messrs. Ohlandt and Co. of San Francisco, who furnish the refineries of thatfoity with bone meal, have immense quantities of this excellent fertiliser for which they find no market in this •State, but, we Jearn ; ship all their surplus to. New Zealand and Australia, where fit brings a high price as a manure. It seems almost paradoxical that . California farmers should allow this concentrated fertiliser to be shipped abroad when they require it so much at home. Are our lands so much richer or more inexhaustible than those of New Zealand or Australia that they do not require fertilisers, or are our English cousins shrewder and more appreciative of the value of artificial fertilisers to sustain the uniform quality and productiveness of their land ? The constant drain upon the productiveness of the soil by. raising wheat upon it for successive years without, change, as is the custom in California, must in time exhaust the most fertile land. If it is essential to the interests of our farmers to raise nothing but wheat as their staple product, would it not he wisdom to do as our English cousins do, brace up the soil with fertilisers to supply the element yearly taken from it ? If they can afford to transUr - I SUrplus "“marketable superphosphates 7000 miles to place upon their land, cannot our farmers afford to take it home and apply it to the same use !” 1 J

Lately at the Volunteer Drillroom, Fasco-street, Williamstown, Master James Wood Clark was presented with a silver hunting watch for saving the life of a boy named Friday, who was in danger of bein» drowned in a creek on the occasion of a Sunday-school excursion to Sunbury on the Bth I ebruary. The gift,.which was from Mr. T. J. bumner, of Grice, Sumner, and Co., was accompanied by the following letter :—« 23rd February, 1877. My Dear Boy,—l read in the. ripe of the 14th inst. of the plucky vZ which you saved the fife of Friday, at Sunburv lam proud of brave boys, and cannot doubt AvWf 01 ? age Belf 'devotion such as you exhibited must be connected with such virtues as make a good Christian citizen and a gentlemen. Please accept my small present, ai }l y ™ r Care c f r lefc me uot be disappointed! Wno fPI w n™- T ° Master James Wood Clark Williamstown.” The inscription on the watch was as follows :—“ For Bravely from 0 ! *T ri Q ay ’ t 0 Master James W uod j r o° 7 ™J- J; Sumner. Carpe Diem. February rllh fu e c ® rem °uy of presentation was P ™f b L- ? aptam Fre y er in a suitable speech, to which young Clark made a grateful ■MiW p, he ® ev .' J- J. Halley also presented Master Clark with a Bible, which had been subscribed for by 500 Sunday-school children in Williamstown, the donations having been restricted to a penny. There will be a suitable meters A in ib in m uminated characters A third present was an engraving—cmanty Never Faileth”—from Mr. R. Grimwood of the Harbor Department ; and a tourth .presentation consisted of Macaulay’s iwlh7f°n - glancl ’ in four volumes > contafning the following :—“Presented by P. Friday to James Clark, for his bravery in rescuing his iS77°S a w^ er y on Bth February, WTV-PmupFmpAY, 15 th February, 1877:” At the close of the proceedings the young representative of colonial courage received three hearty cheers from some hundreds who were present.

S K dn sy Herald estimates th fixed and fl Soidl , h Wales, exclussive of fixed and floating capital, at £84,735,665. mia*?' the Queensland Commissioner at the Centennial Exhibition reGrant State id at , Br f bane tlla t. ex-President Grant would shortly visit the Australian colonies. Mr. Mackay, who seems to be a the V nffl in hl f CoUQtr y» has just accepted the office of Mimster of Lands. V

g oth ® r tbmgs the new Constitution of Ottoman Empire provides for the liberty of the Press, the liberty of teaching, primary inSlrST 1 C f°?u Pula< ?y’. the petition to w^w enfc ’ j® adm . lssion to Public functions without any distinction of religion, the equal assessment of taxes, and the hecessity'of a law for the levymg thereof. Property is guaranteed T“?V Ver T man ’ s ho " se is hifi castle. iud r!„ Sha !V be ken aWay fromh is natural tir-J* L n of the courts of jusfnZ h fl Ibe Pubh ? 5 the ri S ht of defence bemZirZ' °°Zi 13 acknowledged, and the publication of the sentence is ordered. Goverfimenfoand the public have no right to interfere m litigious affairs ; confiscations, eompulsory public labor, and torture are done away

• Melbourne Daily Telegraph, commenting on Sit Hercules Robinson’s minute, with mference to the dissolution applied for by the Kobertson Government, says :—“lt is an extraordinary document. Mr. Parkes described it exactly m the debate when he said ‘ that his Excellency had told Ministers that if Parliament would consent to a dissolution he would ills Excellency had, in fact, referred the dissolution .to the Assembly.’ This is a picture of the situation, and what we are anxious to Rnow is when and where before now the ever referred the question of dissolution to the House about to be dissolved The rule is for the .Crown either to dissolve upon the advice of its Ministers, or to get other Ministers who will not advise an appeal. ‘No House of Commons,’ said Cobden, ‘would ever vote its own dissolution,’ and we have yet to learn of a_eolomal Legislature being more virtuous. If the Sydney Parliament is not ?f it declines to. vote for being sent about its business, then his Excellency will be placed in the unpleasant position of submitting to coercion—of having to decline the appeal which he thinks should be granted. This is Crown » r ° Per position in which to place the

~The following extract from the Sydneu Morning Herald explains the nature of the entertainment Mr.. James Mace, the pugilist has come to give in the colonies :—“I n these studies he has been most favorably received elsewhere, and it is certain that in them his splendid physique gives him every advantage Last night he appeared in seven characters— Hercules struggling with the Lion, the Quoitthrower, the African alarmed at thunder Aiax defying the lightning, Samson carrying’ away the Gates of Gaza, the Ancient and Modern TlS tI S I r diat -f’ and the Dying Gladiator. These are all, as it were, acted. The prefimi.nary action is first represented* and then the pose is- given, so that the actor gives himself extra labor m studying these preliminaries and working them up to the climax. For instance, ; m the Dying Giadmtor— which is perhaps the best of. all the representations—Mr. Mace not ofily gives the four positions which the gladiator in the combat assumes, but also adds the by-play (if the expression may be used) leading up to each position. At first this will be considered by many to detract from the pose itself ; and no doubt it has that effect, especially. as the attitude is not sufficiently loner preserved to make it truly effective ; but at the same time it must be admitted’ that it shows considerable study. And to this must be added that there is nothing forced or strained in the way in which the preliminaries are represented. The gladiator fights, strangles, and pants before he sinks on his side which is the pose ; he recovers himself and faces his enemy once more before his strength utterly deserts him, and he falls to rise no more, which is the final scene. This is quoted Simply as an example of what Mr. Mace apparently thinks is the most effective method of depicting the parts in which he appears, and from that point of view they are unquestionably rendered m a powerful manner. It may be added that each presentation was received with great applause, and that Mr. Mace was twice called before the curtain at the conclusion.”

We have to acknowledge the receipt of the annual report of the Ballarat School of Mines.; The report states “ that the gross receipts of the school, exclusive of the Government grant » have amounted to no less a sum than £97B* ’ On the estimates of expenditure for the year 1875-6 a> sum of £ISOO in aid of mining schools was submitted to Parliament, and a vote accordingly taken ; out of that vote a sum of £750 was appropriated by Government to this institution. The council are glad to observe that for the financial year 1876-7, the vote has been increased by £SOO, but its distribution has not yet been effected. The expenditure for the year has been unusually large. As it was found absolutely necessary to increase the accommodation for students in chemistry, a new laboratory, capable of accommodating eighteen students at one time, has been erected at a total costof about £350. Donations of museum ’ specimens having also been more numerous during the past year, new cases had to be pro vided, involving an expenditure of nearly £22 ' The number of different persons who have - signed the roll-book during the year 1876 has ' been 132, of whom 61 were in regular attendance during January term, 47 during April term 61 during July term, and 59 “during October term. In connection with the exami nations of the School of Mines, it may be l to mention that several of the certificate-holders ‘ have, m consequence of such proofs of their competency, obtained good situations in tb s ' colony, and that steps are being taken obta n the recognition of thes e g in the neighboring colonies, from S ' occasionally students are sent to the Among* th. extracts take, from th.

book, we find the following:-—“lt has given me great pleasure to visit this institution. I was the first pupil under Dr. Percy in the metallurgical department of the School of Mines, Jermyn-street, London. Knowing as I do how nobly that institution has vindicated the hopes of its founders, the immense good it has done in spreading useful knowledge amongst those who otherwise would have blindly followed their various pursuits without understanding the meaning of the very details that by mere routine they acquired, and the great wealth it has created in giving to its pupils the means of acquiring wealth in the subsequent pursuit of the occupations of their life, I feel the greatest pleasure in visiting a young disciple of the parent institution, destined, I hope, like that, to do vast good. I hope the other colonies will follow the example set by Victoria through the energy of the people of Ballarat.— Julius Vogel, October 17,1874.’’

(per ARAWATA AT THE BLUFF.) Melbourne, March 28,

It is probable that Parliament will not be dissolved before the end of April. The new Assembly will meet at the end of May. In Langton v. Syme, it having been decided by the Full Court that plaintiff could not be awarded damages twice over on two counts, he accepted the second count, and the Age has to pay £750. An appeal to the Privy Council is spoken of. The Locomotive Inquiry Board have found in their report that colonial-made engines were defective, but owing principally to the plans supplied. Sir Arthur Kennedy, the new Governor of Queensland, has been quarantined for sixteen days, but the Government steamer Kate has been specially fitted up for him. Sir W. Gregory has returned to Ceylon. The week has been very dull.