AUSTRALIAN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 36

AUSTRALIAN.

Melbourne, May 27. Mr Tucker, Labour candidate, has been '-ctod for South Melbourne, rirr Mr J. >. deceased. There were six candiwell known in connection '■ •" ~;Our movement, polled only , and Ml Bent, formerly Speaker Legislative Assembly, 49, and . latter had to forfeit his deposit. Melbourne, -May 28. A daring sticking-up case occurred at Hawthorne, a suburb of Melbourne, this evening. An accountant, McPhoc, was going home from his oflico at 0 o'clock, when a man followed him, hold a loaded revolver to his head, and made him hand over his money and his gold watch and chain. Melbourne, May 24. Tho Defenco Department has deeided to arm the Victorian forces with MartiniHenry rifles, and the Minister will shortly scud an order Homo for lr,U'l Tho gunboat Victoria, minus her guns and electric light fittings, has been sohl to tho West Australian Go vernmeut for £7500. She will be used as a surveying vessel. Melbourne, May 30.

A judgment of considerable importance has been given by Mr Justice Hodges. In this colony vaccination is compulsory, and many fathers have been fined for repeatedly disregarding the law on grounds of principle. In tho present case the defendant was fined twice, and Judge Hodges granted a rule nisi to review the decision on tho ground that a breach of tho law was committed only in not having children vaccinated within six months of birth. He said there was nothing

which made it an offence to not vaccinate a child more than six months old. Melbourne, June 1.

As Charles Robinson and his wife were driving over a railway-crossing at Naraituk they were caught by a train. Their buggy was smashed, and both the occupants were killed. The Australian Gold Recovery Company recently sought for an amendment of their patent' in Victoria to limit its use to diluted solutions of cyanogen. This proposed amendment was believed to bo prompted by the English Court of Appeal decision, and the Government opposed the amendment, and now after exhaustive argument the Commissioner of Patents has decided to refuse the application for tho amendment. Sydney, May 27. In tho Dean divorce case a rule nisi has been granted, returnable iu a month, with the custody of the child. Sydney, May 2S. The New Zealand oarsmen arc passengers by tho Wakatipu, which left to-day for Wellington. A Bill has been introduced in the Legislative Assembly to give the Government power to resume lands for the purpose of closer settlement, and to authorise the expenditure of .£300,000 annually. Sydney, May 31. Two small steamers, tho Kelloo and the lolanthe, collided in the harbour, and the latter was so seriously injured that she had to be beached. The lolanthe is insured in the National Insurance Company, Xew Zealand, for £10: »0. Professor Forbes, well known in connection with the electrical hydraulic works at Niagara Falls, lias arrived here. I lis visit is mainly on pleasure, but lie will shortly take an opportunity closely observing tho characteristics of New Zealand, with a view to seeing what possibilities there are in that colony for the application of water power in generating electricity.

The English cablegrams last week recounted the murder of a wealthy old Jew named Levy, and it now transpires that he died intestate, and the whole of his property, estimated at half a million pounds, falls to his brother, nieces and nephews in Sydney. Mr Goodman, the well-known treasurer for Messrs Williamson and Musgrovc, is a nephew, and comes in for £50,000. The legatd', however, says that it is only a matter of speculation as to the amount.no information having come to hand. The first knowledge the family had of the murder was received through the press cables.

For two years past the country folk of Capertee havo boon in a stato of terror owing to the depredations of a man who, h-om tho difficulty of capturing him, has earned the sobriquet of "Slippery Jack." Various schemes were arranged during that period for his capture without success.

Diggers' huts were robbed by the man, and sheep stolen from stations in a most daring manner. At the beginning of the week tho police, with a black tracker, got on the track of" Slippery Jack " and hunted him down. As soon as his pursuers came in sight, Jack made for the scrub, and the police were compelled to lire, and shot tho man in tho thigh, and then captured him. " Slippery Jack " turns out to be a Spaniard, and a legacy from Noumea to tho mainland. He alleges that he escaped after being ten days in an open boat. A miscellaneous lot of articles have been recovered from the cave where he resided.

Adelaide, May 27,

Mr Copley has been elected Leader of the Opposition, Sir J. W. Downer having declined tho post. Adelaide, May 30,

A man named liudd has paid rather dearly for playing the ghost. While a peaceably-disposed citizen was wending his way past a cemetery, a figure clad in white garments emerged from the burial-ground and in sepulchral tones said : '•Thomas Meddall, I. claim you'."

Meddall was willing to be claimed, and invited tho ghost to take him, and struck him with a stick.

Tho ghost closed, but Meddall disarranged the sheet, and identified liudd. The Magistrate charged the latter £A 5s for the freak.

Atkinson and Falvery, two of the crew of the steamer Macgregor, have been sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment each on tho charge of wounding the captain during the mutiny a few weeks back. Hobart, May 30.

Not to be behind tho other colonial Governments in exploiting the London produce and financial markets, the Government has sent Dr MeCall, ox-member of the Assembly, to London, charged with a mission to enquire into the practicability of establishing a commercial agency in England to look after the colony's interests. Dr MeCall also takes Home a number of mining ventures to offer English capitalists. Last, but not least, he has been entrusted by the Australasian United Axemen's Association, a society of doughty wood-choppers, with an axe for presentation to a brother axeman in the person of .Mr Gladstone.