INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4140, 27 June 1874, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

From files to hand by the s.s. Otago we make the following extracts : VICTORIA. A writ has been served on the Bendi'/o Independent for libel, at the suit of Edward Henry Boden, who claims the sum of £SOO damages for libel. " The libel" complained of is simply the publication of the report furnished by Dr. Hinclxcliff, the resident surgeon of the Hospital, which called the attention of the committee to some cases of imposition on the charity, of which Boden's case formed one, he having been admitted upon a subscriber's ticket when suffering from delirium tremens, though only a short time before he had received £IOOO from England. Comment was made upon this much in the same language as that used in the report, and it is of these two facts—the publication of the report and the comment made thereon—that the declaration complains, and further sets out that the plaintiff has suffered much anxiety and distress, and been otherwise greatly injured. William Biggs, who resides at Drummond Street, Carlton, was formerly a sergeant of police, and was stationed at Belfast and Portland. He retired recently from the force, after twenty-two years' service. Having received his retiring allowance, he came to Melbourne with the intention of going into business. While walking along the street, somewhere between his residence iu Carlton and Elizabeth Street, he had the misfortune to lose a red morocco pocket-book, containing all his money, amounting to £373, viz., three £IOO-notes, one £SO-note, one £2O-note, and three £l-notes. The sum represents the whole of Kigg's capital, and as he has a large family depending upon him for support, the loss will be very severely felt. The pocket-book was found a few days afterwards in the old cemetery. All the documents were in it; but the money was gone. The numbers of the notes, however, are known. -.The sale of the wreck of the British Admiral, at the office of Captain Coffey, Shipping Exchange, Collins street, attracted attention. Speculation was rife as to the amount the sale would realise, and with the knowledge of the large profit made by purchasers of previous wrecks, there were many commercial men eager to secure a bargain. At twelve o'clock Captain Coffey's office was thronged by such a large crowd that an adjournment had to be made to the quadrangle in the centre of the marketbuildings. When Captain Coffey had mounted his rostrum there must have been at least 500 persons present, including a large number of lumpers and laboring men, ready to proffer their services to the purchaser. The first bid made was £SOO, and the nods gradually increased until £2700 had been reached. This bid, however, did not turn out a genuine one, and the auctioneer had to start the sale de novo. From £3OO the biddings slowly mounted up to £2OOO, at which stage there was a momentary lull. An advance of £l5O on this offer was made by Mr. S. Gardiner, who became the purchaser of the vessel and cargo for £2150. Prior to the sale protests were handed in to Captain Coffey by the surviving passengers and those who had cargo in the ship, claiming a lien on the goods as compensation for their losses. The hunters of King's Island and the owners of the ketch Kangaroo had also their claims for salvage handed in. An opinion prevailed that the purchaser will make considerable profit on his venture, and he could have disposed of his bargain at a good advance. It was stated that Mr. Gardiner represented Messrs. Lyell and Gowan, and the office of that firm was crowded during the day by laboring men eager for an engagement to work at getting the cargo at King's Island. It may be mentioned that the Sussex brought £6BOO, and nearly £SOOO profit resulted to the Geelong company who purchased the wreck ; and Messrs. Goldsbrough and others, who bought the wreck of the Loch Leven for £2500, made a very large profit. The Victoria Tower was sold for £I6OO ; the Light of the Age, wrecked near Point Lonsdale, realised £350 ; and the Netherby, £6BO. From nearly all the above purchases good results were realised. The sum of £14,650, placed on the estimates for education purposes, lias been passed by the Assembly. An explanation had been made by Mr. Mackay, to the effect that £BOOO of that sum was necessary to pay the increased staff of teachers, and the larger earnings of those who had been called upon to preside over largely-augmented schools. The sum of £2750 was for results and equivalents for school fees for teachers; £1550 for books and school requisites ; £BSO for temporary clerical assistance; and £ISOO for teachers and singing. The willingness with which these items were voted, indicated with how much satisfaction the House regards the Government Education Act, and the integrity with which it is being carried out. Oculists appear to do well in Victoria, where they can make some £l5O a week. This fact came out in a case in the County Court on Tuesday, where Dr. Gray sued a patient—who, by the way, lost an eye over it as well as his money—for balance of an account for professional services. Mr. Finn, the barrister, in cross-examining the plaintiff for the defence, inquired as to the value given for the amount claimed (some £24 altogether, with set-off payments), which dated from the 2nd to the 28th of February last. The oculist, getting rather angry at Mr. Finn's searching questions as to what he was able to make, replied, " I make £2l a day, and sometimes more. I make more than you do, at any rate." This was too much for the learned counsel, who, after an unsuccessful attempt to strike off the fee charged for a day before the patient had communicated with the oculist, subsided, and His Honor Judge Cope gave a verdict for the amount claimed. A Waterloo veteran named Lucas, who was taken to the Melbourne hospital on last Sunday week, after having attempted to commit suicide at Brunswick by cutting his throat, died yesterday at the hospital from the injuries he inflicted upon himself. Sir James McCulloch has thrown down the gauntlet to the lion, the Treasurer, and sounded the first war note of probably many a financial conflict during the present session. In the Assembly he asked Mr. Laugton when he proposed to make his financial statement, ancl also if there was any truth in the rumor that he intended to go on with the Estimates before the Assembly were made acquainted with the state of the finances. Mr. Langton replied that he purposed pursuing the same course as last year, and delivering the budget speech as soon as possible after the 30th of June, when the accounts for the year closed. He would place the Estimates for the ensuing year upon the table of the House, and would ask for an ad interim supply on account of salaries and wages. Sir James M'Culloch then gave a contingent notice of motion that he would call the attention of the House to the whole subject of the financial affairs of the Colony, and the state into which they had been brought by the action of the Government last session. A JIISSINO YOUNG LADY. A good deal of interest lias been excited in reference to the young lady, who for some days past has been advertised as having under somewhat peculiar circumstances disappeared from her home at East Melbourne. Various rumors are afloat which tend to mystify rather than explain the nature of the affair. Her friends, and those employed to trace her whereabouts, If alio still lives, are so reticent that it is difficult to arrive at what can be regarded as thoroughly reliable information. The young lady's name is Miss Pettitt, she is a near relative of a squatting family, and had been living for some time upon an up-country station. For certain reasons she was sent down to Melbourne, and placed in the seminary presided over by the Misses Singleton, of Clarendon Street, East Melbourne. Here she remained some little time, and is stated to have been a young lady of quiet and retiring manners, but excessively sensitive. She is seventeen years of age, of plain, but not unprepossessing appearance. It would seem that on the night she was last seen she was censured by one of the teachers in the establishment for some trivial fault, and this seemed to prey greatly upon her spirits. In the evening she retired to her room,

and remained there alone for about an hour, when she came out and went round to those of her fellow pupils with whom she was on friendly terms, and divided amongst them the various articles of jewellery she wjis known to have in her possession. The circumstance at the time did not attract any particular attention, but about ten or eleven o'clock the hat which she usually wore was found in the hall, the door of which was standing partly open. . Inquiry was _ made, and upon her room beiug searched, it was found that she had taken her departure, carrying with her no more clothes than those which she wore at the time. It has not transpired whether she left any note explanatory of her intentions, though it is believed that she did so, and that the fact lias been kept a profound secret. No one, however, saw her leave, nor has anyone, so far as has been ascertained, seen her since. The supposition at first was that it was a case of a romantic elopement; but the absence of any intelligence as to the young lady's movements after leaving the school lead many to think that she has committed suicide by drowning. The detectives have been on the alert and the most experienced engaged to trace her. A reward of £SO has been offered for any information likely to lead to her discovery, and the services of Mr. Otto Berliner obtained. Up to the present, however, neither tale nor tidings have been gleaned as to her fate. The Yarra has been dragged, but without any further light being thrown upon the mystery. NEW SOUTH WALES. Pleuro-pneuruonia has broken out in the mining districts. Amongst the bullion taken by the last mail steamer for England by way of Melbourne and Suez was 11,918 ozs. of silver. A shipment of nickel has been received in Newcastle from New Caledonia. The Upper House has agreed to the Government resolutions to subsidise a second cable via Queensland. Some police constables have very exalted notions of their powers. The Border Post states that recently a young lad named Patrick Kelly was arrested and locked up by the police at Tumbarumba, on a charge of horse stealing. After eight days' incarceration, none of the local magistrates visited the scene, and as the charge was so frivolous, the constables resolved themselves into a court, and adjudicated on the case by discharging the culprit with a caution. Some persons informed the legal authorities of Sydney, and messages were wired from head quarters ignoring the proceeding of the soi disant judge, aud directing the re-arrest of young Paddy Kelly, who was recaptxired at Adelong and taken to Tumberuniba, where he will undergo a legal trial for the alleged offence. In the Legislative Assembly, notice has been given for the introduction of a bill, which is a copy of the Victorian Act to prevent the influx of criminals. The Corporation funds of .Sydney are exhausted, and all works are to be stopped in consequence, and the bulk of the employes dismissed. The Bank of New South Wales has confirmed the resolution to increase the reserve fund to half a million. The Beethoven has cleared with sixty-seven diggers for the Cape mines. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The Assembly has voted £SOO to Janus Crocker, whose wife was recently killed at a railway crossing. Notice has been given by the Government for the introduction of Bills to amend the Land Act, and allow of a free interchange of produce between the Colonies. The second reading of the Bill to extend the Port railway to Semaphore has been carried. A Bill to prohibit the importation of other than safety matches has been read a first time.