AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 19, 13 May 1876, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

As illustrating tlie losses which some stock owners are suffering in consequence of the late drought, the "Forbes Times" mentions that 500 sheep were offered near Cobondry for Is. a head. It is also stated that the noses of sheep in many instances are so sore from continued siiort picking thai they are incapable of f. eding. The rare spectacle of a judgi being presented with a pair of white kid gloves in commemoration of a blank calendar was (savs the " Gippsland Times") witnessed 1 the" other morning in the Sale Court of | Assize, when the sheriff complied with the time-honoured custom. The testing of the hose recently muti- ! kited at a lire at Gas tlemaine lias proved most incontestably, to the satisfaction of the superintendent and those interested, that some diabolical scoundrel had -cut it with a sharp knife. The remaining parts were found sound and strong. Under these circumstances the Borough Council now offer (says the "Mail") a reward of £25 ; the insurance offices interested offer another £2s—in all £SO for the convict'.on of the fellow who committed the atrocious act. The "Grenvillc Times' states tnat the biggest snake ever seen in that part oi Australia was encountered near the Sprmgdallali Creek, by a miner, while returning from work one .Saturday afternoon. He could not find a stick, so he armed himself with a big stone, with which he fortunately struck the monster on the head, and smashed it. He then obtained a stick and tried to lifo the caicase, but could not. Hound the thick part of the body it was as big as a stout man's thigh, and measured about 12rt. Gin. in length. One of those trilling, but at the same time amusing incidents, that occasionally relieve the dry monotony of the proceedings in a court of law, took place at Sandhurst on the 21st ult. The "Independent" reports that Judge Biiulon took his seat on the bench and seemed a little surprised at the sounds of suppressed merriment among the persons present, but, on becoming aware that he had donned a smoking-cap instead of the judicial horsehair wig, Ins Honor appeared much amused, and effected ail instant exchange by substituting the orthodox headgear for the jaunty-looking article which had previously covered the official cranium. Gundagai, according. to the following, from the " Border Post," appears to be a terrible place :—"ln consequence of the appalling increase of murders, suicides, poisoning, and other dark deeds of violence, tiie Gundagaieese petitioned Government for the appointment of a local Coroner. We understand that the request has been complied with, and that henceforth Mr. Charles W. Weekes has "been appointed district Coroner for Gundagai. We are told that during every day of last week Mr. Weekes lield an inquest." The "Advertiser" states that "the vineyards of the B?ndigo district now present a scene of activity, occasioned by the gathering of the grapes and the performance of the other works necessary to extract the juice from them. Taken altogether, it must be said that the vintage this year is nothing equal to that of last year, as, with very rare exceptions, the crops never looked or turned out worse, than they have this year. The quality cijb

the fruit lias to he placed on the same footing as the quantity, the berries being composed of/very thick skins, and containvery little juice. The failure of this year's vintage is attributed to the damp nature of the early part of the season, and the severe attacks of oiclium." A notorious blackleg, known as " Castlemaine Joe," was returning towards Sandhurst from the Swan-hill Races, on Saturday, accompanied by some. of his fellows, when, as reported in the '' Bendigo Advertiser," a constable ordered tiie vehicle to be stopped, and politely requested an interview with Joe, but that worthy refused in forcible language, and, jumping out of his carriage, lie quickly got through the wire fence of the Duck Swamp home paddock, and took to his heels, railing in the direction of the weatherboard church now being erected in a portion of the paddock. The constable,, being mounted, could not follow, but lie fired two shots with his revolver after the runaway, one of which went through the boards of the church, and grazed the forehead of one of the carpenters who was camped in the half-finished building. The other shot appeared to strike its mark, for Joe staggered for a moment, but it was subsequently found he had not been hit, as he deemed it prudent to surrender himself, and was taken back to Swan-hill to await a police court investigation. The "M. and D. Advertiser" reports that on Sunday morning week the house of Mr. Tremlett was entered by a midnight visitor. The window of the room in which Mr. Tremlett sleeps was closed, but not fastened, and through this an entry was made very gently ; but instead of placing his foot on the floor, the scoundrel found he was oij the bed of Mr. Tremlett, wliOj imagining it was a cat, jumped up and made a grasp at it, but found a mail's leg instead. Calling out loudly for assistance, he held tight until his son, who was sleeping in an adjoining room, came in, and the prisoner was secured. The police were at once sent for, and lie was taken to the lock-up by Constables Molloy and Dunn, where he gave the name of John Griffiths, aged seventy-five. The Ballarat correspondent of the "Pleasant Creek News " writes :—" Blondins are becoming as plentiful and as cheap as penny rolls, and the rope-walking game must soon bo played out. The latest comes from Talbot. I saw him performon the Eastern Oval this afternoon, and must say he is all there as a follower of the celebrated but, alas, also imitated Chevalier. The little fellow, John Stevenson, is not quite eleven years of age, yet on a rope stretched for a distance of seventy-two feet, and twenty-five feet from the ground, the lad performed nearly the whole of the feats proper to a p.ofcssor of the rope. He did some things which were new to Ballarat people, and did them not only well but in a neat off-hand quiet manner that stamped him as an article of high repute, and yet Master Stevenson essayed rope-walking for the first time but tliree weeks ago." The " Bencligo Advertiser," in noticing the alarming increase of lunacy in the district, says : — !: Tiie cause of this lamentable increase is not difficult to discover ; it is summed up in Hwo words, ' bad drink.' Almost all the victims are labouring men, bushmen, who coiVte down from tlft? Biverina district ..on tlieir drunken sprees; and it is a notorious fact that liquor of the vilest description is supplied to such men in the bush district. Fired and maddened with it, they come rolling down to the Sandurst centre, unconscious almost of their movements ; and if tlieir reason does not entirely give way before they reach us, the climax of their insanity is attained whenever they put foot in the low dens of the city. Were an analysis instituted of the beer and spirits which unscrupulous publicans vend to those poor wretches, the public would be treated to one of the most startling revelations that have ever been made of a kindred nature in any part of the world.''