VICTORIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 227, 11 September 1862, Page 5

VICTORIA.

(FROM OUIi OWN COUBESPONDENT.)

Melbourne, Sept. 2,1862.

Mr. Wilson Gray, the member for Rodney, and whose uarae has been identified for several years with the land question in this Colony, has made up iiis mind to become an Otago colonist. He arrived in this Colony a shipmate of Mr, Duffy and for some time was law reporter of the Argus. lies has been a prominent member of the land reform party in the Legislative Assembly, and has earned for himself a name for being a most consistent and energetic advocate of the popular cause. lie has followed his profession as a barrister with considerable ability and tact, and is looked mam as one of those rarities you sometimes meet with—an honest lawyer. He :s well vcrte<.l in law, and no doubt will be an acquisition to your bar. Although not very brilliant as an orator, he is very conclusive in his arguments, and it Le takes a few Demosthenic wessons to overcome a slight delect in his speech, there is every probability Mr. Gray's name will become well known In Dunedin. >-

The election for Sandhurst has rasulted as everybody expected in the return of Mr. Denovan's friend. At first, the popular man was to ' be Mr. Moore, a Sandhurst man, and a member ! of Mr, Denovau's committee, but after a deal of i coquetting with him and others, it was at last ! n-olvcd to bring forward Mr. Strickland, at one ■ time a member of the local Municipal Council. The ministerialists put forward Mr. David Moore, formerly member for Melbourne, and a cabinet minister. Great pressure was brought to bear on Mr. Moire, bur he did not venture to the scene of the-contest. His cunmiitttt worked hard for him, ant there is no knowing how it would have resulted hud he vMted Bemlr.'o. As it was, Mr. •Strickland headed the poll with five hundred of a majority, and Mr. Moore had the satisfaction oi' getting sev. 11 hundred votes from a constituencyhe never saw, and iVoni men that never heard his principles explained. A testimonial is bi-ihg got up to Mr. Lamlsburotigh, who succt^sfutiy made the journey from Carpentaria, to Melbourne. A large amount is already subscribed, and it is intended to present it at a public dinner. HLs journal appears in this morning's papers, A fearful collision and loss of life occurred a ! sea about ten days ago. The ship Tubal Cain ■ was under charge of one of the officers, the cap- ! tain being sick, and was running on a different i tack to the ship Constance, from Liverpool, when ' a collision took place, and the Tubal Cain sank I almost immediately. The ':rew all perished to the number of thirteen, and the carpenter alone was hiivtd by jumping on board the Constance, as his own vessel was sinking. l The hearing of Counsel in the appeal of Mr. William I'erry, Auctioneer, Melbourne, against the decision oi the Chief Commissioner ot Insolvent Estates refusing a certificate, was commenced before Ih* Honor Mr. Justice Chapman, in the Kquity Court, on Thursday afternoon, and continued yesterday. His Honor, at the close of the hearing at once delivered judgment, reversing the decision of the Commissioner on a variety of grounds, but chiefly that he did not think an auctioneer, in acting for those who entrusted him with the sale of goods, was an agent within the me.im'ng of the Act ; and therefore not under the same responsibilities, to account for the proceeds of a gale as an agent who came within the meaning of the term as ordinarily understood. At the General Sessions held,before His Honor ! Judge Polihuan. yesterday.the Rev. J. C. Crouch, j who has obtained such notoriety in the colony— i pleaded guilty to the charge of forging the n unes i of the Herd. M. Byrnes and of Mr. Murchison, a I squatter at Kihnore, to a Hill of Acceptance for j £60, purporting to be drawn on Sir Morton Peto. i Hewa«,athis own request, remanded for sen-j tenco, in order that the Bishop might appear to spy ik us to his former character. Duncan Patterson pleaded guilty at the General Session, yesterday, to the charge of hiving forged several receipts purporting to have issued from the Dejairtmtnt of Roads and Bridges, by | tneans of which he had obtained various sums of money from several keepers of tollgates hi the neighbourhood of Melbourne and at other places. He was remanded for sentence. i At the Police Court, yesterday, Mr. Councillor Goldsmith was called upon to answer to his bail concerning a disturbance which t<x)k place at the Town Hall on Saturday. Goldsmith did not appear, and his bail wr.s forfeited, Mr. Hull, who with the Mayor and })r. Kades, was on the bench, Slid that althongh his broiher magistrates might feel a delicacy in giving expression to their opinions on this c;isp, yet he (Mr. Hull) had no hesitation in saying that in cases of this sort the practice of allowing the defendants to forfeit their bail was a wrong one. Mr. Goldsmith's conduct appears to have been outrageous, and by such conduct he was not only bringing disgrace upon himself, but also upon the Council and the citizens generally. The marble quarries at Gcelong appear likely to lead to some beneficial results. The quarry has been opened, and ten tons have been brought to the surface, and the manager speaks confidently of the capabilities and extent of the stoae. A kind of paving stone has been discovered between Gcelong ami Ballarat. In appearance it is something like Arbroath flags, but not so hard, being about as hard as slate ; iudeed some slaters went up to the quarry about twelve months ago, to endeavor to procure slates, but they found the substance too hard for their purpose and abandoned it The quarry is on the verge of the river Moorabool, and only one mile and threequarters from the Meredith railway station, and about the same distance from tho main road from Geelong to Ballarat, where there is every facility for a tramway to cither or both places. It is intended to form a company, in shares of a small amount, to allow working men to invest, and at the same time enable them to find permanent and profitable employment for themselves; and, as the return will be immediate, there can be but little risk, and but little capital required. The ground is the property of Mr. O'Keefe, who aluo intends to apply for a lease of ground adjoining, to extend the operations of the company, and in time enable them to erect machinery to facilitate tho working and polishing of the stone for chimney pieces, tables, aud other similar articles for which marble will be found too expeusive. After exhibiting the slabs, and obtaining the opinion of practical men, Mr. O'Keefe will issue a prospectus, when doubtless there will be a rush to secure the shares, which will, like the Marble Company, soon be at a moderate premium. The luter-colonial news is of varied interest. From Brisbane we learn that Queensland has been subject to great loss of stock, on account of the long-continued drought. The lambing season is completely ruined. Mr. Moffiit, the Treasurer, after an exciting contest beat his opponent by a majority of thirty-seven, and the Ministry are now considered safe. The Adelaide Government hava accepted the tender of tho A. S. Navigation Compauy, to the Sound and back with the branch mails for the sum of thirteen hundred pounds a month. There were only two other tenders in, the Aldinga for <£ 1,590, and the Gothenburg for £1,490.

I - September !i. 1 One feature in Mr. Landsborottgh diary is | worthy of being specially alined to. Your readers may recoslect that when Burke and Wills' journals was published, I hazarded the opinion tliat.if instead of rushing headlong on through the bush Sunday, and Saturday, they had made the former a day of rest, they might possibly have returned safely to the boundaries of civilization, and been amongst as this day. Mr. Laudsfoceough has this distinguishing feature in his journal:—" This being Sunday, rested self and horses," and there can be no doubt^that the observation of the Sabbath, even as a matter of physical rest apart from all moral or religious obligations, has tended greatly to the success of the expedition under his command, and is worthy of being taken note of by all future explorers. A very influential meeting was held yesterday to get up a memorial, or rather assist in the National Memorial to the late lamented I mice Consort The Governor presided, and with General Pratt and other gentlemen formed a committee to carry out the object of the meeting. ' A similar movement has taken place in Adelaide. . The new Educational Board has met, and entered on their business. The members present w«>re Mr. Samner, Mr. Griffith, and Mr. Archer The members absent w,-re Mr. Hervev M L C and Mr. Hart. .>•-•> Tii-i Mining Commissioner will not sit till the end of this month. The "Rsv." Mr.-Crouch, who pleat Tel guilty at the General Sessions, on Mond iy. to a charge of forgery, was brought np yesterJ.ty for sentence He called the Bishop of Melbourne and the Rev Mr. Handfield as to character, but th^ latter gentleman only appeared, mid all lie had to sr.v was, in answer to questions to the prisoner, was to the effect that he had called upon him (Mr. HandQeii) for assistance, and hal been refused. The prisoner then made a long statement, principallywitii regard to the manner in which he had been persecuted (exposed ?) by the press. He was then sentenced lo two years' imprisonment, with hard Ltbour.