MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 541, 12 September 1863, Page 5

MELBOURNE.

(from our own correspondent.) 2nd September. The first detachment of Victorian volunteers for New Zealand, consisting of 500 men with their officers, sailed for Auckland by the Star,of India oa Monday last, the 31st ultimo. The commanding officer of this first batch of recruits is Captain H. G. Smith, late of the Volunteer Engineers, under whom are Lieutenants Nuunington, Smith, and Loraax, who, H is stated, have all held commissions in the army. A further detachment of a couple of hundred or so will probably set sail for the seat of war in the course of a week, and as the enrolment of volunteers is actively proceeding, the Victorian contingent to the New Zealand army will prove by no means a contemptible one. All, or very nearly all the available regular troops stationed here, both ot the Artillery corps and the 40th liegiinent will also be despatched at an early date, together with a battery of Armsti-onat guns; the former corps under the command ot Major Dickson. and the latter nndev that ot Captain ttaddeley. Upoo. the whole the New Zealand Government will have no cause to complain that Victoria has been slow in responding to the urgent appeals for help, which have reached here irom the sister colony; and although there were certainly a tew timid individuals holding seati m the Upper. House of our Legislature, and belonging to the "old fogy" school, who raised a cry of alarm at the prospect of the defenceless state in whtfh the colony would be left when drained of her regular troops and a portion of her Armstrongs, it caunot be asserted that she has been a niggard of her resources in th; emergency. The general feeiiui* here is that every possible aid ought to be generously aft'jvded to the neighbouring colony in her distress, and that the most eiiectual way of assisting her in bringing the unhappy war in which she is engaged to a successful coneiunon, is to do what we can towards enabling her to strike a blow at the rebels which shall be short, sha-p, and decisive, and which may, by its promptness and it 3 efficacy, preveut a large amount bt that bloodshed and suftenns which must necessarily take place darmsra long prqtraated struggle. Whatever may have been the ongmal cause .of the dissatisfaction of ths Maori* with the rule of the British oo.onists, it is felt th*t sinci the rebellion and the war are » comphshei facts, no new treaty or arrangement between the two races Cdn possibly be entem upon wl.ie the reoels continue under arms, and that the ff; *he 7 ?™ taughf that the only alternativeto t» n^^i 1 Bntish-rule will be their ulttmaie Weaned ' WiU * ftr both partUs The transition from .the suVject of theNewZealand war to that of the gran* fancy ball pivenon Unusday la«t by Mr Cohen, the Mayor of Melbourne, at the Exhibition liuikliug is cartamlyinost .abrupt; and yer. notwitlistandiiig the incongruity, the prominent position which this event has taken in the >oci;il history of the colony demands that ret'ereni'.o to it should be no longer Jeiayo.f. The thing ha) been talked of so long- before!)and—the prepiiaticm for ir lia 1 heeu on a scale sa vast aud unpreced'-nted, that a few apprehensions on the part of the public lest thei J'6te should fail in some degree

to come up to what was expected of ie were cert inly excusable. To h ny that these apprehensions were noti-a-ii-eil, and that no disappointment was experienced by those among- the privileged partakers in the evening 3 amusement who uad formed the largest expectations as to the brilliancy of the affair is therefore m -itself to say a great deal. To say no more than this, however, would give but a poor idea of the ■■ success with which the fete was attended. Everybody was delighted and nob a single contretemps occurred to mar the evening s enjo>nient. Every variety of costume was assumed, and every variety of character was represented at the gatheung-. Peasant g>rls and princesses, counts and chimney sweeps, heroes of high tia»tdy and puncinnellos, mingled with on-- another in most amusing proximity; an i among- th« various grades of rank present the republican mot tops of •' Libi-rtv, Equality. tu.d Fraterniiy" was univei sally carritd out to the very letter Upwaids of two thousand invitations to the ball had been issued. and out of these persons who had receivul them no less than fourteeu hundred aa-i iorty put ia an appeal ance — grave oi- gay, solemn or fantastic. The die-ses we c, for the mo,t part, of the richest material, and of the best workmanship, while the blending of every shade of color, from the quietest tints tj the nioM, brilliant hue, produced an effect the georgousness of which it is impossible adequately m describe. With the exception of such volunteer officers, who cho?e to appear in uniform, ani of a very few persons specially privileged to encase themselves in the ordinary lugubrious black dress suit, all the guests wore fnucy dresses and when we hear in some instances the cost of what brother Jonathan would rudely term the "fixins" for due representation of individual la ly characters might be reckoned by hundreds of pounds sterling, some notion may be arrived at of the enormous txpeuditure which the show must have involved in the aggregate. In order, however, that the whole expense of the display may not be thrown^away upon a single occasion. it is intended to get up a subscription return ball of a similar kind to the one just over, at as early a date as circumstances.will n-Jmit of. While alluding- to the guests at the Mayor's Ball, I ought to have mentioned tnat Sir Henry iiarkly was present in his u»ual state uniform accompanied by Lady IWkiy in tbe costume , ot a lady of the old (Jourt. The dress which she wore was a rich gold brocade which had be-.n a sort of heirloom in the family for a century or more. Both Kis Excellency and his lady appeared heartily to enjoy the pletNuro of t!.e '■- ' evening-. Sir Henry's stay amongst us, by the way, ' rapidly approai-hes its termination, and during the few days of it which leinain he will have plenty to do in the way of attending- banquets abd receiving addresses. The Suffolk-, with Sir Charles Darling on board, has now been nearly seventy day s out, so that tlie arrival ot the nev/ Governor may ba hourly expected. J J There has been nothing-of much general interest doing- in Victorian politics since the dispatch of my last letter. The Land Act Amendment Bill has not yet passed out of the hands of the Legislative Assem-. Wy. After a good d^al of patching, however, it has at last been got through commutes, and will probably be read a third time, and transmitted to the Council this evening. _ The Electoral Act Amendment Bill is about to receive its final touches for the Council, and as soon as these two measures are out of hand our tired legislators intend ta shut up shop and return to their respective homes. ;. The prosecution for libel sefc on foot by Mr M'Cann, the protectionist member for Geelong, against Mr bidders, of the Chronicle, has been complicated by a counter prosecution, in which the M.L.A. appears as the defendant, to a charge of wilful and corrupt perjury brought against him by the journalist which charge has arisen out of statements - made by M-Cann in his evidece against Sidders given in support of the'prosecution for libel at thp Ueelong Police Court. The perjury case was "called on before the Bench on Friday, when it was partly iieat d, and postponed for a week. .._ The Royal. Society, at their meeting on Monday. presented a valedictory address to their President Sir :- iienry Barkly, prior to his departure from the'eo- . Jony. The address, which was highly complimentary in >ts tone, was delivered by Sir Redmond B*rry and ■ elicited a suitable and feeling reply from his Excel- ' iency. -■ The trial of Messrs Hancock, Sawell, and AnderMn» ™c late.directors ot the Provident Institute, -■wmch had" been appointed to take place before 'a special jury at the Melbourne Criminal Sessions on the 31st ult., has been postponed till the 15th of the ■ - present month in order that Mr Foster, who has returned from Queensland for the pus pose of answering the criminal charge brought asainst the Directors ?f SJ [nstltute > ma V be arraigned with them. Porter the Managing Director, has not yet been arrested. With respect to the last named individual, it now -appears that if anything like ordinary discretion had been used by the founders of the Evident Institute, enough.might have been known of his proceedings to preclude him from ever , receiving his appoint- ' ■merit' to' the managership of that establishment. It seems that some years back he was trusted by .a . Mr 'Buchanan, of Scotland, with a large amount cf capital for the purpose of establishing a mercantile business in Melbourne, and that operation's were commenced by him here in the names of Porter, Buchanan and Co, Not long afterwards, however, the suspicions of Mr .Buchanan having been aroused with respect to Porter's proceedings, a solicitor was sent out to wind up the concern, when it was found that the enormous amount of L 90,000 was found to be deficient, for the mysterious disappearance of which, Porter could not account. A rather amusing scene was enacted in the Ballarat' Police Courta few days ago, the chief performer in ' which, was a Bacchanalian, rather apt, it 1 is to .be prpsumed, to be; riotous 'when tinder - the influence of the rosy god, who I appeared before the bench in his own proper person, j and seriously requested to be bound over, in his own ' recognisance of L2O, to keep the peace towards ill ' her Majesty's subjects for the space of six mouths , The odd request was granted, amidst the ill-sup-pressed merriment of the auditory, and the man paid the usual fee of 5s and left the court, apparently well satisfied with his morning's work. Much alarm is felt here respecting the alleged alarming increase of the disease of pleuro-pneumonia amongst cattle all over the colony. The much vaunted system of inoculating healthy animals in-the tail I in order that by inducing a mild form of the disease its worst phases may be prevented, seems not omy to have failed of its object but in numerous cases to have killed the' animal upon which it had been tried. In the meantime, it is a notorious fact that cattle more or less affected with this frightful disease are constantly boughtcby unscrupulous butchers and slaughtered for human food. Legislation upon the subject appears to have been next to useless, and Parliament is quite at a loss how to deal with it. I During a discussion which occurred upon the question in the Assembly.on Tu-sday evening-, an hon member related an anec-lote which illustrated in a remarkable mann<v the cool audacity with which some butchers palm off upon their customers meat totally unfit ior human food. A friend of his, he said, was visited by his .butcher a shoTt time since, who offered to buy a ..fine looking cow that was grazing in tha paddock of the former. " I don't wont to sell the animal," was , thejreplv • " why do you come to me to offer to buy •him]' -"Oh V says Mr Butcher, "you can do as ' - you -like about selling her, of course,* but she can't ! live manydays longer." The gentleman, nothaving _-observed,that there1 was.anything the matter with the animal, ,was inclined to doubt the correctness of this confident assertion, and declined ,to consent ' to the sale, ' although .a very fair sum 'con sidering'' was ofiered by' the butcher. "If • the .cow is as ■ bad as you suppose,"" lie said further, "why should you wish to take the loss upon yourself instead of leaving it to fall upon me?'' •'Oh!» said .the other, "as for that, if I bought it, I would take cave that I lost nothing by , the purchase, for the cow is quite fat, and I shonld .slaughter her and sell the meat directly " The owner ot the animal persisted in his refusall to sell it and I?n eVi e?u PTe^ thafc the P"rveyor of flesh was better skilled than he in the detection of the first sta^-e of fatal disease, for the cow breathed her last a very few days afterwards. . - LATEST DATES. • • England ; June 26 Bytelegraph ; June 29 Mauritius June 2o "' • Singapore June 8 Cape of Good Hope May 31 Tahiti April 18 America— New York June.ls ' San Francisco ............... June 11 1 ■ Australian Colonies— j . •_ Melbourne Aug.2s j Sydney Aug.2s Queensland Aug. 4 Adelaide ......'.■... Aug. 14 Launceston Aug-. 25 Hobart Town .............. Aug. 26 Perth.. .....July 8 ' New Zealand— Auckland A.ug 25 Taranaki Aug 26 Nelson Aug 27 Picton Aug '28 Wellington Aug3o Hawke'sßay Aug2o Canterbury Sept 2 Wanganui Aug2B InvercargiU ................ Sept 4

Unclaimed Letters POST OFFICE, QUEENSTOWN. T IST OF UNCLAIMED LETTERS, for Month JU ended 31st July, 1863 :— A, Aliern, D Anderson, Thomas £ nderson, William Anderson & Thompson Ann, Charles Austin, Nathan B. Balch, E ■ , Blake, Michael Bayli, G C Boyd, William B an, Ltettjamin Brislan, Francis Bayiis, G V Burns, John T Benny, Thomas Buru^ Rodger Bellruan, Geosgo Burns, William Byrne, Timothy Burkainp, Fredk big-ett, Win Burley, John C. Cambray, William Cleland, Henry Caciiaan, Michael (4) Connelly, John Callagham, Jeremiah Coombe, Dr Carreh, W S Connors, James ■ Chapman and Allort Covac;vich, Giovanni Chapman, James Cuddihy, Michael D. Dand, James Carpenter Donald, William ■Wxon, P Dollimore, Win Dcdd, Samuel Duncan, Simon Dohurty, Joseph Dunlop,.David Dolhmore, (2) Duery, Joseph E. and'F. Eva, Simon Ford, Patrick Fitzgerald, P ' Fox, Michael rlett, John, ' G. Garteide, Benjamin Graham, William Gardiner, Wm \Brickloyer)Grubb, Henry Gollogher, Joha Uuminon, fc-ichard Goodwin, Hugh Qunu, Robert Goodwin, William A H. Hagan, Denis Hart. Patrick Kawke, Nathaniel (2) Hill, late of Hill and SmiHallifax, Frank thers Hawke, John. Hickey, James Halloran, John. . . Hoiefleisch, Francis Hai lord, Heujunm, 1-Jopkinson, (J Hare, TatrieK, for Thos. Howorth, R Bourke Hou/stuL, H-M. Hawke, Nathaniel Hugill, John Hnllcn, George Hughes, lianiel Hayman; M Hare, Patiick, for Come* ■ ■ lius Hogan J. and K. Jones, T L (Engineer) Keenan, John Johnson, Fiancisj - Kerni, John ■ Johnson', William • king, William Henry Johnstone, William G Keerce, Michael Kenworthy, Kobert Keith, Archibald (Engineer) J L. ■ Logan, Thomas. Louis, C B Lockley, E Lucas, Edley M. Marshall, H Minnir," P W Mardith, Thomas : Mitchell, J Mason, W H junr Moyle, Samuel Malavey, Patrick • Moore, Andrew Mahary, Mrs E Morrison, D, for Eodk Mahary, WAf Matheson Megen, Richard Morris, Thomas F Meany, Michael Moody, George (CarpenMitchell, James ter) Milliken, William Murphy Me. M'Donald, Robfc M'lvor, Robert M'Donald, Robt, of Mai- Mackenzie, T E dou M'Kenzie, Alex M'Donald, Franci3 M fKey, Dan M 'Ldowie, Daniel ■ M'Kneely James M'Elligott, Pierce M'Millan, Alexr ■ . •. |N. and O. Nicker, S O'Kane, Daniel Nicker, Samuel . , ■ P. and Q. , Pattison, Joseph Phillips, James Rußsell Pattisson, Richard Qualter, Thomas R. Rainey, Robert , Richardson, Herbert W , Redpath, John Ross, John Colder Rea, James I Kowe, S H Ryan, Rody i - Robinson, W B Riordan, Wm Rochford, T H (2) Richardson, H C Ross, G S. Sankey, R N Steffensen. Sven Samuels, I?ob1, Stewart, John bhepard, William, , , ■ Souttell and Co., for Hector Sutherland - T. Telferd, James Thompson, Wm Murray . Thomson, James U. V. and Y. IJrquhart, Henry ' Yeaman, Andrew Vining, William W. Walfher, A Whitmore, F J Walker, C R (2)' Wha'en, Thomas Waddick, Dennia Whittiker, William Wallace, Peterj White, W H Walker, Thomas Vi ilson, G.orge . Walsh, William Wilkey. — Ward — (2) Wood, NathanJ Webster, Alexander and Co. SYDNEY J. DICK. , Post OfHce, - Queenstown, 1 September, 1863. N.B.—Applicants for the above, are requested to ask for,them at the Post .Office, Qubexstown, as Declaimed Letters ; and persons writing for them are lequested to stats where they expect the letters from, and to give information which may tend to prevent an unnecessary transmission of kttera. ARCH. BARK, 1 ' Chief Postmaster.