AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 921, 24 July 1869, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

During the coming season bop-growing is likely to be tried in Victoria to a far greater extent than has ever before been the case, Messrs Perry, of Heidelberg, having already supplied over 20,000 plants.

20,144 shares have been allotted in the Australian Diamond Mining Company. The remaining 4,856 shares will be taken up by the directors unless applied for before Saturday next. The yield for last week was 77 diamonds.

The Hobart Town Mercury of the 9th inst, contains the official report of the engineers on the main line of railway. The route recommended will pass through Bridgewater, Jerusalem, Tunbridge, Ross, Campbell Town, and Fairfield to Longford, where it will join the Launceston and Western Bailway. The length of the line will be rather more than 127 miles, and the estimated cost is L 850.000, or rather less than L 6.700 per mile. In the list of properties for sale, we observe that of the Colonial Monthly Magazine. This publication, dating from the commencement of the Australian Monthly Magazine— of which the Colonial Monthly is merely a continuation under a different proprietaryhas now been in existence nearly four yean — a long term of vitality for an Australian periodical, and an evidence, one would think, of its popularity. Mr M. O'BeUly, the editor of the Banner of Belfast, has been fined 3s, with 2s 6d costs, for an assault on James Williams, having given him three slaps on the face while he was keeping the door at one of Burnett's meetings. Mr O'Reilly pleaded "Guilty" to the assault under strong provocation, as Williams oalied oat Mr O Reilly's name publicly as one of those who woro disturbing the meeting.

During the first quarter of this year, says the Albury Banner, about 12,000 aores of land were taken up and settled in the single district of Albury, hut in the whole of South Australia, during the same period, only 6472 acres were taken up under the now system of defetred payments which has lately been introduced into that colony. And most of tho soloctors who come to this district do well, whatever may be said of their condition in the older portions of the oolony.

The Argus is informed by Mr Pinner, Socretary of the Polynesia Company, that advices were received by the Sydney overland mail yesterday, from Fiji, by the Spring) ok, lately arrived at Newoastle, stating that Mr Cook, manager of the ootnpany, had left Levuka for Bau, on the Bth of June, in company with the United Statoa consul, to arrange the final settlement o( the American debt. The survey of the company's lands was still proceeding. The latest dates from Fiji are down to tho 11th alt.

The Moat-preserving Company on the Saltwater Rivor have again commenced operations, but only on a small scale, on account of the presont rather high price of stook. If tho favourable lambing season that is now passing should induce the sending of large quantities to tho Melbourne markets, the operations of meat- preserving are likely to be carried on as extensively as they were a few months ago. The order* to hand are said to be sufficient to keep tbe oompanies busily employed for some months to oome, if the prices of meat enablo them to euro at a profit. Aocordiog to the Belfast Gazette, tha operations for the harbour improvements are steadily progressing. On the northern side some I.7<K) cubio yards of rook have been removed from Goat Island, and other projecting point* in the south-west ohannol, sad the dyke formed with this material now oxtends a considerable distance into the surf. On the south side 1,900 cnbio yards bave b/isn takon from the bed of the ohannol, and now form a portion of tbe southern dyke, which also has bow readied tho shallow water, and is being extended seawards.

Mr William AobNrtson, of Oolao, who bas •xpsjulsd thousands of poand* in efforts to

has -<et : length- partially «übceecledV TtaU* gentlemen walked ,over ; tbe run a few<tdsys since, and did not meet with, 'any signs, bf live bunnies till they oame.to the' boundary' 'walll j Here, r however, they'- were l fonnii literally fn multitudes, and afforded plenty of emp'oyment for the breech-loaders. .Measures, are now being adopted to stop crevices, and in shooting any thai; may be found near the dividing wall. ! ' ' ', ' ' [ ' A telegram from Hobart Town state* that Gbodall's report relative to the prospects- of the Tower-hill quartz reefs' is most satisfactory. There are three, reefs on the land. He has put in four croas-cuta in No. 1 . The reef averaged from 3ft to Bft tbick. The deepest cross- out is' 10ft in the solid reef.Thegold is better and, rougher %he 'deeper the cut goes. The grain of the stone is B»id to be Bimilnr to that at Clunes, with all accompanying indications. He considers the prospect extraordinary. , . The place ia a complete network of reefs, and,' there are, 60 miles of country to the north all. as likely, which has never yet been prospected. Beefs Nob- 2 and 3 have yielded rich;specimens on the surface, but nave not yet been ■ tested. '

A ourious circumstance, showing a quality in colonial ale hitherto little known, has just come to light, and;is worth record. It is detailed in a letter written from Mr George G. Crouch, of Portland, to Mr & Wild tj of the Collingwood Brewery, and a passage therein runs as follows :— "The oask of beer I had from you (about six years since) I bottled, as I feared to keep it in the wood, our consumption being Btnall. ' The following winter my cellar was flooded, and 'the beer remained under water some months ; and when tried, was condemned as altogether worthless. As the space occupied was not required, the bin still remains ; and last December a bottle of this beer was accidentally brought to table, and, to my astonish ment,'was not only quite sound, but in excellent condition. We have continued, to use it ever since, and have found it all firstolass."

The colonial boy is as offensive a nuiaanoe in Sydney as in Melbourne. ' Late on Thursday evening, says the Sydney Morning Herald, a youth named Grant, aged about seventeen years, shot another youth of about the same age, with a pistol, at tho Varieties. Grant, who was sitting in a box contiguous to the other young man, whose name is Gardiner, placed the barrel of the pistol to a hoe in the dividing partition, and fired through it at the latter. Happily the weapon was only charged with a quantity of powder, but that -circumstance did not prevent Gardiner from having his faoe aeriout-ly scorched, his eyes narrowly escaping from (severe injury. The inoident was the cause of some commotion in the Theatre, which subsided when the circumstance became known. Gardiner was conveyed to the infirmary by one of the members of the police force, and there had his hurts attended to. It is believed that the pistol was fired' by Grant with the intention of having a "lark " with or of frighten, ing his neighbour. Grant is in custody. The dispute which occurred between the grand lodge of the Ancient Independent Order of Oddfellows and the subordinate lodge— the Loyal Brothers of Geelong— was brought before the Supreme Court on Saturday. The Loyal Brothers refused to coincide with a resolution of a majority of the lodges, that the order should become affiliated with the American body, and it was thereupon suspended by the governing powers of the order, and its trustees requested to deliver up fcbe money they possessed. The trustees refused, and proceedings were then taken again't them before the magistrates, where the whole question of the right of the order to alter the constitution without the consent of all the members, was gone into, and the magistrates dismissed the oaae. On appeal to the Supremo Court, it was held that the justices had no jurisdiction in the matter, for the Friendly Societies Aot only allowed summary complaints before the petty sessions in criminal matters, and not in a case like the prosant, where the defendants were acting oona fld«, and not misapplying tho funds of the lodge. Ths appeal was, therefore, dismissed.

The Mineral Statistics for 1868 show that the mean number of miners employed in Viotoria during that year was 63,181, being a deoreaso of 2,676 on the year preceding; while tho average earnings of each were LlO4 18s Bd, as against LB7 Is 7d in 1867. There ana 2,651 ascertained quartz reefs, and 886.228 tons wore or«shed in 1868, giving an average yield of over half an ounoe to the ton; while the cost of crushing ranges from 2a 6d to LI 10s per ton. Tho extent of auriferous, land opened up by tbe miners is 882 pquaro miloi; the value of the machinery and mining plant employed is estimated at L 2,150,432;, 150,432; the total area of land hold as olaims was 100,942 aores, of which nearly one-third is lying idle ; and the computed value of the whole of the olaims is Ls, 809,504. Twelve new goldfields woro discovered during the year ; and 329 now companies, with a nominal capital of L 3,719,195, were registered in th* fs>T)O period. Up to the Slat Decora • j ber la*t there had been oxportod from the oolony 86.835,6003 ounces of gold, of the aggregate value of L 147,342,767 sterling. Mr Joseph Thompson, the well-known bookmaker, has oaoe more received a verdict aftaint.t h,io» in the matter of a disputed bet It appears that at tho soltling on the Band* wick raoes, a Mr Darbyshire, who is in the habit of speculating on the great racing events of the year, claimed the sum of L 250, h« having sooepted that amount to L 5 against Coquette for tbe St. Legsr and Tbe Barb for tf»ojd»e>G<44 Cap, Tl* "LefJ»ty»/'

however, denied' all knowledge of the transaction, and used, to comply with Darbyrequest; to pay the. wager, notwith standing the fact of the .latter producing a respectable witness ;; wlio 'testified to having seen him accept the . wager from Thompson' Uarbyahire,, having no alternative, appealed to the' committee of the subscription- room, and that body, after taking evidence, has decided in favour of the backer of Coquette and The Barb. Mr Thompson now wishes the, case to be re-opened, in order; that he may,, if possible, rebut the evidence adduced on behalf of Darbyshire ; but should the, committee decline to accede to his request; we understand that he is quite prepared to meet Mr Darbyshire'a claim. > Letters (received . from Japan, dated, the 14th of May, by the mail, represent matters as being in an unsatisfactory state. Trade was dull owing to the disturbed condition of the country politically, and Europeans were subject to some danger at times, from the violence of some of the Mikado's followers, especially those of them who had not been accustomed to the presence of foreigners. The s.s. Otago, from Melbourne and Sydney, had reached Yokohama in twenty-four days from Sydney. The troop of Japanese conjurors, who were lately on. a visit to the Australian colonies under the management of Messrs Lenton and Smith, had reached their native country in safety, but seemed to be considerably dissatisfied with it after their Australian experience. Mr Kirby, who accompanied them, had visited O«aka and Yeddo, and hoped, with the assistance of the Portuguese consuls, and some high native officials to whom]he had been introduced, to send out a new band of performers, possessing spe ialtiea, to make another tour in this part of the world.

A correspondent of the Pastoral Times writes from Queensland :— " I never saw anything like the condition of the cattle just now in this part of the country. Many of the bullocks are quite as fat as the very best stall-fed cattle that I ever saw in England. Sheep are also looking well where the country is good, but the grass seeds are playing the very devil with the wool. It certainly is my opinion, after nine yean' experience, that sheep farming will never become a profitable oooupation in this part of Queensland ; on the other hand, I believe that cattle stations will pay well." This is glorious news for some of the squatters of the colony named, where, of late, we have heard so many despairing cries. The writer is one of the very first of the settlers who crossed Burdekin Downs, from which place our correspondent writes. The tide has set in in favour of cattle stations ; some eight or nine years ago they were »t a great discount here, owing to the high prices realised for wool. Now the latter is fallen and the rush is for beef. We are glad to see that exporting companies are being formed in all parts, and we again warn allparties connected with these affairs to take care and form thorn on a sound basis, so as to export nothing bat really good meat.

Tasmania must be a nice plaoe to live in, and ( Tasmanian Justices very intelligent magistrates, judging from the following, which we take from the Hobart Town Mercury of the 29th ult :— " Yesterday afternoon, absut half-past two o'olook, the attention of several bystanders about the Stone Buildings was oalied to a young stripling, dressed in a blue smock and a felt hat, closely handcuff- d, and proceeding; up tha road in custody of a constable. Sights of this kind are, happily, now very rare in the colony, and, consequently, many enquiries wore made as to who the felon could be, and various suggestions offered as to the nature of the horrible orime he might have committed, while two or three gentlemen oroseed towards Waloh's and the following colloquy took plaoe :— Inquirer : ' Pray, constable, what offence has the lad committed, that be is handcuffed in this manner?' Constable: 'He shot a kangaroo, sir ; and I am taking him to the Cascade Factory, under a aentenoo of two month*' imprisonment.' Inquirer (to the boy) t 'Is that truo, my lad ? What is your name? Where were you tried?' 'At Hamilton, sir. lam tho ton of a farmer, and my name is James Poaroe.' ' But woro you not fined !' 'No, sir, merely sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard labour for shooting a wild kangaroo on Mr Qelli rand's land, at the (hue, and you now see me fcaudoufiVd like a felon, in broad daylight, and on my way to prison.' "

The settling ob Croxfcon-pwk Steepleohases took place on the 12th in.*,, at Kirk's Bazaar, Melbourne, and although a more than average sum ohanged hands, in oonsoquenoe of tho victory of Bondo in thft Steeplechase and Playboy in the Hurdle Raoe, matters passed off very satiafnotorily. Advantage was taken of tho large aasem lags of sporting men to transact business on future events, Aid speculation beoatne more a- imatod than usual. The Melbourne Cup, of course, was the principal attraction. Sheet Anchor being backed for LI 000 at 100 to 6, and Salem Sondderfora similar amount at 100 to. 5. Freotrador, too, during the past day or two has been supported tq the extent of nearly L2OO at I(K| to ft Strop had baokers at 200 to fl ; Shejoandoah at 200 to 8 ; Lampltohter at 100 to 6 ; Phosphorus a* 200 to 4 ; and Miranda at 100 to 2. For the A. J. C. Derby, tho Fop was enquired after, but tho bookmaker* woro not disposed to oonoode tho oddo wanted t Win the double ovont -Derby and Metropolitan— ho wan taken in eonjnnotion with Tim Whifflor, Warrior, and tao .fiarl for tho latter moo at 1000 to 1 H «aoh. For tho name evqots, 200 to 6 was aooeptsd aboat Lamplighter and I Italian, and 1000 to 5 was Uksn in favour of Lwpii^tor^fchsprd^PwpT^UUan^

the Metropolitan, i and ( TjainpHffbter for the Mcl ouroe Gup. Warrior is becoming a v*ry warm favourite for the Metropolitan Stakes, as also is Italian, against whom 100 to 9 was laid yesterday, with 'every sign of a much shorter price ' being taken before' tbe day. ' The Earl was very firm for the great Sydney .event, but Manuka, the New Zealand champion,', was much easier in the nvwket, in o of iis non-arrival from New Zealand. ; " The labours of the select committee ap. pointed to inquire into and report upon rail* way extension in Victoria, with a view to ascertain the most economical mode of on*o n* struction consistent with safety and »ra« tdlity. are drawing near a conclusion. The members met yesterday, .to consider the draft report which had. been prepare I, and after agreeing to about half of the clauses, adjourned to Thursday nest when its is probable the report will be adopted m its entirety, so as to be ready for presentation by Tuesday next. The portion of the report already agreed to is, we believe, little more than declaratory. We understand that >in the first instance it refers to what has been accomplished in other countries, under conditions Bimilar to those of Victoria, and points out the fact that tbe construction of our existing railways, after the English pattern — admittedly the most substantial and costly in the world — for L 33,930 per mile, was in fact a mistake, see* ing that the reasons for such expense do not exist in Victoria. A few figures show the very disproportionate results arrived at in i different countries. * For instance, England has 9,251 miles of railway, at L 40.000 per mile ; Scotland, 2,200, atL23,000 ; Ireland, 1.838, at LKOOftj Pranoe, 9.014, at L 35 0n0; Belgium, 1,247, at LIB.OOO ; Canada, 2 529. at L 12.600 ; India, 3, 332,, at LIB, OOO ; and the United States. 35,935, at i-8 000 ; and so on. It was, after this, natural for the committee to turn to the opinions of the various authorities on the subject, and the complete report will probably cite a number of these in favour of cheap railways, and then express a decided opinion in favour of a system of railway construction that shall provide the greatest number of the inhabitants with sufficient accommodation at moderate speed and faros — i.e., those with the least costly permanent way and rolling* stook. It is likewise to be expeoted that judioious economy in the matter of fencing, gates, goods sheds, and stations, will be strongly urged. What figure ptr mile the committee will suggest as tha most reason* able has yet to appear ; but judging from the opinions expressed outside, it will probably be L 6.000 per mite.

The residents at Patea are reported to ba in a state of great uneasineis at present, from their being left with 200 savages in their midst, without almost any guard. Colonel Lyonwith the Armed Constabulary is absent on an expedition in search of Tito Kowaru, and the Hauhau prisoners, of whom 60 are said to be able-bodied men, are nominally guarded by the Ngatiporon. The latter, however, do not appear to understand the necessity of keeping guard rigidly, so that the prisoners enjoy a considerable amount of liberty. The settlers say, " suppose Tito Kowarn htm had communication with these people, as he probably has, what is there to prevent the captive rebels from concerting to snrpriso and massacre the settlement ? " There is an opportunity for such a movement in the absence of Colonel Lyon's foroe. The clioper ship Challenger, from London* arrived off the Heads yesterday forenoon and sailed up as far an Grassy Point with a N. W. wind during tho afternoon, where aha was taken in tow by the tag Geeloag and brought up to a convenient discharging berth off Carey's Bay. The Challenger •ailed from Graveaond on the 16th of April, and the Downs on tbe 18th. Variable and adverse winds were experienced in the Channel, and she took her final departure from the Lizard on the 22nd. In crowing the Bay of Biscay. N.W. to S. W. winds prevailod, light southerly and westerly breeE«B followed, until passing Madura on tho sth of May. The N. K. tr dcs were got in 'at, 26 N., and proved to ho very light and indifferent, and were lout in 3N. Tho Eqtta* tor was crossed on the 20th of May, in long. 23 W. The B,E, trades, woro otron*, and owned her to Ut. 23 S. Westerly winds ta«n prevailed. Tristan d'*oui)ha wag pawed on thft 7th of June, and the Capn on the 17th of the same month in lat. 43 8. Her easting, for the most part, was run down hetweon the paraMols of 43 and 40 a, and was ch.nwteriaod by strong winds from the N.W. to S.W., with hard squalls. The meridian of Capo Leuwin was orossed on the Bth instant, and Tasmania on tho 14th. Stewart's Inland was mad* on tho 18th, thus nuking the paatage from land to land in 83 day*. After rounding the ttla'ui, light vaxiaUe hreeaea were experienced to arrival, Tho Challenger brings a l»vgo cargo fo * **»»• P?rti wd a number oC passenger*. a fter dwobarglng cargo horc, boo proceeds to Maldon Island to load guano for Britain. Throughout tho pasiage the health of the pawongors and crow haa bo»n good, no disease whatever of an infeotious nature having ooourmU On arrival, Captain Lovoll was prostnttt! with an address from the paitsngen, thanking him for kis kindness, to them during tho paswuro. The ChalUnjpr in the fnr famod ship which wm built by Mr Given, of London, to ootnpoto wfth tho American olippor ship Challenge, 2000- toM register, from China to England, the tot being shin for shin. The ClwUsaffor, although only 670 toss register, beat |h# AWjrioan hpuo ty 14 days £ taut.