AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1156, 24 January 1874, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

A hospital is about to be erected at Port Darwin. A public dairy company has been formed in Sydney. The Victorian vintage promises unusually well this year. The Age now puffs its circulation as exceeding 20,000 daily. The locust difficulty in Victoria is reported to be growing more formidable than ever. •A horse fell down dead from sunstroke in Elizabeth street, Melbourne, on the 2nd inst. The New South Wales Parliament has voted £3000 to the Agricultural Societies of the Colony. The Wallaroo Mines have declared a dividend amounting to £20,000, being £100 per share. . A daring thief the other day picked the pocket of a Stawell policeman without being detected. A local medicai man has reported the occurrence of a caße of modified smallpox at North Clunes. The sugar, crushing season in Queensland is just over, and it is stated to be about the beat yet known in the Colony.

The Geelong Co-operative Association has collapsed. The apathy of its promoters is stated to be the cause of this result. At Kew, Melbourne, a female servant, for disobeying her mistress, has had her agreement cancelled, besidea being fined ss. with 6s costs. The Argus suggests that eaoh of the Australian Colonies should vote a small sum yearly, for the purpose of exploring the interior of the continent. At Albury the other day a lad aged 16, and his two sisters, aged 13 and 12 respectively, were charged with assaulting and robbing an old man. It was stated that they had lassoed him first and then rifled him. They were remanded. A Gipps Land mail contractor the other day rode, in eleven hours, with one horse, a distance of eighty-four miles — a great part of which is hilly and rough country. At Adelaide, Messrs Marrett and Shanks, the publisher and printer respectively of the Mirror, have been committed for trial for contempt of the Supreme Court, for stating that the jury tossed in a hat for their verdict. At Learmonth, several persons have been summoned for not taking effectual means to destroy the thistles growing on their lands. A conviction in nearly every instance was obtained. Says the Ballarat Star -.—"The scarcity of silver coin is so great that some of the banks here are offering a premium of £ per cent, for it, just able to get a supply then. Gold five-shilling pieces are spoken of as a desirable stop gap." At the Woodend Police Court, two men were sent to gaol for ten days for lighting a fire in the open air, and leaving it without extinguishing it. Fortunately the fire was discovered before much damage 'had been done. A Temperance Political Reform Association is projected at Ballarat. The Star cays that its objects are "The abolition of the Bottle Bill, the suppression of the liquor traffic, total or permissive," and the reform of the Upper House. The Bendigo Independent states that a gentleman who is as well known for his fortune as a reefer &s for his energy in prospecting fresh lines of reef, can set down his dividends in a single week lately at the sum of over £15,000. A great portion of this is from private claims. The Pastoral Times says that the smartest wool-picker in one of the largest of the Riverina wool sheds is a Melbourne pickpocket, who goes to the district every year, and works better and more carefully than any other men at the woolshed.

The Guildford correspondent of the Mount Alexander Mail writes: — "Harvest and the holidays do not agree, and the farmers, painfully aware of that fact, have encouraged the employment of the Chinese, who, ignorant of those days, are willing to work as usual." The Geelong Advertiser remarks:— A piebald horse, belonging to Mr Fawcett, forwarding agent, fell into a cellar in CSrio street last week, and there remained for five days without food or water, the thermometer ranging at 100 a great part of the time. When discovered it seemed none the worse in any respect, but with a decidedly improved appetite.

« The Southern Standard says :— " The Rev. R. V. Danne was conducting service at Mr A. Ritchie's, Bega, last week, when it was discovered that a snake had entered the room and taken up a position near the rev. gentleman. The congregation at once mounted the chairs to get out of the road of his anakeship, which was, however, speedily dispatched by Mr Danne." The expedition, under the leadership of Mr Gosse, despatched by the South Australian Government to explore the unknown region in the centre of Australia, went of the overland telegraph, made »

remarkable discovery 130 mile* south of Lake Amadeus. It consisted of a huge monolith, 1100 feet high, and 6 or 7 miles in girth at the base. A stream of water, fed by a spring in the centre of the pyramid, flows from the rock.

The Age says :— "lt is not often that on a voyage out here many ships are in sight at one time, but the experience of Captain Freebody, of the ship Dharwar, which arrived in the Bay yesterday from London, is altogether unprecedented. On 13th October, when in 17 north latitude, and during a calm, no less than 74 vessels, all proceeding to the southward, were visible from the ship's deck."

The Ballarat Courier writes :— " The fines inflicted upon the persons convicted of assaults connected with the late disturbance at Chines were paid from the funds of the Clunes Miners' Association. The expenses altogether amounted to nearly £80. A subscription in aid of the fund has been started, and is being liberally responded to at Clunes, and assistance is expected from other places."

" Mr Richmond, of You Yangs, has in his possession," according to the Bacchus Marsh Express, " a hawk of rare species. It is about the size of the common sparrowhawk, pure white on the body, light blue on the back and wings, a small speck of blue over each eye, and its eyes red and glistening like rubies. It was shot by one of his sons, and being only slightly wounded on the wing, is now perfectly recovered, and becoming quite tame." ' The Bendigo Independent prints the following caution to boys :—": — " John Bickley, a boy 11 years old, residing at Huntly, was playing on Thursday with another boy. They had about half a pound of powder. The latter said to Bickley, 'You are not game to light it.' Bickley, to show his valour, did so, and the consequence was that his face was so severely burned as to render his admission to the hospital necessary. It is feared that the sight of one of his eyes is gone." # An interesting relic was received from Scotland per last English mail, the Seymour Express states, " by Mr John Guild, of Goulburn park, Seynour. The relic alluded to is a piece of tarfcan about 6in x 2in, being a portion of a Highland dress picked out of the peat, in which it was deeply embedded, on the scene of the battle of Culloden. The cloth is in a splendid state of preservation, notwithstanding that it doubtless formed portion of the wearing apparel of some poor fellow who fell at Culloden in 1745."

"The crow," observes the Mount Alexander Mail, "who has done such good service by eating up the locusts in some parta of the Colony, now comes in for abuse. Having fed for so long a time at a full larder, his omnivorous appetite is whetted ; and the other day a flock being hungry, settled around a hen with a clutch of 14, and notwithstanding the cries of the parent bird, who was immediately assisted, the little chicks were carried off, the crows flying away with them in their claws as if they had been hawks." The following, which is taken from the Mount Alexander Mail, is not very flattering to the doctors :— " On Friday last, a little girl, named Mary Flack, aged ten years, and residing with her parents at Tarilta, was admitted to the hospital, suffering in, apparently, the last stages of diphtheria. No hope was entertained of her recovery, and as every remedy had been previously tried no ' local ' applications were made. Strange to say, however, nature has in this instance proved the best doctor, the girl being pronounced out of danger on Monday." An extraordinary event in poultrybreeding has, according to the Bendigo Evening News, lately occurred at Mr Clifton's homestead, Yankee Creek. A turkey cock having sat upon two eggs for a day or two, Mr Clifton, out of curiosity, placed a full clutch under him ; and, strange to say, the bird sat his time, and brought out a fine brood of young turkeys. He is now cooped up with them, ard is aa proud and careful as any hen could be. He is quite a motherly old father, and, to all appearance, will prove a terror to all the poultry of the yard when he is liberated. * " A sad accident by fire occurred at the Caledonian Society's games, Ballarai, on New Year's Day," the Ballarat Star reports, "by which a young lady named Jane Henderson, aged 16 years, living at the corner of Seymour and Dovaton streets, was severely injured.j ured. It appjars that the girl was sitting near one of the booths at about 1 o'clock, and suddenly she was enveloped in flames, caused, it is supposed, by her light summer dress having been ignited by a lighted match thrown down by some careless felbw. The people surrounding the unfortunate girl did what they could in subduing the flames by throwing water upon her, but ifc was noticeable that not a single ind.vidual would approach near to her, u|til Mr John Noonan, of the 8.F.8., rushed through the crowd, and, with great jre-

sence of mind, took off hia jacket, and rolled it round the suffering girl, thus extinguishing the fire. Miss Henderson now lies in a very critical condition."

The M. A. Mail states that Mr E. Fitzgerald has had at work at Robertson, Wagner, and Co. 's coach factory, a machine that he has invented for the pulverising of quartz tailings, and for which he has applied for protection for six months. It consists of a horizontal revolving disc of heavy metal, about the thickness and size of an ordinary millstone, over which is a frame of metal bars, moving laterally. The tailings pass by means of water dropping on them through insterstices between the bars, and get ground into powder between the disc and the overlying bars. Mr Fitzgerald expects that by his invention tailings can be pulverised more expeditiously and economically than by any other process in operation.

The Bendigo Advertiser has published a statement of the yields of the mines in the district, the total amount of calls made, and the dividends paid during the year 1873. The yield of gold for the past year was 325,5130z5.; for 1872 it was 346,6270z5., this being in excess of that for 1873 by 21,1140z5. The dividends for 1873 were £628,946 ; for 1872 they were £683,140, a balance in favour of 1872 of £54,193. The calls in 1873 were £234,066 13s 7d, and in 1872 £360.300. showing a decrease in calls of £126,233 for 1873. The amount of dividends over calls in 1873 was £394,879 ; in 1872 it was £322,840, so that 1873 has a balance in favour of excess of dividends over calls to the amount of £72,039.

We (Tarn-worth Examiner) "have been informed by a party residing at Springs, on the Attunga Road, about fourteen miles from town, that a most unexpected phenomenon occurred last week in that neighbourhood. It appears that the range of mountains in that direction worked themselves into a combustible condition, and exploded with a violence that startled the settlers for mile 3 around. The first reporb was not unlike the discharge of heavy ordnance, after which was emitted smoke and debris, which was scattered from a considerable distance in all directions. The smoke was so dense that it completely obscured every object — mountains, trees, and houses — and lasted for a considerable time. The mountains in this neighbourhood are largely composed of limestone, and it is thought by some persons that it is to this we may attribute the explosion."

" The other day," observes the Braidwoed Dispatch, " a swarm of young bees, the property of Mr Thomas Hogg, of this town, thinking they were old enough to set up an establishment of their own, started on the lookout for a new abode, but espying their owner in the garden, they at once made towards him, alighting on his coat between the shoulders. He, not caring for their rather disagreeable proximity, immediately divested himself of the coat and threw it on the ground. At this time the children were on their way home from the public school, and one of them, a little girl, was carrying an open parasol. Upon this the swarm, which had left the discarded coat, took up their quarters, to the no small consternation of the child, who quickly dropped her parasol, to wldoh the bees however remained fast. Some of the schoolboys were for beating them off with sticks, but to this Mr Hogg demurred, and having procured an empty box, quietly secured the young truants, who have thus got a comfortable habitation provided for them without the trouble of searching through the bush for one."

The following interesting telegram from Brisbane is published by the Sydney Morning Herald of December 3Jst : — "A telegram has been received by the Government from Walter Hill, dated Card well, Friday. It says : — 'Since the 20th November we have examined the banks of the Mulgrave, Russell, Mossman, Daintree, and Hill rivers, and have been more or less successful in finding suitable land for the growth of sugar and other tropical and semi-tropical productions. The ascent to the summit of the Bellenden and Kerr was successfully made by Mr Johnstone, Mr Hill, and eight troopers. At 2500 feet they observed a tree with crimson flowers, which excels Poinciana regia, Colviliia racemosa, Lagerstroma regia, and Jacaranda mimosifolia. At 4500 feet a tree fern was discovered, which excels in grandeur all others of the arboreous class, and palm trees of the same height will rival any British India species in gracefulness. On the banks of the Daintree we saw a palm tree (cocoa), which far exceeds the unique specimens of the same genera from Brazil in grandeur and gracefulness. Whilst cutting a line on the banks of the River Johnstone for the purposes of examining the land, an enormous figtree stood in the way, far exceeding in stoutness and grandeur the renowned forest giants of California and Victoria. Three, feet from the ground it measured 150 feet in circumference ; at 55 feet, where it sends forth

giant branches, the stem is enormously thick. The River Johnstone, within a limited distance of the coast, offers the first and best inducements for sugar cultivation.'"