AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1159, 14 February 1874, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

[By Telegraph.]

[ Melboukne, January 31st. I The steamer Tartar, for the new Californian service, has arrived in the bay this morning from Hong Kong. She is a very fine vessel, and appears well adapted for the I service. Mr Vale, who has twice occupied the position of Minister of Customs, has delivered a valedictory address to his constituents. He is about to proceed to Europe. I The Alfrod Graving Pools is finished, and is ready far w«s.

The steamer Otago takes the next mail to the Bluff. _ . The Governor has proceeded to Gippa Land. He will be absent eight or ten days. A branch of the National -Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Xcw Zealand has been established here under the management o Mr Francis. Pilot aSTicholson, who grounded the Pera with a pleasure party aboard, has been cautioned to be more careful in future. Information has been received that a black woman has been murdered on the Murray. The perpetrators of the outrage reside in Victoria. : The Governor of Tasmania, Jlrs Dv (Janr-, : and Earl Pououghmore visit Governor Fergusson at the end of February, and will be absent from Tasmania, for two months. The Rev. J. Shaw, of JS T ew Zealand, was preseut at the Wesleyan Conference. Large supplies of wheat have poured into the Melbourne market from New South Wales, and from the country districts per rail. The Tartar discharges cargo here before proceeding to Sydney. ' The ship Essex has returned to Hobson's . Bay with loss of mainyard. Wheat is now easier at 6s Id to 6s 3d. Flour . parcels are offering at £14. Oats are very ■ scarce, and much wanted — buyers, 5s 3d to i 5s 6d. New Cape barley, 4s lOd. Large sales of sugar continue at current rates. Considerable sales of Geneva hav3 taken place as high as 15s (kl. Hennessy's brandy, i premier, £1 Ss 9d refused. New ales aro coming forward, and £9 is asked for • Bass and Marrian brauds. A telegram. . from Foochow, dated the 26th of January, says : — "The tea season has just closed." 102 bales New Zealand iUx were sold at £17 to £19 per ton. Kauri pine logs sold from 18s 6d to £1 3s 6d per 100 feet. Tookey's fourth issue are wanted at £12. Galvanised iron, £1 13s lOd. Sugars sell very freely. 10,000 bags have been sold, iealising — Counters, £34 ; whites, £36 to £3S 10s. Auckland. February sth. The steamer Victoria arrived to-day from Sydney. She left on the Ist, and brings additional Australian news to that brought by the Alhambra. Syd>'J3\, February Ist. The Triennial Parliament Bill has passed both Houses. The Assembly has voted a month's supply. Hathprone, the bushranger, attempted suicide in Goulhurn Gaol. It is supposed that 1 he is the murderer of Baxter, who was found dead near Bland. 1 The Government has presented "a steam launch to the Basilisk, to facilitate the survey of New Guinea. The rush to the Endeavour Paver still con- ' tinues. Melbour.ni:, January 28th. A young woman, named Mary M 'Gibbon, attempted to drown herself by jumping off Princes Bridge. Assistance was rendered by several men, when a young man named Wade, who was unable to swim, loat his life, but the woman was saved. A Melbourne testimonial valued at £700 has been presented to Mr Bagot, the Secretary of the Racing Club. The Chines dispute has been settled. Sir Gavan Duffy proceeds to Europe by the March mail. Mr Iliginbotham, Engineer - in-Chief, proceeds to America and Europe by the March Cahfornian mail. A married woman, named Sarah Salmon, has committed suicide, by hauging herself ■■ from a bed-post. She was of unsound mind. Oidium has appeared on the vines in the Geelong district. The Rev. Mr Cape has been elected President of the Wesleyan Conference. A prisoner named John Edgar, after serving a sentence of six years, for rape, has been discharged, on the ground that it was a case of mistaken identity. A warrant has been been issued against George Morris Druminond, for embezzlement from the Provincial and Suburban Bank. The amount rnisakg has not been ascertained. The Melbourne Gas Company has declared a dividend of 8 per cent. A man named Andrew Blouldam has cut his throat while suffering from the effects of drink. The National Insurance Company's divi* dead is 8 per cent. Biusbank, January 31st. Great damage has been done along the coast to the northwaid by a terrific hurricane. The ketch Hibernia has been wrecked, and the James ■ Paterson struck on Masthead Reef at midnight, with all sails sot. The wind was blowing strong at the time from E.S.E., and weather thick. She lay very well till daylight, when efforts were made to . get her off, but all attempts failed. A tremendous surf waa rolling in, and the ship bumped heavily, but she held together, bravely tijl the tide rose and drove her higher up the reef, where she now lies dry at low water. No lives were lost. On Friday a number of volunteers faced bhe breakers surrounding the ship. The chief officer, with two passengers and threo of the crew, succeeded in reaching the Pilot Station. The pilots at Keppel Bay report a fearful hurricane, which did considerable damage at the Station, partially unroofing houses, blowing down the flagstaff, and washing away the jetty at St. Lawrence The Pilot Station was nearly destroyed, and the wharf, with a quantity of goods, disappeared in the creek. The Telegraph and Post offices were blown down, and the telegraph wires for some miles destroyed. Trees for miles were phivere^ uprooted,