AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1325, 21 April 1877, Page 15

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

[BY SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH.]

Sydney, April 12th. jThe Australian Mutual Provident Society's annual report shows premiums received since last report £61,342. Th'e'accuinulated fund now' stands at £1,961,771. The annual revenue is £466,185. ' ' v ] Further particulars about the wreck on Lacepede Island state that when the Aboyn struck, the captain'a wife, Mrs Swau, ,and two children in the cabin were , drowned '; yalao the ship's . carpenter' and two" boys. Twenty minutes after striking nothing of her was to be seen. The bodies of the, drowned were washed ashore, frightfully mutilated by the sharks., " • April 14th. The premises of Messrs Mountcastle, hatters, were totally destroyed by fire la3t night, the inmates narrowly escaping, and a, majority seriously burnt. April I6th. Arrived : Rotorua, from Auckland. 1 • April 18th. The Rev. C. J. Byng (the minister for St. Matthew's, Dunedin) leave 3 for Otago per Rotorua. The mail via Torres Strait arrived at Cooktown yesterday. She has no sickness on board, but lias been quarantined' for sixteen days. There is great indignation because the agents refuse to laud the mails. Sir William Jervois. Governor of the Straits Settlements, and one of the special Commissioners to report on Australian fortifications, ia a passenger. Melbourne, April 12th. Sailed. — Tararua, s.s. April 13th. 15,000 bushels of wheat, have been sold for export- to New Zealand. " - Arrived : Alhambra, s.s. m. - April 17th. lhe Corporation has received applications from a number of unemployed citizens of Richmond, Virginia, for assistance to reach Victoria. Sailed : Albion. " , April 18th. -Of the six men who were injured by" the fatal, accident at Echuca bridge two "have died', and the others are in a critical condition. Newcastle, April ISth.' Fears are entertained for the nafety of the , Anne Bow, which left here for Timaru on March Ist. , .