INTERCOLONIAL. (Reuter's Special.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1540, 14 May 1881, Page 10

INTERCOLONIAL. (Reuter's Special.)

Melbourne, May 4th. Returns of the census taken on the night of the 3rd ultimo show the total population of the Colony of Victoria to be 860,000. Private telegrams from England state that the Highland Railway Company have received the amount of insurance on the steamer Ferret, alias India, which was reported at Home to have been lost. May 6th. In the Legislative Council last night the Reform Bill received from the Assembly was under discussion in Committee of the whole. Amendments ■were made in the direction of the assimilation of the provisions of the measure to those of the bill which originated in and was passed by the Council. v May 7th. The report of the Board appointed to investigate the - circumstances attending the Cerberus torpedo calamity has been issued. It concludes that the explosion was due to the presence of an electric current between the battery and the torpedo, and the arrangements which had been made for carrying out the experiment are judged to have been faulty. Regret is expressed that Commander Mandeville was absent from the vessel when the preparations were being made. May 9th. Mrs Jones, of Glenrowan Hotel, who was committed for trial on a charge of harbouring the Kellys, has been acquitted. Melbourne, May 10th. Extensive preparations are being made for the reception and entertainment of the Royal Princes on the arrival here of the detached squadron. Several grand balls will be given, including one by the Mayor in the Exhibition Building. Sydney, May 6th. New Zealand oats are quoted to-day at 2s 6d per bushel; maize, per 601b, 2s 6d ; tobacco, Raven twist, per lb, Issd. The provisional abstract of the census taken on the night of Sunday, 3rd April, has been issued to-day. The total population of the Colony of New South Wales is approximately 850,000, and that of the city of Sydney and suburbs 220,000. Arrived : Union Co. 'a steamer Hero, from New Zaland. May 9th. Arrived: Last night, A.M.S. City of New York, from San Francisco via Auckland. To-day, Union Company's steamship Rotorua, from Russell. News to hand from the Temora goldfield reports that heavy rains have lately fallen there, and it is estimated that sufficient water has been stored to wash 30,000 loads of rtuff. Adelaide, May sth. The race for the Adelaide Cup was won by Totalisator. May 7th. Arrived : Orient Company's steamship Potosi, from Plymouth. Adelaide, May 10th. Mrs Newton, a passenger for Auckland by the Potosi, which arrived here on Sunday from England, met with an accident on board that vessel, resulting in her death. (Per Merchant Shipping and Underwriters' Association.) London, May 6th.— Arrived : Ships— Piako, from Port Chalmers February 11th; City of Lahore, from Lytfcelfcon January 29th ; Alexa, from .Napier January 13th ; City of Tanjore, from Lyttelton January 29th ; Ardentinney, from Camaru January 26th; Glenlora, from Napier January 22nd. +. The following cablegrams to hand by the Wakatipu at Wellington have already appeared in the Melbourne papers :— On April 27th Mr Charles Bradlaugh entared the House of Commons and desired to be sworn. Sir Stafford Northeote immediately roue as a matter of privilege, and reminded the Speaker of the fact that Mr Beadlaugh had on a previous occasion refused to take the oath in cot sequence of his religious opinions. He therefore moved that Mr Bradlaugh be not allowed to take the oath. The motion was carried, and the Speaker thereupon requested Mr Bradlaugh to leave the Chamber. Mr Bradlaugh refusing to withdraw, Sir Stafford Norfchcoto proposed that he be expelled. Mr Bradlaugh appealed to the Premier, but Mr Gladstone declined to interfere, and the motion for expulsion was carried. The Sergeant«atarms and assistants then removed Mr Bradlaugh from the Chamber amid great excitement and disorder. The House soon afterwards adjourned. The episode has created a great sansation throughout the country. A terrible accident occurred on board the WWfflhip Mws, »t TOifaMhftYW, White

the artillery were practising a shell burst, and 28 persons were either killed or wounded. The Bey of Tunis, terrified at the active proceedings of the French, and at the hostile attitude ot" his own people, has surrendered to the invaders. It is likely that hostilities will cease unless tho Tunisians show a disposition towards further resistance. . At the half-yeatly meeting of the Orient Steamship Company, the directors' report was adopted. No dividend was declared, and the directors agreed to forego part of their commis- i sion in order to make up the requisite Bum to be carried to the credit of tbe reserve fund. The proposal to erect a national monument to the late Lord Beaconcfield is encountering a considerable amount of opposition among the Radicals and Nonconformists. Mr Gladstone has addressed a ciicular letter to the Roman Catholic bishops of the United Kingdom, in which he intimates that he cannot agree to make the changes they require in the Irish Land Bill, which would, he says, give the bill an entirely new character. Mr Edward Miall, proprietor and editor of tbe Nonconformist, is dead. He was 72 years of age. A bailiff in Galway was roasted till he promised to xeßiga hia position. The anti-Jewish agitation in Germany continues. Houses are being Backed and the Jews ill-used. While some artillerymen wore practising on board the Manus at Wilhelmßhaven, in the North Sea, a shell exploded. Twenty-six of the artillerymen were killed or wounded. The situation in the Transvaal is becoming increasingly alarming. It has been intensified by the murder of an Englishman by the Boers. The British garrison at Pretoria ia being reinforced. The Conservatives in the House of Commons have resolved to endeavour to amend the Irißh Land Bill introduced by the Government. m The opposition to the erection of a national monument to the late Lord Beaconßfield in Westminster Abbey is increasing. Smallpox, in a virulent form, has broken out, and as the disease has become epidemic, considerable alarm is caused. Further arrests of members of the Land League will be made immediately. Mr John Dillon, member for Tipperary, has been arrested and lodged in Kilmainham Gaol, in Dublin, Mr Parnell, M.P., in alluding to the arreßt in the House of Commons, regretted that the Government had deprived his friend the member for Tipperary of his rights. Tbe Home Rule members were much irritated at the action of the Government, and obstructed the business of the House.