VICTORIA.

Colonist, Issue 13, 4 December 1857, Page 3

VICTORIA.

By the London, we (Sydney Empire) are in receipt of Victoria journals to the 12th November, three days later than those previously to hand.

■Mr. John Thomas Smith, (says the Age of the 11th) has, for the fifth time, been elected to the civic chair, by an overwhelming majority over Councillor Kerr—a majority considerably greater than had been anticipated, even by his most sanguine supporters. The announcement of the result of,the election was received with loud cheers, emanating not only from members of the civic body but from the audience, and the retiring Mayor lather in bad taste (as was considered bysome) checked the ebullition. The Herald of the 12th says—' Much speculation is being indulged in as to the probable day upon which the long session of Parliament will be prorogued, and a contemporary of yesterday has announced, ex cathedra, that the ceremonial will take place to-morrow. We can state upon good authority, that no one up to the present moment knows when we are to have the formal prorogation, though every one knows it cannot be very far distant. The Legislative Council has some arrears of business to clear off, and awaits two bills from the Assembly. Until Tuesday, it would be premature to name a day, but there is every reason for believing that Parliament will be prorogued some time in the course of the ensuing week. The Market Gardeners and others requiring the market accommodation which has been so long denied them by the authorities, have at last, chiefly through the instrumentality of Mr. William Law, obtained a suitable place for vending their merchandise. Tattersall's Bazaar, a place eminently well suited to the purpose, is to be put into good repair, adequately lit from the roof, and supplied with gas. The sixty-sereri stalls have all been taken up, and the rentors are confident of the success of their scheme.

The Age mentions that hardly a day now passes without the report of the discovery of a nest of snakeSj not only in the rural districts, but in the vicinity of the metropolis. At Hawthorne, St. Kilda, and other districts, the black snake has made its appearance in unusual numbers. Fortunately, no fatal accident lias yet occurred from the appeai'anee of the"se reptile's; but the public ought to be immediately put upon their guard. 'Yesterday forenoon,' says the Argus of the 12th, ' Mr. William Nashj a person well known to the sporting world, was arrested by Detective Grant on the charge of obtaining money under false pretences, and at a little after 7 o'clock, Charles Obee, another noted frequenter of TatteTsall's, was arrested on a similar charge, by Detective Wolfe. After being confined in the watchhouse, they were liberated on bail, and will be" examined at the City Court this morning. Documents representing money to the amount of £3000 Were found upon the two.'... We take the annexed paragraph from the mining intelligence of the Bcndigo Advertiser: —'ln Friday's issue notice was taken of the discovery of a new gold field, the other side of the Whipstick. We are now in a position to give more positive information on the subject. To find the site of the present rush, the road to the Flag-staff Hill must be taken. On arriving there1, yon proceed along the new road for nearly two miles and Et-h'alf, to an open flat, Avhere dray-tracks turn off to the right. You follow these tracks for thre"e miles along the Box Forest, and at last you come upon the tents and the diggings. The gold obtained is rough and free from iron, and evidently very pure. There extent of ground sufficient to employ

thousands'; in fact, it is equal to Epsom in extent. The prospecting party, likewise mentioned on Friday, washed out about half an ounce to a bag of stuff. One shaft has been sunk thirty feet and driven about twenty-five feet, and the wash*dir£ yields about ten dwts. to the load. Another shaft is being sunk on a line with the dip, which they expect to bottom to-morrow. Sutton and mate bottomed a shaft at the depth of twenty-nine feet, and came on the top of a reef, with boulders of quartz weighing as much as a cwt., lying directly ou the wash-dirt. They tested some of the dirt, and it yielded one dwt. to the tub; Tliere are about Jen or twelve holes going down. There is plenty of water.' A rather singular ca^eoffraudulent insolvency (says the Herald of Wednesday) was investigated at the District Court yesterday. The nominal prosecutor was a Mr. M'Skiminirig, a creditor hi the insolvent estate of George Frederick HutchinSj managing clerk to Mr. Bayne, solicitor, who, it is alleged, embezzled and concealed assets consisting of a piano, silver plate, etc., of the value of £500. Several witnesses were examined ; and, to say the least of it, portions of the evidence are of a very conflicting nature. The defendant was committed to take his trial for a misdemeanour, but. admitted to bail.

The unfortunate man Wilson, convicted of a criminal assault upon a child, at Castleinaine, is doomed to expiate his offence on the gallows, the order for his execution having reached the gaol. The fate of the Chinese murderer, A Lops has not yet been decided.

Apropos of the vaccination of the Chinese, Dr. "Mingay Syder, Avritiug to the Ged<mq Advw'iMr, r points,to the. fearful danger that would result from the .indiscriminate diffusion "of the virus betwen them and 'the., Europeans. ' Fifty thousand morbid constitutions are to be forthwith vaccinated,' he observes. ' I would not for any purpose create alarm, but I feel more anxiety than I can well express; the bare idea of the chance of any European child or adult being vaccinated from, one of those creatures makes me shudder! Is there a woman in this 1 colony who does not apprehend mischief to her offspring from the vaccine lymph of a tainted child ? Is it'iiot continually enunciated by mothers, be they ever so humble in life, ' Doctor, I hope the matter is from a healthy infant!' Is it not the universal opinion, nay an established fact beyond reasonable question, that transmission of' hereditary taints' result from indiscriminate vaccination! Gracious goodness, imagine, if you can, the almost certain addition of Chinese hereditaries to those well known to exist in the European race! And what law can prevent the dreadful infliction ?: Fifty thousand to be vaccinated ! * # # #1 wish f were on my legs before an audience of fathers—l cannot do justice to the question or to myself in & newspaper—l could show that the lymph from one Chinese (through accident, neglect, carelessness, tir ignorance) being introduced into circulation^ would in time contaminate thousands upon thousands of our civilised population.' The Argus mentions that a petition" has" been presented to his Excellency, signed .by the mostinfluential members of the medical faculty in this city, praying for a respite of the sentence of the convict Wilson, until such further inquiries shall have been instituted as will determine,. beyond the possibility of question, the guilt or innocence of the prisoner. Dr. Preshaw writes to the Mount Alexander Mail :—lt having been reported to me that smallpox has appeared at Gisborne and Kyneton I have made inquiries, and find from the Chinese Protector, Mr. Hamilton, who has returned from Gisborne, that there have been several well-defined cases there. In answer to a telegraphic message to Dr. Geary, of Kyneton, he replies, " Smallpox is not at Kyneton, but it is at the Black Forest, about eighteen miles away." ' In the Legislative Assembly, on the lOtli iilst., Mr. Duffy asked the honorable the Commissioner of Trade and Customs, if any, and what, communications have been made to the owners of the Great Eastern to ascertain when that ship would be despatched to ; Australia. The honorable and learned ■member remarked that the American Government had sent to England for the purpose' of negociating for the first trip. His object in asking the question was, that negociations with the agents of the vessel .might be entered into, it nothing has yet been done. Mr. M'Cullocli said that so far back as February, 1855, the agents of the vessel applied to the chief harbour, master here to ascertain the depth of water in the bay, with the view of ascertaining if it were sufficient to enable the vessel to come up. The agents were informed there were 33 feet of water at the entrance to the bay and quite sufficient to bring the vessel up. Copies of sailing directions were forwarded to the owners, bat beyond this no correspondence had taken place upon the subject. The House had already voted a considerable sum to secure regular mail communication, and he thought it would be imprudent at present to enter into any other engagement. Mr. Duffy, after alluding to the steps which the American Government had taken in the matter, asked the honourable gentleman if he saw any objection to ascertaining the views of the Government in reference to sending the vessel to this country. Mr. M'Culloch did not see any objection to that course, but thought the information would readily be obtained by asking the agents here. He believed it was intended that- the vessel should come here after she had made one or two trips to America.