Latest Colonial News.

Colonist, Issue 26, 19 January 1858, Page 4

Latest Colonial News.

The Wesleyan congregation which recently disposed of their ground at the corner of Collins and Queen streets (Melbourne), have commenced the erection of a new church in Lonsdale-street. It is to be an elegant structure, and the congregation have ample means to make it so, for they received about forty thousand pounds from the Bank of Australasia for the ground upon which their present meeting-house stands. The foundation-stone of the church was laid by his Excellency the Governor; after which he .addressed those present in a speech of some length, expressed the gratification it afforded him to assist on such an occasion, and complimented the Wesleyan body upon their zeal in religion.—ln reference to the above, we find the following in a late Melbourne paper:—The Wesleyan Church allotment at the corner of Queen and Collins streets, Melbourne, purchased originally for a small sum, and recently sold for £40,000, having furnished a contemporary with a sort of stereotyped paragraph, we think it as well to give the correct version of the transaction. In the year 1839, the Melbourne agent of a Sydney gentleman attended a Government land sale and purchased the corner for £40, paying, according to the then existing regulation, a deposit of £4. On advising his principal of the speculation, the bargain was repudiated, and the deposit forfeited. At the same time the Wesleyan body had secured an allotment on the Eastern Hill, in the vicinity of the present Independent Chapel, but this part of Melbourne being then considered quite in the interior, and, in fact, too far away in the bush, the Wesleyans proposed to exchange their territorial acquisition for the more central. one in Collins and Queen streets; and the proposition receiving the approval of Governor Latrpbe, the exchange was duly ratified. This' simple statement,.and the nary contrast between "now and then,"

speak a volume for the wonderful progress of Victoria, which, ever since its colonisation, has been retarded by almost every species of misgovernment. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick, East Melbourne, is being rapidly proceeded with, and when finished, will be one of the most imposing ecclesiastical edifices in the city. The opening and consecration, of one of the aisles will take place on an early clay. A very fine Gothic altar-piece has been executed for the same, and is, pending its fixture, deposited in the chapel of St. Patrick's College. The decorative portion of it has been done by a Melbourne artist, who passed several years in England as a pupil of the late celebrated Pugin. The projectors of the new Bank in Melbourne, whicli was to be entitled " the Bank of the Southern Hemisphere," have at length issued their prospectus. From that document it appears the "United Bank of Victoria," for that is to be the title, is to be established and conducted on the principle of " Aiding all branches of legitimate and practical industry."—The necessity of an institution of this character has long been felt. The existing banks having for the most, part an exclusively class character, and restricting the advantages of their business to a very limited circle.—The new establishment is designea upon a more comprehensive plan, and it is intended to afford to the farming, mining, and storekeeping classes facilities for carrying on their several occupations, which they would look for in vain to the existing banks. The provisional directory comprises names which need no recommendation to confidence—and as the object is one of direct Colonial progress there is every probability of the " United " receiving abundant support, and being very shortly in a position to commence operations. We (Ballaarat Star) are again called upon to record, one of those frightful accidents which are so frequently occurring on our gold-fields: Mr. Thomas Chariton, working at Pitcher's . Rush, near the Loddon, lost his life by the breaking of the windlass handle. The shaft was about eighty feet deep, and the unfortunate man, who was being hoisted up, had nearly reached the top, when the wooden handle gave way, and he was precipitated to the bottom, drawing after him, by the force of the descent, the windlass barrel. It is probable that life was extinct before he reached the bottom, for not a groan or sigh was heard. We make no comment on the cause of the accident, because the ill-fated man and his mates were old diggers. The deceased left a wife and seven children, residing in Tasmania. His mates bear testimony to his upright and generous character. It seems that the twenty-four hours previous to his death, a number of circumstances occurred, of so peculiar a character, that he, as well as his mates, were impressed that something was to happen to him.

The most striking feature of the Victoria Estimates is the diminished amount of revenue anticipated from the. gold-fields. For the year 1857, the miners, storekeepers, &c, on the gold-fields were estimated as yielding £106,800 ; this year they v are only set down as able to return £76,000-^—a melancholy indication of the anticipated decay of the most important interest in the country.

A great sensation has been created in Hobart Town by the rejection of the Waste Lands Bill by the Legislative Council, many of the inhabitants being of opinion that the eight years' credit, which it proposed to give, would have been a great boon to the working classes. A little while ago, Mr. T. G. Gregson charged Mr. J. D. Balfe, both members of the House of Assembly, Tasmania, with writing anonymous letters of a most atrocious character to a magistrate and a clergyman, with a wife and four children. Mr. Balfe retorted by saying that he could prove Mr. Gregson was one of a gang of conspirators who had concocted the letters in question. A committee of the House was formed to examine into the respective charges. Their report has now been promulgated, and it states that neither party have made good their statements; that the letters were not written by Mr. Balfe, nor was Mr. Gregson a party to their being written. It is a pity that members of the House of Assembly have not a more profitable occupation during the session than such paltry offending and proving. Henry Thompson, who, a little time ago, attracted some attention by his statements of the hardships he had undergone on board the Hanoverian brig Amasis, now lying in the harbour of Hobart Town, under the-command of Capt. Kruzer,;-has obtained £ 150 damages for false imprisonment on the part of the German skipper.

It is a melancholy reflection, but no less a fact,- that the population of the once flourishing tribe of Yarra blacks, which numbered several hundreds some ten or twelve years ago, has now dwindled to a gross total of thirty-two, including men, women, and children, there being only two of the latter, whilst the lubras are about a third of the whole. The miserable remnant of King Bembo's sable subjects are located .upon two stations a few miles from Melbourne, and are under the protection of Mr. Thomas, J.P., who receives an annual grant from Government for maintaining these aboriginal establishments. Surely some better arrangement might be made. As the.tribe is now reduced to an even thirty-two, might we not present the complete set to the Queen, God bless her!— Melbourne paper.

. One„ of the small annoyances produced by our magnificent climate, is the superabundance of insect life. We have them of all dimensions—some even as big as humming-birds—fantastic wretches, that may be safely said to whip all entomological creation! From the or sharpers, the mosquitoes, who prey chiefly upon "new chums," they range upwards to that incorrigible criminal, the centipede,

by whom the oldest and most, respected colonist has: a chanceof being "stuck-up. •' There is also an infinite harmless variety whose name is. legion,, the fops.and.triflers of the insect world,; whose only pains seem to be to display their many-coloured glittering, gawzy wings, and to singe them in the first candle, they come" to. It may not be irrelevant while on this interesting particular of our social circumstances, to mention that an ingenious individual resident in this city, is said to have extracted, a dye.resembling cochneal, from that hitherto undervalued domestic entity—the bug. Such is the report, and if it be true, bug-breeding is likely to become a highly remunerative branch of civic industry.— Melbourne Age.

The apprehension of a strong Mongolian cross on our European stock, has been mitigated by the late poll-tax act, which is inducing the Chinese to abandon us in considerable numbers. Only for it we would have been absolutely overrun by Celestial visitors. We are afraid to,say how many tens of thousands were reported in Parliar ment to be ready at Shanghai and Canton, to embark for these southern gold fields.— Ibid.

In the way of mental advancement, it is not generally known that we have a handsome public library-in Melbourne, perfectly free to all readers.-,-We have, also, Mechanics' Institutes in the city and suburbs; and we are establishing more; and there is an exhibition ofVpaintings, contributed, by!.this and the neighbouring colonies,: now open, -r We .have a few good painters here, >and a more ■"■ discerning, public eye" than in other new countries; and we will have more good artists, and wider public taste, when a National Gallery, judiciously selected, comes to be established.— -Ibid.

The Great Victorian Quartz Mill, lately erected on the Victoria Reef, Bendigo, by Messrs. Grant, Stevens, and. Co., and the capital which enabled them to erect it was taken; from the reef! This mill, which isdriven by a very, splendid; sixty-horse power table engine is said to be the largest in the colony. There are. sixteen head of stamps, each weighing 5001b5., with the lifters. The boiler is 30 feet long by 6 feet in diameter. Immediately-above it is placed a tank, capable of holding 2500 gallons of water.-.. >. In this tank the steam is condensed, and from it the hot water is conveyed to the stamp beds by means of pipes.. The stamps are capable of crushing 30 tons of quartz per day; The crushed quartz passes into two Berdan basins, each from 7 to 8 feet in diameter, and containing an iron ball, weighing 22001b5. The. basins revolve and the balls effect the amalgamation—the mercury being placed in the basins. Water from the stamp beds at nearly 30 degrees is used. We inquired as to the comparative merits of basins and balls, Chillian rollers, and shaking tables, and we were assured by experienced crushers that there was very little difference. They all leave a'little very fine gold in the tailings. The owners of the Great Victoria Works have had experience in the use of the basin: and balls, and therefore,, they gave them the preference over other methods of amalgamation. It might be supposed, that during the dry season the supply of water for such machinery would be insufficient; but no such result is to be feared, as a sufficiency of this necessary element is to be obtained from the. deep sinkings on the reef. The water is drawn by horse whims, and saved in two immense dams. Those works are the most extensive and complete that we . have, seen. Everything is arranged on the most approved plan for saving labour. The stamps are fed from an elevation, so that there is; no such waste of labour as we see at some; other mills. The : tailings, fall into an excavation from which they are conveyed some distance by means- of a tram-way. The charge for crushing at this, mill is; £2 ss. per ton for large quantities of quartz. — Telegraph . Submarine ... Researches . among , the Wreck of the.'Catherine Adamson.'— . Two pairs of divers and their assistants have been engaged for upwards of a '"fortnight in searching the waters of Sydney harbour in the vicinity- of the place where they above vessel struck, for the purpose of recovering, as far as possible, the'remainder of her valuable cargo.; One of these parties, comprising; ten or twelve men, including two divers, and under the management of Mr. Beattie, is in the services of Messrs. Mit-. chell and Co; the. other, including Mr. Goodwin, a diver of some celebrity: in the neighbouring colony, and an assistant diver, with eight or ten auxiliary hands, is de- I pendent. for remuneration in proportion to the.success of its enterprise. Two schooners ■are engaged in the busiriess--^the., l orie v cupied by Mr. Beattie's party being used as a receptacle, of the recovered property brought in. from a good sized.boat, which containing the air-pump,- is sent out and shifted to the probable localities of the j sunken cargo; while that : used by Mr.-. Goodwin's party is made; to serve both purposes, being used for conveying the rescued goods, as well'as for carrying the air-pump, and consequently has to be. moved near to the various, places: into which the cargo: is likely to have drifted.' Up to the present time both parties have niet with considerable - : good fortune,. some ; sixty or seventy cases and bales of laneous drapery goods having been taken up, some no further injured than by saturation with the sea water. The position of the large bell, intended for St. Mary's has 'been discovered,- and fragments of it removed, and a small parcel of silver plate has been saved, in addition to a large.variety of loose articles. : The Sydney/party (the divers, of which are amateurs, this being their first attempt) . congratulatethemselves with some reason, upon; the rescue of the larger portion of the goods' already saved, though their success is most probably due to the better knowledge their ■leader has of the place where the :cargo is ; likely to have lodged, whereby their labours would be made more effective. The mode

in which the search is made beneath the water,. added to a short description of the dress, may be interesting to those readers who have not seen or read of the.' plan adopted. The apparatus used is, with some small improvements, that invented by Mr. Deane about twelve years ago, and used for recovering the guns, &c.» belonging to the wreck of the Royal George at Spithead, and has since that period almost superceded the use of the diving be 11... The boat having been moored to a chosen spot, • the circuit • of ; which is ! to be explored, the diver prepares for his marine" toilet, by doffing his ordinary attire; Seated on the side of: the boat, to which is attached a ladder* he puts : ori woollen • clothes that reach over his arms and legs,-leaving his hands and r feet bare. Over those he draws a loose dress .made of Mackintosh ? s waterproof cloth, the only apertures in-which are the ,wrist and neck—those at -the former, however, being: guarded by powerful wrislets of india-rubbur. A: pair of strong, leather boots; thickly soled with lead and fastened with, straps and buckles, gives him, in combination with I other, provisions, the means of moving steadily in the water. Around the neck of the is a band of metal riveted to the cloth, which is here'thickened, and to this is ; attached a copper helmet, soi secured with screws as to make the : junction .airtight :'"- : _F is "large enough to admit of the easy motion of the head, and capable of containing:from six to: eight gallons of air. This helmet descends some distance down the breast and back, and in front has; three apertures fitted closely with glass,.and protected by brass wire, affording the diver the means of looking out when beneath the surface of the water. To the helmet are. attached by hooks, leaden weights.of about4olbs. each, one lying on |the breast and the other on the back, used for facilitating descent,' and in case of necessity may be unfastened to allow of the diver's ascent. . Fresh air is supplied from au airpump through a flexible waterproof tube, fastened to the back of the helmet, immediately below whteh junction there is a small perforated projection, allowing the emission, of > the expired air; the ; continuous current of which prevents the ingress of. the water. A sheath-knife having: been fastened to his girdle, and a signal-line. passed under his right arm, he is ready : to descend; This is done by means of the ladder in the first instance, the'airpipe and signal-line being paid out as he proceeds, when, having reacheddeep waterhe is lowered by the line to the bottom. The average depth explored is about eleven fathoms, at which depth the diver is capable; of remaining three or four hours, and ■ moving in any direction he may think desirable; Having discovered anything worth sending up, notice is given by means of the signal-line which is held above, and tackle, or whatever is requisite, is passed down the line, fastened to the object by the diver, and hauled up by the hands in the boat. By these means a large: area of water between the Old Man's Hat and the - Inner North Head has "already" been searched and Herald.

We (Melbourne Age) have latterly been agreeably reminded of earlier times by the discovery of a suggestion of large nuggets. The ." Blanche Barkly" nugget, as its proprietors have called it,;, was found on the Kingower diggings, on the 27th August, by a party of four men, who kept their own secret until they arrived in Melbourne with the precious mass about a month ago. This is the largest piece of pure gold yet found. It is all-metal, without the usual accompaniment of quartz and ironstone, and its weight is 145 lbs. 3 ozs. 13 dwts. This; beautiful specimen of Victorian treasures is now on its. way to London—its owners having determined to save it for some time; to come from the melting pot; ; in order to exhibit it in Europe. Besides this nugget, Ballarat has -produced l : one weighing 540 ozs., another over-16 lbs., and a number of smaller ones; from 100 ozs. to>2oo ozs. On M'C.ullum's Reef, at Creswick Creek,. :a: nugget of 18lbs. : weight,,has been found; on the old lead,at Dunolly, one of 100 ozs.,' and at Mount. Moliagal a Chinaman discovered one 'of'l'o_ ozs.:

Professor Anderson 1 , -k the Wizard- of the North, has been engaged by; Mr. G. Cpppin,, the proprietor of.the Melbourne, theatre, for six months to-give his service ml the Australian colonies; 1 • The wizard- says—- " Mr. Coppin has so mucli confidence.in the money that I airi to 'make for Kirn in Australian.; that he undertakes to give me > £64 per night forsix consecutive months, or £10,000 for my whole : term of six that being the extent of the timethat I: can ■ allot to Australia. I believe : that is one of the most enterprising and : daring engagements eyfer riSadg,;.Jaridjßfe ',. Coppin must /thinkme better "digging" than any that- he knows of in the land whither I am going, or he wouldhot have speculated so boldly."

; ,THis.MountAlexanderMciil>s&ys.'- Quartzmining on the Eureka Reef, Forest Creek, is'in. a most healthy .condition. One claiiri yields its fortunate proprietors, not less than £100-pounds sterling per mail per month. There.are seven-steam-engines in connection with the reef.

Lepeosy: =—WhateVer opinions,. saya the GeetongAdvertiser, have hitherto been eDtertained in regard, to the existence: among ius of this incurable and terrible disease/ the facts stated-by ; Mr. Millar in his letter on this subject seem to place the matter quite beyond doubt. Prompt action should he taken in a case like this, where procrastination is, death,' or something worse! The following i 3. the more particular portion of Mr,. Millar's letter:—-To my,horror and '< disgust,■ 0n Sunday, visiting the new bathson the \Vestern' beach, for tiie 1 purpose of enjoying a refreshing' bathe during : the hot weather, I found there several Chinese in the act of bathing, having— observe—a portion of their clothing on,, evidently to screen from European eyes their filthy skins; but on their leaving the water it was quite perceptible to many present, particularly' myself and a medical friend who happened to be. there, ! and whose name I give you in confidence, that they were diseased—-i.e., the leprosy appearing about the extremities.