The Australian Colonies.

Colonist, Issue 55, 30 April 1858, Page 3

The Australian Colonies.

NEW SOUTH WALES,

In writing on the subject of the probability Of a.1-: protracted drought in New South * Wales, the gentleman who supplies the meteorological register td the 13mpire.ha.s in his last communication the following remarks : " The present drought" is now a word in every ones mouth, and " serious apprehensions" are freely expressed. It is absurd for any one, whoever he be, to venture a definite opinion as to what weather will come, but the following remarks may be permitted. In spite of individual or popular prejudice, it is a certain fact that average climate is an invariable thing. One year certainly varies from another : but. that weather recurs in distinct cycles, of from nine to fifteen years, has been well established with regard to the mean temperature of London for 79 years, past, while here wet and dry cycles of 10 or 12 years are said to occur* , We-hear much of the effect of cleared lands and the works of civilisation upon the climate, buf, however it may be in other v countries, it is perfectly absurd to suppose that even one or two million acres of cleared land can in the least alter the climate oifii continent of which the area is 3,000,000 • square miles. We r have no reason then to expect future exemption even from such droughts as that which lasted from 1826 to., 1829. Such rains as have lately fallen: appear to me precisely "■ exceptions which. prove the rule" of drought. In a rainypart .of the year, and with continued easterly winds, we have a few short local although heavy showers, and a delusive thunderstorm or two. If the remainder of the autumn pass in the same way, what may we expect in the following winter and

spring." ' . '"•... A congregation of about eighty celestials assembled at the Congregational Church, Pitt-street, to listen to a discourse delivered, by a Chinese Christian. The preacher*; Lavu Appo, is a merchant,; of Melbourne* and a native of the district of Canton, but was taken to England and educated a few years ago. His address was of course delivered in his native tongue, and was listened to with marked attention by the audience*.- At the conclusion of an apparently very eloquent sermon, prefaced and followed by a prayer, the preacher, addressed a few words to the ladies and gentlemen who were occupying the pews around him, in explanation of his sermon, which he said was an exhortation to his countrymen to .forsake;their.idolsj- and to abandon the errors of the Chinese religion for the Christian faith.

Mr. U. H. Furrow, veterinary surgeon, of Windsor, place;! a valuable mare and horse, his own propert}', together with a horse belonging to Mr. Hill, of the Curragong, in his stable for the night.; All these were in sound and good condition when ho left them. On proceeding to his stable early on the following morning, he found the mare dead. Not being able to account at first for this sudden accident, he examined the other horses, when he found Mr. Hill's horse lying down apparently in a dying state. In a stall at the further end of the building was his own mare, and which directed his attention by pawing, and snorting, and evincing considerable-un-easiness. On searching the litter, just under the manger, he found quietly coiled up a small black snake, which he and his men immediately dispatched. On-return-ing to Mr. Hill's horse to administer some medicine to it, on taking its tongue into his hand, the skin immediately peeled off, and was found covered with blisters, while its bod'/ was frightfully swollen. But little hopes, are entertained of its recovery. Both •the mare and the horse were bitten by the snake. ■.-•■'" ;- ." '

A Mrs. Perkins, accompanied by her son, proceeded to a vvaterhole at Baulkhotn Hills, for the purpose of procuring a cask of water. While in the act of pulling it the horse backed slightly arid, placed her in jeopard}'-. A Mr. Bennett, a neighbour, seeing herdanger,instantly ran to her rescue, jumping fearlessly into the water. Mrs. Perkins, seeing the dangerous position; which the^bravery of ."Bennett had led him into, used every exertion in her turn to save him, but in doing so fell from the'cart while grasping hold of his shirt collar, Bennett Called to his son to pitch him> long pole, which he hastily ran to procure. On his return both the unfortunate victims liad disappeared. An alarm was instatitly caused in the neighbourhood, and after conT?siderable search for them the two bodieswere foimd, but life was quite extinct. Bennett leaves a wife and eighi.children^. Mrs. Perkins, a husband and six children, to mourn their sad and untimely end.

- On Saturday morning, April 3, all. the _ troops in garrison, off duty were drawn up on paracle in the Victoria Barracks, to hear sentence read on two soldiers of the 77thRegiment, who had ofFended against martial laws. The one was named William Sargood, who, when, brought before Colonel Straton. on a charge".of drunkenness, in February last, struck the Colonel in the face. For this offence he was sentenced to six years' penal servitude, and to receive fifty lashes; also to be immediately discharged from the service. The other prisoner was named Michael Cantwell, who, some time subsequently, when brought before the Colonel, also on a charge of drunkenness, was found to have a gingerbeer bottle concealed on his person. When . asked why he had' the bottle with Him on such an occasion he replied that he intended to strike the Colonel with it. He was sen-

tenced for this offence to ten years' penal servitude and to receive fifty lashes; also to lose all claim to any additional pay to which he might in course of time become entitled on rejoining his regiment, and to forfeit all claim of a pension on retiring from the service. We are glad to learn, however, that in both the foregoing cases, the General Commanding the Forces hag been pleased to remit that portion of the sentence which enjoined the infliction of the.

lash, so that;the culprits will be spared that extreme degradation. Immediately alter the sentences were read, the prisoners were marched off under escort to Darlinghurst Gaol, and handed over to the civil authorities. . •

George Hyland, alias Caufield, a young man who was convicted the other day at the Goulburn Assizes on three distinct charges of horse stealing, and sentenced for each" offence by Mr! Justice Therry to ten years on the roads, appears to have led, for one so young, a 'life^the most vicious and depraved. At the Goulburn Assizes, in February, 1856, he was tried and convicted of a desperate assault on the husband of a woman, with whom he had been on terms over familiar; for this offence he was sen-

tenced to four years onv the roads. On the ' journey'down to Cockatoo Island, he broke out'of the Campbelltown lock-up, where he had been placed during the night for safety. From that time ,'up to the present he apr pears to have been roaming about in the interior, levying black mail on the squatters and settlers wherever he went. His last exploit, out of which has arisen his present. conviction, was an expedition he had undertaken .to Victoria, with 125 head

of horse stock, valued at several thousands of pounds, which he managed to bring over the mountains from Maneroo to Beech-

worth, at which latter place he.was taken into custodj'-. Hyland is a native of the colony, having been born in the Illawarra district, and his appearance sadly belied the base : occupation in which he had been so long engaged. In addition to the sentence passed on him by his Honor Mr. Therry, he has farther to undergo the four years passed on him by the Chief Justice, the latter sentence commencing and terminating before the commencement of the sentence by Mr. Justice Therry.

A young man named James Lambert, otherwise Newland, a hut-keeper, was killed by a stroke of lightning, on the station of Mr.- William Lee, on the Bogan, on the 11th ultimo. It appears that, during a heavy thunderstorm which broke over.the above locality on the day named, the deceased was amusing himself by observing the antics of a cat, in the verandah of"'the cottage occupied by himself and comrades, when a stroke of the electric fluid struck the bark roof of the verandah, passed through it, and alighted upon the crown of deceased's hat, penetrating which, and leaving, in it a hole like a bullet mark, it proceeded along the head and face of deceased in a zigzag direction, much disfiguring and scorching him, and thence passed down his body, inside his clothes, and made its escape through the heel of his boot, in which it left a small hole like the perforation of a gimlet. Death was instantaneous. A lad named John Morris, who was sitting a few feet from the deceased, was also knocked down, but fortunately was not in the least injured; while William Earl, a stockman, who was about ten or twelve yards distant, approaching the cottage, was, at the same time, felled by the'shock, and for several minutes after felt siupified. -

r The ships Cairngorm, of 1130 tons, and StelDonheath, of 1030 tons, register, have been chartered' on account of the East India Company, for the conveyance of cavalry horses to Bombay. ' The company's transport Wanata was also shipping horses.

!»Slabs and -Cement—A New Inven-TipN.--The Sydney Herald says;—"We are informed that a, number of gentlemen in this city are organising a Company to be called ' The Anti-Corrosive kStone and Fusible Cement Company '—their object being to bring into practical operation, an invention of Mr. Thomas Furse, of London. This gentleman having conceived that there was much room for improvement in materials used for the purposes of architecture, has, after the expenditure of much time and money, produced substances, which, if tHey really possess^the qualities ascribed to them,, will, no doubt, supersede those now iri.general use, and mark a new era in the annals of architecture in these colonies. The manufactured stone has ascribed to it many advantages over that with which our pavements are constructed; it can be moulded to any form without the assistance of a mason, and is said to be nearly as hard as granite. Employed for floors, or walls of underground buildings, It is impervious .to wet or -effluvia. : As a floor it is said: to be as warm as wood, arid very much more.durable. Specimen slabs have been shewn, to his Excellency the GovernorGeneral and to several gentlemen who take a deep interest in such matters. In order, however, that they, may have a fair trial, several have been put down in front of the General,Post.Offiee, where the public may: from day. to day watch the effect of the numberless feet that pass over them diurnally/arid contrast it" with the wear arid tdar'of the blue slabs, which form a part of the same pavement. It is reckoned that these manufactured slabs can be laid down at a'price riot exceeding that of Pyrmont stone, and that they will wear twice as long. The fusible cement is said to be also imperyious to wet, &c. As an internal lining to damp walls it is used in a liquid state in combination^/ witK • paper, and it is asserted that no chemical action takes place which, will at all injure' the" most delicate colors. It is said to be exceedingly efficacious as a litig to packing cases?, and that the modus fiperandi is so ,'simpje as t6preclude difficulty. Another /virtue claimed for this composition is, that it can be made into cisterns at half the expense of lead, without any of its disadvantages, and with none of its deleterious qualities; while for lining wells for ''culverts,' inverts, and sewers, it secures every object that can' be desired, at a Costless than''the ordinary materials used for3; these ' purposes. The manufactured said also to be exceedingly useful for gas pr, water "pipes, and that for doorsteps,1 Window sillpj and other domestic

purposes, (excepting fire-places), it 'is c^eajjer, better, and more easily applied, siSr it may be .moulded to any' form.; It eaii %\sa~ be cast in Jc6lo'rs,; and : may- be

made to imitate mosaic pavements, while in preserving warmth, one of the greatest objections to stone floors is removed. Whatever opinions/may exist as -to^ the practical result of this invention, ■it is at least worthy of attention on the part of the public, especially as they can satisfy themselves as to the'durabilitv of th 6 material

without pecuniary risk. Specimens were shewn at the London Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations. On referring to the Reports of Juries,; we find that the adjudicators on Class 27, considered the invention of Mr. Furse ' to be worthy of honorable mention.'"