AUSTRALIAN-NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 253, 5 March 1869, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN- NEWS.

(From the Argus, Feb. 16 to Feb. 29, inclusive.) ■ The Union Club has been resuscitate!, and the premises formerly occupiei will shortly be re-opened. It is reported that there were eighty applicants for membership of the new association, and that all but one were elected. We understand that there will be no official reception of H.K.H. the Duke of Kdinburgh upon the occasion of his arrival in tin's) colony. He will he met by his Excellency in h's private carriage, and will be taken by him to Toorak. It is not probable that there will be any demonstration. ' . .. A statement has been made to the New South Wales Government that two seamen, belonging to au American vessel now in Sydney port, have been forcibly shipped out of the colony, to prevent legal" proceedings being instituted against the captain and officers for cruelty. The matter will be brought before the Assembly. A correspondent askswhether New Zealand or New Caledonia is the best field for labour. Our impression is that Victoria is better than New Zealand, as affording more scope for the labour of a working man, and so iittle is known of New Caledonia, and of the effects of the French colonisation there, that we could not recommend our correspondent to emigrate thither. A telegram from Sydney confirms a statement circulated a few days ago to the effect that Sir Alfred Stephen, the Cliief Justice, has come into a legacy of about £10.000. The same relative has left a Jegacy of about the same amount to Sir George Stephen, of j this city, i-.nd also to Mr Milner Stephen, formerly a member of our Legislative Assembly. An evidence of the attention which is directed at the present time in England to the progress of this colony is afforded by the face that the mineral statistics of Victoria, as published by the Mining department, have been reprinted in London for gratuitous distribution, under the auspices of Professor Tennant, the mineralogist to Her Majesty, and professor of mineralogy and geology in King's College. Intelligence from Fiji reports that the schooner Nancy, from Tahiti, bound to Melbourne, was wrecked at Fiji ; the craw; were saved. Reports have also been received by the Susannah Booth that, oil on« of the islands of Fiji, the hostile natives had burned down the settlers' homesteads, destroyed the col ton crops, and tomahawked the! islanders who were -_ working on the plan- i tations. When the Somersetshire was last here, j Captain Atwood took home' with him a small supply of Messrs Perry's jams and bottled fruits, by way of aii experiment. They proved so satisfactory that, this voyage. Captain Atwood has brought no stock with him, and has already informed the Messrs Perry that he will take all his supplies from them. This is valuable testimony to the character of our colonial productions. Yesterday (Feb. 19) was one of the hottest days we have experienced this summer. The wind was from the north-east, warm, but light, and the sun's rays were scorching. Not a cloud was to be seen. In Collins-street the thermometers in the shade showed from 97deg. to lOOdeg., and in the sun from 114 deg. to 116deg. In Geelong the amount of heart registered by instruments, placed out of the sunshine, was lOOdeg., and in the sun not less than 138deg. There seems to be a probability that goldfields will, after all, be opened up iv Tasmania. We lately alluded to the reported discoveries at Fingal, and now — as we see from the latest Launceston papers — a parcel of six ounces of gold has been shown there by two miners, who obtained it in the alluvial, in a place known as the Devil's Den, near Mount Direction, for a fortnight's work. They had found a quartz reef, from which they supposed the specimens had come. The captain and two seamen of the schooner Toung Australian have been arrested at Sydney on a charge of murdering South bea Islanders. Further telegrams say : — Captain Howell has been remanded on a charge of murdering one or more South Sea Islanders. Captain Howell was brought up again on remand, charged with murdering three Polynesians on board his vessel, the Young Australian, on her voyage from the South Sea Islands to this port. The Bench considered that there was a case for a jury, and committed him for trial. Some time ago the beacon on the Anonyma Rock (a dangerous reef of rocks below Brighton) was washed away. Captain Doran, the assistant harbour-master, has succeeded in erecting a substantial work to mark the rock in seven feet at low water. The mast stands, twelve feet high, and is surmounted by a ball painted white. The beacon can be seen in clear weather for a distance of three miles. The reef lies about a mile from the shore, below Pic-nic Point, and has deep water all round it. A new effort of local industry haß been brought under our notice by Mr Wormald, of Madeline-street, Carlton, in bis sapo acidi carbolici soap, which is stated to have the approval of the faculty. It is said to possess the properties of Calvert's pure carbolic acid (diluted), and its antiseptic properties recommend its use at this particular season, when a enntagious disease has made its appearance. The soap is well got up, and deserves a trial. " There is little news from the North this week," says the South Australian Advertiser, "We learu that Mr Acraman arrived with ; the camels at the Gorge station, between Menindie and Mount Gipps, on the 4th of February, and expected to reach Mount Mur- j chison on the 13th. He had had plenty of rain all the way up. The camela will bring a return load of wool, and will come down as far H8 Paratoo. Drays will be in waiting there, and Mr Waite confidently anticipates beingable to deliver wool at Port Augusta within three weeks of the camels leaving Mount Murchison." In a day or two, the whaling barque Japan

will make sail from Hobson's Bay for the fishing grounds. We have long desired to see such an enterprise entered into, "and are now happy to know that the experiment is übout to be made by a private firm of Melbourne merchants, chiefly engaged, by the way, in the American trade. A correspondent suggests that the forthcoming estimates should embrace a sum to be given as a bonus to the first vessel fitted out at this port which returns to it with a cargo of whale oil ; and that the captain and the other officers should be entertained before their departure by those who regard this adventure with h0pe. .... A melancholy story is reported from Stanley, Falkland Islands. Her Majesty's- ship Brisk touched there on the 26th of October, ou her way home from Australia, and 'on the 28th a p;rty of young officers lefc the vessel to go on a shooting excursion, and a>n6ug them was Sub-Lieutenant Charles Ogle Robertson. The sport was excitingj, and the last-named gentleman became separated from the party, and was no more seen alive. It would seem that he became exhausted and lay down, went to sleep, and did not wake again. His body was discovered on the following dny. His face did not denote any suffering ; his flask of spirits and water was scarcely touched ; his gun was in his hand, and a bag of game by his side. He was buried with military honours. A correspondent calls our attention to a new method of saving gold which , has been tested in Canada. It is a dry process, and therefore would be of the greatest importance in a colony such as this, where in nearly all seasons of the year water is excessively scarce. Very few particulars are to hand, the process being a patent one ; but it is stated that its working is inexpensive, while the results have surpassed anticipation. The process is said to be as simple as the milling of grain. The machine separates the pyrites as well as the gold, and there is no loss of material. No manual labour and no artificial heat are re quired. Applied to tailings it would be moat effective. We trust that further information on the subject will reach the colony before ; long.