AUSTRALIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 506, 3 January 1870, Page 2

AUSTRALIA.

(From the Argus, Dec. 21 to Dec. 23, inclusive.) Messrs Graves and Co., the well-known London print publishers, have authorised . their agents in Sydney and Melbourne ■ (Messrs Gordon and Gotch), to take legal proceedings against all photographers copy*

ing or vending the copyright engravings of the firm. By a telegram from Alexandria, dated the loth of Nov., we learn that the laying of; the submarine cable between Bombay and Suez, and between Suez and Malta, and 0 thence via Gibraltar to Falmouth, is expected to be completed by the lat May nex' and that the extension of the line from: Ceylon to Singapore wiil be proceeded with ' in April next. The line throughout willbe' under English management exclusively, andwill be entirely independent of foreign control. The six-carat diamond found in the Australian Diamond Company's ground, at Mudgee, and sent to Europe to be cut, has been returned to Mr Crisp's hands by the mail steamer Geelong. It has cut down to a diamond of 3 3-16 carats, and is an exquisite specimen of brilliancy and purity. It possesses an exceptional value as the first largesized Australian gem discovered, and ia highly praised by the lapidaries through whose hands it has passed. Since its return to this colony it has become the property of Mr John De Pass. Rust has made its appearance among some of the late crops in the Bellerine district, and ■ it is feared will do great damage, as it has apparently made headway. On the Barrabool Hills the crops which two months ago looked healthy, promising a greater yield than for years past, have succumbed to the heat and the evils incidental to the crops at this season of the year. Although well-looking, an examination shows that the ears are shrivelled and destroyed by blight. In the Moorabool district it is calculated that one-third of the anticipated j-ield will be lost from the same cause. We have Perth papers to the 10th of De- ; cember. Governor Weld was at that date ! continuing his progress through the colony, ' and was everywhere received with enthusiasm. Harvest had commenced, and the , yield was expected to be sufficient for local i consumption. A new lead mine has been \ opened about 17 miles from Fremantle. The -, pearl season at Nichol Bay is a good one. j Mr T. J. Kelly has faile 1 ; his liabilities are i£32,000, and his assets are -£20,000. The ffl estate has been placed in the hands of trus- Wa tees. Four vessels were loading with timber H for these colonies, and one (the Yarra) had SB sailed. The stocks of flour on hand were iniflß excess of the requirements, and the latestßH quotation at Perth was £18 per ton. He Tbe custom of adulterating bread within alumina is one that has attained a consider- K« able extent, but the City Council have. ..e^|jgfl solved to take active measures to suppress the IS practice, and yesterday two bakc_s were sum- _tt moned to the District Court, for this offence. M Sergeant Fullarton went into the shops of _m Mr T. H. Miers, in Little Collins street, and ra Mr Duncan, in Lonsdale Btreet, and pur- sn chased some bread, which was submitted for fgj examination toi Mr Sydney Gibbons, ana- |S| [lytical chemist, who found Miera's * bread to B| contain -.50 grains, and Duncan's 25 to 80 H grains of alumina to the 4lb loaf. Alumina S| is the metallic base of the substance known in H commerce as alum, and has a deleterious Sg effect on the constitutions of psrsons ep.ting jra the bread adulterated with it to any extent. §§i The prinoipal object of the bakers ia using 11 the alumina are the whiteness and apparent Ml excellence imparted to bad flour by it, and j|j the! increased weight given, by it to the flour J§| by enabling it to absorb more water in pro* ffll portion than it could if worked up in the Mm proper manner. Other cases of a similar Wjgt nature will shortly be brought before the mm Court. The defendants were fined 40s, witb I JI 40s costs, each. MB Mdlle. Baratti and Miss Lucy Chambetmasl the prime donne, and Signor Dondi, thefirai basso, of Lyster's new opera troupe, sailedgHß from Plymouth for Melbourne on the Ist ovßm November in the Lincolnshire. Mr LyaterMßß accompanied by Signori Neri and Mari-BB Cornia, the tenor and baritone, wiill leavrfffißl Europe by the December mail. M:r LysteiflH has received a telegram from San Franciscffißgj apprising him that Messrs Armes-Bea_rnorif/®g! Kitts, Baker, and Sutcliffe will sail jfor Mel- Wj bourne by the first ship, so that the company i-ni will be complete and ready to commence the 3jm campaign by the end of January. Mr kysteriSi has visited the principal opera- houses a__oJ| Europe, and brings out the scores of various Bffi operas by Donizetti, Verdi, Halevy, Pacini.fß| and other composers, which have nuver beenlW performed in Australia, together with all theism latest appliances, mechanical and otherwiseißH We learn from private sources that theßß manager has been singularly fortunate in theJß selection of his principal vocalists. Thflß| Japanese troupe engaged for Messrs LysteßH and Smith by their agent at Yokohama, deßjjfl clined, it appears, at the last moment, to conmßt plete their engagement, and Mr Kirby, tbaßß agent, arrived yesterday by the mail steamernn without them. JSBS The following extract from a private lette;9B| will serve to correct an erroneous impressiorJHS very generally entertained in the colonies:-SjH " It is a favourite idea," says the writeSß " that colonists in England have nothing elsflH to do but run fussing about Downing-streeflfllH get up deputations, and render tbem sei ve»3j important by perpetual meddling. I met M3HB W. E. Forster (the vice-president of thSHj Council for Education) the other night, ___M dinner, and was saying that my experiencing was quite in the opposite direction, and thamS colonists were only too apt to get scattercgßn all over the country, absorbed in tbeir oviHß pursuits and amusements, and cared too littlflgßH for colonial matters. He said, ' My experiences exactly agrees with yours. During the timjfll I was Under-Secretary for the Colonies I caWH only say that I scarcely ever saw a colonisflßH and, as far as my recollection carries, I neveHS by any chance saw such a thing as an Austraaßß iian.' " Our friends at home will certainly bJjHHj less inclined than ever to leave " their owqgg pursuits and amusements " after the scurv jffl| treatment they have met with in these partsßß| for having entertained tbe unfortunate idemflj that they were under an obligation to bestiiKS themselves when they considered that anHN

| English colony waß being deserted in its hour L-of need by the English Government. The despatches received by the mail from the Agent-General of the colony are not of a , - very important character. There is no infor- * -mation relative to the proposed colonial conference beside that which may be gleaned from the public journals, a number of extracts from which, showing the opinions of the English press, were forwarded by the book-post. " Those interested in colonial industries will (k regret to learn that a cask of meat, prepare! by the Melbourne Meat-pre3erving Company, had been opened by the admiralty officials, i and had proved bad. When firat opened, it snelt bad, and a piese of meat which was I cooked was unfit for use. Another cask was |^ to have been tried on the Ist of January, febut Mr Verdon had deemed it prudent under Khe circumstances to withdraw it. Another fiftroposition for telegraphic communication BPwith Australia had been made by the AngloR Indian Company. It is contemplated — if the H»_ecessary arrangements can be entered into — Bto lay down a line from Calcutta (to which W place the company has already extended its •i lines) to the northern part of Queensland. The communication would be principally by means of substantial submarine cables, which , would be submerged in deep water. Further ,_ particulars will be forwarded by the next mail. It will be remembered that some short time since the well known firm of Messrs MacAllister and Co., announced their intention of sending, by way of experiment, one of their large and powerful steamers to Victoria via the Cape of Good Hope. On being recently written to hy Mr Verdon, however, tbe firm replied that all their steamers Were now profitably occupied in the New York trade; and, as they did not belie v. the proposed voyage to Victoria would prove v remunerative, they declined at the present time to try the experiment. Mr Verdon, at the same time, mentioned that Messrs Moore, Hawthorn, and Co., of this city, had been appointed agents for one of the firms which had tendered for the mail and passenger service via the Cape of Good Hope, but as, in consequence of the opposition offered by Mr M'Culloch, these tenders have . not been made public, no information can be '~ given. j^^Some interesting, although not altogether novel, machinery was exhibited yeaterday, at '{•_ the offices Gf the manufacturer, Mr O. Bobardt, 9 King-street, and formed no little £ attraction to a number of persons connected with one of our latest new industries—meatpreserving to wit. Mr Bobardt has supplied nearly similar machinery to the meat-pre-serving companies (so named) of Melbourne, Ballarat, and Echuca, and for Messrs Smith i and Clark, of Victoria-street; and the pre- - sent plant, which represents the latest improvements, has been manufactured for the ' newly- formed Warrnambool Meat-preserving ; Company. The plant consists of four heavy i Bcwt double-armed presses, furnished with \ large and smaller dies and punches, wheref with to cut out and fix into shape the vari- [ ously sized tin cans required to contain the \ meat (generally packed in 2lb and 4lb tins). •■ The machines represent the Aberdeen packing system materially altered — it is contended, for the better — and they prepare the whole ■ canister at the rate of from 1500 to 2000 per day. All the hand labour required is the soldering, which is so provided for that the process requires small skill, and 80 completely has economy and efficiency therein been studied, that in capping, bot- * toming, and seaming, the interstices to be filled by solder are accurately measured, and buttons of the metal are cast in moulds, one ' for each tin. The operation of the presses showed that the sizeß of tin can be cut, and 0 the seaming presses, &c, operate at the rate . of one dozen canisters per minute, nor is there any want of finish in either of the proceases. It is to the credit of colonial manup factures that Mr Bobardt has provided this sort of machinery for the leading companies here, as he is engaged to do on the part of New South Wales also, and though his prices y show a margin over those of English manufacturers, yet importations of the latter are ; almost unknown. The Warnambool company is to operate on 2000 sheep and from 40 to 50 bullocks per week, so that they pro- — pose to carry on a pretty extensive business. Hit is worthy of note that the minor arrangeof the machinery include a device by ■j which each tinman marks his tins, and thus • failures in the testing room are immediately traced to their source.