SPECIAL AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6044, 28 September 1887, Page 3

SPECIAL AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

' £fEOIT OUB OWN COERESrOHDENT^J ' i r (Per s.s. Tarawera, at the Bluff.) INVEECAEGILL, Sept. 27. VICTORIA. THE BWAIH CASE. One of the witnesses at the inquest on the body of Misß Swain, who threw herself o£E the bridge into the Yarra, said that when he heard a person bad committed > suicide he enquired about it, as he hoped it might refer to himself, and when asked what he meant by thit>, he explained that he thought it might refer to his wife, who was carrying on a loose game. The foreman of the jury: "As soon aa you dis- 1 covered it was not your wife, you did not trouble anybody?" Witness: "That is about the truth of it." (Laughter.) Witneßß: " It's no laughing matter." CHINESE IMMIGRATION. The influx of Chinese to this and the neighbouring Colonieß was discussed at a publio meeting held in the Hotham Town Hall on Sept. 17. About 800 persons were present. All the speakers agreed that early action should be taken to prevent the Chinese coming: in any numbers to Australia. Mr Harwood referred totho evil effects which the influx of Chinese into the United States had produced amongst the working classes, and Mr Laurens pointed out that the question conld now be easily dealt with, but if postponed until the Chinese were more numerous the difficulty of dealing with them would be greater than was presented by the rabbit plague. Where the rabbits come the cheep starve, and where the Chinamen come the white working men will have to starve, said Mr Laurens. Resolutions were carried declaring the presence of Chinese to be a menace and a peril to the whole of the industrial classes ; that any further influx should be prevented ; that those already here should be placed under proper supervision. A HEAVr PINE. A fine of .£IOOO was inflicted on James Kelly, convicted at the Auguet sittings of j the Criminal Court of defrauding the Customs. The accused was the manager for Schuhkrafffc and Co., of Flinders street, and is a man of about sixty-five years of age. Some points of law had been reserved in his favour for the full Court, bnt at the last moment they were withdrawn at his own request. The utmost he could have gained, as he was advised, was a new trial, but his health wonld not stand the strain. Evidence as to character was given, and medical testimony waß also adduced to the effect that if he were' imprisoned for any term his health had already been broken up to such an extent that it would either kill him or drive him to insanity. Justice Kerf erd then directed him to pay a fine of JSIOO on eaohof the ten counts on which he had been convicted. A cheque for the amount was at once forthcoming, and having been cashed, the accused was discharged. - A BIG NUGGET. Two of the navvie3 engaged on the construction of the railway between Dunolly and Inglewood, while excavating near the surface, found a nugget valued at JBlOl4. PEHBONATION. At the Police Court at Albury, George Eußsell Thursby, who arrived at an hotel in woman's attire, was charged with personating a detective, and was fined £5. Thursby was then charged with being identical with Arthur Foster, wanted by the London police for forgery to the extent of iSoOOO, committed in November, ISS6. The prisoner, who said his wife was an actress in Sydney, strongly protested his innocence, and was remanded. ; A SHIP ON JIBE. The unusual and exciting spectacle of a ship on fire in the Yarra drew a large crowd to the Australian, wharf on Saturday, Sept. 17. The vessel in which the fire occurred is the Mary Blundell, an iron, clipper barque, which was discharging a miscellaneous cargo fxom Hamburg. The fire was detected immediately it broke out in the hold, but so inflammable wsb the nature of the cargo that the combined, efforts of the crew with buckets, those of, the Piie Brigades with steam pump and' hose fed from the Yaa-Ye&n supply, and those of the four steamers which were speedily alongside, and which from their pumps poured in an immense body of water, could not subdue the flames until the vessel waa actually filled and settled deep down into the mud at the bottom of the Yarra. A great portion of the cargo would be as effectually destroyed by water as by. fire. The cargo includes 1650 casks of cement, and 148 casks of plaster of Paris, which will be rendered useless. There are also 100 pianos which would suffer very much. As regards the origin of the fiie nothing definite is known. It is stated, however, that when some blasting powder was being moved the contents were spilt. The greatest care was exercised in gathering up every particle that could be found, but there is no doubt a large portion of it 'would find its way through the chinks and crevices amongst the cargo stowed below it. On. the other hand there wore 25 cases of matches on board, and it is supposed by Bomo that tho fire arose amongst them. Mr Schnltze estimates the value of the cargo roughly at £16,000. It is understood it is insured in a number of offices. Insurance polices hold good until the cargo is discharged from the vessel. NEW SOUTH WALES. A GOLD DISCOVERT. . Gold has been discovered at Mount Darwick, on the Manfred Bun, 40 miles from Ivanhoe. There are already 400 men on the field, and a great rush is expected. ALLEGED ABSON. The Eev H. H. Britten of Eyde,whowas recently acquitted on a charge of wilfully setting fire to his parsonage, has been assisted with £100 to defray the expenses of his trial. A TBAGEDT. Deniliquin has been the scene of a distressing tragedy. Two or three months ago a Roman Catholic priest left the town on leave of absence for a year, and was presented with a testimonial and a purse of sovereigns. One of the prime movers in the affair was an old resident named Patrick Slaman. After the priest* s departure Slaman received an anonymous letter to the effect that his daughter, a girl of 22, who was engaged to a bank clerk, had been seduced by the priest. She subsequently confessed that the priest had first drugged and then violated her, and that the offence was afterwards repeated. Slaman was so overcome by the revelation that he drank a large quantity of brandy, which, combined with mental excitement, brought on a fit of sanguineous apoplexy, which proved fatal. The priest, who is believed to be in Melbourne, is said to have written to the girl offering marriage. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. THE RADCLIFFE CASE. The case of the New Zealand clergyman, the Eev W. Eadcliffe, who has been several times before the South Australian Courts on a charge of contravening the bankruptcy laws of New Zealand, where he had been residing as chaplain to the Bishop of Cbristchurcb, was terminated in the Supreme Court, before Judge Boucant, on Sept. 19. It was the intention of the police authorities to L^ve taken advantage of a warrant issued for bis arrest by Mr.Beddorus, Police Magistrate, and to have shipped him for New Zealand by the steamer leaving Melbourne on Saturday, but Sir J. Downer, Badcliffe'a counsel, obtained a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf in the Court. Sir J. Downer contended that the affidavit on which the prisoner was charged in the Police Court was founded on deliberately false information supplied by the police authorities of New Zealand, namely, that a warrant for Eadcliffe's arrest had been issued at Wellington on Sept. 3, whereas he was not adjudicated insolvent until Sept. 5, and the warrant was not issued until Sept, 6. His Honor felt warmly on the same subject, and said he would put his remarks in writing, aa he ! could not trust himself to speak on it just then. Bail was granted to Eadcliffe on bis own recognisances of J6500 to appear and take his trial in Christchurch within the next 12 months. If the defendant can arrange to get the adjudication of his in--1 solvency annulled he need not return to j New Zealand. Eadcliffe left for London ! •bythe Oroya- )