ADDITIONAL AUSTRALIAN TELEGRAMS.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 251, 21 May 1868, Page 3

ADDITIONAL AUSTRALIAN TELEGRAMS.

Melboubne, May Gth. The London and Chartered Bank decline paying cash certificates to the Civil Servants. In Lewis's divorce case -no verdict was arrived at, and the .jurors were discharged. Mills for the manufactury of printing ink have been established. Parliament met on Tuesday, Mav sth. J Mr Sladen's new Ministry was not formed, and the House adjourned to the following day. A crowd hooted the Hon. J. tfawkner, on his leaving the House. A divorce was granted in the case of Knorr v. Knorr—the co-respon-dent, Northcote, of New Zealand, being cast in costs. Sacrilege has been attempted in St. Prancis's Church. Kerosene shale has been*discovered in Gipp's Land. The Queensland : Steam Navigation Company's steamers have been handed over to the Australian Steam Navigation Company. Major Butler, who lately burst a bloodvessel, is recovering. The National Bank has declared a dividend of 10 per cent., and 21s. 2d. bonus per share.

The Melbourne Bank declared a dividend of 10 per cent. , 5000 yards of cloth have been manufactured at Geelong. Tlamsden's paper niills arc at work. The steamer Clarence has burst her boiler at Sydney Heads. A letter was received at the Post Office, addressed to James de Pontius, who was murdered in 18GC at Maungatapu. The Prince Alfred Hospital Fund is slowly increasing. Sydney. Macdonald, the Manager of the Com mercial Bank, Dubbo, has been arrested for embezzlement. Judge Cheeke's stud has been offered by lottery. A reward of .£IOO has been offered for the apprehension of the man who fired at Mr Grey at Keama. Mr Parkes was feted at Goulburn. The settling for racing bets is unsatisfactory, there being several absentees. Mr Tait won £I6OO. Johnson, the bushranger, 'has been captured. The schooner Clara Robins was wrecked ■ on one of the South Sea Islands. The Golden City has arrived from London, after a long passage. Pleuro-pneumonia has broken out among cattle.

The Latest Snake Story.—A curious story has reached us from au outlying district, for the truth of which we are ahle to vouch. In the middle of the night a lady who was on a visit to the house in question—a perfectly isolated one —heard a slight noise as of something falling down the chimney. She did not think much about it at the moment, and recalling the occurrence, what was her horror to see what she fancied at a glance was a goodsized _ black snake stretched out under a chair. She-managed to get to the door without stepping on the ground, and called'loudly for help. A servant girl rushed to the spot, to whom the frightened lady pointed out the intruding descendant of Eve's first tempter. The girl shrieked in her turn, and very shortly tho whole household, more or less hastily habited, arrived on the spot. One gentleman, when asked to tackle the reptile, doclined on the score of having no Wellington boots ; while another boldly asserted that, Wellingtons or bluchers, he did not feel himself equal to the undertaking. At length the eyes of all turned on a .Toung gentleman who happened to be

visiting the -station, and who, being one of tho volunteer defenders of his country, felt himself as it wore compelled not to shrink from the task. However, not caring to come to close quarters with a formidable-looking snake more than less warlike people, he procured a clothes-prop from the back garden before commencing battle. Armed with this domestic lance, he ventured into the room, and mounting on a chair, dealt the snake a violent blow with the thin end of tho prop. It seemed to be a particularly lucky hit, as the reptile never moved after it. Emboldened by his success thus far, he caught the creature on the end of the pole, and bringing it into the full glare of the light, it was discovered, to the discomfiture of the occupant of the room and the amusement of the rest, that the innocent cause of all the uproar was the uncoiled chignon of tho lady, which had slipped oft' tho dressing table during the night. Peace was restored to the establishment, and the lady appeared at breakfast with her hair short and crepe. — Argus. Human Skeleton Pound—A short time ago, a human skeleton was found at Broughty Perry Castle while making a drain. The skeleton appeared to bo that of a strong, full grown man, and was found about two and a-half feet from the surface of the ground. The skull bore a mark as if a wound had been inflicted with a rapier. Great numbers of persons visited the spot, and considerable curiosity was manifested as to how any skeleton could have been found there. A person residing at Dundee siipposes the skeleton to be that of a Prench officer who was killed in an encounter with a British cavalryman at Broughty Castle, and furnishes the following particulars as to his reason for thinking so .- —' About forty-five years ago, there resided at Cupar an old man who earned his livelihood by teaching young men sword-exercise. In his young flays he belonged to a -cavalrv regiment, and had the reputation of being a first-class swordsman. His regiment was stationed at Cupar, during the imprisonment of some Prench soldiers, but notwithstanding the utmost cordiality prevailed between the Prench and British officers; while the latter were dining together one day, a conversation arose on swordexercise, and one of the Prench officers set himself forth as a match for any. The feeling of rivalry naturally existing between the officers of two nations, w r as excited to a high pitch, and the conversation ended by the commanding officer of the British regiment engaging that he would even find a man in the ranks who would beat him. The day for the combat ■was fixed, and the betting was heavy on both sides. The young man before mentioned was the man chosen to test the ability of the Prench officer. The combat ended in the ignominious defeat of the latter, and in the British officers pocketing a large sum. The Prench officer left the ground indignant, and ashamed at being beaten by a common private, and before his ; comrades and the British officers. To retrieve his lost honour, he challenged the cavalryman to a second encounter which the latter accepted, and again' proved victorious, disarming his opponent, and carrying off his sword as a trophy. Shortly after this the Prench officers entertained the gallant young swordsman to dinner, and offered to reward him with £2OO if he would teach them the " cuts " and " guards " which he used. This offer was refused by the young man replying that he; would not; and but for the antagonis-1 tic relation of the two nations, he would have taught them for as many shillings. The Prench officers, determined if possible to" turn the tables," sent another challenge to him a few days afterwards but on this occasion he was to be opposed by another Prench officer, a powerful man, reckoned to be one of the best swordsmen in the army. A spot at Broughty Castle was fixed' upon as the place of meeting and both men appeared punctually on the ground. The contest lasted for an hour, and the greatest excitement prevailed among those who were spectators. The Prench officer became enraged at being unable to take advantage of his opponent, and the latter suspecting that his antagonist would kill him the first opportunity, dealt him a fatal blow, and he foil to the ground lifeless. He was buried at the spot where he fell by his comrades, and the skeleton lately found is thought to be his, from the supposed rapier mark on the skull.

G-reat Slaughter op Kangaroos. —A Melbourne paper says :—"Captain Gardiner, of St.Enoch's Station, botween Carngham and Stockyardhill, has recently taken up a station on the Adelaide border, and (according to a correspondent of the Hall a rat Star)

the kangaroos aro so plentiful thereon that the 'men on the station have, during the last quarter, secured 3,000 kangaroo skins. There are 100,000 sheep on station, and it is thought that there are twice as many kangaroos, as sheep. Not only have the kangaroos to be depastured on the station, but itappears they have to be watered also, and that with water raised from wells for the purpose of watering the sheep, as the kangaroos frequent the watering troughs, and aro killed there in great numbers. It is further stated that last year, before Captain Gardiner rented the station there were a number of men on it engaged in killing kangaroos alone, and that these persons shipped 10,000 kangaroos skins to England."

The Effects of Pipeclay.—"We. ( United Service Gazette) perceive that two officers of the 5-1 th Regiment have been writing to the Pall Mall Gazette, complaining of a paragraph which the editor had quoted from this paper. The officers say that bandsmen never wear their tunics when damp. Have they ever asked a bandsman the question ? Have they ever heard of such a case as the following : —A bandsman is playing at parade in the morning, a shower comes on, and his white tunic is stained and splashed ; in the afternoon he has to play again, and to make a decent appearance, is obliged to daub his tunic with wet pipeclay, which, soaking into the thick woollen cloth, lays the foundation of disease, such as killed poor Soloman. We repeat both our statements. Eirst, that our bandsmen are often obliged to wear their tunics whilst still damp, and even wet, with pipeclay ; and second, that Soloman, almost in his last moments, attributed his illness to this practice. The Mechanical Horse at the Exposition, an American "notion," bears no resemblance to his equine namesake, but consists of a box seven feet long, and wide enough for a man to saddle, and about five feet high. This body is mounted on five wheels. In a trial before the Emperor, a mile race course was moderately passed over in two minutes twelve seconds. When at its fastest speed, the distance Was made in fifty-eight seconds, and the inventor affirms that nearly this speed could be kept up for four hours. What is the real motive power, is a secret '•which the inven tor has imparted to the Emperor only ; and in return for this distinguished confidence, the inventor has been decorated with the Cross of fthe Legion of Honor.