SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 124, 19 December 1846, Page 3

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

[From the Adelaide Obsertee ] It ig with unfeigned pleasure we are able to announce a concatenation of preofo that mineral di'coyeries, EUch a§ have been made in this colony, will be followed here, a. elsewhere, with each a general improvement of the rarioas local ioterestj m oagbt to foltow, almost a» a matter of coarse; but which short-sighted penons hare found it difficult to underttgnd. '

The Sooth Australian Company's beautiful Spechl Survey, distinguished from the others, as that at." the sources ef the Onkaparin?a,"-has long been for the most part in a state of original solitude, but it was touched by the Midas fingers " of the Geniui of discovery as Boon as the mines of the district began to yield their treasures ; and the splendid but once silent vale* now rescund with the cheerful voicesof a busy and hopeful tenantry. The nearest road between .the mines of the Mount Barker District and Adelaide is through the eastern valley of the Company's Survey beforemeotioned • and some of the agriculturist carriers of ores from the mines, tUe fertility of the soil, the beauty end desirableness of the locality, and Ih'e employment to which its occupiers would be introduced— soon msde applications for leasss, which being granted with that liberality for which the Company's present raanajement is so deservedly popular—section after section, has become occupied, contiguous properties have assumed all the appearances'of activity which they ought to assume.under a vigorous and experienced tenantry, comprising agriculturists, grazier and dairymen, ea well as those rural aspirants who have yet to choose their particular class. . "■;

. • Onr manufactories are keeping pace with cu r mines. We were > absolutely surprised the.oiber day on being, asked by a friend to walk with him into , Wyatt's'foundry, in Grenfell-street, to see the large works in progress for several of our brewers and-other tradesmen. Wβ could have almost fancied ourselves* in some second-rate English establishment, When w* walked through tht pattern shop ; the Iron and braes foundry; the turning shop, with great lathes at woik on the rollers for Mr. Crawford's malt mill; the boring lathe, "hollowing out the cylinders for a six-horse steam ; engine, upon the boilers of which the, men in the smitbi' shop were at work too, and which, when finished, is to supercede the horsepower now in use; the false bottom, in fan-like pieces, for Mr. Clark's liialt tub; the brass Jap for Mr. Cndmore's brewing copper •, the retorts and other fittings for the ga» works to be erected it the « Freemason's tavern; " nnd the endless castings for all purposes, showing the power of Adelaide not only to me but to make lnachinery. .It is a splendid sign of prosperlty that while our exports are surprisingly increasing, pur internal resources ire diminishing our imports by supplying our own wand. Wewe not only producing the necessaries of life forwhlek *c fotmerlf dJßE«Bd<idonJEnßtMd iv but «re tbio-

tiiSl SpsS ofS^e'c^ 6 " 7 fr9m L^ one'of the P olt . »ta,r,' ; * ""' co, " i, M be » «< i» 2™ c ' '"•"» «"» i« cmplefe) .a «hi p«!

nnih ier, who Ko "e of the small number of persons who attach M value M the use of Hgh.nihg but on the contrary, attrifcate very dan»er«ii« a ract the electric fluid to the localifiee in whidubey are placed, offwiite. to th, Paris Academy of Science, Jbat the only effectual prevention is eleva'. ted chimneys, such as those of iron-worke • which, he says, drive the electric flaid troin-ihe neighbourhood in which they are situated-. J

A eirreepondentofrte Liverpool Albion. say S _<. Sir, There is a most ridiculous article going the round of the papers, that a diamond mine has been found at Rahia, and, consequently, diamonds are reduced to half the value: arid, also, ihat Brazilian diarmmds are not so valuable as Oriental, which is equally ridiculous. Diamondcutting and i-olishing are what enhance the price of diamonds- From 400 t&500 per cent, is paid on the original cost of the diamond for cutting, so that, if rongK diamonds were got tree of any expense, they could not be reduced "more than twenty to twenty-five per cent. 1 am at present paying for rough diamonds double ihe price 1 wa? paying twelve years ego: So much for the fall in diamonds. I will stake my existence that there is not a man living that can distinguish an Oriental from a Brazilian diamond, any more than a person could distinguish an Irish "from an English potato if they were both bailing in a pot together." Convicts to North Adstbaiia —Pifty convicts were brought down' the river on Saturdayin the Naiad Woolwich Compaay's Packet, and fifty more on Monday in the Witcb, steam-packet,.and put on board the Maitland, and on the arrival of a another hundred convicts they will be conveyed to North Australia.';.' These- convicts are mostly from the Model 'Prison, where thpy have been taught usefnl trades, and will have an opportunity of making themselve* usefnl men in the hew convict colony, of which Lieutenant-Colonel Barney, late Commandant of the. Royal Engineers, has been appointed Governor—-Times, May 26. •■■■■■■ : , ■ .•;■■..;

There are" building and outfitting oa the Clyde at'present thirty seven vessels, amounting in the aggregate to* 18,027 tons, Of these, twenty six are iron steamers, coNpctiyely amounting to 14,137 tons and 5,580 horse-power,; the residue being timber ships, amountinor to 2,890.' Yalueing the timber vessels ot £20 per tonVtlie iron i tea mers at £25, and the machinery at £40 per horse-power overheads the total value of these vessels; when'ready and equipped for sea, will amount to £654,425. • The manufacture of iron in the island of Corsica is greatly increasing. The high furnace of Toga, aftrr having been out for two months, has again been put in full Wast. During this interval some important improvements have beeu made to it and the machine haa been .thoroughly repaired anevr. The interior of the chim* ney has been rebuilt with English bricks and the melting crucible enlarged. They are going to have a most ingenious apparatus erected for raising the ore and ihe coal to the gallery.; The daily produce of iron already extend* to7ocwt., and this quantity will shortly be doubled,

Sinkins of a Ship is , the London Dicks—On Sunday in irning the barque Eureta, from Sydney, which was hauled into the London D >ek • the , preceding sank in the great bason alongside the north quay and opposite No. 3 warehouse. Tliis very ecrious disaster occasioned great alarm in the dock, and also iv the surrounding districts. It appears that some of the Custom-house officer* in other vessels.saw the liureta setting down, and they raised an alarm. The only persons on hoard were two apprentices an I a revenue officer, and they had scarcely reached the quay in their night clothes when the ship went down. Information of the occurrence having been forwarded to the dock master ami ' Mr. Chandler, the superintendent of the establishment, they immediately engaged upwards of 100 labourers, and in a few minutes afterwards they were busily engaged, some in getting out the cargo, principally bales of wool, and others in pumping the water out. The labourers continued to work. 1 with great alacrify until 8 o'clock last night, when they were relieved by another set, who were , taken on the night. A great portion of the wool was got out in a damaged state. Although the pumps never ceased working (or aa instant, there was no apparent diminution of the leak up to 10 o'clock last night. About three pre viously/ sal expert diver named Jones, went down to examine the ship's bottom, arid found a large hole on the larboard side forwards on the garbel streak, close to - the keelson. It appears that when the, ship was coming up the Pool on Saturday afternoon, she was run foul of by a collier, •near the Surrey Canal Doak buoy, and was obliged to bring up and let go her anchor. There is no doubt she set-upon one-of the flukes of her anchor, which caused the mischief, but when the mates and crew of the vessel left hfcr safely moored in the dock, there was no appearance of her having sprung a leak, nor was it. suspected that she had shipped any water. The Eureta has brought home a mpst valuable cargo of wool and oil, from Sydney, estimated to be worth —Times, July 14. The Leeds Intelligencer mentions a «t?ange robbery. "On Monday the foun-dation-stone of a new Independent chapel was laid at Rowdon, with the usual* formalities. Daring the ceremony, a bottle containing the several coins of the realm, a Jist of the subscribers to the fand,.and a copy of several of the local newspapers were deposited in a recess in the foundation stone, and covered jwith a plate of brass, firmly soldered down to the stone. On the/arrival of the workmen next morning, it was discovered that the brass plate had been removed, and the valuable contents abstracted, leaving only papers and things of little value. Some of the workmen had been on the watch till three o'clock in the morning, after which hour the robbery must have been committed."

The Cholera. — This destructive scourge of humanity seems once more on its way to ravage the continent of Europe, originating, as before, in the heart of Asia, Northern Persia being the first quarter in which it was noticed ; it is gradually approaching the confines of Europe. The chief cities of Persia already. count by thousands the number of their dead \flho have fallen victims to Asiatic cholera. The lirie of rout taken by it appears to be aLniost due west, for it attacked in regular succession the cities of Bokhara, Herat, Meshed, Teheran, and Ispahan, while recent accounts from Odessa state that two ortbrfie cases of Asiatic cholera had been

observed at Tiflis. Should it continue to advance ;at its present rate, it may be looked for in Eastern Europe in a very short time. Indeed it is stated from Riga that it has already broken out at Orenburg and Kasan, and that several persons at, Sγ: Petersburgh have been attacked by the influenza, a disease that usually precedes the cholera. -Proper precautionary; measures ; ou»ht iherefere, to ba taken to check, the progress of the cholera in due time, for arrivbgas it will in. the middle of summer, the season most favourable to its .developement and propagaiion, the consequence in the densly crowded towns and cities of *.the Continent will be awful. —i-Gertnan paper.

The chief feature of the intelligence from the West Indies is the welcome statement that a favorable change has taken place ia the weather, aud that the long drought has been succeeded by copious and seasonable rains in almost every Island. It, had, as a matter of course, put the inhabitants in good spirits, and the prospects of the crop 3 are-more encouraging. The traders of 'Greenoek had presented Sir Robert P<eel wilh a.raassive,silver jug.