AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Western Star, Issue 281, 25 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

. i MELBOURNE, January 14. < Tenders for the International-Exhibition buildings in Carlten Gardens are expected to be • called for shortly, and the work /will then be , , commenced in earnest. '.Exertions are being made to have the main hall and the grand entrance of parliament buildings completed in time for the opening of next session. The Garonne left Plymouth on December 31 . for Melbourne with 407 passengers. Governor Robinson has been on a visit to'/. Glenormiston, and returned to Sydney yester- ~ day, ... -.-- The rust exists te a serious extent in some portions of the north-eastern districts, and it is estimated that • one-fourth of tha . entire wheat-nroducing area of the Colony has been destroyed. The Minister of Lands hisssignified his intention to make certain concessions to selectors who have thus suffered. The efforts to capture Martin Weiberg, ths J Avoca gold robber, have not yet been attended with success. During the voyage of the Eurynomo from Liverpool a saloon passenger named T. Healey ,• ; committed suicide by jumping overboard. / ■ -.' Marble statues of the Queen and Prince and Princess of Wales were presented to the trustees , of the National Gallery on the 9th inst. by the , Hon. W. J. Clarke, in the presence of a large - assemblage. The statues, which were executed to Mr Clarke’s order by the late, Charles Summers, are much admired as works of art. Sir Redmond Barry, in accepting the donation / on behalf of the trustees, expressed a strong ' opinion in favor of opening the National Gallery / '. f on Sunday afternoons. A sculling match has been arranged between Peter Sullivan (of Sydney) and Roberts (of Melbourne) for IJ.OO a-side;; It is to come off in March. ' VJ* ‘ The steamship Northumberland arrived at': ' ‘Aden on January 6; all well. The Board appointed to inquire into the question of the improvement of the Melbourne . water supply has reported' favorably on tho }' 2 practicability of diverting ibe Watts River into J . the Preston reservoir. - . Sir Samuel Wilson proseeds to England by . the next mail. ~ .. :■ . . , , ' No authentic news has been received of tha Mansfield murderers during' the last few days, ' although sensational rumors continue to be - abundant. Walter and John Stewart, living near Chiliern, were arrested on Friday as suspected accomplices of the Kellys. In the / house where 1 they live there were discovered flre-ams and EOlbs of metallic cartridges, Walter Stewart, who is believed , to be a companion of both the Kellys, has been , , lodged in Beech worth gaol. The following prisoners were brought before Mr Foster, 8.M., in the Beeohworth gaol on Saturday, chaiged under - the fifth section of tho Felons Apprehension Act with aiding and abbetting the outlaws, viz. t —Thomas Lloyd, John Milwrdy, James Quinn. Francis Harty, Ri hard Strickland, Daniel Delaney, John Quinn, William Wood, Lloyd John Hart, Isaiah Wright, Henry Perldnß, John . M. Monigan, James Clancy, Daniel Clancy, /',/ Joseph Ryan, Robert Miller, Michael' Walter A, Stewart, and John Stewart (aliu Smelle); also Benjamin Gould, who is charged with having on December 10 given aid to the Kellys and their mates to rob the National Bank at Euroa. All tho prisoners, save Gould, ; ‘ were remanded for a week ,to' Beechworth, , Gould lias been remanded to Euroa. , The four men who crossed the Mnrrumbidgee at Dnbbo, who were supposed to bo the Kellys, have been y ascertainod to be drovers. . . , George H. Richardson, collector' of Customs nt Belfast, has been charged with embezzling iGovernment moneys. The examination; pi , / Richardson’s books Has not yet been pleted, but defalcations to a considerable extent have been discovered already. It is stated that the deficiencies amount te L 2,000. : , . ■