Colonial News.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 18, 16 March 1870, Page 3

Colonial News.

The tragedy enacted at Pentridgo when the Rev. Win. Hill fell a victim to the homicidal mania of George Ritson, was (says fcho Argus) very nearly paralleled at the Yami Bend Lunatic asylum on Monday. A warder Christopher Banks was in the act of putting a Chinese lunatic named Ah Tic to bed, when the latter, without a word being said to excite him, drew a formidable weapon he had concealed about his person, and made a 'stab at Banks' throat, inflicting a transverse wound about tluee inches long, which penetrated to the root of the tongue. Fortunately tho wound, though very painful, was not dangerous, and Banks is now able to go about. Ah Tic is one of the mos{ violent lunatics in the asylum, but has not hitherto shown any homicidal tendency, his fury generally being shown in biting, scratching, and kicking. During the two years he has been at the Yarra Bend he has bitten off portions of the fingers of threo persons, tb e ear of one, and part of the nose of another. A correspondent of tho Greymouth Staz speaks thus of the present state of Hokitika :—On my return I found Hokitika to be almost comatose. I never witnessed such a state of extreme lethargy as the people here have allowed themselves to fall into. There is such an utter indifference to all their surroundings, and to everything which comes to pass among them, that they remind me of a man who has been informed that his last hour is at hand, and who, having made his peace with this world, calmly awaits his coming dissolution with a profound Last evening, at about five o'clock, the fire-bell rang out an alarm, and instead, as used to be the case of yore, the people rushing madly through the streets, exclaiming, " Where 1 where V and " There it is !" and " No—it isn't," there were only Mr Michael Cassius and two boys. The former, who is the West Coast Rothschild, was heard to say, as he passed along Re-vell-street—" Mine Got, mine Got! I shall pe all ruined again : vill no vun tell me vere the fire is V The two boys laughed. That was all. The man who was tugging at the tower-bell suddenly ceased. What was he going to exert himself for, when nobody cared whether there was a fire or not? He descended the ladder. 1 inquired into the cause of such a most singular indifference to a threatened calamity, when I was informed that, with the exception of a pie-shop and the four banks, the whole of the buildings in the town were the property of Mr Cassius, either by purchase, mortgage, or bill of sale. " Poor little Carl Schafer," says a Melbourne contemporary, " the diminutiveGerman traveller, who a few short years ago was almost lionized by a section of the Melbourne public, has gravitated down to the lowest depth of poverty, and yesterday was an applicant for admission to the Benevolent Asylum."

At the Preston Vale "Waterworks a flavor two ago, (says the Tarrangower Times), a well-known Maklon miner, who had been indulging in the deceits of Bacchus for some days, had a touch of the present punishment accorded to topers, in the shapa of the horrors. His mates kept a strict watch upon him, and during one phase of his horrible lunacy a very ludicrous sceno occurred. He peeped through a chink in the door of the hut, and repeated to himself in a loud tone of voice, " Oh, Jimmy ! I see you," several times. A tame magpie belonging to the boarding-houso keeper suddenly alighted on Jim's head, and commenced to laugh as only magpies and lunatics can. Down went Jimmy on his knees, being under the firm impression that the father of all evil had him at last, and ho prayed earnestly to the old gentleman to be let off this time. " Oh, pray let mo go!" shrieked he, "and I'll never got drunk any more." The onlookers wore too much convulsed with laughter to interfere for a minute or two, after which they removed the magpie, which seemed to enjoy the affair as much as they did. Fortunately the great fright sobered him, and he quickly got through his fit, and has been temperate ever since. An eye witness of the scene describes it as ludicrous in the extreme.

The Bordnr Watch states that a case of alcoholic poisoning hits recently occurred near the southern border. A boy travelling with his parents to Narracombo, whilst at Kirby's Inn drank a quart of brandy before it was discovered that he was in> possession of it. Ho slept till next morning, and when taken away in tho dray ho was still in slumber ; but before thoy had proceeded many miles he died.

At halp-past twoa.m. on Monday morning (says the Grey River Argun of a rece.it date) a woman fell down the shaft of tho Young American claim, Ross. There wero two men working below, who immediately gave tho alarm, aud she was brought up, Dr Zurhorst was promptly in attondanco, and it was found that the woman had escaped with but a alight wound on the right knee, which was caused by hoi- droppiug on a bucket at the bottom of tha shaft. She was drunk at the time, and had a mwt wonderful escape, tho shaft beiug over 80 ,feet deep. She fell feet foremost, and m she wore a crinoline, the pressure of air [must have broken the force of lvrfall. A bottle of beer which slip had in her baud. was, strange to sny, not broken