LATE TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 222, 10 February 1874, Page 6

LATE TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

—» (From the Dunedin Dailies. ) London, Jan. 24. Mr Whalley, M.P. for Peterborough, and a staunch supporter of the Tichborne Claimant, was summoned for contempt of Court, and Chief-Justice Cockbnrn .fined him £'2sG\ Mr Whalley refused tojiav, and was conveyed to Holloway Prison. Mr Whalley's contempt was in upholding the accuracy of Jean Line's original evidence as to the Osprey picking up the Claimant, and landing him at Melbourne. The Liverpool wool sales showed a penny and and an eighth lower, but. better prospects are anticipated. Colonial arrivals to date have reached fifty thousand bales. January 25. Mr Gladstone, in addressing his con stitucnts at Greenwich, states that the Queen accepted the advice of her Ministers to dis-

) solve parliament, and the new elections will i take ' PtyrliameW;' meets i oil the sth of March! 'Since the'.defeat of the present Government on the, Irish r education question, the* has,no| possessed sufficient authority, to' carry any great legislative measures, and the experience of the recess foreshadows no improYemenjt, andan appeal to the country, was, therefore the iproper remedy. The advantages of the 'dissolution were obvious, because .the: estimates for the year were so? far advanced as to enable him, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to promise a surplus of £5,000,000. It was the intention of the Government to abolish theincome tax, to revise local taxation, .and to repeal.the duties on certain articles of consumption. Among matters likely.to come before the hew Parliament was the adjournment of the Education Act, improvement in the system of local government, and amendments, in land, game, and liquor laws. 'He alsq hoped to see a speedy, assimilation of county with borough franchise. Mr Disraeli, in. his address to his constituents of Buckinghamshire,,says the Government resorted to a dissolution of Parliament to avoid an explanation relative to. the Ashantee war. He characterised. Mr Gladstone's programme as indefinite, except; as regards that portion,, relating to the-surplus, but every Ministry having a surplus; applies it to the reduction of taxation. Conservatives always favoured the. .abolition of tho income taxes and reduction 6f local taxation, [which the liberals, always opposed. Mr | Gladstone, he thought, ought to show more ! energy in dealing with his foreign policy, ! with less of home legislation. The announcement of the dissolution of Parliament was unexpected. Mr Whalley paid his fine, and has been released from prison. • | January 27. Cape Coast news to the 11th states that the troops continue steadily advancing, and keep in good health. Dr Feiiiherstone, Agent-General for New Zealand, has received Austrian decoration. January 29. Mr Hawkins has concluded his reply in the Tichborne case. Chief-Justice Cockbum commenced his summing up, which is expected to occupy a fortnight. St.. Petersburg, January 25. The marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh was celebrated at St. Petersburg on the afternoon of the 23rd, in the presence of a brilliant and distinguished company. There was a most magnificent ceremony. The service was performed according to the Greek Church first, and the English Church afterwards. A grand review was held, and genera] festivities followed. The illumination of St. Petersburg extended over three days. The Duke and Duchess visit Moscow, and arrive in England during March. Rome, January 24: The Pope is again unwell.

AUSTRALIAN. Melbourne, January 28. A young woman, Mary M'Gibbon, attempted drowning by jumping off Prince's bridge. Assistance was rendered by several men, when a young man, named Wade, unable to swim, lost his life. The woman waa saved. The Clunes dispute is settled. A married woman, Sarah Salmon, com-, raitted suicide by hanging herself from, her bed-post, whilst in a state of unsound mind. . A prisoner n<?med John Edgar, after serving six years for rape, was discharged on the ground that it was a case of mistaken identity. The Pera proceeded down the Bay with a large party, including the Go vernor and Ministers, at the inauguration of

the Victorian mail service. She struck on a shoal off Brighton, and remained an hour before she got off. Pi?ot Nicholson, who was in charge, was cautioned to be more careful in future. Sydney, January 29. Great floods in the northern districts are causing immense destruction of crops and other property. Four houses were washed down at Maitland. The Sydney eighteen beat the English cricketers, with nine wickets to spare. The triennial Parliament Bill passed both Houses of Assembly, who voted a month's supply. Heatherone, the bushranger, attempted to commit suicide in Goulbourn gaol. He is supposed to be the murderer of Baxter, found dead near Bland. The Government presented a steam-launch to the Basilisk to facilitate the survey of New Guinea. The rush to Endeavor River continues.

Melbourne, January 31. Mr Vale, who has occupied the position of Minister of Customs twice, delivered a valedictory address to his constituents. He is about to proceed to Europe to study for the Bar. A branch of the National Fire and Marine Company of NewZealandhas been established here under the management of Mr Francis. Information has been received that'a black woman has been murdered on the Murray. The perpetrators reside in Victoria. Governor and Mrs Du Cane, with the Earl of Donoughmore, will visit Governor Fergusson at the end of February, and be absent from Tasmania two months. A most disastrous hurricane occurred at St. Lawrence, Northern Queensland. The whole place was made a complete wreck ; fortunately no livea were lost. The English cricketers play at Bathursfc to-day, and next week play in Sydney against, a. combined team of Melbourne and Sydney;"

The Palmer River Diggings,, From various sources we gather the following information in regard to the above diggings :--^ The Rockhampton Argns says:—"This newly discovered El Dorado is now the all' absorbing topic of conversation, and wherever one goes nothing but the Endeavour River and the Palmer, with their prospects, are spoken abouj;. Our loose population are evidently bent upon trying their lnck»in the far north, for Mr Henriques has had no difficulty whatever in filling the Morning Light with, passengers and cargo, and enough remain to warrant him in laying on the clipper schooner 10, which will sail on Saturday next, and we learn that a number of men have engaged passages in her." Another journal.(the Bqvensivood Miner) 3?ayE :—" We have little doubt that the Palmer rush .will be the largest that has ever taken place in Queensland. Yesterday a gentleman called on us who had arrived from the North in the Tinonee, and he informs us that the day he left Townsville, a ketch arrived from the Endeavour bringing several passengers, one of them—a friend of our informant's—giving the most glowing accounts of the richness and great extent of the Palmer diggings. He describes it as the best artd largest alluvial field ever discovered in Australia, and only left it in order to make arrangements for permanently settling down, by removing his family from Ravehswood to Palmer. Gold has been obtained in payable quantities twenty miles below the first discovery and sixty miles above it, and it has been traced all along for those distances. ■Several, quartz specimens have been found on the ridges thickly; studded with- gold, and it was certain there were ..any amount of rich reefs. At Townsville, many of the local merchants were dispatching goods to the Endeavour, and three schooners were .laid on, which would, it was expected, take full cargoes." ; Late accounts from the Palmer River diggings are not very favourable. A telegram in the Sydney Mommy Herald states that a letter appeared in the Brisbane Courier of Wednesday last, signed by ten returned miners from the Palmer River. They assert that not an ounce of provisions is'purchasable on the field. The estimated amount of gold to arrive bv escort is said to be absurd, and it is alleged that so-far from the Palmer being the best gold-field ever found in Australia, it is very little above the average of the northern gold-fields. The country is very shallow and easily worked out. Most of the returned diggers did fairlv at the Palmer, and intend to return after the wet season ; but they warn people not to go without money, horses; and firearms.