AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 427, 24 June 1870, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

At Ballarat "on the 21st ult, a man of the name of Cook of the firm of Cook, Brothers, murdered a Mrs. Moss the wife of Mr. W. Moss, tinsmith by shooting her in the breast with a double barrelled gun, and, afterwards blew his own brains out.

An inqtlest on the body of Mr. Walshe, who was shot by Mr. Supple. on the 17th ult in Melbourne, has been held by the City Coroner, and a verdict of murder returned. The jury 'numbered fifteen and were unanimous.

A Man by th° name of Philip Letherby, who has been pronounced insane, has been admitted to the Arrarat Lunatic Asylum. He was by occupation a miner, and went to his work in a state of nudity, when remonstrated with, he said, it was useless for him to wear clothes as he always got them stolen.

Stripping a woman and throwing her into a waterhole, is the latest form of brutality reported from Ballarat. This atrocity was perpetrated by a ruffian, named James Collins 'upon a woman with whom he had been 'cohaiiiting. Fortunately the occurrence was witnessed, and the woman rescued when she appeared at the lock up to enter the charge, she had only her drawers and chemise on.

The English pedestrian Hewitt, and the Coloni d, Hams, have been again matched to run one hundred yards, for £IOO. A Mr. Taylor is reported by the Yass and other up-country newspapers to be very busy just now in imitating other people’s signatures Unfortunately Mr. Taylor uses blank cheq's for his experimental caligrap’hy, aud as he is clever at the business, good-nature’d people do nut hesitate to cash these orders to pay. An instance of how the gold goes appears (writes the “ Bendigo Advertiser ”) from the fact that a few weeks ago a miner took board and lodging at hotel between Sandhurst and Eaglehawk, hut as he had no money he had to get credit till he got work. He obtained employment in a mine at the rate of £2 6s. a week, and so well did this miner manage, that at the end of the month he was able to lodge some £2O in tie hands of his landlord, and to spend some £lO in Clothes, etc., besides. The latest sensation in the manipulation of the precious metal has been the discovery that the amalgam has been stolen from the ripples of a certain crushing machine between this and Eaglehawk by a man who had charge duiing 'certain hom%, but the affair hug been hushed up.

A reef at Donnelly’s creek has been traced by prospectors in a deep ravine, 1,100 feet below the ‘cap. The stone is regularly laminated by dark blue clay slate, and heavily charped with mundic and fine gold both in the layers and white seams. One hundred weight of Stone taken from the surface arrived in Melbourne last week, and on being crushed at Mr. Coops Chillian mill, A’Beckett street, yielded 1 bz 10 dwt, or something like 30 oz to the ton. Topley the English pedestrian, at SydA'ey attempted to carry out his self-imposed task, on the 3rd instant, of walking fourteen miles within two hours, but broke down at half the distance in three minutes fifteen seconds under the hour, having been attacked with spawn*