AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2298, 17 September 1870, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

The return hall to the Mayor of Melbourne took place on the 23Mi of August, and was given as a compliment to the Mayor, and in recognition of his splendid hospitality. About 2,200 persons were present, and after paying all expenses, the committee found themselves in the gratifying position of having a surplus of nearly LCOf), which was thus appropriated :—LWO each to the Melbourne Hospital and the Benevolent Asylum, and LSO each to the Alfred Hospital, the Ladies’ Visiting Society, the Deaf and Dumb Institution, the Blind Asylum, the Lying-in-Hospital, and the Immigrants’ Aid Society, ami the balance, about L7O, to the City poor-bos,. At the concert, on the following Saturday, about 4,000 persons were present, and the performance was in every respect a brilliant success. The cantata was repeated, and in the miscellaneous programme which constituted the second part of the entertainment, the whole of the Italian Opera Company, together with the choruses, took part. Advantage was taken of the occasion to present Mr Horsley with a handsome silver baton. The painful catalogue of crimes which we have been obliged to continue from month to month for some tunc past, and which seemed to be traceable to the prevalence of some moral epidemic, has been.extended, and, we trust, completed, by t}vj perpetration of another murder under these extraordinary circumstances :—A young man named Edward Marwood Elton, living at Samlridge, married in February last Felicia Sarah Darbyshire, who two years previously had given birth to an illegitimate son. Elton, who represents himself to he the nephew of an Eng lish baronet, and has received a good education, seems to have suffered from fits of hypochondrias s, under the influence of which he became taciturn and morose. On Monday last the dark cloud overshadowed his mind, and his wife advised him to take a walk. He sallied out, taking his -psos with him. An hour afterwards his wife saw him running past the house, with the aspect of a madman. She exclaimed, “ Where is my child '/ What have you done with Tommy?” He replied, “ I have murdered him,” at the same time flinging a razor, flecked with flood, upon the ground. He then started through the sa tly senjh fojr lowed by his wife, and the poor woman, almost distracted with grief and (error, found the lifeless body of her child, the head almost severed from the trunk. On being arrested, Elton at onpe apknowledgecj that he had been guilty of the murder, and a ver ; diet to that effect having been returned by the coroner’s jury, he has been committed for tiial.

Not for more than twenty years has such a wet and inclement season as the present been experienced. An enormous quantity of rain had fallen np to about a fortnight ago, when the weather cleared up. A few sunshiny days were then . experienced, and the young crops, which up to th.-h time had looked very sickly, began to exhilvt a very considerable improvement. At the commencement of the present week, hj wever, rain, heavy and continuous, again set in. Nearly three inches fell in two days, and as the creeks and rivers were already running bank high, the result has been most extensive and severe floods. Nearly all the lowlying lands in the Colony are underwater, an immense amount of damage has been done, and over a groat extent the crops have been entirely destroyed. The weather is still very unsettled, and if we have more heavy rain the consequencei will bo most disastrous. The reports which during the month have come to hand relative to the waterworks in the interior, show that they are in a much worse state than was even imagined. At the Malmesbury Reservoir the outlet works are every day getting into a more dangerous condition, in consequence of the heavy Hoods; the water pouring in torrents over both: bye-washes,' and great fears are entertained of the safety of the main embankment. Under these circum-

stances, the Government have resolved to send to India by the outgoing mail for a first-clas i hydraulic engineer. Mr Bushcll, a Sydney rifleman, according to private accounts received by the mad, made the top score at the York Rifle Meeting, and he has been invited to join the International -Eight who were to compete at the Wimbledon Meeting. In consequence of the war in Europe, the Melbourne underwriters have come to an understanding to impose a war-rate of 2,J per cent., in addition to the ordinary charges upon all extra-colonial risks, with a provision, however, that an arrangement may he made between the assurers and the assured, that a rate be hereafter charged up m such risks corresponding with the rate charged in London on similar linos when advised in London in course of post; belligerent bottonn to be wholly excluded. As England is still in a position of neutrality, the adoption of this course is regarded as premature. The hanks, it may be added, have increased the rate of exchange on London to per cent, premium. Major-General Chute will take his departure 'or England, vk% Sail Francisco, iu about six weeks from the present time, while Colonel Pitt, C.B, and Captain Richardson, A.D.C., leave by the Agamemnon, which is announced to sail for England on the Ist October. As an item bearing on the war question, it may be mentioned that the French war steamer Guichen arrived at Sydney on the sth September from New Caledonia, and after purchasing a cargo of coal in the harbour, returned, carrying some despatches received from France by the mail, which were believed in Sydney to contain the formal proclamation of war. In the Legislatif Assembly of New South Wales a discussion took place as to the Gnichen having been allowed to coal in a neutral port, and the proceeding was strongly condemned, it is stated that a large quantity of coal, over 10,000 tons, has been stored at Noumea, which will make the French steamers independent of the neutrality proclamations in these cob,-nii. s. The Sydney harbour was exafuined by Govo> nment officials, to arrange for harbour defences. Torpedoes and chain obstructions are likely to be adopted. The law officers are preparing a Military Defences Bill. In the Legislative Assembly the Gnichen obtaining coals here was strongly condemned, and an adjournment of the House was moved iu order to urge the immediate war preparations. It has been recommended by tho local military authorities that the Volunteers shou'd be invited to familiarise themselves more with garrison duty and infantry and gun drill* &c. The idea is, that the metropolitan Volunteers shall in turn— 330 men at a time—spend a week in the now empty barracks on the St. Kilda road. As a matter of course, the men will be enabled to attend to their daily avocation*, hut they will have, to come into barracks about 5 p.m., then be exercised till dark, when their evening meals will be provided, and all those not on guard duty are supposed to re’ire to rest, to turn out at daybreak for more thill; then breakfast, and dismissal to their daily business. Daring their week the men will have a strictly disciplined time of it. The exercises will consist of infantry and gun drill (especially with the new heavy guns), and night <niard, picquet, and outpost work. The sacred duty of learning to defend one’s eountiy will not be regarded as wrongly fu 1 - filled on Sunday, full time being allowed for Divine Service and befitting devotional exercises. Probably the pattern set at the camps of instruction will be followed in the barracks. This will permit of the men being instructed in a class of field duty hitherto b<> yond their range ; for it is proposed to tal o them out to bivouac on such occasions as a “ flying column,” for 33 hours at a tira-, The Government of this Colony has merely given a practical direction to popular sen imentwhen it undertook to convert a portion of the Volunteer foicc into a permanent militia, to be familiarised with garrison duty and barrack life, and subjected to military discipline; when it caused the Naval Brgado to uudcrgq the nqccasavy drill op board the Nelson, tq test it efficiency afloat; aril when it took stops to perfect our harbor dofences. These consist of eight batteries, an I the block-ship Nelson, which is tl.g mod heavily armed wooden vossd now afloat, and when protected by chain cables, like tl g Kearsage, will be formidable alike for pm - poses of offence and defence. She carries 43 guns, besides half-a-dozen howitzers fi V boat and field practise. We have besides, the steam war sloop Victoria, armed wilh eight 32-pounders, and one 80-ponnder pivot, gun. Tho Cerberus has not yet arrived, 1 For the shore batteries and land defence?, we pos ess the following armament: —Latest pattern of Imperial ordnance authorities 6 300-pounders, 24. 12 ; pounders ; and (j 6-pq.inders ; Whitworth pattern, C 3-poun-ders ; Palliser’s ’ pattern, 20 G4-poundcr% and 27-pounders; smooth-bore patterns, 30 68-pounder. 58 .‘lffipquuders, and 2 0.-pqun-: ders; howitzers, 1 24-pounder,- and 15 12-pounders. Small arms (rifles), 1.835 Em fields, 893 Hays, 3.831 Lancasters, 529 sea? service, and 573 breed]-IqadeKi,