AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 3122, 20 February 1873, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

VICTORIA. new educational system of Victoria is producing precisely the indirect benefit that we contend must follow a purely secular system. It is rendering necessary a true instead of a sham method of religious instruction, which must ultimately prove the greatest benefit to the community. “Angles,” in the Australasian, says:—“'ihat terrible Education Act, which scared some of the parsons as thoroughly as a harmless scarecrow a flock of rooks in a wheat-field, doesn’t seem nearly so dreadful to some of them now that they get closer to it. It is passive, they find, and not aggressive. To the credit of a few of the clergy bo it known that they are fairly grappling with the question of religious teaching out of school hours. At. the bijou church at Quoenscliff last Sunday the celebrant of the service announced the hours (out of school hours) at which he would attend to impart instruction. I believe that the Presbyterian minister is co-operating, and that they have arranged to divide the work. Here is an excellent example, and one that will be generally followed. So far the evidence is all in favor of the success of the new act, its interpretation, and its administration by Mr Wilberforce Stephen.” It is not often that an auctioneer is shut up, but it does happen sometimes. As an instance, the Australasian relates that, — “ Within the last few days a volatile and cheerful auctioneer was seduced from Collins street to conduct the sale of a piece of building land at a fashionable marine township. A very short time after the arrival of the steamer which conveyed him to the scene of action, he was expatiating on the splendour of the situation to an admiring but somewhat silent crowd. During one of his most poetic flights as to the altitude of the position, he was interrupted by a sheepish-look-ing lad, who said, ‘ Sure it’s under water in the winter ; wasn’t it there the circus was drowned out ?’’ It was no use going on. Yielding to inevitable fate, the auctioneer took down the lots he bad put up, adding with playful irony, ‘ Gentlemen, I thank yon very much for your attendance, but would suggest, upon any future occasion of the kind, the employment of the local auctioneer !’ ”

On the coal question, the Australasian of the loth remarks as follows The termination of the strike at Newcastle will he welcome news to every householder, manufacturer, and steamship-owner. What the community has lost by the enhanced price it has had to pay for its fuel, in consequence of the strike, and whit the miners themselves have lost by their voluntary inaction, are matters which we must leave to the calculations of the statisticians. Our business is with the moral of the strike, and this has a twofold character. In the first place it points to the imperative necessity of establi hing Councils of Conciliation, such as exist in France, to which all disputes between employers and employed, with respect to the wages of the latter, might be referred and adjudicated upon ; the tribunal being coin posed of representatives of both, with a power of appointing an ultimate umpire, by whose decisions both parties would abide, in the event of the council being unable to agree. Such tribunals have been found to work admirably on the continent of Europe, and there is no reason to apprehend that they would be a tended with other than beneficial results in Australia, Tbe second moral to be deduced from the recent strike is the danger and impolicy of our relying upon the coalfields of New (South Wales exclusively for our supply of mineral fuel We may, without arrogating too much for Melbourne, confidently assert that it has become, and is destined to continue to be, the chief manufacturing and commercial city of Australia, as also its leading seaport. In view, therefore, of its present position position and of its ultimate importance, we cannot, with any degree of safety, neglect the exploration and development of our own coal measures. The superficial indications denote that the greater part of (ho tract of country lying to the southward of the Hirer Latrobe, right away to the sea coast, is presumably carboniferous. Other indications of a subjacent coalfield have presented themselves in the Barraboal hills, in the Cape Otway Ranges, apd among the Grampians. The seams are thin near the surface, but their existence ought to encourage the outlay of capital in sinking shafts to determine the’depth and extent of the concealed deposits. With money going begging at four or five per cent., some of our leading capitalists, who arc deploring the plethoric condition of their coffers, and the difficulty of finding channels of investment, ought to possess sufficient speculative enterprise to club together a few thousands of pounds with the prospect of converting them into hundreds of thousands by the discovery of an extensive coalfield. If this country had been colonised by Americans instead of by our own countrymen, tbe requisite capital would have been forthcoming years ago, and we might now see railway trains laden with coal pouring their “black diamonds” into our depots, and rendering any strikes at Newcastle a matter of supreme unconcern to every consumer,

The banks have embraced, ?.nd made up their differences. Competition has ceased, and the rates of discount have been restored td those formerlyTuliiig. This condition of affairs is what every ope expected, as it was pretty clear that the strong bond of a common interest would soon draw together the establishments, after they had for a while indulged in the unwonted excitement of a rupture and of active rivalry. Everything has now been replaced on its former footing, and after for a short while revelling in the facilities afforded by the low rates of discount, the public must now make up its mind to face tlie minimum of 5 per cent. 'That state of things was too pleasant to last long, and it must now form a satisfactory subject for reflection to those who took full advantage of it while it lasted.

At flic Equity Court, Melbourne, Mr A’Bcckott applied, on behalf of Mv Pavey, solicitor, for probate of the will of the lats Walter Montgomery, th? aotpr. 'i'he personalty wasCwornynder L2,5(J!)i The will, it appeared, had been made prior to the deceased leaving the Colony, and was dated 20th January, 1868. It was a somewhat lengthy document, and after the usual formal introduction, the testator directed that decent provision should be made fur his funeral, which, however, should ho, he wished, conducted without ostentation. It then appointed Mr Pavey executor of all hia real and personal property in the Australian colonics and Kow Zealand, together with John Forsyth, Thornhill square, Islington, and the llov. Win. Drake, Sedgebrook Rectory, Grantham. The sapphire v'vj?, given the deceased by H, the Duke of Edinburgh, on board the Galatea, was beqneathud to Mv John Forsyth, To H.R.Tf. the Bulfc of Edinburgh, Montgomery bequeathed the watch chain manufactured by Mr Crisp, of Melbourne, and which he had previously offered to the Prince, who, however, said he would not deprive him of it. He also left a legacy to an actress named Mary Travers, otherwise Smith, and her child, rnaki,ng provision for the education and , maintenance of the bitter. A large number cf legacies were left to various persons, principally relatives in the old country. Ml' Justice Molesworth inquired if Montgomery had not been married prior to his death. Mr A’Beckett said that a ceremony of ruayiage had been gone through, hut Lim woman was at the turn married, and she was at present living with her husband. Probate of the will liiid bCcn obtained at homo, rind from no mention having been made of the circumstance the marriagp \yas doubtless regarded : as a nullity. J. B. Wadis, for endeavouring to induce a jockey at Croxton-park fo sell a race, has been disquaiUhpd by the Tasmanian and Kyneton Turf Clubs from ever appearing on the courses over which they exercise con* jwk

Large nuggets are seldom beard of now, but the discovery of a good one is reported by the Ballarat Courier :—“On Saturday a nugget, weighing 131b, was brought into the Commercial Bank here from S n'ythesdale, The welcome stranger was unearthed a few feet from the surface, and from what we have learned it coaid not have fallen into more needful hands. The man who has thus suddenly been raised to comparative affluence was just before in a semi-starving state, being hardly able to obtain sufficient for the sustenance of his wife and four children. The nugget is expected to yield 150oz of pure gold.” The opera is to have a home in Melbourne, and the old Prince of Wales Theatre is to be the new opera house. There is to be a small proprietary association, and Mr William Lyaler is to be manager, with a salary of Id,ooo a year, and the holder of a sixth of the shares, the price, in fact (L 5,000), paid him for wardrobe, scenery, music, and properties. Mr Hoyt has been paid L 25,000 for the theatre and contiguous buildings, and extensive alterations are to be commenced forthwith.

They know in Victoria where to draw the line, with a vengeance. In a country newspaper appears an announcement of a grand ball to be held in the Botanical Reserve, but the significant part of the notice is this memorandum “ Females from the Chinese Camp are strictly prohibited,” SOUTH AUSTRALIA. A telegram received from Port Darwin, reports that a German who had been engaged as a digger in Victoria, and who went there by the Claymore, had reached Palmerston with 220z. of gold, all alluvial; and a further telegram, of Monday’s date, says that the sample is in lumps varying from 15dwt. to 25dwt.

The Government has received a telegram, dated February 10, from Port Darwin, which states that Cleland and party had just returned from the Daly River, per boat. They ascended the river for over 100 miles, and describe it as being finer than the Adelaide. It was 200 yards wide at the point they reached, and was navigable for small vessels. Iho country they considered the finest yet seen in the North. Some of the tales told of Gulf St. Vincent sharks, says the South Australian Advertiser , sound so much like romance that really many persons are disposed to treat “ nabby ” with an incredulous smile, when he lands from the fishing-ground with a tale of “ seeing a shark 30ft. long.” At the head of the gulf at the present time the voracious monsters are in great numbers, but only an occasional straggler is seen in the loadstead. There was one turned up on Wednesday night in a most unpleasant manner, when it molested a midshipman of the Clio, lb appears the young officer had paddled in a canoe as far as the Semaphore Jetty, then made a round among the vessels in the anchorage, and finally was returning on board, On nearing the vessel, a shark attacked his tiny craft, and completely crunched a hole through the bottom. The shark, of course, capsize! the whole concern, and the wonder is bow the midshipman ever escaped, but it is supposed the shark, iu biting through plank and timbers, diversified by an occasional copper nail, had formed no agreeable relish for what was evidently intended for an evening repast. Instantly on the signalman observing the accident, the gig pulled to the spot, and rescued the younster with the mutilated canoe. Rather a lesson, this, for recalcitrant “Jacks,” who, to desert, would fain swim ashore from vessels at anchor outside.

An occurrence of a singular and unprecedented kind took place on board the evening train from Adelaide to Gawler, on Thnaday last. One of the passengers, says the A. Bani/ip, in a third-class carriage, it appears, was conveying some brandy in tins as passenger luggage, when, either owing to leakage, and probably the presence of a lucifcr match ou the door, the spirit caught lire, creating the greatest consternation among the passengers, as the train was moving at its usual full speed, and one of them became so alarmed that he actually jumped off the dying train. Fortunately the dames were extinguished by the time the train reached North Adelaide station, wfien porters were immediately despatched along the line in search of the individual who,'to escape erne evil, had encountered a much greater, Re was providentially met with alive, but so much bruised as to be unable to reach his destination till the follow* ing day. TASMANIA,

Tasmanian papers are to hand up to the 11th insb. The men who recently arrived from England to work op the railway, and who struck for higher wages, were summoned to the Police Court, Launceston. They, however, signified their intention.of adhering to their agreement, and the charges against them were dismissed. AMr George Kayuor, fishing in >he Clyde, caught seven brown trout weighing lb, the largest being and the next 4lb 3oz. At Pipera River, recently, a child, ten mouths old, was burnt to death while, the mother was absent from home. The death of an old Colonist, Mr John Weeding, of Frevtor'fi road, aged eighty-four, is recorded. j.lr Weeding arrived ip the ship Mariner in 1823, ami lockup his residence in the Oatlands district, During the whole of the fifty years Mr Wedding lived in Tasmania he was engaged in farming. The published statistics of the Colony give very satisfactory results. The value of the imports has increased from L 778,000 in 1871 to LBU7,ol)oin 1872, while the value of the creased from L 648,000 in I‘7o to Ltk)9 00 > in 1872. The specie ill tbfc banks in, lS7h L 178,000, has increased in 1872 to L 207.000, while the bank deposits have increased from LGSS,OOO to L739.00U There is no mistaking the signs of returning prosperity. The worst would seem to have been passed.

Anglers in 'Tasmania may be congratulated on the prospect which seems to lie before them. The Hohdtf Town Mercury contains the following :— ‘‘ Mr W. G. Weaver, the well-known chemist, of Wellington bridge, brought home with him from New Norfolk, throe magnificent trout, all shining, solid, and beautiful. There C, as usual, difference of opinion as to the character of the trout. One opinion is. that they were two males and a female, the latter measuring 24-iin. in length and in circumference, and turned the scale at 81b 6oz The male fish was somewhat less, hut the three covered a good sized tea tray, and weighed 181b. The third fish was landed by a friend of Mr Weaver, and it Is the opinion of some that the fish described as a female ia npt a female brown trout, but a sea-going fish. Mr Weaver, with the assistance of Mr Rob!in and Mr AUpovt, took a plaster of Paris of it, and this model will be left in the museum for inspection. The present ia acknowledged on all hands to be the grandest take yet made since the river was"thrown open to anglers ; and whpp, v,vu' readers are informed that Mr Weaver hooked two of these splendid Ush as far up the Derwent as Charlies llopc, they may well understand that the brown trout is thoroughly established in the tributariesof our noble estuary, even if by any chance the salmon proper and salmon trout should prove a failure.” A most extraordinary act-the attempted mu r der of a woman by her husband -took place lu Chalmers’s Church, or better known as Dr Nicholson’s, at Hobart Town, on Sunday the oth. Tin? man’s name is Napoleon Franks, and he. went to the church and iu(juired whether his wife was inside. On being informed that she was, he wished to know whether be could occupy a seat so that be you Id have a good view of her. Mrs Franks was sitting at tho end of one of the front seats in the gallery. Franks was shown into tho next seat hut one behind his wife, the pew between them being vacant. Ho was seen to be very attentive during the service, but as his wife was between him ciml the preacher, he must have been steadily watching her. Just as Dr Nicholson had pronounced the Fyanks rose up, took ope nr two utid then tinned

round as if to go out, having his back to his wife. Standing in this position, he pulled out a pistol, and, placing it behind him, fired. To have accomplished his purpose he ought to have bad the pistol* at right angles to himself ; but probably in the hurry be fortunately held the weapon parallel with the seats, to that the ball struck the side wall. Franks dropped the weapon, but be immediately picked it up, and made his escape before any person had the presence of mind to seize him. The excitement amongst the congregation was intense, and for a minute nobody appeared to have a very definite idea of what had occurred, so that Franks had ample time to get awaj l- . Franks is a blacking maker by trade, but has been in various occupations. Some three months ago the Franks family Avere living in Melbourne, and there is some reason to believe that the wife there left Franks in consequence of some offence he had committed. She then came to Hobart Town. Franks followed. Last Wednesday evening he went to Chalmers’s Church and inquired if his wife was there. Fr.m his movements then and last evening, his deliberate determination appeared to be to murder his wife. The Launceston Examiner contains a telegram from Hobart Town, stating that Franks was arrested at his lodgings. On searching his room a sixbarrelled revolver was found. Five of the chambers were loaded with balls, and capped, the other one discharged. He says i the pistol went off accidentally, through fallout of bis hand, and he had no intention of shooting at his wife. QUEENSLAND. Thursday, January 30, was an auspicious day in the progress of Queensland, as it was the occasion on which the first steps were taken towards the construction of two railway lines, one of which is to connect Brisbane, the capital of the Colony, with Ipswich and the Southern and Western line, and the other is to form an extension of the Great Northern Railway. In each case the “ turning the first sod” was celebrated with great ceremony. The Mayor of Rockhamp-. ton operated on the Northern line, the scene of the ceremony being at Westwood, and the whole district keeping high holiday. The southern celebration took place at a picturesque spot near the junction of the Brisbane and Brewer Rivers, and the first sod was turned by the Governor of the Colony, the Marquis of Normanby. In the course of the subsequent proceedings, which included the usual toasting and oratory, the speakers at the northern and southern festivities spoke in high terms of the state of prosperity which the , Colony enjoyed, of which their work that day was a proof. His Excellency the Governor observed, with respect to the pastoralsettlers, that though they had suffered great loss from the season, “ the increase in both the price of wool and stock will remunerate them,” and added “ But if this has been the case with the squatters, if we look to the farmers, if we look to the miners, if we look in any direction in the Colony, we cannot fail to see that prosperity is rampant in every part of it. We see advancement on all sides ; onr revenue has increased by nearly L 200,000 ; and wo have a clear surplus of about’ L 130,000. ” In the course of his speech, Lord Normanby pointed out “that we are not so far behind our neighbors in work of this kind as some may suppose. In New South Wales I find there are 304 miles of railway, which cose upwards of L 6,300,000 ; and in Victoria there are 271 miles, which cost L 10,164,000. In Queensland we have 218 miles, which cost about L 2,500,000. We have, therefore, nothing to be ashamed of. We have got in proportion to the population a greater extent of railways than either of the neighboring colonies, and we have got them at a very small cost in comparison to that which the other colonies have paid.”