AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 3588, 22 August 1874, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

t “ A. somewhat carious wager has been decided in f'amperdown,” the correspondent of the" ‘ Geelong Advertiser ’ writes. “ A little excitement was caused here on Thursday morning, the occasion being a wager for L 5, laid by one of our local blacksmiths, that Mr J. Kirk, blacksmith and horsesboer of this place, could not make twenty-four horseshoes within the boar, according to a sample shoe previously made by him. Mr Kirk took up the wager, and the iftaney being duly posted, a start was made in the presence of upwards of forty spectators, including most of the tradesmen in that line. Mr Kirk made the twenty-four shoes, and one being a little damaged, he made an an extra one, the whole time occupied being fifty minutes. Tbe shoes were, thoroughly examined by those appointed to decide if they were according to sample, who decided that they were, if anything, better finished than the sample. The stake was accordingly at once paid over to Kirk.” The following paragraph has been pretty generally published by the country papers : —“ A rumor, which so far can be traced only to the ‘News,’ an evening paper publisbed at Hong Kong, is abroad to the effect that Heller, the well-known necromancer and pianist, who has performed successfully m every city of Australia, has been murdered in Mexico. That journal states that certain superstitious families in Mexico, where he was peiforming, imagining that he was either a magician or in league with the devil, or something equally probable, killed him by means of a snakeskin filled with ssnd—a practice, it is said, peculiar to that It may be as well to point out that the Mr Robert Heller here referred tb has neVer beOn in Mexicb, and that he is now performing successfully in the English proyineds with Mifis HaicteO Bom Wd haVe

’oen told, however, that a tragic event •imilar to that related did occur many years ‘go in Mexico, and that the name of the victim was similar to that of the talented performer with whom we are acquainted. Che curieus p»rt of the business is that the same report got into circulation here about two years ago, but Mr Heller’s amusing letter from India, contradicting the rumor, appears to have escaped the recollection of lur country contemporaries.—‘Australasian.

The ‘ Sydney Morning Herald’ of Wednesday states Francis Gardiner, alias Christie, alias Clarke, was liberated from uarltngbnrst gaol on Monday; and on the evening of that day he proceeded to Newcastle by the steamer Oandeneng. It was intended trat he should leave Newcastle for Hong Kong by the Charlotte Andrews, but it w not improbable that he will go el*ewhere by another vessel. The ‘ Newcastle Pilot says that Gardiner arrived in Newcastle on Tuesday morning, accompanied by two detectives, in the steamer from Sydney. He was placed in the lockup, and will be detained there awaiting the departure from that port of a vessel in which he is to be conveyed to exile ”

Mr W* Learmonth returned from India by the mail steamer, and has brought with him *^ r A rabß, They are named Maharaj, Gift, Mistake, and Arab Child. The three firstnamed are greys, and the last is a handsome bay. Maharaj is considered the pick of the four, and writing of this herse, Ali Abdoolah, the well-known Arab dealer, remarks “1 look on Maharaj as the master of all the stallions that have been sent to Australia. His blood eannot be surpassed ; his performances prove him to be one of the best horses, for all weights and distances, we over had. He was sent from Arabia to onr great racing Persian Prince Aga Khan, to whom he was presented by one of the Arab chiefs of the Aneza tribe. His blood can be traced for 1,000 years ; he is from the same strain as the renowned Darley Arabian, whose blood made English horses what they are. J

The half yearly general meeting of the shareholders in the Model Lodging-house Company, King street, Melbourne, was held lately; atd the directors’ report congratulated the shareholders on the success that had so far attended the insti ation. From the 20th January to the 19th July, a period of twenty-six weeks, the Institution had accommodated3o,39s persons, being an average of 168 per night, against an average of 122 for the tint twenty weeks during which the house was opened, which clearly showed that the institution was gaining in popular favor. Gn some occasions lately there was not an unoccupied bed in the home. During the half-year, a room had been fitted up on the ground floor with beds, for which ft charge of 9d per night was made, and two rooms on the same floor bad bean arranged with beds, for ,which Is per night was Charged. The shilling rooms had been a great success, binee 12th March, beds had been occupied. The balance-sheet showed that the InoAePio ha JLyear amounted to LBO3 L3s 3d. The working expenses for the half-year amounted to L 638 12s 2d. The secretary read a statement, which shewed that, at the present receipts, the institution would pay at the rate of 8 per cent, on the outlay.

j. i l ack y *'find” (the 'Ballarat Courier* states) was made by a stone-breaker on Friday. He was “ cracking diamonds ”on the road near the Winter’s Freehold, when his hammer turned up a specimen of gold and quartz conjoined, for which subsequently Messrs Wittkowskl Brothers, of Bridge street, gave him L2O. The specimen, including tbe ouirtz, weighed go?; 6dwt. As is generally the cftie with these discoveries, tfce finder was in very straitened circumstances, having a large family dependent upon him for support.