AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 3837, 11 June 1875, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

Quite a novel swindle is now on foot in Melbourne, in the shape of sixpences which have all the appearance of half-sovereigns. A would-be perpetrator of this fraud was detected, and has revealed the following strange fact:—“ If a sixpence is put into the mouth while smoking a pipe, it will, in the course of an hour or acquire a golden tinge, which by gaslight xs.easily mistaken for the genuine article.” ■ , Henry Oden, a lad described as haying occupied the position of president of the larrikins’' club, said to have been established fbr the purpose of paying the fines ©f members who were locked up, was charged at the City Police Court, Melbourne, with assaulting his father. He beat the old man, and both the father and xnother gave him a bad character. The promising youth, who exhibited a very dog-eel demeanor in court,wasfiriedLlO, orthreemonths’ imprisonment. A Bi ?B^ ar accident occurred recently at Bothwelj, Tasmania. A settler nam d Blyth was taking a pair of shears from .off c shelf above a bed in which his little daughter, Harriet, wrs lying, and in doing so displaced , another pair, which fell upon the child’s neck, the point penetrating the jugular vein. A doctor was sent for, but before his arrival the child had bled to death. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of “ Accidental death,” with a rider that no bh me could he attached to the parent of the child; Railway extension is piogressing in New South Wales, but some difficulty is experienced in obtaining the necessary labor. Mr David Grayson, ex-alderman of Brisbane,, has been sent to gaol fortt r ee months, having failed to pay the fine of 1.75, imposed upon him for a breach.Of the municipal laws. The Governor of, Tasmania, in the course of a recent “outing,” paid ’a visit to the shottower near Hobart Town,' and bent ah aide-de-camp to impure whether.he would he allowed to go over arid inspect the works. The first reply was that no one could ho admitted to the tower, A further question as to whether there

was any portion of the manufactory the Governor could inspect elicited the brusnue answer. “Yes, the outside.” As no farther notice was vouchsafed, his Excellency had to retire, with the remark that it was the first discourtesy he had met with iu the island. On the 20th ultimo, the water police on duty in Hobson’s Bay observed a boat floating some distance away with only one occupant, a boy of eight or nine years of age. The youngster apI peared perfectly unconcerned, and made no effort to attract their attention. On being questioned, he said he and another little boy •were playing in the boat at the Sandridge pier, when his companion got out and set him adrift. Ho was quietly drifting down the bay at the .rate of two or three miles per hour,,and but "for the policn bright never again have been heard of. J3oy and boat were taken back to Sandridge. The.- companies and railway authorities'have expressed their willingness to convey exhibits, intended for the Melbourne Exhibition free'of charge. The correspondence relating to the Pacific mail service has been laid on the table of the South Wales Parliament, though it is scarcely yet published. It divulges the maximum amount of L 90,000 a year, which the united Governments are wiling to pay for the new contract. We are'still in a state of considerable darkness as to what is likely to be the upshot of 3 he'telegraphic negotiations. Air Vogel has been making bargains about the cable to Is ew Zealand at the other end of the world, while the Cabinet here has been opening fresh negotiations with Mr Audley Coote, and prides itself on being likely to secure better terms than the late Government had bargained for.

' A accident happened at Avoca through two boys playing with a gun. One of the boys named Martin, eight years old, took up the gnn not knowing it was loaded, and putting a cap on it pointed the gun at a boy named Robert Lang, aged ten years, and said “ I will shoot yon. Martin’s sister ran out to take the gun from him, and in doing so her finger touched the trigger, when the gun went off, lodging the contents iu Robert Lfpg’s left shoulder, and the side of his face, milking an ugly wound. Very Utile hopes are entertained of his recovery.