AUSTRALIAN NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 4045, 12 February 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN NOTES

Terry, the professional bowler engaged by the Melbourne Club in England, arrived by tho Somersetshire, and will play against Adelaide and Sydney. Mr Far:eon's new Christmas story, "An Island Pearl," was re-published by arrangement with the author, in the ' Sydney Mail,' illustrations and all. The Government of Victoria has arrived at the determination to appoint "truant officers " for the purpose of carrying out the compulsory clauses of the Education Act. The ' Sydney Morning Herald' says that a young woman, said to be a governess, and dressed like a lady, chastised a Sydney broker near the Stock Exchange on the 24th I December. She attacked him with a parasol, which she broke while administering her vigorous Christmas boxes. The broker has souvenirs of the affray. I The photographers of Victoria are desirous ! o? advancing their art, and also of improving thew commercial position. With this object in view they assembled themselves, says the 'Telegraph,' on the evening of the 25th ult., in Clement's Cafe, Melbourne, for the purpose of forming an association. A committee was elected to frame rules and regulations.

;'ln the Chilwell State School, No. 50 (Victoria), one of the teachers having on Tuesday, January 25, to call the attention of an insolent and unruly boy named Beales to his lesson, the boy in question, who has frequently threatened what he would do when remonstrated with about his conduct, brandished a slate about the teacher's head, and threatened to strike him in the mouth. For this the boy received two or three cuts with a cane over the shoulder. "By-and-by," states the 'Geelong Advertiser,' "the boy bolted out of the school, and returned in a short time with his mother, a woman of most masculine appearance, who rushed into the school in the midst of the afternoon lesson, and in the choicest Billingsgate, in mad pugilistic style, made an onslaught on the teacher, striking him several blows, and threatened to annihilate him. The same morning she had sent an impudent message to one of the other teachers, daring her to chastise or. in any way correct her children, 'fhe teacher intends to take the matter into the police court." An unfortunate child, eight years of age, met her death under terrible circumstances at Black Creek, Murrurundi, New South Wales, on January 15. The local paper states that Mrs Pine, the wife of a shepherd. and gatekeeper, residing on the Black Creek road, at the western boundary of the Warrah station, was attending one of her children in the front room, when her house was discovered to be in flames. Her husband being absent, Mrs Pine, with the assistance of Mrs Caldwell, who happened to be visiting her at the time, succeeded in escaping with the family, excepting qnc qf the daughters named Agnes, who had been in the room adjoining that just left by her mother. So fearfully powerful and rapid were the flames that all attempts to rescue the poor girl were unavailing, and in little more than a quarter of an-hour every vestige of the, house and its unfortunate occupant was, mingled in a heap of smoking embers. It is known that a tin containing a quantity of kerosene oil stood underneath a bookshelf in one of the rooms, and that on the shelf with the books were several boxes of matches. From the suddenness and the fury of the fire it is conjectured that in clambering to the book-shelf one of the children capsized the oil and throw the matches on the floor, and in stepping down trod upon a match, which instantaneously ignited the oil. An unwonted conjuncture of the Press and the public service has been witnessed in Melbourne recently, which is indicative of the srue positipn of the " fourth estate," a positfioß whjch is, nqt prqpgrjy understood by colonists generally, and perhaps least so by members of Parliament (according to a correspondent of the ' Queenslander'). The interest felt in the Budget debate upon the new fiscal policy of Sir James M'Culloch prompted the editor of the ' Argus' to propose to the Premier and the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly to give full and adequate reports of all speeches delivered up to midnight of each sitting ; and the proposition was accepted with alacrity. After a few days, however, hon. members who could not catch the Speaker's eye before 11 o'clock p.m. would not rise except to move the adjournment, fearing that the. exigencies of the demands upon the valuable space of the broadsheet might involve a serious curtailment of their eloquence; and the consequence was the protraction of tho debate for a month ! It is known that Victoria has a 'Hansard,' in which hon. members' speeches are recorded more fully than in the * Argus ;' yet the majority of the people's representatives are painfully anxious to be reported in the daily press rather than in their own financial organ. Every pretext is availed of to secure an appearance in the leading journal. Incidentally it may be mentioned that the sittings do not, as a rule, exceed three days a week, and six hours each sitting day.

FEARFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT. "An appalling railway accident occurred near the Parramatta Junction on January 21," the ' Sydney Morning Herald' reports, " by which two permanent-way men, named respectively Lyons and Marks, lost their lives. It appears the men were standing on the ' down' line, on the look-out for the t up 'train, which was then due. Whilst standing, the No. 9 down train came up, unobserved by them. The driver, on feeing the men, sounded the whistle, shut og" steam and applied the breaks, and $4, everything in his power to avert the accident, but the two men stood there evidently preoccupied in looking out for the up train. The down train ran into them, mutilating one in a frightful manner and killing him on the spot. The other was so terribly injured that he died before he could be taken to the hospital at Parramatta. When the train had been brought to a stand the driver and guard returned to the scene of the accident, which is between Duck River and Brown's Creek, and the deceased man and the dying man were conveyed without loss of time to the hospital, but, as just stated, the second man died before reaching the institution. An inquest took place on the bodies of the two men, which resulted in a verdict of ' Accidentally killed.' The jury added that no blame was attachable to any person connected with the passenger train. WONDERFUL ESCAPE. A rema*kable incident and surprising escape occurred at Ryde, New South Wales, during the heavy thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon, 16th January, at Mr Alderman Heard's house. The 'Sydney Morning Herald reports that "two girls, one the daughter of Mr Head, and the other of Mr Gascoigne, and each about twelve years of age, were in an upstairs room sitting by a closed window, when a very vivid flash of Jightning occurred, shaking the whole building. The parents in the room below jtearing the children fall, ran upstairs, and tyere jgreaj;ly shocked to find them lying on the floor app*ar'ently dead. They were at once carried down, still showing no signs of life. Dr Hudson, of Ryde, was immediately sent for. On arrival he found the girls in a state of collapse from the shock, but by the administration of stimulants and other restoratives, and free friction on the surface of the in producing some v degree of animation, to the great relief of Jh.e relatives. Jt was, noVever, a

long time before complete consciousness was recovered, and not until several hours after [ the occurrence could the patients speak or Bee distinctly. The escape of the children was providential, in view of the fact that the lightning actually struck them, of which there can be no doubt, as there are holes burnt in parts of their clothing corresponding with blistered marks on their bodies—in the case of Mr Heard's daughter, a large blistered scar, extending from the left shoulder downwards across the breast to the right hip, all the garments showing precisely corresponding marks. The girls are so far doing well, and Dr Hudson reports them as in a fair way to recovery, but likely to suffer for some time to come from the severe nervous shock.