AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2715, 21 December 1882, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

[By Telegraph.]

[Per s.s. Wakatipu, at Wellington.] SYDNEY, December 14.

The elections, which are nearly all concluded, show a large majority against the Government Land Bill; 57 out of the 97 already elected are new men, and 15 were returned unopposed. Three Ministers are left without seats, Mr Watson, the Treasurer, and Dr. Benwick, Minister for Mines, having been twice defeated. Parliament has been summoned for Wednesday, Jan. 3rd, when Sir H. Parkes' Ministry, after obtaining their Supply Bill, will announce their resignation. Mr Stuart will, no doubt, then bo entrusted with the formation of a Ministry, and already a number of names are mentioned, including Messrs Beid. Barton, Farmer, Dalley, and Sir Patrick Jennings ; but all the lists are premature. Government attribute their defeat to a combination of the publicans with the opponents of the Education Act. There will shortly be another election for East Sydney, as Mr M'Elhone, having been also elected for Upper Hunter, will resign East Sydney. A fire has been caused at the Telephone Exchange by a telephone line coming into contact with a lightning wire, and the currentwas conducted into the Exchange. Some injury was occasioned, but it was not very serious.

A little boy has died from injuries caused by his being induced to fight another boy at Nortii Shore, and he was afterwards thrown into the water, causing peritonitis. The steamer Plutus, wrecked at Shoal Haven Heads, was quite a new vessel, and selected at home on account of her fitness for the coal carrying trade. It is believed she was insured in England. A clerk named Jones, engaged in the Education Department, charged with embezzling .£IOO, has disappeared. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. MELBOURNE, December 14.

In the debate re Mr Munro's want of confidence motion,the conduct of the Opposition leader in endeavoring to regain place and pay through the medium of the mangled bodies of the persons who had suffered from the railway collision \ras strongly condemned. The debate was : conducted with great warmth. Mr Dallaston made an onslaught on the Roman Catholic party, and spoke of the Catholics as a slanderous Church. The Want-of-Confid-ence motion was shelved, by the previous question being put. John Ford, Manager of the branch of the English and Scottish Chartered Bank at Hawthorne, disappeared in a most mysterious manner on the morning of 13th December. He left home without giving his wife a satisfactory reply. A search was made all day, which resulted in Ford's body being found in the Yarra. It is said that his affairs are all correct, but it is believed|his private mattersjhave deranged his mind.

A public subscription is suggested to obtain a portrait of Sir Charles Sladen, to be placed in the Public Library as a mark of recognition of his public services on the occasion of his "retirement from political life. A shock of earthquake -was felt at Wallara, Gippsland, on December 13th. In an application for an order attaching a certain sum, said to belong to Patrick Ryan, arrested for fraudulent bankruptcy in New Zealand, it -was alleged that money to the amount ef .£I4OO -was deposited in the Savings Bank by Ryan's wife and children.

At the inquest in connection with the Hawthorn railway collision, evidence was given by some officers of the railway department, s howing that orders which were given by one officer were countermanded by another, and that much irregularity mi existing in regard to the carrying out of the works.

The disaster at the new Australasian mine, Creswick, has occasioned great sensation. All Wednesday the fate of the unfortunate miners remained unrealised, and there was no relaxation of work in renewing the air pipes. The water was well got under, but the chief danger arose from the foul air and the danger of suffocation. The relief party entered No. 1 rise early on Thursday morning, but found it untenanted. At Nos. 10 and 11 no one was found. In the evening the mine was fofar free from foul air that the men could work below. At 6 p.m. a pitman named Clark was hoisted to the surface, and shouted as he neared the mouth : " They are all right." A wild, joyous, exultant cheer followed. Men jumped frantically about, hugging and kissing each other for joy. The intense excitement spread like .wildfire to Creswick, where the people cheered lustily. In a little more than half-an-hour the first of the survivors was brought up amidst loud shouts of thanksgiving. Theman was deadly pale and apparently unconscious. It was found that he suffered chiefly from want of nourishment. The tank was again lowered, and another man was brought up apparently more weak. Five men they brought up more dead than alive ; then came a long pause, and when the manager of the mine and two others came up it was learnt that the remaining twenty-two were all dead. Sudden wails of anguish, shrill and piercing, struck the ear. The men had, one after the other, taken cramp, and perished. The bereaved widows and relations of the unfortunates then became almost mad with grief. One of the survivors gives a graphic account of the sufferings of the men. They were without lights. He heard his companions drop off and fall into the water. They spoke of their wives and little ones. They said some prayers, and sang some hymns. The air was terrible, but improved as the men died. It was very hot, and they could not drink the water. They heard the men at work, but could not answer back. The men were of good cheer, and the narrator says he was sure they would be rescued.