LATEST INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 413, 5 September 1868, Page 3

LATEST INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

(From the Argus,) The_ obituary notices of yesterday morning (20th ult t ) record the death of Mr Ja,s. Hayward, of the Surrey Hotel, Johnston-street, Collingwood, whose name will be remembered by many old colonists in connexion, with the extinction of a fire on board the ship John Melhuish, on the passage, from London to Sydney, in December, 3853, under very remarkable circumstances. The vessel carried up^ wards of 200 passengers, several of whom are now well-known residents of Melbourne. The fire broke out in the hold, where one of the sailors had been tampering with a brandy cask, and a large stream of spirit from this cask had ignited. The utmost consternation prevailed on board, when Mr Hayward went below, and with great presence of mind, thrust his thumb into, the hole in the cask whence the spirit which, was feeding the fire flowed. The edges of the. aperture being rough, he was unable to completely stop the stream, and the brandy continuing to flow a blue flame ran up his arm and set fire to his shirt, hair, and clothes. Mr Hayward, however, knowing that the safety of the ship depended on his devo^ tion, heroically maintained his position for five minutes, when Captain Jenkins came to his aid with water from the, hose and wet blankets, and he was saved from death, But for the determination evinced by Mr Hayward, the brandy cask must soon have burst, and as there were 270 similar casks near it } nothing could then have saved the ship. The passengers presented Mr Hayward with a, gold watch and chain in acknowledgement of the signal service he had performed ; and the accounts of this remarkable escape from fire at sea, which were published in the Argns and the Times soon afterwards, attracted a good deal of attention at tho time. The following letter was received in Geelong yesterday from the Gympie Creek diggings, under da,te 3rd August : — "We have at last arrived at the diggings, after five days' hard travelling, having to sleep at night in our tent. We had to stop three times to get over tho creek, which we had to cross no less than thirty times on our road up. Now to tell you what sort of a place Gympie is, We

find that the people are literally doing nothing. The place is twelve months old, and was worked out three months ago. There are 10,000 or 12,000 people here who are merely waiting to see if something tiirns up. Hundreds ai-o returning, and others intend doing so. The place is chiefly constituted of shops, public-houses, and billiard-rooms. I counted no less than seven of the latter this morning. Everything is much cheaper here than in town. You can live well for 10s. a week ; meals and beds at Is. each ; and there is not a glass window in the place. The main street is only twenty feet broad. There are some good reefs, but the best is only 3ft. 4in. thick. This place is a complete swindle, juid will be the ruin of a good many. The only source of profit has been people going in and out, and not the yield of gold. There were four men stuck-up a few hours before we arrived, so you may well imagine we travelled under difficulties. Wo intend returning to Sydney, and are, indeed, sorry we ever came. Wages are 30s per week, and no men to be had, as they will not work for that. One sees no drunken men about — not even on a Saturday night ; and that is a tolerably certain proof that there is not much money knocking about." This letter was sent to Mr M. S. Levy, by his brother-in-law, Mr Ackman, who, with Mr Salmond, had a large capital at their command to carry on business with, had they seen any lucrative opening. The expenses connected with the reception of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in the up-country districts are likely to form the subject of some rather keen discussion. On the 14th ult., a deputation representing the municipal bodies of Ballarat, Sandhurst, Castlemaine, and Geelong, had an interview with the Chief Secretary for the purpose of asking an increase in the subsidy allocated by the Reception Commission to these towns. It appears that the sum voted by the commission to these localities was somewhere about ,£5,000, and that the amount actually spent was about ,£22,000. The deputation declared that it would be too great a tax on their resources to make up the difference. Mr M'Culloch promised to bring the matter before the Reception Commission, but held out no hopes of more money being voted. The different bodies knew the sums that had been allocated to them by the commission, and ought to have beeu careful to keep their expenditure within their resources. It is to be hoped that Parliament will support Mr M'Cullqqli in his decision. The expenditure, in most of the towns was unaccountably large. In Ballarat it amounted to £10,000, and it would be well to know if this includes the Royal Alfred Hall, which is now being turned to profitable account. In Castlonaine and Geelong, where the Prince only stayed about twenty-four hours, the expenditure was £5,000 at each place. It is manifest that the Duke of Edinburgh and his suite did not require an expenditure of .£5,000 in one day, and as a great part of the sum must have been expended in the gratification of local vanity — in the exaltation of mayors, councillors, and other dignitaries, it is but right that the localities should bear the expense as they enjoyed the pleasures and honours arising from it.