INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 539, 1 July 1869, Page 4

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

The alteration in the Geelong Gaol, with the viow of transforming it into an industrial school, are in active progress, These alterations, however, will not be effectual in making the building suitable for the -purpose intended. The conviction, heretofore vague, has i.o iv become a settled one, even among tiie Ministerial rank and tile, that Mr Sullivan is not to be trusted with the management and expenditure of the large sum of money proposed to be disbursed over the North-eastern line of railway. A very unusual accident, even to those connected with the medical profession, occurred a few days ago to a doctor residing at Pleasant Creek, when in the performance of his duties as a medical officer. There seems a vein of sly humor in the account of the affair given by the News — "The doctor was busily engaged vaccinating a number of children, and, during the process the knife which he used for the purpose was repeatedly placed between his teetn to give liberty to his hands during the operations. On one occasion he drew the knife away hastily, and the blade bearing the vaccine scratched his nose slightly. "The result of this circumstance was that in the course of a day or two the doctor found his head beginning to grow, until it ultimately assumed very alarming proportions, and the nose rapidly became quite a salient feature. The doctor was for a time much troubled', but remembering the circumstance, he regained equanimity. A good deal of uneasiness has been excited at Berlin by the unaccountable disappearance of a miner from thence. According to the Inylewood Advertiser, " two mates, one a known as Chris, but whose real name is Schullewberg, the other a Yankee, known as Steve, whose real name is not kaewn, seemed ail of a sudden to have had a good stroke of luck, They sold a considerable quantity of gold, and as the manner of many diggers still is, they went upon the spree. While eelliug one lot of gold, a violent dispute arose between them, each accusing the other of keeping back part of the gold. On the 28th May, soon after this quarrel, Steve suddenly disappeared, and nothing has been seen or heard of him since, and Chris ever since has kept more persistently on the spree than ever. The very natural suspicion to which this mysterious disappearance has given rise is, that Steve has been made away with .by his mate, but 1 nothing has 3 efc transpired in su, port of it. Tho result of the police inquiries has not yet led to any discovery of the fate of Steve, but points in some degj e j to the conclusion that the missing man may turn out to be the perpetrator of a robbery, instead of the viciim of a murderer ; as just before he and his mate began to sell their gold, a lucky digger was found helplessly drunk on the road, Aviih his pockets completely emptied, and when he came to himself he staled that he had been robbed of and a nugget. The police think it probable that Steve might have been one of the robbers, and is keeping out of the way, but we may expect that their exertions will soon clear up the mystery." Shortly after noon on the 7th inst., the roof the dining-room at the Criterion Hotel, Collins street, Melbourne, was observed to be on lire. The alarm was immediately given, and the Melbourne Fire Brigade were at once on the spot. On the arrival of the brigade the tire had got a strong hold on the roof, which could not be got at from the outside, as the original shingle roof was covered with corrugated iron. Considerable delay was caused by the bursting of the hose, which occurred no less than five times. This was partially attributable to the age of the hose ; it having been in use now for seven years, and to the unusual force of the water, the guage at the tire-station indicating a pressure of 901 b. to the inch. Two firemen, named Downie and Townsend, were in the dining-room at the time the roof fell in and had a very narrow escape. Downie being slightly injured. After the fire had been rag"og for about an hour, part of ibe wall on the side of the court-yard fell outwards. A fircinau named Cain was at the time playing the water through one of the windows ; fortunately, he had the presence of mind to observe which way the wall was falling and jumped through the window on to the floor} and thus saved his life. By the exertions of the firemen the tire was confined to the wing of the building where it first broke out, and in an hour's time all danger of its spreading was over. At one time it was feared that the fire would spread to the cellars, which are immediately under the dming-room, as at one part, near the kitchen, the tire burnt through the flooring and set light to s<.<me firewood stored undeoneath. This was no sooner discovered than a few well-directed jets of water put an end to all danger from that quarter. The fire is supposed to have been caused by the kitchen chitnneys being defective and setting fire to the wooden roof, which was probably on fire for some time be"ore it was observed, owing to the iron roof hiding it from view. The damage done is estimated at over .£IOOO. The whole •building ]b amply covered by insurance in the Queen. Victoria, Australasian, aud National Insurance Companies. Mr Morton is at present absent at the sheltersprings at Ballan. Considerable inconvenience will be experienced by the public from the loss of one of the most favored dining-rooms in the city.