INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 735, 4 October 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

By the courtesy of Messrs Glenn Bros., agents of the Aborigne, we have three days' later papers from Melbourne— up to the 20th September — from which we make the following extracts : — The indebtedness of the City of Ballarat f is stated at L 72,747. L Coleman, the landlord of the Royal Hotel, Mudgee, has been committed for trial on a charge of robbing a drunken man. Thirteen sires have been entered for the next Prodnce Stakes. Fishhook and Fireworks are the only representatives of toriaFour men— named Forbes, Dullard, Price, and Banfield, are to be presented with testimonial medals at Benalla, for their bravery in rescuing a family of the name of Taylor during the recent floods. A miner named Louis Pabst was killed in the Victory Tribute mine, Sandhurst, on Friday, by falling down a shaft which he was decending. The fall was atributable to the ascending bucket hitching against the one in which deceased was going down. The man Dowsett, who recently preferred a trumped-up charge of highway robbery against a man and woman at Ararat, has himself been arrested for perjury in the eviaence he gave on that occasion, and has been committed for trial. ■ The force of the torren^ which raged along Birch's Creek during the flood on Thursday, Bth September, may be estimated by the fact that a large rock, upwards of six tons in weight, which was lying in the bed of the creek, near "Wheeler's bridge, has been swept away. A meeting of the creditors of Mr Robert Bentley, draper, Sandhurst, whose estate was assigned last week to Mr Sargood, was held last Monday, in Messrs Lyell and Gowan's rooms. The statement of accounts submitted showed the liabilities to amount to L 6063, of which L 4036 was owing to one creditor. The assets are estimated at L 3600, showing a deficiency of L 2400. It was agreed, after a good deal of discussion,. to confirm the action taken by Mr Sargood in the estate, and accept and act upon the assignment. An extensive and disastrous fire broke out at Hamilton, on the night of the 18th September, and continued burning till 2 o'clock next morning. It originated in Messrs Nickless and Well's general store, which it entirely destroyed. The lire speedily spread to the premises of Mr Scott, stationer ; Mr Destree, jtweller ; Mr Brown, saddler ; Mr Moss, tobacconist ; and Miss Ryan, dressmaker. The premises of Mr Brown, butcher, were pulled down by the fire brigade, and this materially assisted in stopping the flames from spreading to Owen's large warehouse lately occupied by Messrs Clough and Co. Thompson's iron store narrowly escaped. The estimated loss is about L 7,000, which is partly covered by insurance in the Victoriaand National Insurance Companies. A case of suicide, marked by extraordinary resolve and deliberation, occurred on the night of the 17th September, at the Falls Bridge, across the Yarra. At a quarter-past ten o'clock, as a cabman named Edmund Good was driving in the direction of Emerald Hill, he saw a woman standing outside the railing of the bridge at the projecting end of one of the cross beams overhanging the river. She called to him to attract his attention, and then shouted, " Tell Allen, the fishman, that his woman is gone. Good-bye !" The cabman jumped down, and tried to reach her, but as there were two railings —that fencing off the footpath and the outer railing of the bridge — between them, he was unable to go to where she was before she sprang from her position into the river, and disappeared in the darkness Next day's paper says:--The name of the woman who threw herself off the Falls Bridge into the Yarra on Sunday night, and was drowned, is said by Mr Allan, the fishmonger, to be Elizabeth Web&ter, and it is stated that she was the wife of a fish hawker named David Webster. The fact of her having mentioned Mr Allan, fishmonger, just as she was jumping off, caused a good deal of annoyance to that person. Mr Allan states that the woman left her husband some time ago in consequence of ill-usage, caused by mutual disagreements, and went to live with an engineer at Malmsbury, who not very long ago went to New Zealand. The Commissioner for Railways, accompanied by the traffic manager, Mr Fehon, went up as far as Echuca on Saturday on Saturday, 17th, fw the purpose of ascertaining how far the railway had been affected by the flood there. Fortunately, no present cause of apprehension existed. The river had not 'risen higher than

within 4ft of the vsuhvny by the waterside. A «nad. sheds is now being: erected alongside the railway wharf, which will be a great convenience to the steamers. Hitherto, they have only been able to discharge cargo when the trucks at the wharf were there to receive it from them. The shed is being put up as a storing place for goods, so that the steamers may land cargo without delay, and leave again irrespective altogether of the trucks. It is expected that the building will be finished in three weeks. Another improvement contemplated is the construction of a race or lane, to facilitate the loading of the sheep trucks. The inhabitants of Echnca have complained that the driving of sheep through their streets converts them into mud in wet weather, and raises a large amount of dust in dry weather. If the race be made, it will not be necessary to bring sheep across the Murray until the railway trucks are mady to carry them away, and the race will conduct the sheep direct from the landing place to the railway platform. The Kyneton Guardian gives some particulars relative to two of the fellows who where committed for trial for the Revival Salting Caae : — " Coleman was for many years a resident of Taradale, and during the construction of the railway he got himself into trouble. He was concerned ivith othe?'s in selling a mob of horses, some of which turned out to be the property of Messrs Cornish and Bruce. He was sentenced to five years 1 hard labour, but as he was a mere youth at the time, and appeared to have been the dupe of others, the greater portion of the sentence was remitted. Coleman afterwards went to Ballarat, where he was fortunate in several mining ventured, and became the landlord of the Garrick's Head Hotel. This, however, did not prosper with him, and it was relinquished. A few weeks before the ' discovery ' of the Revival reef, Coleman was in Taradale, and with him a companion. This companion was introduced to an old resident of Taradale, who immediately recognised him as a gentleman who, having salted the Morning Light reei at Spring Creek, sold out for LSOO, went to Queensland where he netted L 1,500, 500 by a similar transaction on the Gympie, and afterwards flitted to Tasmania, and only escaped punishment by a legal technicality for a fraud of the like character at Waterhouse. Coleman was enlightened as to the character of his associate, and professed great astonishment at the information ; but he immediately afterwards left Taradale with his friend, and the next that was heard of him was that he was arrested on the charge of which he has been committed. Whether either of his accomplices are identical with the individual who was with him at Taradale we are unable to say." The damaged portion of the line in the neighborhood of Rochester, and between that station and Echuca, weie found to be in a forward stato of repair. The two culverts weakened by the floods have been strengthened, and where the ballasb was washed away it is bein^ replace*?. It was necessary for the train to slacken speed while passing over the injured parts, but.in a few days' time that precaution will not be necessary. The Campaspe at this place, though still swollen with flood waters, had fallen greatly below a level that threatened danger, and no longer was the cause of any uneasiness. The residents of Rochester, as well as the few persons living along the line, who the week before last were compelled to abandon their homes have returned to their old quarters, which do not look much the worse for the flooding. A rather melancholy token of the effects of the overflow was apparent on the plains above 15 miles from Echuca, where, on the western side of the track, the dead bodies of some hundreds of sheep, belonging, it was said, to Messrs Chapman and Bell, were lying scattered about. These plains, the week before last, were completely inundated, not a piece of dry ground being visible for miles. The water was flowing over the third rail of the fence enclosing the line. The Commissioner for Railways returned to Melbourne by the late train. The apprehensions of a wholesale flooding out of the inhabitants of Echnca were fortunately allayed by Saturday morning, 17th inst. The water did not rise beyond the elevation mentioned as having been attained on Friday, and on Saturday fine weather set in. followed by a slow subsidence of the Murray. A large area of ground in the neighborhood of the township has been put under water, and about 200 yards of High street, having from six to seven buildings < n each side, has been covered by back water from the Campaspe. In the lowest part of the road the water was a little over three feet d(>ep — up to the window-sills of Redman's Hotel. At the railway wharf the water had come up to within four feet of the rails, and steamers were lying alongside, almost flush Avith the platform. The greater number of the business establishments and dwelling-houses were, however, high and dry. and still well removed from- danger, though it was estimated that if the Murray rose another four feet it would leave very little of the business part of the town unaffected. The flood is the highest known since Echuca was settled. Intelligence of a melancholy accident caused by the late floods in the valley of the Goulburn has reached Melbourne. It seems that the river rose so rapidly that some of the persons resident in its vicinity had not time to adopt measures of precaution before the flood was upon them. The bou3e of land-selector, named George Christie, was completely encircled by the Gonlburn on one side and by a large lagoon and some ranges on the ot'ier. On the night of the Bth instant, the dangerous position of the occupants was made apparent by the water entering the house, which it was considered necessary to vacate without delay. A first attempt at escape was made by the construction of a i raft of whatever household furniture could be made available. Upon this the family — consisting of Mr Christie, his wife, two children, and a servant boy — embarked, but it very soon broke up, and its occupants had to devise some other means of safety. An attempt was n-xt made to reach the high lands which were adjacent to the house, on horseback. Mrs Ohriatie was placed on one horse, while her husband, with the youngest child in his anna, mounted another. The servant boy, after devesting himself of all superfluous clothing, took charge of the other child, and struck out bravely for the higher ground, which he had nearly reached, when the child lost her hold of him, and was swept away, all attempts to rescue her proving of no.

j avail. This melancholy accident vasscum i succeeded by one even more dreadful. The horses having to swim soon became un manageable, and the one on which Mrs Christie was riding overbalancing itself, caused the unfortunate woman to slip off, aud before niil could be rendered her she ; wa3 drowned. Happily, the fathu- and his remaining child, together with the servant boy, escaped. The bodies were not recovered till three days after the fatal occurrence, and have since been interred in the Van Yean General Cemetery. Shortly after the family vacated their house the water began to recede, and no doubt all would have been well had they remained in the building, endeavoring to escape. The settling over the Hand wick Meeting took place on Monday night, at Mr Goyder's room. Although the ring have not come off very well, every member was present or represented, and all demands were met by the most prompt payment. With the exception of those who had to receive money, there was not a large attendance of the backers of horses. A fair amount of business was done on the V.R..C. Spring Meeting, with a good deal of double-event betting on the Derby and Cup. There was an evident inclination to lay against Florence and anything. The running of this mare in Sydney has evi--1 dantly not raised her iv the opinion of those who saw the races. Oroydon was in great demand, and has now taken the lead as first favorite for the Cup, his price being 100 to 10. Tim Whiffler was backed at 100 to 12, leaving off at that price offered. Glencoe's price is 100 to 10, but there is very little inclination to lay against him. Milesian was taken for 100 to 6, and 100 to 5 was offered against Praetor, without finding any takers. 1000 to 30 was wanted about Lapdog, but no one was willing to give the price. For the double event of Derby and Cup, 100 to 8 was laid against Florence and Croydon ; 100 to 6 Florence and Tim Whiffler ; 100 to 5 Elorence and Warrior ; same price against Florence and Glencoe ; 100 to 4 Florence and Trump (Jivrd. ; 100 to 3 Florence and Milesian ; 100 to 2 Florence and Florence ;. and the same price against Pyrrhiis aud Florence. Not long since we (Argus) noticed a communication in these columns from Mr Antonio Buzolich, shipwright and joiner of this port, relative to his invention of a peculiar method of ascertaining the exact position of leaks in vessels without docking or stripping them to discover the whereabouts of the leak. Since then a signal instance of the efficacy of Mr Bnzolich's plan lias been afforded by the Norwegian ship Gauldfaxe, which arrived here recently from Maiden Island, and which sprang a leak od two occasions during the voyage. Captain Larsen had the ship hova down at Apia, and the places where the ship was making water were stopped ; but before reaching Melbourne there was again water in the hold, aud until she is lightened of her cargo the pumps will have to be kept in use more or less. On the arrival of the Guldfaxe iv port Mr Buzolich applied his test, and was not long in discovering that there was another leak near the sternpost ; and as soon as the ship is raised sufficiently high out of the water the necessary repairs will be proceeded with. Captain Larsen is highly pleased with the result of the application of this invention as regards his ship. We make the following extracts from a private letter in reference to the north country :— The Gulf is a failure ; sheep will hardly grow a fleece of wool, and cattle are nearly 2000 miles away from a market. The last great flood pnUi finish on squatting. At most of the stations on the lower Flinders sheep and cattle were lost, while twe or three of the stations were completely wrecked. Towns and Co., of Sydney, owned most of the stations there. There was only one store worth the name, and that has been shifted to the Gilbert diggings. I brought the last mob of cattle in with me and wish I had never gone there. Many people die before having been twelve months at the Gulf, and there are almost a greater number of graves outside Burketown than there are people in it. Just after Christmas the wet season sets in, and yellow fever with it, and those who escape the fever have to take their chance with the natives. who hang about the outskirts of the town in thousands, and woe betide the man that travels without two good horses and a rifle or revolver. I got a close of the fever that nearly killed me. 1, however, recovered, and assisted, ten days afterwards, +o bury the doctor | who attended me. I had a look at the { Glencurrie Copper Min*\ There are only j about twenty miners at work there, j although the mine is said to be one of the j richest in the world. They can't get men i to work it ; it is too close to the Gulf. I went overland to Queansland, and think { that it was the worst road that I ever travelled.