INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 817, 10 March 1871, Page 2

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

By the brig Magnet, we have dates from Melbourne to the 25th tilt., from which we make the following extracts : — Little Dick and The Duke are equal favorites for the Sydney Cup at 6 to 1. Tim Whiffler is backed at Bto 1. .- Two diggers have brought a large quantity of gold into Wellington, N.S.W., from a new diggings, and they decline giving any information as to the locality. Information has been received from the Gulf of Carpentaria that the coxswain of a boat, when out on the Roper River, was ca'ight and swallowed by an alligator. Mr Tideman, the auctioneer in Adelaide, has not been seen since he left his usual place of business. The bank is said to hold a good deal of his paper and bonded certificates of doubtful authenticity. His estate was compulsorily sequestrated. A telegram from Townsville states that the Ravenswood escort brought down 35000z. Mr James Griffiths, sodawater manufacturer, was accidentally drowned in Eaglepoint Bay. James Brew, in the employment of Mr Taylor, butcher, Bairnsdale, dropped down dead. Some infamous wretches at Ballaarat, one of whom is suspected to be a young woman, have recently been sending anonymous letters to respectable married women and their daughters! detailing immoral circumstances in connexion with the husbands of the former and the friends of the latter, which are as false as they are cruel ; and at the present time two innocent victims of these dastardly letters are lying in a very precarious state, while the husband of one and the friends of the other are nearly distracted by the malicious accusations and their consequences. Efforts are being made to trace the perpetrators of these outrages, but it is feared there will be much difficulty in sheeting the offence home. A miner of Moliasjul named John Tomlinson, was found hanging to a tree near Mitchell's farm, in the neighborhood of Llanelly, on Thursday. The jury found that deceased committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity. At an inquest held on the body of the man Richard Tarrant, who was found dead in the Bendigo Creek, at Sandhurst, under a deep bank, in finding that the

died from the effects of a fall, *T the jury expressed the opinion that "the attention of the borough council ought to ■40^e called to the dangerous state of ih* bauks of the creek bilow Havney's bridge, and that they ought to put up a temporary fence there." "It is difficult to enumerate the hauls of fish in the Hopkins from day to day, but," says the Warrnarribool Examiner, "as a proof that our visitors are not always disappointed, we may remark that, one day last week, from 10 in the morning till late in the evening, Mr A. W. Schuhkrafft, of Melbourne, succeeded in catching 1401 b weight <<f bream, occupying a boat by himself. He had used -whitebait, received by Mr Cave. The fish averaged 21b each, and were all obtained within a quarter-of-a mile of the bridge." Bishop Shiel, ii«. a pastoral letter, declares that no catholic can be admitted to the sacrament who in any way participates in the Government system of education, or sends his children to Government schools in South Australia. A fatal accident occurred at Lilydale to a young man named Thompson, who was accidentally drowned whilst bathing in the Yarra. The residents used every available means in their power to recover the body, without success. It was proposed by Mr Lithgow as a last resort to send to {he Black Station for the assistance of two of the blacks, which was readily granted. The spot was shown to them where the body disappeared, and . after examining the river for some time, they pointed out the place where the body was lying, and after diving several times succeeded in bringing it to the surface. "About a month has now elapsed," says the KUmore Free Press, " since the brutal murder of a woman, name unknown, near the Dry Creek, Kilmore, and no trace has yet been discovered as to the perpetrator of the horrible deed, or as to the identity of the unfortunate "victim. At the inquest held it was reported the murdered woman was a sister of Mrs Stewart'B, wife of the stationmaater at Middle Gully, but we learn after full inquiries made by the police that the statement had no foundation in fact. The likeness of Mrs Stewart's sister was placed in the hands of the police, and was found to bear no resemblance whatever to the murdered woman. So far the whole affair is enveloped in mystery, and it is only on the hope that ' murder will out' we rely for a solution of the dreadful tragedy." The prediction of the late Mr Angus M'Millan, that the Gipps Land plains would some day be one vast alluvial gold field, seems (says the Gipps Land Mercury) in a fair way of being verified. In our last issue, our Upper Maffra correspondent alluded to gold having been discovered at Nicholson Creek, in that neighborhood, and a miner who has been working on the creek now supplies us with the following additional particulars : — The scene of the discovery is on the Boisdale run, distant about 28 miles from Sale, and already there are about 60 miners on the ground. The sinking is from sft to 7ft, and the gold of a coarse, ahotty description. There is abundant of water for sluicing. From the prospectors having already disposed of two parcels of i gold, it is thought that they are doing I i very well, but as they are extremely reti- f ( cent as to what they are obtaining, nothing . is known for certain. Amongst the miners are some who have tried their luck at * Corner Inlet. ' As practical proof of the fact of the < diamond existing on Bendigo (writes the < Bendigo Advertiser), we have to record j that on Tuesday week, just after the £ heavy plump of rain that caused the flooding of the low grounds, a young lady, in picking up some heavy specks of gold on Quarry Hill, which the rain had rendered very conspicuous, saw a glittering atom which she also picked up, and which proves to be a diamond of the very purest '. ■water, although it is so very minute as to be of very little money value. This tiny pioneer upon the road of a greater future ( to Bendigo has, from its small size, escaped , being much waterworn, and so is very , bright upon all but upon side, where it j has got obscured ; but to our mind it strongly suggests a repetition of some remarks we made a short time ago as to the advisability of a more systematic search being made for diamonds, which, as we have stated, are plentiful enough here, if people will only pick them up. This specimen, we may state, is in the posession of Mr Shiress, of the Bank of New j South Wales. A report has just been received by the ' Land department from Mr W. F. Dawson, district surveyor at Sale, respecting the Stockyard Creek diggings, near Corner Inlet, which he had previously visited. He says : — " Since my former visit to Stockyard Creek diggings, stores have been opened, smithies built, butchers' and bakers' shops established, &c, which tend to give the place an appearance and character of permanency. Still, there are few claims being properly worked. The greater part of the miners who hold claims are merely hanging on — shepherding, in fact — until more definite returns are obtained from those claims being bottomed. Numbers are daily arriving and leaving again disappointed, for it is impossible to succeed without a little capital, as the sinking is deep, and, owing to the late extraordinary season, very wet. The open country around is being tolerably well prospected, and the gold ia found to be extensively distributed, but in the direction all appear agreed upon that the precious metal will be found in the greatest abundance— viz., northerly, tip the creek — no one has yet penetrated beyond a connle of miles from the prospecting claim, the scrub is so dense. As prospecting is seldom undertaken by capitalists, but generally by poor men, these diggings run the risk of remaining imperfectly tested for some time to come, unless the Government deem it advisable to expend a sum of money in cutting a track north. This would inspire the prospectors through the scrubby country with confidence, and give them a chance of exploring on either side, a task no poor man could undertake without some such assistance, as a mile is almost more than any person could push through in a day. Such a track would pass through country near ihe head of Merriman's Creek, where gold has already been found, and come out on the Melbourne road in a line with the Tangil diggings. This track would, I believe, be of the greatest service, and prove, so far as expense is concerned, reproductive. It would open up a country of which little or nothing is known, but which is very generally believed to be auriferous, with fine timber, and a portion of good land."