INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1088, 23 January 1872, Page 2

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

(The, Geehhg Evening Times announces that ''the Mayor is determined to put down immorality in Geelong." Happy Geelong ! — when the work is accomplished. "A, laborer named John Shields, aged 32 years, and a resident of YackafrdSH 3 *^" 1 dah," reports the Ovens Spectatof,; '/met f with a fatal accident of a very uncommon nature. —While proceeding on .hon^acV^AT accompanied by two women, to the Hula- """ borough Races, he rode against tHe branch of a tree, which struck him in the upper psk of the thigh. At first he did^WJte realise the fact ;thatHhewa3 ,, injured, aud£ rode on, but feeling faint he put -hw hand . down and perceived that a splinter had " entered his thigh. On pulling it out the blood spouted from the wound, .and he died almost immediately." ; ' . ... ,; :';'.• ' I "News was conveyed to town, ( says * the Gedoiuj ' Advertiser, "that a msia i named William Bannister had committed suicide by shooting himself with a gun, at- - the'residence of his brother, at the <*»-,. t ...-., long Racecourse. It appear* o that the, ;; - unfortunate man had been formerly a.,.^ publican, but was not successful in business, and for some time past watf residing, , : with his brother, whohas ; a lease of th« «- racecourse. He was observed to be l in a ; ; • desponding frame of mind of late, and : this, no doubt, induced the rash act. .The < deceased, who slept in W.roora adjouutig , ; that of his brother, was heard to get iip '; ; during the night, go outside, and return ;; to bed. In the morning the brother was " awakened by the'report of a gun, and -on. „ entering the room occupied .by i the . de-, 1 :iil ceasedj'found him lying on hb-back-se 1 " 1--?--th6 gun by his side;.. ■■, The; gun was a double-barrelled one, and was loaded with No. 4 shot, and deceased mHBt have placed the muzzle just abouWhe rigUt-,ear when he fired it, as he lay"inva.,polfof blood, with a portion of the ; righ£side of the head completely shattered.. t He was still alive when Dr Crook was sent, for^ but' j / deceased expired before the doctor's »;". rival. There was a wound in the three inches long and an inch and a half wide and deep. Portions of the skull; - 1 and brain were carried away* "'and death ■<<■■'■ must have been almost instantaneous;, ; i An inquest on the body was held,'? when „,; , the jury brought in a verdict of Siucide , , while in a state of temporary: insanity." ;;:r; One of the inmates of the Ararat Asylum has been admitted to thai instituii tionunderoircumstances which/ 916. very . • unusual. The Pleasant ?omk- 2fm5 : ;.... writes :— A most respectable .w.pman,. and . ,_.; one who for a long period had , been. „ a , devoted wife and mother, has been wrestling for some time past against, a..; morbid desire which has gradually but -,;.. ,-, surely grown upon her to murder her ■. husband and children. Th,is feeling was .:• resolutely fought against for a long ; ' . but 'latterly it gained such ' afti r v. ' ascendancy over the unfortunate creature^ - ! that she acquainted her husband "wi^ i;I the peculiar nature of her mania, assuring , . him that if he did npt find her admission into the asylum she would' be competed by a feeling, which must ultimately overcome her, to cut his throat and those of - her children. This was sufficient to ob- ;., tain the woman's admission. She is now perfectly quiet, and on most , points, , M rational. S,he speak^ to , her husband & ' ■' ; a friendly way when he visits her, but states that she lacks the remotest feeling :•=■ of affection either for him or the phildren. There is not the slightest clue to the cause of this painful mental phase, *,<,■.< j state whloh the patient herself continually t sorrows over." t .■•■.'■.■>r>t .^Victorian pussies are, : developing a new ; claim on the protection of mankind by the deadly antipathy they are| displaying towards snakes. The^latest^instance is given by the Sendujo Independent, which;, ., , says that a long and terrible fight took | place on Saturday afternoon between a large-sized domestic cat, the. property of Mr Orelin, brickmaker,Back Creek, and black snake. §ft long. ' TJip gftw^ft l attached to the house of Mr Cretin is; • fenced off by a thick growth of English b,riar, and affords a good shelter .; for i^Br Jiles. The cat, which; was patroling the garden, observing the s,nake wriggle from out of the tush, seised it by the back, an 4 :-j then a fight, long, severe, and fatal .t0,.. !r , both, ; commenced. . His .snakeship fioiiajL , himself round poor pussey, and in this pre-' dicament she rolled about, each biting the other. . When Mr Crelin went to the rescue of the puss, he found that the snake^ ' '■ was gnawed through.,. Shortly after his appearance on the scene the cat fell dead at his feet, the snake, still round, its body. When Mr Crelin reieWecT die poor thing the reptile was : found to be dead also." | ; ' P Three .Chinamen came to grief ''at' the Prahran Police Court on the ; 4th instant. .; • Ah Boy alias Ah Foo alias Ah Moy, a , very well known, offender, who had been -observed loafing about various houses, and had violently assaulted ! Seriiot' Constable si Parkinson who arrested him, was s.B,nt.to. . t gaol for iwo years as a rogue and'- yaga- ' bond. Two others named Sam Talc and) Ah Wan were brought up on a similar charge. AMr Branch was. awakened about five o'clock one morning by two Chinamen, one of whom was at a window, ; while the other was in the yard, and he got up and went to catch the Mongolians, who, however, made a run, and, escaped/ learing their baskets behind, bill; I " taking their carrying-poles with •*- Some time before he had lost : a Watch, which was taken from inside the same window.. , The gaskets were f bur^d tQ contain ■ zinc piping^ r whiob! had been taken; ; from the stable, and Detective Fook S.hing -.-J . identified the baskets as belonging to the, ( .two prisoners, but Mr" Branch could not ' swear that the prisoners, were the men he had chased. The Bench sent tho prisoners to gaol for six months each. Mr Weller, oa their behalf, gave notice of appea}, qn the ground that th,e ingn h^d r not b^en id^ni|f ed. The baskets, '^n if | they were the prisoners? . prpp^ty,* nugh j;, - he urged, have been lentby tneny to those who left them at Branch's place.' ! '; 4 A strange accident is thus recorded by ' ;he BocMiainpton Bulletin of the 21st December :— ' ' A sad occurrence took place_ on last Monday night, the 18th iustant)~at~Sebasfepbl, near Westwbbd." "' MrG. H. Warner/ the: landlord of the Sebastopol Hotel, had received much, annoyance, from a jjushtnan namdji\\ r ils.on |l | jt who, being tipsy,' would insist" upon*j!o4 £ maining up when the: family 'wanted 'to retire to rest. This ; . annoyance reached the climax, when it was found that tHe man, instead of retiring as, he pretended'! wandered into the kitchen. To intimi- •, date the intruder, Mr Warner cried out, 'IE you do not leave off wandering about ? '-' the house, | will shoot you.' T-ha ujan.stjl} acting obstinately, Mr Warner obtained jy il pistol, which was unfortunately loaded]

At thia juncture] Mrs Warner^ fearful of what might follow, ran and seized him by his arms to prevent fatal consequeuces to the bushman. It was then, in a brief struggle between man and wife, that the pistol was discharged accidentally into Warner's breast, the bullet piercing the lungs and finding its way to the back. In an instant he was covered with blood, and the terror and grief of Mrs Warner can hardly be imagined or described. The unfortunate man was Bpeedily placed in bed, and Dr Callaghan having been sent for, arrived at Sebastopol per train, and was in speedy attendance. He discovered the locality of the ball, but the patient refused to have it extracted. As a fatal result seemed impending, it was deemed expedient to inform the police. The following letter, received by Captain Frazer, of the missionary schooner Dayspring. gives fuller particulars of the murder of Mr Morrison, at Tanna, which was briefly noticed in the Armis recently : "Port Resolution, Tanna. December 12, 1871. Frazer, Esq.,— As you desired, I have below given you a few particulars of the outrage committed here a few days back. Last Thursday, while the ketch W. S.Fox, belonging to Mr T.W.Davies, was beating off and on Black Beach, a boat manned by natives came off to her, who stated that a white man had just been shot ashore, at the cotton plantation of Mr M'Cloud. MrDaviesthen armed his crew, and went ashore, and found the statement of the boatman verified, as Mr Morrison was lying on his face dead about ■ 20yard8from the house. The ball had gone through the body and one arm, and death was instantaneous. The Tanna men, seeing the white men ashore, came down in crowds, and spoke very saucily, and evidently meant mischief, but seeing they were prepared for them, aid nothing. No due can be found as to the cause of this cowardly murder. Mr Davies caught two of the men, and compelled them to dig Mr Morrison's grave. He was buried as he fell. It was a sad task, as no one knew when their turn would be. That night the Tanna men stole four bags of cotton, and numberless other things from the house, completely gutting it. Mr Davies took all he could get of any value, and under great difficulties, away from the place, but the machinery, Sec., landed the day before from the Defiance, as being too bulky, he was compelled to leave. He also took the plantation hands away, who refused to stay, besides another white man. The remaining settlers are anxiously looking out for the arrival of a man-of-war, or else no one can live here. Blair and his wife, on White Beach, are completely hemmed in, and do not know the moment they may be murdered. An offer was made to take them away, but they did not leave.— l remain, yours respectfully, W. H. R. Cbaddock/'

tfhe Vebraska took 46 passengers to Sydney, including Mr Webb, Mr Yogel and family, Mr Gray, Inspector of Post Offices, Mr E. Fox, Mr Vogel's private secretary, and Mr Von Der Heyde, the Auckland agent of Mr Webb's line.