Australian Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 794, 9 June 1870, Page 3

Australian Items.

A case which has come before the Melbourne courts recently, to which a volunteer private and his officer were parties, is of interest to volunteers in general. Its history is brief, and according to the Melbourne Argus is as follows:—A man named Lillie was a gunner in the Emerald-hill Artillery Corps, ar.d had been placed under arrest by Krone, major of that corps, for abusive language. On the 27th April the corps had assembled for "folding great coats drill," and after the men had been dismissed Lil'ie came up to Major Krone, who was talking to Lieut. Cowper upon official business, and with some remark as to "his case," struck him. Major Krone impetuously, though not unnaturally, returned the blow, and after a brief struggle Lillie was removed in custody of a sergeant of the corps. Major Krone stated the circumstances of the case to Col. Anderson, who directed him to prosecute Lillie for assault before the civil authorities. The Bench, considering that "the relation sub sisting between the parties was that of soldier and officer," and that the assault was thus an " aggravated " one, sentenced Lillie to one month's imprisonment, with hard labor. Lillie appealed to the Court of General Sessions, and Judge Pohlman, on hearing the evidence, gave ifc as his opinion that, " the corps having been dismissed for the evening, Major Krone was was no longer an officer but a private citizen," and, therefore, " having no power to mitigate the order," he quashed the conviction. There seems to be an impression in Victoria that there has been a failure of justice in this instance, but for all that Judge Pohlman was right. The offence was a military one, and should have been tried by military tribunal, and had no business to come before a civil magistrate. As ifc was, a civil tribunal inflicted a military sentence, which was an anomaly, and the decision has been very properly rcvcivod.

The Yass Courier relates the following as an instance of the force of the recent flood in the Fish River: —Some years ago a man named Fogg, a resident on the Fish River, was sentenced to imprisonment for cattle-stealing. While undergoing his sentence he died, but his body, at the request of his friends, was given to them for burial in the cemetry near Dryburg. The coffin (made of lead) was buried fully six feet under ground, but actually the flood carried the coffin several miles down the stream.