AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Kumara Times, Issue 589, 16 August 1878, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

The land tax returns in Victoria have been completed. It is believed that the gross amount will not exceed £120,000, while the expenses will be about £40,000. ■■ . ■ Tenders have been accepted in Sydney for 1500 tons of imported waterpipes, at £8 10s per ton, including £2 as duty. A colonial company asked £lO 14s for 5000 tons. A man named Patrick Brown, residing at Woolloomoolloo, id in custody on suspicion of murdering his wife by striking her on the bend with a hammer and kicking her. She died in the infirmary. The Civil Service Co-operative Company of Brisbane have declared a dividend of 10 per cent. ])pv annum. Mr Knipe has arranged for the purchase of 2300 square miles of 1 m 'd ar. MiHsirave, South-Au>«r.rilia, in the interior, on behalf df a Melb) iciie exit panv. The total ex.nrfc of v'ißtt' duHnj 1877. from Adehi |e, w,n 71.10-3 ...o i,s ; .and of flour, 11,515 touu-i.

Ijt.is st ited that M>-s Smith, Adelaide, mother of a wel -know farmer, has come into a le.-acy of £400,000. A number of sheep in a fl;>ck belonging to Mr T, Williams, at, Yangers, havo, states the .Warrnarnbool - (Victoria) Standard, been stricken with blindness. How they becime so has puzzled many who are acquainted with sheep-farming; hut the malady has been attributed to severe cold. Its first appearance was .obeserved wheu the sheep were being folded during the late rough weather, several of them, in going through the paddocks, being s«en to run against the fences. On examination, it was found that the pupils of their eyes were, covered with a white film, rendering' the sheep to tally blind. Bleeding, and the application of a strong lotion, is effecting some improvement in their condition. The Circular Head correspondent of the LatmceHton Examiner writes that a large whale has been stranded on the, beach, near the jetty, at Woolnorth, measuring 90 feet in length. :