VICTORIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 507, 12 September 1857, Page 4

VICTORIA.

The Tasmanian papers had received Melbourne files to the 19th ult. The news is uninteresting. The Land Bill was still in committee. Th,e tiials of the Bucldand rioters were over; out of eleven men arraigned for riofc, &c., three have been found guilty of unlawful assembling; and one of riot. The sentence in each case is nine months' imprisonment.—One of the convicts had committed suicide by strychnine.—-A prisoner named O'Shea com-

mitfced suicide on the 17th, by jumping overt board from the penal hulk Success.—rA soldier of the 40th had been sentenced to receive fifty lashes by a general Court Martial, and fainted under the infliction of his punishment.—Sir H. Barkly had been attending lectures by Dr. Macadam, atthe Mechanics' Institute, at which the electric light was shown with complete success. His Excellency is about to visit Castlemaine, when -he will open the New Mechanics' Institution just completed there. The ' Government Gazette' contains a summary of agricultural returns for the year ended 31st March, 1857, by which it is shown that there were in the colony in the j rears 1856-57 7523 cultivators, farming 1,532,349 acres of land; of which 179,952f acres were under crop; 50,154f acres being sown with wheat, 2233 with barley, 25,024f with oats, 51,796 for hay, 16,281^ with potatoes. The total yield was 1,858,756 bushels of wheat, or an average of 23 bushels to the acre; 69,584 bushels of barley, or 81 to the acre; 641,679 bushels of oats, or 25 to the acre; 36,895 tons of potatoes, or 2£ tons to the acre; and 80,983 tons of hay, or 1J tons to the acre. Last year the return showed 115,135 acres under crop: 42,686 being sown with wheat, 1549 with barley, 17,800 with oats, 11,017 with potatoes, and 40,111 for hay; while the yield was 1,148,011 bushels of wheat, 45,150 of barley, 614,653 of oats, 59,796 tons of potatoes, and 83,276 tons of hay. The increase of 1856-57 over the previous year is therefore 64,848 acres under cultivation ; in wheat of 37,469 acres, and 710,745 bushels; in barley, of 685 acres, and 24,398 bushels; in oats of 7225 acres, and 27,026 bushels. In hay, although there was an increase of 11,685 acres, there was a falling off of 23,480 tons; and in potatoes, while there was a similar increase of 5264 acres in the extent of grain sown, the yield was 22,991 tons less than in the previous year. Steiglitz.—A small quantity of quartz and mullock, weighing about 5 cwt. from the claim situated No. 1, north, on Portuguese .Reef, was crushed at Dr. Otway's machine, producing 74 ounces of gold, or at the rate of 300 ounces to the ton. This claim has been worked unsuccessfully for upwards of twelve months, all the original shareholders having either sold out or abandoned their shares. In consequence of this rich find the neighbouring claims begin to assume a more active and promising aspect, and probably we may soon hear of further discoveries of a like nature. — Geelong Advertiser. The Chinese prisoners Chong Sing and Hing Tzan, were charged at the city police office on the 12th instant, with the murder of Sophia Lewis on the night of the 30th November, or the morning of the Ist December, 1856, in a house of ill-fame in Stephen-street, Melbourne. Mr. H. Stephen, who appeared for the prisoners, reserved his defence. Some Chinese witnesses deposed to seeing a ring and brooch, the property of deceased, in the possession of prisoners, who, after a long examination, were fully committed for trial. 'Two other Chinamen, Fok Sing and A Leen, were discharged from custody, there being no evidence to implicate- them in the murder. The Legislative Council seems to be altogether unequal to its work, and by no means to . act up to its designation, if we may trust the following paragraph from the ' Herald ' -. —" A bill which has been sent down from the ' Lords' —the Titles to Land Bill—was the cause of much diversion among hon. members. Mr. Duffy first showed that the bill was so drawn up as to be useless in meeting the requirements of the case, and Mr. Wood manifested that it was also as far from meeting the requirements of Lindley Murray." Ordered to be read that day six months! At the annual meeting of the Chinese mission, held in Melbourne on Tuesday last, Sir Henry Barkly, in the chair, spoke at some length on the Chinese question. His Excellency denounced the Buckland crusade as an act both cruel and un-English. But while he acknowledged some share in the apprehensions felt as to the consequences of a continued and unchecked Chinese immigration, he raised a manly voice of remonstrance against any legislation that that seeks to drive wholesale from the colony those who are already here. His speech points rather to regulations for their better management, and precautions against their collision with Europeans. One element of the question, says the 'Argus' (which we are now quoting) his Excellency lias the sagacity to perceive, which is not always taken into account—we mean, the influence upon trade interests of the decrease of our population that would immediately result from a policy of expulsion. "Anything like the withdrawal of thirty or forty thousand industrious laborers and great consumers would, at any rate for a time, affect very much the prosperity of the colony." Considerations such as these, continues the same journal, calmty and temperately put forth, are of service at a moment when we are in some danger of legislating under the influences of excitement and passion. Various circumstances have contributed to the j the growth of a strong public sentiment adverse to the Chinese. We owe it not merely to our social welfare, but to our national repute, that ! we should let the counsels of moderation prevail. Lepeosy Among the Chinese in Victoeia. —It is again alleged that leprosy actually exists among the Chinese, and that it is likely to extend to Europeans. The following extract of a letter from a digger at Daisy Hill, dated Saturday, 10th August, gives the particulai's :— "Three days ago the troopers turned the Chinese out of their camp, but allowed them to take their tents and then set fire to the rest. There are lots of them dying with the leprosy and their camp was a regular nuisance. A carrier got £6 for burying one of them : he took .the disease from the dead man, and the carrier

is now dead. The doctor had the camp set fire to, as the stench used to come into the township, although 'the camp was three quarters of a mile away.— Age. ■ Melbourne Labour Market. —The labour market is still intensely overcrowded, and but little employment; wages paid to be averaged as they range so variously, according to the means they possess j but a large number of the old hands have money, and, therefore, keep back for the spring work. Mechanics are plentiful, and a considerable a umber seeking employment; wages rather on the decline. Females are very plentiful, and persons who are. not^ tolerably competent for service find a great^ difficulty in getting hired.— Herald, Aug. 14 SUICIDE OF THE CONVICT MELVILLE. [Prom the 'Argus,' Aug. 13.] Some sensation was created yesterday morning by the rumour that the convict Melville had finished his long career of crime by an act of self-murder. The story found little credence at first, but on inquiry it proved to be true, and a life of violence and deception had been brought to a close by the hand of the criminal, impatient of enduring the penalties he had incurred by his own acts. It is needless to give a narrative of the mode in which the convict met his death; the details will be found in full in the evidence taken on the inquest held in the Gaol by Dr. Youl. The jury having been sworn, went to _ see the body, which lay in a cell in the corridor (not the one in which it was found). The face was little distorted, and bore the semblance of a smile, partly arrested by death. The frame was lean and slight, but highly muscular, being that of one of those men whom constant exposure and exercise had 'rendered " wiry" and tough. Dr. Maund said that he had examined the body and found a few scratches on the left arm in the shape of a cross. It seemed to have been made with some dull instrument, such as a blunt knife or a nail. It was merely superficial. There was bloody froth oozing from the mouth. A handkerchief, about two yards in length, was twisted very tightly round, the neck. (The handkerchief was produced; it was a blue scarf, spotted with red). It had been drawn with a slip knot once round the neck, then passed tightly round three times, and the end tucked in. Mr. Wintle, the Governor of the Gaol, said that Captain Melville, alias Thomas Smith, was on the Gaol books as "Captain Melville." He was convicted in that name. There was no alias Thomas Smith in his conviction. He was 35 years of age. The prisoner was treated like the rest, of the convicts until the 28th of last month, when he made an attack on witness. He was confined to his cell after that. He j behaved at first like any other prisoner, but | barred the officers out of his cell once or twice. He last saw him alive on thfe day previous.. He was then going in with other prisoners to sweep the cellar. Had seen him several times a day, and observed no traces of insanity about him. The handkerchief found on his neck was his own he brought it from the hulks with him. Was not present when the body was discovered. A turnkey called.him at a quarter past seven. He found the body lying on the leftside. It presented the appearance of a man asleep. On placing the hand on the body it was quite cold and stiff. Should say it had been dead three hours and a-half. The key of the cell was in his possession, and had been so from half-past eight on the previous evening to half or a quarter past six that morning. No one had access to it.. The deceased had been under medical treatment, to ascertain whether he was insane or not. Dr. M'Crae stated that he was the medical officer of the gaol. He had had deceased under his care since the 28fch ult. on which occasion he tried to stab the officers. He was kept in his cell by witness's directions. There was nothing the matter with hjm. He feigned j madness, but was not ill. On the.,- 28th ult. witness was sent for and informed that the prisoner had made an attack on Mr. Wintle. He requested that the prisoner should be placed in a cell where he could be observed at night, | and also that he should be placed on low diet. !He further directed that sufficient restraint, to prevent his- committing any further violence, should be placed on him. He gave these directions in consequence of a communication made to him by the Chief Secretary shortly, as to the actual sanity of the prisoner. He had been kept on low diet, and was very frequently visited after that, chiefly at night. The deceased was reported to have always slept well. Had seen the deceased five or six- times since. On one occasion after he had refused to eat his food for three days, he (Dr. M'Crae) had a long conversation with him. He pointed out to him that he had been fighting against the world with little success on his part, and that it was time to give it up, and to take it quietly. He was at first sulky, and would not speak, but after a little he conversed and seemed impressed by what witness had said to him. He said he would eat whatever food was given to him, and bear his punishment like a man. The next time witness saw him he found that he had taken his food. He then said to witness that he had been guilty of every crime that could be named—that he had brought the punishment on himself, and in future would bear it quietly. He said he was convinced that what witness told him was true, and was intended for his good. On Tuesday last witness was convinced —entirely convinced—of the sanity of the deceased. He discharged him from his incarceration in the cell, reported him as no longer under treatment, and ordered him to have his usual food. He never showed any symptoms of insanity, but Spoke as clearly, intelligently

and connectedly, as any man lie ever spoke to on any and every subject. He slept well on the day preceding his death. He saw him after death. The deceased had been dead for some hours. He had no doubt that the handkerchief was tied by deceased himself. He had tied it so tight that he could not introduce the point ot 1 his finger between the handkerchief and the neck. The body was quite cold when he saw it at half-past eight. James Kowley, the'chief turnkey, said that he locked the deceased up on the previous evening, between half-past eight and nine. He did not speak to him, but he was alive, as he saw him move. He was then lying on his bed. He had his supper at five o'clock, and answered to his name when the muster was called. That was the last time witness heard him speak. He was called to see the body the next morning. He observed no mark of struggling. The head was inclined to the left side. The clothes were drawn over the body, and the arms folded over the chest. ( . . . The Coroner briefly summed up the evidence. He said that he had, like many others, frequent opportunities of observing Melville, and his affectation of madness was the most -flimsy and transparent pretext he had seen. His attack on Mr. Wintle was no evidence of deranged mind, but was the result of a mmd inordinately vain and seeking in its vanity even a pre-eminence in crime. While Melville was with the other convicts he was chief of his gang —when he was tried his vanity was fed by the interest his case excited, but when he was consigned to prison this excitement was moved, and a desperate means of notoriety was resorted to. It seemed perfectly plain that until within a very short time of his death the deceased was quite sane. Had his attack on the governor been considered an evidence of mental derangement instead of being made as a means of causing removal to the asylum, from which escape was comparativelyjeasy, every criminal would become a lunatic and the country would be burdened by the maintenance in comparative idleness of innumerable malefactors. The jury after a brief consultation returned a verdict of felo de se. An examination of the cell in which Melr ville had died showed the following sentences rudely written in pencil upon the whitened^ but rough walls. JThe words were so coarsely written and: placed^in such a straggling fashion, that they could be deciphered with difficulty :— " I am to suffer nothing—my name is not T. Smith, but M'Cullum. " I intend to defeat their purpose —and to die in my bed with a smile, by my own hand, and thus by my 'keeneys' defeat their most secret intentions. " And these steps are taken to give me an opportunity of doing so, as it is in my power to prove that I am not the man I am taken for.".'. ....• ..■: , <:».. ■ >'■■■ - ■•■■■ :■■-■ "W Melville."