Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 648, 22 January 1859, Page 4

Colonial.

WICTORM.

•We h&7e news from Melbourne, vi& Sydney- to "the 27th ultimo.

■ Public Wobks.—A large number of tenders for various works throughout the colony were opened at the board of Public Works on iFriday. Contracts amounting to between £60,000 .and £70,000 were accepted.— rXrgus. Ont th«.23rd, Felis M'Cann, an insdlvent,was, at the District Court, eommitted'for trial ona charge of- embezzling about £1100 of contract money. Sir George-Stephen prosecuted. ..

1 An Atbociotjs Act.—On Christmas day a man was seen'by the engine dinver on"the "Melbourne a^Hobsoh-'s Bayi Railway deliberately to take up - o«\*eral stone 3 arid lay them pn the rails before the train, which, was passing along heavily laden -with / passengers. ,Thfr engine was at .once stepped, and chase .given, when' the miscreant was arrested.— JJirgtis. > . ■. ' :

Picking' Pockets*in a GHUKCH.—On Christ-/ ;: laas day,, while the congregation was engaged in ~ public worship in-St. Francis's Church, Lonsdale- - street, a great number ©f pockets were picked of their ;It is supposed that several persons were engaged in this piece of roguery. One of them has, however,;been-arrested. He was recog- •'■■ nisedas^asneinber of the London, pickpocket frater- ■ uity.—rUrffus. The ; WEATHEE.-^-The >present^6eason is singu!;larly:unsettled, and. many,siidden changes of weather since Friday; have sorely puzzled the most exporiehced holiday makers. The morning of ChristmfttTtiey'WflißMunpromising, and it was nearly noon. bfefore-a-series^oT heavy showers gave place to an almost''sunless,'though very pleasant afternoon. ''.' Throughout the "Whole of yesterday the wind was blowing, from t-the north and .east; but, although ■"the-power of ihft-sun was extremely trying, there were obvious lindioatiops of apeedy-change. Between seven and weight o'clock in the evening the western horizon presented the singular appearance of an almost uninterrupted arid dense-cloud, behind which the lightning -was 'flashing for some hours i "'• in the most :vivid-ah"d-magnificent manner. Shortly1 after ten o'clock the storm burst over Melbourne, ai(d the heavy drops of rain which descended speedily created a:gratefui change in the character .' of' the.atmosphe.re. ".The recent heavy rains appear to- have prevailed throughput 'the coiuntry'to an -extent which, justifies some apprehension the --agricultural districts for the grain crops, which have either " yielded to the sickle " or are fully .ripe for that operation.— Argivs* We are informed that despatches have.received signature of his Excellency, Sir Henry Barkly, • and are now only awaiting' transmission to India, 'for the purpose of procuring a number of camels to carry out the projected exploration of the centre ', -of .the continent. We have also reasan to believe■ that -satisfactory arrangements are in progress bei tween the-Government of this colony and that of New South Wales, with a view to obtaining for-i¥ictovta'One-half the recent importation of alpacas Ttit-o'tlre colony.— Age. The man, ©avid Phillips,-who was condemned '4.0 death at Abe iast sittings of the Criminal Court, •rfor wounding a-police constable named Eastwood, -with intent to murder "shim, has, as yet, we believe, ■received no intimation whether or not "it is inteiided to carry out the extreme ;pe«aity<«rfHheilaw. Tt is hoped an 3 expected *thai the wretched man's r3ife will be snared. It has recently transpired that the convict had been imprisoned-in Adelaide'-for a ■roonth as a lunatic— fflerate. A man, niimed John ©uffy, %a« !been arrested1 -ICilmore for high way'robbery.- Foity-rsix head of -■cattle wer« found in hispossession. "T.he Great Wai.kis» MATCH.-^The'HeralS 1 -ofHlfiKday says:—Allan M'Kean completed his $Q3th mile, at-seventeen minutes past ten o'clock 'liisfc night, "in ipiesenee ef a toteraMe number of He seemßin most robust health, as far :as coiulifckm and hardnesss go, but continues appar--piit-ly to suffer severely fwrfl lameness in the left foot, brought on, we twderfitand, in the first instance, by •the formation of pus under the dense fascia of the •solo. His medical attendants tHiak'that the task ■will be completed, and M'Kean him«eTf-is confident •of success. At the commencement of thin underinking an idea was prevalent that'there was a want *)f getuiinHueKa about the affair, and that sundry Jatikps wou'lil be committed in the:lon^ honrs ©f the ■riigli't. We have every reason to believe that there •is not the slightest foundation for any sinister reports of the kina,.:and after making numerous inquiries feom people who keep all; sorts of hours, ljeside» dropping in ourselves on most unseasonable occasioiw, have arrived at the conclusion that every ■mile las ib'esn iJtoea% ..walked at the prescribed

periods. As'tho hardest partoffhe task is to come, and this week will probably prove extremely trying, the plucky pedestrian will need all his hardihood to get through his herculean feat. The thousand miles, if all continue well, will be completed between ten and eleven o'clock this night week. The Burns Centenary.—-There was a full meeting of Scotchmen at the Albion, on Friday evening last, to make, the necessary arrangements in connection \vith the forthcoming centenary festival in honor of their national bard, Robert Burns. Dr. Macadam occupied the chair. It was determined that the festival should be held on the 25th January, in Melbourne.— Werald.

Philharmonic Society.—The performance >of the" Messiah'" by'this socioty on Christmas Eve has no.v grown -into a-custom. Its repetition on Friday last, in the Exhibition Building, was marked by that progressive completeness which lias for some time characterised the operations of this institution. One circumstance is peculiarly .note worthy as difltiaguishing.its career, namely, that the excellence .exhibited .by its general indications is "in excess of that of its special features, thus enabling the society to rely more upon its own efforts. Looking at a programme of a corresponding date'!(as to this season), three years old,.there are at "least half a dozen names of professional singers included, while the other bright the solo parts were, with but one exception, filled by those who are members of the society, and whose performances are scarcely known except in connection with it. Nevertheless, we have no hesitation in saying that the oratorio was given with greater general completeness than on the Eve 0P1855. Theinstrumentalists appeared to number more than usually strong—a circumstance which may probably be accounted for from the fact of ■ bofch the theatres being closed amd the orchestral forces at those establishments being disengaged. The decided expression with .which/■tbe grand and -stately overture .was -given afforded an assurance that at" least this, viz., the instrumental portion of tho work would be satisfactorily executed, and the anticipation so formed was^very sufficiently realised. So with the*fii?st dionis,.it was an ensaraple-of much succeeding excellence. The solo parts were the least effectively performed, but this short-coming was, as has been-suggested, amply compensated for by the superior* finish of the rest. >The tenor passages were sustained by Mr. Ewart, whose useful services to the society are deserving of much praise. This gentleman, though neither a'brilliant nor a .finished, vocalist, is painstaking, and. correct in the •iiighest. .degree. ; His . chief Vfo&lt is .'.the negative one of not-imparting a due proportion of emphasis where required; but even in this particular he has much improved. The accompanied recitative, « Tby rebuke hath broken his heart," and the touchingly plaintive air, "Behold and see," may be singled out as his most successful efforts on this occasion. The bass solos were represented by Messrs. Angus, Blanchard, and Mitchell. The ■special ghoral parts were executed with wellnigh faultless precision,,and differed in no respect, save numerically, from'those grand Exeter Hall displays which are universally adopted as the -whereby to estimate the Quality of sacred musical performances. Thethrilling " Hallelujah" was especially impressive, and scarcely less so the grand "Amen "'finale. The attendance was very aiumerous. His Excellency an&suite were present. —Argusoffflth. The Effects of .the We£ther.—We are informed that the effects of the late storm have been felt severely by many stockholders between Geelong; and Melbourne, as well as farther westward. Mr. .Bates, near Station Peak, has lost several sheep. A gentleman near him has lost some hundreds of his fattest and best sheep, and has had ten or twelve men on the run endeavouring to save the fat of the dead animals. Mr. Chirnside has kost;a number of sheep •% drowning and the inclemency of the weather. No estimate can be formed of ""the total amount of the damage done. Many settlers have large numbers of sheep missing, >whieh,.until found dead or alive, cahnbtbeaccouhted for. The sudden-change from heat.to cold has been rthe-causeof these disasters to the floekowners.— lArgus. - TfiE Geopß.—We regret to! Learn1 that' the present heavy rains have done much injury to.the crops in our agricultural districts. A great deal of-stahd-ing corn has been beaten down, andmuch of it, it is feared, will not rise again. This will be a great loss toHhe farmers, as it can -hardly be expected that the ears will fill well with the crop in a recumbent .position. Hay-making operations have also been uwich retarded. In some instances ricks, which liad been nearly completed, have been wetted through, and the hay so damaged that1 its value is materially diminished. -The long spell of fine weather which; preceded the rains; put the farmers off: their guard, arid necessary precautions against a change were in many instances-omitted, to the :great ■ loss of ' the careless or too secure farmers; Canvas rick-covers are rapidly coming into U3e in England, and prove invaluable when rain comes on unexpectedly in harvest time.