NEW SOUTH WALES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 58, 11 May 1866, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Merrington for latest files of Sydney papers via Melbourne, from which we extract the following : — KEItOSESE WORKS DT N. S. WALES. Energetic steps are being taken to develop this branch of industry, and every step in advance tends to confirm the great value of the oil-bearing shales of the colony. The Australian Mineral Oil Company have already operated upon a large quantity of cannel from the Hunter. This shale is known to yield an oil of excellent quality, but small in quantity, which small yield is compensated by the excellent quality of the coke. The Hartley Kerosine Oil and Parafine Co. are now manufacturing crude oil and have a large quantity ready for refining. Four stills each holding 500 gallons, have been in operation for some time, and the Company only await the adjustment of a large still to commence refining on a large scale. A trial has been made of this oil, which proves to be equal' to any imported. Operations will commence in earnest in about a fortnight. The Western Kerosine Oil Company, whose works are in close proximity to the last mentioned, have not entered upon the reduction of the mineral into oil, further than to test its value. The oil-bearing shale is reached at a depth of 32 feet, is six feet in thickness, and yields 150 to 170 gallons of oil, or 17,000 cubic feet of gas to the ton. The company is making arrangements for the erection of extensive works to commence operations upon a large scale. The most extensive and furthest advanced of the oil works, however, are those of the Australian Mineral Oil Company at the North Shore. They are situated at the head of Oyster Bay, and have a water frontage of 800 feet, with water deep enough to float a 2,000 ton vessel. They have 12 acres of land through which runs a blind creek, which has been.damned back to form extensive reservoirs of fresli water, at high elevations. There are tf evaporisers, each capable of reducing 20 tons twice aVeek, and 12 others are being erected- All the tin cases and everything required for the business will be made upon the premises* which will turn out, when in full work, 40,000 gallons per week. These jw;orkV are for the .reduction of shales from every part of the colony, and not; for any particular mine.

Large numbers of eels are at present to be found in the waterholes in the neighbourhood of Warrigal Creek and Woodside. The. Gipps Land Times says: — "Their presence is ascribed to the late drought having so dried up the creeks that. the fish had no means whatever of escape. So numeroas are they that several persons have been catching and carting them off for manure, until a gentleman hinted that they might be cured, and thus be made an article of export. This hint has since been profitably acted upon, and we trust soon to see some of them imported into Sale. They average about 301b. weight, and must have been a curiosity when living. We are assured by one who has ? partaken of them in their salted state that the eels are delicious." The Jamaica Insurrection. — The Star publishes a letter from its special correspondent in Jamaica under heading "The Reign of Terror in Jamaica" The letter extends over nine columns of the paper, and is a narrative of the barbarities said to.have been practised by the authorities and the troops in Jamaica during the insurrection. The writer states that the negroes were flogged and slaughtered in every part of the island without trial of any kind, upon the most flimsy pretences of complicity in the alleged rebellion, and in numbers of cases without any pretence at all. Torture and the threats of immediate death were used to procure evidence against the supposed leaders of the rebellion. An Indian Tragedt. — By the arrival of the Bombay mail we learn that at Ellichpoor a murderous attack had been made on Mrs. Macquoid, the wife of Captain Macquoid, of the sth Regiment, H.C. From the details which have come to hand it appears that the boy (for, he was only about 18 or 20 years of age) who committed it had been taken on trial as a servant, and had been in Captain Macquoid's service about three weeks or a month, but was discharged about two or three days before the occurrence happened ; he took his pay on the Ist, and left-without any apparent reluctance. The next morning the ruffian walked into the house, about six o'clock, and taking Captain Macquoid's sword proceeded upstairs to the bedroom, where he attacked Mrs. Macquoid when asleep, and before she managed to escape inflicted several severe blows and cuts with the back of the sword. One of the cuts divided the bone of the left arm completely, and another severed the small bone of the right leg, just below the knee joint. Every time she attempted to rise he knocked her down with a cut. The ayah happened to come in at the time, and gave the alarm ; the ruffian immediately fled out, he was pursued by Captain Macquoid's horse-keepers, who were armed with spears. He was kept at bay iu a muddy ditch, near the compound, and there, after a little resistance, he was so severely pierced that he died almost instantly. His body was burnt by the authority of some one of the station officers. The principal cause which is ascribed to the man for committing this fiendish act is that he was some days previously ordered to be slippered for having smoked ganja in the vicinity of the lady's bungalow, and he took advantage of the gentlemau's absence to have his revenge.