SOUTH AUSTRALIA. [From the Sydney Empire, May 9.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 921, 31 May 1854, Page 3

SOUTH AUSTRALIA. [From the Sydney Empire, May 9.]

We have received, by the steamer London, Adelaide papers to the 28th of x\pril. The ninth annual meeting of the South Australian Mining Association. y?as held on the 1 9th of Api il. The South Azistralian Register thus remarks upon the condition of the Company, as indicated by the Report : — " The statement, shewing the liabilities and assets of the Association on the 31st March, 1554, presents the sum of £184,929 as the total of assets ; but it must be -remembered that the lands and buildings of the Association are only valued at cost price, and the products at their net value ; whilst the -Burra Special Survey, and the lands adjoining, possess a value which cannot be fully appreciated without an ample supply of labour ; and the assured riches of the other mineral estates are comparatively in abeyance. The capital slock originally subscribed by the shareholders, d£ 1 2,320, has been augmented by the sum of 4123,200 — not drawn from the shareholders by repeated calls — but derived from clear and, available profits after payment of twenty-one dividends. A sum of £12,614 12s. 3d., available for a dividend of 100 per cent, on the original capital stock, will become payable on the 3rd d Jdne next ; and the metallic or mineral product? capable of- further realization, to the extent of £22,385 Bs. Bd. give immediate assurance of further dividends. The piospective advantages are not only cheering for the fortunate shareholders, but for the colonists in general who have heretofore participated so largely in the prosperity of the Burra, and may hope to witness, eie long, a return of the like prosperity , inasmuch as the new discoveries are accompanied hby the probability of increased means of development in fresh accessions of labour. - We are much pleased with the expression, by Captain Roach, of his hope that previous to his next report, the engine will be at -work, and the water pumped out, so as to enable him to report on the splendid lodes in the deep workings, as well as on the magnificent bunch of red oxide of copper through which be has driven 'to the extent of several fathoms." The Adelaide Times, in a short article on the subject of the Sydney and Melbourne speculations on the future supply of breadstuff's, states that there are in South Australia no fewer than 26 new flour mills erected and at work since July Ist, 1853, or to be finished and at work by Ist July, 1854. The estimate was furnished by a practical farmer ; the journal proceeds :—": — " It is calculated by the same autho-

, rity that to the existing flour mills, additional power, equal to six new mills, has been added, making the increase, nf mills since the harvest of 1853, thirty-two. These mills on an average are estimated to produce at I'-ast twenty-five tons of flour for every six working days, so that the additional weekly produce may be stated at 775 tons." There was a land sale at Adelaide on Thursday, the 27th of April. The attendance was large, and the biddings very spirited. All the sections were sold. The suburban lots averaged £3 Is. \\A. per acre; and these in the country; amounting to 2.G33 acros, £2 12s. lfd. ' The sum total realised was £7,068 ss. On the 20th of April there was a land sal? at Adelaide of sections in and near the town of Port Adelaide,* also of sections in the county of Light. The total amount realised was £4,937 ss. The suburban lots averaged £1 14s. Bd. per acre, and the country £1 7s. 3d. On Tuesday, the ISth April, pursuant to advertisements, Mr. Green held his first sale at the township of Smithfield, the attendance was large, and a strong 1 desire to purchase was manifested. About 19 acres in all were sold, which realised the high average of £61 per acre, or £1175 altogether. The North Parade at the Port, which was almost impas&able "during last winter, was undergoing repairs at the expense of Messrs. Collinson and Ewbank. " This improvement," says the Adelaide Times, " will serve to preserve the low grounds in the rear from inund.ition during the high tides of winter, which on one occasion, nearly a twelvemonth back, isolated St. Paul's Church, and obliged the congregation to escape in boats, which plied through the streets and round the tenements hi picturesque style." At a meeting of the watermen of Port Adelaide, on the 17th April, 1854, held at the Port Hotel, it was resolved to raise the fares, on account of the high prices of provisions, and all articles of consumption. It was determined that the present charges should be doubled. Theresidents were indignant at the impost. The Adelaide Times states that " the owners of land on Lefevre's Peninsula and others whom an unexpensive and easy means of crossing the stream would benefit, entertain a project of building a bridge of some description — either adapted for foot passengers solely, or wide and strong enough for a truck, across the creek from above Mr. Fletcher's slip, to a point near Prince's Wharf."