VICTORIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 263, 23 October 1862, Page 5

VICTORIA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Melbourne, October 16, 1852. The event of the week his been the opening of the railway to Castlemaiue, which took place yesterday. It was in every way a most successful affair. About a quarter before nine yesterday morning, the station at Spencer-street presented a lively appearance, and a long train of eleven carriages and two engines was speedily nl'ed wi-h a large number of our principal citizens, including members of the two Houses and several of the Cabinet. The train was appoiiitpcl to ie;i.v» at nine, but waite i a few minutes for the Governor, who arrived at five minutes past, nii'l in another five minutes started. After a pleasant journey, the excursionists arrived at Castleinaine at a quarter before one, when they were received ia a most enthusiastic manner. Castlemaine appeared in -quite a holiday humor: all the stores were closed, and the streets were crowded with a very numerous concourse of people, a great many of whom had come I from the surrounding districts. A larc;e pr"ce3siou was formed, and a banquet held in the Market Hal, and the festivities wound up with a ball in the evening. The most noticeable feature connected with the opening of our two great trunk lines of railway is. that competent authorities having calculated the present and iiirure income and working expenses, the Minister at the he;id of the depai'tment has expressei his confidence that the lines will not only pay the working expenses, but the interest on the eight millions loan. This is probably too sanguine a view, but another six months will show whether there is any truth in the calculation or not.

A fire broke out this morning at Cash el's Family Hotel, in Queen-stse-1. The fire was discovered at 4 o'clock, and when the fire-engines arrived it was discovered a lodger had jumped from the first floor and broken his le<j;. He w.s conveyed to the Hospital The bar and part of the hotel was thoroughly gutted; loss of stock, &c, was £500, uninsured. The building was insured, and the damage sustained about £500.

The annual show of the Port Philip Farmer's Society was held on "Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the Bth, 9lh, and 10th October, and, as was expected, proved one of the most successful meetings the soeirty has ever had. The implement yard contained the fim-stshow of agricultural machines ever gathered together before in the colony. All the principal makers of England wore represented. The colonial machinists too. numbered in strong force, and showed by their well-executed specimens of wo'kmansbip that they are fast treading on the heels of their British confreres. Th« show of ploughs was particularly good— for swing ploughs there were no less than 27 entries, the majority of whom were colonial makers, and the first pr-ze was carried off by Mr Synan, of Ballarat. There were upwards of 24 portable enginps in the yard, most of which were at work, and excited great interest, not only for the beauty of their workmanship, but also as recants the regularity and noiselessness with which they accomplished their labour. I Many of these were attached to thrashing machines, ! a large number of which were present. The first j prize in this department was also awarded to a colonial maker, Mr W. Roberts. Among the extra exhibits was one of Ericeson's caloric engines. It attracted a great deal of attention, but the public did not seem much prepossessed in its favour—it* abrupt jerking motion totally unfitting it for any work where tegularity would be a requisite, and the hideous noise that it made while working wa« anything but pleasant. For my own pai"t, I should think that a great alteration in this engine is required before it can come into general use, or even partially supersede the steam enurine. It has. however, two great points in its favor. It is unattended with danger, and its consumption of fuel is lut one-third of what is required for a steamengine of equal nower. An invention for stacking hay, etc, was an object of much interest It consisted of an " endless net," passing over two rollers, which were made to revolve by a pulley from the thrashing machine. As the >traw left the machine, it fell into the band or net, thence was earned to the top, and deposited on the stack, or in the barn, as the case might be. Colonial ingenuity developed itself in a variety of forms, an enumeration of which would be very tedious, but I might name some few that deserve notice. The colonial built reaping machines seemed admirably adapted for their oih'ce, and several well contracted and greatly improved churns merit a passing mention. An improved meat van, an invention fulfilling the threefold purpose of a sack-holder, sa<*kliftsr, and sack-barrow—a specific for the cure of scab in sheep,—and a great variety of smaller obj cts. showed that, the Victorian machinists &c are not by any mi ans- b< hind the age. Th<- show of stock, though equal in quality to any exhibition of preceding years, was not quite so numerous. 'I he horses were well represented, and the first prize for a thorough-br^d entire horse, was awarded toi Air oJr.eeve's ! Hermit. Mr Macintosh's Prince Cbarlin, earned off the prize as the best entire d-aught, horse.-. He aiso obtained the Society's Challenge Cup of LSO Tin' beasts fell cmisuierubly below the number exhibited ,in previous y<?ars, though as regards symnii,tryOfibiinaiid quauty they, .fully naaintaiiied tlieir reputation. Messrs Morton Brothers and Leach were ...the piincipal exhibitors, and earned off the -greatest ;".iiuiabi-r of prizes. Sheep "were more numerously re-pre-eJiied than they have ever Veen before, and from '■their unifo m : merit gave the judges.some trouble to decide on their merits^ T-he-first prize was ; allotted to an imp? rted merino,>hown by Mr John JBell. tAs regardSLpigs,'there wtre few exhibits,"and, tfos-e few require; little -notice; , Jpairy prtiduce was very well represented. Having thus touched upon the principal

points, 1 have only to- add that upwards of SUUU persons, among them the &overn.oi* and several of tiie members visited the ■ pliovmon rlie'jast day, and that the funds thus realised will enable the tioei.ty to keep up its important position and go on its useful mission rejoicing. The Philharmonic Society have every reason to be gratified at the success which ha* attended their second triennial festival. On every occasion the Exhibition Building being well filled, and the different benevolent societies to whose treasuries the proceeds of these concerts have been forwarded, will, no doubt be greatly benefited. The first concert was devoted to the performance of the music used at the inauguration of the International Exhibition. On the whole it was tastefullyand correctly given, and the efforts of the solo performers Mesdames E cott and Flower, and Mes?rs Squires and Parquharson were warmly applauded. For the second concert Mendelsohn's oratorio of "St. Paul" was chosen. A«aia. the performance was satisfactory, to be sure there was room for improvement in some places, and,-no doubt a second execution of it would g<- more smoothly, but stil! there was little room for criticism. The third and last concert was devoted o the performance of operatic and other selections. As th^ pure ha^been reduced it was the most numer-, ously attended of all. The choruses were well givenl ad the pnmip 1 singers had the perhaps doubtfu honor of encores being awarded to them, and the whole concert passed off most satisfactorily. Great credit is due to Mr Hoisley, the conductor, who proved lumseif " the right man in the rfeht place " and to his exertions the great success that has attended these concerts is mainly due. The statement that appeared in one of the weekly papers respecting the donor of the thousand pounds :md which reflected somewhat upon the proprietors of the Argus, lias evoked a lettfr from the publisher of that journal, in which he. places the whole affair before the public, and concludes by saying that he thinks Mr Kyte ought to have released himsrlf and the otherdepontaries of the secret from their pledge before revealing himself, and so afforded no opportunity for their fidelity being impugned, or for any one to suspect that the Argus had any wish to make it-self appear as the donor of the gifr, o r detract from the honor <>f the princely giver. Mr Kyte has since answered this lefcier, in which he states that he felt it his duty to return some practical evidence of his gratitude towards his adopted country, and that his way of doing so, was entirely his own thought, and contrary to the wishes of the proprietor of the Argus. He f.lily clears that journal from the imputation of having attempted to make capital at his expense. It seems that tiie secret oozed out thus The Lender is now publishing portraits and short biographical ac- ! counts of the leading men in Victoria. Mr Kyte, as one of them, was waited upon tor his portrait, and solicited to give some of the prominent features in his hish/ry, and in this he mentioned llu, fact as alroa-iy stated. 1 mi.irht, remark, that rumor never once poin'ed to him as the " Unknown Donor," and thougii several names have been mentioned, his was never even hinted at.

Lnst Monday evening the Theatre Royal was opened for operatic performance. During the interval it has undergone a complete renovation ■; all the old decorations have been removed, and chaste and elegant designs in gold and silver substituted, and no expense has beeu spared to make the theatre a hand some and pleasant resort. The opera selected for the opening night was Donizetti's *• Favorita." 'Ihe house was well attended, Sir H. Barkly and Lady liarkly honored the performance by theirpresence. M'rOoppin is still pnrfonning a round of his favorite characters, at the Hayraarket, and is drawing larger audiences. The Overland Route is the one in which he now figures. At the Lyceum a " moral drama," called the Drunkard, is being enacted, and bring'full of thrilling scenes is well patronised by the class who like this kind of pabulum. The Princess's has been closed, but re-opened with "William Tell," and "The Honeymoon ;" Mr Richard Younge, a very old favorite of the Victorian public, re appearing here after a 1 >ng absence. The news from our gold fields is satisfactory. Late accounts from Gipp's Land diggings speak still very favorably of them. Grout complaints are made as to insufficiency of police protection, and the disrrict sesms almost in a state of demoralisation. There is liothiug deserving of particular notice from any of the other diirgin-s. Diamonds again are siid to have heen found in the Poviknd District, but I have not been able to verify this report.The forthcoming Inter colonial Rifle Match between the Volunteers of New South Wali.s and Victoria, is beginning to excite a deal of interest. The first match commenced yesterday, and there is every evidence that each side will endeavor to do its utmost to win.

The Directors of the Melbourne and Hobson'a Bay Railway are about to apply to Parliament; for leave to bring in a bill to authorise the construction of a line from their Flinders 1-street Station to the Spencerstreet Station. Should they succeed in doing this a great public benefit will result, and the first step towards a general terminus will be accomplished. The site of the monument to be erected to the illfated Burke and Wills, is still occupying the attention of the authorities. The intersection of Coliins and Russell Streets was all but decide:! on, but public opinion seems strongly against this position ; and it will most likely be given up. It is strange, that I with so many beautiful and appropriate sites, suchasthe JjOtanJca Gardens, and the numerous reserves around Melbourne, the authorities should persist in placing it where, insfo-ad of being " a thing of beauty," it will become an eyesore and an obstruction. Again have the P. and O. Company delivered the mails before their contract time. Tne R.M.S. Madras arriving here on the 9th. A telegraphic summary of her news however appeared in the Argus of the 7th. Had it not been tor detention at the Soum!, she would probably have been here two days earlier. The American news is of some importance, as s-howing the progress of the unnatural struggle now goin«- on in that unhappy country. It will be seen that the Confederates still maintain their ground, and are, if anything, in a better position than their opponents. The news from England is of the usual interest; the gigantic forgeries by Mr Roupell, and the distress in the factory districts being the principal topics. The farmer and settler are fast treacling oa^the heels of the explorer. Scarcely have Lunclsborough and McKinlay returned, before parties start to avail themselves of the " better country " so glowingly depicted in their accounts. A party of 12 are about starting for Carpentaria, they take some 10,000 ?hcep, besides horses, mares, bullocks, and goats. It is to be hoped that these adventurous pioneers may have the measure of success they expect. The Victorian Jockey Club races commence to-day, but following so soon after the Geelong races, will probably be very poorly attended and require little notice. A serious loss has been sustained to the mercantile marine by the total loss of the Prince of Wales steamship. She struck on the Mermaid Reef, and was afterwards run aground to endeavour to save her. The passengers were all safely landed, but none of the cargo was saved, the ship going to pieces some little time afterwards. She was uninsured, and her loss is estimated at <€50,000. A telegram from Sydney states that President Lincoln has resolved to issue Letters of Marque, and has signified his intention of doing so to the European Governments.