VICTORIA.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 109, 2 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

V ICT O R I A.

(T9.OH. OCR OWN COHfcESPONDENT.) " * Melbourne, 24th October. The steady decrease in t the produc. , tioh of the Victorian gold fields for the last two years Is at length forcing itself llP^Ppn the attention 'of all classes here, P and/ls -beginning to be' reluctantly acI knowledged even by the country press. I Various, are the causes assigned, and I remedies proposed. With the admitted I stagnation of business existing in all our I -■ large .inland townships, it is but natural that. the inhabitants should regard with apprehension the approach of spring, bringing with it, as it undoubtedly will, a large exodus of our mining population to your, islands. ' One of the leading propositions is, thjpt an ; annual grant ,of £50,000 should be Wade by Government in .aid of an extended system of prospecting-; the amount to be distributed among the several Municipalities and Road; Boards, who should be empowered to levy a small special rate for prospecting- purposes, to an equal amount to- that given by the State ; the argument for this plan being, that at present the whole expense falls upon the discoverer^ while those who pay nothing participate equally in the advantage ; so far, this is correct enough, but to expect that in the present •exhausted state of the colonial exchrm quer, any Government would propose % such a grant is absurd, and moreover, J the time which must elapse before the jfl scheme could be carried out is a fatal 9 objection. It is not pleasant admit it, M but the fact is, that as a field for uuM assisted exertion of individual diggers, n our day is past, and it is only by the ifl (combination of capital and machinery, nk that we retain the* character of an aurijjl ferous country. The very paper in M which the above idea of assisted pros--9 fleeting is mooted (the Talbot Leader) 9 «ys itself — c< File holes are scarce nowj3 4-days, and he may be accounted a for|a tunate man who 'lights upon even a r *m wages claim, wages varying in amount » from £2 10a. to £3 10s. per week'/' *■ With such an admission, and it fairly jj3 represents the state of things over the a whole of our gold fields, it is worse than Hi useless to "expect that our working Ml population will not avail themselves of IJI die tempting prospects held out in your |« It is with sincere; yegrtfi that I have 19 to announce that the wet and stormy *3 weather which has prevailed 'he-re reOT«entiy, has proved fatal to ten <of the mm alpacas recently imported, being $hose £2 which had remained weak and sickly pllfrom the long voyage, the effects of gKwhich it had been impassible to get ||9t>ver, even with the most careful nursing. fUjhe remainder -are, however, in splen|Hp4 condition, and the owner (Mr DufU^Jld) refused an offer of £600 for two, plto be selected from .the flock at the fcjoption of the purchaser, which sufficiently B|2ibDws the importance attached to the 1« breeding of 'these valuable Animals. Bj A violent controversy is going on bepfltween the local journals as to the supePBriority Moorabool, Barker's. Creek, lyiand Maiden slate for flagging purposes,; p^M wm pies of which are deposited for i|9choice at the Town Hall, and all appear p«o be excellently adapted for the forEBaiation of durable pavement, being far Inaore preferable -to asphalte, and half ■Sthe price of Caithness flags, fudging HHfrom the numerous cem plaints in the Rftew Zealand journals *as tofhe footHHpaths in the towns, a large importation raffirould no doubt pay well, and be acceptEBble to, the citizens of Auckland, EgßDunedin, or Invercargill. rel A pregnant. instance of the injury EBikely to result from the unsettled state EBf our J and -law, is afforded byithe fiflfict that in February next a number of HHarmers from the -agricultural districts ■Bear Talbot, the 'Springs, and Beckintend removing <to the northHHrestern^ district in the neighborhood of BHpamden Harbor, within the province of ■Bfcstern Australia— the liberality of the EB^ms upon which! land can be obtained Hjjßeing the inducement. Thus,- for agriKvDltural purposes, farms of acres, Bflpay be held /fee for four years, and one HjSbilling an acre for the following eight, EBurcbasableat any time at <ten shillings n9er acre. ; For pastoral purposes, H800,0Q.0 acres, free for four years-; next EBonr years, ss. far every J 000 acres ■Hod 10s. per IQOO for the following HBmr years. The intending settlers have Hmpointed a committee to form a comHBiny of thirty, each of whom will' pay ■HB6O, to be invested in the purchase of H» vessel of one hundred tons burden, MsUp convey members, tireir "families, and HjwoYisjons to tfee new country, after■jjMirdß te be «mpldyed~ih'?rading to and Jmom the settlement. The stock will be HH|ken overland from the" far north staHBons of South Australia. One of, the H»ity, a Mr Fyers, intends taking two HBoasand sheep, at the least, on his HBra account. - Should this example be HJHlowed in ether districts, it will exBgVdite the passing of a new Land Bill, ■Huh a vengeance. Taking all things Hftether, the prospects of Victoria, for ■jSae time Co come, aie anything but to those compelled to permaresidence. - ... HBOne of the detective force named ..was brought up at the DisCourt, .on Monday, for a brutal upon a female named White, wife of a respectable . market . garwho, having brought in his prohad left her standing nnder the Market shed while he went to up his horse and cart. Mrs White, her baby> rolled .up in a shawl, rudely accosted by the officer; -'who to know what she had got Not knowing 'who' he was — Htng in plain clothes — she refused to him, when he seized her by the

throat^and the infant dropped. put on the pavement. J.On her husband being called to her assistance, this, privileged ruffian improved uponhis previous conduct, by striking him violently on the face, drawing blood copiously. , The police magistrate commented severely upon the unmanly conduct of Maxwell, and fined him £10, with £1 13s. 6d. costs, in addition to which he has since been suspended by, order of the Chief Commissioner, The anti-transportation movement gathers "fresh strength 'every day, and 'despite the fulminatious of the ' Advertiser, a most influential meeting was held at Geelong this week, to co-ope-rate with the metropolis aad provinces, in protesting against' the' further importation of felons, into any part of Australia. His Worship the Mayor, who presided, was supported by Messrs Richardson, M'Cann and Foot, the local M.L,A.'a, many of the Episcopal, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic clergy, Charles Sladen, Esq., John Guthrie, Esq. (collector of customs), J, G. Carr, Esq., and various other gentlemen of note, and upwards of three hundred of the tqwnsfpik.>.^er^-:animated speeches ,were made, and stringent resolutions passed withoutr a dissentient voices the views of the local journal'beingi iii this instance, quite antagonistic to those of the citizens at large, but for which its squatting proclivities will fully account. . ; A man named John Peach has just been' arrested in the Mallee Scrub, and arrived in* Hamilton en route for Branxholme, before the Bench of which place he had been summoned for enacting the part of a colonial Lady Godiva, by riding naked through the town of Enm«ralla, on an unbroken colt, sans saddle or bridle, for a wager of L5, which he did, and having won the bet, absconded, but has now to answer for his nude equestrianism. What number of peeping Tomasinas witnessed the feat, is not stated, but will probably leak eut at the examination; at present no young lady s jews willing to own the soft impeachment. A co-operative Foundry and Iron Ship .Building Company, under the firm of VV. Bladk and Co., has been commenced at Williamstown, each of the partners -centributing his mechanical skill, as well &s his share of capital, being skilled in one or the other branches of the business. The first contract taken is for lengthening the iron screw steamer Black Swan, 21 feet, which vessel has been towed up to Wright's patent slip for the purpose. The Kev. Walter Fellows, brother to the honorable T. H. Fellows, (Post-master-General), has just arrived, and was inducted as officiating minister of of St John's, Toorakj on Sunday last. Among the victims to the late floods, is. Mr Charles Henry Osmond, of Kyneton, aged twenty-four years, son of Mr Thomas Osmond, of North Richmond, near Melbourne, who was drowned on the 18th, while endeavoring to cross the Catripaspe. at Barfold. His untimely fate has caused much regret at Kyneton, where he was universally respected. AJr Henry J. Wrixon, a relative o^ the late Mr Justice Wrixon, of the Melbourne County Court, was, on Thursday, admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court, conditionally for 12 months, subject to his production, by that time, of the certificate of his admission to the King's Inns, Dublin, Considerable sympathy has been excited for the man O'Connor, committed for contempt of court, and a subscription was raised by some gentlemen in Collins-street to indemnify him for the loss of wages, and to sustain his wife and children during his incarceration; overLlO were promptly collected, and the amount, do doubt, would have been largely increased but on Tuesday morning, Mr Justice Williams relented, and ordered his release, not, however, till he had sustained the indignity of having his hair and whiskers cropped like a felon ; this tardy act of justice, for it would be redicuious to call it clemency, was no doubt acceHerated by the unmeasured indignation with which this arbitrary act was regarded throughout the <colony, so that what might have been regarded as a concession to better feeling, can only be viewed as extorted by fear of unpleasant results hereafter. Wednesday being the day appointed for that purpose by the new Municipal Act, the various bodies near Melbourne met ender the presidency of their respective Mayors (late chairmen), and proceeded to appoint their various officers, -and make arrangements for the conduct of business under the new system. Nothing of interest took place, the proceedings being nearly stereotyped, with the exception of Emerald Hill, whose Mayor, W. Thistlewaite, Esq., gave a banquet in honor of the event, and a proposition by one of the East Colling wood councillors, to confer a salary of £150 upon the Mayor of that place, which,/ considering that the " soup kitchen " there languishes for lack of cfiaritabte support, is not likely to prove very agreeable to the ratepayers. ; v The annual .dinner of the Medical Society of Victoria took place at Menzies' Hotel on Wednesday evening, the president, Dr. Gilbee, in the chair, and the vice-presidents, Dr. Thomas and Dr. Hades in the vice-chairs — nearly the whole of the leading members of the profession being present. Everything passed off with the greatest eclat, snd the president, in returning thanks, stated that '" whether as to members, funds, or papers read, the Institution never before was in so flourishing a state ;" an announcement calculated to make its, honicepathic opponents secrete an extra amount of bile, through sheei vexatiOn.'By a singular, bufc melaiichdly coincidence, but of course unknown tc them, while his professional brethren were thus enjoying themselves, one oi

our' oldest medical practitioners, Dr. Arthur O'Mullane, of Great' Boiirkestreet, was.breatliing his last,' having 1 departed this life otr Wednesday, at the comparatively early age of fifty-one. From his urbane manner, Mr O'Mullane was a general favorite, and had for * ye;.r , a considerable practice here, particularly in the diseases of children, for the treatment of which he was in great repute. Being a very old colonistj and member of various bodies, such as Oddfellows, so he will be greatly missed ; and by those who best know him, most regretted'. The corporation are about to erect a fish-market upon the waste ground at the corner of Flinders-street' and Princes Bridge, and have offered' a premium of £50 for the best plan. It is in contemplation to form local immigration depots at the various inland townships, if Government can be prevailed upon to make the necessary , grant for buildings and supervision, &z. • Of the advisability of it, there cannot be two opinions, as it would not only . prevent new. arrivals from wasting ihe r \ time and means by br nging about town, ! but facilitate their obtaining «mploy- : ; rrient; keep the labor markets of the i interior supplied, and save the expense ; and disappointment consequent upon \ hiring at a.distance — with a little ma- ! nagement, such institutions naigfat, after ; a little time, be made self-supporting. ■ Fronra case which occurred at the . i Fryers Town Police Court -on Monday, < it would seem some classes of skilled laborers <sau make their own terms with employers, or at least try to do so. . One John Kerr a free immigrant had entered into an agreement at the Depot in Melbourne, with Mr G. L. € irter, boot and shoemaker at Fryers Town, to serve him for twelve months as a maker of women's boots and slnaas by piece work, for which he was to paid wages at the rate of one hundred per cent, in advance of Eu^lish prices. " Finding he could obtain more, Kerr absconded and was brought up under the Masters and Servants' Act. The magistrate remarked that " the defendant was unworthy of sympathy, He and his family had been brought out at the public expense, and up the country partly at the cost of the Government, and his employer ; his conduct, there- ' fore, was inexcusable, and he must sentence him to one month's imprisonment in Castlemaine gaol. A witness for the defence deposed, amongst other secrets of the trade, that the material of a certain pair of boots cost nine | shillings, and workmen's wages nine j shillings also, while they would only fetch 'eighteen when sold. Magistrate : Then there is nothing left for the employer-. Witness : Oh, I've nothing to . do with -that (Laughter) — a nice specimen of what is called in the trade " a women's man '' — who being scarce in the colony are proportionally saucy upon it. The Squatting §»arty are in great dudgeon with the Ministry just now. At the result of a deputation which waited upon Mr Heales, Minister of Land and Works on' Tuesday, introduced by Messrs. Peter Snodgrass and K. E. Brodribb, M.L.A's., relative to the assessment to be paid this year, which they wished to be tipon the basis of : 1861, to which, the Minister could not agree, as the Board of Land and Works was bound by the existing (Duffy's) Act, and. therefore the rent fixed by it, must be paid the next day ; or, as all parties might not be apprised of the result of the interview in time, a few days grace might be given. With this meagre assurance, the somewhat cress-fallen deputation were fain to be content and retired. The Herald makes merry over this, and twits the pastorals with its being the *' just reward of their desertion of the late Ministry, upon this very valuation of 1 86 1 , which they would now, if permitted, thankfully fell back upon." As an illustration of what the country will gain by the Ministerial plan, one run which is assessed at, and which will have to pay, £-460 16s had been reduced by the arbitrators to £42 6s, — an exemplification of how these gentlemen played into th« squatters hands, as even in 1861 it was rated at £100. ; As a consolation for the troubles of our shepherd kings, this year's clip exceeds both in quality and quantity, any seen for years past, while the employment of both aborigines and Chinese as shearers, which is becoming very common, tends most mate • rially to keep- down expenses. In the Ararat district the celestials are in great vogue, and are described as being both civil, obedient, and. careful with the sheep, although shearing very close. The adjourned inquest upon the bodies of James Innes Murray, and Samuel Alexander Partridge, drowned by the upsetting of a coach at Blind Creek, was concluded on the 2 1st. Mr George Babbington, the en ;ineer, and Richard Irish, the contractor, were examined, but their evidence simply went to prove that the bridge had been constructed according to their instructions, and to the satisfaction of the Melton Road Board, but that by an expenditure of an additional £30, the arch might have been made.of sufficient span and altitude to carry off the recent flood, which, however, it was admitted had risen several feet higher than had been previously, known, or could have been anticipated. A verdict of "accidentally drowned, by the upsetting of Cobb's coach," but exonerating the driver from all blame, was returned. ' At the Circuit Court at Warrnambool, on Wednesday, James Murphy was tried and found guilty of the wilful murder '■' of Daniel O' Boyle, a police constable 1 there, on the 4th August last. The ! prisoner had. been let out with the ' deceased to do some work in the -Court, r bouse, and while the latter was stooping y down in the act of lighting a fire, 1 the prisoner knocked' out his brains f with a hammer, which was acciden- I

tally "lying on the window, and ' then made his escape, but was apprehended two days' after on a sta,tion at the Hopkins Kiver, when be again attempted to get away, knocking one man down wilh' a"sp'ade» but was sleepily overpowered. The murder was a most cold blooded and unprovoked one, there being' no provocation, and the' poor fellow having been struck from behind, without a chance of defence, or aven seeing his dastardly assassin. The only defence Murphy offered was that he did it in a violent passion, which all the circumstances contradicted, and the jury having found a verdict of " Wilful murder"/' the Judge (Williams), passed sentence of death, without hope of mercy. " - It* is with sorrow that I have to record fresh instances of the little value placed upon human life in this colony, intelligence having- been just received of two murders,; the first of which occurred at Warrenheip on Sunday, where two men, Edward Smith and Patrick Iliggins, had' a dispute about some cattle grazing upon Crown. Lands, to which neither party had any title, when the latter, an Irishman, struck Smith a violent blow on the head with a stick, fracturing the skull, the poor fellow remained insensible until Monday night, when he expired. lam hippy to state that the murderer is in castody, and as Mr O'Shannasay is not in office, "neither creed nor country, will enable him, as in Regan's infamous case, to cheat the gallows of its due. The other is a truly diabolical affair, but at preseat wrapped in mystery the victim, the wife of a farmer, residing at Woodstock, being found on Wednesday last brutally murdered, her threat having been cut, and the body braised and cut about with a tomahawk. From the evidence of a , laborer named Robertson, it appeared that he went to the farm to milk the cows, when he found the front of the house locked, and no signs of the deceased, for whom one or two persons also came and inquired. While engaged in feeding the pigs, the husband, David Beckinsalr, rode up and inquired if his wife was at home, and on bsing informed that she had not been seen by witness, arid that th« door was locked, he said something was wrong, and thereupon got in at the bedroom window, : when he called out to witness to burst ; in tbe door, which he did, when Beckinsale said that his wife was lying there dead and all cut to pieces, and that he ■" vvou'd not have had such a thing hap- j pen for a thousand pounds." The witness further detailed at length most extraordinary conduct on the part of the husband. Mr Rawlings, a magistrate, i and the police from Campbellfield, were \ in attendance shortly after the alarm was given, and I)r Barker, having examined the body, an inquest was held next day by Dr Candler, the District Coroner, in the house where the tragedy occurred ; ; bu4; after t ikinjj the above evidence, adjourned until Mo'uday, the 26th, Suspicion, it was said, had fallen upon a servant man engaged upon the farm, who is stated to be missing, but at present there is nothing; < to justify it — especially when the strange ! demeanor and language of Beckinsale upon discovery of the body, and afterwards in presence of neighbors in tbe house, prior to the arrival of the police, as sworn to by the witness Robertson, is taken into consideration. However, it is to be hoped that the perpetratois of this bloody deed will be brought to : justice; for truly lamentable it is to have to chronicle su«h crimes, and even discovery and punishment are but feeble amends for the stain inflicted upon our annals. Since writing the above, the missing man-servant has been arrested in Little Bourke-street, and from property found on his person there is little doubt but that he is the murderer. The husband was liberated upon bail, and attended the funeral. The prisoner's name is Barrett, but he is not known to the police, who arrested him yesterday afternoon purely from the description of his person read on parade the previous evening. He had only entered Beckinsale's service the previous Sunday, being what is called ; a "tramp.'' He stands remanded for seven days to abide the result of the inquest. In my next I will give full particulars, which the hour at which the mail goes precludes my doing today. A woman named Scott, and two men named Gedge and Cross, were sentenced to death at the Beechworth Circuit Court, yesterday, by Sir Win. Stawell, without hope of mercy, it being an aggravated case of murder. The prisoners did not display the slightest emotion. The Jockey Club Races commenced yesterday, when about 2000 persons visited the Course though, the weather was anything but fine, nor is it much better to day. The result, like the late Champion Kace, has disappointed the presumed knowing ones, all the favorites save one being defeated. Yesterday's card comprised the following events, which terminated as under: — Grand Stand Stakes— Mr John's Bosh; beating Flatcatcher and St. Patrick. Derby Stakes — Mr "W. Lang's Oriflamine, beating Banker and Glenquible ; the favorite, Hose of Denmark — being nowhere. Spring Sapling Stakes — Watson's Hyder AliJ; beating Dundee, Neptune and Freestone. Victoria Great Handicap — Dowling's. Falconer (the favorite) beating Tallyrand and Haidee, who ran a bad. third — Clysdale, Shylock ! and Tcryboy, nowhere. Handicap Hurdle Race— Sevan's Guy Fawk's; beating Rarey and St. Qiair— -Modesty, Sportsman, Paddy and Oom'pton started but were not placed. This concluded the day's proceedings. The great race of to-day is for the Victoria. Jockey Club Gup, but betting ?s shy ; in fact, there is little speculation. The celebrated Van Diemen's Land

trotting F mare Black Bess has been purchaseil'by a resident here and 'is* daily expected," • A new Subscription Bet'lius Room has been opened at Cleeland's Albion Hotel, the following gentlemen forming the committee — Messrs H.' Fisher, Qoldsborouffh.Standis>h,Yuilie, Ritchie, I Boole, and Cohen. ' - j Great complaints" are made of r the Sydney tutfites, who have not yet paid their losses on the late Champion event. His Excellency Sir Cnarles Darling is so seriously ill as to be confined to his bed >-ootn, by order of his medical attendant. As I predicted, the Keans are a failure, and an absurd statement by the Mel' o irne, correspondent of the Ballarat Star, that Mr Ambrose Kyte had offered them £7,500 to leave Coppin's Theatre and_go v to the Royal is flatly contradicted by that gentleman in to-day 7 s Herald. It was only one of the numerous attempts to create an excitement, but which have all signally failed.