VICTORIA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 28, 11 January 1864, Page 3

VICTORIA.

I _. .- . — ■ 1 1 ■ ■ ' * fPfiOM OUE OWS COBISESPOiriEJJT.] r. ,\-.-,t Meiboxtkhb, '3lst Dec, 1863; - At length our summer is fairly set. in, the weather being 1 hot enough to satisfy a salamander, allhough, with the exception of- one day's hot wind.Lit. has been agreeably tempered by the sea; breeze, nothing could be more suitable for holiday making, but a)as other, circumstances ■ are not so propitious j the widely spread distress caused by the recent flood, having "thrown a gloom over a great portion of 'the community;; and it has been the 'general remark, that so dull a Christmas Day. has rarely been known here; but let us hope that there' really is "a good time coming," and that both ourselves and tbe good folk of Invercargill tnay^experience a "happy New Year" A wholesale destruction of stock, intended for your marketf, took place last week on : ' board a vessfel lying in the river. Fifteen hundred out of two thousand sheep, which had been shipped by ! the Game Cock,- fur Ofago, being smothered in the4iold, from the heat of the weather and bad stowage combined. Upon whom the loss will fall is not stated, ; but there must have been great negligence somewhere. The carcases were sent off at onco to the Boiling down Establishment, so that the tallow and skins will go some way to '■'mitigate the damages," as lawyers say. A most- remarkable decision affecting. auctioneers has just been delivered by.the Cuief Justice in our Supreme Court; vis:— that where a purchaser buys several consecutive lots, his nan.e must be entered by the sales clerk in full, opposite each lot ; it being held that the mere entry of "ditto " after the first, one, does not..bind the purchaser, under the " Stntute of Frauds,"— this may be a useful wrinkle to your " knights of the hammer," as the decision was upheld by the full Court, and is generally endorsed by both -tranches of the profession. Amongst the "waifs"- deposited by the -recent fl md was an enormous gum tree, eighteen feet in Hreumferenrfl, and estimated to contain at least fifty tons of firewood. which was Jeft by the waters on th-> door step of the Sir Henry Barkly Hotel, the head quarters of our aquatic sportsmen, at Richmond, and which is to the Yarro, what the " Three B?lls," afc Putney, is to the Thames. The mystery is where this '• illustrious stranger " <*arae from., as on no part of the river bank, for miles near Molhourn », is there timber of any thing like such a size. In the meantime, min- Host is pirizled to know what to do with it, though, as every one has to mount it to get. to the bar, it may in. some degree prove, as -an Irishman might say, a s? epping stone to fortune, and lias been christened the '" Sensational Forester." The sentence of death passed on John Wilson, the man convicted of unnatural crimes in the garh of a female, has bpen commuted to imprisonment for life with hsrd Iftbor — the first three years in irons. The Executive were equally divided upon the point, three being for and three against capital pun : shment, when after a protracted discussion the latter gave way. What weight the fear of unpleasant c infessions on the part of the condemned may Ivive had in this it is impossible to say. It his been a most disgusting! episode in our records, and every one is heartily glad to let the subject drop. Th» annual meeting of the Victorian Auxiliary Bilile Society was held last week at the Protestant Hall, His Excellency presiding, although it was a wet night, for which mark of C iristian zeil he was duly complimented by the Doan. The repo-t announce! that in future the operations would be separated from those of the Tra?t Society, the amalgamation not having been found to work •well. In the local finances a balance of £13 12s lOd in yxces? of expenditure was stated, but a debt of £1076 12* 9.1 remained due to the Home Board. In acknowledging the usuml vote of thanks, Sir Charles expressed bis surprise, " that while so much money was sent home every year to the Parent Society, the Victorian Branch should be suffered to remain in debt." ..A proposal has been made by (he South Australian and Tasmatiian to hold an Intercolonial Conference here nest month, to re/adjust the proportions paid by the several colonies tow-ird-> the coast lights. The model of the Burke ind Wills monument is just now being hawked from post to pillar, to 6«e which site is most eligible, the Parliament yard foaming proved unsuitable. The angle of Great Collins and Rus-ell streets was then tried nnd approved, but for s«rne inscrutable reason, that pnpient and public-spirited body, the Town Council, placed their veto upon it. and the western end, opposite the U.iiou Btnk, is now sp.tken of. Doubtless, li*e everything eke connected with this unhappy psr-cdi'ion, It will end in a'- bundle. The thing itself is an absurdity — a memorial to men who fai'ed to achieve their object — for they never really reached the seaboard — will oaly. s rve to perpetuate the memory of transactions in which money and life were recklessly squandered, • under the combined influences of jubbcry, ignorance, nnd ineiipirity. •As was antic : pa'ed, the Supreme Court has decided in favor of the validity of M"ssrs Ireland and Duffy' < pensbns, and ordered a mandamus to issue to the Treasurer for payment, so that this unlucky colony is saddled with £1000 a year each to two men, one of vrhnno barely rsrnped hanging in effigv for Ins political, and the other has frequently merited it for his moral delinquencies. How long the country will stand it with a deficient exchequer remains to be seen- • A tremendous thunderstorm visited both town and country on the Wednesday preceding Christmas Day, doing considerable damage, and in one instance occasioning loss of life. An unfortunate man vho was mowing in a field at Mr Kent's firm, Muckloford, near Castlemaine, inciuliouslv took refuge in a hollow tree, when the lightning struck it, split it to the routs, and killed him instantaneously. The deceased was only twentysix years of age. - TKe appe.l »_-a>r,sl tUe decision of Mr Jußtiee Moleswortli suspending the certificate of William Rutledge & Co, of Port F.tiry, for a year ending March IBsi, was dismissed by the Pull Court, who upheld the decree; — a ju«t decision, but very slender consolation to the swindled agriculturists of that locality, whose name is legion. Apropos of Mr Justice Molesworth, an application was made on his behalf in the divorce case, Mo'esworth v. same and Ireland, for leave to proceed for a judicial separation merely, instead of a dissolution of marriage. The Court refused to Panctinn. anv a nendment of t u e pleadings, which would debar the female respondent from proving her plea of cruelty alleged against the plaintiff. . A respectably dressed man, named Charles T. Z. M'Donald, wag brought up at the Police Court on Thursday on a warrant, issued in Dunedin, for obtaining goods under false pretences. The Bench remanded him for seven dnys to enable the prosecutor to obtain some definite evidence in support of the charge, in the absence of which they could not send him back to New Zca and, as requested. v> hat is called t' e " Great Fitzroy Anonymous Letter Case," has at length terminated, and in rather a costly manner; but in order to the better understandiag of it, I must — at the risk of being tedious — briefly recapitulate the circumstances. Imprimis — Fitzroy is by far the wealthiest and most important «>f tha municipalities adjoining the city, ana the honor of being Mayor thereof proportionally coveted. Previ us to the last election one of the councillors — Mr Simeon Cohen — received a letter — purporting to be signed by a " Thomas Smith," reflecting upon certain members of the Counci 1 , and advising Cohen to vote for Councillor John Moon Bryant as Mayor. Upon reference to the address given, it was f»und that '•Thomas Smith" was ; a~myth. upon which sus- . picion arose that Bryant' himself was the writer, •which belief was strengthened 'by comparing the handwriting in the obnoxious epistle with that of some Notices of Motion drawn up by Bryant in his official capacity. Upon being charged with it, he lustily denied all knowledge of it, and — resorting to the tu quoque — declared that " Cohen done *it himself," in which he was supported by Councillor the Hon. George Harker, although he had never seen the letter in question, but was swayed by the fact that Councillor Cohen has a fatal facility in imitating other people's caligraphy, of which he is accustomed to boast. After endless jarrings and recriminations, in and out of Council, it was at length determined to sittle it by arbitration^ each party depositing, five hundred pounds(!) to abide the result, agreeing unconditionally .to sub nit to the award and giving power to the arbitrators to call'-witnesses, and to deduct from the deposit whatever expenses they might think fit to incur ; the party adjudged to be the writer to pay everything. Accordingly Messrs Grant, Delbridsre. Rowe, Kidney,, Randall and Langton, air of FJlzroy, were duly appointed arbitrators by regular deed, commencing the investigation of Mm 'important matter' on the 3rd, and delivering their award on the 21th— by way, no doubt, of a pleasing appetiser for the loser'a Christinas dinner. After examining a bort of experts, and protracting theit sittings night after .night— at the 1

pleasant figure of 7s"6d an hour each-^they arrived'" at tne conclusion that'tho, fatal' document was -wr-tten by ..Mr Bryant, and- that. the. expense.-of coming to that — to him very undesirable conclusion—was the trifling sum pfr £B9l 13s 6d;-which: they had deducted froni his 'deposit, in terms of; the' Arbitration Bondi--~-A8 'the old* woman — - -whose son was hanged for forgery — said, "This comes of larmri-to'wrilei? - tTnfortunately f )r' Councillor Bryant — like all illiterate men — who can only: just handle -the -pen, apiek being more familiar,' his style 'ia sui generis, and its 'peculiarities may defy even the imitative genius of "Simmy Cohen-".,- Poor I ;. devil, his situation is pitablc enough, convicted of wholesale lying, to say nothing of the disreputable dodge of writing such a letter, and then trying to father it upon another, > nd. to .part, with nearly four hundred of. his much lovedpounds. Such a Christ mas box few eyer had, and to ' pile up his agony," the papers ruthlessly call upon the ratepayers to expel him from the Council as a disgrace to that body. All this loss of money and reputation is earned in an underhand endeavor to secure a vote, towards placing . him in. a position, where he would only have exposed himself, upon the principle of the Spanish proverb that the" higher the ape climbs, the more he shows the bareness of his buttocks." No greater farce has been produced here for some time, but whether the wisdom of this "elegant let-ter-writer," or the moderation of the arbitrators is striking, I leave to the julgmenfc of innumerable and intelligent readers. Clu-istmas week has not proved very auspicious to Mr G. ('. Lever, M.L.A., one of the proprietors of the Herald, his house being robbed on Saturday night of various articles of valuable jewellery, and on Sunday afternoon his horse ' Inkerman,' was stolen from the office door iu Great Bourkc-street. In both cases he will ultimately be all right, the police having arrested the thief with the spoil ou ■ bis person, and the nag having turned up in the possession of a lunatic named Ephraim Gray, who had also indulged his equestrian propensities at the expense of T. H. Power, Esq, M.1..C, whose steed he had in like manner borrowed. Truly Melbourne is no thieves paradise, as in the above case, the robbery was committed late ou Saturday night, and on Monday the detectives had arrested the principal, one John Owens, a' d two receivers, Edwa.-d Baxter, and W. Harry Waite, before they had time to make away with the plunder ; they were brought up on Tuesday, and remanded tor a week. How they get their information is astonishing, but certainly our detective forci.', though some of its members now and then overstep the bounds, is equal to the palmiest days of " B->w-street," prior to the introduction of the new police. A Ballurat firm, Robinson, Tlioinas and Co, has obtained the contract for the locomotives for the New Zealand railway, whf reat the Star crows not a little, and with reason, as it is a pregnant proof j of their progress, when they can take the shine out of both Melbourne and Sydney, whose foundries date from a period when Ballarat was not existence. It is proposed that the Metropolitan and Suburbau C rps shall entertain the up-country volunteers, after the parade to-morrow, the number to be restricted to twenty from each corpa, officers included, space not admitting of an extension. The 8.1 SN. steamship Australian, arrived from Rmgi ion on the 26th, with 328 of the 68th Kegiment. to reinforce General Cameron. She only remains to take in 400 tons of cod, and ha* probably sailed while I write this, although to late for the fighting; her arrival will have a good moral effect, if the Maories should entd tain any doubt as to the British authorities being in earnest this tune, though no doubt, they knew she was coming as well as we did. What a pity some of these Angh-Maori traitors who supply information, cannot be discovered, and hai.geil in terror e m Boxing Day fell o~i a very inconvenient one for business people — it being impossible to close retail places on a S iturday — consequently, beyond the adornment of the various public houses with the never greens of our suburban localities, the town did not exhibit much outward difference, except that the streets were comparatively e;npty, as might be expected. Tae trains, steamers, arid every available vehicle, being thronged with plea-sure-seekers, who evidently thought that " Distance lends enchantment to the view, 1 ' some whirling away to Mallam and King's mon-tor picnic at Sanbury, others to the remotest point of Brighton — the one ijreat object bein<j, apparently, fo^fjet- as far us possible from the sight or sound ot business ; notwithstanding 1 , that favorite spot — Studley Park — hud its crowds of visitors; nor is there a prettier spot to bo found far or near, while its proximity to town rendering it a comparatively inexpensive trip, suited those whose moans were more limited than their appetite for enjoyment. The day passed off without any casualty, and the cases of intoxication were few aud far between ; what the comparative shares of poverty, or principle were in producing this result, everyone must determine for himself. In the evening the various places of amusement were thronged, with the exception of the Haymarket. The cr.nvd awaiting admission to the Royal previous to the opening o f the doors, r.-ached completely across Great B mrke Street, while the rival house, over the way, was unnoticed — a sight which would have made Coppin hang himself, had that most liberal and disinterested of theatrical managers been there to witness it. Even Edgar Ray's peepshow attracted a few, who, in the hilarity of the moment, charitably refrained frum his>innr his penny whistle solos, and pointless attempts to illustrate Chevalier's spirited drawings. The bill of fare at the Koyal, commenced with the eo edietta of a " Conjugal Lesson," by Mr and Mrs Hi-ir, which being short, was listened to with tolerable patience, after which the curtain rose on ihe burlesque of " Lnlla Rfokh," ns an introduction to the pantomime, supported by the whole strength of the company, and the Leopold and Edouin families, harlequin, clown, pantaloon, &c., bein^ in duplicate. The whole affair was g>r;;eousiy got up, and inimitably played, and t!oe« credit to Barry SulH can's taste and judgment. The result repaid him well ; on the first night, even standing room was unattainable at an j early hour, nor has the attraction decreased. Some . idea of tbe munajrer's spirit ana resouz-oes may be I gathered frum the fact that, inclusive of supernumaries, there are no fewer than one hundred and eighty persons on the pay list of this. Thealre. The Haymarket, with singular want cf judgment, began with the hacknied opera of Cinderella, supported by only the Howsons and Madame Carandini, the pantomimic action being dovetailed on to the last scene, a beggarly entertainment, which fully accounted for the thinness of the benches. Report attributes this want of usual display to tightness in the managerial chest — most assuredly offering his patrons such meagre fare is not the way t*> cure it. Had Charles KeHncome bae'e io mumble and mouth thro' the Koyal Dane, the attraction could not have been less ; but, thank Heaven, we have a reasonable respite from that deliberate assassin of the " Bard of Avon" — enough of theatricals for the present* Thebodvof a man named William Rankin, a : native of Dublin, was wasSiet ashore at S mdridga on Sunday afternoon. Ho was steward of t"h° Newcastle brig Rose of Australia, and is supposed to have fallen overboard on Christmas Eve while crossing from the pier lo the vessel. The match bptween tbe Sydney Albert Cricket Club and the Melbourne Club began on Saturday, and terminated it an early hour on Tuesday, in the total and disgraceful defeat of the Victorians in one innings, with -four runs to spare. This signal victory for the Sydneyites is attributable to two causes, first, the fact that the Albert Club comprises the pick of of New South Wales, who have been carefully coached up by Lawrence, the English player, whose services they retained when the English Eleven were here two years ago, and who has been instructing them ever since, and moreover played for them, scoring 32 runs; secondly, the Melbourne Club is an eminently aristocratic body, and no amount of skill in the game will secure an applicant against being I lackballed ; as a consequence, many of pur finest players distain to encounter the ordeal, and the Melbourne Club Eleven are the genteelest of muffs, who give as little trouble as possible to their antagonists, particularly after lunch, to which, as on this occasion, they generally devote about an hour and a half in the middle of the game. At the finish, the numbers sco< d thus : — Albert Club, 196 ; Melbourne Club, Ist innings, 110, second innings, 82; total, 192. Ido not suppose that your readers feel much interest in the details, but I enclose the particulars in case you should feel inclined to insert them. With his usual greed, George Marshall overreached himself by charging two shillings to the Grand Stand the first day, which he was glad enough though to reduce on Monday by one half. The English match commences tomorrow, and visitors are pouring in from all quarters from the country. The hote [keepers will reap a rare harvest, beds being already at a premium . A man was found on Sunday morning, at Penshurst, with bis throat cut from ear to ear, having committed suicide from religious frenzy. At one time, he - declared ' himself to be Antichrist — at another time, Jesus Christ— then that his soul was lost. — that he had- broken Jacob's ladder, and thereby broken oB all communication between heaven and earth, and that he had got to bear the

." of 'all '"th'e'peopie."" His"^ friends were about i placing him under control;-.'; when- heV disappeared :. oh the. Saturday nightj and was found as described. The apprehension of L, % nan, alias Nelson, the .: -forger of the notes" of the Baiiilt of N«*w South j '; Wales, is entirely due to ; the integrity of Mr •- -Trciedel, of « Collins street; wb<Vw'hea; ; 'applied to ' , by :the prisoner to " engrave the plate, at " cnee r informed the police, by whose " instructions he 1 • executed the or'der; a detective being concealed in ; the" shop during the various interviews. He i finally delivered him the plate, with' the printed ( • copies of the. notes, upon leaving with which he i was immediately arrested;- before he had "time to even open the parcel, much leas to put any into : circulation, so that the alarm of the • Bank was . groundless; but had Mr Troedel been less con-" T scientious, the country districts would have been flooded with forgeries. ; • The -first stone of a new Episcopal church in . Hoddle street, Collingwood, to be called St. . Phillip's, was laid by His Excellency ou Tuesday, and being his first visit to that locality, an address i was presented to him on the boundary of the borough* 'after which a procession was formed,' i of the burlesque of which some idea may be formsd from the fact that five members of the Fire Brigad«, in costume, and perched in a butcher's cart, with hi). name conspicuously displayed, made a leading feature ; while the tent on the ground, instead of being a respectable marquee, was a canvas dog 'kennel about three feet wide, in which by no possibility could any but a d varf have stood upright. What Sir Charles thought, heaven i knows; but the whole affair was a disgrace to the place, and nothing but the appearance of the Dean and local clergy in their canonicals made it even passably decent. Who was to blauae, of course, no one knows, any more than where the i money is to come from to erect the building, the design of which was exhibited on the ground, and i is very handsome, but . will cost a round sum. to carry out. Tnree of the bodies of parties drowned in the late flood have been recovered this week — William Bustle, at East Gollingwood; John Nicholson, at Princes Bridge; and Elizabeth B. Murray, the little girl, in King street. A body was also found embedded in the sand near Hawthorn Bridge, which appeared to have been washed down s»me distance; at present it has not been identified. At a meeting of the creditors of Lyons, Harris and Cj, held at the Criterion Hotel on Tuesday, I it was resolved by a majority of those present to | accept a composition of eight shillings in the pound. I A poor man, named William Mullins, was killed by the heat on the 22nd, while engaged in hay- j making at Paacoevale. James Robinson, waiter at the Sydney Hotel, expired suddenly, on the 24th, from alcoholic • poisoning, the genteel name for hard spirit driuk- ! ing. William Thomas Trew, a young man of 22, poisoned himself with corrosive sublimate, at St. Kilda on the 23rd, for no assignable reason, beiug < perfectly rational at the tineWilliam Neile, aged 46, a patient in Yarra Bend, died on the same day from disease of the ! brain. John Bukker, a seaman belonging to a Dutch ship, was found floating in the Bay on Saturday, having fallen overboard about ten days previously, i This closes my list of casualties, n.>r should I trouble you with them, but that it is possible from the constant an i increasing communication, they may have relatives in your quarter. j Our G -rman feilow-citizeis had a grand Gym- j nastic Festival at Cremorne on Monday, followed j by a Bill and Supper at the Exhibition Buil.ling on Taesday evening. Palegmatic as the Teuton is reputed to be, he knows right well how to enjoy himself, and gives a hearty welcome to any otner country who may choose to participated. One piece «f common sensu was displayed, which deserves imitation. In the Ball Room all the gentlemen were attired in light dresses with gaily colored cravats, which at once added to the liveliness of the scene aud the comfort of the dancers. Strange to say, no formal meeting has yet been called by the Mayor for the relief of the sufferers by the Flood, but as his brethren of Kew, Hawthorn and Richmond ure to meet him iu Council on Monday at the Council, it is proba lie some steps will be taken, but the collection ought t • have been made ahd distributed this j-ear. Bis dat qui cito dat. Mr Uryant has had the unexpected decency to anticipate any hostile movement, and h.is seat in his resignation, and a meeting of Council is convened lo take it into consideration. Aquirius seems delcriniued not to let 1833 expire without an additional mark of his attention, as lust night we were visited with a heavy thunderstorm and ra n in torrents, which consinued for some hours, and from the look of to-day it is no means improbable that the New Yoar will come in with wet, to the confusion of Her Majesty's lieges in general, and George Marshall in particular. This person is likely to get into troubled waters, having fenced in a portion of the Public Domain, to ex lude any gratis view of the G real M itch. The Argus o£ this morning touches upon the possibility of the people pulling it down. " A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse," and I fully expect an emeute unless it is removed, as it is a palpably unwarrantable encroaenment of this avaricious entrepreneur. The crew o! the Amazon, wrecked at Cape Patterson, have arrived in the Victoria, which was despatched by the Government to their rescue. Intelligence of their forlorn conditon was first brought to Melbourne by a son of Mr Hea'es, wh<> is on a station at Cape Liptrap, and to whose iiciivity and inleUigeuce tiie highest praise is due. Mail time approaches, so wishing you thumping luck through 1864 t'aat is to be, I must close. Vale.