VICTORIA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 29, 13 January 1864, Page 5 (Supplement)

VICTORIA.

(from otjb own corekspondbnt.) < 6th Jan., 1864. Monday witnessed the arrival in Hobgon's Bay of a splendid, addition to the Inter-Colonial Steam Fleet, trading ' between this .port and your Islands, in the^Otago, screw steamer, Captain W. /§muh, a beautiful vessel of G45 tons, * which has made the run in little over fifty^-one days, bringing English news to the 6th November. • This exceeds the famoud ■■voyage' of tne Simla, hitherto the quickest on/record, by seven hours, the. Otago has no regular file of newspapers on board, and her intelligence is, therefore, fragmentary. One item in the home portion, is startling enough-- -the fact that the. Premier, the ever green and jocund Palmerston, jis mirabile dtctu, co-respondent with ; a clergyman's wife ! ! in an action for divorce. Familiar as all the word is with the prenatural activity, and almost youthful Habits of this wonderful Octogenarian, one was hardly prepared for such an escapade, and in the absence of legal proof, T* cannot but think that it will turn out a political trap, set to ruin old " Pam," if possible, in the game "'way that the Tory conspiracy was hatched against Lord Melbourne, in connexion with the Hon. Mrs. Norton, upon which occasion the evi.ience given bj her husband and his domestics, was . of so incredibly disgusting a nature that the jury refused to credit it, and unhesitatiugly returned a verdict for the defendant. Should it turn out, : however, that the political Samson has ;• laid his head in the lap of this clerical Delilah, it will be a most melancholy conclusion to so long and illustrious a career, involving, as it must do, total ! loss of position, "Adultery neighing at his neighbor's door," in high places, not being likely to find toleration in Victoria's Court, though it flourished like ; a bay tree in that of her uncle, the j fourth George. His Lordship will, therefore, if guilty, be politically executed, and decidedly without " benefit • of clergy." : _ The case of John F. Burnside, the Mate agent of the Australasiau Alliance f Insurance Company, at Scarsdale, -charged with embezzlement, has resulted in his committal for trial, under the sth Section of the *' Punishment of Frauds Act,'' which j was passed last Session, being the first : instance in which it has been brought j into operation. On the prisoner's part it was. contended^ Lhat it W2S a mere] civil debt, as he was not an officer of ;the company, but had forwarded his \ accounts as agent. On the other side lit was urged that his sending them and ; promisiug to call and settle, was merely ■& bliud to eaable him to escape to New .Zealand, svliich he was in the act of .-doing when apprehended, in itself au -.admission of criminality. The Bench \ overruled the defence, aud sent the case for trial under the new Act as • above. At last. a meeting for the relief of : ' the sufferers by the recent Flood has ■ been held, the Mayor presiding at the ■ Mechanics' Institute at a gathering ■ held for that purpose on the last day of ■ the year; but I regret for the credit of I our city to be obliged to record that the j number present was most disgracefully ■ ''■mall. How to account ibr it I know m not, as on the occasion of the Irish j relief and Lancashire funds, the greatest ■ interest was evinced by all classes, and 9 both money and men were abundant. I The truth.., is, that the movement is j weeks too late.; people's sympathies m seem to have subsided in the same ratio ft-as the waters, although the forlorn M appearance of the particular localities • devastated is enough to touch the most 9 selfish heart. Dr. Cairns, who was ■ the principal speaker, after alluding to M the large amount which would probably She required to afford anything like m adequate relief, as. well as the difficulty Jin ascertaining the bonajides.oi appliB cations for relief, suggested the fornia|«tion of a large committee, comprising Sail denominations, out of which a small ■Eub-committee should be selected to do ■the work, to meet twice a week in the ■Town Hall. This was seconded by ■MrThomas Dickson and the Rev. George ■Mackie, the latter expressing his satis- ■ faction that this course was adopted Binstead of appealing to Parliament for ■■relief. 'The -.following gentlemen were ■■then appointed to act as a central comHniittee, to communicate with the local IjHones :— The present and late ■■Mayor's of Melbourne, the Mayors of IwCollingwopd, Richmond, Hotham, ■■Emerald Hill, Sandridge, Kew, HawHthorn, Prahran and St. Kilda. The ■Bellowing clerical representatives : — IBThe Dean (Episcopalian), Dr. Cairns ■■(Presbyterian); Rev. J. C. Symons mWesleyan), Rev. J. C. M 'Michael ■■Congregational); Rev. James Taylor ■■Baptist), and Messrs O'Shanassy, ■Bj'firien, : Fitzgibbon (Town Clerk), Wragge, and; Bayles, H. Iftenty, E. P. S. Sturt (Police. Magisifcate), Hackett (Police Magistrate), ■Venn, Jl'Bean, Sellar, J. : Balfour, Jen■MJiPgg, arid Thomas Dickson ; Treasurer, Bf[r!J. Cunningham; (National Bank), ■■Tpd Mr J. Harcourt, Secretary. The Secretary,' Mr K'Culloch, was to been: present, but official duties ■■Prevented him. TJbe^sale ot leases for certain runs, Bfctety fqrming.part of the Redbank© ■Bon, took place according, to adv^rtise^i the roont)8 of Messrs Frazer and IVphen, on'the :31sti ;blt^ Prior to^the ■■action taking -place, but after the con-

ditions of sale had been read, Mr Crisp, of the firm of Brodribb, Crisp, and Lewis, Solicitors," of 57, ChanceryLan^, read a protest on behalf of the owners and licensees from ' the- Crown of the adjacent runs* against the sale of leases of the land advertised under the name of Lamplough A, Lamplough B, Glendhu, and Redbarik, upon the ground that it formed part of the said runs, having reverted to them, as such occupiers ion the reduction of the Comjnons, and that the Board had no power to dispose of such land ; further, that such country was now in their occupation, aud that, under advice, they would impound any cattle or stock placed thereon without their authority, as well as seek redress for any other damages which they might sustain by reason of any adverse licensee disturbing them in their occupation witfi. an allusion to the lamentable consequences which had arisen from two licenses having been granted for one run (alluding to the. Chillington case, in which Leonard Mason shot the other party's stockkeeper dead, for which he was sentenced to, death, and has been only recently liberated from Pentridge on condition of leaving the colony for ever). Mr Skene, the Government Surveyor, then announced that Government would put the purchasers into possession of the runs, that Messrs Brodribb's clients had no right nor possession since February, 1861, that if in possession, they were illegally so, and steps would be taken to remove them and secure the purchasers, who would be recognised as the legal occupants. The biddings then proceeded, and resulted as follows: — Lot I — Morrison's. Area, 853 a 2r 25p. Rent, Ll2 per annum, District of Grant. Period of occupation, to the olst December, 1864. LI, G. B. and J.Evans. Lot 2 — Lamplough A. Area 3580 acres. Rent, LSO per annum District of Castlemaine. Period of occupation, to the 31st December, 1870. L 75, Ambrose Bowles. Lot 3—Lamplough B. Area, 5.500 acres. Rent, LBS per annum. Period of occupation, to the 3 1st December, 1870. LI 51, Daniel Noonan. Lot 4 — Glendhu. Area, 2800 acres. Rent, L2B per annum. District of East Wimmera. Period of occupation, to the 3 1st December, 1870. L9l, A. B. and J. White. Lo'. 5— R-dbank. Area, 17000 rcres. Rent, L 140 per annum. District of East Wimmera. Period of occupation, to the 31st December, 1870 LI O2O, Hugh Parker. Lot 6—Wooragee A. Area, 4900 acres. Rent, L4O per animrn. Period of occupation, to the 3lst December, 1870. L 5, Caleb Anderson. Thi3 procedure of the Government has struck dismay into the squatting ranks, and dire are the threats of reprisals, when Parliament meet ; in the meantime Ministers are perfectly undismayed, and have announced runs up to 3 1st December, 1870, to come off on the loth instant, and intend to throw others into the market without loss of time, beyond that necessary for surveys, &c. — whether the purchase money received a-i<J the rent reserved. is a fair equivalent for a seven years alienation of these lands, is a question; but at any rate it is more than the exchequer would have received under the old squatting system. The Fifzroy Council finished up the old year qnite in the " happy family " style — the famous "award " was ordered to be placed upon the minutes. Mr Bryant's resignation was accepted, and a new election- fixed for the 18th, after which Counci lors Cohen and Harker came out a la " Peachum and Lockil," declaring each other to be the very embodiment of honor and veracity, and deploring the warmth of disposition which had led them for a moment to insinuate anything to the contrary, after which affecting scene, the council dissolved, sot into tears, but the adjoining hostelry, where the new year found them imbibing copiously and swearing eternal friendship. Despite the predictions of Mr S ixby and the other prophets, who seem to have taken up the dropped mantle of Murphy, of "Weather Eye Almanac" notoriety, the first dawn of 1864 was upon as beautiful a day as the most ardent pleasure seeker could desire, the rays of an unclouded sun being delightfully tempered by a delicious breeze from the south, which continued to blow steadily until long after dark. It was the more agreeable, as the unsettled state of the atmosphere for a day Or two previous, indeed up to late the night before, had excited great j misgivings amongst the thousands whose New Year's holiday was in jeopardy ; no sooner, however, had "Sol" mounted the horizon, than the hum of preparation was heard in all directions. Every available vehicle was in requisition, and the continuous stream, of equipages of every description, which covered the different roads out of town, was enough to send all the tollgate-keepers delirious with joy, and this, too, irrespective of the crowds who thronged the railway stations, and the hundreds, or indeed thousands, who remained in town to witness the review and great cricket event, which commenced that, morning. The first and, in every point of view, the most important event of the day, was the Volunteer Review, which took place on a piece of ground between Emerald Hill and the Bay ; the various corps having arrived, and been formed into eight battalions by 10 o'clock, it being intended to terminate the proceedings as early 7 as possible to enable the men to attend to other and more pleasant engagements. His Excellency was to have been present, but was prevented by indisposition, to which he seems very prone, though of what mature does not transpire. Miss' Darlingj with, other members of the'famiiyj was on the ground in the

vice-regal carriage during the evolutions. Precisely at half-past ten, Brigadier-General Chute arrived, accompanied by his staff and escorted by a detachment of the Prince of Wales Light Horse, and proceeded to put the troops through various movements, all of which were performed in a manner to call forth his warmest encomiums, expressing himself astonished at the high standard of proficiency to which they had attained in so short a time. The number of volunteers on the grouud was 2549, being a larger number than has " attended any former review ; and the spectators could not have been leas than 8000. Altogether, looking at the efficiency of the men, and the thorough good feeling which existed between the different corps, and both officers and privates, it was a spectacle of which any genuine Victorian might be proud, and afforded a pretty good inkling of what any invader might expect, who should be rash enough to come to close quarters. The battalions were formed as follows : — No. 1, Naval Brigade ; 2, first battalion Artillery ; 3, second battalion Artillery ; 4, Engineers, Pentridge, and East Collingwpod Rifles ; 5, Carlton, Prahan, South Yarra, Melbourne, and North Melbourne Rifles; 6, Collingwood, Brighton, and Richmond Rifles ; 7, Castlemaine, and Bendigo Rifles ; 8, Ballarat Bifies. There being no guns on the ground, firing was dispensed with, as also the country mounted corps, it being thought needless to put the members to the trouble and expense of bringing their horses down. The next encampment was announced to take place at Sunburv. After the business was concluded, the up-country corps were entertained to lunch, at the Exhibition Building by the metropolitan corps, the building was tastefully ornamented with evergreens, and the banquet prepared in first-rate style by Mallan and King, covers being laid for 1,200. Upwards of one thousand satdown, Gensral Chute occupying, the chair, supported on the right by Colonel Andi rsou, Hon. Messrs Verdonand Mervey, Lieutenant-Colonel Rede, Captains Stewart, Fullarton, and Snee ; and on the left by' Lieutenant Wallace, Major Hall, Captain Irving, and Lieutenant-Coionel Bull. The Chairman having proposed the health of Her Majesty, was compelled by a previous engagement to retire, and after various other toasts, including the health of the up-country corps on whose behalf Lieutenant-Colonial Rede returned thanks, the company broke up, highly gratified with the finish to the day's fatigues.

A late Adelaide journal records a casualty of so singularly paiuful a nature, as to be a' most unequalled in the anuals of colonial misfortune. The mail conveyance to the township of Clare was accidentally upset near a village called Auburn, and falling on the driver, a man" narn.^ «.»„>. — ur- . broke his leg in two places. He had only recently been married to a young girl of seventeen, who hearing of his misfortune, persuaded

a man named Curran who was returning from Clare to Auburn, to drive her thither, that she might attend to her husband personally, when, melancholy to relate, the driver Upset the cart over a stump, and the poor wife was thrown out and killed upon rhe spot — a terrible instance of the uncertainty of all things human.

An accident, which might have involved serious loss of life, occurred at half- past two o'clock on Sunday morning, by the tall of the greater portion of a house situate in Queen-street, known as the Hotel de France, kept by Monsieur ) Debeaux, and which at the time was fully occupied by guests from the country. The premises, it appears, were known to be in a dangerous state, various repairs having been made, and contracts for further ones having been taken at the time on behalf of the Union Bank, who held the property as a security. Providentially, the greater portion of the inmates were sleeping in the half which remained standing, the only persons in the other beini; a newly married couple and a single female, who were miraculously preserved from injury by the rafters and partition boards forming an arch over them, under the protection of which they escaped into the street almost in a state of nudity, and half choked with lime and dust. A survey has been held, and it has been determined to pull down the whole building as well as the adjoining one — a small one-story shop, tenanted by a bootmaker. The principal sufferer is the landlord, whose stock and furniture is nearly destroyed, and whose business must naturally be injured by removal ; in addition to which, some premises which he bad but recently purchased were swept away by the flood — a singular combination of misfortune against which no prudence could guard. One good has, however, resulted from this untoward event — that of awakening our "City Surveyor to some sense of his duties, in condemning the numerous dangerous buildings which exist in Melbourne, amongst the more prominent of which is tue Globe Hotel, in S*vanstonstreet, the property of Mr Robert Bennett, M.li.A., and late Mayor, and which has not been erected many years. It is scarcely credible that such a mere shell — the front being Only two bricks thick — should have been permitted, but when Aldermen build, civic eyes are blind. As a proof of its stability, the fact that ifc has remained unstoccoed since its completion, from inability to bear the additional weight, speaks volumes, notwithstat ding which, had not this Queen-street catastrophe taken place, no notice would have been taken, and the whole four stories would probably have come down with a run, very shortly. Mr Bennett having left both the Council and the colony, to become a squatter in New South Wales* there is no longer any official reason

why this lofty but rotten edifice should be left tp ..endanger -either the lives of its inmates or the public, which fully accounts for its present proscription — at least/to those conversant with Corporation intrigues. ..■ In addition to scab and fluke, our sheep appear just now to be under an evil star. It was only the other day, so many were smothered in the Gamecock, «» route for Dunedin, and now, on New Year's Day, a flock got upon the Hue i between Cowie's Creek and West Geelong, when the train from Melbourne ran into them, killing nearly eighty, some, of the poor animals being so jammed beneath the. engine that they had to be literally " cut into chops '" before it could be cleared, an operation whichj however, did not occupy many minutes. • The body of a man .named William Jeffries, a grocer at Richmond, was found on Sunday morning, in the Yarra, entangled with the anchor of a vessel lying at the Australian Wharf. The unfortunate man had been perfectly sober in his habits for some months, but had commenced drinking a week prior to Christmas Day, and was suffering fioui delirium tremens. On the 29th, having partially recovered, he left home to make some purchases at the Eastern Market, and was never afterwards seen alive. An inquest was held, and a verdict of suicide, while under the above influence, returned. During a recent Corporate jollification at Geelong, some of the civic magnates under the exhilarating influence of the grape, proposed that the lease of a certain " Osborne Mouse,'' fronting the Bay, should be purchased, and presented to Sir Charles Darling, as a summer's residence, and it was agreed that a meeting should be held to make arrangements for that purpose, on an early day named ; but upon tha time arriving, not one of these liberal purveyors of " Gubernatorial marine villas" put in an appearance, and, as the Advertiser remarked, '' the whole affair ended in moonshine," where, the Melbourne Herald, sarcastically remarks, " they might have said it began." The partnership lately existing between Mr Alexander i'raser and Mr Edward Cohen, M.L.A.'s, as auctioneers, having expired on the 31st by the effluxion of time, Mr Cohen retires from the firm, and the business will henceforth be carried on by Messrs Alex. Fraser, William Hammill, and Henry C. and A. W. Fraser, under the name and style of Kraser & Co. The Sydney cricketers left here on Monday by the City of Melbourne, amidst the greatest demonstrations of good-will from some hundreds of persons who attended to bid them farewell. Their very gentlemanly deportment — both in and out of the fie'd — having rendered them deservedly popular, and gone far to allay the angry feeling exist""^r Kor ff MrrsUMKt, MT«VO S(V«''r^ W '|l!es fur the discourteous, and indeed brutal treatment experienced by our people up there. But now the hatchet is buried, and the influence of our late visitors will be powei fully exerted on the next occasion to prevent any recurrence of " Cabbage- Tree mobbiam," as tliey expressed themselves only too anxious to rave the opportunity of returning the courtesy extended to them here. The unfortunate Alpacas being in danger of dying from pure inanition, have been removed to the station of Mr R. D. Starling, known as Breadalbane. Where the diffieully existed in stall feeding so small a number of animals does not appear, and the ap-ithy displayed both by Government aud the squatters, with regard to this valuable addition to our sto«k, is utterly inexplicable, particularly in the face of the fact that any future supply is irrevocably stopped. The Government Printing Office is suffering under a plethora of ministerial bills, so that wj are likely to have plenty of crude legislation ; in fact, our usual rule is that no sooner has an Act received the lloyal assent and is attempted to be put into operation, than it is discovered that it will take two others at least to be brought in to explain its meaning, as witness the Municipalities Act, upon the construction of which no tfvo lawyers agree, and, ju consequeuce, some of these bodies have acted upon it, while others are going on under the old system, aleast so far as the election of Mayor and Councillors is concerned. It is rumored in the opposition camp, that the Ministry intend bringing in an ultra liberal Land Bill, to which the conservative portion have assented, upon the tacit understanding that it shall be thrown out iv the Upper House — this is of course a mere canard, but the most ardent supporters of the present order of things, cannot divine what sort of a measure can possibly be framed to unite such discordant elements as exist upon this subject in the Cabinet, — my i wn opinion is that the subject will be shelved for this Session; that other and more piessing measures, together with the Estimates and providing for the deficiency in revenue, will occupy the whole of the remaining time, aud the land question left to the wisdom of the new Parliament. Bendigo has been visited with a severe flood, caused by a terrific fall of rain and hail, doing extensive damage and nearly causing loss of life. The Sbeepwash, Emu, and Axe creeks were swollen to the dimensions of rivers ; on the latter, Costello's Bfidge Hotel was nearly washed away,. Mrs. (Jostello, her three children and -.servant narrowly escaping with their Jives. Crops of every description were swept away^ and the hail is described as being rough pieces of ice, equal in size to a small hen's egg, so much so that a young man had his hands severely lacerated while protecting his head with them. Complaints were made that the

laborers on the; railway were docked in a day's . wages .for Christmas'Day ;" if true, this is contemptible economy, and like all attempts at Government retrenchment, begins at the wrong end— a queer way to make the working man merry, by stopping his beer and tobacco. Precisely at six o'clock yesterday the great match between the Cricketers of England and Twenty-two Victorians was brought to a conclusion, . the game being declared a drawn ono, time not admitting of its being played out, and the Englishmen having eight runs to get to tie the Colonials. As: might have been expected, the spectators were disgusted at this result, and cries of " play it out " echoed through the field, but the umpires were inexorable, no doubt from a wish to spare the Victorians a defeat, which would have been inevitable, as the Britishers had seven wickets to go down. During the whole four days the weather was most propitious, and nothing could exceed the beauty of the scene, the ground being crowded with thousands each day, notwithstanding the high charge of half-a--crown made for admission —in fact, Melbourne was emptied every day after twelve o'clock, the few persons to be seen in the streets looking a most melancholy lot of individuals, trying to do business under difficulties, but in vain, until this morning, when matters will relapse into a more steady course. The receipts on the ground were something enormous, and will amply defiay all the expenses of the Eleven both here and back, leaving all the other matches to be played, on the credit side of the led^ei. To describe the play of these Champions of the world would exhaust your columns and the patience of your readers. It was perfection itself; and when it is considered that the field consisted of a double number — two men at every j oint — the numbers achieved by the English batstnen were marvellous. Mr Grace, from whom so much was expected, was unable to do much, suffering from a severe whitlow on one of his hands, which, of course, materially interfered with his play Their bowling and fielding was equally wonderful, and must be seen to be appreciated. A* you will see by the scores which I append, our men made a good stand, the bowling of Bryant and Costick being quite equal to their antagonists. It is expected that there will be another match between England and Victoria before the Eleven return home, in which case a stronger team will m^et them, as our best man — T. W. Wills— has arrived from Queensland, and wuu'ui have played in this match but. for the Rockhampton steamer. He is, however, to appear iv the Ballaarat T.venty-two, when he will give our English friends a taste of his quality. The match with the Bendigo Twenty-two commences to-morrow, uallaarat on. cue ilth, Ararat on the 14th, and Maryborough on the 20th, so that if practice makes perfect the p]leven will be in first rate form when they visit you. They will also, I believe, visit Sydney, Marshall's love of the lucre out-weighing his auimosity in that quarter. The only drawback to the meeting has been the continued illness of the Governor, who was unable to show on either day, which must have been an equal disappointment to him, as he is a right jolly old fellow, and loves to enjoy himself, and has no responsibility to kill him with anxiety like poor Sir Charles Hotharn.