INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Southland Times, Issue 1214, 22 February 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

VICTOBIA. Mr M'Lellan has been elected for Ararat, without opposition. Mr Henry Downer, merchant, Melbourne, has been killed by falling over a cliff.on the Brown Biver, Tasmania. The Tasmanian reef case has been concluded. Miller was discharged, but ~ft]Ka was committed for trial. ; The intercolonial cricket match takes place on the 24th inst. The Bank of Victoria has declared a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent. Instructions have been sent home by" the Government to place the unsold railway debentures at par, Mr O'Seilly, editor of the Belfast Banner, has been bound over to keep the peace for assaulting Mr W. Fairfax, of the • Warnuwibool Examiner. The barque Joceyln has been released from quarantine.^ • The Church of England Assembly is in session. Eesolutions have been adopted in favor of holding a General Synod at Sydney this year. The inauguration of the new Victorian flag took place on board the Nelson on the 9th inst. Dr Adler, a teacher of languages, has been acquitted on a charge of sending a challenge to Mr Benjamin, a pianist. The Southern Insurance Company has declared a dividend of 10 per c,ent., and the National Insurance Company of 8 per cent. A65 onnce nugget has been found by Scott's party at Berlin. The Bishop of Sydney has been making eloquent appeals on behalf of the Aboriginal Mission. The Opera Company appeared for the first time on the sth. Their performances have been favorably spoken of by the critics. "A great fire broke out in Fraser-street, Clunes, on the 2nd inst., by which the George Hotel, Elliott's shop, Weickhardt's . tin shop, and Finn's draper's shop were gutted, and a great deal of property destroyed. The Cornwall and Devon Hotel was also gutted, and Eankin's boot warehouse had to be demolished to prevent the fire spreading. The origin of the fire is a mystery. Phillip O'Neill, a tradesman of Sandhurst, who was charged with obtaining money under false pretences, pled guilty arid was remanded for sentence. He pleaded in extenuation that he was under the influence of drink. Mr S. O. Smith, J.P., appeared at the police-court, Sandhurst, on the 7th inst., charged with committing a rape on a young girl from the Benevolent Asylum. The girl having repeated her statement, the medical evidence was given, which showed that no offence had been committed. The defendant was therefore acquitted. The court throughout the day was crowded, and a good deal of excitement existed. • Constable M'Cormick, who has been in the police force for 14 years, was fined £10 for arresting Miss M'Lachlan at Sandhurst, on the 6th inst. The constable was supposed to be under the influence of •drink at the time. The Convent of the Sisters of Mercy at Albury was dedicated on the 6th, when there was a large attendance. The ceremonies were conducted by the Bishop of •of Bathurst, assisted by the Bishop of Maitland, and £600 were collected at the •conclusion of the sermon. The mayors of Balkrat and of Bdlarat Hast have convened two public meetings of the inhabitants, the first on the 14th, at the Alfred-hall to consider the threatened confiscation of the Ballarat town common, and the unsatisfactory replies of the Commissioner of Lands on this question when it was submitted to him ; the second on the 16th, also at the Alfred-hall, to receive, consider, and order on the report of the committee appointed to arrange for the sinking of a deep shaft to test quartz lodes at I,oooft. or more. Over 1000 land applications were registered from Warrnambool on the Bth inst, and Surveyor D'Elboux has returned to Camperdown, so that further applications must be posted. The selectors are quiet again, awaiting further development of the land regulations. Mr Graham Berry ,the lately-appointed Treasurer of the Macpherson adminstration, was returned by his former conBtituency, on the 7th inst., by a majority of 86 over his opponent, Mr Rutherford. Over 900 -votes were recorded, and the -election is said to have been the most -exciting one that has ever taken place in -j&elcmg West. The number of applicants for land at Hamilton, Belfast, Casterton, und Portland iff about 1650, and the land which will have to be surveyed, about 555 allotments, the area applied for being 29,000 acres. Only one-third of this number can be granted, as applications average 3 to each allotment.

It is not often, remarks the Advertiser, the lot of a man to remain, for twenty years in the same position in this hemisphere, but Mr Weire, the town clerk of Geelong, has just completed a score of yeara in that capacity. In Belfast it is said that " the want of expb'citinstructions is still causing uneasiness, disappointment, and confusion, in the land selectons. No one knows what land is open for selection, and pegs are being driven on lots taken under the previous act. There is no end of confusion, and the borough common was all pegged out this morning, and some of this land is worth £50 per acre. Great indignation exists amongst the ratepayers of Tambuk, owing to the formers' common being all pegged out." The Oriental Bank, View Point, Sandhurst, was the scene of considerable excitement, and on the arrival of the cake from the Extended Hustler's, weighing 1,3230z., the window .where it was exhibited was surrounded by a crowd, the Mall being for the time deserted. This is a return to old times. The Energetic Company some years ago sent in three cakes in three weeks, weighing respectively 1,3240z, 9760z, 6dwt, and 848oz lOdwt. " A disgraceful scene has just occurred in a brothel near Little Bourke-street, Melbourne, upon the occasion of a wake taking place. It appears that a woman of the town, named Nelly Horrigan, was found dead in her bed one Friday morning by a man with whom she had been cohabiting, and it was decided by her companions to «. wake " her in proper style. Accordingly, at night, the coffin containing the body was placed on trestles in the middle of the room, plenty of spirits were provided, and placed on a table at the head, with pipes and tobacco in abundance at the foot. The room was lit up with candles, till everything was as light as day, and an old woman seated at the foot of the coffin kept up an unearthly yell throughout the evening. Towards ten o'clock, about sixty thieves and prostitutes of the lowest class assembled in the room, and commenced drinking and smoking, which finally ended in a regular melee, in which the coffin was upset, and black eyes and broken noses were freely distributed ; and it was not until some of the sober neighbors interfered that the orgie was put an end to. The funeral took place on Sunday, and it was evident from the appearance of those following the hearse, that the fight had been of a very sanguinary character, for there was hardly one of the mourners that had not either a black eye or a bandaged head.