INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Southland Times, Issue 1279, 15 July 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

m j VICTORIA. ! The Son. J. M. Grant has resigned his seatin' •the Legislative Assembly, and. retires from polh tical life. It is proposed by the Government to, invest £7000 in debentures for the benefit .of. Mr Grant's wife and family. A complimentary dinner, at which the Mayor of Melbourne presided, was given to the members of the Intercolonial Conference on the evening of the Ist inst. There was nothing of importance in the postprandial speeches. A very extensive -fire took place in Melbourne on the morning of the sthv It commenced at Martin's gift depot, Bourke-street, east, and extended both right and left. The Varieties, the premises on either side, Garten's stables, and a number of buildings at the back, were all destroyed." Some 22 horses, and a large number of buggies, &3., were burned, the total loss being estimated at £25,000. Several narrow escapes by those living on _the premises are reported, one youn£i woman being seriously injured. The Ministerial scheme for the abolition of State-aid to religion has secured the necessary majority in the Upper House. 1 Mr George Foord, analytical chemist, reports upon Taranaki iron sand very: favorably.. He j also states that Atkinson's process Was successful j iv turning out highly satisfactory produce at Langlands' foundry. William Hilton Daniell, a clerk in the Oriental Bank, has been committed for trial on a charge of embezzling £1000, the property of the bank. The Champion Race . between Hewitt and 1 Harris, was won easily by the former — time, 301 seconds. The, time is disputed. A wager has been made since that Hewitt will not- run a distance of 300 yards in 31 seconds. The Kob-I-Noor has sailed for Fiji. Mr Butters, ex-Mayor, is a passenger, and takes the balance of the American debt to King Thakomb-u. Mr George .Collins Levy, ex-ML.A., has been appointed the Victorian Representative for the Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition. George Mangles Nichol, a clerk in the Education Office, was thrown from his horse ' while hunting, and broke his neck. ■••.'.. The sea postage to New South Wales has been reduced to one half. B'Aloustel's body has -been recovered from the Tarra by drags. ....■■ Gordon, the steeplechase rider and poet, shot himself at Brighton, on the 27th. The cause is ! supposed to hare been insanity, arising from pecuniary embarrassment. A movement has been initiated with the view of collecting subscriptions to erect a monument over his grave. Henry Walstab, an "auctioneer's son, « as found drowned at. Brighton. At the inquest, the jury returned an open verdict. The Intercolonial Conference have held meetings daily. .Little authentic is known, regarding their deliberatibns,"the press not being admitted. It is stated that resolutions have been unanimously adopted to" petition the Home Government to undertake the Protectorate of the Fijis. A long discussion has 'taken place in reference to the Customs Union j there is a, great diversity of opinion, and no practical result has been arrived at. r . -- >. f - : ,, .; - Topley, the pedestrian,, was amongst the passengers by the Great Britain, returning to England. „ The- number of persons who arrived in 1 the coloay by sea during May was 3,152, and 1,369 left the colony by the same moans in the same time. - .The weights for "the Melbourne Cup have been declared. Manuka, 9st 91b ; Knottingley, • jtet _lb. betting — 100 to 7 against Drake and Montrose;' lOO to 6 against Sir John and Manuka j 100 to _ against Barbarian, Florence, Glencoe, Monk, and Earl; 100 to 3 against Warrior, Bylong, Id-," Tim Whiffler, Little Dick, Croydon, and Trump Card. The Assembly- has' discussed Mr Smith's Publican's -Bill. \ Tho permissive clause was adopted, and several " of the principal clauses postponed.. Mr Cope demanded a prompt investigation into Mr Kelson's charges against him. This being reused, he 'left the Assembly melodramatically putting duT2s~hStJ _fcd^«M>i»rj_»g-lie would not retain his seat. Thomas Taylor, Baptist preacher, Sandhurst, was brought up at the Supreme Court on the 23rd June ; the . points reserved ' were argued. Judge Barry fined "the prisoner £600, and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment. The points reserved at the trial of the Queen v. Draper, on the charge of having made false entries in the books of the Commercial Bank, were argued in the Supreme Court' on the 30th. The information against Draper, was laid under section 88 of the Statute of Trusts, and the difficulty was occasioned , by- a -mistake in copying the section from the act on the same subject. In sections 86 and 87 the Ideal act provided for the punishment of managers, directors, or "officers" of a public company fraudulently .appropriating the company's property, or keeping fraudulent accounts. In section 88 a punishment was provided for a manager,' director, - or officer making' false entries in the books of a company of which he was. manager," director, or "public offi' cer ;" and it was contended for Draper that the word public before officer controlled the meaning of tbe latter word ; that " public officer" was a term welf known in England as meaning an officer in whose name a company sues and is sued j and thatjas Draper Was notk such an officer, the act did not apply to him. On the other hand, it was urged that public was evidently inserted in the act by inadvertence ; that there were nonsuch officers as public officers; in the sense used in the English act, in this' country j and that the Victorian Legislature never intended the act to apply to a class of functionaries which had no existence here. The Court reserved its decision. A . Amongst the applications for patents which appear in the Gazette, we remark one by a female inventor, in which Lydia Davies, of Melbourne, widow, seeks protection for an . invention for a portable and a fixed oven.