INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Southland Times, Issue 1300, 29 August 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

VICTORIA. It seems that Mr Hugh Glass is in a dangerous state of health, suffering from abscess of the liver and hemorrhage of the kidneys. He was to have been defendant in a civil case in the Supreme Court on the 9th inst., but it was postponed on the ground that the appearance of the defendant in court would probably prove fatal to him. It is stated by the Ballar&t Courier, apparently on the authority of a private correspondent in London, that Lord Napier of Magdala will be the successor of Viscount Canterbury in the governorship of this colony. It is understood that Lord Canterbury is desirous of returning to England. Captain Payne (for whom successive Governments seem to have had enough to do to find employment) is now virtually removed from the command of the Nelson, and will reside on shore, devoting himself to the duties of the office of Harbor Master. The Nelson will now be regarded mainly as an Industrial School, in charge of Mr Duncan. Eobert Macey has been charged at Creswick with embezzling sums amounting to about £1000, the property of the shire council of Creswick. The original charge referred to a sum of £276, but a professional accountant, after examining the books of the Council, reports the larger sum as deficient. Macey, the late clerk of the shire council of Creswick — who lately returned from England, and gave himself into custody to answer a charge of embezzlement — has announced a " reading," at Kingston, the admission to be free, but a collection to be afterwards made to assist in defraying " the expenses of an impending prosecution." It is stated that his Excellency the Governor has submitted to her Majesty the name of Mr E. Henty as one who, being the founder of the colony, is deserving a mark of the Royal favor. St. Enoch's Church, in Collins street, Melbourne, has now been handed over to the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, by which body it will be used as an assembly hall. The price was £4400, which is to be paid before the Ist of July of next year. The necessary alterations of the building are about to be proceeded with to adapt it to its new use.

Mules, it appears, sometimes exhibit singular tastes. Mr Hitchen, a squatter in Gippsland, has been obliged to shoot one which has been running for some time at Maindample Park, because it exhibited an irresistible penchant for the tails and manes of horses, a number of which it had eaten, and so lessened the value of a lot of fine horses on the run. A very painful sensation was created in Melbourne on the 9th iust. by the sudden death of Mr James Webb,, of Brighton. The deceased gentleman, who was an old and much respected colonist, and a leading member of the Wesleyan body, was standing in the yard attached to the Supreme Court, at about nine o'clock, waiting to transact certain business before one of the Judges in Chambers, when he dropped down, and died almostinstantaneously. An inquest on the body was held that afternoon, when the medical evidence showed that death had resulted from disease of the heart, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly. , Babbits are now being " preserved "at Warmambool Meat preserving Factory. These rabbits are mostly fine plump fellows, and procured on the Pirroa Yallock Common. Is 6d per couple is paid at the factory for all rabbits delivered in good order and condition, and the company can take any quantity at that figure. The meat is preserved in various shapes, and the skin is of course a merchantable article. Rabbits taken in snares and traps are preferred to those obtained with the gun, as in the latter case the shot marks cause discoloration in the flesh. A regular camp has been formed at the hunting ground, and men, guns, doga, ferrets, snares, and every other possible contrivance are being brought to bear in the reduction and capture of devoted bunnies. The new Town Hall has been opened with all the ceremony befitting the gran, deur of the building. A grand concert was given on the opening night, which was attended by 3500 people, all guests of the Mayor. A cantata composed by Mr C. E. Horaley for the occasion, and written by Mr Kendall, was performed, and must be considered a success. The chorus numbered 450 voices, and the band consisted of 77 instruments. The solo parts were undertaken by members of Messrs Lyster and Smith's Opera Company.: In addition to the cantata, along programme of classical and operatic music was 'performed. His Excellency the Governor opened the Town Hall, and afterwards presented the Mayor with a gold chain of beautiful device, and ornamented with precious stones, the gift of the citizens of Melbourne. The next festivity was a fancy dress ball, in which about 3000 persons took part, and which went off with great Scldt. The concluding ceremony was a second concert, more largely patronised than the first. The expense of the festivities was borne by the Mayor himself, who refused to accept a grant for the purpose from the City Corporation. A verdict, carrying £375 damages, has been obtained against the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Eailway Company, by Mr Elms, a master-tailor of Melbourne, for injuries he sustained in a collision at North Sandridge in April last. The company had offered £400 as compensation. Power, the bushranger, pleaded guilty at Beech worth to three charges of robbery under arms, and was sentenced (in all) to fifteen years' imprisonment. He behaved with great bravado, requesting the judge to " draw it mild," as he did not wish to be an old man when he was again free. He was sent down to Melbourne by police escort, in charge of Superintendent Hare. A cool appropriation of a horse and buggy was made on the afternoon of the Bth, in Melbourne, by a disorderly character named Catherine Lovett. A commercial traveller had tied his horse and buggy outside a shop in one of the principal streets, and Lovett coming along got into the buggy and drove off „. and up Collins street. A lawyer's clerk who knew the character of the woman, ran after the vehicle, and having stopped it gave the woman, in charge of a constable, who drove her down to the watchhouse, and locked her up on a charge of being drunk in charge of a horse and buggy. Church of England matters at Heidelberg are approaching a crisis. The Eev. Mr G-arliek, the incumbent's curate, has sent in his resignation, the churchwardens not being able to guarantee him bis stipend any longer. One churchwarden has positively resigned, and the o^grtwo _' will -resign i£ — tke — prwßcnt lncunibent-— ~ resumeshis duties in the church. They have preferred certain charges against him which must be inquired into:., according to the provisions of the Church , Discipline Act. The complaint preferred against the Eev. J. Lynar is, that on a certain Sunday, whilst his curate was preaching and he was seated at the communion-table (it being a sacrament day), he deliberately poured the wine from a bottle into the sacrament cup, and, before the whole congregation, took a hearty drink out of it. A new railway goods shed, 800 feet in length, is about to be constructed at Spencer street Station, Melbourne. A Mahomedan, a native of Calcutta, and whose age is supposed to have been within a few months of a hundred years, has committed suicide in Amherst Hospital . by opium. Until lately he worked as a miner at the White Horse reefj near Amherst, notwithstanding his great age. The Ballarat Banking Company have had a successful half-year, notwithstanding the depression in mining. The net profits amount to £7624 8s 9d, out of which £1000 has been carried to the | reserve funds, £3594 14s Id to the profit and loss account, and £3039 14s 8d will be paid as a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent. The reserve fund amounts to £13,000, and, with the unappropriated profits, to £16,594 14s Id. The actual profits for the past half-year exceed those of the preceding one by £639 odd.