INTERCOLONIAL.

Southland Times, Issue 1616, 6 August 1872, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL.

. .. ■ ♦ Melbottkne, July 29. Several cases of scarlatina are reported in Ballarat. It is attributed to defective drainage in tbe locality where the fever has broken out. Tbe foundation stone of the Ballarat Woollen Mill was laid on the 22nd, with Masonic honors. The ease againat Charlotte Ward, a midwife, charged with the manslaughter of a farmer's wife at Hamilton while acting professionally, has resulted in a verdict of not guilty being returned, the jury arriving at their decision without leaving the box. The hares in Victoria are said to be becoming, like the rabbits, a nuisance. The police are again prosecuting the keepers of Chinese gambling- houses in Melbourne. A fresh case of small-pox has been discovered in Sandhurst. Miss Birchell, a governess, charged at the Sandhurst Circuit Court with infanticide, has been acquitted. The Vice-regal ball in honor of Her Majesty's birthday (postponed from the 24th May), came ofi on the 24th ult., when over 1000 persons were present. The s.s. Somersetshire arrived in Hobson's Bay on the 24th ult., after a very successful passage of 57 days from London. Eifty-seven days is the average of her four previous voyages. The farmers, selectors, graziers, and others, of the counties of Villiera and Heytesbury, have petitioned Parliament to impose a duty on all starch imported into the colony. The following is the estimate of expenditure proposed on railways for the year ending 30th June, 1873, the, funds for which are provided out of iihe sum oi

£200,000 annually appropriated from the land revenue under the 42nd section of the Land Act : — Construction of a line of railway from Ballarat to Ararat, £92,000; Casfclemaine to Maryborough and Dunolly, £92,000 ; Ballarat to Maryborough, via Creswick, £46,000 — making thß total estimated expenditure for surveys, works of construction, purchase of land, plant, &c, for the year, £230,000. A rich reef, over 800 feet from the surface, has been discovered iu the Stawell district. Owing to the high price of sheep and cattle, the Geelong Meat Preserving Company have suspended operations for a time. A telegram has been receiyed from London, dated sth July, by the proprietors of the Warrnambool Meat Factory, ordering 40,000 tins of preserved meats to be forwarded monthly to one of the largest provision houses in England. The prospectus of the Provincial and Suburban Bank (limited) has been issued. The proposed capital is £100,000 in 20,000 shares of £5 each. It is said that the prospectus of a new bank of issue, under the title of The Australian and European Bank (Limited) will shortly make its appearance in Melbourne, i A lay reader of the Church of England, in a diafcricfc just outside Melbourne, astonished hia parishioners by hoisting a flag at his house and displaying a leg of mutton and a loaf of bread on his gate posts. It seems that the rev. gentleman is hard pressed for money, his parishioners owing him £150, and butcher and baker are pressing him. | A fire occurred in Pall-Mall, Sand- ' hurst, on the 21st ult., when the shop of Mr Knight, saddler, with the offices of several sharebrokers, were destroyed, the damage done being estimated at from £1000 to £1500. The sentence of death passed on Anne j Miniver Davis for administering poison i to her husband at Brighton, has been commuted to imprisonment for life. Sydney. The Prince of Wales brings news from Fiji to the 22nd June. An expedition was being formed to proceed to New Guinea. Several influential settlers had joined it. Parliament has passed the Customs tariff. The following duties will be levied : — Spirits, 1'25d0l per gallon ; wine, 75c. ; beer, 25c. ; sugar, 1#25d0ll # 25d0l per cwt ; tobacco, 25 per cent, ad valorem. The coa! companies at Newcastle have made a final offer to the men of an advance of 3d in their wages now and a similar sum on Ist January next. The doctor of the steamer Hero has been attacked, at the quarantine station, with small- pox. The Rev. S. Rabone, Wesleyan minister, died in the street while proceeding to officiate in the Wesleyan Church on the 20th ult. The Assembly has refused to abolish I the gold export duty. . . The brig Scotsman, which was supposed to be lost in the South Seas, arrived safely on the 25th. The Joint-stock Bank has declared a dividend of 8 per cent., and the Shale Company 10 per cent., besides having a large balance. Samoan advices state that the native war continues with fierceness, and that great slaughter has taken place on both sides. The first auction sale of the new crop of colonial sugars has taken place, when yellow counters from the Clarence district brought £35 ss. The Newcastle miners have held a monster [meeting, and resolved to adhere to their demand of 6d advance on the rate of wages. In the Assembly Mr Parkes has given notice of motion for an address to His Excellency the Governor stating tfee circumstances of the rejection of the Customs Duties Bill by the Upper House, and authorising the Government to make treaties with other colonies. A verdict of " wilful murder" has been returned at an inquest held on the body of a man named Simpson, killed by garotters. A number of new copper companies contiaue to be brought forward. H.M.S. Clio has returned from her cruise to Lord Howe's Island and the northward. The ship's carpenter jumped overboard, and was drowned at sea. The resolution proposed in the Assembly for a Californian mail subsidy has been carried, with the restriction that the contract should be submitted to Parliament previous to acceptance. The sailors have struck for an advance of wages and ask £6 a month for the coasting voyage. The schooner Lavinia, from the South Seas, reports that on visiting Florida Island, in the Solomon Group, the trading boat's crew was sent ashore, and the captain's boat afterwards left, but when the latter returned they found that the natives had murdered the first boat's crew, and then attacked the vessel, killing those on board, consisting of five whites and three Polynesians. The captain with one white and three islanders managed to regain possession of the vessel, and having obtained part of j the crew at Saa Cristoral returned here. Adelaide. The half-yearly balance sheet of the Parramatta Copper Company shows nearly £9000 profit, and £30,000 paid in dividends, during the last five years. The Treasurer has given notice of the issue of £120,000 Exchequer bills, in order to cover last year's deficiency and provide for the expenditure on roads and bridges. j The Adelaide Marine Assurance Company shows losses £1975, but most of j them are on old liabilities, the actual profits on the half year's business being £9000. 250 tons of flour have been sold for shipment to Natal, at a price under £13. The House has rescinded the resolution as to tbe Trans-Australian Railway Bill, and it was decided to be a private measure by a majority of one. The Treasurer has submitted his mo-

tion for borrowing £120,000. It is styled as a temporary expenditure to meet a temporary emergency, and not intended as a comprehensive road, scheme. The Treasurer made a statement in the Assembly confirming the news of a projected cable line to JTormanfcon. A telegram has been received from Mr Todd, at Tennant's Creek. He reports that the wire has been extended 70 miles to the north of Tennant's Creek, and anticipates that it will be carried to * Powell's Creek (115 miles to the north of Tennant's Creek) by 15th August ; but before that it is expected that Butt and Mitchell will have joined their work, when telegraphic communication will be ensured to 100 miles south of Daly Waters, only leaving a gap of 50 miles to be completed, A messenger was to have been despatched from Port Darwin : end on July 23, whether the cable was working or not ; and in the event of communication being resumed before that, a special messenger was to be despatched at once. Heavy losses have occurred amongst the sheep at the Roper Eiver, from the effects of a poison plant. The Monarch, with a cargo of produce from London, put in, leaky, to the Falkland Islands on March 28, and was obliged to discharge cargo. The revenue returns for six months endiag June 30 show the receipts to have been £281,000, as against £266,000 for the same period of last year. Smelting of iron has been commenced in Adelaide, an unlimited quantity of rich ore being procurable here. The South Australian G-as Company has declared a dividend of 10 per cent, and the Adelaide Meat Company a dividend of 2s per share. The lambing this season is very uneven. In some places it is only 50 per cent, and in others 95 per cent. Some silk sent from Adelaide has been, valued in London at from 5s to 6a per lb. Adelaide flour in England has netted £12 10a a ton. Wheat is very firm at 5s Bd, and 5s 9d would be given for first "class samples, but there is next to nothing offering. Flour is quiet at £12 10s to £14.