INTERCOLONIAL.

Southland Times, Issue 1803, 7 October 1873, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL.

The s.s; Somersetshire arrived in Melbourne on the 22nd ult. Sir James M'Cullocbi was a passenger by her. James Leslie, a miner working at the Prince Alfred Company's mine, Stawell, was killed instantaneously by a blast. A deputation of Welsh colonists interviewed the Premier of New South Wales, and suggested that the Welsh immigrants should be allowed to settle on land granted by the Government. The Government of South Australia have received a telegram reporting a new reef discovery at Stapleton Creek, nine miles north of the* Adelaide river, and thirty-six miles from Southport. . 'Three prospecting and several ordinary claims have' beem registered. For the second time a* jury has failed ,to agree. up,on a verdict in the case of Elizabeth Snannon, charged with murdering one of Ji6rUshildren at Richmond, near Melbourne. ; • Bamfield and '"Dement 7 Bill," : the Queensland bushrangers,, , ha*ve been captured i heit BaWaba: ''Shotß were exchanged, and Bamfield was wounded.

Westcott telegrams from Yam Creek that no alluvial ground has been discovered, and that it is absurd for people lo make a rush there. In making his financial statement the Treasurer of Tasmania congratulated the House on the prosperity of the country, which, he said, had been unequalled for 15 years past. A material increase had taken place in the Customs receipts. It was proposed to levy an income-tax of (kl in the £ to meet the deficiency in the l.ind revenue, and to prepare the way for the large Customs remissions which were considered necessary, anticipating a free interchange of intercolonial products It was intended to extend the telegraphic lines, and to proceed with the construction of roads and bridges. The Legislative Assembly of Vn-toria negatived the want-of-confidenco tr.olior. proposed by Mr Grant, declaring that the House viewed with " alarai ami disapprobation" the conduct of the Government in the case of the two men Mount and Morris. The Cape weed is growing extensively throughout the whole of the western district of Victoria. The main roada are lined with it in full bloom, and it seems to defy the efforts of the local councils to eradicate it. The half yearly report of the Moonta Copper Mine shows that nearly 12.000 tons of ore were raised, and that the net profit balance is £117,000. The company employ 1,429 hands' at. the mine. Last season's wheat crop in New South Wales amounted to 2,898,403 bushels. The collections on Hospital Sunday in the different churches in Melbourne yielded over £3,000. A glass bottle manufactory is projected in Adelaide. A reef, showing bright gold and 8 feet wide, has been discovered at Stapleton Creek, in the Northern Territory. The Governor of New South Wales has received a despatch from Mr Vogel, confirming the Bussell-Samuel agreement for a Californian contract upon terms of an equal share of expenses, and orders have been sent home to expedite the building of the new steamers. The first mail by the temporary service leaves Sydney on 16th December, via Fiji and Honolulu. Greathead'a remedy for diphtheria has proved efficacious in several instances. In making his financial statement, tbe Colonial Treasurer of South Australia said , the . population was estimated at .195,000 souls. The imports and exports for the year ending June, 1873, showed a great increase over the preceding year. The land sold up to the end of August reached to 4,367,000 acres. The savings banks had 17,000 depositors, and £682,000 in trust funds. The funded debt amounted to £2,000,000, and it was proposed to add to it by the issue of a £500,000 loan at 4 per cent, on inscribed stock. The overland telegraph line had cost £372,000. Tie Cable Company had submitted a proposition to reduc6 the rates by one half if the colonies granted a subsidy of £30,000 per annum, and the Adelaide Government reduced the overland charges. The Treasurer stated that i Adelaide was prepared to bear her skare J of the subsidy, and also reduce the overland charges, if the other colonies would join. ( j A curious discovery is noticed by the Dunolly Express : — " A few days ago a large ironbark tree, of about three feet in diameter, was cut down by a splitter residing ,at Inkermann, from which a nine feet length waß cut off", and in the centre of the log there was found embedded a piece of quartz about three ounces in weight. There was not the least sign of decay near the ground or outside the tree, although it was decayed higher up the centre." A new Impounding Bill, or rather a Bill for adding a special clause to the present Act, has been introduced into the House of Assembly of South Australia. The Bill provides that the owner of cattle impounded shall pay to the person impounding such cattle " driving fees," according to the following scale : — For every horse, mare, gelding, bull, cow, ox, heifer, steer, calf, mule, or ass, sixpence per mile for the first head, and one penny per mile per head for all the rest impounded at the same time ; and for every hundred sheep or lambs, sixpence per mile for tbe first hundred, and one penny per mile for each hundred or portion of a hundred after the first hundred ; for every goat, one penny per mile ; and for every pig, one shilling per mile driving fee. We understand that driving fees for taking animals to pound are in force in New South Wales. All the newspapers speak in glowing terms of the present pastoral and agricultural prospects of Queensland. The cotton crop of this year throughout the Ipswich district has amounted to considerably over a million and a half of pounds. This result is fair, though not so good as was expected early in the season. Many of the cotton-growers are now turning their attention to the cultivation of sugar with fair hopes of satisfactory returns. A special corres pondentof the Brisbane Courier has just come back from Maryborough, where he has been to examine the working of Tooth's new process for the manufacture of sugai'. The process is described as | complicated, and is not cheap, but there is no mistake as to the result — an absolutely pure white sugar, which is at present worth £42 per ton in the Queensland market.