MURDERS BY BLACKS. Alleged Terrible Reprisals. The Wealth of the Royal Family.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 131, 5 December 1885, Page 4

MURDERS BY BLACKS. Alleged Terrible Reprisals.

The Wealth of the Royal Family.

Rumouks have boen current in Adelaide lately that terrible reprisals wore taken by Northern Territory police for the murders of Noltenius Landen and Hauschildt by the blacks on Daly River. The matter has boen taken up in the South Australian Parliament by Mr Roes, and the hideous story has been largely confirmed by a report ju3t received from Corporal Montague, who commanded the expedition. A number of European utensils*, supposed to have been stolen from the murdered men, were found in the possession of several bands of natives. One of these ran off immediately they were hailed, and as they did not stop, they were

tired on. The result was unknown. Later on the police destroyed the native camp on Mary Plains, and on the eastern side of the McKinlay River. On October 11th, beside a lagoon, a fight took place. Aftor detailing the narrow escape of Mountod-constable Cox from a native spear, the report grimly continues : — " tfhree men managed to got away first, as Mounted - constablo^ Lock could nofc induce his horeo to follow them, as it would not leave the others Jsot one of those who took to the water is known to have got away. It is supposed that there weie between twenty and thirty men in the camp." The report concludos a8 follows ; — *' What the other parties out have done 1 do not known, but I believe that the natives have rocoived such a lesson this time as will exercise a salutary eflect on the survivors in tne time to come. One result of this expedition ha* been to convinco me of the superiority of the Martini Honvy rifle both for accuracy of aim and quickness of action."

Thk recent changes in the Koyal Family must at least have proved highly profitable to the lawyers concerned. Last year tho Queen made a fresh settlement of her private property after the Duke of Albany's death, and now I hear that entirely now testamentary arrangements have boen made by Her Majesty. The amount of the Queen's private property is unknowu ; but lam told that, including the Prince Consort's fortune and Mr Kield's, it exceeds four millions And besides these, there are the estates in Aberdeenshire, which extend to 33,000 acres ; the Claremont property, which Her Majesty purchased from the country three years ago at a very inadequate price ; and the Osborne estate, which has enormously increased in value ; to say nothing of property at Baden Baden and at Coburg. It is probable that the bulk of the Isle of Wight property will be left by the Queen to the Duke of Connaught ; and Balmoral and most of the Scotch property to Princess Beatrice, who also will probably get Claremont. They will be Her Majesty's principal heirs, and very handsome provision has been made for the children of the Duchess of Albany, and for the families of Princess Christian and the Grand Duke of Hesse. The Queen at the presenttimomakes large allowances to several of her younger children, and Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg derive the buJk of tli6ir income from her liberality. It has been reported that they are to be granted the use of the Villa Hohenlohe, Her Majesty 'sresidence in BadenBaden, which has been for several years unoccupied, as they are to live in Germany except when the Piince's professional avocations demand his presence in this country. In the "Four Georges " great amazement is expressed by Thackeray because George 11. seized his father's will, and never would permit it to be proved, nor was anything ever heard of it afterwards, and its suppression produced a violent quarrel with the Royal Family of Prussia. There is a long narrative in Horace Walpole's '• Memoirs" about this will ; but it is rather odd that after the lapse of 134 years precisely the same thing happoned again, for the Queen quietly took possession of Prince Albert's will, and nothing has ever bsen known of its contents to this hour, nor does anyone know the amount of property which he left. The Prince had nothing when he came to England, except £100 a year, or j some such paltry sum ; but he was very parsimonious (like hie uncle, King Leopold), and I have been told that be must have left nearly a million, as he received £655,000 from the country, of which he did not epend as many shillings, and certain speculations in which he engaged turned out very profitable. I have only calculated the j Prince Consort's allowance ; but he also received large sums as military pay, and a trifle of £22,000 as Governor of Windsor l Castle, in which sinecure office he succeeded the Duke of Sussex, although the Duke of Wellington was anxious to appoint a deserving nobleman who had worked long and hard for the country,— "Truth."