SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 229, 30 December 1859, Page 2

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

We have Adelaide papers to the 26th ultimo. The South Australian Register, of that date states that a fracas had-taken place between. Mr. Barrow and Mr. I^in. arising out of recent proceedings;'bfefore;|h!BSupreme ; Qourt in the action of England v. Barrow! Mr. |!enri, counsel fdi £he"plaintiff in consequence of some coiiiments upon fhe trial iq the 'Advertiser, of which Mr' Barroiy is the editor, attacked .that- gen* tlenpn. with & whip on Thursday, afternoon in Stephens-place. . Mr.- Barrow defended himself with his umbrella, and some blows passed, but the interference of bystanders prevented the conflict becoming very serious. Mr. Barrow has instructed the AttorneyGeneral to institute legal proceedings against Mr. Fenn.

The same journal reports that a disastrous fire! occurred oh the 25th, at Manson's Semaphore Hotel, which an incredibly short time reduced that establishment to ashes. The. building, which is composed, entirely of wood, consisted of ten. rooms °St ne ground fjoqrarjd seven on the upper story «™ was situate.;! pn Lefeyre's £eniiis.ula, where^g" afforded, acponiodatjpn to, the resjdepts. and, visitors to Scarborough. \i appears that shortly beforq twelve o'clock the residents were alarmed by the ory of fire, which had originated In one of the upper -->* had. from the combustile nature of rooms, au« the building, completely gained the ascendancy before it was discovered. The neighbors, however, rushed to the spot and succeeded in saving the larger proportion of the furniture and stock, as Wtiihate|y'th'e 'position of the Jir,e "aHg\ve.d/ot' useful "exertions from* 'thoise' present, 'ambngsf whom, foremost'in activity, was' Mrs. t[tien;' the wife of the signalman at, the pilot station. ' The. landlord of the house, Mr. Manson (iVho is also* | contractor for the landing of the mails), was absent in the Gulf,'boarding the Phantom. 'Nothing could be done towards saving the building wtych wa« completely eqveloped ia flames, for

these were fanned into -fury fey the strong southwest | wind blowing. The roof and walls soon fell with heavy crashes, and iv less than an hour from the outbreak the entire structurei was destroyed, leaving nothing but the* efiiirihey-stack and charred remains. The flames gained ground with inconceivable rapidity, and there were no means at hand for checking their progress but; too much praise cannot be lavished on the persons who assisted in removing the furniture. I'he origin of the fire 19 unknown, though repoi tied to have brokan out in a bedroom which had been ' occupied the prevbus night by a married couple. The building, which belongs to Mr. George Coppin was leased to the present proprietor, and is, we believe, insured, but the amount of such insur^ ranee has not transpired. : In noticing the case of England v. Barrow, adTerted to above tile Register remarks:—" A case which has just been heard in the Supreme Court of this province indicates pretty clearly that the intelligence of juries is in advance of the principles of the law of libel. Tlie law holds the subordinate offender primarily responsible; the jury who gave a verdict in the case of England against Barrow evidently hold that where the chief offender is known and within reach, he should be selected for punishment. We can. express' our own opinion the more freely on this pointy inasmuch as we refused to publish Mr. Osborne's advertisement—not because we feared, or even expected, that an action for libel would follow— but because we objected, as we .always do object, ©n principle, to being in any wa$ ..parties to theimputation of improper motives or the allegation of any other kind of injurious charges which cannot be fully sustained by facts. We take, the ▼erdict of the jury to signify that the action should be brought against the avowed and responsible author of the letter —not against the journal in which it was printed—and nothing more. They may or not believe that the aggrieved parties should seek their remedy from the principal aggressors—not from the innocent, it may be or at all events greatly less culpable publisher of the papers through which the injury is committed. And in this respect it is what we hold the good sense of the jury to be truer to justice than the conditions of the law. * * * # .* *• # # Our own opinion is that it would be both just and politic to relieve the journalist entirely from responsibility for statements made by known individuals. Let (him be accountable only for the accuracy of hia, reports —let the authors of the statements be responsible for their truthfulness."

Death from a Snake-Bite.—-A correspondent of the Register, writing from Mount Brown on the Ist Instant, reports the death of one of the aborigines named Jimmy, alias Maich, from the bite of a snake. The deceased was at the run of Mr. Richtnan when he was bitten, and so virulent was the venom of the brute that the poor fellow died about an hour after the snake bit him. Mb. Tolmer's Expedition.—We have received a communication from Mr. Tolmer, from which we learn that his expedition is lor the present ; broken up, with an arrangement for meeting and prosecuting the enterprise from which he has now returned, under more auspicious circumstances.— Advertiser. The Echunga Diggings.—The same paper says:—On the 23 we saw about five ounces of gold which had been purchased on the previous day a.t th^e Kchunga gold-fields, and said to be the result ot three weeks' labor of a party of three. We were informed that about a hundred men are working at the spot, and that the story very generally told by them is, that they are making fair average wages, but are suffering from want of water, the waterholes which have hitherto supplied them being filled or dried up, and the consequence is that £ney have to cart the. washing stuff rather-MiQre-than a mile. The AssESsarENT on Stock.—A deputation representing the sheep farmers and stockholders of the Colony waited "on ttie Government on Thursday last, in reference to the excessive assessment of numerous runs, vender the late classification in the Gazette. Two-thirds of the total amount of the assessment have been paid, and the sheepfarmers, asked for the other third to be allowed to stand over until Parliament met. . The Government, however, consider that they have no power to grant this request, but th.ey promise to a§k for a select committee nest session to enquire intq the operation of the assessment and to support § proposition for making an allowance to those who may then be shown to have paid excessively We believe that the balance due upon the. first year's assessment will now be paid under protest. •—Advertiser. The Weather.—The heat in town for the last day or two has been very severe, sometimes from the fervor of the sun's rays, and at other times from the sultry oppressiveness of the atmosphere. On Thursday afternoon (the 24th) dense masses of clouds were collecting in every direction, and many symptoms of a change were indicated, and towards five o'clock a gentle rain began to descend. We believe thgt pn Wednesday a very heavy thunderstorm1- occurred id the neighborhood'6iMount. Ganibier.—iW. ;

Outrages on Board American Vessels.— The borough Coroner of Liverpool was engaged on Friday last in investigating a case relative to the death of a seaman named Peter Antonio, belonging to the American ship Conqueror. The licensed had b ( een severely heate.n % the" mate and jcarpejjter While the vessel was at sea, and died in fhe, hospital op Sunday. The returned an ppen verdict.vr-Tho Glasgow police have received information of a murder, said to have been committed at sea by a Captain Pember, of the ship* John Fyfe. A quarrel, it is said, had arisen among the crew, and one of the men resisted when his officers tried to put him in irons. The Captain at once drew a revolver and shot him dead. —Last Saturday, John W. Moody, second mate of the Mary, of Bath, United States, was brought before the North Shields Borough Magistrates, charged with a murderous attack on Daniel Witjiam, a British S r ailoi;, whjp)i fhefe is re^Qn to ffiinJC;iwsl: end iri mP poor fellow's deaths .The Marj l^d pome acrog3 from the .United States' to Antwerp, and thence had called in the Tyne to load •fflam-coala in the NnrtHytn^eVlkllcl Dbclcio take out home. Witham had made the voyage in the vessel, and on Thursday morning, about 3 o'clock, while ihe vessel was in the dock, all hands were knocked up to unmoor the vessel. Witham who had been drinking on the previous night, had not got put of his bunk quick enough for the oncers, #hen! Mqody : went1 forward and ptilled hin* oufe ||y his hair He dragged him about the forecastle floor in this manner, but was taken off by a seaman named William Black. While Black was sitting down putting on his boots, Moody picked up a large iron bar, called a " norman," and struck Witham a fearful blow on the head. Witham dropped on the deck, and Black imagined he wasdead, and picked him up and placed him in his berth. From the evidence of the crew, it appears that this is the second attack Moody has made upon Witham, he having beaten him with steel knuckles (knuckle-dusters) while at sea. The crew of the vessel stated that Witham was a very quiet man. The magistrates remanded Moody for a week.— lllustrated London News, August 20. '• A Munificent Bequest.—? After th.c funeral of Lqj?4 j?enry $6yn?oUl^ ( itssi to!pfc P%? 'early in ghe ''morning of last ; Saturday, at <£&$$ ja ( phfljs^ in Ijig ihqther s vai^lt, only atfeniJed.by'Lord Hprj;foWi Vicomte Waxti, and five1 niembers of the Jockey Club), bis will was opened, and the hospitals of Paris were found to have' inherited a AGut-t w v 4"-» •■« -ou,v»v/v/ oieriing per annum. As all thw property came through his mother, the late Marchioness, England had no claim on it; indeed, the testator, born in Paris, never set foot o,n British soil in his life. IToijf fayo^irjtg lioi-sles Jefajoy aii annuity am} exemption from sadalework. '*J-£!nfftisf{:l>aper ; '', * '•' .::';!.' •' .:',; -''Z':. * 'The NARtfo^ Gate—"T t hanks j" . muttered our bachelor friend, V no more wdben in heavenj they can|t get in. Their hoops are so" bfpad. will have to go the #ro«<f road, /— nope of these fashiouabjes c^eyer twy?f t^qvghi th,e uwtow ■ •■;.-.■..■•■..■.■. Vy