NOTES OF THE WEEK.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 279, 22 June 1860, Page 3

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

Saturday, 9th June. Inclement weather and that universal scourge, the influenza, have rendered the past week a far from lively one. Parliament, indeed, has been pretty busy, but has chiefly been engaged in fighting out one or two vexatious questions which have been left for the fag end of the session. In the Assembly, the chief contests have been upon certain matters affecting the local position and government of the Church of England, which need not be entered upon here. The Upper House has made somewhat of a stand for the assertion of its own right of control in matters of public expenditure..••■.. The Central Criminal Court has been Bitting the whole week. , There have been three cases tried, however, which appear to call for any particular notice. The third case to which we feel called upon to .refer is one of a more grave cha<racter, and has excited a great deal of public attention. Two private soldiers, named William Pike and Patrick Hughes, absconded from the Victoria Barrack, taking with them their loaded rifles. Where they meant to go to, or what they meant to do, is not quite clear* but that they were bent on mischief of some sort or another is manifest. They were with some difficulty apprehended by the police, but not before • Pike had deliberately shot inspector M'Gee. The inspector, a most worthy and efficient officer, lingered for some time, but finally died of the wound thus inflicted. The two soldiers were indicted for this homicide , Pike as principal, and Hughes as accessory. Now comes what we cannot but regard as the extraordinary part of the case. The presiding Judge held,- inß'eflect, that as the carrying of firearms "in the' streets is no longer an unlawful act (the statute which made it so having expired) the homicide, Pike, was not open to arrest—consequently that if at the time he' fired he was under the impressipn that M'Gee was going to apprehend him, the offence would be reduced to manslaughter. Now, we have always understood that an officer of police had power to apprehend persons guilty of manifest disorder, and we can conceive no case in which prompt interference by the authorities was more plainly called for than in th?t of a couple of runaway soldiers with loaded rifles in their hands. Were the police to wait until one of these weapons had been used with fatal effect? Or were they to let the deserters march uninteruptedly out of the city to rob and murder beyond its precints? If Mr.; Justice Wise be right, Inspector M'Gee and the other officers who aided in the arrest of these military ruffians have acted illegally, and the public have made a great mistake in awarding praisa to those officers for their zeal and promptitude. As to poor M'Gee he has,not only been shot, but censured: tor besides ttfe before mentioned ruling, the sentence of the man who killed him to only three years' penal servitude was, in itself, a censure upon the victim* We have* seen

the same amount of punishraent inflicted for petty thieving. Hughes escaped scathless, but was handed over to the military authorities, by whom, we dare say, he will be called io some sort of account for his b~each of discipline. 'J?he various prizes won at the Randwick Meeting were handed over at Tatersall's on this day week. The usual monthly meeting of the Church of England Teachers' Association was held on the same day. Also a monthly meeting of the Australian Catholic Teachers' Association.

The members of the Union Club have invited Captain Denham and the officers of H.M. ship Herald, to a dinner, by way of marking their sense of the eminent services, scientific and commercial, which these gentlemen Imve rendered to the world at large, and to the Australian colonies ,in particular, by their surveys and researches. No compliment was ever better earned.

The monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held on Monday afternoon. At the meeting Mr. Montefiore, on behalf of the deputation appointed.by the Chamber to wait on the Government respecting the formation of a good road from Sydney, to Kiandra; reported the result of their interview. The Government he stated, intended expending money on the three roads from Merrimbula, Eden, and Nelligen to Kiandra, and they were laying out about £24,000 on the main road from Sydney to Goulburn. Sums of money were also to be expended, on the road from Queanbeyan to Cooma, and frorri Cooma to Russell's. The Government had further authorised the expenditure of £200 for making a dray road from Yass to Kiandra. With regard to ihe extension of the railway to Goulburn the Government expressed their willingness to forward it as soon as they had the opportunity. The Government have officially notified their intention to establish custom-houses at Al bury and Moama. ~

The Committee appointed to consider the proposals for a tramway along Pittstreet from the railway station, have reported in favor of that measure, with, however, a few modifications.

The Government have advertised for tenders to be sent in until Tuesday, 24th July, for the construction of upwards of 750 miles o§§telegraph. Ist. From Gundagai'via Tarcutta and Wagga Wagga to Deniliquin, an estimated, distance of 220 miles. 2nd. From West Maitland via Singleton, Scone, Murrurundi, Tamworth, Bendemeer, and Armidale, to the boundary of Queensland, an estimated distance'of 400 miles. 3rd. From Bathurst via Sofala, Tambaroora, and Louisa Creek to Mudgee, an estimated distance of 97 miles. 4. From Bathurst to Orange, an estimated distance of 35 miles.

; The man accused of setting fire to the Belgian ship Gateaux Wattel has, to-day, been tried andi acquitted. The jury did not believe the witness on whose evidence this charge almost exclusively rested, and would not,'therefore, call for any reply.

An extraordinary case has been disposed of on the civil side of the Supreme Court during the week, arising out of those disputes of the celebrated Miss Kelly of the Manning River, with Skerritt and others, which have now become historical. This case, Richards V. Andrews, was one involving the three dissimilar issues of trespass, slander, and malicious prosecution. The most material, question, however, was, whether a certain lease which purported to have been granted by Miss Kelly to the plaintiff was a genuine document or a forgery. The evidence was so contradictory as to leave no other conclusion than that there was gross perjury on one side or the other. The jury disbelieved Miss Kelly, and found a verdict for the plaintiff on all the issues.

Mr. Busfield, whose injury at the late races were recorded in our last week's notes, has since died. An inquest was held the body, and it was found that his fall upon was purely accidental, no person being to blame. In point of fact the pace of his horse was such that he could not stop the animal before he came in collision with a mounted trooper; nor had the latter time to get out of the way. It was this collision which occasioned Mr. Busfield's fall.,

Six other sudden deaths have occurred, and have been made the subject of inquests before the City Coroner, besides the death j from natural cause of an unbaptised infant, on the body of which an inquest was also held. The first person who died thus suddenly was Mary Bowen, aged sixty-six, who had long suffered from asthma, and who, having taken various medicines without obtaining any. material relief, had latterly abandoned all such remedies, was attacked by the influenza. This, as a characteristic of the disease, laid hold of the chronic ailment, aggravated its symtoms, and rendered them fatal. James Rooke, a cabinetmaker,! aged 63, died from the rupture of a blood vessel, the resuH wholly or. partially of intemperate habits. Jane Cooper, a widow aged 46, who had since her husband's decease been in the receipt of £2 per week, and had spent it all in drink, died a victim to, this devotion to the bottle. Jane May, aged 49, who had separated from her husband and family, and was cohabiting with a waterman named Snow, died from the combined effects of intemperance and neglect. William Lockwodd, a seaman just shipped on board the Phoenician, died from apoplexy,, the result of excessive drunkenness. Thomas Woolfenden, aged 20, died from injuries received by a fall in the street while assisting his brother to carry a heavy case. ,

The obituary of the past week includes the name of Mr. Francis Sandoe, the pro-

prietor of the Era, a, ( sporting paper published in this city a short time ago. Mr. Sandoe, who was a native of this colony, was in the prime of life when taken from amongst us. He was well and favorably known as being the possessor, of manly and social qualities which had endeared him to a large circle of friends..— Empire. The journeyman bakers of Sydney held a public meeting at the Kangaroo, Georgestreet, on Saturday evening, for the purpose of discussing the twelve hour question. A series of resolutions were adopted, declaring that journeymen fakers ought not to be called upon, to work more than twelve hours per diem. The object sought to be obtained —namely, the abridgment of the present unreasonable long hours of daily labor—is so modest that we cannot conceive any rational man will object to concur with the meeting in saying that twelve hours be a day's labor. The resolutions assert that baking on the Sabbath ought to be discontinued. — Empire..

The Weather.—We are threatened with another flood, and have, since Wednesday night, been visited by a fearful storm of wind from E.S.E., accompanied by continuous rain. The creeks and rivers, north and south of Wollongong, are all running over, and very rapidly, and the roads in many places are also covered with water. We have not heard as yet of any damage to bridges, but all mail communication north and south of Wollongong was suspended yesterday, and will, in all probability, be for some dayi to come, the appearances in the atmosphere betokening a continuance of the storm. The communication by the steamers has alio been rendered impracticable. Yesterday, shortly after one, the Illawarra, steamer, came off the pier head with great difficulty, but so heavy a sea was breaking right across the entrance to the harbor, and so heavy was the "swell' 1 in the harbor, that she dare not venture in, and, turning round, she hoisted her sails and made for Sydney. There are three colliers in the harbor,, arid the warps and moorings are being severely tested in keeping them in security. Of course the streets of the town are coming in for their fair share of damage; but we are happy to say the drain at Elliott's corner has worked admirably, carrying off the water so effectually as to keep the adjoining path and roadway as free from flood water as any. portion of the town.—lllawarra Mercury.

Determined Suicide.—An inquest was held at old Inglewood on Friday, by Dr. Quinlan, coroner, upon the body of a German woman, named Henrietta Dressier, who had been found suspended from the tye-beam of her tent upon the previous day. William Dressier desposed that the deceased was his wife; they had been but recently married, but they had constant quarrels. About six weeks ago the deceased threatened to destroy herself. Never struck deceased, but she would always have her own way. On Wednesday night he and the. deceased quarrelled, and she threatened to burn the tent and destroy herself. Yesterday, witness was lying upon the sofa in the sitting-room reading, and about eleven o'clock he saw the deceased go into the bedroom. About one o'clock witness went into the bedroom, when he found the deceased suspended from the tye-beam of the tent. Lifted her up, and inserted his finger between the rope and her neck, so as to loosen the rope. Called in a veterinary surgeon, who lived next door, and told him to hurry and cut the rope. Was too much excited to see on which side the knot pressed her neck. The body was warm when it was cut down. Some person put a glass to her mouth, and witness observed a stain upon it as if from breathing. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased died from congestion of the lungs, caused by strangulation, self-in-flicted whilst in a state ot temporary insanity.—lnglewood Express. Determined Suicide.—On Tuesday

morning, between half-past six and eight oclock, a man named John Richardson, formerly a member of the police force, and more recently engaged in carting in Geelong, committed suicide by cutting his throat. The deceased was last seen alive a little after six o'clock on the same morning, by a policeman, who met him going in the direction of MooraboolrStreet, and who remarked that he was looking paler than usual, and that he was walking very fast. It appears that the deceased proceeded to his own house, and about an hour afterwards his body was found lying on the ground, as if it had fallen from the sofa, a razor lying on the tabie and stained with blood, and the left hand of deceased being also! stained with blood. An inquest was held;in the afternoon, and the only evidence adduced^as to the state of mind the deceased was in at the time he committed the act, was that of his wife, who said he had been in low spirits of late. The jury returned a verdict of suicide under temporary mental derangement.— -(Zedong Advertiser.