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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 388, 28 October 1868, Page 3

An occurrence, which terminated fatally foroneof the parties concerned, we learn from the Ararat Advertise?', took place on Saturday evening last, at the tent of a miner named "White, which is situated between three and. four miles from Ararat. "White had been to the town for the purpose of pnrcbasing a week's supply of provisions, and. he did not reach his abode till pretty late. A.fter having made preparations for retiring to rest, his attention was directed to a slight movement and heavy breathing beneath his stretcher when, catching sight of a beard and eyes, he seized his gun, which was standing near the fireplace, and covered the intruder in an instant. "White states that it was not his intention to do anything beyond taking up his position, which was merely assumed with the view of protecting himself. The intruder was challenged, and on being ordered to come forth, the nervousness of the speaker overcame his first intentions ; unfortunately the trigger was pressed, and the charge lodged in the head of

the unfortunate. Scared at the un-looked-for occurrence, White was about running to the police to inform them of the circumstance, when he thought of first ascertaining whether the wound was mortal. On stooping below the bed, he drew forth, to his great surprise and delight a dying goat; which circumstauce so relieved his anxiety, and rejoiced him generalvl, at the harmless nature of the occurrence, that he visited the nearest store to relate the circumstance, and did not return therefrom until charged and primed quite as well as the gun which caused him so much anxiety. As some information with regard

to the practical working of the Fiji Co.' will be useful to those who contemplate purchasing shares in it, we give the following paragraph from the Border Post, of the 19th ult.:—An intending settler in the Fiji's wishes to get a sugar or cotton estate, and to become some day a wealthy planter, He pays, let us suppose, £IOO upon shares in the Polynesia Company. The current value of good land in Fiji is from six to eight shillings per acre, Unsurveyed. The company, however, survey land to shareholders at 25 per cent, reduction on the ordinary price,

and they only ask one-third cash, with the remainder in two years. They also guarantee the title, which they are in a position to do, from the fact that they not only have the guarantee of the native, chiefs, but if necessary they can also look to the American Government to pLtce them in peaceableposession of the lands for which the said American Government, through their consul receives the money. The deed of transfer being witnessed by responsible parties, and registered w r ith the British Consul, will also invol-e the recognition of the company's rights by England. Eighteen-pence per acre is therefore the sum the settler would be called upon to pay down for his land Well, the settler wishing to make the most of his capital, gets an advance on deposit of his shares, and the major of the £IOO he has paid for his shares,

he borrows back again in the note issue of the company. Thus he will have obtained possession of a selection of land for a merely nominal sum, with all the protection that a powerful company and the mutual assistance of his co-shareholders can afford. The more notes he is in a position to circulate, the greater the produce he is able to sell; the larger the profit made upon his operations aid those of his fellow-shareholders, the greater will be the dividends on his shares. In short, upon the cooperative principle, the shareholding settler takes the profit that is now monopolised by the merchants and middle men. What that profit is, may be judged of by the fact that Fiji cotton sells in Liverpool at Is lOd per lb, but all that the settlers can get for it on the ground is 4d to 5d per lb. Per* contra, the manufactured calico which is imported from Sydney at a cost of 4|d per yard, is sold at Is per yard in Fiji.