AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 895, 2 December 1871, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

A new Chinese temple is about to be erected at Castlemaine. The hay harvest around Melbourne is expected to become general at the end of the present month. At the District Court, Melbourne, a groom was fined £lO, for slashing a horse that had broken one of its legs, 30 times with an axe. The finances of New South Wales are reported to be in a flourishing condition. Several fatal cases of pleuro-pneu-monia have occurred among cattle at Kilmore. A Melbourne paper states the legal profession in Victoria is quite overdone. Some of the flour mills in Melbourne have ceased working, owing to the low price of flour. A Bill has been introduced into the Victorian Assembly by Mr L. L. Smith to allow the destruction of sparrows. The eight hours' system is being actively agitated by the miners at Sandhurst. Miss Anna Eorde has been engaged at the Theatre Boyal, Melbourne where she will appear in " The Rustic Prima Donna." Dr Blunt has been elected honorary physician to the Melbourne Benevolent A pylum. The other candididates were Professor Halford and Dr Rees. A Hobart Town policeman has been fined for being drunk and incapable while on duty. At Clunes, a child has been "accidentally" killed, by its drunken father lying on it. 150 candidates have entered for the public examination at the Sydney University. At Adelaide, a large public meeting passed resolutions in favour of compulsory education, without the Bible. Several cabmen have left Melbourne for Sandhurst, driving their cabs all the way. At a pigeon match at Flemington some good shooting was made, only three birds escaping out of 150. Two mining companies at Castlemaine are known by the names respectively of "North Dead Cat," and " Central Dead Cat." A return presented to the Victorian Assembly shows the cost of drafting Bills since the Constitution Act came into operation, in 1856 to be £9798. The total number of entries for the various competitions at the forthcoming meeting of the Victorian Rifle Association is 1281. Besides these, a very largo number of post entries will be made on the ground. : The Corporation Dog Inspector in Melbourne has received 7s a day for thirty-six days spent in clearing the streets of stray dogs. The working of many of the mines at Sandhurst is greatly retarded by the scarcity of labour. Lady Edith Fergusson, the lately deceased wife of the Governor of South Australia, was the second daughter of the late Marquis of Dalhousie, and was only in her 32nd year. The wedding cake at the marriage of Mr Alfred Nation and Miss Mary Aitkeu, Melbourne, was Bft. in circumference at the bottom, and 3ft. 9in. in height. The stand was of silver. The proprietor of the " Goulburn Herald " has introduced the co-opera-tive principle into his office, giving his workmen a share of the profits. It is reported that in all probability Viscount Canterbury will remain in Victoria for the next two years. Though his term of office will soon expire, it is said that the powers of Downing street will extend the time of Lord Canterbury's governorship. The " W' aiTnam bool Examiner" reports that a Mrs Wilson, of Koroit, was suffering from rheumatism, and whilst a young girl was engaged rubbing the back of the patient with kero-

blaze of fire exhibited itself on the patient, who suffered severely for a short time. Medical aid was obtained, and she was soon out of danger. The " Ballarat Courier" ,• Bays:— " Another big coach load of rushers went off from Cobb's Corner for Sandhurst lately and the whole Corner adjourned to see the phenomenon. Instead of throwing old slippers after the voyagers, three or four dishonoured cheques, drawn by some of them, were flouted before their eyes and the eyes of the sympathetic host of on-lookers." For striking an Englishman a bench of Magistrates at Geelong sentenced a man to a month's imprisonment. The same bench immediately afterwards fined another man 40s, or a week's imprisonment in default, for a murderous assault on a poor hardworking Chinaman. The Victorian goldfields are reported to be now yielding more steady returns, and to have brighter prospects than for many years past. T. T. Roper, head-master of the California Gully, Victoria, common school, has been cast in J625 damages and costs, for injuring a girl, one of his pupils, by striking her with a cane on the hand. A new quartz goldfield, believed to be very rich, has been discovered in Victoria, in the vicinity of the Grampians and Victoria Ranges, at a spot called the Black Range. It is expected that about 20 persons will leave Victoria on the eclipse expedition, if the necessary funds can be obtained. The expedition is to start, if at all, on the 20th instant. The Municipal Corporation of Sydney have passed a resolution to the effect that no salaries shall be paid to the City Auditors at the end of the present year.