LATEST AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1047, 18 February 1873, Page 4

LATEST AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

MELBOURNE. Feb. 5. Now arrangements are entered into amongst the banks. Mining returns are satisfactory. Good namples of stream tin p.roexI'ihi'ei'. from Restong, Upper Murray. A eo'Tipny i* formed to work it. Wheat, 4> 101 to 4a 11.1. A bri liant meteor trave.rsed the Colony on Monday Two fires occurred yesterday night in the suburbs. Captain Gilhee has been cashiered by the Volunteer authorities for allowing a woman of ill fame to walk about the streets of Melbourne in his uniform. John Tait has disposed of his race horse, Quack, for asportation to In. dia. The Melbourne new Meat Preserving Company propose a suspension of operations, owing to the high price of stock. ' The oat crop is almost a failure. The'lnspector of tho Union Bank lias been served with a writ for .£30,000 - damages, at the suit of a city merchant, largely interested in squatting propertits in Queensland. No bill will be filed against Young, the defaulting Oriental Bank Man- • ager. SYDNEY. Feb. 5. The Basilisk broke up the pearl fishing establishments of Mr Mayor, afc Torres Straits, seized thevesstd on the allegation of breaches of the Polvajesian Labor Act, and placed prize • cre.vs aboard. Another telegram says:—ll. M.S. Basilisk, Captain Moresby, has seized the barque Woodbine and two other vessels owned by Mr Mayor, who has a pearlflshing station at New Guinea. The seizure was made on the ground . of the vessel having Polynesians on board without a license under the new Imperial Act, The seizure has caused . a strong feeling against the captain of - the Basilisk, and money, it is said, • will not be spared to test it:3 legality. _ The Intercolonial Conference continues its sittings. Several days were spent on the postal ques f ion, which is ■ not yet decided. Mr Vogel's offe.-s to make Sydney the terminus of Webb's line, if the Conference used its influence to obtain the American and English subsidies, met with no support. The Government offered to carrv ■ the mail by a modern description of steamers for £-18,000 per annum, and all subsidies received outside this Colony to be given to liquidate that ■ sum. A variety of conflicting interests aro likely to prevent au arrangement. The Victorian delegates all support a resolution to make Melbourne tho terminus of the Suez route. A message received at Sydney states that in the. United States Congress on Ist February, the question of a subsidy to Webb's steamers begun to be discussed, and it is believed that during the following week a subsidy ■ will be granted of 500,000d01. per annum for ten years. .The Newcastle strikes, continues and the strikers prevent laborers filling in coal. The Government send fifty constables, to leave to-night, to protect tho laborers. Newcastle coal was auctioned here to-day at 80s. _ The steamer Go- Ahead, with new engines, is here, she leaves to-day for Taranaki via Newcastle. Feb. 0. The captain of a fishing craft boarded the wreck of the Polonaise, and found the vessel abandoned, but holding well together. Ho left two men aboard, aud believes the vessel can be got off. Lloyd's agent has gone to the wreck. TASMANIA. Feb. -5. A new convent at Lauuceston hns been formally opened. Dr Forest : preached. Fifty navvies, ex Essex, for work on the railway, have arrived. Several are dissatisfied with tho wages, and will not work, Great excitement was en used in Dr Nicholson's church, Hobarfon. on Sunday evening by a man named Franks, a blacking-maker, who has recently returned from Melbourne, firing at his wife. The bullet missed its aim and struck the wall. Franks succeeded in escaping, bat was apprehended to-day. He had been separated from his wife in consequence of a criminal assault committed on his stepdaughter. ADELAIDE. Feb. 5. Wheat ships representing 40,000 ions are in harbor. The wheat crop averages 12 or 13 busheis per acre. 'A Darwin telegram reports splendid specimens from Neat's claim. The Roper surveys are completed Wheat "quiet at 4s Sd; flour unchiinged. Tho Government have received a London telegram that Governor Mtis#rave will arrive here in May, and Governor Fergusson at New Zealand in i June. Feb. 6. A shark bit a hole in one of the ! Clio's boats and capsized it, but the -crow escaped unhurt. Wheat steady, at 4s 5d ; flour, £lO 20s to £ll 5», i

BRISBANE

Feb. 5. Great floods have occurred near Normantown. The rivers are still rising. Murphy, a pubiicau was drowned. The ship Polonaise, from RockHampton to Loudon, produce laden, with h cargo valued at sixty thousand pounds, was totally wrecked near Cape Capricorn. Saving the cargo is hopeless. The crew and passengers were saved. A large fire occurred in Townsville to-day, through, an explosion in Clayton's chemist shop ; loss, three thousand pounds. Home firemen were injured The first soda of the Westwood railway line between Ipswich and Brisbane has been turned.

The escapade of Warren, the bank clerk who absconded from Sydney and was recently arrested in Dunedin, appears to have had prejudicial effects upon the bank clerks generally in Sydney. The Town and Country Journal, published in that city, says:— "There is tribulation, we hear, in Btrak-clerk-doin. Jewellery is at a discount, and old suits, the worse made the better, have come suddenly into fashion. It is not true that bank directors have issued a general ukase against the use of the moustache an an item of personal adorments, but it is true that anything approaching, the 'loud' either in dress or ornament will subject tho wearer to an interview more short than sweet with tho manager in the parlor, and possibly to yet further pains in the shape of a notice to send his rings and studs to his uncle's, or to quit. And all because a silly, wicked young man chooses to run away with a little money. This last of the levantora was, it seem, remarkable for the extensiveness cf his jewellery, and the apparent confidence of his tailor, while bis dissipation seem to have been admirably suited for a sort of city Sardanapalus, with a bank for a Treasurer." V riting of the death of Captain Gray, the ' Bendigo Advertiser' has the following:—"When Captain Gray entered the theatre (as he often did in Melbourne) his presence amongst the auditory was always gladly recognised, and frequently applauded. On the occasion of the first appearance of Montgomery on the Melbourne boards the house was crammed from floor to ceiling, and Captain Gray occupied a front seat in the dress circle. The old ship —the Great Britain—had only anchored in the bay a few hours before, and Montgomery, having to make a little speech befjre the curtain, was for a while at a loss what to say. He knew the popularity of Captain Gray, and adroitly he gained time to collect his thoughts, by directing attention to the fine genial captain. He spoke of his pleasant voyage in the Great Britain to these shores, and how pleasant a time the passenger spent in the old ship ; " and by the by," said, Montgomery " I see the jolly captain himself in the boxes ; let us give three cheers for Captain Gray !" The audience rose from their seats and turning toward Gray, gave three ringing cheers. Mongomery then continued and kindly referred to' his great predecessor G. V. Brooke. It seem but yesterday ; but the three men—these three most loved and popular men—have all met tragic and strange deaths in a comparatively short space of time."