Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 3 October 1903, page 12


FIFTY YEARS AM.

XIX.

THE "COURIER" PILES OF

1858.

?

(Our extract» to day are from the , "Courier" oj _«t Octtiber, 1853.)

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE

NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

A project had been announced in an English newspaper, the o.icct of which was to work,, jcuul minee in the Hunter and Moreton Bay districts. " We havo

but little taitb in mat prospectus," said the " Courier," " but another is now be-fore us which gives g. cater promi.e of substantial rcsulis." Thi. was tho pro-spectus of the New South Wales Coal and Intercolonial Steam Navigation Com-pany. It wa. proposed to raise a capital of £160,000, in shares of Li each,-for tho purpose of working coal mines in the Hunter district and'Lake Macquarie, and supplying " tho marine steam service of Australia and the nclghroouiing colonies and islands with a good and tnc-ap coal." Another ob.,cjt »as to supply " the press-ing demands for regular and adequate steam communication throughout the Aus-tralasian colonies." The Sydney mana-gers were said to be John Fairfax and G. A. Lloyd, one " the proprietor of the leading colonial newspaper," and the other " an extensive gold merchant." Tho article referred to the coal and iron Ucposlts in the Moreton Bay district.

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.

Under this head, the "Ojurler" ex-plained that In a late mumber some strictures were made upon certain in-correct étalements imputed tu nie Colo-nial Secretary in Uno " Empire's" report of the debate on the vote for Cleve.ant The paper .was assured 'by competent authoiity that tho statements were not correct, and made the amende honour-able. The Colonial Secretary had been credited with calling Cleveland tiho chief port of the Moreton Bay district.

COTTON CULTIVATION.

Mr. Ambrose Eldridge wrote to givo the results of his crop of "South Island cot-ton," grown on live acres of land, and Which he had planted in the latter part of October, 1852. The cost of cultivation was given thus :

Breaking up and preparing land

for seed .£12 10 0

Planting and keeping ground

freo from wded. . 10 0 0 Gathering 25U0Ib. seed cotton at

Id. per lb. 10 8 4 Drying, picking, and carrying to

market . 5 0 0

£37 l8 4 For tho 23001b. of seed cotton at 5d. per lb. £62 Is. 8d. was realised, leaving a ¡balanco of £14 3s. 4d. Mr. Eldridge pointed out that he did not toko into consideration the cost of the land, and that tho experiment »as made during the gold mania, when labour was very dear, and also that tine first year was not expected to «Ive "much profit beyond growing a good tree for future seasons."

DRAYTON 'NEWS.

The iollowlng Items were reported by the Drayton correspondent of the " Courier" :

A report from tho Lower Condamine reached Drayton on the 22nd ultimo that ?Messrs. Bells' overseer at Jftobour, a person named Bourke, had »been mur-dered by Iblaoks. No particulars are known.

An aboriginal native named Slppey, who has been committed by the Callandoon

Bench for the murder of a German woman at Easton and Robertson's sta-tion, had arrived at Drayton.

The Callandoon postman brought in-telligence that the notorious bushranger Heyward was committing further depre-dations. He had broken into Mr.

M'Laughlln's public-house at M'Intyre Brook, and very nearly succeeded in getting at the cashbox, but being over-heard he was frustrated in his design, and managed to make his escape. He afterwards went to Pikedale, from which station be stole a horse and three saddles, and got clear off. " Jt Is an utter disgrace to the ¡police," said the " Courier," " that this villain is suffered to be so long at large."

-DIRECT EMIGRATION.

A copy was published of the memorial seeking for Moreton Bay one-fourth of tho emigration to bo provided for, which .was in course of signature 'for pre.entation without delay to the GovernoriQeneral, "by 'Whom we trust it will be favourably received." The following ?was the conclusion of the document :" Your Excellency's memorialists there-fore pray that such steps may be taken as -will insure the expenditure of £25,000 or such further sum as your Excellency may think fit, in direct emigration to the port of Moreton Bay at the rate of one ship in every month." __

THE BIBLE SOCIETY.

One of the colporteurs of this excellent society Is now travelling in this district for the purpose of supplying the booka ot the society to persons residing in the bush.

DEMAND FOR LAND.

The desire to purchaso freehold pro-perty from the Crown is increasing in Brisbane and Ipswich, and we have heard of applications from the latter place for suburban lands to the value of »P 30,000. Much dissatisfaction Is caused by the loug delay of the Government in bringing for-ward lands applied for by people in Brisbane, and the paltry sale of .oven lots advertised for the 20th of this month is a subject of ridicule.

REPUTED GOLD DISCOVERY.

Mr. Tooth, ]un" who arrived in Bris-bane from Wide Bay last Wednesday, In-forms UB tbat when he lett Maryborough, six days before, it was confidently report-ed that gold had been discovered in the Burnett district. A man had arrived at Maryborough with specimens, and a party had been fitted out to prospect.

LOCAL APPOINTMENTS.

His Excellency the Governor-General had appointed Kearsey Cannan, Esc), to bo coroner for the district of Brisbane, and William Hobbs, Esq., to bo health officer at Moreton Bay. The " Cojrler ' was pleased with these local appoint' ments, and hoped that the practico would

be followed In the case of a second pilot for Moreton Bay.

SOME ADVERTISEMENTS

On 23rd September Mrs. R. E. Dix, of the Bush Inn, Cunningham's Gap, of a daughter.

H. Bulgin and Charles Whitmore, rival auctioneers, continued their cuarrel by the medium i of advertisements. The " Courier" published a warning that lan-guage must not be put in advertisements that would not be inserted in the ordi-nary columns.

Mr. William Craies had been appointed manager ot the Brisbane branch of the Bank of New South Wales. Mr. Craies was manager at Ipswich.

' In an advertisement inserted by Mr. . S. T,. Marshall, Goondiwindi 1B spelt

" Gunediwindl."

THE "COURIER" SUPPLEMENT.

A supplement was Issued on 3rd Oc-tober, giving news by the barque Strat-ford, which had arrived ia Sydney with the June malls.

The European items gave further In-dication of the gathering cloud which was followed by the Crimean war.

Dr. Lang was to leave England for Syd-ney in the Duchess of Sutherland on the 6th July, but "Bell's Life" allégea that he bad been arrested and lodged In Maid-stone Gaol.

" Her Majesty's last child" had been baptised " Leopold George Duncan Al-bert." f

Southern news Items were as follow : -The Convicts Prevention Bill passed by ' the Legislative Council of Victoria had

been disallowed by the home Government, and was to be passed in modified form. The South Australian Government had, on the motion of the Legislative Council, awarded a sum of £400 to Captain Cham-pion, of the Royal Australian Mall Com-pany's steamship Victoria, in considera-tion of his having made the vo>age to Port Adelaide from England in sixty clear days. A dreadful murder waa committed on Mr. .Granger, of Coolah, by his Chinese servants, who were apprehended. " A violent altercation" had occurred in tho Council Chamber (Sydney) on the 21st September, owing to Mr. Wentworth charging Mr. Cowper with breach of privi-lege, but the discussion " ended in «moke."

A man named John Long, in London in Ally last, was stabbed to the heart. The heart was stitched up at the London Hos-pital, and a month later (1Mb August) he was apparently In the best of health. The house surgeon stated that there had been only three or four previous in-stances of such a cate, and that there was at first only a remote chance of satin. Long's life.