Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), Saturday 23 September 1848, page 4


aîîtonej) Netos.

OPENING OF THE NEW COLONY OF

LABUAN.

(From the Sydney Daily Advertiser.)

The following important notice of the opening of the new colony tof Labuan is extracted from the Singapore Gazette,,'of the f3th July, 1848. It will be seen,that Labuan is- to be a free port, without dutie^.oh'iirinOTts or exports, or any tonnage or anchorage dues ñn vessels of any description. We also perceive by the advertis-ing columns of ihe journal above referred to, that a copper smelting, establishment is in full action on the Island of JBorneo.l,

--'-»-, IxhÛf ICATIOX. -

It Is hereby notified, thatrher Majesty's colony of Labuan will be opened to settlers and other immigrants from ana after the first day of Au-gust next, and that all persons being well and peaceably disposed thereafter coming to reside within the said colony and its dependencies shall receive the protection of the laws, as subjects of the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Ireland.

Labuan is to be a free port, without any duties on imports and exports, and without any ton-nage or anchorage dues on vessels of any description.

The earliest arrangements, consistent with the interests of the colony and the convenience of settlers, will be made for the disposal of lands by public competition, within the limits assigned for the town and elsewhere ; and pending the carrying into effect such arrangements, parties making application to the Governor, or, in his absence, to the Lieutenant Governor, will be allowed to construct, within specified localities, dwelling-houses or other tenements, of a tem-porary description, removable within a stipulated time; but such permission and consequent occupancy will confer no claim whatever of priority of title to any land so occupied ; and ali claims to land within the said colony, arising from occupancy previous to the issue of this notice, purchase, or otherwise howsoever, will be held as absolutely null and void, save only titles under grants from the crown.

(Signed) J. Brooke,

Governor of Labuan.

By his Excellency's command,

Hugh Low,

Secretary to Government, Labuan. Labuan Government Office, Singapore, "I

20th June, 1848. J

Prize Fight.-An exhibition of this descrip- j tion took plaee at Cook's River yesterday, be-tween two aspirants for fistic honors, named Kenny and Lawson. The belligerents were both of the "petite" order, Kenny weighing very little over eight stone, and his opponent about ten pounds heavier. Although the fight was for a small sum, it had created considerable ex-citement amongst the pugilistic fraternity, from the known capabilities of the men, which led to the expectation of seeing a contest more worthy of record than any which has taken place in the Australian ring amongst more professional bruisers. Some trifling interruption occurred on the part of the police, who aejjed in the most praiseworthy manner, using their utmost endea-vours to prevent a breach of the peace, and only succumbing when there was scarcely a possibility of their being successful in the at-tempt. Kenny was the favorite at 3 to 2, and even heavier odds were offered, but there were few takers, and very little money was sported upon the event. The fight lasted about forty, five minutes, during which time thirty-three rounds were fought, all in favor of Kenny, who took the lead and kept it throughout, scarcely receiving a blow. The losing man fought with great gameness, bnt did not exhibit the slightest approach to science-; and, in fact, he carae up as a sort of choppaag-block for his antagonist. A liberal subscription was made for the loser, as a species of salve -fer the wounds which he had received both in pride and pocket. Another contest took place on the gibund for a purse, between two' rongh subjects of the brickmoker order, | wlio 'weres wise enough to earn their money as'¿easily^ as possible, hy, shaking hands after six'rpùndsT-.>; D Advertiser, Sept. Ï9. EMBEZZLEMENT - George Alfred Illidge was charged by Mr. Richard Fawcett with having embezzled certain moneys which were paid to

him in his capacity of clerk to the prosecutor. Mr. Martin conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Johnson attended on the part of the defendant. The circumstances of the case, as detailed by Mr. Martin, were these:- The defendant was cash-keeper to Mr. Fawcett, and his duty was to receive the money due to the house during the day, and to hand it over to his employer at night. On the 2nd September last, there was

a sale at Mr. Fawcett's rooms, upon which oc- casion the defendant received £62 10s. 3d., £10 of which he retained, and made an entry of £52 10s. 3d. only to the credit of Mr. Fawcett. Although a great deal of evidence was gone into about other money transactions, intending to show how the defendant misapplied this amount by altering and falsifying another account in the books, the circumstances will be understood by putting it thus simply as a charge

of embezzlement of £10. The evidence of Mr. Fawcett went to show that the money had been paid to the defendant and entered by him; but that of Mr. John Adcock, who was formerly clerk to Mr. Fawcett, and now standing com-mitted for trial on a similar charge, did not corroborate the testimony given by Mr. Fawcett, and the defendant was therefore discharged.S.D. Advertiser, Sept. 20.

Inquest.-An inquest was held yesterday, by Mr. Ryan Brenan, at H. M. Gaol, Darlinghurst, on view of the body of a confine named William Smith, then lying dead therein. Evidence having been given by the clerk of the gaol of the deceased's reception into that establishment in the month of June last, under a sentence of twelve months' imprisonment, with hard labour; the testimony of Mr. Honner, the gaol dispenser, followed. Mr. Honner deposed that he had, with Dr. O'Brien, made a post mortem exami-nation of the body of the deceased, who had been taken ill at about half past five on Sunday afternoon, and expired at four o'clock on the ensuing (Monday) one. The result of the exami-nation was the finding of a rupture of one of the large blood vessels, and which was the imme-diate cause of death. A finding was recorded of death by the visitation of God.- Herald, Sept. 20.

TnE Convict Diamond.-An attempt has been mode in the last few days to get np some sort of agitation in favour of Diamond, now under sentence of death for rape, but with very little effect. Mr. G. C. Turner was using his influence on Monday to obtain signatures to a petition, and we are informed procured four hundred. The petition was sent in yesterday morning and laid before the Executive Council, but as the petitioners had no arguments to adduce, the Council «advised the Governor not to interfere with the execution of the sentence of the law, which will be carried iuto effect on Friday.Herald, Sept. 20.

Sporting at Bathurst.-On Saturday, Sep-tember 16, a race came off on the new course, Bathurst. Nearly three months pince, a sort of match hail been made for four horses for a

sweepstakes of £5 each ; on the day named only two of the horses entered came to the scratch, and these were rode by the owners, viz., Mr. Tait's b.g. Lamplighter, five years old; Mr. Declout's g. Momus, aged ; twice round the course, nearly a distance of two miles and a half. At starting, Lamplighter took the lead at a slashing pace, closely followed by Monins, liebig only a few lengths behind the Lamp-lighter the first time round, when near the dis-tance post the rider of Lamplighter took a pull

at his horse and allowed Momas to take the

lead, which he maintained for nearly half a mile, when Lamplighter made play, pushed inside of Momus, when the latter bolted, and took to the river, apparently thirsty from his exertions. The Lamplighter entered in an easy winner. There were two other races got up for sweep-stakes, spiritedly contested. The sports of the day ended by a native dog hunt, all showing that the Batnnrstonians nre'Btill' alive to sport. There was a great concourse collected on the occasion, two Dooths erected, and the owners appeared to have violent attacks made on their good cheer. - Herald correspondent

Batburst.-The Weather.-On Friday,' the 15th September, about 10 a.m., wind 'coriinieiieed blowing hard from the north-west, and" con-tinued throughout the day, at times a perfect hurricane, the town several times during the day was enveloped in clouds of dust ; from sun-down until after 7 p.m. it blew from «11 points of the compass, shingles were stripped from the roofs of buildings in every direction, so much so, as to render it dangerous to walk the streets.Herald Correspondent.

Sale of City Property.-A portion of Mr. Thomas Barker's city property was yesterday submitted to public competition by Mr. Stubbs. There was a very fair attendance of purchasers, and fourteen allotments situated in Bathurst, Barker, and Steam Mill street sold-two allot-ments at £5 10s. per foot ; one ditto at £4 16s. 6d. per foot: three ditto at £4 12s. 6d. per ditto ; three ditto at £3 10s. per ditto ; one ditto at £3 6s. per ditto ; two ditto at £3 per ditto ; and two ditto at £2 19s. per ditto.-Herald,

Sept 19.

Cedar.-On perusing the London papers, we perceive that our colonial cedar is fetching a high price, and is much enquired after.-S. D.

A dvertiser.