Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Wednesday 11 December 1872, page 4


A REMARKABLE DREAM.

(From the Kyneton Observer.)

A dream, remarkable more for its providential nature than for its excep« tional character, has just come to our knowledge. In reiterating some of the circumstances connected ; with a recent sad calamity . we do so-with some reluctance and delicacy^ but the facts we are about to relate are so strange that we think ourselves justified in overcoming scruples,,.which under other

circumstances would induce us to main

tain respectful; silence. ' After the

sudden and violent death of James Giles in Mollison-street, his bereaved mother did not sleep, and' her health declined so rapidly that her removal to Melbonrne became imperative. On the Friday prior to the dreadful death of the other two sous by drowning Mr' and Mrs. Giles went to Melbourne, Where they were received by a relative. When Mr. Giles went' ti> Melbourne on Friday with his wife it . was his intention to return pn the following day^ but had the message of the accident not been sent to him he would have

remained in town till Monday. The fresh disaster, however, obliged him to return to Kyneton. His departure iroin Melbourne, ;owing,to;his previous resolution,- did not excite his wife's fears, and he left.LJMrs. Giles was, nevertheless, informed that her sister. who had been, left in charge of the' house at Kyneton, was in Melbourne.

She at once asked if the children were

well, ancl the person's lips^ who answered in the affirmative,, betrayed some hesitation.. But the pious untruth was repeated and. that difficulty passed. "We should not forget to state that the anxious friends by whom the Gileses were surrounded, made several well-intentioned efforts by telegraphing to friends in .Melbourne, giving direcI t]oos as to how the sad news" was

5°., °,e broken to Mrs. Giles. , All

tailed. Hot one of tbeja dare ven

ture on the onerous task, and the bunday passed away. The strange demeanour, of Mrs. Giles's friencls, however, had not escaped her. It bad

so far attracted her attention that she resolved to return home on the Monday. On the Sunday, when Mrs. Giles retired to rest.^she fell into a sound and refreshing . sleep. For seven long weary nights she had not closed her. aching eyes. In her sleep, some time during the night, she mentally saw her two boys struggling

Mondav, she left Melbourne, in company with her brother, and in crossing one of the streams on the. way the sight of the water, in connexion with the dream, which; just then flashed upon her memory, suggested to . her, mind the tact that -her two sons had been

drowned. Thus by degrees the painful news was broken to her, providentially rather than, by,design. When nearing -K-yneton her brother said, " What do you expect to see when we get to

Kyneton?'' «I Kpect t0 BJe m

two children drowned," was the heartbroken reply, and her brother's silence confirmed the truth of her surmises. In us, what anxious friends had sought to do, but had failed to do,' was- done by other means. -As far as the dream

is concerned it is remarkable for these reasons :-Jfo one breathed a word to the unfortunate mother, or uttered any word in her presence that would lead her to. infer or suspect what had happened. And there can hardly be a shadow of doubt that the two poor ladB had a violent struggle. The younger of the two was just learning to .swim, but the elder boy was a cood swimmer. The younger boy,; no doubt, got into the mud and his brother went to help him out, and in the ill-directed struggle the two were

_How this.sad closing scene ot their lives was conveyed to the

mind of their bereaved mother in her sleep, when no one had told her a word about it^ we shall not venture to suggest.

Thk first sale of Victorian beetroot

sugars took place last Monday. The prices real12ed ranged from £30 to £33

pIexioned80'rtS co®sidered weI1 com

Reports Another of those distressing disasters arising from uncovered tanks and wells, of which we have of late had to record so many, has called

Z ao?°/nner s in^e8t- The circumstances If asJo I°ws :-Mr- Tilley, of the Seven

Stars Hotel, _near Mallala, was returning home from Gawler with his son, about 10 years old, on Monday, the night beinostormy and intensely dark. On reachin?

S»r ^ nters .^rm M'- Tilley sent thf

little fellow indoors for a lighted lantern.

ln r®turmnSi the father cooeyed repeatedly, when one of the inmates appeared, and on enquiring for the boy it appeared that he had not beeii sien

| bearch being made his' lifeless body was

.s^PPing towards tbe.bousebe had fallen into an open tank left yawnine for its prey Why. cannot the settleT of bouth Australia take common precautions

?L i Jrr"L En4and'to £uard against

the Joss of lire by such means ?"

NEARLY all the horses required for the -English Army Service Corps in the approaching Autumn ManoBuvreshave been purchased abroad. They are nearly all ot hfiht colour, and consist chiefly of horses discarded by the French Government on the ground that they present too conspicuous a mark for the enemy.

A DECENT London paper gives the

S5er.0nf^en,880ns in the whole

world at 17,000,000, and allowing for the time to make the returns from every quarter, far and near,- the entire number might now be taken at fully 17,000,000.

CuBious, CEBEBIOKT.-Our local Templars (says the BaUarat Post) are certainly pushing , "fellows, ' and we must admit contrive to knock-a. great deal of fun out of what is termed ,by the bibulous public the cold water doctrine; 'A novel, and somewhat sensational' entertainment ' is, we understand, in store not alone for the Good -Templars, but for those of the " drinking" portion of the general public as well. In fact the Queen "Victoria Lodge intends on the 4th of November, to instal the incoming officers of the lodge in a public manner, and for this purpose some large hall will be selected. In addition to a sacred concert, to be rendered by the Temple choir, there is to be a grand and imposing ceremonial in connection with the installation. As far as we are allowed-to make known the proposed arrangements are as follows:Twelve brethren of the order are to be robed in long and flowing white garments, and will each be armed with a long" staff, oh the top of each of which will be affixed one of the. signs of the zodiac. These Templars will be disposed in the form of a circle. Inside the -circle twelve other brethren will be arranged in the form of across, and will be attired in the'costume peculiar to lled Cross Knights. . At the 'oot of this human cross the outer bar

barians, represented by brethren clad in' pagan and Mahomedan costume, .will be placed, and then a good looking ? ladyi, attired as the goddess of the sun, will lend additional charms to the proceedings. 'The installation, with its impressive ceremonial, will then be proceeded with and Brother CTren and his.Temple choir will fill the night with music. ;.... / s

THE SHAH OF PERSIA.-A message from Teheran, the' capital- of the'Persian dominions, announces.' that; in;!spite of the opposition raised bj ; the old retrograde party, His Majesty the Shah's reported voyage to Europe /is certain, and official preparations' on a scale of truly oriental magnificence are already being made for the'occasion. This is the :first instance of. a Persian Sovereign visiting Europe since as: far back as 480 years before the birth of our Saviour, when Eing Xerxes, at the head, of a Persian army,'numbering, with followers, 5,283,220 souls, attended by: a -naval armament of 3,000 sail, invaded Greece, after crossing the Hellespont by a Bridge of boats. This feat,..we think, would puzzle the much-extolled Control .Department of Great Britain of the present day, judging by the short comings shown in the transport arrangements for the yearly autumnal manosUvres.; We 'hope that the British .Government will see the necessity of placing the royal yacht at the"'disposal ^ or the Shah - for His Majesty's embarkatioii ait Constantinople early in the spring of 1873, and conveyance to Trieste, en route for Vienna, whither, before visiting the other Sovereigns of i Europe, he is invited by the* Emperor of Austria to assist in ' the ceremonial of opening the* Grand Inter

national Exhibition. In such case it is

just' possible that Malta may be Visited, this island offering many'advantages and facilities for a fleet to collect for the purpose of escorting His Majesty to the

Adriatic.-Malta Times.

SEARCH FOB LEICHARDT'S RECORDS.Andrew Hume, to whom reference has often been made, has, under date Lawson Creek, NewcastleLake, Northern Territory Augu>t 15, written thus to the Sydney Morning Herald'.-"The country 1 have travelled in the Northern Territory is well watered from the Roper to the Lawson Creek. There are many permanent waters, and for nine months of the year water of good quality can be found from one to five miles. On the great Ashburton Range are many good springs of water, and a great variety of stone ; also, almost pure iron, garnets, jasper, and other beautiful stones; coal, coppcr, and gold. The Range runs about north and south. On the west side it throws the water into the great Newcastle Lake, which is about 65 miles long, and from 10 to 26 miles wide. On the east of the lake the grass is porcupine and poisonous herbs, which poison the blacks sometimes; use on their spears. Oil the north-west side is fine grass of the best quality-nardoo and blue grass ; timber scarce, honey plentiful. The plains are extensive, from thirty to forty miles in length, and from ten to fifteen miles in width; fish plentiful, from/Jib. to l^Ib.. There is plenty of country for squatters,, the land of the best qualify'."The blacks

are much afraid of horseB and bullocks. They, will not allow me to take a horse within fifty yards of them. Six blacks escorted me to their camp, and presented me to their priest, or Tanalanga, who then J showed me their god, the image of which I havo previously described. I remained one day and night in the blacks' - camp; the same six men then /escorted me out of their camp. They .gave me every assurance that I should receive from them a welcome at any time I chose to return, and were quite willing to 'give me any information. They will not believe wo can talk with the wire, but believe the telegraph line is to be a boundary-line dividing the whites from the blacks. They claim the western side of the line, that being the best. Iam to intercede to obtain that for them, but they ' are to leave the line undisturbed; Mr.' A. J. Mitchell has been very kind, and rendered me every assistance in his power. He would have supplied me with horses if he bad had them, and' but for him I should have been without arms, for he supplied me with a revolver and 53 rounds of cartridges. That was given to me at the time I intended to start for

Normapton to obtain horses, a distance of 560 miles from this ; for I was determined to fulfil my engagement to the public, or die in the attempt."