Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Tuesday 17 November 1874, page 3


INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

The arrival, on Saturday morning, of the s.S. City of Hobart placed us in possession of our

Sydney riles from the 7th to the 10th instant, and , those from Queensland from 5th to 7th. The fol-lowing clippings have been taken from the papers

to hand :

NEW SOUTH WALES.

The Presbyterian Assembly adopted resolutions in favour of the elimination of Denominationalism from the Public school system, and of compulsory education as far as practicable.

The Sydney Morniny Herald, in recording the death of the Rev. Adam Thomson, says :-" An estimable and worthy citizen has passed from amongst us-one who, asa Christian minister and a zealous friend of every movement that had for its object the elevation of men, had won for himself the reverence and respect of all who came within the circle of his acquaintance. Although a man well advanced in years, ho was, comparatively speaking, a young colonist ; but during his few years' residenco in New South Wales he laboured with such earnest-ness of purposo, and with such happy results, that his name will long be cherished with veneration. The Rev. Adam Thomson was bom at Coldstream, in Berwickshire, in the year 1813. Ho was the son of the late Dr. Thomson of Coldstream, a man who will ever bo remembered with affection for his efforts in connection with cheap Bibles, The Bohools in that town not boing very good, Dr. Thomson engaged a tutor for his children. Several others in the town and neighbourhood were glad to share in the instructions given. Mr. Thomson's education was early begun. He commonced Latin at the reuarkably early age of five years, and went to college at eleven. Ho preached his first sermon before the Presbytery at Coldstream when he was but a little boy. Though too young to compete on equal terms with his companions, he passed through his college career with great credit, obtaining a prize in the moral philosophy clase. Besides the classes in the United Presbyterian, or, as it was then called the United Secession Hall, he attended the course of leeturca given by Dr. Chalmers, with whom ho was a great favourite, and who spoko- of him as a "model student." Mr. Thomson was licensed by the Coldstream Presbytery when he was only l8. He was called first to Dunoon, but he preferred Hawick, Roxburghshire, and was ordained at East Bank as colleague to tho venerable Mr. Henderson, on tho 12th of June, 1833, while he was still no more than twenty. He officiated in that sphere of labour for 27 years. He took part in many of the social, and even political movements of the time. He once mado a vigorous defenco of the Forbos-Mackonzie Act ; he spoko frequently on public education, gavo liberal support to the agita-tion for the repeal of the Corn Laws, and otherwise assisted in promoting what he believed to bo for tho highest welfare of tho community. Whilst labour-ing at Hawick, he was twice laid aside by fever. On entering the pulpit after several months' absence by the first severe aUliction, tho whole congregation spontaneously rose en masse. Subsequently his health failing him, ho was reccomended by his medical advisers to leave Scotland, and ho chose Sydney as his futuro home. About that time a vacancy occurrod in tho pas to ratoof thoPhillip-street church, by tho resignation of the Rev. Hugh Darling, and he accepted the cordial invitation of tho congregation to become their pastor. He arrived in the colony on the 13th May, 1801". When two or threo years later, there was a move-ment amongst tho Presbyterian Churches in favour of union, he aided much by his conciliatory disposition to bring about the object that waa so much desired hy the churches. The union was effected in 18(15, and ho was chosen to bo the first Moderator of tho General Assombly. ., About twolyo months ago, having beau appointed Principal of the nowly-ostablished Presbyterian College, ho resigned the pastorate of tho Phillip-church. Although his health has not been good for some few mouths past, no danger from his ailmont was apprehended, He was subject to a bronchial affection. On hint Saturday week he was out for a walk ; bat on re-turning home in the evening he sufforod so much

with his throat that he retired to rest earlier than usual. His thront became ulcerated to such an oxteut that medical treatment was of no avail, and ho died on Sunday evening last, at the age nf G1. Ho leaves a widow and a family of six children. Most of the children, however, aro grown up.

The Queanbeyan Age relates that a great deal of anxiety is created by the mysterious disappournueu of a man named William. Moore, formerly a shop, herd in the employ of Mr. Campbell, but recontly a resident in tho town of Queanbeyan. Sinco his resi-denco in the town, Moore, although having constant employment at good wages, has manifested a great deal of foolish uneasiness lest he should fail to get perpetual employment, and was often heard repining at his lot. Not very long ago ho again took to shepherding for Mr. John Cartwright. Last Mon-day, Mooro carno into town, having temporarily left his sheep iu charge of his son, to go, with his employer's consent, to do a little mow-ing at Duntroon. IiiBtead of so doing, how ovor, he engaged on Monday ovoning to do a little quarying, and on Tuesday morning last was seen to go in the direction of a certain quarry at the roar ot Garryowen with his tools on his shoulder. He has not been seen or heard of since.

Not returning to his home or his employerthat night, Mr. Kealman accompanied hy a neighbour, went on Wednesday to tho quarry to search for Mooro or to discover if ne had been at all on the spot. H is pick was soon found, and ovidences of his having dono an hour or two's work were apparent. Search was then made for half-a-niilo round, but no further tinco of the man or the other tool (a crowbar) which he had with him, was obtained.

QUEENSLAND

The Hi ¡shaun Telegiaph gives the following particulars of tho lecout not at the Ipswich School of Arts, to which allusion was made in our tolegiam of tho !)th íiiBt -"There was a great row at tho School of Arts on Thursday e\ cuing I the 5th inst Tho Ro\ Mr Porteus attempted to

deliver a lecture at tho School of Arts, on tho subject oi ' Luthor, or the monk «ho shook thejivorlil ' Mr James Foote occupied the chair The centre of the i hall was packed with Roman Catholics who, when

the lecture waa half through, attempted to mslitho platform The rov lecturer and the ellan man managed to escape by tho back doors Tho crowd tlien »roko the chans, anil used the pieces as weapons, and a scene of indescribable confusion ensued The pohco and the friends of Mr Portous, who woro guaiding the platform, succeeded in keeping the crowd back At this tima fighting was going on in all pirts of tho hall Tho Pohco Magis trate then read the Riot Act, and tho crowd shortly aftorwards left the hall Mi P O Sullivan u hilo tiy ing to got on tht|ulatfoi ni,was struck on the hoad and lather badly cut. A man named Dennis Toohey was stabbed in tho side, but not dangerously. It is luinouiod that a man named 1'lanagan waa also stabbed Mr li Gill, the postmaster, who entered tho hall just after tho disturbance commencod, waB struck m the forehead with a horsewhip, which uillioted a «overo put, An alarm, of bro w Inch was raiBod in oonaequoncu of a bm mug heap of lubbish »oar the Grammar School, was the inuanu of dispara ing tho crowd This morning a man named William Stewart waa brought up at the Police Court charged with stabbing Toohey lim o\¡donee of two constables and Dr Coi soy having boon taken, the accused was remanded for eight days Threats aro uttorod respecting tho Orango excursion on Monday

und it is foin ed that there will hu a tumble not ou the occasion '

A lu» row escapo fiom starvation m the bush has been repotted to the HotUiam»lot. HuUilw About a foitnight siueo, Mr Cowell, an ungincor, and his Wife woio travolluig down fiom the Barcoo by Morns' drays On Sunday tho 11th instant, tho drays had hoeii camped overnight at Carnot Downs Two milo, and wero about to atart, when Cowell informed Mortis tint his little girl, Mary Ann Con eli, aged 7 years, had disappeared from tho ontiM) Ino gul was hoch to get up at daylight and take two hiïlycaiiB and a pannikin towards tho watoihole, and not returning, her parents 'went nqt ip search I hoy oaino baak unsuccessful, and Morns at once turnod his lloraos back, mid with his tirivei and boy, and a numbul of other teamsters oaiuped theie, joined in tho soarch On Tuesday, a cut nor named Orchard went out to look foi his horse», and on finding them also discovered the inisiug child, unhurt, hut Mullering much ft oin exhaustion and cxcitomont Shu still had both the billy cans and pannikin in hor possession, although some fourteen milos distaut from the camp Orchard at once brought tho gul to < omet Downs, to tho delight of hor parents, who had almost gi\on np hope of hoi rt¡oo\ory Tho gill stud that on jgettimj lost iii th|) hush she naught sight uf a mimbet of ainUUo l|inst,a liqbblol, (uid thought hor best plan was to remain with them Tina sensible proceeding saved her life, for the bortet were Orchard's. lu our advertising columns

Mr. Cowell returns his grateful acknowledgments to all who assisted in the search, 'purely from humane motives, without hope of tee or reward. The little girl has now quite regained her health.

The Mackay Mercury gives the following account of an extraordinary poisoning case :-"A most lamentable accident occurred on Saturday morning lost, which resulted in the sudden death of four persons-a mother and her three children. It appears that on that morning the woman was heard, by some people who resided in the same bouse, making hor children tako some medicine, and she told her neighbours immediately afterwards that she had given each of the children salts, and taken some herself. Tha eldest boy then started to a house a short distance off, to get some milk, but when be got there he fell down and rolled over in great pain. The mother then carno over to look at nim, saying at the same time that the youngest child was very bad. Before she herself could get back to her house Bhe fell down struggling on the road, and hod to be carried in by two of Tier neighbours. Meantime Mrs. Eshmann (to whose house the boy had gone for the milk) carried the boy home, ana started at once for Dr. Harricks, who carne up immediately and sent to Mr. Dalrymple's for some strong emetic, meanwhile administering mustard as an emetic, but without avail, and within half an hour the mother and her three children, two beys and a girl, were all dead. For some time no one seamed to know bow the poison had been taken, and there was a good deal of uncertainty as to whether it had been taken wilfully or not, but the evidence given at the magisterial enquiry Bet all doubt at rest, and showed conclusively that it waa the merest accident, although the whole transaction

displays an amount of carelessness and ignorance

which is almost incredible. It appears that the deceased woman's husband, a man named Goune rick, was living in a hut on the other side of the river with three other men, about a year ago ; while there, he "one day found, in the thatched roof of the hut, a small bottle with

some white stuff in it. He showed it to his mates, remarking that he had found some epsom salts, and that they would do for his family ; in this his mates all acquiesced, although it seems hardly credible that not one should have known the difference between strychnine-for such the contents of the bottle unfortunately turned out to be-and epsom salts ; but so it was. Geunerick according took the bottle home to his wife, and told her he had found some salts. She appears to have taken the bottle and put it away without saying any more about it j nor was it opened again until on the fatal morning, when the unfortunate woman mixed it in water, and eave some to each of her children, taking part of it nerself. It is no wonder, knowing the excessively bitter taste of strychnine, that the children were unwilling to take it ; but it is sur-prising that no suspicion that the stuff was anything else than salts seems to have crossed the woman's mind until she began to feel the ill effects of what

she bad taken."

The Cooktown Herald of the 21st ultimo says : There is a great dearth of all kinds of produce hay, corn, bran, potatoes. &c, &.-and it is now t> matter of almost impossibility to obtain either, although a little maize may be obtained at the moderate price of twenty shillings per bushel This present scarcity of the above necessaries is a crying shame to our local importers who evidently nave not that eye to business which our southern neigh-bors have that enables them to arrange supplies so that they never run out. In Cooktown, although we have fortnightly steam communication with the south, it is either a feast or a famine, and we have either to pay 100 per cent, more than the value of an article, or there is a glut of everything. If we run short, what will the Palmer men do in the wet season 1 We are afraid to say what will be the

coso.

Mr. Ching lately came up from his dugong fishery (aays the Maryborough Chronicle) .with a consign-ment of oil and bacon. We leam that he has shifted his camp from Wide Bay to Hervey's Bay. During the last month eighteen full grown dugongs have been slaughtered, giving an average of three gallons of oil each. The largest animal harpooned-a bull -measured 11 feet 10 inches in length, and 8 feet 5 inches in girth ; it weighed over lGcWfc. The camp is now within nine miles, by land, of Pialba, two miles from Burial, and twenty-two miles from Maryborough with an excellent road the whole way. The meat of the dugong calf resembles that of a sucking pig ; a little older it might be easily mis-taken for veal, and as the creature advances in age its tlosh resembles beef. The flesh possesses all the medicinal properties of the oil, with the additional advantage of being a palatable and nutritious vehicle for convoying the medicine. The camp is seldom without one or more invalid visitors, who invariably derive great benefit from dieting on the flesh.

The (Mackay Mercury) mentions that the blacks are getting worse than ever on the St. Helen's and Bloomsbury runs, and that active measures will have to bo taken to drive them away, or else they will make it almost impossible to continue to hold the country. Soma fortnight ago a large mob, exceeding two hundred in number, came up to St' Helen's station, apparently with a view of attacking it. They hunted into the station two men. who were employed sawing timbera short distance aw ay, and who baroly saved their lives by running away, the blacks pursuing thom with spears right up to the station. Mr. Graham, however, was on his guard,hftviug heard their shouts from some distance and knowing from his blaok boya that a large num-ber of blacks were in the neighborhood, and was quite prepared to give them a wann, reception. The ti-ilio of blackB has since, in spito of the visit of Sub Inspector Stuart and his troopers, remained on the atatiod hunting and spearing cattle in all directions. They have even speared some of the gtud cattle in the paddock, and several of the milking cows,-alto-gether not Iobs than fifty head have been killed by tbem. The some blacks havo also dono a great deal of mischief, hunting and spearing cattle, on Blooms-bury run. _

FIJI.

Advices to the 21st of October have been re-ceived,

A Government OavUe recently published fur-nishes the following distribution of administrative functions in connection with the transaction of public business :-The Administrator of tho Government in the absence of the Governor, will exercise a general supervision over every department of the Executive Administration. The Honourable the Colonial Secretary will be tho organ of communica-tion between all Departments and the Administra-tor, as well as between the public and the head of the Government. He will have the custody of the Archives, and of the correspondence of the Govern-ment. Ho will audit the public accounts, and, in addition to his general duties, exercise special sup. ervision over the following departments t-Judicial, Police and Gaols, Postal, Publio Works, and Survey. The Honorable the Colonial Treasurer will have charge of the finances and accounts of the Government. He will also exercise special super-vision over the Customs and Harbour Departments. The Honorable the Secretary for Native Affairs and Registrar-General will supervise the Provincial Chiefs and Provincial Stipendiary Magistrates, and will oxorciso a general control over every depart-ment of Native affairs. He will also have charge of all matters appertaining to imported native

labourers.

The late act of annexation to Great Britain, though gratifying in the extreme, as promising to produce a cheering reaction in Fiji, has not yet had time to effect more than the preliminary reconstruction of the departments absolutely necessary to carry on the government until her Majesty's pleasure be known. Nevertheless, signs of " faith" in the good times coming, are already visible in Levuka ; moneyed men are offering liberal cash prices for freehold and leasehold properties in

Levuka. Extensive improvements are in contemplation, and some new buildings have been commenced, among which is a spacious boarding establishment for Mr. Ledingham. The British Government, too, aro about to erect naval stores in the old town of Levuka ; the site has been surveyed and marked off and ths buildings it is expected, will soon be commenced. A wharf and pier are also in contemplation, for the use of her Majesty's ships of war. As yet landed freehold property cannot, we believe, be safely transferred, but we hear of contemplated conditional purchases, which, without doubt, will be effected without risk, pending the establishment of a tribunal to deal effectually and finally with the important questions

of land titles.

One good effect of the increased duty on tobacco will be to induce planters to devote some attention to the cultivation of the "weed." Some beautiful

samples are now in town. Mr. Levy has been engaged for some time in the manufacture of cigars from native tobacco, and their quality is highly spoken of. Fiji should, and undoubtedly soon will be, able to supply her own market amply.

We bear that a company is being floated in Melbourne for the purpose of supplying Levuka with gas. This is certainly a step in the right direction ; and we think that, with the prospect before us of rapid strides towards prosperity as a British colony, the metropolis of the group will expand immensely, and render the gas company a paying enterprise.

His Honor Mr. Justice Garrick took his seat in the Central Court at 10 o'clock, on Monday last, for the purpose of proclaiming the Court and swearing in the Bar. Upon his Honor taking his seat, the registrar, Mr. Thomas, read the proclamation of his Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson creating the Court and the appointment of Mr. Justice Garrick as Presiding Judge, and of himself as Registrar and Sheriff ; after which the following gentlemen were sworn in and signed the Roll of the Court as attorneys provisionally, until such time as the Courts were established by her Majesty on a permanent basis :- Messrs. S. C. Burt, C. R. Forwood, C. Truscott, E. S. Smith, R. J. P. Sullivan, G. R. B. Towson, D. W. L. Murray, W. I. Thomas, W. Scott, P. S. Solomon, R. Hetherington. Mr. Forwood (in the absence of Mr. Burt) in a few appropriate words offered the congratulations of the Bar to his Honor on his again taking his seat as Judge ; and hoped that the good understanding hitherto existing between the Bench and the Bar would always remain undisturbed, His Honor replied feelingly, and then retired. It was announced that the first sittings of the New Court would be held on Monday, November 2, at 11 o'clock in the towera,