NOTES OF THE WEEK. - Friday, March 15. - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) - 16 Mar 1861 (original) (raw)

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Sat 16 Mar 1861 - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)
Page 4 - NOTES OF THE WEEK.

THE Burrangong (Lambing Flat) difficulties seen to

be in a fair way of being all settled without bloodshed.

The military are on the ground and have, it is said,

been well received. Nay, it is even asserted that the

officers have dined with the diggers ; but the report

of anything (under the circumstances) so extraordi-

nary requires confirmation.

The Premier has returned. He has succeeded in

coaxing the miners into submission-at all events for

a time. He distinctly told them, that the law would

be upheld, and the Chinese at present in the country

protected from aggression at any cost ; but he assured

them, at the same time, that he and his colleagues re-

garded the celestials as " pests," and would use every

effort to keep them away. They (the miners) seemed

satisfied with this pledge, and have not only passed a

vote of confidence in the Ministry, but have given the

Premier a dinner. He, therefore, returns in

But how will it be if the promises of Mr. Cowper

lead to nothing definite ? The bulk of the diggers

have a notion that the Government is all powerful,

and will clear the whole of the Chinese off the gold-

fields in a very short time. Now, even if the bill of

Mr. Lucas pass both Houses in its integrity, it will

not have the effect which the diggers are looking

for. Will the Government introduce a still more

stringent measure for this purpose ? And, if so, will

It will be on the miners becoming aware that their

expectations cannot be fulfilled, that there will be

the greatest danger of an outbreak.

These doings at Burrangong will be rather expen-

sive in any case. The cost has been estimated at

£16,000 by the Ministry, but it may be rather more

ere the affair is over. Already is there one claim for

compensation by a Chinaman, to the amount of £300,

for property destroyed by the rioters. Other claims

of like nature will come in, and we do not see how

they can be evaded. And there may be other riots.

The miners are clamorous for, among other things, a

repeal of the gold duty, but it will be found, we

doubt not, that their own conduct has rendered this

In the meantime, the voice of the Sydney mercan-

tile interest has been raised, we are glad to say, in

support of law, order, and honesty, both Houses of

Parliament having been petitioned for justice to the

The discussions with reference to the case of

Sempill v. Anderson are dying out, but- they have

awakened commercial men to a sense of the necessity

for a thorough reform of the Insolvency Law. Such,

a necessity has, indeed, been long felt, but a strong

expression of opiniot. upon this subject has now been

drawn out. lhe Trade Protection Society has peti-

tioned both Houses for such an Act as will effectually

reform the law. The Chamber of Commerce has

chosen several of it« members to give evidence upon

this subject before the select committee of the Assem-

bly now sitting for its consideration. We are at

length, therefore, in a fair way to obtain some prac

ticsl legislation upon this most important Bubject.

But it is one which involves so many considerations

and so many difficulties, that a considerable time will,

we fear, elapse ere this expectation will be realised.

The Government, we presume, will take the matter

up. But the Government moves slowly in such

cases. For instance, it is now nearly a year since it

was understood that a bill for the amendment of the

Municipalities Act of 1858, was to be introduced

almost immediately ; but, much needed as this mea-

sure is, it has not yet made its appearance.

The School of Arts' Exhibition is as well attended

as ever. It was to have closed to-morrow, and no

intention of prolonging it has yet been notified, but as

there are numbers who have not yet had an oppor-

tunity of visiting it, the committee have been strongly

urged to keep it open for another week, and it is

probable that they will comply with this request.

The first Battalion of the New South Wales Volun-

teer Rifles was reviewed in the University Paddock,

cn Saturday afternoon, by Colonel Kemptj as Inspect- .

ing Field Officer. The volunteers acquitted them-

selves well, but an awkward accident occurred after

the review. Some of the men whose rifles had not

gone off were ordered to disohorge them, and one of

them fired off his ramrod also. This penetrated the

buttock of a sapper named Macfarlane (connected

with the Mint), who was looking on. His hurt, how-

ever, did not'turn out to be at all dangerous.

A series of United Prayer Meetings have been held

during the week in the various Protestant Churches

A single innings match was played in the Domain,

on Saturday, between the Albert Club and the

Denison Club. The Alberts had a very easy victory,

scoring 116 Viith three wickets to fall, 'while the

A lecture on the Ancient and Modem Ballad Music

of Ireland was delivered at St. Patrick's Hall, on

Monday evening, by Mr. J. H. Plunkett, Q.C., and

was wal attended. The proceeds are to be devoted

towards the erection sn Wynyard-square of a resi-

dence for the parish priest.

A correspondent of the Bathurst Free Press states,

as a proof of the rising value of land at Hartley, that

100 acres of land there were sold at auction, on the

5th ultimo, for a little more than £500, which same

lond was purchased a Bhort time ago for £1 per acre.

There have, however, been some improvements made

An apple, weighing eighteen,'ounces, has been

gro«n this season in the garden of Mr. Fulljames, at

the Old Township, Goulburn.

Further complaints have been made of the inequality

of sentences in the Police Courts, and even in the

Supreme Courts-the former cspesially. . Every one

vtho has watched the administration of justice must

admit that there are strong grounds for these com

i plaints. One case especially mentioned is that of a

woman who is said to have been convicted, at the

Sjdney Police Court, under the Vagrancy Act, for

having UBed bad language towards her husband-not

in a public place, but between themselves. _ #

Patrick Phelan, of Louth Park, whose injuries

by a ploughshare, has been described in former

notes, expired in a few days afterwards. His case

was hopeless from the first. ,

A black snake has been killed at Twofold Bay, m

the body of which twenty young snakes were found.

Thirty young ones were taken from the body of a

brown tneke killed at Ingalba. .......

The road through Bargo JbniBh is so bad that on one

occasion as the troops were proceeding through it,

thirty-six buUocks had to be attached to one of the

guns to extricate it from the slough in which »t had

A cabbage, weighing twenty-four pounds, has been

grown in the garden of the Gold Diggers' Home,

A Chinaman named Gua, or Jimmy, has poisoned

himself, at Mudgee, by taking a heavy dose, of opium

It has been shown that the wild cotton of tie

Ftgian Archipelago is worth ten.pe.nce per lb. in the

London market, if properly got np. Skilfully culti.

vated, thcttfoie, it would doubtless command as good

a price as the finest American samples.

Public attention has been called in the City Council

to the vnrious nuisances in Hyde Park-the resott

there of vagrants and the use of bsd language bj .

otheis. The Mayor promised to bring these matter»

under the notice of the Inspector-General of Police

1 lie erection of the Windsor School of Arts is pro-

Great preparations are being made for the presenta-

tion to-morrow of a set of camp colours to the Bal.

main volunteer rifle corps.

The Border PoBt states that the Chinese are bur-

ing up arms.-No wonder. '

A meeting was recently held at Pennant Hills at

which two propositions were discussed : Whether the

Field of Mars Common should be kept as it is or

whether it should be surrendered to the Government

in exchange for roads and bridges (over the Parr»,

matta river). The latter proposition was carrie!

A lease for nine months of the tolls to be collected

at the Pjrmont Bridge, Darhng Harbour, and at the

Blackwattle Bay Bridge, near the Glebe, has been .

purchased at auction by Mr. J. S. Pacey, for the sum

A public meeting was held at Ashfield on Saturday

evening, at which the proposed discontinuance of the

half-past six o'clock train on the southern line was

stronglv remonstrated against.

The Bathurst and Maitland Circuit Courts are both

sitting. At Bathurst Sir Alfred Stephen received st

the opening a congratulatory address from the magis-

There have been several accidents during the week

one of which has produced a fatal result. This

occurred on Wednesday. A heavy cart-horse, fce- '

longing to one Lawrence, bolted from Clarence-street ,

into King-street, where it ran foul of a group of men,

broke the leg of one (named Ship), and severely

bruised another (named Button). Immediately after-

wards it ran against Mr. Goldsmith, the landlord of -

the Grafton Aims, George-street, with such force ss

to overturn both man and horse. Mr. Goldsmith's

skull was so severely fractured by the fall that he

never spoke afterwards, but died the same night. On

Thursday a horse bolted with a dogcart, which after

a time capsized, and a lady and gentleman who were

in it were severely, although, wo believe, not dan-

gerously, hurt. On the same day, a runaway horse '

knocked down the blind man who usually stands

near the Waterloo Stores, and severely injured him ;

he was removed to the Infirmary. On Wednesday a

little boy named Adams wes run over by a horse

ridden hy a butcher, but happily only received some

flesh wounds in the head. ,

A choice specimen of wood carving-" Cupid

Chained"-has been produced by Mr, Archibald

Murray for the School of Arts Exhibition.

It him been decided to open the new Frecrauons*

Hall on Tuesday, the 23rd of April.

f he movement at Wollongong, to establish a direct

trade between that place and Melbourne has ended ia

An American named Moses H. Spooner, aged

twenty-seven, chief mate of tho Hawaiian schooner

Micronesia, was found drowned on Monday, having,

it was presumed, fallen out of the boat in attempting

to reach the vessel on the previous evening, being

then somewhat the woree for liquor.

A public meeting of members of the Church of

England was htld on Wednesday evening, under the

presidency of the Bishop of Sydney, in St. Michael's

schoolroom, Sun y Hüls, to devise measures for

liquidating the debt due upon that building. £270

were owing, and the Diocesan Societv hating offered

an aid of £30, on condition of the whole debt being

paid off within a year, this offer was accepted.

A meeting of shopkeepers in the boot and shoe

trade was held on Wednesday evening, at which it

was determined to close at seven p.m. on and after

On Thursday evening Mr. Parker gave one of his

attractive entertainments, called an " assaut d'armes,"

at the Lyceum Theatre. It was very successful, and

Mr. Billing, of Watson's Bay, -who has recently im-

ported two zebras from Melbourne, caused some

sensation by driving them through the city in a light

tandem on Thursday. They appeared perfectly docile

in harness, but rather slow.

The branch bank of New South Wales st west

Maitland has been robbed of £1727 in notes and gold,

by Waltham F. J. Beardmore, a junior clerk. Beard-

more absconded, but has since, it is stated, been

It is reported that there is a great quantity of fine '

limestoneljetween Maitland and Lochinvar.

A man named James Brown, residing at Balmain,

died on Thursday from the effects of intemperance.

A meeting of cricketers was held at the City

Wine Vaults on Thursday evening, when a handsome

silver cup was presented to Mr. H. Newcombe, in

acknowledgment of his exertions at the late inter-

A confine in Parramatta gaol, named Thomas Fare

brether, has been committed to take his trial for a

brutal assault upon one of the turnkeys of that

The completion of the new Turkish bath was cele-

brated by a sumptuous dtjeuner, on Thursday. The

bathe ai e to be permanently opened to the public on

A committee of the Assembly has been formed to

take into consideration the claims of the Rev. W. B.

Clarke, in connection with the gold discovery. This

was done without any application from the rev.

gentleman himself. ., , .

A Miss Mary Darrmgton, of Penrith, has de-

liberately poisoned herr elf by taking a quantity of

Some human remains, evidently those of aborigine»,

have been discovered at Bellambi, in cutting through

a sandhill to form a branch tramway.

A man named Luke Reilly has been killed, near

Mudgee, by the kick of a horse.