AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 244, 8 January 1889, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

JEALOUSY AND ATTEMPTED MUBDBB. Melboubnb, December 26. An elderly and respectable-looking man, named Edward Joseph Patrick Rice, a commercial traveller in the employ of Messrs Sargood, Butler and Nichol, of Melbourne, was charged at Kilmore. Police Court, this morning with shooting one George William Burnett, with intent to murder. From the evidence adduced Bice appears to have been determined to kill Burnett. The prisoner’s wife keeps an hotel at Wallan eight miles from Kilmore, and he paid an unexpected visit on the 26th last month, having previously entertained suspicions of his wife's conduct with Burnett. He met his wife near the railway station, and she drove him to the hotel, where. Burnett and his mother were staying. On their arrival Burnett, who was in a muddled state, came out of the hotel and spoke to prisoner, asking him to shake hands. Bice declined to have anything to do with him, and said, “I'm going to shoot you," and Burnett, thinking he was joking, told Bice to shoot away, whereupon he drew a revolver and fired two shots at his head,* but missed, Burnett then stepped forward to grasp the weapon when Bice fired a third shot, which took effect in Burnett’s right breast. Before he had time to fire another shot Burnett closed on him and threw him to the ground. His mother coming to his assistance and wrenching the revolver out of his hand, Bice was theu tied up and brought to the police station, and when charged with the offence said he was sorry be did not sboot his wife as well as Burnett. He accused Burnett of immoral conduct, and said that he was driven to commit the crime. When searched he had eighty rounds of ammunition on him. Burnett has been in the Kilmore Hospital since the affray, but ths surgeons failed to extract the bullet. The evidence clearly pointed out that Rice was intent upon shooting Barnett, and the Bench committed the accused for trial. Bice's motive in shooting Burnett was owing to the conduct with his wife. LAND BOOM REVELATION'S. Melbourne, Deo. 26. Another instan n of how things were worked during the land boom came to light.the other day at a meeting of the Land Investment and Building Society. The Managing. Director was Mr E. Skinner, and one of his 00-Directors was Mr Lewis. The principal transactions of the Company during its existence was the purchase of a property in Moreland road at £7OO an acre, and the tote) value of which was estimated at about £25,000. It was explained to the shareholders by the Chairman that it had now been discovered that the vendor of the property to the Company was really Mr Skinner, with whom Mr Lewis had an interest, and that these two having purchased the laud fpr £6OO, sold it to the Company for £7OO an acre. Mr Skinner, the Managing Director, addressing the shareholders at the meeting, said they were there to deal with the matter in a fair and businesslike spirit, to conceal nothing, and explain everything. (Hear, hear.) At the time of the purchase the property was cheap, and the Directors were not responsible for the depreciation which had since set in. The one weak point he regretted, was that in connection with Mr Lewis. He had purchased the land, at £6OO an acre, and sold it to the Company

at £7OO an acre (hisses). That was an open confession, and he wanted to be plain and straightforward. If he had not donohis duly; he meant to do it now. (Laughter.) It was explained that Messrs Skinner and Lewis had handed back to the Company the £lOO per acre, amounting in all to £-1300. Eventually, after a lot of discussion, the Directors were called on to resign aud a Committee was appointed to enquire into the whole of the transactions of the Company,

MASSACBE by natives. Brisbane, Dec. 23. The labor schooner Ariel arrived at Bundaberg yesterday, with seventy-five recruits. She reports that the Government agent, Mr Armstrong, was killed at Malayta. . The natives were apparently friendly, and the recruiting was most successful, but an islander came alongside the schooner in a canoe, who stated that the chief was sick, having a bad leg. Mr Armstrong made a lotion, and went ashore with a boat’s crew. Taking a native boatman, he went towards the village to see the chief, and when some distance from the boat Mr Armstrong and the boatman were seized by the natives, who were aimed with axes and knives. After a struggle the seaman got away minus his shirt, and saw Mr Armstrong cut to' pieces. He ran back to the boat, and the mate, Mr Rothchild, who was with the crew, seized a rifle an i endeavored to secure Mr Armstrong’s body, but numbers of natives, armed with rifles, spears, and bows, drove him back, and he narrowly escaped death. Bullets and arrows whistled all round him. All efforts to secure Mr Armstrong’s body were futile, and with difficulty the boat was got away to the ship. Mr Armstrong was strongly advised not to leave the boat, but he trusted to tfie friendly attitude of tha chief aud the natives. . ...

A BRUTAL MURDER. Charters Towers, December 14. A hawker's jewellery box, which had been broken open, and had evidently been emptied of any articles of value, was found on Thursday morning. Thera was marks of blood upon the lid, and foul play being suspected, the police were informed. The suspicions were confirmed by their finding the body of a man lying face downward, in a house in the main thoroughfare, St George's creek, between the town and the Railway station. He had apparently been killed by blows from a tomahawk on the back of the head. The deceased was named Mansire, aud he came from Jerusalem. Three men are in custody on suspicion of having committed the murder—a Maltese and two brothers, natives of Jerusalem. One of them informed the police that the deceased had some £2OO in his belt, but no belt was found on the body. The murder was a very brutal ene, the head of the deceased being nearly severed from his body. There were twelve distinct wounds on the head, any one of which would have been fatal.

A BBUTAL WBEIOH, Melbourne, Dec. 26. Jas. Wilson, Carr, a man of about forty years of age, was tried on a charge of unlawfully wounding his wife, Harriet Garr, with intent to m'”-der her. The prisoner had bean living apart from his wife, and went to her house in Richmond. They went into the Yarra Park to talk matters over. He then asked her for some money to get a glass of beer with, and as she turned a little sideways to get some money out of her purse he inflicted a gaeh on the side of her throat with a butcher’s knife. He also struck her a

second time with tha knife, but the wound then inflicted was not nearly so dangerous as the first. His Honor said the prisoner’s humiliating conduct in allowing hie wife to keep his children and get drink for him and then making a murderous assault on her spoke for itself. The sentence of the Court was fifteen years’ hard labor, the first three days of the first, fourth, eighth, and twelfth months of the first year to be passed in solitary confinement. A man named Wm. Murphy, who was found guilty of having shot Constable Stokes with intent to do grevious bodily harm, was sentenced to fifteen years’ hard .labor, the sentence to run' concurrently with the unexpired term of two years which hs is now leaving. - His crime was committed in ano of the back slums of the city, and Murphy escaped the police for several months, hut eventually was arrested Itf A sullUtban MWglary<