The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-22 00:00:00

AUSTILWAN DIGGINGS.

We have been favoured with the perusal of a let-
ter, dated Sydney, Pith June, 15.31, from an intelligent and
well inflamed merchant ; anti, as hW opinions on colonial
nutters are entitled to considerable weight, we subjoin •
few extracts for the information of our reader,:

o The gold discoveries in this colony will attract, and has
already attracted, a great number of persons from the
neighbouring colonies, and will do so soon from England
and elsewhere. The consequence will be a good and pro.
fitable market for live stock and cheap labour; for the
Labouring classes who are drawn to the diggings soon find
that few, very few, earn one quarter of their rations at it,
they have besides to work hard from morning till night,
up to their middles mostly in water, and subject to
all kinds of exposure in cold and wet nights on
the bleak mountains ; therefore, not one in fifty
of such arrivals here who on conversing with those
who have been to the diggings, and who, after losing the
little they had before in their outfit, have returucel without
hulling a grain of the precious metal sought so eagerly for,
probably will leave here for Bathurst and the gold-diggings,
thus what was temporarily thought would be most detri-
mental to the pastoral interests of the colony will prove in
the abundance and cheapness of labour the greatest benefit.
Wages are now unusually low here ; great numbers of
strong non anxious to take any employment ; consequently
there Is great distress existing here in the quarters of the
city where the working classes principally reside. Five
weeks ago men refused almost any amount of wages
offered them. Not a bricklayer, mason, blacksmith, shoe-
maker, &c., but had either started for, or was preparing
to start for, the diggings. All was at a stand still
where labour was required. Now, what a difference. The
lumps placed in the ahopwindows here did the misehief,
and the accounts were magnified by the paper!' and the
storekeepers in the Bathurst district, who were anxious to
increase the number of their customers. When the lower
milers saw the lumps of gold they said that ' flesh and
blood could stand it no longer,' nod off they went, expect-
ins to pick up the same sized pieces. One person in orb
zni4ht have been lucky. lteports are even now most highly
coloured. With the exception of some large pieces of gold,
four or tire of from 30 uz. to 3 lb. 13 oz., there has becu
but a small quantity of the metal, and three guar-
ten or more of that which is exported, is Californian,
bro;ndit here by persons who return by the numerous
secs, tram there, or by others who purchase goods of some
parto ul it kind required for California. 1 think it very
wettable, wino machinery fur crushing the quartz which
abounds in all parts of the colonies, is brought into opera-
tbni in this colony, and the powdered quartz submitted to
the quicksilver process, and the amalgam sublimated, that
mirth gold will be made thereby, fur the purely white
quartz, which has not the slightest appearance of contain-
ing geld, even when examined by a powerful lens,
else. WI being crushed to powder, and treated with
quiarsilver, produce three grains or more of pure gold to
0111 ounce of the powder. 'this will have an important bear-
ing on this colony, and perhaps some new plan on a very
Lirde wale. for washing the auriferous alumina may be sue-
ee-stul, but 1 don't think that it will answer fur poor
is in the small cradles, and his dishes are now in over
supply, iudeed they are totally valueless for the purposes
intended. 'flare never was such a total stagnation in trade
ever recollected as at the present time. The banks are so
very cautious just in their discounts, owing to their know-
ledge that a vast deal of money has been lost by drapers and
other dialers rushing off to the diggings with goods to sell,
and which has resulted in gs trend loss and disaster. The banks
are very careful now even in making advances on produce.
Wool, for instance, they require a margin of from 3d to Id.
per lb. on the cash coat at auction ; the shipper showing
his aoctioneer's accounts for the same. Therefore the
banks don't care as far as their security is concerned,
whether the bills for the advance be or Aldgate-pump or
other liquidsator—the weds being insured against loss.'

TERRIBLE EXPLOSION OF GUNPOWDER.

Our coreesposulent at Vienna, writing on tlio 17th
inst., says :
. .

Every tepee of political interest is thrown completely into
the shade to-day by the accounts which arrived last night
oft terrible catastrophe Wear Krems. On Wednesday
triurninz the large powder magazine at Oneizendorf blew
up, whether by accident or design is not known. Its con-
te eta at the moment were only ten hundredweight of pow-
der, more than eight hundredweight having been removed
to Vienna on the previous day. The lots of life has been
trilling, owing to the few persons about at the time. The
sufferers whose bodies have been found are a major, • limi-
t nant, and an auditor of artillery, the inspector of the
magazine, and the two sentries on duty. A young girl,
the daughter of • subordinate labourer, is also miming.
.1 he officers of artillery, who met their death in c 0...
gqreoee of the explosion, had only that instant reached
tit. entrance to the magazine in a carriage and pair, Dav-
in,: been ordered by the military authorities to inspect
and report upon the quantity and condition of the powder
In the magazine. 1 heir deaths must have been instan-
taneous, as the bodies were found completely crushed by the
enormous masses of brick-work hurled from the building by
the fore of the explosion. Strange to say, the carriage
horses escaped entirely unhurt; the driver, however, is said
to have received mortal injuries. From the various accounts
whale have heen received, it appears that the inspector of
the magazine entered the powder-rooms alone about an hour
I,lorc the arrival of the inspecting commission, that he
shortly afterward* tent the little girl mentioned above fur
some wine, and that nothing was seen or heard of him until
the explosion took place. Several of the letters published in
the papers coutain hiuts respecting the deceased inspector,
which can be only interpreted into an accusation of pecu-
lation, An inquiry is of course taking place, which I have
no doubt will extract the truth. Of the magazine Well
net one stone remains standing ; large portions of
the brickwork, tiles, and beams, were hurled to a distance
?t more than 2,000 yards. The vineyards and fields in the
immediate neighbourhood have suffered considerable da-
maze. Two or three labourers iii the fields received severe
contusions from the descending ruins. One man will have
to hoe both his legs in consequence of • double compound
fracture. In Oncisccudort, not • *Male window remains
and in Krems, which is more than three quarters of
an hour, distance from the magazine, much damage has
also been done. Several houses were dangerously shaken.
'lime report of the explosion was heard in Vienna, but was
ceueidered to emanate from one of the many military re-
views which expend powder daily in the neighbourhood of
t4e metropolis. Immediately after the event, the military
stationed in Kretva was ordered to Gaeizendorf to lend as-
sistance, but not one of the sufferers was dug out alive
from the ruins. Krems is situated in 17pper Austria on the
hanks of the Danube, about Svc-awl-thirty English miles
fsum Titans.