The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-25 00:00:00

BUSINESS AT ADELAIDE.

The following is an extract from a private letter
from Adelaide, dated June 1, 1853

"The demand for all kinds of goods in conweluence
of the different aspect put upon commercial afrairs by
the gold discoveries has been extremely great here, and
consignees have reaped enormous profits ; and although
it has somewhat subsided, there still remains tend will
for some time continue to be a pretty wide outlet for the
disposal of merchandise. The English merch ants who
have for the last 18 months shipped for these colonies
must have realised princely profits, for the proceeds of
their consignments, which were invariably great were
remitted in gold, which at the period I allude to was 3/.
per oz. Those who have been blessed with a. toler-
able capital during the last two years have in creased
their store to an enormous extent by purchasin g gold,
investing in freeholds, or mortgage. Such people have
of course tenfold advantages. We are certau dy in a
highly prosperous condition, but still the cry is labour.
Some mechanics are actually earning as much as 2/. a-
day, and none under U. Every article of life is enor-
mously high.
Our last advice from England inform us of the death
of Mr. Smellie, our Advocate-General, while on a con-
tinental tour, and Mr. Ranson has been gazetted as
Advocate-General until her Majesty's pleasure be known.
It is expected here that his appointment will be con-
firmed by the Duke of Newcastle. Mr. Harmon is a
thorough liberal. There has been a hotly-contested
election here. The candidates were Mr. Stephens, who
has been for eleven years the manager of the Bank of
South Australia, our leading banking establishment,
and Mr. Fisher, one of the first who set foot in the co
bony, a resident commissioner, who has figured in all
the political movements of the colony, and has twice
filled the office of Mayor. Mr. Fisher has been and is
very popular. Mr. Stephens is a liberal. Notwith-
standing that the latter gentleman would not personally
interfere to secure his election and that his bank career
has made him enemies, he nearly got elected, solely 0.
account of the dislike to Mr. Fisher because of the opi-
nions of the latter in favour of the church grant."

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF POISONING.-Ort Wednes-
day afternoon last, four boys, named Edward Cartney,
aged 14 years ; Cornelius Cartney, 12 ; James Lear y,
11 ; and Patrick Leary, 8, were on Sydenham-hill, not
a great distance from the Crystal Palace, when they
found in a hedge a wine bottle about three parts full o
a light-coloured liquid, and, supposing the contents t o
be gin, they drank it off. In about anhour after all
became so frightfully ill that they were obliged to lie on
the grass, and here they must have died, had not a po-
liceman fortunately come to the spot soon after, where
he found the four lads writhing in the greatest possible
agony, and nearly insensible. The officer promptly
procured assistance, and removed the sufferers to Cam-
berwell workhouse. By the time the lads had reached
the latter place they were quite insensible, and in ap-
parently a dying state ; but they were placed under
medical treatment, and, though at first not the slightes, t
hopes were entertained of the recovery of any of thorn,
they rapidly improved, and were so far recovered on
Monday as to be able, with the exception of the oldest,
Edward Cartney, to be given up to their friends, who
lived in Shard's-square, Old Kent-road. The boys state
that after drinking the contents of the bottle they
smashed the bottle itself, so that no opinion could b e •
formed of the nature of the poison. It is conjectured,
however, by Mr. King and others that it consisted of
some powerful preparation for dressing sheep, and had
been incautiously placed in the hedge where it had been
found by the boys who have so narrowly escaped from
its effects.