The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-27 00:00:00

NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA.

We have received by the Australian mail news from
Melbourne to November Bth :

The Duke of Edinburgh had arrived on his
third visit to the colony of Victoria He was
welcomed by thousands of people. During his
stay in Melbourne his Royal Highness was the guest of
the Governor, who gave several parties in his honour at
Toorak. His Royal Highness did not appear in public
very frequently. The day after the snail left the Prince
was to proceed to Sydney to join the Galeatea, which was
under orders to sail for the South Sea Islands,
A large fire occurred at Wellington on the night of
October 24, destroying property to the value of £lOO,OOO.
Three shocks of an earthquake occurred at Wellington
on the 3rd October, and another at Nelson on the same
day.
It is expected that the telegraph line from Port Ade-
laide to Port Darwin will be finished by the end of 1871.
The Tasmanian Parliament has been prorogued until
the 22nd of May next.
Parliament reassembled for the despatch of business on
the 27th of October. It is probable that the session will
be a short one. Supplies will only be asked for a
portion of 1871, in order to effect a change in the date
of the commencement of the financial year. The princi-
pal passages in the Governor's speech were the following :
I regret to have to inform you that there is a considerable
falling off in the revenue. But you will be glad to learn
that notwithttanding a long-continued drought, followed
by severe and repeated floods, with a decreased yield of
gold in some of the principal mining districts, the financial
position of the country is sound, and that the national
income will be adequate to meet the expenditure for the
year. The vital subject of education has steadily
occupied the public attention for some time
past, and it has been generally acknowledged
that the present Act needs amendment. Although
in the lamentable war in which two great -Euro-
pean Powers are engaged Great Britain maintains a posi-
' tion of strict neutrali.y, my Government have felt that
every care should be taken to place our defences in such a
position that the country may feel assured of safety in any
contingency that may arise. The material of war at our
disposal is now ready at any time for effective use ; some
new batteries are being constructed; a small body of men
neccessary for the immediate purposes of garrison duty
have been enrolled, and preparations have been made for
securing the colony against any attack t 3 which it might
be exposed.

ARTENIUS WARD AND THE CONJUROR.
Artemus and I produced our pellets. We had prepared
them at the hotel before starting. The name that I ,
wished to be rapped out was rapped in due order with as
much celerity and with equal attendant mystery as if a
spiritualist instead of a conjuror had been the operator.
But when Artemus experimented with his pellets, no raps
resulted, and the conjuror was unsuccessful. " Ah," he
exclaimed, "you have not written the name of a dead
friend whose spirit you really wished to hear from."
Artemus replied that he had written the name of Captain
Kydd, the famous pirate of days gone by, adding that
he particularly wanted to hear from Kydd's spirit, that
he might learn where the pirate had hidden his booty.
"There is just where you have made the mistake," said
the conjuror, "You have written Captain Kydd's name
on one slip, the King of the Cannibal Islands on another,
and hip Van Winkle on this one." Artemus laughed,
but was fairly puzzled. "How do you know what I have
written ?" he asked. "You have not opened any of them
to see, though you have got the right names." " There's
the trick of it. You see I know already what's inside the
little balls. Now go into the next room. Make up six
more little balls, and write on one of them the name of
somebody who is dead, and whom you would really like
to hear from. We'll try the experiment again." A fresh
'set of pellets was placed on the table. The conjuror, after
a few manoeuvres, commenced knocking aside with his
wand one pellet after another. On his touching the fourth
one, there were three vigorous raps. Artemus was told
to take a pencil and go over the letters of the alphabet,
He did so, and a name was rapped out to him in due
" spiritual " form. His surprise was great. "That's the
name of an uncle of mine who died down in Maine, said
ho "It is the very name I wrote. I thought it was a
likely one because he was given to talking when alive.
But what is the old man rapping away under the table
for?" " Wait, and you shall know all about it. You see
when you did write the name of one you really desired to
hear from, the raps came all right. Now, here's the trick
of it. You make up twelve little balls. You write a
name inside of each. You place all the twelve upon the
table. There they are. I pass my hand over them.
There they are still. " I see them," said Artemns. " No,
you don't," asserted the conjuror, with a laugh. " For
here they are." He opened his left hand. There were
twelve other pellets in the palm of it. " Observe my
table." said he. "It has a pattern on it. All inlaid
wood in squares and stars. Now, look closely at that
little square in the centre, You don't see it's
a little trap door, but it is. The pattern
of the table hides where it opens. Now there
are twelve little balls on the table. I palm these
other twelve little balls, which I have already
prepared, in my right hand. As I pass my hand over
the table, I touch this spring. The trap opens. Down go
the twelve little balls on which you have written into
the table. The trap closes, and I put the other twelve
little balls in their place. You think they are the same.
There, you see, the hand is quicker than the eye. First
lesson in conjuring—fact ! Then I divert your attention
while I unroll and examine the twelve little balls which
have fallen through, to find out the name of the spirit
you want to hear from." " But how do you find that
out ?" we asked. " That's science, not hanky-panky,"
answered the man of mystery. " You see you write on
twelve slips, and you write twelve names. One name is
that of somebody you do wish to hear from, and ther other
eleven are nobodies. You think you write all alike, but
you don't. You are sure to write the name of the spirit
, you want to rap more carefully than all the other names.
You can't help doing it. Ninety-nine people out of a
hundred would. I open all the little balls, and I run my
eyes over +hem. I see which is most carefully written,
and I say that's the one. I've got a rapping machine in
the leg of that table, and I make it rap. When you wrote
the name of a real uncle I could tell you. When you
wrote a lot of nonsense I couldn't. While you are going
over the alphabet, I palm the little ball back on the table.
If I have made any mistake, I soon find it out when you
go over the alphabet, because if the name is Harry you
are sure to hesitate when the pencil comes over the letter
H.' You are sure to do it—fact ; though you don't
know it. And I've got my eye on you."—The Genie
Showman.,ts

SIR RODERICK MIIRCHISON.—'\'e have authority
to stale that Sir Roderick Murchison, in expressing his
most grateful thanks for the solicitude shewn by his nume-
rous friends for the restoration of his health, feels it
necessary to modify an announcement which appeared on
Saturday in the Athenceum, that he would be soon com-
pletely restored and able to attend • to public scientific
duties. Although very considerably improved in health,
thanks, to the skill of his friend Dr. Bence Jones, some
time must yet elapse under the most favourable circum-
stances before he will be able to attend to scientific duties
or to correspondence.