The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-14 00:00:00

THE LABOUR MARKET IIV VICTORIA.

The Metbourne Argus says :—" Scarcely any alteration
has occurred in the market during the month. Although
harvest operations have set in, rates of labour remain sta-
tionary. Inquiry for all kinds of farm labour is brisk, and
the demand is fairly supplied. Persons possessing a com-
petent knowledge of cheese-making are- sought after, and
would quickly meet with profitable engagements ; this
branch of daily produce is beginning to engross unusual
attention. The immigrants who arrived by the Can-
terbury last week experienced no difficulty in obtain-
ing situations. Alluding to the present system adopted
for the distribution of assisted immigrants, the
Pastoral Times protests against the system of
discharging immigrants on the large towns,' where
they quickly become idle, demoralised, and even-
tually a burden to the country.' The same journal
advocates the establishment of depots throughout the
populous districts of the interior, where the class referred to
would be certain to find instant employment. Quotations
are as follows :—Shepherds, £3O to £4O per annum : hut-
keepers, £22 per do. ; shearers, 14s. to 15s. per 100, with
rations ; lads who can milk, 11s. per week : general farm
labourers, 13s. to 15s. do. ; three-rail fencers (stuff laid on
the lige), Is. Pd. to 2s. per rail ; grubbers and splitters and
fencers, 4s. to 4s. 6d. per rod ; wood•splitters, 3s. Gd. per
ton ; gardeners, 20s. to 255. and 30s. (first class) per week ;
bush carpenters, ISs. to 20s. per week, with ration; ;
general carpenters, undertaking bush work, 30s. do. ;
black and shoeing smiths, 30s. do. ; wheelwrights,
355. to £2 do. ; brickmakers, 18s. to £1 per 1,000,
with rations ; married couples, without encumbrance
(first class), £6O per ;annum ; do. (second class), £45 to
£55 ; female servants (good) country, £26 ditto ; cooks,
housemaids, £26 ditto.; laundresses, £2O to £2B ditto;
nurse-girls ss. to 7s. per week. Common labour may be
quoted at Os. to 7s. per day. Mr. Alfred Levi, of the
Victorian Mercantile Registration Office, reports :—` We
have to report an improvement in business this
month, in consequence of the changes which usually
occur in mercantile houses during this period of the

year. Junior drapers have been in demand, country
hands particularly. Commercial travellers have been
inquired for, but it is difficult to get first-class men.
Bookkeepers and clerks are not in good request ; a number
of both classes are unemployed. Grocers and iron-
mongers' assistants have been demanded, and have been
filled up pretty well. For boot salesmen there have been
no inquiries. Applications for tutors have been meagre.
Theatrical assistants are not looked for. A few stationers'
assistants have been supplied for New Zealand. No altera-
tion has taken place in the apprentices and boys and
youths' department."

THE

;NNON.

DUBLIN, Thursday.
Patrick Lennon was tried yesterday in the Com-
te/ ssion Court for firing at Sergeant Kelly with
int .ent to kill him. The Attorney-General, the
_ _ _

Sc )licitor-General, Mr. Owen, Q.C., and Mr. Bull,
QL.C., conducted the prosecution; Mr. Purcell,
Q.C., and Mr. J. A. Curran defended. The facts
"have been recently stated. Kelly identified the

-prisoner as the man who shot him. On cross-
examination he stated that the night was foggy and
hazy. He never had any doubt of being able to
recognise the man. He had always an idea of him
before his mind, but not always as good an idea as
after he saw him in Kilmainham. But for the leaf
he would have supposed that it was a cap which he
wore on his head. He had a good view of him, and
could not be mistaken about his dress. He had
never seen him before. In Kilmainham he asked
the prisoner to pronounce the word " stand," and
from the manner in which he did so, and from
his walk, he had no doubt of his identity. Mr.
Purcell read the declaration made by the witness
in the hospital when he was supposed to be dying,
and contrasted it with his evidence. In it he said
he would not know the man again, and described
his dress as a cap, a short black coat, and light-
coloured trousers. The witness explained that when
he made that statement he was in an awful state of
pain. When he made that declaration he had not
before his mind the smallest idea of the man who
fired at him. The prisoner wore a low hat ; it was
very like a cap. On the 20th of January he made
an information, and he then had clearly before his
mind every circumstance connected with the mat-
ter. Mary Donnelly deposed that she saw the pri-
soner fire a revolver at Kelly. She screamed
" Murder !" and the prisoner turned round and
looked at her. There was a gas lamp near, and she
saw his face. Ann Clarke gave evidence to the
effect that the prisoner passed her in Temple-bar
shortly after the shots were fired. She had seen
him before that night. Mr. Purcell, Q.C., ad-
dressed the jury for the prisoner. He complained
that the Crown had tried him first for treason-
felony, and that he now appeared with a stigma
which was calculated to prejudice the defence.
Counsel contended that the evidence of identifica-
tion had failed. The prisoner was brought on the
table in order that the jury might judge of the in-
accuracy of the evidence as to his height. He had
been described as a low-sized man, but he stood five
feet nine inches.
A witness for the defence swore that he spent
the evening of the occurrence in company with the
prisoner in a publichouse, and at a quarter to 12
o'clock returned with him to bis lodgings, where he
remained until half-past sin the morning, sleeping
in the same bed. On cross-examination he said he
never slept with Lennon before, but he was shut
out of his own lodging that night.
Other witnesses corroborated the evidence.
At the close of the case Judge Fitzgerald charged
the jury. He pointed out the discrepancies in the
testimony of the Crown witnesses as to identifica-
tion. The jury, after deliberating three-quarters
of an hour, acquitted the prisoner.
The Attorney-General stated that he would not
proceed with the indictment for murder at this
Commission.

THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS.

A letter dated Naples, Feb. 8, says—The disaster

in Santa Lucia has so completely absorbed our at-
tention for the last fortnight, that the principal
agent in causing the misfortune has excited little
notice, and yet Vesuvius, in spite of Reuter's in-
telligence that it had fallen, has been almost as
active and brilliant as at the commencement of its
eruption. It has assumed different phases at in-
tervals, increasing and decreasing, so that the
approaching termination of the spectacle has been
announced more than once ; still the mountain con-
tinues with unwearied energy to astonish the nume-
rous visitors who have crowded into Naples. About
the time I wrote to you last on this subject, the
oracle of the Observatory declared that Vesuvius
had nearly arrived at the end of its demonstrations
or was entering on a new phase. The prophecy
was a safe one, being equivalent to say that
much might be said on either side. No detona-
tions were heard—no fragments of lava were
taanpdortthioen
uopfpetrhepasrutmonf-iti theofmtohuenctoanine
lhardo wf
anll
eonu —n
was covered with sublimates of common salt.

Three or four days elapsed, during which the lava
declined in the rapidity of its course, when about
the night of the 21st the roofings of the mountain
were again heard most distinctly in Naples. Slight
shocks of earthquake occurred on several succes-
sive nights, which were felt very sensibly in Naples,
and the lava, which was more copious, unable any
longer to enter the passage through which it had
hitherto burrowed, had to commence its course over
the indurated bed. For some time it continued
towards the right, as seen from Naples, and shortly
after descended on the left, in the direction of the
Observatory. These streams were continually
augmented by fresh supplies of material, but their
course is comparatively short, as in intervals of re-
pose they become indurated, and they have to
begin again from the summit. As day after day
passed on, the instruments showed an increase of
magnetic agitation ; the lava flowed much more
copiously, until on the night of the 28th of January
the intensity and extent of the eruption were
greater than they had been for some time. The
whole of the upper part of the mountain, from the
summit to the base of the cone, was covered with
red-hot lava, presenting a most stupendous spec-
tacle, and attracting a crowd of visitors, among
whom were the Duke and Duchess of Aosta. I

note this night in particular, for it was that on
which the great calamity befel Santa Lucia. It
corresponded with the increased action of the
mountain, and though many who have been un-
conscious of them may be sceptical of the fre-
quent recurrence of earthquakes they are no less
a fact, unless science has erred and the many who
have felt them have been mistaken. What effect
these continued oscillations must have on buildings
and mountains of tufa-sand I leave you to judge.
The same inconsistency which has marked the history
of this eruption continued to distinguish it till the
end of the month. " The instruments of the Ob-
servatory pass from a state of almost perfect inac-
tion to an activity which may be called feverish,"
said Palmieri on the 30th of January. On the 3d of
February there was an interval of comparative re-
pose ; the lava ran with less vivacity, and the in-
struments were calmer, but ou the next day
there was a considerable increase—the cone began
to mutter, and the activity of the sismograph
indicated that yet greater quantities of lava
were to be thrown out. Between the sth and
6th there were three shocks of earthquake, and a
gentleman who ascended the cone halfway up told
me that the ground trembled beneath him. On these
nights the visitors had the choice of two roads, for
while one stream ran towards the Piano delle
Ginestre, another pursued the direction of the Cro-
celle, to which spot the image of St. Januarius will
be borne in a month or two, as is the annual cus-
tom. The spectacle increased in grandeur to the
6th and 7th instant. The thunders of the cane
were stronger, so strong, indeed, as to shake the
windows of Torre del Greco, while slight shocks of
earthquake were registered by the sismograph, and
so the state of the mountain continues at the pre-
sent moment. With the cessation of the heavy
rains of the latter part of January the fumarole
(smoke holes) of the lava have again been deco-
rated with white, yellow, and green sublimates, in
which, besides common salt, copper and lead pre-
dominate. You may imagine, therefore, the at-
tractions which the mountain presents. Crowds
visit it every night, for Naples is full of visitors;
and the splendid weather which has set in, and the
moon which shines above us almost as brilliant as
your sun, make the trip to Vesuvius a most
agreeable excursion.

SIR W. ARMSTRONG.—Sir W. G. Armstrong has
been mado a Knight Commander of the Order of San
Maurizio a Lazzaro by his Majesty the King of Italy, in
recognition of his services as an artillerist, and as the con-
sequence of the definitive adoption of his ordnance for the
Italian naval service.