In The Herald: 1862
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday January 14, 2009
* The Australian colonies were concerned that a ruckus that had begun in November between Britain and America could lead to war. Trent, a British mail vessel on a Britain-West Indies mail run, was intercepted by a Union man-of-war, San Jacinto, which captured two Confederate commissioners, John Slidell and James Mason. Banks were looking at their rates of exchange and insurance companies were considering war risks.
* The Herald said that the prospect of such a war, however slight, was bound to have a profound impact on Britain's colonies. The millions who had crossed the Atlantic would surely lift up their voices against aggressive moves towards the land that had given them birth. The illogicality of such fratricidal strife could be seen in the war raging between the American North and South, which was "simply frenzy, yet it prevails". [The Herald need not have worried. On this day the "Trent affair" was resolved, peacefully.]* An inquest found that Constable J. Quinn had died after being struck by lightning at Cockatoo Island on Sydney Harbour the previous Saturday night. Quinn was on duty with a Constable Campbell at the prison, then on the island, when the lightning struck. An Inspector Lane, thinking there had been an insurrection by prisoners, ordered a doubling of the sentries. * NSW was gripped by fearsome temperatures. The previous Friday it had been 48.3 degrees and 41.7 degrees in the shade. The heat made progress more difficult for the gold escorts, including one bringing 1669 ounces from the Lachlan and #2326 in cash; another bringing 2998 ounces and #621 from Lambing Flat.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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