Our Contributors.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 455, 30 November 1880, Page 2

Our Contributors.

THE MELBOURNE EXHIBITION.

(By Garnet Walch.)

Ashes —Cup and Derby—God and Mammon—A £ood race —Psyche aux Knfers —Flora—Nicotina —The veiled Bacchus — L'amende honorable — Slieep sauce —A guide, philosopher, and friend.

The great week is over, and Melbourne is suffering a recovery from excess of excitement, with such hairs of the dog that bit it as reviews, public dinners, bowling matches, and a few minor attractions for the odd thousands of visitors still lingering in the gay metropolis. But the hubbub, the bustle, the inconvenience of Cup time, have vanished. No longer will you see, as I saw the other night, ii hotel drawing-room some 30ft. square covered with recumbent, blanketswathed humanity so closely as to hide the carpet entirely from view ; no longer are waiters run off their feet, and barmaids worried cut of their senses by the thronging phalanxes of thirsty customers ; no longer is every third man you ment a country cousin, and the other two-thirds of the population his town friends, who are bent upon " showing him life" ; no longer do our news-boys toss for sixpences instead of halfpence, or the money-takers at the theatres rejoice in little piles of over-change. The railway porters begin to look as if life had still some joys in store for them ; the cabmen are resuming the official scale of charges ; the 'busses have discovered that an inside complement is not to be reckoned by the long dozen of twenty-six, as in the case of ginger-beer. In a word, Melbourne —filled last week spongelike to overflowing—has to submit to a daily increasing squeeze from the hand of Fate, and will soon be doubly dry by reason of comparison. Some of the papers took to likening Cup Day here to the Derby day at home, and crowed loudly about the greater proportionate attendance at the Flemington Course, but I hardly think myself that the similarity between the two events holds good. In the first place there are many grand race meetings in England besides the Derby, and in the second the Derby Day is not a national holiday. We have all laughed over the subterfuges resorted to by employers and employees in order to see the great Epsom race, but nothing of that kind is needed here. Principal and subordinate meet each- other" at Flemington, and ineither has-cause to be ashamed of the rencontre.

The above is the rule, and like all rules has its exception. Instance a case which came under my notice. A highly moral merchant in this city who reads the Bible in the tram every morning as a preparatory whet for the speculative transactions of the day, and whose officeclerks are, or pretend to be, so many sucking saints, was asked by the boy of all work, at his private house, for a holiday on Cup Day—" Certainly not," was the reply, " I will not encourage any one in my employ in attending such scenes of vice as the races." ,

An explanation followed, to the eflect that the youth did not wish to visit Flemington, but intended to patronise the Christian Young Men's Association Picnic down the bay. The requisite leave was at once granted. That evening, being interrogat°d by his master as to how ho had enjoyed himself, the simple stripling, in a naive burst of confidence ejaculated " First-rate, won nine pounds !" The question now is what is the favorite game onboard the C.V.M.A. boats, and which O.Y.M. suffered on this particular occasion ?

The same uncompromisingly excellent commercial individual to whom I have alluded above, was asked by a heart)' but thoughtless acquaintance whether he was going to the Cup. " No," said the U.EXJ.I. with that self-righteous smirk

so fascinating to the uvemge sinner; " No, I jun entered for fi bettor race."

—" Pity the man who draws you in a sweep," was the unkind and un-Chris-tian rejoinder. Few remarks are so charmingly unstudied in their nature as those which fall from holiday visitors to the Exhibition, and perhaps the best place to pick up these uncut gems is one or other of the picture galleries. But the best thing of the kind I ever heard was in our own national gallery at the Public Library. A. small group were contemplating " Psycho aux Enfers," a picture wherein Psyche, clad after the fashion of Eve before the Fall, is represented in old Charon's boat near the flaming gates of Hades, and holding in her hand the casket which jealous Venus sent her to seek. " And what is this?" asked a stout lady of the only male in the company. Whereat he unhesitatingly and evidently undoubtingly replied—" It represents" the Empress Eugenic of France quitting Paris by way of the Seine, in the dead of night. She has only just received a telegram of the defeat at Sedan and has had no time to dress. It was sis much, as she could do to snatch up her box of jewels. In the background you see the burning city and several- of the Communists." And the group moved on to the next picture, saturated with satisfaction.

The gardens round the Exhibition are beginning to show a fair growth o( verdure, and many of the flowers are in full bloom. The rosery in particnlar is a great point of attraction. Seen from the domes the lawns and parterres look like the pattern of a handsome Brussels carpet. And talking of the gardens reminds me that the embargo laid upon smoking in the grounds has been withdrawn, much to the satisfaction of many who, like myself, enioy the fragrant weed so long as our enjoyment does not interfere with the dislikes or prejudices of any one else. It used to be veritable " hard lines " to pass huge trophies of cigars and tobacco, knowing the while that a newspaper paragraph was the only puff one could give them, and superadded to this was the knowledge that inscribed on the outermost gates of the gardens, were these invisible words —" Lasdate ogni tabaco voi ch , entrate."—BMt all this is now changed, and wisely so. Viewed through a veil of tobacco-smoke, the building and even the fountain are softened into less horrescent outlines.

Depriving a smoker of his tobacco may fairly claim to rank next in the category of crimes to robbing a poor man of his beer, and now that both articles are being additionally taxed in this glorious colony of Victoria, they are more than ever associated together in men's minds. At the Exhibition there are two things to take exception to in connection with the sale of John Bull's, and for the matter of that the favorite Australian beverage. In the ordinary refreshment bars colonial ale is very frequently sold at 6d per glaas, despite the express stipulation that 3d should be the price charged, and down below at the bar specially devoted to the manufactures of our local brewers the casks containing the beer are hidden from view by drapery. It is true that the names of the different brewers are gaudily emblazoned on these said draperies, bnt what is to vouch for the contents of the casks being exactly as represented ? To say the least, there is an opening for fraud in this direction, and the casks at any rate should be left without cover. My attention has been drawn to this by a brother scribe who has already written against the arrangement. In the interests of the public I follow suit.

I fear that a somewhat ponderous joke in my last letter has given unpremeditated offence, and therefore take the first opportunity of making the amende honorable. I allude to my remarks concerning Messrs Hood and Cos. patent sheep dip composition. I used this exhibit as a peg whereon to hang a matter totally irrelevant to the subject, and it has been hinted to me that the proprietors of the article in question may or do look at my method of dealing with it from a different point of view to that which I had in.my mind. Let me hasten to give a full assurance that I am innocent of all intention of offending. Those who know me, know what a mixture of angelic meekness and cream of human kindness is covered by the epidermis which I have the honor to possess. A slur upon a valuable Australian manufacturer is, therefore, the last act I should be guilty oi.

And now, seriously, as regards this exhibitj.particulars of which will probably be read 'with; interest by.,'many of my country readers, Messrs Hood 'and Co., of Elizabeth-street, ; Melbourne, have two specialities for the due cleansing of our fleecy fellow-colonists. The one 'specific is known as Hood and Cos. Soluble Sheep Dip, and the others as Thomas's Carbolised Sheep Dip. the former being the original Hood's specific, which I am informed has-proved most efficacious as. a remedy for scab and tick for the last twenty years, and was found to be almost invaluable ; during the scab plague a few years since. Thomas's Sheep Dip is Said; to ; be| ropna-j. factu'red on a similar principle "to*" tlfe other, the difference .being*'that it is improved by the carbolising process, which has the effect of increasing the curative properties.

Both dips appear to have given great satisfaction, if we may judge by thevaluable testimonials from many of the leading flock-owners in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania . and New-.Zealand, The selecting of a really good dip is : a matter of vital importance, as upon this, depends not only the health of the flock

but even the qualify ,'md weigh of the fleeces. That flood anil Co.'s preparations possess the necessary qualifications to the fullest extent is evidenced by the experience of no less an authority than Mr E. G. Grieves, the eminent flockmaster of Borriyalock, who in a letter to Messrs Dennys, Lascellcs and Co. writes of the composition in the highest terms. In addition to their dips, Messrs Hood and Co. exhibit corn solvent, walnut hair-dye, Australian hair restorer, and a variety of other drugs and chemicals, for the purity and excellence of which they carried off medals from the exhibitions of Dublin, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney. The stand is on the northern side of the main avenue, and not very far from Messrs Rocke and Co.'s beautiful chambre cle luxe.

My friend R; P: Whitworthfwho has done much good work in the past, and whose Australian publications would in thorn solves .fill a .very fair-sized shelf, has just issued (per Mr ,F. F. Bailliefe ns publisher) " The official Handbook and Guide to Victoria." This compact volume, of two or three huadred pages, is far and away the best thing of its kind which, has yet peon the light in these colonies. . Taking , the new arrivil by iho hand at Sandridge Pier, Mr Whitworth'cdnvoys'liim'day Rafter day ■' round and about Melbourne and its lions, and then striking into the country visits town after town, and district after district, pointing out the chief features of each clearly, concisely, and completely. It really surprises me, and I have had a little experience in ■ these matters, (teste " Victoria in 1880," soon, oh ! reader, to, be before thy-longing _, eyes)— it really surprises me. I repeat to turn over, page after page of Mr Whitworth's voluminous index and see the mass of miscellaneous information which he has got together. I prophesy a big sale, and a lasting fame for this comprehensive, non-expensive, capital little book.