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Dunstan Times, Issue 619, 27 February 1874, Page 2

The scarcity of ladies is thus commented upon by a contemporary “A iiiscuns'on on marriage has recently been raging in the c damns of the Melbourne papers. ’1 he Telegraph admits that, there arc fewer mar riagea in Victoria in proportion to the population than in European countries, and adds that the explanation lies to a great extent in the scarcity of ladies hj. Victoria. Taking unmarried persons of the age of twenty years and upwards, and the last census returns give 96,585 bachelors and 25,202 spinsters. We may assume that one half of the 25,000 young ladies are engaged ; and if so, the prospects of the remaining 12,500 must he regarded a? excellent. They have at least 84,000 bachelors to woo them It is notorious that large districts like Talbot and the Winn, era whole hordes of bachelors arc running wild, with no more chance of meeting a wife than they have of finding a hunyip. Three typical districts may he quoted Loddnn, 12,454 bachelors, 820 spinsteis ; Whom ra 1*134 bachelors, 70 spinsters ; Talbot, 5,929 bachelors, 256 Spinster*. Yonne on n proc eding to these districts may well ejaculate after Dante, “ All hope abandon ye who enter here ” For them the chaims and p-insof flii/ation, mtl.ing int courtship, and subsiding into man inn ny. me to t The feelings of tan aiization t mimed by these unhappy creatures v. In n ib y md the charge, a a nst.ibs M. Ibi uuk an:- f neglecting the iair a.a u,u-.t hate been par* tjculariy p;oi^Use.t.”