VICTORIA.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2713, 27 October 1871, Page 2

VICTORIA.

Melbourne, Oct. 21. Most persons revisiting Melbourne after an absence of eight or ten years are greatly struck by the extension and improvement of the suburbs inhabited by the wealthier classes which have taken place in the interval. But an inspection of those which are the abode of the wage-receiving classes would tend to show that just as marked an improvement has been effected here. This is especially observable in the outlying district* of Coliingwood and Fitzroy. The old weatherboard and shingle habitations are being rapidly replaced by neat and commodious cottages of brick and stone, or timber, with slated roofs. In many instances a picturesque porch, or a carved front to the gabled ro,»f, or a band of ornamental tracery in cement running round the door and windows, relieves the uniformity of the elevation. Most of these structures are kept in admirable order, freshly painted and trimly garnished, impressing the pas»er-by with a conviction that the occupant, who is usually the owner, feels a pride in his residence. Apropos of new buildings, our City Council has determined to erect another public building, which shall be an ornament to Melbourne. At its last meeting it awarded to Mr Fbmnagan the first prize of L2OO for his design for the new eastern market. 'the building will cover three acres of land, is to have 330 feet frontage tp Bourke street and Little Collins street and 300 feet to Stephen street, It is to cost L 83.000, and its magnitude may be inferred from the fact that a single department—the wholesale de. partment—will accommodate 228 carts at one time.

“ One touch of nature makes the whole world kin and the touch of genuine pathos which manifested itself at the close of Mr Duffy’s speech on the 14th seemed to elicit the warmest sympathy from all sides of the House. Mr Fellows had alluded to the rebellious proclivities of the Chief Secretary in early life ; and the latter took occasion to vind cate the part he had played in Irish politics, to reassure the pride with which he looked back upon that period of his career, and to pay an affectionate tribute to his old associates—some of whom had gone into exile, and achieved distinction in distant lauds - while most of them had gone down to the grave. He showed that the principles he had contended for in ’4B had been carried into effect by Mr Gladstone ; and he pointed out that if he had followed the example of other recreants, he might have shared in the honors and emoluments lavished on them by Lord Palmerston He preferred to expatriate himself, and while he acknowledged the errors and shortcomings of a life which he feared would not be prolonged for many years, he avowed, in accents which quivered with emotion and produced a powerful effect upon the House, that no honors which he had achieved or might achieve, here or elsewhere, could afford him the pride and gratification which he derived from the retrospect of his efforts in early life on behalf of his native land, when it w;S smitten with famine and pestilence, and the number of those who perished or fled exceeded the population of the whole of these colonies.

There is not much theatrical news. The Tavistowskys are doing immense business at the Koyal, the latest hit being the burlesque of Paris, which promises to have a long run. Mr Coppin has received advice of a new company coming out to him. It will be under the management of Mr E. Jackson, late of the Ballarat theatre, and will include Mr Harry Kickard*, the “great comic.” And still the talk is of quartz. As to the number of persons who are coining money—as you are confidently and confidentially assured—by speculating in shares, from merchants down to eryapd boys, it is beyonc| calculatiop. Oh a small scale ws are repeating in this Colony the events of 1846-7 in England, when railway scrip was the newly di covered philosopher’s stone, and everybpdy was going to become rich without toil find.' withput self-denial: au4 all sorts pf staid steadying people lost their heads, 'Jhat wonderful aggregation of pompous noodledora, the Melbourne City Council, has pei formed the remarkable feat of turning its back upon itself. It approved a byelaw for the suppression of steam traction engines in day-’ight because they alarmed the horses, and it forthwith resolved to purchase a steam roller for the streets. Unless the latter be set to work at night, the council may become indictable under its own byelaw. An effort is being made to fit out a party to explore that tract of country which marks Stuart’s track to what is now known as the northern territory of South Australia, and which may be roughly estimated as covering lodeg. of lougtitude and about 12deg. of latitude. Mr Ei nest Giles, an experienced bushman and enthusiastic explorer, has been appointed leader of the expedition, which is countenanced and aided by Dr Mueller and other scientific men.

A bombshell has been thrown into the camp of that usually quiet body, the lawyer*. A Mr Gilchrist, a barrister of Melbourne, doubtless finding that he rem ived none too many briefs, had the hardihood to offer his services to shire councils at s« much per annum ; and one shire council at least has closed with his offer. This is, no doubt, a very dreadful thing. It is a shocking breach of etiquette, and the combined hairs in the wigs of the entire bar stand on end, whilst the wearers ejaculate in chorus, “ Can this be ?” So a meeting of the profession was convened by the Attorney-General, as the circular put it, to consider the action of Mr Gilchrist, who had announced that for a retaining fee of Los 5s annually he would be prepared to give opinions on municipal questions, and advise councils of decisions and alterations in the law.” But tjio promoters of the meeting had reckoned without their host, as a good many who attended freely stated that they considered Mr Gilchrist had not done much wrong, seeing that glaring cases in leadeia had been passed by unnoticed. The upshot of the whole affair was that it was deter* mined not to do anything in the matter for which the meeting had been summoned, hut that another meeting should be called to discuss the propriety of the amalgamation of the two branches of the legal profession, or of requesting the Attorney-General to bring in a Bill to establish an inn of court.

Dr Perry, the Anglican Bishop of Melbourne, lias again got himself into hot water through his notion about confirmation dress. /Eglcs refers to the dispute in these terms : —He won’t have young girls appearing in emblematic white to receive the imposition of his episcopal hands—an operation in itself essentially emblematic. He forgets his own starched neckcloth, his gaitered legs, his lawn sleeves, and smells Popishness in the nnn-like costume of the postulants. And thus when a number of of young girls, duly prepared by their

minister to relieve their sponsors of the vows made on their behalf, present themselves for the rite, his lordship produced a most unseemly, unrehearsed effect. He ordered them back from the communion rails to resume their habitual costume. Trio aisles of Christ’s Church, St Kilda, were for the nonce resolved into a green-room, and the astonished congregation was edified by the sight of a number of young girls thrust into painful prominence, struggling into jackets and peplums and paniers by special episcopal command. I wonder if the devotional spirit of these young persons was heightened by the rebuff they were compelled to endure. How many parents would again submit their children to public insult of this kind even at the hands or a bishop. Some people think that his lordship s desire for the election of a successor is by no means premature. _ . . The week has been an exciting one, amt Bendigo’s town, or we should now say city, has been plunged into the maddest whirl or excitement it has yet known. There is method in the madness, however, and i am bound to record that operations are, for the most patt, conducted with a judiciousness which says much for the discretion of the public at large. Cases there are, of course, of reckless speculation, but it is getting hard to discover where reckless speculation begins and wisdom ends, for new finds are being made in every direction, and stocks which might some time since have been valued at a few pence are now worth as many or more shillings, consequent upon the discoveries made in their vicinity or in their own claims themselves. It is an oft-quoted remark that such-and-such a thing is “ in its infancy, but the remark could never he applied more forcibly than to the goldfield of Bendigo. With the reefs increasing in richness the further they go down, the deepest promising to become the richest, and with fresh discoveries almost daily made within a radius of many miles, it is difficult to prophecy what Bendigo will eventually become ; but tb's much may be said, that there is every evidence that the district will become great and prosperous in the fut re. It is idle to ask when all the present excitement is going to end; for if the excited and excitable crowd which now sways and surges before the Victoria Hotel were to be scattered to the winds to-morrow, the material prosperity of Bendigo would be left. There have been some outside murmurs about the calls a week or two since overlapping the dividends by a hundred pounds or so, but the croakers have omitted to estimate the fact, that besides the dividends in question there were Ll6 000 or L 17,000 worth of gold in the hank windows, which might fairly lay claim to be considered in the calculation©! prohtand loss. Some of the yields for the week have been magnificent. The Golden I leece claim obtained 654 ozs., from 159 tons of stone ; the Garden Gully Tribute, 248 ozs.; the Pandora Company, 478 ozs.; Hustler s, 858 ozs.; New Chum, 263; while seven other claims are set down at over 200 ozs. The a yield was 5250 ozs ; and seven claims declared dividends to the amount of L 7380 'I he business transacted in the Melbourne market during the past week has been to an enormous extent, summing up far he vend that of any previous week. The attendance under the Verandah has increased so much as to impede ordinary traffic, and business has been continued long beyond the usual hours. The desire to speculate in S ndhurst shares amounts a’most to a mania, the far greater number of the speculators knowing nothing whatever of the mines in the shares of which they risk their money. Most of the transactions each day are entered into in the hope that the buyer will be able to realise a profit on his venture within 24 hours. There seems no lack of money for these speculative investments, debentures, bank shares, building society shares, and other securities hein" realised to provide tlie necessary funds, the total dividends declared liavebeeu large, amounting to L 28.907 7s Qd. The following extract will give a pretty good idea, of the gtatp of things at CagUemaine “If you could only see Pall Mall iff the evening, you would not credit your eyes, It’s nothing but share-brokers, Fancy, 600 persons dined at the Shamrock hotel on the 9th ; and in the evening the dining-room was turned into a mining exchange. To get a bed at the hotels is out of the question. Tv o gentlemen came up from Melbourne, and thought to slay at the Shamrock as usual, hut they could not obtain beds there nor at any house in Bridge or High street. Of course the Mall was out of the question; so they got a bed in a cart in M‘Pliersoil’s sale yards. The rooms of the Shamrock are filled with sharebrokers, and Hcffen au (the landlord) is afraid the house is fuller than it can hear. Last night (October 12) because there was not enough room in the hotel, they took their tables on to the footpaths and transacted business till eleven. ” The Tasmanian Government have, at the request of the Press of that Colony, agreed to submit to Pailiamcnt a Copj right Bill, to give legal protection for at least 48 hours, for the English telegrams received by the overland cable of those newspapers which derived them through the agency of the Australian Associated Press, which body is about to ask Mr Duffy’s help in the same direction.