OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 4057, 26 February 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Melbourne, February 15. The lateness of the mail is a very ser;ou? annoyance. It is owing to the break down of the China and her consequent return to Gale shortly after leaving tat port. Ido not wonder as her being l .te if she has hud such weather as we have lately experienced. A few days of eqnal h r at would fry every fireman at his post. It baa been even worse than the famous three days thirteen months ago._ There have, however, been no bush fires this year. The number of people who bathe in such wea'her is immense, t b e beach being in some p’ac s literally crowded They have had rat her a startling lesson A big shark came into five feet of water and bit a poor felow in the thigh so severely that he bled to death in a few minutes. He was rescued by a man on horseback, but so daring was the shark that the horsj’s legs were struck reveral times by the fish’s tail and body as the shark attempted to seize his victim again.

By way of antithesis to the heat all the squatters are discussingMort’s “fiezing process” A large amount of capital (L 25,000, I be ieve) is heirg subscribed to make an experiment on a gra; d scale. A good cargo of frozen meat is to be sent Home, the ship to carry every appliance mces ay to give the pl-m a fair trial. If it succeed there will be a profit (so says the prospectus at least), an I the plan will be a commercial success f<>r the future. If it fail the 10-6 will fall on th s>* who ought to bear at least some portion of the burden, viz., the squatters whose market it is purposed to extend, and not exclus vely on Mr o: ort, who has already sunk raauy thousands of pounds in the schemeu

TrieagUation about the best mode of se ling wool has also somewhat strengthened after a period of all but lethargy, but, a meeting at Scott’a.Jfche oth» r day did not set m t > have any opinions in particular upon the subject. A very strange story came out a J day or two ago at Castlemame, where a boy living with tie Rev. Mr Frank drank so much Colonial wine that he died of alcoholic poisoning. At the inqmst it was stated that this boy, With others uoder Mr Frank’s care,- had no auioi-tl food for a week, slept in a filthy bed fil'ed with vermin, and had no watir to drink except such a< the pigs frequented. Mr Frank writer lette-s to the daily papers complaining that the accusations are unjust in certain points—quite minor points—hue viitually admits the gravamen of the story. Dotheboys Hall seems to have its bad traits exaggerated by transplantation to the antipodes. A thunderbolt out o; a cle tr skv is nothing of a prodigy compared to a revolt in a Government, Dep rtrrient. Yet the latter bps come to pass. For years past there Las , been a great difference of opinion about the Mining Deportment,—one section spying that it was the most economical and most useful branch of the public service ; the.other scot on holdii g exactly the reverse. At Mst the doubt i< lb b 3 rea-lvcd. With scarcely an exception, the officei-s have presented a petition to the Minister of Mines, praying fir an investigation into the conduct of R. B. Sm th, the secreta-y and peimahent head of the offleo on of systematic abq-e, w steful management, cruelty, and wiiolly killing a man by oppression and overwork. A, Board was accordingly appointed, and the gravity of the oicasion is sen in the difference between it and an ordinary Board under the Civil Service Act. Generally two heads of departments and a police magistrate are chosen, but in this instance three leading men in the mercantile world were asked to act, one qf them being a member of the Upper Hone (Mr Sargood), another an ex-Ministir of the Crown (the late Treasurer, Mr Service), arid' the third, chairman of the Chamber of Comme ce (Mr Jeffray)—all having large e-t biiihments, and well known as good disciplinarians. The proceedings are open to the Press, and- public interest is consequently much more excited about them than in regard to the generality of Civil Service matters. Legal advi-ers conduct each aide of the case—another unusual feature. The charge of killing an officer , by petty tyranny was first brought foiward, and helped to coll general attention. The impr.ssion produced is thus far very adverse to t-inyth, though one must bear in mind the old pr jverb “ t>ce story is gpo 1 til, the other story is told.” Two or three witnesses gave evidence that raises a furious psychological i qriiry. It seems that by c Uing a man into h's r.om, kre. ing him standing silent at a table, and pouring, forth a volley of vulgar abuse, Smyth c uld, in ten or fifteen minutes, send that man out so exhausted that he literally fainted away. This happened to a big, strong fellow, who looked as much like a fainting subject as a table lee does, and who never had a day’s illness In his life, as well as to a nervous, sickly clerk. Yet the Secretary for Mines never showed the least sgo of weariness; he could row ” men per diem, fmm three to ten minutes a piece, send them away pro trated, and continue his happy oc-; enpation for years, and grow fat and rLining whilst they pined and died. Does it not seem as if the laws of force were reversed ? The man who exerted himself and those who Wt-ra merely pats ye seem to have changed plaot s. W<ile this investigation demonstrat s the ipi-pLief of _ entrusting absolute couwol to a superior pivil servant, another seems to show the reverse, In the Luuatic Asylum several cases of cruelty to patients appear to be established, and the Superintendent complains that while the attendants who committed them are in his opinion not fit for their position, they cannot got rid of, because the Civil Service Act vests in the Ministry alone the power of appointment and dismissal, and prescribes that any accused servant may demand an investigation by a Board. Tr. Robertson says that p ti>e treatment of th* insane many things are required in the attend .nte whose absence is most prejudicial, which yet seem so trivial or are of such a nature that no Board would recommend dismissal on account of such absence, and even in some cases no proof could be submitted of such absence. Therefore he contends that the Superintendent alone should have the power to appoint and dismiss attendants, being responsible for the exercise of his functions to a Board of visitors. To anyone acquainted with the subject generally, and yrafehing this particular inquiry also, it seems to be but a choice between evils. Can anybody suggest why |t is that in all these cases of cruelty the women ore far wor-e than the men J As for the spite between the attendants themselves there is nothing at all like it on the male bide. On the whole t e investigation, as far as it has gone, shows nothing extremely bid. In an asylum containing nearly a thousand patients, arid of course a proportionate number of attendants, at small pay, and drawn therefore riot from anv very high class of society it would be wonderful beyond belief if some cases did not occur of provocation beyond baring on .the one side and los-* of temper on the other. In comparison with similar institutions elsewhere we stand well The system pf having inquests on every death, and post-mortem eiamination at pearly every inquest, acts no doubt as a powerful check on cruelty. Lectures seem to be coming a little more Into vogue than formerly they wt-re in Melbourne. Lately, we bad a lady holding torth on trie wickedness of Monnorrisra, from whose meshes she had escaped. The last sensation in that line, however, was a harangue delivered by Dr Reaney, entitled “Doctors Differ.” Pseudonyms easily seen through were attached to qur city and its leading medical men “ Kenuaquhair” stood for the former, and all the practioners in it who did not a.?ree with Dr Beaney were treated with measureless ridicule. From the peculiar and witty sly e o the lecture it was attributed by a morning paper to Mr Marcus Clarke, but both Beaney and Clarke wrote next day w deny the asser tDp. 1 The former however carefully, avoided saving that he the author. It u tithr, indeed, that Mr E>s&oy cleaved MtWfclf tb thej>hW& Qm affcjr date js

forward in which his conduct has been censured, sometimes by a coroner’s jury, sometime* by relatives of persons deceased. The last inst »nce was panicuWly fotcible. AMr Josk*, Will known in business, met with an accident, was taken to the bos. ital, and' word was sent to Mr B aney to come and see him. Thi* was early in the afternoon. Time after time was he sent for, but it was very l*te in the evening before he came. His excuses for this have va ifd, the latest V:rsi<-n being that he wa< “ ca led to the bedside of a piivate patient who was seriously ill,” while tue masseog. ra aver tat they found him at home. As for the Hospital Committe >, they accept nil that Bean-y says. Yet this same committee is considered to be a great improvement upon the old one. A number of the most objectionable members wer' rejected at the la*t elect on by the subscriber!*, and th ugh two or three still remain, yet the new men were considered strong enough to outweigh them. This change in personnel is chiefly owin< the University men who Lave taken Mr* Chick’s r.dvi e, and “ made an effort.” In o-der to get the Melbourne degrees properly respected in hospital arrangements they got sevf ral of their own men in —Prof ssor Hearn at the top of the po 1. How much better off is their cause, I wonder? As for Be*n>, he is throwing the blame of the Joske case on the resident surgeon, wh certainly did not comply with the strict form presented, though be did in effect honestly di charge his duty. For this he would have been discharged himself, but it wus found that he was not really an officer at all, being only locum tenens for an officer absent on le ■ ve.

“ Protection to native industry” had a queer practical comment vry in the last r port of a Ge long cloth factory, which complained that it ha-1 to check production because of its overstocked * ondition. ; ts stosk was wc rth L 16.000. I dare not guess, for fear you should think L exaggerate, at the number of firms who impo t each from i.16,0 0 up to many times L 16.000 worth of the sume goods monthly. I won’t write abou'. politics. Your readers know about fie “ iron hmd” and the “gagging res lutb n” and the famous Never ! never I! never Ml” that greied Sir James M‘Cu!lo hj when he counselled the Opposition to yield. How the House sat for three days and three nights, and finally triumph d over its internal ill-wisher.* by»m nding iisst.mdii g order , how Berry raved, how seiiiilous mee ings were held wherever “larrikins” cou'd be congregated, how strangers were systematical y turned out, and how the “ stone-wall” was knocked down utterly -is it not all raco.ded in the daily papers? S me episodes arising out of the debate were laughable enough—others provoking—others die ..’i aceful. Of the last class were Mr Lalor’s performances. Whatever may have been he immediate cause of hs vagaries this person seemed to be determinedon insulting the Hou-e, and crowned a series of diaturb-mces by declirin* loud enough for the speaker to hear him that the A sembly was “a coriupt House, •corruptly presided over ” It appeared as though he wer i determined to nake hims l a p litical martyr, fur of course, such language could not be passed over; he muse apologise or go to “ the coal-hole.” Apologise, he declar d he would not, therefore to the coal hole he evidently wanted to go. But with all the comical contradiotiousness of bis race he shirked, the full responsibility of his conduct by pleading that the Speaker could not take notice of it, since the words were spoken by a member not standing or uncovered. However, the thing was dealt with in a commontense wav, and byf judicious management the House got an apology without gratifying the lawless member by martyririug him. r-o he is t-ma ler every way. For the first time in my memory not only were the galleries cleared, but strangers were excluded altogether from the buildings, and even from the yard in front. You may guess what a rabble hid inva Jed the plage when this became ‘ necessary. Yet real popular excitement there was none. The mob did not increase, passers-by never j rimed Jt, except a few Volunteers one evening going home from parade, and there was not a single one of those unmistake .file marks that distinguish a real demonstrajbion of public opinion. The country at large cared not a straw for the squabble. ' What they do really c?re about is the financial proposal?, and however elated the Government" may be with their late triumph, a defeat probably them onth-se. As for the Berry faction, it were the wildest absurdity to be.ieve that “ the country ” believes in them. On a short visit to Geelong a day or two ago, I met with several who avowed they had been Berry’s supporter, but would work for him never again, and that his re-election for West Geelong is very doubtful, to say the least of it. In the large towns alon *, —and only in certain quarters ot those—does Berry find countenan e. The “ lanikins ” attend his m-etiugs in force, and a certain section of the artizan class; but in all other places he is distrusted _ But then so is M'Culloch. The plum is ripeniqg for Messrs Per vie * and Casey. By the death of Mr Sullivan, a seat for Cohingwood is vacant, and fierce is the comp tition. The usual care and good ta tics or the “dWoyal il;iberals” seem to have deserted them, for they have several candidates “up,” each vowing that he will go to the poll. Tne constitutional party have only one. Among the “ruck” is an absurd person named Gaunson. This youngster has a brother already in the House; a very good match to himself. Two more conceited and useless suits of fine clothes it would be hard to find. This candidate is rather .the more ridiculous of the two. Hs brother has had skill enough to pass an att.-mey’s examination and to commence business; the candidate has resigned a Government appointment of L‘2oo a year ;to try (so said a keen-sighted elector at one of his’ meetings) to get into Parliament at L3OO. Such a ■ travesty of politics ha* hardly been seen here before.. Talking of .Gaunson reminds me of one feature of the lata polrt cal struggle that has its si.nificince. It is the number of nicknames that suddenly sprang into use. “The Major,” “ '1 he Dove,” “ The Pup,” are perfectly well understood as standing for certain hon. mem hers. Mr Gauson, for some inset utable reason, is usually “ Miss ” or “ Jinny,”. Another was very nearly being added—l wonder it has, not. One gentleman, well-known for . his vibleht manner, was remonstrated with there-anent in the middle of a most furious tirade. “B calm.” said his friend. “lain calm,” was the vehement answer. “ I can smile—and smile an opponent filled up the instant’s pause with “and be a : villain, which; elicited repeated roars of laughter. Such a name eo earned ought to stick.