THE MELBOURNE CUP OF 1861 and 1886.

Kumara Times, Issue 3134, 19 November 1886, Page 4

THE MELBOURNE CUP OF 1861 and 1886.

Contrasting the difference between the first Cup race in 1861 and that of 1886, "Timotbeus," in the Argus, moralises thus: "Yes; time has changed mnst things at Flemington. Dress has changed. Crinoline may not be altogether unknown, but the ladies have treated it in a 'gnt thee behind me, H itan' fashion. The scene lias changed. Melbourne was invisible from the course then. Now, the city is coining down to it, and spires and buildings crown the nearer hills. The course is transformed out of recognition—its ways, and its buildings, and its style. But the great change is in the people. They were all hard-headed 'Britishers' who attended in the old time, whose tilk was either 'horsey' or of the gold fields. Now, the crowd is largely composed of young people, who were not born in '6.1, or were not in their teens, or, at, any rate, were not out of them. The dress, the yonth, the wealth are all new. The city in '6l was absolutely incapable of such a show as yesterday, no matter what enthusiasm had been worked up, for there was not the luxury, not the equipages, not the milliners, not the ladies. The cry was of hard times. jYop'o did not hesitate to say that Mel--I'i.irne. was done for. The Otii«o diggings had just been opened out, and Dunedin was supposed lo be the real El Dorado. There may be passing clouds again, but those who can contrast the Clip of '6l with the Cup of 'B6 will uever be pessimistic about Victoria."