MELBOURNE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 6118, 11 November 1880, Page 3

MELBOURNE.

(from our own correspondent.) The <( coming Australian,” according to the writer of an article in the current number of the Victorian Review ” is to possess <‘an inordinate love of field sports ; ” but I think this characteristic might equally well be applied to the Australian of the present day, without going so far as to venture on prophecy. Assuredly, a stranger visiting Flemington racecourse on the Cup day might justly enough make such an application. On that occasion, Victoria fairly outshone herself, aud vindicated her title to be considered the premier colony in the world of pleasure. Every circumstance was favorable ; tb© weather was superb, the racing good, the presence of so many distinguished foreign visitors lent additional interest, and, in short, everything tended to attract the greatest assemblage that has ever yet been drawn together in Australasia. The attendance has been variously estimated from 95,000 to 100,000 ; but enormous as those figures are, when considered in relation to the population, the most noticeable feature, to my mind, was the extraordinary number that paid their half-sovereign each for admission to the privileges connected with the grand stand. The number could nob have been less than 30,000, and the grand stand, vast though it is, could only accommodate a small part, the remainder overflowing on to the terrace, lawn, and saddling paddocks. The ideas of compe* tency and of open-handed liberal expenditure thus suggested, were confirmed by the lavish display of wealth everywhere visible. The fact i», the Cup day has become the grand annual carnival of Victoria, and young and old of every class—except, of course, the “ unco’ guid ” —-look forward to spending their pound, or, may be, scores of pounds on that day, and as a thing of course, and almost as a matter of patriotic duty. Year by year the influence of the Cup day is extending in the other colonies, and the wealthy and middle classes are becoming accustomed to look forward to the enjoyment of an annual visit to Melbourne at this season of the year. The number of visitors present from New Zealand was very large ; every profession and trade appeared to be represented, there being lawyers, doctors, members of Parliament, magistrates, newspaper proprietors, merchants, bankers, manufacturers, &c., &c., and it was quite refreshing to meet, at every turn, so many well known faces—faces of friends, in many cases, one had not seen for years. It is to be hoped that such an exodus of New Zealanders will not seriously interfere with the business in your colony. Groat interest was, of course, taken in Mata by New Zealanders, and it may be added by the general public. During the previous week or two, ho had steadily advanced in the betting,' and only four to one could be got on him just before the race. I saw him as ho was being saddled, and he looked iu splendid fono»

although hardly fine enough to run for the Cup. He was much admired, and great disappointment was felt at bis not even winning a place. Whether his rider was too slow in getting him away, or whether, as some assert, he held him too long, it is hard to say, but somehow Mata, early in the race, got jammed into the thick of the field, and continued there till the finish, never being able to draw away. A New Zealand friend of mine (all New Zealanders are friends at any rate in Melbourne), who had drawn Mata, in a £2OOO sweep, showed good judgment in getting Mr. Miller to lay off against him in such a way that, if the horse came in first, he landed £IOO, and if otherwise, he would win £35. The amount of money which changed hands over the Cup must have been very large. The number of bookmakers present on the course, in the ring, and on the hill, would have been sufficient to populate a good sizsd town, and as each represented the transfer of a certain amount, in some cases probably thousands of pounds, the aggregate must have been something enormous. The exchange of money over sweeps must have been equally large, if larger. Besides a host of smaller fry, Miller alone put through eighteen sweeps of £2OOO each, consequently this gentleman, on the morning of the eventful day had £36,000 Cup money in his hands, in addition to comraissiuns and sweeps on other events, amounting altogether probably to some £50,000 of other peoples cash, and if he bad chosen to walk on board the Orient steamer with this value in his pocket and taken a trip Home, I question if any one could legally have stopped him. Mr. Miller, by the way, must be rather a pet client with Ills banker.

The horse race is not by any means the only attractive feature of the Cup day, its claims to pre-eminence being fairly rivalled, if not distanced by another sort of race altogether, I allude of coarse to the fair race of womankind. The glories of female loveliness and its surroundings to be seen on the lawn, is a sight wurth crossing the line to see, and indeed is almost as great a “ draw,” to use a theatrical phrase, as the racing itself. The newspapers next day devote more space to its description than to the performances of the horses, and their best word painters exhaust all the resources of their art in the attempt to lay before their readers a vivid picture of the beauties of the scene. Thera was no band anywhere on the course on the Cup day. The absence of music was remarked, but not regretted, the great number of other attractions being more than sufficient to pleasurably occupy the whole of cue’s attention. A noticeable novelty in the day's doings on the hill was the number of cages containing canary and other birds engaged there on special duty. The owners utilised — if such an expression may be used —the services of these little feathered servants to decide the winning numbers of sweeps. For instance, a dozen eager speculators from the surrounding crowd would each invest a shilling and receive a numbered ticket in exchange. The man in charge of the cage would then open a little door, and in a twinkling one of the little birds would hop down, pop its he«d though the opening, and from a row of folded papers pick up one, which disclosed the winning number which entitled the lucky holder to half-a-sovereign. The whole proceeding occupied but a minute or two, and the game seemed to be very popular, judging from the number of bird cages and the roaring trade which was being done by the proprietors. Notwithstanding the enormous migration to Flemington, there were still a few thousand of Melbouraites who sought pleasure in other directions. The attendance at the International Exhibition was extraordinarily large, tar exceeding that of any previous day, the actual number of admissions being 20,819.