AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2666, 6 October 1881, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Everyone knows that a Melbourne policeman invented the word “ larrikin.” It is claimed that the word “ nobbier ” is also a Victorian invention. A motion to-restrict the length of time durig which a member might speak to any question, was lost in the Victorian Assembly by 33 to 16. An evening paper, to be called the “ Evening Mail,” will bo issued from the Melbourne “Argus” office, commencing at an early date. The “ Australasian” considers the prohibition of smoking on railway platforms an “absurd and uncalled for regulation.” A telescopic comet was discovered by Mr Tebbutt, of Sydney, on Sept 17, in the constellation Eibra. It is believed by tl\e Australian astronomers to be the same that appeared, visible to the naked eye, in Europe in August. A sum of £54,000 is to be put on the Victorian Estimates for an iron bridge to replace the old wooden one at Flinders street station. A sensible regulation is in force in Victorian schools, and the Minister for Education has recently given notice that it must be strictly complied with. It is that female teachers shall not be compelled to stand more than an hour and a-half at a time. Mr Elsdon, general manager of Victorian railways, does not shine in a witness box, -In all my experience,” siid Dr Youl, of him, “I have never examined so bad a witness. During the 25 years I have been coroner I have never had before me one so difficult to deal with. The legal gentleman tried to get an answer • I tried, you tried, but none of ns succeeded, not one. He did not answer anything.’ The “ Australasian” in a comment on the recent railway accident near Melbourne says “ It is apparent that the arrangements on the suburban lines for examining the condition of the rolling stock are of the most imperfect character. So far as appears, the practice seems to be to run the carriages till they break down. There is no responsible person whose duty it is to

see that the rolling stock is in good order, and who could be held accountable for its imperfection. The coroner and the jury found it hopeless to attempt to fix any definite point of responsibility in connection with this subject. In such a state of affairs, with a worn tire getting thinner every day, and with no one to say at what stage of thinness it was unsafe for nse, it is evident that the occurrence of such an accident was a mere question of time.”

Street preaching and singing in the streets, which had been going on for a long time in different parts of Melbourne, were suddenly put an end to a short time ago by notices from the police that those engaged in them would be summoned for breaking the law. A deputation numbering about 30 clergymen and citizens of Melbourne, representing the Evangelistic Association, waited on Mr Grant, Chief Secretary, on September 20, and asked him, as head of the police, to take steps to protect liberty of speech in public, so long as there was no obstruction of traffic, or language used likely to lead to a breach the peace. In his reply he said he was not aware by what authority the police had moved in the matter. The action they took did not emanate from the Government. If the neighbors complained that these religious meetings obstructed the streets or tended to a breach of the peace he thought it would be the duty of the police to interfere, but short of that he did not think it the duty of the police to interfere. If the police did not aid these societies they should, at all events, be neutral. Speaking for himself, he would give directions to the police not to interfere in these matters for the future.