Melbourne Items.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3412, 17 January 1890, Page 2

Melbourne Items.

Melbourne, January 7. "A woman, who lives by selling fruit and confectionery was brought np at tile Fitzroy Court yesterday, charged with with the heino'us oflfonce of selling a bottlo of lemonado on the ovening of a Sunday, The informer"was -the Bev. S. Cuthbert, a Wesleyan ministar, who" doposod that in passing the defendants Bhop on the evening in question, ho;saw the defendant's daughter supply'a inan with a bottlo of lemonade; What a terrible crime! One can understand the good man's horror, and applaud liis discharge of a public duty; Itcame out that he called at the shop next day, and advised the woman .to plead guilt? tc the telling her that if, she did so' an application might be' maide to the Governor,m Cquncil,wbiclimigbt result in the remission of'anyfiuo*, or apportion thrafjfswh were inflicted,

The' woman did not tako his advice, She employed a'solicitor instead: and faced the magistrates. The min :who had theloinoiiado'was brflught up as her witness,who swore that the young My, who/was a ..personal friend of liis, had asked him to liavo a glass of lemonade, which lie accepted,"but did not pay for. Likely enritigh. But then the otber tbing was just as likely. 1 do not'assert that tlio man committed peijury,; the contention is that scores of men would,do so irndor similar circumstances,"

In any ca6e,therevereud gentleman would have been as profitably employed had lie continued his course' homewards, and left tho young man to'"ilriiik his lemonado whether paid for ; or not, lii his ondeayonr to punish one sin,lie at least incured the risk of burdening the world with another and still greater -sin. - The.: Bench decided that''the evidence was i not suflicient't'o' support fl, conviction, and 'dismissed' tlie^ase, ; Some may blame, but a far gfeafei- iiuiii]bpr j that decision, r..,, V;,,,;

• -There waianothor fire this miming. It 'brake.oat -in ■' the»lower portion of B»x'toil's'artibtio stationery warehouse, but was fortunntely,sub-; dued before,it moan Jilgh'or, ,'Tlie: building ~ia,. one/ of' the lqfty,'/' strudtuves of;> Melbournei and; a man .on ,t}ie; upper floor; but :one ihad a nai'tow escape from suffocation,"■Tlife' stroke ascended the staircase in 'dense volumes,. and.{lie; podr n'retcli. ooulil hot get clown in Tlie'" same' .cause prevf,nted'.-tie's &;enjen, from him iany' assistance until tlie fire toa'subdued/, ahd the Bmbl<e<' : •>-They_jivere also poverldrallbrit^d^Tad^fiel^^m* out?ide,' as they < haive '-lifef-'joVbSeu' furnish'ed" &itk 'v 'appliat)6es-° t6 within Wjlsflf ilj'ese tii^iljiVildiiiga l . >, ' i 'Tt K f : 'sad-Btate of be r altered ; .if oi'?arliauient.and a Cabinet .Jynister cooped on the top of ond;of.tbes9 ,f ste6pl63 ,J wlieh it is : oii fire.-- Ifx'1 fx ' ;V . '''-"'J 'life'the ''people of loutli'teiui'ne wsi Jjti; adeptejj ijaf ityjjf'drjiilunl .Wftiflr is now. cbinplefecl. ~ Cu£"'tho Ijflge pipesihadctOobeJaid, downunder Plinders-streetfiiahd/inibrderfiiofc' to thafr;, proyFd.ett' 2 wdfeil wrls ft Sat#

'day afternoon, anil work continuously ljy eight hour shifts until Monday . • morning. Some very good peoplo objected to tliis—notably t'erian Assembly,and tlio Lord's Day Observance Society, and delegates wero sent to tlio Minister to protest against it, One ciui understand. , aiid appreoiate tlio conscientious. motives which lead men to do all that- liesin-their- power -t<> • preven - Sabbath desecration, but one hardly tails Tto m/thia | rfafea./the objections .vised arerejjajx, answer; _ v . _ "Y. able, 'J.'o olose Fliijjßßtreet, the y * most heavily tho Mel- rbourne thoriugbfifresi for evm one ; }j \ daj would force' all tho traffio into Little FlindstS'and iGolliriß-strpets,;'] along several blocks, and the con- , gestion that'.iwould' ensue , j - oonsequence wbuld"oadse'risk to b6th ' life and limb in this badly ordered, city, to eay nothing about the additional, mieory that would be inflicted /upon horse fl&h:; Theaejs i • however, atethoTeyea of some peoplo. Tho work done' was clearly a' work of urgent necessity-quite.as tnuoh so, in fact, as that of,working, servants torcook w >. Uthe Sunday diniior, or of running '' trains to convey peopla tyoburch. . , Melbourne'just now can boast of ' a flight that i'l venture to could :iiot be matched by any otlier city in the British Empire. Tlio sight referred to is the Old Falls Bridge, tottering, upon its rickety ( , piles.groalii'hgfand the enormous traffic that of necessity 1 f ' : . has-to be forced across it, whilst Jjts . closo by the sido of it is another - ' •fir bridge,' new, < spacious, and; costly, ' finished a month'agoV 'spick and- ; span iti ,ita fvesli paint; with not a r living thing rip'oh "it except' aii / 4 . - occasional t solitarysparrow that ' seems to be lost ih ,; istohislniM at ! ' being allowedso much room nil to • itsolf, It is a melancholy sight, is ' that unused bridge, and a monument ' of the stupendous 1 folly "'of two corporations. The new Falls Bridge was' contracted for : to be ; finished eleven.months ago; it is all that. behind time. Finished at last,'however, whilst neither the corporation of Molbburre, nor that oil'tlib opposite side of the river, is making the slightest inovs in the way 1 of con- : stating tho "approaches" at either eud. So there isHheiiaw" bridge, with a hoarding across each end, and there is tho old bridge, oratanbd with toiling, groaning horses, and .shrieking, cursing, swearing,' blasplieriiing humanity, belatJouving the dumb animals' all day lo'ng." No#;' if tlie gentlemen who protested against the employment of a few' hpon ono Sunday, would protest,against, the official npgleot 'that is productive' of such an extra amount of wear and tear- of; dumb' horse-flesh; and is ' r provocative, of abnormal volumes of - profanity, tbey'Would do more good 1 ' i than; they could reasonably hope to ■ accomplish by'tlieir 'recent action.' '

A Journalist and the Burglar-»='• ■ ■A good story is told- of-knavish tricks in a certain London suburb. It appears .that, a certain householder, | ■ .. during | hia absence from home did not povido- his dwelling with a c;are*. v . ,taker; and consequently jtho place ~ was recently " burgled','): though not nrnoh portable property was carred off. The editor of the local journal, in givinjj an account of the affair, mentioned the- latter-'ciroum.Btance,..-but added thpt, 'had the robbers known ;of Mr "Blank's;" valuable • v presentation candlesticks'• on 'the mantelpiece, his noted collectioa of J bric-a-brac in tlie : cabinets,- and' his I raro vasps on the brackets," they ' might have improved ilio opportunity. Three nights after the journal appeared the empty houßO;vfds)igaitt'' : [.broken :into, and all the articles 1 ' referred to; .were carefully; removod,,.;, ■ : :tlie thieveß leaving a polito letter of thanks ("to be forwarded"),fop. the. journalist who had so liiudly pointed, out the'little odds , and ends .rwLidh ,' had.esoiped notice oii tlieirfiratvisit. —Daily Telegraph. ' , '\\ ASWIIOIKGB. ' • •

Let no one bo tnisled 1 hj' tbia' 1 3 lino, This is not o»o of llioto cases 1 which delighted the heart 'of' tho late 8 ItisAo Todlmnter, in which A. swims ®- 80 many miles in so Iniinutes,; •, and B.'so many more 'or-len(i; and v ' U is required Jo tiud- j\vLicb of ' could pick up the mora, eggs,-in his . ' moutli without drowning.' No;.'we ' t'cft'i' toh swiniujingQomjiUiiion.which . J unfortunately did not come "off afc'the' * Guildford.,Hwimniiiig-bHthi) between 3 the lociil i/e'ndlo'aiur"Mr St'jolin''' ; : 'Brodrick, M.P, AMlio opening of r Utoao baths lately it cbKn'ceil that thb J ' • beadle fell iuto the water;' and his J ' olegantjefforts to solve the'dilemma , , j I by swimming inspired Mr Brodrick • J" ' to make what turned out ; to be the 3 injudicious remark that 1 he should > have liked tb swim' the'beadle for a P "pony.'l "The'beadlej feeling his [ "parochial" dijhity to be in danger, ' took up tho bet with ' unexpected ' alacrity, .and accepted .tjie. challenge. ■ But tho prospeQt 1 of the greiit wafb.i/; b ' race, Bumble verm Brodrick, was ; more than Mr Brodrick's-nenw of ' honour seemed to. demand,of him, So acomj) ro m iaowAS.e fl cctedVn'h'e. t ck'T 1 was abandoned, but Mr Brodrick in default prtsenled a 'Silyer-gilt cup to 1 the Mayor for annual swimming com- : petition, Thus ended peacefully a mosti.jQtiixotic challenge, and neither 1 the beadle's pluck nor Mr Brodricli's ( generosity can over be questioned for ''" '" the future in tho Guildford. <g^ Evej'y. cloud lias a silver lining,'and V ' ovdri the misfortune of a beadle falling into' a 'bath seems to have a silvergilt one, > \ . ' •' ■* a \r) ■■'i ■■ AWhaJeHunt ... •' !: 0n the arrival at Kirkwall of the packet 1 Klydon from Shapinsay on Saturday morning, Noj,,,l(Jth, information was jßnpil.pt $hales■ : Stvrag. . .... ,Sound,i Boa'ts'atoncewejijtouffroin ''' JA Kirkwall, and when 'coming down off . Shapinsay tho monsters were discovered with a few boats in cbaso. Efforts; were nito lnganess Bay, the boats tacking backwards and forwards/) and the whales Spouting water in every direction and making right, for tho'sand, Aboht'three hundred yards from the ishoM ojip 'o{.< tlie mammalsiamo;iip,i smashing one of the boats and throwing/ the three occupants* into the 'wife j They were speedily rescued Sjpthev boat, theirewn boat ■ 'V. , sinking, The. whiles ran aground in m the' t tots gulfng T s A | aftetthem, and the men jumping/in \ their; eagern ess, gome^ •armed with lancMltut'Wpriiip'l weapons being long fisliknives, with |nit' mintftes MtfmH were ''doing deadly execution. The ■' Whales | spouted great csixers of blood and made a moa'ning noise, some pf flying through tho bay ,dri vi ng ut p l:li e"i ati aAfid thpSlves in their frantio efforts to - Tl» sea: fa bobs' distal ■