Melbourne Items.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3422, 30 January 1890, Page 2

Melbourne Items.

Melbourne, January IG,

.' Yesterday i eight delinquents wore broupjit before tließencbatHiiwihom, charged on remand with housebreaking. They were a mixture, hoys and girls, The age of the ringleader, a girl, was 17 years; tho ago of the youngest was four yoars, They bad got into a bouse at 9 o'clock at night, when tho inmates wore nbsent,' had ransacked the rooms, and carried off trinkets, &c„ ISO in value, They were all the children of decent parents, and as they appear to have been led astray by the eldest girl, and the youngest of them- four years oldcould not understand what it was about, tho magistrates took the very sensible view of letting them off gently. The two eldest, brother and dister, were fined £8 each, or a month in gaol, and tho other six £1 each or seven days.. It is very disgraceful, however, that the children of well-to-do parents are not better taught, and' more carefully looked after,

Hero is another instance, An office boy, aged 14, in tho oinploymoiit of a stock end sbarehroker, disappeared yesterday afternoon with £3OO of bis master's money and up to the present ti»ioha3 not been heard of, Considerable sensation has been caused in port Melbourne by the discovery of a" receiving bouse," kept by a roan who was.previously woll thought-of by bis neighbors. A suspicious character* was met by a detective, who, observing lnm to be better dressed than usual, became inquisitive about bis clothes, The result was they were discovered to bo part of some goods stolen from a clothier's shop a few nights previously, In the watch-house the fellow "put away" tho man Woods, the keeper of tho shop at Port Melbourne. The polico went there and made a considerable haul, over X2OOO of property being discovered—watches and jewellery in large quantities, clothing, kerosene, tobacco, and what not, Bo poor Mr Woods was takon to join his rascally friend, and it is more than likoly that others will be implicated.

Mr Daw, the Minister of Agriculture, is at Wangaratta, consulting with the farmers upon the subjaot of tobacco culture; They should turn to the soil and ascertain whether it is jhemically fit for the plant,

Dr Pearson has taken'Dr Erson to task for some statements he madoin a paper on School hygiene, which was read at tho School Congress now being held in Melbourne, Ab I understand the matter, DrEr6on implied that the sanitary condition of the Victorian State Schools buildings might bo considerably improved, and pooplo who know less about hygiene thau Dr Erson does willqnite&gree with him. When it is considered that we have hundreds of thousands of children and young people in our schools, the thanks of the community are due to Dr Erson for any-defects of construction he may point out, and for any remedy he may suggest, Dr Pearson takes exception to some of those remarks and with respeot to those on defective ventilation, • be points out that all the Public Schools are inspected by officers from the Contral Board of Health, who furnisb annual reports to Parliament.' "This is the usual refuge of official shortcoming and incompetency, which, when pressed, retires behind several bales of red tape. Tho disclosures mado at tho inquest on the Bijou lire, as well as the daily observation of moat of us, proves that tho inspectors of the Central Board of Health as well as a good many public officers, need to bo closely looked after, Tho Premier, Chief Commissioner of Knilnays, the Chief Secretary and sorno otlior public officers have been having a yachting cruise of some days duration in the Lady Loch, They have returned to Melbourne, and say that they havo been on a tour of inspection of the coastal fortifications, As they took the Minister of Defence wjth them some color is given to the statement. At any rate it will pass muster. But is not Mr Bell competent to make those inspections by himself? Tho tack is easy enough. All he has to do is to |and at the Beveral forts, be mado a. fuss' with, look wise, and listen to the information given to him by tliose who undorstand the subject, come home, condense the matter with which be has been crammed, and embody in a" Eeporb," That is about tha sizo of it. But whot puzzles one is why a •string of other -: Ministers should accompany him, and thus get pleasure, relaxation, board and lodging at the pnblio expense, ' Lady Hopetoun so lately from breezy Scotland and that at tho cold season of the year, lias found the exceptionally hotidays we have had rather - trying, .': Sho has 'therefore decided to visit Tasmania for a few

days, 1 think the people of. Victoria are just a little inconsiderate iii : the exactions they make iipon the governor and bis wife, at .the .hottest j time of. thoyeaiy and before they have become accustomed to the -iic'at, They Jarb expected to go' everywhere, be seen everywhere, do everything and that for everybody who units them. Lord Hopotoun has come Ijere to make him* self agreeable'"and to the beet" bt his ability perform all the social functions which devolve upon him and to perform them well,-