MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume 2507, Issue XXXI, 4 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

[t'ltOM OL'lt O.VN C.H'.ttKst'ONIIKNT. | TllK sensation of the hour is Toy m:<ns Mus'.-rove, which in reality is China r.nn Victoria ; Toy, as we all knoiv, Inning been one of the p-iHsenfors on the Afghan, ami Mus-rove being our Commissioner of Custom'. It is one of the most important cases that has ever come before an Australian court, for, as far as wc are concerned, it means the wholo KCltlomeiit of that h. ;.- nun;\ the Chinese question. The case opened on Tuesday last, and so great w.ib the crowd of interested spectators, 1 could hardly find standing room, although I was there half-nn-hour before the cas9 was called. Dr. Madden and the Attorney-General are pin- r.ccclloirc the leading liirhts of tho affair, pro and con respectively, though each are well and ably supported. It is a good many years since an AttorneyGeneral has appeared in a Melbourne court, in his ollicial capacity as tho defendant of public rights, and Mr Wrixon's faco is far from familiar in the new Law Court I was disappointed in him. His stylo is too deliberate and halting, his voico weak and harsh. Dr. Madden, on the other hand, possessos splendid oratorical powers, is quick, clear, and distinct, and has a good presence, which the other has nut. So littlo acquaintance has the Attorney-General with the Law Courts, that in trying to find the Banco Court he got lost, and wandered aimlessly about the huge building until safely piloted to his destination. Two ov three days now will bring the cause celebrc of Toy v. Musgrove to a close, and then we shall know if Victoria will have to pay the piper for her summary treatment of the Mongolian or not.

There is a well-known Spanish proverb : Tin cabello hacc sombra—n single hair easts a shadow, which is an excelleut apologue on the importance of little things. I think Mr Bent, tho leader of tho Opposition, found this out when ho met with that accident last week, which at one time threatened such serious results. He was walking in front of the House reading tho Argus, when he suddenly Btruck his head against a hoard so severely as to lose consciousness for a lime. Now the cause was surely trifling (not that the Argus ever descends to trifling, but the circumstance was), and yet the results have been important. First it led to the passing of the reply to the Viee-Regal Address, which has been debated upon for threo weeks without being approved of. Secondly it led to the falling through of a quartcr-of-a-millionland transaction, of which Mr Bent was tho head and front. And thirdly, it proved a source of unlimited profit to the papers, who made a regular harvest of_ the occurrence. lam pleased Mr Bent is recovering, for he is in his way a most remarkable and able man._ As leader of the Opposition his power is great, but he is so mixed up in land transactions and syndicates, and so much has come out to his disfavour, that people begin to think patriotism and profit are interchangeable terms with him and many others of his party. And d propos of this I might as well relate an anecdote, as it is a good one of its kind. In my peregrinations about town one day last week I happened to drop into the White Hart, which is a great resort for M.P.'s and others of that ilk. A little knot of members were there, making merry, as I heard, over the fact that the wife of one had just safely nsbered into the world a little daughter. The happy father—a well-known M.P., who has made a large fortune out of land syndicates — was there, and of course there was a good deal of joking and laughter about the little domestic event. "You saw that story in the Argus," said one of the M.P.'s present, " abont a man whoso wife gave birth to triplets—three daughters. He called the first Kate, the second Duplicate, and the third Triplicate. Good, wasn't it?" "Splendid!" answered the newly-made father, (the member for B— —, who is a well-known wit), " And I tell you what it is, considering what land's done for me, I shall call my (laughter Syndicate." I underwent an experience on Monday night I shall remember for some time, for I came away bruised, breathless, and hatless. The " occasion was the glovefight between Slavin and Burke, and the scene the Hibernian Hall. Journalistic duties necessitated my being present, but unfortunately I arrived slightly late, and despite every effort, and the fact that I was provided with a ticket (price £1), I could not manage to force an entry into the place. I was not hardy enough to follow the example of the Marquis of Queensberry, who, also shut out, got hoisted on the backs of half-a-dozen men, clutced a window ledge three feet higher np, drew himself through the aperture, and tumbled on to the platform, where the prize-fight took place. So I had to return homo defeated and very much exhausted by the struggle at the doors.

Now when one comes to think of it, the spectacle was rather a disgraceful ono. Thero were some hundreds or so surging at tho door, many of them prominent citizens, lawyers, doctors, merchants— the sulf-constitntofl upper circles ol society—clamourinir for admission, and ultimately paving handsomely to be hoisted in through the window.--. And to see what? A couple of blackguards punching at each ul.hu 'with gloves thai were hardly softer than their bare fists. Who shall speak up for Melbourne morality, when crowds fight and struggle for admittance to a sight like that r Bih ! I am disgusted with the depraver! taste for sensationalism tho people shew here. They will rush to a prize-fight. and pay their pound to seo it, but when art, or health, or even charity claims their support, thoy go a-begging. I think Melbourne, besides the name "Queou City of the South," has well earned another, i.e., the City of Coffee Palaces," for truly her development thai way oflato has been phciiomiual. The matter has been running in my mind since last week, when on Thursday I had tho privilege of being shown over the new Federal Coffee Palace, in Collins-street, by its obliging manager. The place isimply magnificent, both in-ido and out, and I have not seen anything like it this side of the line. The building is, to my mind, the handsomest iu Melbourne, being ornate and yet. chaste m design, whilst interiorly, it is something to wonder lit. I whs hurried from snito to suite, from floor to floor, from room lo room, till I thought I had quite lost myself, and bad hardly presence of mind enough to admire tho hand-ouio deooratioiisand furniture. The manager is an old friend of mine—by name, Cohen, and ho informed me the furnishing alone had cos!. £20,000 ;so my readers may form some idea of what a place it must be.