MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2513, 18 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

[FROM OOR OWN COBRKSrONDENT. | From gay to grave—such is the philo- | sophy of life, and without saying anything more of the Exhibition and its attendant gaieties, I will toll you, oh, my reader ! the story of one of the saddest incidents that has ever come under my notice, the dranitis persona; of which are prominent figures in Melbourne society. The people I speak of are rich and respected, and have been among the fortunate ones of this life. There were father, mother, and two charming daughters; and both girls were happily engaged. A short time ago the mother was taken ill, grew wo«e and was given up. Feeling her end was nigh she expressed a wish to see her girls married before she was taken away, she said she would die happier knowing the fnture of her beloved children was secured. The wishes of the dying aro sacred, and terriblo as was the ordeal for the pour girls they could not but obey. At a moment's notice their Jinuecs wcro called, a minister was summoned, and in the very presonce of death the marriage service was performed. Picture the scene ! The dying mother—tho weeping daughters—the distracted husband—the surroundings of illness and death—and tho solemn marriage coromony. The last words were said, tho last benediction uttered by the solemn voice of the minister, and then tho dying mother, muttering, "Ah, I am happy now," gave one last sigh, and her spirit fled. The two girls had been made wives and orphans at the same moment. Has pen of novelist ever drawn a scone more terrible and incongruous ? Society has been moved to its very centre this week, consequsnton the expos, ure of a couple of oard-sharpers, who had managed to obtain the run of some of the most exolusive houses. I met both of them one evening, one passing as Major Clarke and the other as a Mexican millionaire. The "Major" stopped at the Grand, and tbe other at the Oriental Hotel, and either making acquaintances introduced them to the other. By this means they kept a double watch, and seemed to have gulled many of our sharpest men. Among others they got hold of a young iunoceut named Keokkeok (son of the celebrated London picture dealer), aDd succeeded in fleecing him heavily. In the end, however, ho proved too much for them, and suspecting foul play, took out a warrant against them. It was quite a blow to a certain section of society, for these two men, with the aid of a good address and unlimited expenditure, had gained a certain entree into what Thaekery called the " hnpper suckle 3." The Mexican million lire, Tarbon, I saw several times, and was greatly struck by his almost lofty calm and self-possession. It may be understood how thoroughly he played his part from the following. One evening he won about £275 from young Keokkeok, and actually returned him £500, siying he wa a wealthy man and was not in need of the money. This of course, was to inspire confidence, but it may be imagined the game must have been a paying ono if he would sacrifice £500 in that way. However, this lordly pair of swindlers have been bowled out now, and society has awakened with a shock to the fact that it must be more careful in future whom it admits into its sacred precints. Some public man (I forget whom) gave out in public that tho way to get on in Melbourne was "to rub your face with a brass candlestick,'' meaning, of course to become bold and brassy ; and it seems as if the aphorism was as true now as then. I think our late experience of cable interruption will have had one food effect among the many bad. It will have made ns realise at all events that Australia is not, after all, the '' hub of the universe." The inconvenience and the loss resulting from the break can hardly be estimated by those having no interests in the old country, but to those that have, the knowledge is patent enough. A friend of mine largely interested in tin, copper, and other metals, told me he considers the interruption cost him £10,000. A propos of this a funny incident occurrod in the Argun office, which was related to me by a pressman, who is one of the staff, It seems that tlnre was wild excitement in the office. Cable communication had just been restored, and a telephone message had come through the Telegraph office to say that the first cable news had been received, and a messenger was on his way up with it. Steam was got up, and preparations made for a special edition, whilst every man on the literary staff waited impatiently for that tardy messenger with liis news of what the world had said and dono in a fortnight. Five minutes passed—ten—a quarter-of an-hour—half-an-hour—and the whole office was half mad with anxiety, when the messenger arrived. The editor burst the seal—opened the packet—unfolded the precious document —and found that the match of tbe Australian cricketers versus —(I forgot for tho moment whiuh club it was) had been stopped by rain ! Bathos ! That in actual matter of fact was tho first news received. Could burlesque go any further? It is not often I venture on a literary par, but this week I think I will. Many of my readers will have noticed or perused tbe opening chapters of " A Black Sheep : Some episodes in His Life " appearing in Saturday's Age." Tbe writer is Mrs. Cross, who under the initials " A. C." in the Australian, must have made the acquaintance of most of my readers. She is the wife of the clergyman at Beechworth, and thoucrh delicate herself and with a delictito family, gets through a. great amount of literary work. She has published in England several volumes, both prose ana verse; and is without doubt the best writer of the day in Australia—despite lucky young Fergus Hume and his "Mystery of a Hansom Cab.' Mrs Cross's works—" Across the Grain," "Dinah," and others, are well known, and lam sorry indeed that she has not won a world-wide repute, which her genina certainly merits. We have few good writers now in Melbourne. The best we have had of late years is Garnet Walch, hut he alas ! has laid his pen aside —he writes no more, confining his attention to publishing only. Another literary worthy was lost to us last week in the person of Mr Robert Savage. This gentleman was a most remarkable man in his way, and I mourn in his loss, that of : a dear and valued friend. He was a regular contributor to the Argus and Australian and a most graceful writer. ' Of late, however, ha had turned his attention to inventing, being a skilled ineohanio. Ho was in partnership with Air Wolseloy, of sheep-shearing fame, < and the last invention on which he was 1 experimenting, prior to his death, was an i electric-shearing machine. It will in all ( probability be perfected before long, bo my country friends may be on the qui vine i for something still newer and more i modern in the shearing line.