MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume 2537, Issue XXXI, 13 October 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

FROM OUK OWN COMIESI'OXDENT.) Mklbjuane, September 29. Tows' has been very dull indeed during the last week, and there is little in the shape of news to chronicle. Certainly things parliamentary have been rather at sixes and sevens, and that together with the continued coal strike, and a marvelous case of sudden euro which occurred in Brunswick, has been tho principal topic of interest of the week. In regard to politics, a somewhat serious crisis has arisen over the Stock Duties question. The Government received what was tantamount to four successive defeats on their tariff proposals in regard to horses, sheep and pigs, and after the last division was taken the Premier moved the adjournment of the House till Tuesday in order to enable the Ministry to consider their position. This may mean resignation, but I doubt it, and hope such may not he the case, for with all its faults I think the Gillies-Deakin Administration is as good for the country at large as any Ministry that could be formed from the Opposition. lam glad, however, that the country party has been able to show its strength and assert itself. The farmers will gain their end and teach the Government a salutary lesson for the future.

I suppose most of my readers have heard or read of the great "Early Australian Navigators' Portraits " joke. If not, here it is in as few words as possible. Before the opening of the Exhibition a series of 28 portraits, purporting to be those of the early Australian navigators were received from Home by the Exhibition Commissioners. They were marked conspicuously " Not for Sale" and by an accompanying letter were described as being sent out as pure philanthrophy by some gentlemen residing in England and Holland. The pictures were supposed to be good and authentic portraits of our early explorers such as Dumpier, Vancouver, Grant. &c., and of course as such would be of great historic value to tho colonies. They attracted some attention, and eventually a letter arrived from England to the ellect that if the Victorian Government or Trustees of the National Gallery wished to purchase them as a national memorial, the owners would sacrifice themselves on the altar of colonial admiration iu so far as to part with the portraits for a sum of £7,600. Our Trustees swallowed the bait eagerly, and doubtless would have purchased them had not a couple of private gentlemen in the nick of time written to the papers, pointing out certain anachronisms in the portraits, that totally precluded them from being true likenessss of our early navigating worthies. Their eyes being opened, enquiries are made, and the whole thing is found to bo a fraud. The pictures are undoubtedly worthless iinitatations made up after originals, and the whole affair is a high-class swindle. Had it not been for the keenness of some few of the outside public, Melbourne would certainly have paid £8000 for a lot of rubbish not worth £100 ; the portraits of course are anything but like the originals, and are bad in every way. This then is the Early "Navigators Portraits" joke. Who will say we are not art critics after this ?

I am very pleased indeed to sec that that beggarly tribute to exclusivcdom — the h'alfcrown day at the Exhibition —has beon finally abandoned. If ;esthetic Melbourne cannot enjoy the show when in contact with the common lieid, then in Heaven's name, let it stop away altogether, for not for such was the Exhibition made. We arc a democratic community (at least we boast that we are), and therefore why should there have been a day set apart for the arrogant few ? Had the half-crown day paid then there would have been some excuse, but it didn't. Anything more melancholy than the Exhibition on the exclusive Tuesdays it would be hard to picture. Generally there were only a handful of people, nose-in-air and conscious of their eighteen-penny superiority. The empty courts and the frigid airs of the visitors were enough to kill anything, and I am glad to think the first thing they annihilated was the half-crown function itself. Surely the Exhibition is for the people, and so tho people have it all the week round now, and justly enough. Death to snobbery ! say I, for it seems to be growing here, and it is the snobbery not of birth, education, or manners, but that worst of all—the snobbery of wealth.

Here arc a few heterogeneous ana in conclusion, wliicl), /mite ilr nucn.r, I will combine by way of climax. Firstly, I would warn my nad«rs that the time is now ripe for the annual " Melbourne Cup Consultation" swindles. The city is being flooded with circulars of sweeps and consultations 011 the great race, and I, even I, a poverty-stricken scribe have received several. Avoid them, my friends, for they are mostly deceptions and snares. Keep your pound notes in your pockets, and consigu the circulars to the dev —, no to the waste paper basket. Talking of bogus sweep? reminds me of the law. I happened to drop into the Divorce Court last week when a separation case was on, and was just in time to hear the lady who brought the action aver that she had been eight and a-half years in the the same house with her husband without speaking to him. Fancy that ! I tell my wife slyly that this must have been an admirable wife, and if she frets her divorce will have five hundred hll'm's of marriage the day after. The case is curious, but not so strange as something Supt. Stein of the Kire Drigido told me wrau time ago. The Yarraville State School caught fire a few days auo, and what do you think wastheeiuse? According to the Superintend nt it was through the spontaneous combustion of some sparrows' nescs built in the eaves. I never had a goo'd opinion of the Australian sparrow but now it is worse than ever. Those of my readers who have these birds building in the eaves of their dwellings should take a warning. Sparrows reminds me of England, and that of Mr. Cosmo Newberry, who ia at present in London convalescing. All Australia must have heard of Mr New'oevry, the head of our Technological Museum, and one of the most popular men in Melbourne He received frightful injuries in the dreadful Windsor Railway accident, and went home to recuperate after a hard struggle for life. I have seen a private letter from him, from which I gather hu is tnakiug great progress towards perfect recovery, and will soon be among us again—Now, having finished my olla potlriila, I will end the week's jottings by saying, " Farewell."

Melbourne, October 4. Without doubt, Melbourne is the home of enterprise. The Chaffey Bros', success with the irrigation sciieme at Mildura has set the busy brains of some of onr capitalists a-working, and they are eager to imitate fresh schemes of the kind. I do not wonder at it, considering the phenomenal development of things at Mildura and Renmark. But a year ago a bowling wilderness, that little corner of the colony has been transformed as though by magic into a settlement and abiding place, an agricultural centre, and a town all in one. At the outset the land was practically worthless, and now it is being sold by the foot. This beats Melbourne itself, and shows what the agricultural interest can do when properly fostered and tended. In a few years time a city—a veritable city—will have sprimg up at Mildura, ami those who have given of their best to the scheme will profit. It is the knowledge of this that has set some of our capitalists on the same tack. A strong company has been formed, and they have made a proposal to the S. A. Government for a tract somewhat similar to that occupied by the ChaCfeys, and to be held under similar conditions. The promoters of the scheme arc four well-known financial men and capitalists here. Mr Levien is one. He was formerly Minister of Mines, and has made n large

fortune out of land and mining. B. J. Fink, the "silent member," is auother. He is one of the wealthiest—if not the wealthiest—man in Melbourne. He commenced life as an office boy, and is hardly well in the forties vet. Tie Ins done more perhaps than any other living man for the improvement and embellishment of the city, putting up palatial building after building, It is sa ; d of him that he has been in Parliament some six or seven years, and all he has ever s lid was "Hear! Hear!" Then there is llowdcn, manager for the Mammoth Mercantile Finance and Guarantee Co. the biggest thing of its kind by far iu Australia,—its capital being actually five millions. Lastly there is a Mr Best, another bloated millionaire, and this makes up the quartette. They have applied for 160,000 acres on the South Australian side of thu Murray, next to Chaffey's blocks, aud propose to go in for the culture of vines, olives, coffee, tobacco, and other specified articles. If the South Australian authorities agree to come to terms it will be a great undertaking, and worthy of Melbourne enterprise, and I sincerely hope they will. Other irrigation colonies will follow suit, and au incalculable amount of benefit and impetus will be given to the agricultural interest throughout the colony. Such schemes as these are the true antidote against centralization.

Apropos of pressmen and press privileges, I must not forget the invitation I received from Williamson, Garner and Musgove. for last Wednesday evening, at the Atheniouni. It was to hear an initial performance by a most charming stranger, Miss Adelaide Detchon. The entertainment she gave was so unique that my readers will pardon me for describing it a little more particularly than I usually do such matte's The young lady, first of all, is a reciter, but one who gives her pieces with (what I heard a man call) "embroidery." For instance, she gave a piece called " The Bugle Song," and in this imitated the call of the bugle perfectly, aud then, by a ventriloqnial effect, created an < cho aud re echo. In another piece •' Bob o'Link," recitation descriptive of the hird and its habits, this clever young lady imitated its song and that of its mate in a manner that would almost have shamed the feathered songster its3lf. I never heard anything prettier or more effective, and I am sure she will be very successful all through the colonies. 1 ought to add, too, that Miss Dctclion is remarkably pretty, and has the stage made into a kind r.f bower with moss, ferns and flowers. She came on in a kind of Grecian dress, and what with her prettiness, her dainty surroundings, and her undoubted talent, all we inen fell head-over-heals in love with her. I had the pleasure of being introduced to her "after the opera was over," and she told me she intended making n tour of the colonies generally, so I daresay most of my readers will have an opportunity of hearing and judging for themselves. I am afraid my hebdomidal letters often display frivolity 011 the part of the writer, they treat generally of such light topics. But we must be amusing, coute que roiih'—cost what it may, and I often sacrifice weighty matters for a light paragraph. Here, ho.vever, is something worthy of being written, re id, and noted. Williin the last few days two generous gifts have been offered to the Council of Trinity College to assist iu advancing the higher education of the women of Victoria. La ly Clarke has promise 1 £5.000 for the erection of a residence for lady students at the Melbourne University. Mr VI. H. Da vies, M.L.A., has offjre-1 £2,00) also for the purpose of endowment. These have, of course, been accepted, so our daughters can now start fairly with our 80113 on the educational race. The idea of this young ladies' hotel or homo is excellent for those who believe in the higher education of women. Girls will be able to come down from the country or the other colonies to study, and be as safe as in their own homes. Up to the present parents have wisely hesitated to send their daughters to College, knowing well the danger of leaving young girls unprotected in this wicked city of ours. Apropos of this, some people think deep studyspoils the girls. I know intimately tiie cleverest girl in Melbourne. She matriculated with hononrs very young, took her 8.A., is now au M.A., and has all the dead languages, a good many of the live ones, and all the 'ologies, at her fingers' ends. But notwithstanding this, she is the sweetest tempered, most impulsive, brightest girl I know, dances like a fairy, sings like a siren, and talks like one of the mines. So you see, study does not of necessity warp the feminine mind, as some think. In many cases it perfects and matures

Talking of ladies, I will conclude my letter this week by telling you about three old ladies who lived at Cdlingwood avid whose story is so woeful an 1 pathetic that it almost made the tears start to tny eyes to hear of it. These three ohl ladie3—all over GO-are sisters aril spinsters. They had seen better days, but alas ! time had dealt baldly with tliein. and in their old ng«, alone •and friendless, they were forced to earn a scanty subsistence by mending and knitting lace cuffs and collars. Their state was really pitiful ! but so great was their pride, poor old souls! they would not accept assistance. Even n lien absolutely 011 the point of starvation, they resolutely refused the food the neighbours' brought. Just fancy that. Think of the old fashioned pride of these three ancient bodies, remembering their former grandeur, resolutely determined not to stoop to charity, preferring to slowly starve than receive alms. To me the picture seems strangely pathetic—the three sisters, faithful to each other through their long and arduous life's pilgrimage, slowly, painfully descending in the social scale until it came to working for a bare livelihood, and lastly, side by side, resolutely facing starvation, sooner thaa stoop to what appeared to them no doubt as dishonour. Is there not something heroic as well as pathetic in the picture ? Fortunately some charitable people were attracted by the strangeness of the case, and the three poor old ladies have been taken to Yarra Bend, where I hope they will be made comfortable, so that the close of their poor troubled life may be passed in peace and tranquility. Melbourne sees sad and strange tragedies at times —how strange and how sad perhaps only doctors and journalists rightly know.

One of Melbourne's smartest and most successful land speculators, Mr G. W. Taylor, has been unanimously chosen by the " West Denbighshire Liberal Association " as their caudidate for a seat in the House of Commons. The experience of the only two capable Imperial Statesmen with Australian antecedents, Lord Sherbrook and Mr H. E. Childers, is too remote t > enable them to readily deal with the leading colonial questions of today, ai d the presence in the Imperial Parliament of a man of Mr Taylor's oftproven energy and practical knowledge of our latest aspirations must be of immense value to the colonies generally.