MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2552, 17 November 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

(i-v.oji on: own (v>i:iiksi"om>kst.)

Tiik doings of Parliament have been a painful source of interest during the week for they have been of that kind that " tilloth the mouths of men." The scenes of riot, and disturbance, and bitter

acrimony that have disgraced the Assembly aro enough to disgust anyone, and have only been surpassed by similar occurrences iii the N. S. Wales House. As the end of th.-. session draws nigh, the Opposition becomes stronger and stronger in its stone-walling tactics, so that as a plain matter of fact the business of the country is at a complete standstill. The personalities indalged in are enough to make the hair of a less thick-skinned individual than a liicnb.-r lit. rally stand on end, whilst the. actual waste of the country's lime and of lion, members' energy ill consequence of all this, is ao less shocking. 1 shall be very pleased indeed when the present bear-ganhn is disbanded and a new order reigns.

I spent half-an-hour in the House last Tuesday, sitting in the reporter's gallery with a press friend, who had advised me there would be '' some fun that night." And ho was right, there was some " fun on," and that of a very excitable kind, I was just intimu toaeo the Premier addressing the House in dumb show, his voice heingp erfectly inaudible. When he was tired of waving his arms at the shrieking mob in front of him, someone jumped up and accused the Premier of being drunk. "Disgraceful drunkenness" was_ the term—a nice one to apply to the political head cf the country. "We are conducting ourselves more soberly than you," shrieked the long-legged Chief Secretary in reply, taking up the cudgels for his party. " Yah ; you arc a set of beauties " yelled an Oppositionist derisively, and the uproar commenced afresh. I sat out half-an-hour of it, and then lied in dismay, deafened and disgusted at the scandalous proceedings. Is it not disgraceful, I ask, that such things should take place and be allowed in an Assembly that rules a great colony like ours? Really, the close of this present session will be memorable as being the most scandalous ending to a scandalous term, and I only hope the people at large will read the. reports of what takes place and let it influence them at the forthcoming elections.

A young lady was pointed out to me in the grand stand at the Caultield meeting whose name was well-known to me as one of onr great Melbourne heiresses. She is said to have in "her own right" something over £50,000—a nice little appendage to a young lady, and especially a pretty ono. Well, this charming demoiselle my friend told me, used to boast of having had eighty-six offers of marriage. She was very fond of telling about her numerous conquests, and one day was relating the story to a visitor from home, a young man of fortune, whom perhaps she desired to impress. " Well Miss ,"he said earnestly, "would you like to increase your number of offers by one more?" "I don't mind if I do," simpered the golden maiden. " Well then," he answered gravely, " provided you give me your refusal, in writing beforehand, I will make you an offer of marriage on the spot." The young lady I believe does not boast so much now since the story has now got about, of her eighty-six offers. But talking of ladies, I am reminded of something I heard in town last week, which is, or should be, of interest to all feminine readers who look towards visits, more or less frequent, to the metropolis. In London—that is in certain streetsthere have been ereeted what are called "Ladies' Kiosks," that is to say, places of rendezvous for ladies whilst shopping or walking. Within them a lady can have the uso of a lavatory, can write a letter, receive or leave her parcels, rest and have a cup of tea —all at the most moderate charges. For the small sum of ]s. a week, a visitor from the country can have all her parcels and letters sent to her own box, and there is also accommodation for anyone wishing to dress for the theatre. As everyone must see this is an excellent institution, and I was told it was about to be taken up in Melbourne, sonic gentlemen intending to float a small company for erecting half-a-dozen of these " Kiosks " in the principal streets. Our lady visitors from the country will find them a great boon, without diubt ; and I hope the idea now being mooted of initiating the scheme is not " ail talk and nothing else."

A man starving himself to death for lovo of art is an anomaly not often brought to light in Melbourne, or anywhere else, but lust week such an occurrence did actually .take place, an old man employed in the railway department being found dead in his bed from causes brought on by starvation. He bad been denying himself for years anything but the bare necessaries of life, and lo ! when bo has succumbed to his long privation, no less than fifteen cases were found stored with a heterogeneous collection of curios of all descriptions, some of them extremely valuable. There was gold and silverware, paintings, jewellery, rare china, precious stones, and such like, altogether representing a large amount of money. What a curious turn of mind the man must have had—to literally starve himself in order to save money to buy such things. He must have believed in the Italian proverb, " Pin tt,*io mendlcunte die iffnortniti" —better starve the body than the, mind ; forgetting that mind and body are niie, and indh i^iUe.