MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume 2632, Issue 2632, 25 May 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) A short timo ago the Melbourne public wero shocked to learn, from a cablegram that Mr Durlach, well-known as an employee at Messrs Dalgetty and Co.'s and lately started in business on his own account as a wool-buyer, bad been drowned at sea on his way to England. A letter had jsst nrrivod from one of his friends, •who was a follow passenger, detailing all the circumstances surrounding the sad caso. The following extract therefrom will bo interesting " Shortly before 10 o'clook Durlnch catno on deck. Ho had his ulster on his arm. On coming out of tho companion door from the music saloon on the port and leeward side he Baw a rug lying on a chair just vacated by a lady who had gone downstairs. Ho lifted the rug with tho intention of carrying it after the lady, and wound it roun:l his hands in tho form of a muff. Tho ship at tho moment gave n fearful lurch, which threw bitn off his balanco, and slipping on tho slimy deck, he slid on his thick india-rubber shoes hastily down the incline caused by the heavy roll, straight against the bulwarks, which caught him right in the pit of the stomach, and tilted him overboard in the form of a somersault, to the groat horror and distress of the five or six passengers near him, who witnessed the calamitous affair. Descending into the sea head foremost, with his feet high in tho air, was the last seen of poor Durlach. Ho uttered no cry, and was never heard of more. I should mention that the steamer was stopped, a boat lowered on a dark night into a raging sea, and search made for the missing man until no hope was left of finding him. Tho buoy, thrown overboard when he fell, was picked up. On the last day of April the polico distinguished themselves by tho capture of a " notorious criminal," and the seizure of a coining plant in Lennox-street, Richmond. The man is old, bears the name of John Wallace, is distinguished by three aliases, and has passed a good deal of his life in prison. He was born in England in 1841; and was transported to Van Dieman's Land when 17 years of ago. At the end of bis seven years' sentence ho came to Victoria, and in 1808 was ssntenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. In 18G0 he received two years fur stealing ; in 1862-3, he underwent nine months, twelve months, and nine months for the same offence, the terms being cumulative ; in 1868 he was sentenced to three and two years respectively for receiving ; in 1873 ho was condemned to two years and six months for larceny ; in 1875, four years for housebreaking, and three years for receiving : and in ISSI, nine years for leceiving. This distinguished person came out of prison on January 7th of the prpsent year. He is 59 years of ago, and has served sentences amounting in all to 31)J years ; has thus cost £1,000 for his maintenance, and is now locked up on a graver charge than any previously recorded against him. Short as tho timo has been since he catno out of prison, ho has inaniged to collect quito a respectable stock-in-trade. Ho was provided with dies, copper, lead, pewter, goldsmith's tools, a crucible, skeleton keys, and other housebreaking implement*. Ho does not appear to have put much spurious coin into circulation— if any. He was merely getting his things" into order. He will probably be taken earo of for somo time.

A writer in one of the dailies assigns as ono cause of tho lapses from virtue of bnnk clerks more frequently than other people that they occupy in Australia a social position higher than the salaries thoy receive can support. The Argus, in commenting upon this statement, says: — " Without, going so far ns to say that bank clerks form tho recognised aristocracy of the community, it can bo safely asserted that they are not here, ns is the case at home, relegated to a position of distinct social inferiority to the members of somo other professions." But, as a set-off to thia gratifying aspect of the question, wo havo to recognise the fact, that tho simple action of the law of supply and demand prevents tho salaries of the lower grades of bank officials from rising to a par with their social preeminence. The bank clerk has, in fact, been spoiled by the public who are now shocked at tho delinquencies of a few persons belonging to that order. I could namo fashionable Melbourne boardinghouses patronised by bank clerks, whoro men, quite as well educated and brought up equally respectable, earning more money, would not be received as lodgers because they follow a calling which has not yet been stamped with the hall mark of fashion.

One day last week some one in authority in the Hydraulic Power Company caused the secretary of the said company to be arrested on a charge of embezzling £100 He was locked lip, and in due course carried before the magistrate and remanded. When again called up the charge was withdrawn. It was stated that he had merely held over a cheque for £100 until he had a sufficient amount to bank. He lnd been frequently in the habit of doing so before. The managing director was not aware of this when the secretary was arrested, but he felt sure that there was no fraudulent intention in the act. If so, and there is nothing to prove the contrary, it is a pity that the " authority"—whose name has not transpired—was in such a hurry. In commenting upon the case a morning paper says that, in taking the course they have done, the directors '• have assumed a certain amount of responsibility towards the public." Without venturing to impugn the action of the company, which has a perfect right to manage its own affairs, the newspaper in question considers that curt tin irregularities had taken place, and that it was objectionable to first initiate criminal proceedings and then arrive at a settlement. And the article concludes with the remark that "it is to be hoped that no impression will be made that justice has favourites, and that restitution by friends ran cover offences by the individual."

Messrs Uhaffey Brothers drs'rve great credit, and all the profit they can earn, for having set the fashion, and having shown Australians how to make money by irrigation. Mildura, in Victoria, and Renmark, in South Australia, aro the starting points from which rnauy similar enterprises will date their existence. I now hear that Mr McFarlnne, of Burooira Station, near Cobrarn, but on the New South Wales side of tho Murray, brother-in-law of Dr. John Webb, of Melbourne, has just completed tho necessary works and crociod tho plant required for irrigating 10,000 acres of land. The machinery is similar to, and quite as powerful as that at present on Mildura. One pump is equal t.o raising 10/100 gallons per iniuutc. Mr McFarlano intends shortly to commence the preliminaries to irrigating 20,000 acres on another part of his property, which, be it remarked, includes fully 10,000 acres of freehold land, Again, there is a comprehensive schcmc for forming an irrigation settlement at Weutwori h, N.S.W., and a Bill has been drafted and will soon lie before Parliament asking for the necessary powers. The provisions of this Bill, of which I havo received a copy, are framed on the lines of the Bill drafted by the Royal Commission on Water Conservation and Irrigation of 18S0, and follow the goueral legislation of Victoria. These aro the precursors of many other irrigation settleinon ts.

At last the scaffolding is being removed from tho front of Parliament House. It looks rather strange to see the longstanding disfigurement taken away piece by piece, but we shall become used to it in time. The next step i-hould be the removal of some of the members who disfigure the interior of the house.