MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2659, 27 July 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

(I'UOM OUR OWN COIIKESt'ONIiENT.) TltU attempt of Professor Kernot and two of his colleagues to force the Central Board of Health to sanction the re-buil.l-ingof the Bijou Theatre, assumes additional significance when read side by Mdc with the proceedings at the lown llall upon the same day. Public opinion is against the project of ra.au.R another theatre upon the ashes of the old one. Not that it matters very much where a theatre is built provided the site is suitable, as all such buildings seem destined to be burnt down some day or other. But. it is felt, and the feeling is very generally expressed, that the danger arising from panic would be considerably accentuated in a building shut in on ev.-ry side as the old Bijou was, and that now it has been removed by fire it would be unwise to erect another public place of amusement upon th;it site. e Mr. Kernot thinks otherwise, and, what is more, ho wants a majority of the Central Board of Health to think as lie docs. It matters very little to him what the outs-ide public think about the matt, r Public opinion may bo, and is against him, but that is of little moment, provided he can get a majority of the Board upon his side, and be thus enable to override public opinion. True, the Board, of which Mr. Kernot is a member, are entrusted with the public safety. But that gentleman appears to think that he, and not the public, is to be judge, and is to decide in what public safety consists. All things considered, however, it is perhaps well that this would-be mlsterless man should have had his say and have evidence of his nnlitness to decide upon a public question of such a giavo moment. This incident, I have said, happened most opportunely, because on the same day a sort of congress of delegates, fiom forty municipalities, wet at tho Melbourne Town Hall to protest against the Public Health Bill which has just been introduced into the legislature by the Government. It is proposed by this Bui to relieve the Boards of Health and the municipalities of some important duties —which, however, they have never performed—and to entrust to them a department, the chief of which shall be a Minister, and, therefore responsible to Parliament. This measure, if it should become law, will bo a heavy blow to civil dignity, and such those functionaries feel it. But they have so shamefully and so shamelessly neglected sanitary matters, and that for so' long a period, that they will meet with little sympathy from the general public ; and, although they promise to behave better in future, few people believe them. The very attempt of Professor Kernot to reverse the decision arrived at with regard to the rebuilding of the Bijou Theatre is a proof how very little public safety is studied when private interests, or personal friendship in-

tervene. . . i The strangest pu't of the business is that so old a hatul as Mr. James Service ( should lend his countenance to municipal dictation. Jiut so it is. The hon. gentleman moved that the Legislature Council ; should not proceed further with the ( Public Health Bill until the civic wiseacres had had their say about it. That was last Thursday. On Friday the Town Hall congress met, and their decision may be summed up in a short; sentence. Thov reucommend ministers to drop tho Hill," and leave things pretty much as they arc. That is practically the sum and substance of the resolutions passed at the meeting. There is an old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth, and ministers will find, if they do not look out, that too many cooks will spoil their great political pie—the Public Health Bill. It is a pity that our great political machine cannot lie worked upon economical commercial principles, in tho saino manner as our great factories are worked. Lhere subdivision of labour, each man minding Ins business, ensures a maximun of production at minimum of cost. It also ensures the turnout of a superior article. I was struck with this fact while going over one of our factories the other day, in which oilmen's stories arc turned out in amazing quantities, and in first-rate order. What a pity, thought I, that Mr. Gillies does uot try the experiment of letting out his law-making to be done by contract — issue his specifications, and invito competitive designs, with tenders for the job. I am willing to wager my best goose quill against the Speaker's wig, that men will be met with in a days walk who will draft, digest, and throw into shape a better Act, and deliver it beautifully en grossed upon tho best vellum for one twelve the sum that the new Public Health Bill will cist the colony when finished. But lam forgetting what I wanted to say about sub-division of labour in oui large factories —which means simply each person's minding his own business, doing it well, and iuteforiug with that of nobody else. The manufacture of a bottle of pickles was being explained by one of the courteous proprietors of the " Ked Cross" Preserving Company at South Yarra ; but tho 'bottling process was what most struck inc. The pickles being duly prepared, the bottles arc filled with the kind of pickle being operated _ upon. They then come to a curious machine imported from England, and which acts upon tho principle ot a tap-room beer pump. Tiie pickle mixture is contained in a tank, and is pumped In.m that into the bottle. The nozzle of tho pump is li.ieg enough when inserted into the bottle to reach to the bottom. The man in i'ttcndaucc tiikesa bottle in his left hand and forces it upwards until the pump nozzle reaches the bottom, when one stroke of the handle fills all the interstice between the pickles with the liquid, from the bottom up to the neck. W bile he is doing this, a boy on the other bide of the machine takes up a cork and a piece of paper. Placing the paper on the top of a guide with the cork, he presses coik and paper into the guide ; the man, still holding the bottle in his left hand, places it in the boot, and as ho raises the pump handle again the cork is pressed down by a lever on the other side into the neck of the bottle. Thus, the downward stroke of ihe handle fills the vessel with liquid, and the upward stroke corks it, the two movements occupying about two seconds. The bottles are then passed on to be sealed, capsuled and ihus, with five pair of hands, a bottle is filled with sauce, corked, sealed, capsuled, and labelled every two seconds. One person, no matter how export, could not perforin these five operations in less than ;wo minutes. By sub-division and combination, five persons do the work of twelve in that time. One of the most profitable shows in Melbourne at the present time is the Cyclorama. The receipts arc stcadil}' maintained, the house being generally well filled, whilst tho expenses are execedingy smalt for such an enterprise. As a si.ow, it is one of the most realistic ever met with; and the beholder finds it difficult to believe that he is not standing in the midst of open country. Asa great historical instructor it stands unrivalled in this part of the world; and, as the picture can lie exchanged, these historical lesjons will be continuous.