MELBOURNE ITEMS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2969, 25 July 1891, Page 4

MELBOURNE ITEMS.

| I'.y Ti r, .| Mk\ K, •)n!y 7. Sim ii.ii iu>; 11intr t'l tear from flic l.i'iiur e.mdidalci who, if they should I into I '.111 i rinn-T 11.arc ipiite certain not to do any ii.inn there. Parliament, indeed (•:» 1 ;i!'.i .iV'< !i,»l n veiy sootliini: and quietin j i-Hi \ I iip 'ii people who mi' now in any way inclined tn those broader form* of KMcii<!ivin which mhiiiil mi tery much like commmiiHiii. Onlsnle Parliament it pcein- -o < isy to do ; inside it 10 a'Di (o !»". O diliicnlt. to do anything tin: t!l" re Mut /''dot lie • i>lllil- Ijlliet, a : fjnirrel in a ca^. 1 . Iladlaiieli bewail hi" politied life as an Iconoclast. Indeed tlmt was his pet .' i^irilinc. lie ended it a« a h ill ;.'id mighty T"iy and indeed hid he lived a year longer would have alienated .ill his p'ipal-sr .supporters liy backini: tin- it in tin re most coercive n,e.i aires. As with Hradhuigll ?. iwi'h ('a.soilierlain before him and so with I)i.-1 jeli before him. The extieinest jjocs in! > I'ai iiament like a lion and comes out like i land). Indeed all who have anvtliinu' to do with workmen know that face to fac ' they are almost invariably ie soiiaiil; ,moderate anil easy to convince. 11 one general election should end in the the return of' a few lalionr candidates wo shall be none the worse oil' the Lamentations of the leading journal notwithstadini;. On the oHier hand if we have nothing to fear from the possible return of a dozen 11itoilr cau'liilatcs they have nothing to fear from the new National League j-lartcd by Mr Kobcrt Harper. It would be hard lo find any public man with leas influence and less chance of leading any public, muvenicnt successfully. No one i an in the least impugn his character or hia motive.?. The first is unimpeachable I lie second arc supposed and believed to be e,,ud ; but he is somewhat, narrow minded and bigoted, rather fiercely ;.. tanan, adamant to any argument but his own and ho repellent in manner that lie iuu excite extreme hostility in the breasts of utter strangers who hear him for the lirst time at a public nieetiii". The end ol it all will be pretty much " as they were..'

A g jo'l joke was played in tlm Assem• Mv last Thursday by the proprietors of a much advertised commodity. Kvery uicmbor received a 11-I'<■ t- in these words : " lining assured that (lut ing the course of your arduous labours on hehatf of the c.'.immunity at laree, you are often in want of a useful .stimulant which is very wholesome, I take the liberty of drawing your attention to the properties of " 11l re follows a description of the commodity in ([UCfition, which is descrilud as " the most nourishing beverage at pro licit known." Kvery letter enclosed a Inon/cd cross hanging from a tricolour vib.uid ; and the Premier, believing that he wis advancing tlie cause (if temperaue:. 1 111..-teliy, adorned his button hole w.lli the. rn,Mum and wore it all the evi nun;. The phrase about the "arduous labour.. in the cause of the community '' tickled all the legislators, and goodness Kn-nv.i what mii-lit have happened to the eater.T of liellamy's upstairs if Mr (J. D. Carter hid not created a diversion by assuring t !ie members tint the trophy was cute! ly like that used for putting a certain popular whiskey. Then there wss a general laugli, and the L'rcmicr's lb- oration disappeared. A n"\v -ensation is being prepared at tii; Opera House, where an excellent re .re.'eut.ation ot a veritable horse race is t • l' ; : seen on Saturday next. A large tuition of the stage has been removed, and iu its place a moveable web sub ■s.oiitcd, which passes over horizontal r '!li r.; cisi-tanlly in motion. The horses a; liM.d tn three upright iron stanchions, strong !>nt. invisible, which sustain them iu . ueh a way that their feet just touch l .n: j'.i'ijkly moving snrfacc. Their attempt to keep their feet makes them first trot, then canter, then eallop furiously, and as t.hey are ridden by veal live jockevi the ell'eet is immense. A set of \.'rtical roller.-: keeps the posts, trees, and i/.her portions of the scenery Hying by them, and when it is desired to end the race 111 • -Unci,ions are moved bodily forward by another piece of machinery, and the h inner, of course, distances Lite o' hr-:, Niine idea ot the complication of the work may he gained from the fact tint then: are upwards of a thousand iron liars and rodeis involved, besides the large diiiin.i at the side of the stage. A ' i.erriie actor—hi'trec known iu the e iuii'i y districts even thin in Melbourne • — lias bee;; brought down hv sickness siii• 1 'li.-i-".ml is to have a hem til at lee Opi ra lloe.s on Saturday, th .Inly. J allude to (1, It. I'vlaml, who his been sr.. .hi i Shirty years on the stnee here, I:ai" g trade his debut simultaneously with I-. \'. !'>ro'i'<e, fanny (,'a! heart, and .1!■ >ij'.a't lleii in IS iu Mr Ireland lias of lit" years almost entirely devoted himia:ll to con ii: ry work, and has made i'im-'eli known in tint way all over .V.cii •, I'i.i. tt :s cert lin that the prol -.-i hi, v. ith its usual generosity, will i illy 'o tin ail "fan afflicted colleague, and it i. h"p"d that a good round sum will a uit t 1 en their exertions. Il ii - ti i tint nut a little scandal has 1 - 11 : ;'.l liy the fact that a good many o! the loeilities and the people il-. i bed in I'liarhs lli i'l Ic\ book, ' I Ii" t; Igravc Case " p i sing into it- third edition), are ~iy r. eo.-nrable. 'lie scene ol llr' inurler. at a house lie calls I 'hintilly in the (>. raig r-and III" .oi'ta'ler, lleorg" I're ton. ad his ii -i. " all, i! is ill, to b ■ I'h'iil ilicd. It •, 1 mi) p ise t here will he some bother. i\o one !i];> to lu> described ill a " sliiiirng .--ii i'-ker," especially ill the ! ' -on of a 11 ly who has two living i .- "and.; and a '-buried past," which in i-ts upon lesaiirectiu:' itself. Car unemployed dillienlty is practically over. Mr Monro's frank oiler to find work for all who wanted it, and his :.,trin;jent iiepiirv into the circumstances ■if tlioae who prufencd to do so, have nettled the business. 01 the live thousand unproinised, only lis? entered their 1111111 es as applicant :, and ol those enquiry ; hutted that two hundred were iu work ,'li"jily. For the tS7 remaining Mr Monro will find work at once. But :m I have already said the really poor will not ; o mar Mr Muuro. They tramp the .'.licet'; from nioining until night begging f.'i a !01. wherever they can see a chance ol tin.ling a listener, and sometimes tryin to borrow or beg a shilling if they see a y:i!(i ilhising friend. They are the last people in the world to beg anything of Mr .Mum :, just as lie is the l : ist man in the world to give anything away, and the e in~coiier.ce i : that none of the unemployed who nit work or want to get hack into the life of decent competence, which is produced by hard labour, will ever go near the Treasury. Orcat redii'-i ions have taken plac' in 1 he railway construction department, and considerable hardship has been caused by the iic'iner in which they are carried cut. The draughtsmen are not discharged, '.".it are given three months have of :ibs..nce without pay, and they are at the s;i m: time warned at the. end ot the time that, though they may not b: wanted and can only bo employed a ;ain as they arc reipiired, they must still keep up their insurance or will be deemed to have resigned. At the same time tie ir privileges of travelling at half rati j are withdrawn, so they arc bavin" .1 tough time.