OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 7798, 20 December 1888, Page 4

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

[From Our Melbourne Correspondent.]

Wednesday, December 12. THE EJvIIiPIVIOtf. Tthere is no doubt that there is a feeling of disappointment in Melbourne at present in regard to the Exhibition. The attendance certainly exceeds that of the Exhibition of 1880, but it has not come up to expectations, and the Commissioners are rather anxious about the way the expenses are mounting up without any proportionate addition to the receipts. The ' Australasian' thus sums up what has been achieved by the great show:—"lf, when the Exhibition closes in January next, the citizens of Melbourne miss anything it will bo Mr Cowen's oonoerts, the switchbackrailway (forwhichafternoon and evening parties are regularly made up), and the promenade, all of which we could have had independently of the Exhibition. As a means of education and edifying recreation, the Exhibition of 1888, apart from_ the music, will not compare with the Exhibition of because we already know almost everything it teaches, which could not have been said in 188 Q." In reference to the Psrjs Exhibition, I may state that a good deal of tttestion is likely to be bestowed upon the proper representation of Victoria as a viticultural country. There is no doubt that the interests of the colony could not be better Herved than in this way. The ravages of the phylloxera in France have reduced the production of wine in that country to such a large extent .tba* it alone ought to be able to absorb what Ijhe colonies can produce for some time to come.

£OfJ.?tpi.L. Business is being pushed on in a most determine* manner in the tf'ictorian Parliameufc in order that the se3sion_may close on the 20th inst. Measures of some importance v.e.",? agreed to by the Assembly last week. The Chinese Immigration, the Licensing Act Amendment, and Education Act Amendnw't Bills were all passed in their original forms, tlthough strenuous efforts were made by members cf the Opposition to get various alterations made. The first- mentioned measure imposes fresh restrictions on the info;* of Chinese, and is more stringent than the similar Bill passed by the South Australian Parliament, in that it imposes disabilities on present Chinese residents .equally with fresh immigrants, and actually prevents Britishbom subjects to pass from one colony to another without a permit. The Licensing Act Amendment js somewhat unusual in its provisions, whish rob hotelkeepers of their right of appeal to tho Supreme Court and permit of fresh elections being held in districts where abortive polls were taken this year. The Education Act is so amended as to obtain an improved system of transferring teachers from one school to another. Hitherto, transfers have bepn made in an automatic and tedious manner, the teooher highest on the tranufer list being asked to fcake a position, and if he refused the ne;ct being applied to, and so on. Several teachers can now be communicated with at the same time, and of thoße who accept tho highest

on tlin Hat ia transferred. An important alteration in the present system is that, while two-thirds of the transfers are to be made according to the classifier's list, onethird can be made at the discretion of the department. This concession has been made to meet cases where teachers have made themselves unpopular, or fallen into illhealth in particular localities. Tlie Treasurer announced in the Assembly the other evening that it was the intention to give the chairman of the Railway Commissioners (Mr R. Speight) a holiday, which will serve not only to recuperate that gentleman's health, but enable him to examine into the American railway system, and apply the information he gets to the better management of the Victorian railways, Anyone hearing the highly eulogistic terms in which Mr Gillies referred to the capacity and management of the chairman in connection with the colony's railway system would have thought that it was perfect, and there was no room for improvement. A strauger to Melbourne must be struck with the despatch with which the trains are sent away from the three stations, but he is also considerably surprised with the amount of inconvenience that passengers have to put up with. At some periods of the day travellers on the suburban lines are jambed into poky, stuffy carriages, like herrings in a barrel, and there is any amount of evidence that many improvements are required. Everyone is willing to concede, however, that the traffic has grown at such a tremendous rate that no manager could have foreseen the present necessities, and there is no doubt that Mr Speight is one who is in every way well qualified for the onerous position which he occupies. It was further intimated by Mr Gillies that Mr Speight's salary was to be increased from L 3.000 to L 4.000 a-year, and to L5.0C0 when his present engagement expires. He did not say whether the stipends to Mr Speight's fellow - commissioners Messrs Ford and Greene were to be added to, and when asked whether they were not entitled to some consideration, especially in view of the fact that they would have to discharge extra work during Mr Speight's absence, he replied in his brusque manner : "That question will be considered at the proper time, and that time is not the present." It was only to be expected that such an occasion would not be allowed to pass by the Opposition without some criticism of the Railway Department, and a good deal of it found a convenient butt in the devoted head of Mr Allison Smith, who will never be forgiven by his subordinates and a section of the community because he carne from New Zealand to fill a responsible position on the railways here. Railway officers are getting a bad time of it in New South Wales. In the New South Wales Assembly last week the action of tli6 Railway Commissioners in appointing two men from England and America as travelling inspectors of railways gave rise to an animated debate, during which the Commissioners wjorc designated "crimson liars." Of Mr W. IT. Fehon, who went from Melbourne to fill his position as Commissioner, it was asserted that he had to relinquish a railway appointment here because he gave an undue preference to a private firm with which he was connected. He was also accused of being concerned in certain discreditable wool transactions, and Sir Henry Parkes had to promise the House that hp would have the charges inquired into. Mr Deakin, the Chief Secretary of Victoria, has got himself into very hot water through instructing the police not to prosecute a Miss Laura Morgan, who is practising as a doctor without being registered. The case of Miss Morgan is one which has occupied the attention of the Medical Board for a long time past. She has frequently applied to be registered, but the American diplomas which she produced did not satisfy the Board as to her fitness for registration, and at last she took the bull by the horns and set herself up as a doctor, with a brass plate attached to her door. It is difficult to understand why Mr IJeakin should have put himself out of his way to protect this lady until it is learnt that " I)r" Morgan is at present attending the Chief Secretary's wife. Mr Deakin has defended his action on the ground that it was not the function of the police to in such cases, and that the medical profession, as a species of trades union, ought to take action. This excuse is not one that has given satisfaction, and Mr Deakin has been soundly rated by a section of the Press for interposing his authority against the ordinary course of law. THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL. Miss Jennie Watt-Tanner has proceeded to England. A new national cantata, the joint work of Mr E. G. Fitzgibbm, the town clerk of Melbourne, and Mr G. B. Allen, the wellknown musician, will shortly be produced. The Sydney Liedertafel are rehearsing a cantata entitled ' Captain Cook,' the composition of Mr J. A. Delaney. In the pantomime * Sinbad, the Sailor,' which is to be produced by Messrs Williamson, Garner, and Musgrove at Christmas, Miss Aggie Kelton is to take the part of Sinbad, and Mr H. Benham that of the Sultan.

The theatres of Melbourne are getting their nasal share of patronage, notwithstanding the strong counter-attraction created by the excellent concerts which are being given under Mr Cowen's conductorship at the Exhibition. Mr Simonsen has engaged Mr W. Walshe (an Australian tenor, possessing an exceptionally sweet voice) and Signor Verdi to supplement his _ English company, and these gentlemen, with Miss Lilian free and Mdlle. Lablache as prima donna and contralto respectively, have latterly appeared with very great success in » Maritana/ Miss Tree fras a fine sopranp of full register and v/ell cultivated, and Mdlle. Lablache is as good a Lazarillo as I have seen. Her voice is more oorrcotly described as a mezzo - soprano, and its serviceable range can be understood from the fact that she appeared in the leading rulo in 'Carmen' recently, and won the warm admiration of the critics. Of Signor Verdi I am glad to say that he has gained his old prestige, and is singing as he did when he first appeared in Melbourne. He has abandoned the bad habit which ho acquired in New Zealand of singing out of tune, and be js in every respect the Verdi of yore. ( lolanthc,' in which Miss ColbourneBaber took the leading part, has been withdrawn at the Prinoess's in favor of' Prjncesß Ida.' This travosty of Tennyson's idyll wag originally produced in Melbourne with Misß Baber in the title role; but Miss Nellie Stewart now takes the part, with Miss Fanny Liddiard, Messrs Leumane, Woodfield, Knight Aston, Benham, Howard Vernon, and Wallace in the other principal characters. The opera is performed in a moat acceptable fashion, and ought to draw well until Christmas, when ' Dorothy' is to be revived. The Alexandra Theatre ia enjoying exceptional popularity undor Mr Alfred Dampier's rdgime, and though ' The World Against Her' has been performed for over five weeks, the theatre continues to be well rilled. The drama, having hit the popular taste, is to retain the boards until Boxing Night. ' Hands Across the Sea' has been succeeded by ' It's Never Too Late to Mend' at the Theatre Royal, Mr Charles Warner taking the part of Tom Robinson. 5 Hans the Boatman ' is being reproduced at the Bijou, and the usual variety entertainments at St. George's and the Victoria Halls Berve those who favor cheap amusement.

The Dora Wiley opera company, whioh has been appearing at tho Gaiety Theatre, Sydney, came to grief on Monday. After the performance of 'Girofle, Girofla' had been opened, the stage manager appeared and informed the audience that it was impossible to go on with the opera, as several of the principals had declined to appear because they were not paid their salaries for the previous week. The curtain was therefore rung down, and the audience dispersed. The company has since been reformed, arid has made a fresh start.

SOCIAL ANp GENERAL. Alderman John Harris has been re-elected Mayor of Sydney without opposition. Jt has bepn decided tp erect a ippnumenj; in Sydney to the late Hop. W- B- J)aljey. The Rev. W. K. Addis, son of the Rey. Mr Addis, Presbyterian Free Church minister of Morningside, Edinburgh, and for some years Roman Catholic priest at Sydenham, has been appointed assistant minister to the Rev. Dr Strong at the Australian Church.

Senor a Portuguese journalist, has proceeded to Tasmania en route for New Zealand,

M. Oscar Comettant, the French journalist, who is at present in Melbourne, intends publishing a book, entitled l ln the Country of the Kangaroos and Gold Mines.' William Harrison has been tried for the murder of John Duggan, near Elmore, in June last, but the jury were unable to agree upon a verdict. Harrison will be again arraigned on the capital charge at the next assizes at Sandhurst. A Select Committee of the Western Australian Legislature have reported in favor of the construction of an intercolonial railway. They recommend that the line start at a point on the Eastern Railway to be fixed by the Government, and to terminate near Eucla; that blocks of 20,000 acres to the mile be granted to the contractor; that the railway be commenced within two years, and be completed within seven years of the signing of the contract; that 3,000 immigrants be introduced; that the railway be sft Sin gauge, similar in construction to the line between Adelaide and Melbourne ; and that L 30.000 be deposited by the contractor. James B. Donaldson, a clerk in the Commercial Bank, Sydney, has been committed for trial for forging and uttering a cheque on the bank for L'2oo. Georgo Morrison, another clerk in the employment of the Bank of Australasia, has also been committed on a charge of embezzling L 302. Further frauds are found to have been perpetrated upon the Sydney City Corporation. They have been carried out by D. and K. Bradford, contractors, who were implicated in the frauds which were previously discovered, and by means of which the water supply department was victimised to tho extent of nearly L 30.000. The frauds in the city department amounted to L 1,360, and extended over the period from 1881 to 1886. In 1881 the department suffered to the extent of only L4l, but the operations gradually increased until in 1885 the excess of payments amounted to L 722. The Bradford's obtained L 2.410 for castings, for which they should have been paid only LI ,050, the requisitions for stores being falsified so as to represent orders and deliveries largely in excess of the actual quantities.

A peculiar fatality occurred at Ballarat last Friday. Three young men, named Harry Lee, John Driscoll, and Arthur Ottoway were at the rowing club's sheds, on Lake Wendouree. Driscoll and Lee got into an outrigger together, and the latter in attempting to throw his companion into the water, fell in himself. Subsequently Lee pushed Ottoway into tho water and fell in himself again. The party then had an altercation, during which Driscoll struck Lee four times, aud the two men fell on the ground together, Lee being underneath. Lee did not appear to be injured at the time, and walked home, but in the evening he complained of a pain in his head. He gradually became worse, and, notwithstanding the "treatment of two medical men, expired the following morning. A post mortem examination showed that death was caused by concussion and laceration of the brain, induced by a fracture of the temple bone.

Sarah Butcher, aged seventeen, was accidently shot by her brother, two years older, at Elsternwick last week. Miss Butcher and a friend were together iu young Butcher's room. A dog ran across the green in front of the house, and young Butcher took a loaded revolver from the mantelpiece and fired out of th« window at it. Something went wrong with the revolver, and whilst he was endeavoring to fix it a second chamber accidentally went off, and striking his sister, who was sitting on the bed beside him, in the breast, penetrated her heart, and killed her instantly.

A shocking accident occurred on the St. Kilda tramway on Friday. James Nimmo, an oiler, was down the culvert in which the cable runs when a dummy car was being shunted. He was warned to get into one of the manholes, and he sang out that he was all right. As the car passed along, howerer, the gripman felt his gripper catch something, and he was horrified by the discovery that the gripper had caught Nimmo's head and killed him instantly. Benjamin Brook (aged 43), recently acting chief clerk in the Victorian Lands Office, was brought before the Melbourne General Sessions Court last week, and pleaded guilty to forging three orders for the payment of wages to persons employed by the department in rabbit extermination. The total amount of the three orders was about L 37. Sir Bryan O'Loghlen addressed the Court iu mitigation of punishment, pointing out that the prisoner had been employed in the Lands Department during the past twenty-four years, and had hitherto borne a most unexceptionable character. The case was a most deplorable one, the prisoner having worked honestly for the State for a very long period, and then fallen into sudden temptation and become dishonest. The whole amount which he was supposed to have defrauded the Government of was about L3OO. If it had so happened that he had had to be superannuated on account of ill-health or other cause, he would have been entitled to a retiring allowance of LI,OOO, or a pension of between L 250 and L3OO a year. A sentence of two years' imprisonment was inflicted.