MELBOURNE TOWN TALK.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 176, 31 July 1888, Page 3

MELBOURNE TOWN TALK.

(from oub own correspondent.) I pass a good deal of my time in the sacred precincts of Parliament House, and of late I have been there more frequently than usual, being interested in the nice little game of battledore and shuttlecock honorable members have been playing since the session opened. They have managed to waste three weeks over the reply to the address, and now are profiting by the accident to the leader of the opposition, Mr Bent, to take a rest. Next month the exhibition festivities commence, and while there is junketing to be done, members always object to work. I see the result clearly enough. At the end of the session there will be the usual slipshod work done, and bills will be rushed through without proper consideration. Such is Parliamentary procedure in this happy colony—half recess, one-third pleasuring, and the balance of the time spent in passing crude and immature measures, which have only to be remodelled during the ensuing session. And yet there are some who hint that members do not earn their £3OO a year. A libel 1 on the face of it, a libel.

We are so well provided with theatres and all places of amusement in Melbourne, that it gave me quite a surprise to hear from a speculative friend that a new theatre is projected r in town —this time in Collins street, near Spring street. What is more, he informed me that a prominent London theatrical manager is one of the Eartners in the enterprise, and it is to e his special duty to keep up a constant supply of the best home talent, and the latest London success. But, will another theatre pay ? I think not, for we have four at present, besides music-halls and places of that ilk. However, I welcome the idea of | a new theatre as a sign that we are increasing in wealth and importance.

I was at the Exhibition again last Saturday, and could see very little change from last week. What kind of an opening it will be on the Ist, I cannot think—for things do not seem a bit more forward. The horrible scaffolding for the switchback railway, almost right against the south face of the building, is the greatest eyesore and disgrace imaginable. Whatever could hnve possessed the Commissioners to allow such a huge wooden erection to be put up, passes my understanding, unless, as I suppose, it is a piece of jobbery in touch with sundry other arbitrary proceedings on the part of the management. Then, again, a great deal of dissatisfaction is being expressed at the fact that admission I on days when the chorus is to sing is to be one shilling more than on ordinary days. The members of the chorus give their services free, and so the public wants to know why it is to be forced to pay. Then there is much dissatisfaction about the issuing of invitations for the opening ceremony. The country Press seems to have been entirely overlooked, the Invitations Committee passing them over with lofty disdain. Many public func-1 tionaries have received snubs, whilst, on the other hand, insignificant individuals, who had a little influence, have managed to push themselves into notice. It got out in print that our Chief Secretary, the Hon. Mr Deakin, applied for a ticket of admission for a lady he wished to escort to the ceremony, and was promptly refused. If the Committee can say no to a Chief Secretary, one may be sure they are carrying things with a high hand.

“ Will the future man be a teetotaller ?” is a question I saw a week ago in one of the papers, and I should answer yes, at all events in Melbourne, considering the large number of Coffee Palaces there are now in the city. It is very evident the disciples of Sir Wilfred Lawson are becoming more and more powerful, or where would be the raison <£etre for such mammoth structures as the Federal Coffee Palace for instance ? Here we have one of the finest, handsomest, and most spacious buildings in Melbourne erected for the non-alcoholists; one that surpasses every hotel in this city, yd that is a perfect little town in .■elf. Teetotallers cannot complain y all events ; their wants are looked after right royally here in Melbourne. The mere fact of such a building as the “ Federal ” being raised in their honor proves it, for their is not another house of entertainment like it in the Southern Hemisphere.

But after all we are not so bad, though we in Melbourne have our grave faults, being eager for pleasure, extravagant, and worshippers of Mammon. We have many things to pride ourselves on. I would quote, par example, the agitation that has been going on for a Foundling Hospital. As usual the Government has been too supine to move in the matter, and so the public has made up its mind to take the matter in hand. Already one of our public men, Mr C. H. Staples, has come forward with an offer of £lOOO, and the Mayor promises substantial support, so that in a very short time I feel sure we shall have a good fund in hand wherewith to endow the hospital. Yes; whatever may be Melbourne’s faults—and they are great —uncharitableness cannot be ranked among them, and be it remembered, “ Charity is the scope of all God’s Commands.”

The Burke versus Slavin glove fight has been the talk of the town during the week, and the disgraceful scenes at the doors on the part of those who failed to gain admittance has been the subject of general opprobrium. Personally I detest such exhibitions, for I once saw a man killed in a prize fight in America, but I attended this one on press business. I was astonished to see half the prominent men of the city there—lawyers, doctors, Members of Parliament, et hoe genus omne. Admittance cost £l, and yet hundreds were turned away. It is truly a lamentable state of affairs whim men supposed to be cultured and refined crowd to such exhibitions, and talk of it and discuss it with the greatest gusto for days afterwards. Punch, generally a vapid print, satifklit the subject rather smartly as

I follows : —There is an illustration of a Melbourne man taking his son to school. Pointing to the statue of Burke and Wills, he says “Now Johnny, I want you to know all about your country’s heroes. Now who is that monument erected to ? “ I know, father,” answers young hopeful’ ‘ Burke and Slavin.”