ECHOES OF MELBOURNE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 2244, 30 November 1881, Page 3

ECHOES OF MELBOURNE.

(Fbom ot/b owh Corbesfowdbst.) Melbourne, Not. 22. Generally speaking, Victoria, ha» settled down into quietness einre the Cup excite mrnt. though thi- has been considerably intt-rforfd with by a eerie* of trasertiea of no r ; rcJin»rT oharacter. In fart, there has been an epiHemic of crimp. Politically little advance hrn been made, Mr Mirame, who his tabled resolutions on the Government Land Bill to the iff it that the l-a» ng aystetn should be •uhnituted for alienation, m not sufficiently liked to obtain any help, and the Opposition till probably shunt him, and endeavor to make the nrcesjary nlterationa .m <'ommil tee, at matters are not ripe-enough for a new Ministry, least of all ono of which Mr Mirams would be Premier. Tho little man'r ambition bai over-lraped itself. The political aensation of the week has been the tuddrn and fcetally unexpected resignation of Mr Tale. Without informing hit party, or m deed anyone, a^ve two perionsl friend*, he rore up m tho Homo and to tho unutterable astonishment and chagrin of the Opposition, announced that as be could not follow his party m advocating the leasing system, be resigned. The real f.ict is that Mr Vale saw that he waa plaj'd out m eTery way, and that his chances of being included m future combinations wers nil. His evil temper hna ruined him. Mr Valo is a man of vast ability and indomitible erergy, but all ia spoiled by a bad temper, partly caused by ill-health. He intends to leave a colony where he has played many parts, and to «erk fresh fields m New South Wslet or New Zealand 'Tit a sad ending to a great career. Mr Val- worked himeelf up from > mere newspaper runner to the bighe t positions m the Slate by his great perseverance and hard work. The resienation of Mr Vale and the death of Mr Do Bruce Johnatone, member for Greelong, nil at a crucial moment permit the stato ..f parties m two important constituencies to be tested, and will probably enable us to get the opinions of the peoi le upon the important queiMODB of the Education Act and the leasing system. Mrde Brace Johnstone, the senior member for Geeioau, a quiet, carrfal man, came to » •ad end. He bod introduced a Bill to amend the Pawnbrokers Act. He was always on the look-out to do good to man and beast, and retired that night to hisboel, Meredith's In tho morning it was noticed as if someone wns groaning inside his room, and when the door was burst oprn ho wat found ljring insensible on the bed. The doctors founo half hiß aide was paralysed and that ho whs also suffering from narcotism. A but le containing aniseed balsam (opium and aniseed) being found spillei near bit bed. Ha nevrr rallied and died two daya afterward*. Much mystery oxietvd at t > the cause of deat >, there being a bint of suicide, which to tboie who knew Mr Johnatone was ridicuroui. The nif dical evidence at the post-mortem showed deceased bad been vrry ill fur a long time and that it wat a wonder be had not died long before. He used to take the baleam to induce tleep. The caute of death wos the bunting of a blood vestrl m the brain. Mr Johnttone waa identified with the hiatory of Geelong, and eat eleven yeart m Parlia ment. He wat 60 years of age. He was one of the firmest supporters of Mr Berry through the great stonewall and embassy eras. His lost ia another blow to that leader. His colleague, MrKerrj'it, it not expected to live. The greatest iutere at waa manifested m the trial of the man King, who was »ci:u»ed of having given a piiaoned cake to a person called Kenny, whose boy ate of it and died. The cam his been a perfect mystery to everyone, and the discharge of the priioner by the jury after a few minutea' cantide ation hat done nothing fo elm-idate it, except that since then a BalUratt paper haa rec -goised m King a person who under an other name shot at someone up there. King escaped nuinly because he received the. highest char&ctT, while K-nny wag proved to be a drunkard, and Mr Purvet made an attempt to prove be waa the father of his daughter* illegitimate child. What weighed with the jury also was that it was proved that King had no need Co kill Kenny, an he hid Kenny's property perfectly tecure. Rut it is daggering to think — tnd the verdici allows tho inference — that Kenny murdered bis owa son to have revenge upon King. Take it any way we pleats it is an unfathomable mystery. Mr Sargeant, Ibe Exhibition caterer, whose rows with Mr Munro are historical, has gone a little too far, and it iooka as if he would bare to »pend a couple of yeara m gaol. Mr Munro, hit aversion, lives m a grand homo at Toorak, and thither lan Saturday night Mr f argcant, full of whisky and vengeance, proceeded. Fortunately for Mr Munro he w»« not at home, being buty at a temperance meeting. Mr Sargeant, finding hit enemy absent, began to imtah the furniture, and wreake I his vengeance upon a portrait m oils of Mr Munro, which he cut out of the frame and carried away. A flask was found after be had (eft, which waa thought to contain tulphuric acid, and the idea w»t entertained that he intended therewith to dnfUure Mr Munro. wh • ia by no meant a beauty, and could ill-afford further marring. When Sarg-ant was arrested, however, it waa proved ihat the bottle 'contained nothing of a hurtful character. He tsid himtelf it wai gont medicine. He hat been committed for trial, and it it probable he will not be able to get out of gaol for a long time, as it ia evident hit injuries have so prtyed upon bis mind that he is not ■fit to be at large until he becomei a changed man. A curious cms hat juat oloied, resulting m tbe committal of the priionert tiimonds, better known et Lord Buby, »nd De Ooeta, two employees of Kronheimer and Co., whe embezzled, m conjunction, aeveral thousands of pounda from the firm. The Meiin Kronheimer are a fatherly firm, and behavei most kindly to the men, with tbe result that the prisoners instructed their counsel to make out that they (tbe firm) had defrauded the Customs. This charge was not sustained and tbe prisoners. were committed for trial Thus vanishes one of tbe fast inon of Melbourne, " Lord Huby." "Another good man gone I" The line stretches out day after d&y. Hardly have we got over Thorpe's nffiir than Mr Blarney, once s Bible Christian minitter, and who recent!] tried to wrest Maldon from tbe Hon. Jamri service, ia found to be milling, having embezzled tbe funds of several companies ol which he waa the manager. Thii baa kern ■ great surprise to the religious world ol Bollarat. The religious newspapers of thii city and one clergyman have been eympathis ing with Thorpe and accusing tbe Bank of Vio toria of having driven him to crime, I tup poso the tame sympathy will be extended t< BUmey. The suicide of the Town OJerk of St. Xilda

ii Mr Sprigs, cloca not appear 10 have been . caused by any financial rmbHrrosament or em \ hrzzlement, but merely thr ugh wo'ry aetii.e • U|on a nervous tenipt-rainent snd ill-health, f In' our theatrical world ibe principal mcc 'crest oentr«a m the farewell of tbe veteran, . Mr dpi. in, who ha' played hit part upon 1 the Australian stage lor fcty years. Thi> time he is about to retire " positively." It m not grnrrally known that Mr Coupiu wot ihe first to gire opera m the»e colonii-a He w»i thrioe mined but speedily recovered himself, and is now a wealthy man. Bo always paid his cr ditor. m f 11