VICTORIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5961, 23 June 1887, Page 3

VICTORIA.

JUVENILE DRUNKARDS.

William Gilroy, aged 18 years, one of the six lads who " feasted " on gin at B&l- 1 larat, died at the Hospital from alcoholic* poisoning. It seems that tho deceased and a companion named Buckstone, aged 16 years, proceeded to the railway station, with a number of juvenile friends, to say farewell to an acquaintance, who had played football in Ballarat, and who was about to return to Melbourne. On the way to the station one of the young men, there were six altogether, entered a wine and spirit store, and purchased a quart bottle of gin. This was consumed, and then another messenger was despatched for a I second quart bottle of the same spirit, which was likewise handed around among the com- | pany to drink. A third, fourth, and, it is stated, a fifth quart bottle were subsequently purchased somewhere and drunk, with the result that five of the six ladsbecame what is commonly termed " dead drunk," and all lay about on the ground like corpses. Gilroy was found in a critical state by the police, and he was removed to the hospital for medical treatment, where he died, having been 14 hours unconscious. Buckstone was brought before the City Bench, but as he appeared to be in a critical condition the Inspector asked for a remand to the gaol hospital for medical treatment, saying it was probable he would also succumb to alcoholic poisoning. It appears that the grocer or grocers who supplied the drink are not to blame, as each bottle of gin was purchased by a different lad at various intervals, and each was served by a different shopman. It is thought that, apart from its alcoholic properties, the gin consumed may have contained other, and perhaps deleterious ingredients, and, therefore, an analysis will be ordered. ,

ARCHBISHOP CAKR ON HOMB RULE. ' Dr Carr, the new Archbishop of Melbourne, received a magnificent reception. In replying to one of the numerous addresses, he said he believed a remedy j for the Irish difficulty and discontentment;, and a renewal of Irish prosperity, was i Home Rule. Landlords, as a class, were [ neither thrifty nor economical, and estates I had, consequently, come down from father to son heavily mortgaged. The tenant had therefore suffered in being compelled to pay unreasonable rents. Thu3 it came to [ pass that the landlord, on the one hand, was unable to reduce his rents, and the tenant, on the other, was unable to pay i them, and five Acts of Parliament were passed creating dual ownership in land, but failed to satisfy either landlord o"r tenant. Now both parties have come to See that dual ownership will not work, and that the only remedy for the present intolerable state of things is to do away with dual ownership on equitable principles, and give occupiers undivided interest in the holdings. If thekvnd question were settled, he believed there would be little difficulty in arriving, at a solution of the claim for self-govern-ment. T.ho unmeaning fear that selfgovernment would lead to separation is fast dying away, and there was every prospect that within a short time Ireland would become a self-governing, satisfied, and, after the example of Australia, a perfectly loyal portion of the British Empire.