MELBOURNE ITEMS.

Western Star, Issue 1354, 15 May 1889, Page 4

MELBOURNE ITEMS.

[phom ouu qyfjs cobbespoxbent.] A J short time ago the TfreTbourne public were shocked tc learn, from a cablegram, that Mr Durlarcb, wellknown as an employee at Messrs Daljietty)aodrCo.'«,,and lately..started in, bqßW}e*\B„pn|his own,account asawool-, drowned at sea on hi? way to 'England. A., letter has just arrived from one of bis friends, who was a fellow passenger, detailing all the jgirjßumstancei., surrounding the sad Caief The following extract therefrom; will^be-tnterestrng:—'Shortly before, 10 o'clock Durlach came on deck. He bad; hi)j, ulster on his arm. Ou coming qui, of the companion door; from the music saloon on the port and,leeward side he saw a ru<: lying on a chair just tacated by a kdy, who hud gone down•stair»v Helifed the rug with the mn tention; of carrying it after the ludy, •and, wound iti*oiwd his bands in the |q^m, of a, muffj The whip at the mopient gave a fearful lurch, which ihrew hirii off bis balance, and slipping On the slimy deck, be slid on his thick iuda-rdbber shoes hastily down the incline caused by the heavy roll, straight the. bulwarks, which caught him-right in the pit of the stomach, Hud lilted, him overboard in the form of a somersault, to. [the great horror and distress of the five or six pasengen< near him, who witnessed the calamitous atfair. Descending into the sea head ■foremost, with his feet hi*h in the air, was the-last seen of poor Durlach. He ottered: no cry, and was never heard of. more/' I should mention that the ■ reamer was stopped, a boat lowered on a dark night into a raging sea, and search nvtde for the missing man until HO hope was left of finding him. The Inioy, thrown overboard when he fell, *ras, picked up 4 On the last day of April the police distinguished themselves by the capture of a " notorious criminal," and ,tiie ; seizure" of ■ a; coining plant, in Richmond. The man is old, bears the name of Johu Wnllace, in distinguished "by three aliases, and has 1 passed a good' deal of his life in prison. -lie was born in Eogland in -18 AI; and was. transported to, Van Dieman'a Laud when 17 years; of age. At the end of his seven years' sentence 'ie came to Victoria, and in 1858 war. Sentenced to eighteon months' imprisonment. In 1860 he received tvo years for stealing; in 1862-3, he. underwent ninemonths, twelve months, aqd nine months for the same offence, %he terras being cumulative; in; ,1868 he. was sentenced to three and two; : years respectively .for receiying; in 1873 he condemned to two years and "six months for larceny; in 1875, four.years for housebreaking, and three years for" receiving;, and in 18,81,, sine years for receiving. This distinguished person came out of prison on January 7th of the present year. Hje. is -59. yeans of age, and has served sentences amounting in all to. y§axs,j has, i(hus coat I,ooft for hie* lnwntenance, and is now locked up on a 'graver' charge than any previously recorded against him. Short as the time has been'since he came out of has managed to collect quite *, respectable stock-in -trade. He was provided with dies, copper, lead, pewter, goldsmith'* tools, a crucible,, skeleton keys, and other housebreaking implements. He does not appear to have put much spurious coin into circulation—if any. He was merely getting his things into order. He wilji probably be taken care of for some time.

A writer in one of the dailies assigns as one cause of the lapses from virtue of bank clerks more frequently than other people that they occupy in Australia a social position higher than the salaries they receive can support. The Argus, in commenting upou this state;ment, says:—•" "Without goiug so far ■as tPigay that bank clerks form the recognised aristocracy of the community, it can safely asserted that they are not here, as is the case at home, relegated to a position of distinct social inferiority to the members of some other professions." But, as a set-off to this gratifying aspect of the question we have to. recognise the fact that the simple action of the law of supply and demand prevents the salaries of the lower, grades, of bank officials from rising to a par with their social preeminence. The bank clerk lias, in tact been spoiled by the public who are now shocked at the delinquencies of a few persons belonging to that order. I could name fashionable Melbourne boarding houses patronised by bank clerk?, where men, quit* as well educated and, brought up equally respectable, earning more money, would not be received as lodgers because the\ f .How a calling which bus not yet been stamped with the hall-mark of fashion. One day last week some one in authority in the Hydr ulic Powir Company caused the secretary of th* naid company to be arrested on a charge of embezzling £IOO. He w?s Jjcked up, and in due course carried ho fore th e magistrat 9 and rein.a n ded. When again called up the charge wa> withdrawn. It was staled that he had jnerelv held over a cheque for £IOO until he had a sufficient amount t< bank. He had been frequently in the hain't of doing so before. The managing director was not aware of this when the secretary was arrested, bu'i he fslt sure that there was no fraudulent intention in the act. If so, anf ♦here »s nothing to prove the contrary, it is a pi'y that the " authority " whose name has not transpired—was in such a hurry. In commenting upoD the case a morning paner says, that, in taking the course they have done, the directors "have assumed a certain amount of responsibility towards the public" Without venturing to impugn the action of the company, which has a perfect right to manage its own affairs, the newspaper in question considers that certain irregu'arities had taken place, and that it was objectionable to first initiate criminal proceed ings and then arrive at a uettlement. And the article concludes with the remark that " it is to be hoped that no inpresiiion will be made that justice JttS favourites aod that yestifcutjou bv

friends- can cover offences by - the - individual.'' ~. ; Messrs Chaffey Brothers deserve great earn, for having set the fashion, and having shown Australians how, to make money by irrigation/ Milaura, in Victoria, and Ronmark, in South Australia are the points froui> which panycsiujilarjenterprises will date their existence.,., I now, hem that }&vMd§tas Burooga Station,, near Cqbrjim, ; but on. South , ."V^ales,./sidej of tbe Murray, pi pr John Webb, : of Melbourne,"has just completed the iieeess'ary ivbrks arid erented the plantteqeired' for irrigatiag 10.0 CK) acres.- of .land :■ The v machinery ' ift, similar to, and quite as powerful as .tha.t,,. at; present,, on .Mildura. One pump,is equal to, raising .10,000 gallons ; per minute. Mr !McFarlane in-' tends shortly to commence the pre liminaries to irrigating '20,000 acres on another part of'his property, which, be it includes fully 100,000 acres of freehold land, Again; there is a comprehensive scheme/for forming an irrigation settlement at- Wentworth, N.S.W., and a Bill has been drafted; and' will soon be before Parliament asking for the necessary powers. The provisions, of. this Bill,, of which I have received a copy, are framed on the lines of the Bill drafted. by the Royal Commission on Water Conservation and Irrigation of 1886, and follow the general legislation of Victoria. These are. the precursors of many other, irrigation settlements. . At last,the scaiiplding is being removed from the front, ojs. Parliament House. It looks, rather, strange to see the long-standing disfigurement taken away piece by piece, but we shall become used to it in time. The next step should be the removal of some of the members who disfigure the interior of

the House. London wool market closed firm on May 4; to Id advance on Feb. sales. Melbourne, share market firm on advance. in values all round. Ormond College won boat race by seven lengths on Saturday >