A MELBOURNE LETTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 46, 14 March 1884, Page 27

A MELBOURNE LETTER.

CFrom an Occasional Correspondent.) Notwithstanding the baneful influence of our " Education Act," Catholicity continues to make satisfactory progre c s throughout the Colony, and the doubly-taxed Catholics continue to discharge their duty to the Church by supporting a system of education for themselves. One of the most marked evidences of the progress of Catholicity in Victoria lies in the fact of there being so many churches and Catholic halls erected in the Colony. On last Sunday two churches were opened, one at Essendon (St. Monica's) and the othpr at Van Yean (St. Joseph's). Sr. Monica's Church was opened by His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, assisted by the Very Rev. Dean Donagby and Fathers Cahill and Moran. The former preached the opening sermon. The church will contain upwards of 500 people, and it will supply the wants of a rapidly-increasing population. The Van Yean Church occupies a commanding sight on the Plenty road, about 18 miles from Melbourne. Tt is a pretty little structure of blue atone and slate, with a porch in front and surmounted by two elegant crosses. The total cost of erecting it is £800, and though the Catholic portion of the population are numerically weak and scattered over an extensive district, yet such was the zeal and energy of the committee that but £20 now remain due. A large ball capable of seating upwards of 1000 people, has been complete 1 at Carltoo. This hall will be used as a Catholic schoolroom, and it will also be available for concerts, public meetings, etc. At Brunswick tenders have been called for the erection ,of a similar ball at a cost of upwards of £600, while in about two months a hall equally large will be erected in connection with St. Patrick's Cathedral. The latter hall will be of great importance to the Catholics of Melbourne, as it will contain St. Pa trick's splendid circulating library, numbering upwards of 3000 volumes of the best assarted Catholic and standard works. The St. Patrick's Branch of the Victorian Catholic Young: Men's Siciety will also hold their weekly meetings in the hall, and it is expected that with their assistance a series of entertainments will be devised to wipe off the whole of the debt on the new hall— £l3oo. The news from the Soudan of the almost utter collapse of the Egyptians before the victorious Mahdi, and the consequent blow to British prestige in that favoured country, has been received with comparative indifference by the people of Melbourne ; in fact, the shooting of an Irish landlord or a nery speech from an Irish national member would be a far more exciting circumstance to us. An article appeared in yesterday's Age which had a true ■'jingo" ring about it, denouncing the Gladstone Government for conceding the title of Sultan to the false prophet of the Soudan, who was only remarkable for his successful opposition to British' arms and inflnence. The article in question, however, fell flat, as the majority of our colonists care but little what becomes of British influence outside the Colony. The action of the Agent-General, though endorsed by our Government in lending our gunboats for service against the insurgent Arabs, is viewed with quiet indifference by the majority of our people, who will nob trouble themselves to express disapproval of an act which they consider to be trivial in its consequenci s. The vagaries of the captains of the Wairarapa and the Adelaide in racing their respective boats down the bay, along the south channel, has furnished sensational food for the papers during the past week. In fact, the published reports of the occurrence remind one forcibly of the famous Mississippi boat race as narrated in Mark Twain's "Gilded Age." The danger incurred was terrible as, owing to the narrowness of the channel, the steamers were almost side by side, and the enormous pressure of steam in both vessels might culminate in a disastrous explosion at any moment ; fortunately, nothing of the kind did occur. It would, of course, be premature to comment on the case, as an inquiry will be instituted, but public interest has been fully aroused by tbc statement that racing between rival boats is of frequent recurrence and that dangerous accidents have often been narrowly averted. The weather continues wet and threatening, with intermittent gleams of sunshine, which is quite unprecedented, as even the oldest colonists cannot remember cold wet weather setting in the months of January aud February. It is fortunate the wet did not set ia a month earlier, as the harvest would have been utterly destroyed ; as it is, a great deal of damage was done to the crops.