Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-06 00:00:00

MBLBOURNE AS IT IS.

Al correspondent at Melbourne forwards the following
for publication:—The Melbourne of '57 is not, it must be
borne in mind', the Melbourne of 's2—a short Deriod of
five years has made a difference of at least twenty in the
appearance of general society, in comforts and freedom
from such outrageous fluctuations in prices, of the
generality of commodities, in cartage to the gold fields,
and in that serious item in this colony, house rent.
Formerly the lucky diggers were to be seen driving
through the streets with a carriage and p air_ caring for
nothing or no one: When they arrived, an 1 while staying.
at the tavern they had patronised. nothing would do buL
they must stand treat for all hands, and they have fre-
cpiently been known. to "knock down," as they call it,
£6OO or £7oo'in less than a month. That was the harvest
for publicans, and many a man with capital has barn;
induced to erect a splendid hotel at an enormous cost,
thinking that money would always he coming in at the
same rate ; but a sad change for them came very shortly
No longer was the digger seen driving about like a ra
but either spending his money on the Bald find, or, not
finding the second lot so easily obtained as the first, he had
seen through the folly of his ways, and resolved to be
more careful in future. Trace it to what cause you may,
it is certain that in 's4' and '55 a gene,al panic was felt ha
the" public line ;" hooses were soli for less than the cost
price of the materials with which they had been built,
and trade was pronounced " very dull." Cartage to
the gold fields, formerly £l2O per tor, is now from
.E,9 to according to the season. A four-
roomed house, that could not he had under .e 5 or
£7, is now to be obtained for from 253 to 394. per week.
Vegetables that were so fabulously dear-2s 61 to 4s for
an ordinary sized cabbage, apples 23 61 per lb , potatoes
41 to 6I per lb.—these have b. c.)m more plentiful. and
consequently more rnodera'e in price. A g )od cabbage
can now be bought, for 61., apples 61 to Is per lb. po-
tatoes lid to 31, and all other vegetables after the same
reduced scale. A good horn could not be had at a less
price than 24 91 to 3s p r lb; it can now be obtained far
superior in coality for half the money. Tea and sugar
have kept their prices more regularly than. i believe,any
thing in the market—tea from 2s to 2s 6d per lb., and
sugar from 4d to 6'l. with at present a tendency to rise
higher than they have been before. the highest I have
known bread has been 3;, the lowest 91 the 4 lb loaf—it
is at the present time.

The value of skilled labour has also undergone consi-
derable changes. At one time masons were getting 35s
per day. capenters 25., bricklayers 30,, and other trades
in proportion. Wares have ranged from that to as low
as one third that amount. Masons now get 16s, carpen-
ters 13s to 14,, bricklayers 15s, and so on. A en Tiber of
all trade, are idle, but th, summer, I have no doubt, will
absorb the greater portion at present doing nothirm The
plasterers received, while working at the Eriteri3n Hotel,
Collins Street West. wages that will scarcely be credited
—Z4 lOs per d ty, cr £27 per week. And at thils time a
gentleman advertised for a plasterer, for a few days, £5
per day given. It is astounding that work could be carried
on, even for a single week, at such ulexampled rates of
wages, but it was notwithstanding.
The appearance of Melbourne streets is rather different
to what it was formerly. The mould candle has been
exchanged for the brighter luminary—gas ; the water cart
for the weer•works ; and service to the houses. Conse-
quently we have more cheerful and cleaner streets than it
was possible to have under the old regime. In place of no
protection against, the awful fires which we were formerly
subject to, in consequence of the number and frailness of
the wooden structures in the city, we have now a power-
ful and efficient corps of volunteer firemen in the town and
every suburban village, that. in case of ❑eed, are summoned
by a fire-bell, which is suspened in a watch-tower in each
hamlet. Already their services have received publics
acknowledgement from the people in thanks, and more
substantially. A firemen's sick and rc.lief fund has been
formed for those members who may become disabled in
pursuing their arduous duty, or for the widows and
children of any who may unfortunately lose their lives in
attempting to rescue others from loss and death.
',The corporation of Melbourne have jest awakened from
their long trance, and are actually having the streets lit
with gas. It has not been in use by private consumers
more than fifteen months. Such promptitude is surely
worthy of public recognition
Melbourne, the most dusty town on the face of the
earth, cannot yet. boast its public baths and wash-houses;
nor does it appear likely to be able to do so for some time
to come, as the only mention made of it is a notice on the
paper for some particular day, to ask some question&
relative to the site.

We have erected three new bridges over the Yarra
Yarra within there last twelve months—one a miniature
tubular, one a wooden girder bri lze, Vie other of b:ue
stone. Prince's brid..te, the main passa!e over the Yarra,
is getting too s-nall for the great traffic passing over it
and it will have to be altered, or a new one built, and that
shortly. We have nearly ficty miles of railway now in
working order in Victoria ; and the snorter we can get
five hundred, the sooner shall we be tie prosperous and
happy people that nature, wi h her b mnteous gifts and
endless resources, ordained we should become,

Tne stability and beauty of the major part of the bui'd-
ing.,4 no .v erecting in :%lelbourne will astonish many a new
arrival from Et-lean 1. and will. I have no doubt, cause
people in after veers to look back at them with astonish-
ment an 1 wonder at the princely sums the erection of
them cost their owners. First on the list is the Wink of
New South Wales—a three story structure, the front of
free tone. and for design and workritanghin not to be
equalled in Vict,ria The contract for this building was
£24 000. The Oriental 13.01 k C trnpany's premises is a
tine structure, as are the Scottish Chartered Bank, the
Sa,vingi' Bank, and the Melbourne Exch mtge. lam sorry
that a work of suet public utility as the Western Market
cannot be spoken well of, as in a desire to obtain great
rental from it, they laid the foundation of an outer drust
Of shops (if I may so speak), and thus pinched the space
which on ht to have been devoted to its legitimate use to
suet a small size that not one fourth the produce carts
can stand in it at one cimo, and the shops not being
finished, it looks like a vast ruin.

Abmit 1,000 ex'ra han's were taken into the 1:1,1ra1
Arsenal at WoDk.i.;ll, last week to be employed in the
War Department fJr the supp'y of the East India Com—
pany. principally in eas 'g iron ordnance, ani preparing
cartrifi,zes and ammunition. Ab )ut 300 additional hand*
are ordered to be engaged for the R)y4l Carriage-square
t) morrow.

THE BELFAST MILITARY DIsTRTCr.—It was expec'ed
thlt, from late eccuronces and from other causes, the
Horse G lards would have seen the propriety of re-cc:isi-
tutinz Belfast a military district; but we have learned
Chit the idea, if entertained, cannot be carried out under
prrsent cireums,amrs ; and that General Gough, (LB,
and s'aff will leave the No th, for Dablii, at the close of
next week.—Belfast Paper.

A wit, a barber, aid a baldheaded man were travelling
together. Loving their way, they wre forced to sleep in
the open air, and to avert dsnger, it was agreed to watch
by turns. The first lot fell on the hither, who, for amuse-
ment, shaved the foo.'s htal while he was slePp'og. lie
then awoke him, end Ihe fool. raising his hand to scratch
his heal, exclaimed " Here's a pre•ty mistake; you have
awakened the old b diiheaded ma-t instead of me."

BLACKBESTIES.—TiIe beiges and woods in the neigh—
bourhood of the city are, this sees -in, literally covered with
blackberries ; and hundreds of women and chi'dren find
abundant em loyment in gathering this welco:ne fruit,
which they retail in this city at from 31. to 41. per quart.
Some families are making as much as 7s. per day. Several
persons from Sunderland find this ❑ew tract, a lucrative
speculation. They arrive in this city by an early train in
the morning, ether large qtantities, and return again in.
.th.e evening, when a market for the fruit at 61. per quart,
is readily found.—Durham Advertiser.

Tun VOLUNTARY PeisciPiA.—A church rate emennt-
ing to about £4O was, it will be remernhEred, refused a
few weeks ago by a la ge majority of the pa i hioners of
St. Paul's district, Oxtord. The Incamb •nt (Rev. A.
Hackman) and the churchwerdens resolved to make a
direct appeal to -he onngregation, and that, as the rev
gentle nan stated, al hough their plan might be con-
sidered novel in these days, they had Scrip-ural autlpri.y
and usages of the Prinf Cy,: Church for so d inz. Tne
sys'em has been adopted. On the 20th anal 27th ult.,
during the mornin: and (vAiinz service, bags w• re taken
round from pew t r irw, and the c&lec'i so amounted to
about £6 The same pl in will be cm jetted every Sun-
day, and the surplus, at the end of the year, will be given
to the deaerviig and needy poor of the district. Front
t'-e fact of so many non-parishioners attending St. Paul's
Church, a large surplus may fairly be expect ad.
&Notre &R CASE OF INFAN ricyDE.—Thq, Evansville
Journal thus speaks of the crime of a woman, Sarah Bed-
well, now oe trial in Sullivan county, for infanticide
It will be recol'eated that on the arrest of the prisoner it
was charged that the crime had teen commuted with the
complicity of her own brother, who was arrested with her,
but was subseqaently released on bail, They were both
to he tried at the present term. The girl, on her exami-
nation before the magistrate, made a c.nfets'on. She was
living at tae tine in her brother's family, consisting of five
or six rreons ; the.ghbo child was boll during the absence of
the family at a nei when there was only a small
girl in the house. Irramidittely after its birth, she took it
into the field,
one hundred and fifty yards from the h use,
and placed it in a stump, and covered it over with I),rk
and leaves ; she returned to her b?d, a Id the next morning
rose and performed her duties, concealing all trecss of
what had happened from the family. She did not kn rw
whether the ch 11 was born dead or alive ; it did not cry.
and she did not wish it to live. It was sibsequently taken
from the stump and buried by a mar. Who the man was.
she refused to tell, or make any acknowledgement of the
paternity of the child, and in this she pe,s'sts up to the
present date. After her committal to prison, she attempted
suicide by starvation, and for the space of twen•y-re days
refrained entirely, as the sheriff said, from taking any
food. Finding it a slow process of trial, she repented, ant
gave it up; and is now on trial.