nothing. There yvas an old hulk in the Bay to be had for a few pounds, and the Government was vainly entreated to purchase this as a powder store. O n the 7th M a y , 1844, the "Joseph Cripps," schooner, arrived from Launceston yvith tyventy large casks of gunpowder; and yvhen the craft anchored in the Yarra there yvas no responsible person to accept delivery of it. T h e captain begged of the Customs officers to take the dangerous customer off his hands ; but they laughed at him, and told him to keep it, for they would have nothing to do yvith such a ticklesome entry. Returning on board, the indignant skipper coolly had the combustible twenty tumbled out on the wharf, where they remained for several days. Superintendent Latrobe felt himself at length constrained towards the exercise of some supervision of imported powder, and for some time that article yvas directed to be taken ashore at Williamstown, and there, reposing in a tent, was honoured yvith a military guard. THE FIRST POWDER MAGAZINE.
Governor Sir G. Gipps occasionally entertained good intentions toyvards Port Phillip ; but they yvere of the same materials as those yvith yvhich a certain unnameable place is said to be paved. H e yvas seized with afitof this kind yvhen he visited Melbourne in 1841 ; but the notion then conceived evaporated on his departure. O n e of his good intentions yvas the erection of a powder magazine on the beach near Albert Park, and he actually fixed upon the place yvhere the building yvas to be put up, but nothing further was done in the matter. In the course of years it was determined to have the magazine erected on the western side of Batman's Hill, yvhich has since bodily disappeared from the face of creation; and here, during 1847, a small stone building yvas erected at a cost of £ 2 0 0 0 . It was opened on the 22nd January, 1848 yvhen the gunpoyvder at AVilliamstown yvas deposited therein. In July, a Captain Sutherland was appointed keeper. This magazine, and the hill under which it stood, rendered good service in their day, until the exigencies of changing times caused the dismantling of the one, and the levelling of the other. EARLY CLOSING MOVEMENTS.
It is interesting to note hoyv early in the colony efforts yvere made to ameliorate the condition of a very deserving section of the community, whose claims upon public co-operation and sympathy have never been adequately recognized. So long ago as 1841, a movement yvas organized for " T h e early closing of the shops in Melbourne," and the drapers then, as at all times since, yvere thefirstin endeavouring to introduce a usage which, if honestly carried out through all grades of retail business, would be productive of vast benefit to both employes and employers. T h e negotiations were started by some of the young m e n familiarly known as "counter-jumpers," and so promptly responded to that the following advertisement was inserted in the three Melbourne newspapers—The Gazette, Patriot, and Herald:— PUBLIC NOTICE:— th XUE> e undersigned, Drapers of Melbourne, do comply with the wishes of the young "V m e n of our respective establishments, and agree to close our houses of business at eight o'clock precisely, Saturday excepted, from Monday, February 22nd, 1 8 4 1 — M . Cashmore and C o , Donaldson and Munroe, Isaac L. Lincoln, E. and I. Hart, D. and S. Benjamin, F. Pittman, M . Lazarus, J. Simeon, J. M . Chisholm, William Empson, Harris and Marks, R. Whitehead, C. and J. S. Beswicke, A. Ashman.
This small roll included the whole of the trade then located in Collins and Elizabeth Streets, whose excellent example was followed in a few days by the grocers for a similar privilege for their " helps." But the good work was not of long duration, for one shop infringed the compact, and then another, and so on. Spasmodic efforts were occasionally m a d e for a revival, but with indifferent success. In April, 1846, all the Melbourne drapers, save one, agreed to shut up shop at seven p.m. in winter, and eight p.m. during the summer months, except on Saturdays; but the dissentient drove such a roaring trade that the others were compelled in self-defence to withdraw from the treaty, and the arrangement consequently fell through. At a public meeting held in the Temperance Hall, Russell Street, on the 19th September, 1851, the chair was taken by M r . Richard Heales, and the matter ventilated in addresses by Messrs. N . Kinsman, J. A. Marsden, P. Arirtue, and others. T h e result was the formation of
