a declaration " that the bullocks he n o w possesses for smallness of bone and deliciousness offlesh,are in no respect inferior to those which grace Nature's silken carpet beside the beauteous Lakes of Killarney." T h e primitive barbers, w h o attended customers at their houses, never got on well together; indeed they lived in such a state of mutual hatred that, if they could only do it without fear of Judge or Jury, they would have a pleasure in shaving one another. A p o m p o u s and combative m e m b e r of the tribeflourishedin 1841, and for several years after. His chequered pole was displayed from a shop in Elizabeth Street, between Collins and Little Collins Streets. His n a m e was Alfred Cooper, and in hisfirstadvertisement "he hoped to gain a share of patronage from an enlightened public, and put an end to the system of extortion hitherto practised by the Knights of the Razor. Easy shaving, 3d.; fashionable haircutting, 6d.; and he undertook to carefully ' ground' and set, not only razors, but surgical instruments." T w o months after he " warns ladies and gentlemen about trusting their lives in the hands of certain parties w h o profess to be tradesmen, situated in the precincts of Flinders Lane," taking care to add " that his Macassar pomade being in the original jars, ladies and gentlemen are requested to send their empty pots." Cooper's bete noir was H . S. Milbourne, w h o kept a little shop in Little Flinders Street, and rather prominently advertised his capabilities and his wares. H e not only shaved, but hair-dressed and perfumed, set razors and m a d e ordered wigs, fronts, and ringlets. H e had not only " an extensive stock of every description of perfumery, including combs and brushes," but he outdid his competitors by keeping a private room for hair-cutting. This Milbourne appears to have incurred the ire of others of the craft besides Cooper, for in 1842 one Walsh, w h o introduced himself as a newly-arrived hairdresser from N e w B o n d Street, London, through the public press wished " Milbourne, the barber, to recollect that he w h o lives in a glass house should not throw stones," a time-worn truism, which embodies a bit of advice applicable to other handicrafts than the tonsorial. In 1844 two somewhat special advertisements appeared, viz.:—It was announced as something novel on behalf of J. A. Marsden, that he had in his shop (Collins Street) "the most splendid exhibition of Berlin patterns ever imported to the colony, consisting of designs for chair-covers, piano-stools, ottomans, & c , in every variety of size and figure." This Berliner is the " Big Marsden" referred to in other chapters, and w h o m a y be still seen (1888) airing himself about the streets of Fitzroy, and administering justice, untempered with mercy, as a local Magistrate. H e is nearly as bulky, but not quite as smart, lively and long-winded, as in days of yore. J. S. Lambert, established in Queen Street, vouches for his ability "to repair and clean guns and pistols in a Mantonian and Purdeyian style that cannot be equalled by any other shop. N o imported or cobblers' rubbish applied—nothing but colonial workmanship, even to the nipple." Little Bourke Street was the head-quarters of the pristine oyster vendors, and one of them, named Clegg, startled the community with an announcement of turtle soup; but when it came to be spooned it was found to be a heterogeneous home-brewed compound, which was " m o c k " turtle in the most unrestricted sense of the epithet. I believe thefirstreal turtle soup was advertised in August, 1845, by J. W . Cowell, the then proprietor of the Royal Hotel, in Collins Street. H e not only guaranteed it to be such, but assured his customers " that there was a constant supply always on hand, and that he had engaged the only professed cook in Melbourne." In every annual balance-sheet issued by the Management of the Melbourne Hospital appears a quiet, unassuming little bequest of ^ 5 from the executors of Margaret Carroll; and h o w few know anything of the kindly donor, w h o went her way to the Old Cemetery m a n y a year ago ! She was one of the old confectioners, w h o kept an establishment in Elizabeth Street, and in 1845 she advertises "her thanks for the success of 'The Melbourne Restaurant,' and solicits attention to her extensive stock of pastry jellies, sodawater, lemonade, & c , with innumerable articles for morning refreshment." Mrs. Carroll was a widow lady with three daughters, one of w h o m was the handsomest girl of her time. T h e old lady had a «refrigerator" established on the counter, upon the cooling virtues of which she never tired expatiating. All the girls died young, and she followed them; but her name remains perpetually associated with the existence of Melbourne's oldest and principal Charity, through the periodically recurring gratuity demised by her benevolent thoughtfulness.
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THE CHRONICLES OF EARLY MELBOURNE.