favourite tipple of the bushman was mixed brandy and ginger-beer—a "spider," as it was called—for which is. 6d. was charged, and this was the shouting that was liked by the publican, for there was m u c h profit, and it rapidly filled the till. A treat for three was usually half-a-pint of brandy and three ginger-beers, for which 4s. 6d. was the reckoning, and half-a-dozen shouts of this kind m a d e up what could not be termed an "unconsidered trifle." O n the 15th November, 1839, the ship "William Metcalfe" arrived from England with M r . J. B. Were as a passenger. It was his intention to engage in commercial pursuits in Melbourne, and the merchandise which he brought out included some Cork whisky and Waterford porter. T h e whisky was from a then famed distillery in Cork, presided over by a Mr. Jerry Murphy, and in some short time Halfpenny, of the William Tell, purchasing two puncheons of the stuff, was the first m a n to vend whisky at the bar in Melbourne. For years after it was not m u c h affected, for the r u m and brandy and "Old T o m " maintained their ground, and whisky was in no great d e m a n d as a public-house draught until after the gold revolution. I have often heard it asked h o w Halfpenny's tavern obtained the un-English appellation of the William Tell, commemorative of the supposititious Swiss apple-shooter. It happened in this simple way : Halfpenny fancied that a good deal lay in a taking name, and anxiously cast about for one. H e was acquainted with a young man, the only Swiss resident of the time, w h o was subject to most depressing fits of maladie du pays, the h o m e sickness for which his countrymen are proverbial. W h e n he heard what Halfpenny required, he entreated the Irish Cockney to name his intended groggery after the idol of his o w n hero-worship, and this was done. At the Annual Licensing Session, held on 21st April, 1840, the following publicans' licenses were granted for Melbourne :—Little Flinders Street, 5 ; Collins Street, 4 ; Little Collins Street, 2 ; Bourke Street, 1 ; Elizabeth Street, 1 ; Queen Street, 2; William Street, 1 ; Little Bourke Street, 1. O n e license was accorded to Williamstown. In 1842 the Annual Licensing Session excited m u c h interest, as there were many new applications. T h e Justices were—Messrs. James Simpson, P.M., F. A. Powlett, G. D. Mercer, E. J. Brewster, William Verner, William Furlonge, Drs. S. Martin and F. M'Crae. T h e population of Melbourne proper was estimated at 4400; Newtown (Collingwood), from 1200 to 1500; and Williamstown, 680. T h e result of the sitting was to increase the town licenses by 13. There were three applications for authorized grog shops at Collingwood, which were opposed by Mr. James Montgomery, Solicitor, on behalf of the respectable inhabitants, w h o backed him up with an anti-license memorial. There was a disposition to grant one license for the place, but as there was no constable there to look after the publican, the whole were refused. At a special Sessions held in October, Mr. David Lyons obtained one for a house on the Heidelberg Road, to be known as the Travellers' Rest, which he opened on the 8th November. This, thefirstCollingwood nobbier mart, was for many years a popular refreshment stall for people indulging in strolls out of town. It was situate in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy, on the site of the (now King's) College facing Faraday Street. In connection with some of the older taverns there was an excrescence known as the " tap," often disreputable and disorderly in its way. It was in fact a second bar, and sublet to a person w h o usually ministered to the lowest class of customers. Though a palpable violation of the Act of 1838, it was permitted until 1842, when "taps" being adjudged public nuisances, were peremptorily abolished. In 1844, the N e w South Wales Government proposed to increase the general license fee to ^"100 a year, at which m u c h wrathful feeling was expressed by the retail liquor traders and the notion was abandoned. A n attempt was m a d e to establish a Licensed Victuallers' Society, but it failed through a split in the ranks. It is a singular incident that there were as many licensed hotels in Melbourne in 1846 as in 1849, though at the latter period the population had received an addition of over twenty per cent. Melbourne of itself then numbering 20,000 inhabitants.
LICENSING BENCH VAGARIES.
The Act incorporating the town of Melbourne in 1842, restricted the jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace in an important degree. Hitherto the magisterial function was territorial, limited by the boundaries of Port Phillip; but now there was a distinct town and district jurisdiction, and a magistrate was debarred
