A WEEK IN DUNEDIN.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 399, 1 June 1880, Page 3

A WEEK IN DUNEDIN.

(i<T.OM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.) (Concluded.)

On Saturday night we determined to make an excursion through George street, and when I say that I enjoyed it far more titan Die entert;u:,ment* referred to, afraid you will not admire my taste. The hliods in Pi'.nvditi are very numerous, and wlk'ti l.iillianilv limited by gas. as they were on thin liight. they presented a most j (ttltactive ;>.pp<anmee ; but iho i-hops weie jint the only attraction. The sheet was so thronged with such a various mixture of t-.cople iljMt it reminded mo. very much of iojneof ihe busied p:irt» of London, aa J-{ rniifiiil el- them twenty years a<n>. There are of every kind in Georj-e stied. ; the jeweller* and fancy goods shops are thi! moat attractive, then came ihe drapers' e-stnbii-ilmieiitw. There fire any qiisisilily tif | pjiivn shops, which if , - not a hwihhy sigrr I bliV.hi!.-! think. One fhop wiis devoted to the disj.lny of sewing- machines, .and, of <:i)in:-c, thoio was a great crowd round it, as two very μ-ood looking y«''<mg women were working the machines in full view of the luibik'. there iv an American herbalist in Gcorjre street, *md hy the number of people in hi* ri.op should imagine lit' dues a very good trade. JiisNvindow irf moic E-iriHi'g than attract- | ive : it consols of- a lot of leak's eon- j tnining worms of every vurk-ty from j about i inch to 3G inches long all wnd to j have been homiht to light by thePj'ofei-sor'H j mmplc herbal medicine. No one m-ed_p;o j without liiiilton, for they were WiUin.tr fore legs of mutton for Iβ, and beef ty\ \ n pomsd. Bere ia a man doing a little bit of BftinbiiiJi: in a quiet way; he cclih il the t!,ume of Boiumza. He kc'lk you afiirar foi Is, then gives vmi a ticket by wliih y<lll may pnsvibly win from two to ten i-liilliM.trf-'. 'I invested Is with the Vm-piietor-pnd to: my surprise hm! ;Js hniwh-d lifiek'to me ; he wanted to have me ?.- ; i>\\i) but Ididn.ut We it. 1 next went to a place where mi aucliun v.-a:s being he:d, 1 lijtd an idea that u<> efl!it.<c l-y auction was lepat sifter sundown, but I iiud I iCm'. They are allowed to soil laiti! .'})ine. o'clock. Blankets and dethio 1 ; >yoce the principal ariieles put -i up and quite in retail lota. To judge by the prices obtained and the quick sales! timeii can't be so very bad in Dunedin. The only other place we ventured.into was a place called Dnncdm market. It cons ; a(s of two large build-IDP-β built like arches; in one there, arc alf kinds, of stalls and also a shootinggallery, but the other h devoted entirely to Cliitiai t'A'lhenwavc, pa.ian ware, &v. This last I find all belong* to one man. 'From the moment we entered, a boy was told ok (I suppose) to induce ns to buy. He was most polite, and assured us that lie was mostbnppy to f-eo us there pvoii:, though we wauled notlr'ng. He otuek to us like a leech. and at last out of sheer doKpenifiori I invcßted i!n Gd in ft very pietiy little bracket hunp as a of our viait to Dunalin market. Even si.t'lit-t-'ceing. is bard work avid we wcie thoroiifihly. tired when wo reached our iiote! that' ni;.;ht. but I would not have Hilled it for anything. j On Simday inoriiii-g the Proprit-ior of the Hotel volunteered tv take me louud a bit and shew me >-ome of the pla.-cs of i:i!eu>l- that, 1 mip'it linw overlooked bitiiei'io. lie was on>'.'."<--f what «re coiled {he old Identities: he had been in I'unedin tweniy-four years and his account of. the o!il time was panicuiaily inforeMMi;; iv me. I have reason io il/iiJ; that \w did not eUajrgerate one iota and yet some of ihe things he told me would read almost like a romance. lie t-hi:\ved me bind which was bought for i's, now worth £25,000. He himself, had lie only kept the iiiiid he bought, would liave been now one of the richest, if net the richest, in liiinedin. Hr told me that in those days the Bank could i-.e/.trcciy cash a draft for :!',■_lj. We wem to se(- ihe house wheie iliut must diiibolirai mr.rdc.r was so lately perpciifiteii in Cumlieilaiul MiviA. [.V'v/nr :md his wife and child were the. victims, an;] liniler ihe biispocttd mmderer. It it! !;.-•('.liibhin" how Biicit a murder could have been' '.-onnnitted. There are houses on rach side of it and only a very feet :nvoy. 'J he houte was still ununanteii ; \u met, they Ray that the rents in that locality have fallen considerably. We then strolled up the Town licit towards the cemetery, i'rVm whidi place you van a nice front view of the town arsd also of: the Botanical (.li'.p.letis which two jn-t below the Ceme(Hiy. 1 hid io hasten back «) a.-; to be in time -fur Churcl. if mwiMe. Sly host v;i;..l:. ?'ir L.'-l..:: i'^'v 1 ;' This :\>:\-\\--i,;:■.:■ \va-,' -c-cerit.'v i'L'Cii " iiveriiig an ;:\cv'i..!,i :.-:■!■;. :, i-f ■leJsr.ic:-; young men (j:i {!;■- (•(■.■iv.'iilin-- vi-.-i: 1 ot tint day. We jiiU 'M..!e'"lMi. ;.:ii.i-;ii in the mornwhi'i-,.' AniLdc-K'ui- K'l'.i-i.i,-;!.-? oflicifttes. TlTe'- v,-ari a ;ir-at w.-.uv .:,f heartiness lijout tie servi.tr j th;j coiijvn •; .idion as a

m!e left a'l 1110 responses and winging to Ik , dope by tl»e choir. In (lit , evening we aiiotul.'i! AH Saints' Church, which is at tho Water of Lfcith end of Dunedin. The ck-hmred -Mr Fitchett (lately a Wesleynn) i,. fin- iiK'i'in! ent. The church has been {<!x;iflv ;ii.jM(.vi;d hmco my last visit; the Jlr Fitchett is very popular, and i.r-'ilen this there m<; I wo or three very lik-ml nii'l c.nergelie mvii in the congregation. They in-itJ'tjr spare labor nor substance in be.au i mm;, , ; llie r'liirch and in doing all (hey cnn I*>r its well-being. There is one gentlemen whose name I will take tlio liberty to (Mr H. Pi/ey, of the Bank <>f New Zealand), wlio. lias done far more in two or three years for All Saints than many would do in a life lime. 'He has worked an'choir master moat zealously to improve Ihe musical portion of the service, and with the greatest success. Ilia, ei.ergy is unflagging, and although he lias had much to encounter through the lukewanuiiess and opposition of those who ought to know better, still lie lias much to be proud of. Tlie choir now numbers about forty-eight, and a more united band of singers I have seldom met with. On Monday, the weather still continuing so fine, v.c.started, for the reservoir, and a lady who was staying at the hotel with two of her nephews accompanied us. She came from Invercargill, and the father of these hoyß is another of the old identities. •The younger boy; .was dressed in the Highland costume, and so rare is it even in Dunedin that as he went along the streets niany would turn to look at him. I think the valley in which the reservoir is situated is one .'of the prettiest walks.in Dunedjn, and the grqat charm of it is tHat: although within a few' minutes' Walk 'of; the principal,thoroughfare,,yet you might; be a hundred miles away in the country. 1 A beautiful stream •abounding with trout flows down the valley ; a little way up is : a water flour mill, and higher up still a paper mill. The . manager of this is Mr Clifford who is known to Canterbury people as the exhibitor of the ■" Mirror of the World." Ah I.Kent a few notes on a former.occasion of a visit to the reservoir, I will not wep.ry your leaders with a repetition. I should, however, ' like to mention that I saw o!<! Mrs L.ili;>eii once Mid- that she nmembeied me quite well. Plie immediate!}, with tears in her eyes, asked me if 1 knew anything about her daughter TJihbi. She has heaid nothing of her since ln-r maniage. Any of your readers who can furnish iiif«»i - itiati<m about her will gfoatly oblige me by sending it to the Mail office, and I will we that.it is forwarded to her. . .

I think the two handsomest buildings in Dunt'din are the lrii>t Church and the New Town Hall. The latter is not open to the public yer, but I bad a ,{;rent :iesire to t'iuiil) up i<. tlu- top of t>n- tower wl.icli I ihink'uiiii-t feet hiph.-I went in 'oik; alleiiioon, and having tohl the, Wdiuan in chaise who I w«k, >4ie gave nu, leave to go over ih<-. building. I found that us yet there in no 'JWn Hall, but only suites of very nice offices and what 1. hlmuilc; think av.'ih nCoiMieil Chamber. is beintf linir-hed oft in a very superior f-'tylc. wi'di'iut regard to expent-e. L then ciiiniiienrcd tlic ascent of the tower, mid before very long I was sorry ilmt I badever askei! to go up ; still, in the interests of this I'.itper I felt that I muM not give in. Not having h<on apprenticed to the jidinling or bricklaying trades. I have alwitys found a dilriculry in r-liml'ing a ladder if it was at all the If.ildeis lending up to ibis cupola were, almost at rij;ht angles .io the 110./r. especially those towards 'the top. After getting to the top of one •;flight of steps I found a trap-door which t-eemed hard ami fast. At last, however, by usin<r my Jicml fuS.n lever I m.'inaped io raise it an inch or two and K>-f:ot on to another i at. The Inst tower but 'one" is open on every side and there ifi niiotlier of these straight ladders to aseeiid with another heavy trap dfior-iit the top. I dared not look down vhiUi on the'ladder rr I fi.el nine that I should have fa'lni. The top towei of; nil has a littie balcony around it proleeted: by iroii railings and not unlike the top of the moiiiinient. : If it had not. been for Ihe thought of petting down -thos-fi horrid laddeis I really sjioiild have enjoyed the view iiuinonsely,biitl must be candid—the chaini had vanished. Although Dunedin lay at my feet and I' could see all the houses with the fronts off, ;Rti!l I couMnot enjoy it. I made my way down as quickly as I could and cannot toll you how glad 1. was to find myself once more on a level with, nipiikind. . I- think my paper, has far.exceeded its limit k, ho I must leave unsaid the lest of my doings in Dunedin. We had one or two wet days, but from our sitting-room window I got almost.oil. much enjoyment as by taking a walk up Pripcea street. We were just opposite .the. Otago Hotel, and would sometimes amuse ourselves by speculating as to how many'per cent, of the passers-by in one hour would call on Mr Court. I found that over 10 per cent, did so. . Just under our sitting-room was a throe-hall establishment ;i the gilt bails were just in front of our window. If I bad time I could tell you some of the stories connected, with the unredeemed pledges, a tale of which took place while L w fit) there. , I-iuust also lea\e the account of our visit to (hitluie and Larnjich's, the Garrison llail,.nut! two or three other pbieeH of interest, one. of which whs tbu melting room of one oi' the Banks. : ■■- In conclusion, lit me say to those who have time and money at their disposal, you might do worse then spend A week at UTJKEDiN.