THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 159, 8 December 1874, Page 4

THE PROVINCES.

WESTLAND. The late sale of Westport sections realised £1514, One hundred and fifty-five sections were put up ; only sixty were sold. Mr Foy, with some of the members of his railway pass exploring party, returned to Ahaura on Thursday evening from the Upper Grey (says the West Coast Times of the Ist instant). The country about the upper tributaries of the Brown Grey River, says the Grey River Argus, is described as of the roughest description, and as far as examined it is not likely a suitable pass will be found in that direction for the railway route, but Mr Foy has not yet finished his rccoiinaissancc of the locality. The old road from the West Coast to Nelson by way of Lake Christabel is reported to be in a completely dilapidated condition, and the difficulty of getting along it was a serious obstacle to the progress of the party, The party starts again this week. The Westport limes understands that the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr Carruthers, has authorised Mr McLean to construct the additional two miles of railway required to reach the Waimangaroa, This, if correct, will tend to very materially expedite the bringing down of coal to Westport. In fact coal from Wairaangaroa should arrive nearly concurrently with stone from Fairdown. The p.a. Wallace, of the Anchor Line of steamers, says the West Coast Times, while, attempting to cross the bar early yesterday morning, grounded on the end of the South Spit, This accident, following so soon after the grounding of the p.s. Titan and the schooner Wanganui, the day previous, must have been caused—as there was no very

heavy sea running on either occasion—by one of three things : lirst, the beacons may hive been wrongly placed ; secondly, the masters of the various vessels may not have followed the beacons ; or third, the bar may have been impracticable From which of these three causes the accidents have arisen we are unable to s >y, but it is certainly imperative in the interest of the mercantile community here that a searching enquiry should take place in the matter. These frequent bar accidents are necessarily telegraphed to all parts of the colony by the local agent of the Press Telegraphic Company, and will naturally alarm the various insurance companies, and otherwise materially prejudice not only Hokitika, but other ports on the west coast.

OTAGO. It has been finally decided, we ( Daily Times) understand, that buildings for the Otago University shall be erected within the old Botanical Gardens. That having been arranged, a Commission was appointed to examine the ground floor of the present University buildings, and report whether the apartments could without much expense, be made available for the Supreme Court and the offices usually attached to it. The Commission, we hear, have reported that the premises can be made suitable without any considerable outlay, and in all probability their views will have effect given them. Should the ground floor be occupied by the Supreme Court Chamber and offices, it is likely that some of the upper rooms will be used as offices for the Telegraph Department, and that the officers of the “Deeds’’and “Stamps” Departments will have to migrate thither. The fronts of the new Union Bank of Australia have now been completed (says the Daily Times), and when a few railings are put in their places, and the footpath formed in front of the bank, the building will be an ornament to the city. The whole of the carved work of the fronts was executed by Mr Godfrey. The columns are 28ft 6in in height, and as large, if not larger, than any in the colony. It may be of interest to mention the various places in which this bank did business in Dunedin. Its first premises consisted of a mom in Mr Sibbald’s hotel, on the site of which the present Provincial Hotel stands. This was in 1857. The bank business was carried on for a year or so in the room of the hotel, and premises were then erected for the bank in High street. These premises consisted of a small cottage, which was used for the purpose till 1861, when, in the spring of that year, and just after the diggings broke out, it was removed, and in its stead was erected the building now occupied by the Colonial Bank, and in which, fill its removal to the handsome building at the corner of Princes and Liverpool streets, the Union Bank carried on business. The three buildines are well illustrative of the history of Dunedin : the shanty and whare period ; the wood, or transition period ; and the stone, or permanent period.