DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 708, 2 August 1870, Page 4

DUNEDIN.

[from our own correspondent.] July 25. The poll for the mayoralty election, was taken on Thursday, and completed a time of excitement which I have hardly seen paralleled since the municipality was formed. Meetings were held by the various candidates night after night, and long speeches and furious cross-fires afterwards were the rule. A good deal of the time of these meetings, however, was taken up by the senseless interruption and clamor of a few of what are really oddities (or worse), who persisted in having their say, whether it was relevant to the matter in question or not. At the same time, j these contests were not without their good, for they stir up the population, and set them a-thinking about the various questions that crop up ; and it was moat amusing to watch the motley mixture of the crowd which gathered to hear the declaration on Thursday. All, that day the excitement and stir was very great. Shortly after the voting commenced, a telegram was received from Mr Reynolds, intimating his withdrawal from the contest. This was immediately printed as a poster and widely circulated. Three candidates were now left — Messrs Griffen, Fish, and Millar, and the committees of the two first immediately claimed the votes of Mr Reynolds's supporters. Cabs, expresses, and four-horse coaches, began to fly about, bearing voters to the different polling-booths, while round the various Committee- rooms gathered groups of anxious enquirers after information on the state of the poll, &c. • It was known from the 'first that Millar had no chance, so all the interest centred in the other two. Some sweet caricatures were exhibited here and there during the day. One in particular represented one of the city lamp-posts, with the " Secundo caro" motto visible. Up the post Griffen was represented climbing towards a bag hanging from the cross, with L4OO marked on it, with the motto from his mouth, " Any way, I'll have it next year." From a pool of water, on one side a fish was represented leaping, with the inscription, " It's mine this time." While Millar was represented falling from the lamp, head foremost, into a mud^hole, marked, " City levels." At the close of the poll at four o'clock, the crowd gradually concentrated in the neighborhood of the terrace at the Government Buildings, and, to pass away the time, Jock Graham was invited to deliver a harangue on the day's proceedings, as Grant was not present. To this Jock at once responded, and began one of his usual orations, full of fulininations, fire, and fury. Shortly after five o'clock, the Town Clerk, accompanied by the scrutineers, made his way through the crowd to the terrace, and declared the state of the poll, as follows :— Fish, 789 ; Griffen, 724; Millar, 54 ; and Reynolds, 28. Fish was thus returned by a majority of 65 votes over Griffen. The total number of votes polled amounted to 1595, the largest number yet recorded in any similar contest here. The whole of the wards except the South gave a majority for Fish. One singular thing turned up out of this contest, viz., the resignation of Mr John Barnes of his office as Inspector of Works. It was made known at a meeting -of Mr Griffen's supporters, and Mr Barnes immediately went in hot for that gentlemen, and on the day of election was to be seen riding about the town, appearing almost simultaneously at either of the booths, and holding forth in his peculiar way on what he thought the proper way to vote. No sooner is the contest for the Mayoralty chair over, than the election for the Wards crop up. There are likely to be contests for two — South and Leith. Mr Griffen is the retiring member for thefirst, and Mr Wilson for the other, and several candidates are already before the public. Things, therefore, will likely be pretty lively for another week. A meeting. of the Otago Institute was held in the Provincial Council Hall on Tuesday evening. There was a large attendance. After the usual preliminaries, eleven new members were ballotted for and admitted. The paper for the evening was then read, " The Physical Geography of the Lake District," by Mr M'Kerrow. This was a very interesting paper, and gave a great many details, and described minutely the mountains with their glaciers, the lakes, and the river systems. The paper was illustrated by maps and sections, to which frequent reference was made by the author. The glacier theory, as applicable to some of the phenomena observable in the district, was also embraced in the course of his remarks.. A long discussion ensued, some of Mr M'Kerrow's opinions being objected to. But though some of the objections advanced were very plausible, they were none of them sufficient to induce an alteration. . The Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph having been found rather small, a larger building has been resolved upon.' For this a very splendid design has been prepared by Mr J". Millar, F.S.A., and is now on exhibition. The building is to be cruciform in shape, of the usual ecclesiastical style of Gothic, and to be erected of brick and stone-. There being no public amusement in town just now, the elections have come I in very usefully ; but Mr W. H. Hilton is to give a concert in the Masonic Hall to-night. Accounts from up-country represent the t roads as improving considerably, and locomotion thereby rendered much easier. I cannot say so much for Dunediu, as the weather, which has been realising the truth of the old proverb, "As the day lengthens the cold strengthens," has during the week been very changeable. Keen frost at nights, with ice about the

sixteenth part of an inch, and fine dry roads for an hour or two in the morning ; but whenever the sun gets fairly over the houses everything turns' sloppy and disagreeable, there being no wind U> dvy things up a little.