DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1095, 31 January 1872, Page 2

DUNEDIN.

(from our own correspondent.) "'■ -' - January 20. The Supreme Oourt has been sitting during the week for the trial of civil cases, but only.. one, case has y.qt been heard— that of Hunter v. Will and others. This is a contractor's case, ariaing out of extras and alterations, on a contract for building: a church at East Taieri, and is very technical, the witnesses being all; practical men. . The next case on the list is that of Reichelt against the Insurance Companies, in which it is likely, that all the : evidence given at the late trial , for arson will? be. heard .over again," but . it is probable that the case will turn on the possession by Reichelt of the explosive- oil, which he, maintained, was the cause of the fire. i The sittings of the Presbyterian Synod have been mostly, bcciipied. with discussions on the' state of the First Church. Monday evening was ■ occupied with the Annual Missionary Meeting, at which the various conveners .and others- delivered addresses. The Chinese Missionary, employed" among ' liis " covjihtrymen iii* the ' neighborhood of Lawrence* was: present, and gave details of his work. A minute in reference to the death of thelate Bishop Patteson was also adopted by the Synod; The First Church case has . been realty a difficult one, and the church has been crowded nightly while it has been going on. After long discussion, motions. and amendments, suggestions^&c, the Synod arrived at the following deliverance on the matter. :—•" That the Synod express its deep regret at the state of things existing in the First Church, as disclosed in the papers on the table and in the-plead-ings at the b^,r j find that this state of things is due largely to the course pursued by the minister ; regret that instead of striving to conciliate those dissatisfied with the course pursued by him, the minister has acted in a way rather to irritate and increase the alienation of those dissatisfied with him. • Find that from the statements made by the minister . and other parties at ihe bar, as fepresetiting the sections into which the congregation is divided, there* is. no hope of a reconciliation between the minister an^ those

dissatisfied with him, and that in consequence i his usefulness is so impaired as to destroy' all hope of his retaining the originally committed to him, and therefore, with a view to the interests of the congregation and of religion, and the gocd .of the.church,^the-Synod-recommend-the-minister to resign his present charge."" This motion) wa3 earned, by /a > majority both of ministers and elders, but is of ■ course -protested -against by- Mr Sutherland, and to the protest ,are adhibited the names of several other ministers. Regarding the protest, a committee was appointed to draw up an answer, and they appear in the papers together, arid to all appearance successfully dispose of the protest. But it remains to be seen what Mr Sutherland will do under the circumstances. He is not a man to give in, .not; he ; he will holdout to the last, and fight then. The other business/transacted by the Synod has been ; almost lost sight ; of in. the First Church case, and some of it is of a pretty im-. portant nature. Amongst other matters, it has been decided to disjoin the Dunedin ! Presbytery, and to form another, to'ebmprise thdso parished in the north-eastern part of the Province, and to call it the Oamaru Presbytery, to meet at Oijepopo, as the most central point. ■.','-, '\ ~'\ '.. : ;; „ ; '■. Operations, have been begun for the re?' moval of the Cargill Monument .from its present site in the centre of the Octagon, to a: new! one in front of the Custom House, where a space • has been railed in for the purpose. I cant; help , thinking this an ace of sheer vandalism for the improvementproposed^to be earned , out, ' that of forming the_ street straight across' 5 the Octagon instead" of "going rdumT'the' outside, is a very questionable one. There are two very good footpaths across, and the extra turn taken by a cab or a dray to go round is so very trifling that it is not worth counting on^;and. besides it' is just giving the city so i much extra street to keep up, as they cant shutlthelpresehtT road round. It is a piece of 1 gross' extrai^. yagarice in the present state ' of "the • Cbr-^ poration' exchequer. 'Some' alterations' 7 are to be. made on the base ; of tha monv • ment oh the new site, including a j.dnn])^ ling fountain, &G. it as well as , the .pro- r ividing of a flightof stepsi'so'as'to ! ;raiae^ the whole building farther off the 'ground,' but it is doubtful whether; -the of the monument as a whole will be improved by the alteration , 'of the site, ; and the room it will occupy on me open space will be sadly missed by our gallantiYQlunteers, for it is the only level space in the town which possesses space enough to allow them to drill in company, and for this purpose they have long used it. . The Opera Troupe arrived on Thursday : ' evening, from Lytteltoh, in the s.'s. Wet ' lington, and gave their fust performance, last night. , From au. l can'learn ttieir . singing is riot firstrclass. ' They had.a yery • good house, however. The opera for the opening night was "Il.Trovatore ;'-' the ■ one for this evening is "II Barbiere," and being ' more of a comic nature, they may be able tb get through it better. ■ The heat is still : very great, "and the drought extreme. We had ' about an ' hour's gentle rain on Wednesday, night, ; but an hour after; sunrise the dust was!flying again as if there had never been a drop. r Water is getting very, scarce in. many districts,, and cattle are suffering severely. The bush fifes are if anything worse . and more destructive this, week, j Immense damage has been done, on Pine Hill, and dswn the Peninsula, large tracts of bush being completely destroyed, and stacks of cut firewbqdj? fencing, bridges, houses, and hu^te^ye. gone'off in smoke ; and the worst otitjis^hat^he fire is still burning, and no possible means of : putting it oul. In : the c'buntry— at ; Taieri, Wail kouaiti, Parakanui,. Tokomairirq, antt" other places, there has been great damage done. The farmers also complain bitterly; their crops are mostly failures, their, cattle starving, .and everything going to the bad. It is to be' hoped that 'raiii' will corn e l' soon.