DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1363, 11 December 1872, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

(fbom oub own coeeespondbnt.) November 30. The annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held on Thursday. The report which was laid before the meeting dealt with a variety of subjects on which the committee had been engaged during the year, and spoke very warmly of the steady onward progress of trade and commerce during the year. Among the subjects treated upon in the report may be mentioned the mail services, as to which communication with the Suez line was advocated as more direct and trustworthy than the one via San Francisco. The condition of the harbor was another subject on which the committee had exerted themselves, and the formation of a Harbor Trust was proposed as a cure for all evils existing in connection with our inland waters, so far as dredging the channels, extension of wharfage, &c., are concerned. On the tariff, the result arrived at was that, aeeing the largest proportion of the Customs is raised from only a fen articles, it would be better to slightly raise the duties on these, and liberate all other articles from liability to duty, which would not only be a great advantage to merchants generally, but would also assist the Government in retrenching, as it would do away with the necessity for so many officials by greatly simplifying the tariff. The .Bankruptcy law, Banking, Telegram*, and other matters affecting commercial men were also reported on by the committee, and various suggestions made and , alterations proposed. The report waa adopted, with little, diacua&ion. Some routine business was then transacted and the meeting adjourned. • |t |s npt yet known whether there is to be a special session of the Provincial pouncil' or ' not. The matter has been under consideration by the Executive. A deputation of Provincial Councillors waited on his Honor the Superintendent this week to urge on him the necessity that existed for a special meeting, and also presented him with a memprialsigned by jif Councillors, setting forth various For continuation of New, m iih pag*) ,

grounds in support of their demand for an immediate meeting. The principal speaking on the part of the' deputies was done by Mr B. Stout, the newly-elected member for Cavenham, who pretty succesdfully combated most of the, reasons given by his Honor for not holding the meeting. The inconvenience of the time, however, i$ powerful enough to prevent action, for a fortnight must at least elapse before the members could be brought together, and then the Holidays arrive, during which it is most unlikely that ' members would stay in town. Altogether, it is hardly likely that the Council will be called for before the end of harvest, or about the middle of March. The tercentenary of the death of the great Scotch ecclesiastical reformer, John Knox, ( was very worthily celebrated in' Dunedin by laying the foundation-stone of the new Knox Church, which is to stand at the junction of George and Pitt streets. There was a great turn-out of people, and the ceremony was performed with the usual honors (not Masonic) by the Rev. Dr Stuart, assisted by a number of other clergymen and the members of his Kirk Session. The church is to be a very handsome gothic structure, partly of Port Chalmers stone and partly of the white limestone from Kakanui, and will be a very grand ornament to that part of the city. In the evening there was a soiree in Knox Church, which was quite filled with an attentive audience. The principal speakers were the Rev. Mr Will, Dr. Copland, Professors M'Gregor and Black, and Mr W. D. Stewart, all of whom treated of the man in whose memory they were met, and particularly of the measures he took in laying the foundation of the parochical system of education in Scotland. The Rev. Dr Stuart presided, and the meeting was very successful. A special meeting of the Jockey Club was held this week for the purpose of considering the recent decision of the Canterbury Club in regard to the disqualification of the horse Peeress and the jockey M'Kay. After some discussion motions approving of the decisions of the other Clubs were put and carried. M'Kay was examined, but failed in exculpating himself. The spring meeting of the Dun* edin Club was to have come off to-day, but has been, with the holiday, postponed till Monday. A good day's prois advertised. The holiday was to have been held today, fcut in consequence of its being lither inconvenient for, storekeepers and retailers generally, it has been altered by proclamation to Monday, on which day the races and some other affairs will of course be held. A rather alarming fire broke out yesterday afternoon, just before six o'clock, in a rather crowded locality at the corner of Filleul street and Moray Place. A number of small houses have been built there, the sections having been divided and sub-divided again and again, till the houses almost touch each other. In consequence, there was a good deal of alarm among the residents; but there was plenty of help available, and most of the moveable property was got out of danger. In tile few minutes that elapsed between the breakout and the arrival of the Brigade, two houses were completely destroyed. The cause was accidental— a girl lighting a fire, threw some kerosene on it, when it blazed out and set fire to the woodwork of the house.. There was a plentiful supply of water. The weather has been very hot during the past two or three days, and not a drop of rain has fallen all week, consequently everything is quite parched and dried np. Two or three bush fires are visible in the vicinity, but no immediate danger to property is threatened.