DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1383, 6 January 1873, Page 4

DUNEDIN.

[from our own correspondent] December 28. This has been a rather busy week. Pleasure and sight-seeing have fully occupied nearly everybody's time to the exclusion of anything like business, ex.ct-pt among those who were actually- obliged to stick ; to their shops or offices, that the rest miyht make holiday. I will just mention with ' a few. . words each of the affairs in ithe order in which they occurred. First of all was the visit of the Governor on Saturday last;. Great preparations had be hi nnde f<-r his reception, and as the day was a very fine one there waa a great g.ith. nn-j of people. The Luna arrived from the north in the morning, bat as that was ton soon fur people to t im <iiit, H 8 Excellency courteously arranged that the si earner sinm d remain offtiie Kaik till the afternoon tie e, ami used the interval in visiting the Maoris. *Oi arriving at the Rattray street jeity, tlio Governor was n:et by the Superintendent and the Executive and the Mayor, and received a cordial welcome, the Ar tillery tiring the eiijhtee< -^un salute, and tlie City Guard Rifles formiug the guard of honor. Tub cortege then proceeded towards the arch, where a halt was made, and an address was read hy the Town Clerk in name of the Corporation, welcoming his Excellency and Lady Bnwen to D-twedin and Otajjo. A suitable reply was made to this, a fe\v cheers were given, and the procession moved on towards Fernhill, where a large body of school children had been drawn up. The National Anthem was sung by them, the cortege passed in, the children then retired towards the Drill shed, where they were feasted on buns, pie 3, and so on. The various public bodies, trades, volunteers, and others which had formed the procession then dispersed. The streets remaiued very crowded all the rest of the evening, particularly in the neighborhood of the arch, which was very much admired, and, though plain and simple in its design, really looked very well. It is still standing, though, its evergreen clothing is beginning to shrivel up with the heat. Sunday was a painfully hot oppressive day, as was also Monday, and the heat culminated on Tuesday into something tropical; and attended with a deal of damage. About noon, a tire broke out at a point on the north-western side of the main range of Mount Cargill, and fanned by a strong hot nor'-wester blazed up with exceeding vigor. By three o'clock the fire had reached the back Dart of the mountain, and the immense volumes of thick black smoke ascended far above the summit, giving the scene the most terrific aspect. The tire raged all the afternoon with great fury, and when darkness came on it seemed as if the whole hush was on fire. By this time it had rushed along the entire uonh side of the ridge— a distance of at least four mile?, crossed the main north road, burning the telegraph poles and some houses near the road, as well as some crops, and began to burn down the hill towards Sawyer's Bay ano Port Chalmers, when fortunately th. wind Tilled, and the fire assumed less alarming proportions. It is still burning, though .slower, and will likely do so until there come a few days of real wet weather. A large extent of valuable bush has been destroyed by this fire, and, added to the great destruction of last season, will make our neighboring forest-clad hills look very bare in, a short time. Fires of lessdimeusionsweie going on at the s^ me time in other parts of the bush. At Akatore on the coast to the south, a fire broke out in the bush and consumed a saw-mill, a large quantity of timber, two dwellinghouses, and other property. At Granton,

West Taien, an extensive farm steading was burnt with all the implements, a quantity of grain, drays, &c, to the amount of over LI OOO. Next day, Wednesday, the air was much cooler, a fresh north-east breeze having set in. The day being Christmas was of course observed as a general holiday. Those of our citizens who are neither Episcopal nor Romish in their beliefs, spent the. day in trips, pic-nics, and other means of amusement, a large number going down the harbor. The day was cool and agreeable, and th< re was no accident like the terrible one of last year to mar the general enjoyment. The coach accident I mentioned last week <aised the death of the Rev. John ! Williams, of the Baptist Church here. After a good deal of suffering the lamented gentleman died on Sunday morning. An inquest was held, and a good deal of evidence taken, and adjourned to yesterday. Tde funeral took place oq Tuesday, and was largely attended, the interment taking place in the new North Cemetery. At the adjourned inquest, some more witnesses were examined, but the evidence did not throw much more light on the cause of the unfortunate affair. After two hours' deliberation, the jury brought in a verdict of accidental death, but by a rider threw some blame on the driver. The sun mer show of the Horticultural Society took place on Monday in the Drill-shed. There was a pretty fair amount of exhibits, considering the weather we have had, but there was a great falling off, both in number and qua'ity, from the usual appearance of the show at this season. Strange to say, about the most attract*ve exhibit, considering it was a flower show, was a collection of artificial flowers made by a Mrs Simon, of Duntdin. They were really very pretty, and attracted great notice from the visitors, of whom there were rather more than usual. For Boxing Day there were two great attractions provided — the Oddfellows' Fete on a paddock about five miles down the harbor side ; and the show of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association at the Forhury Park. Both of these were very successful. The day was a very fine one for out-door pleasure, and as the services of the Port Chalmers Riilvav were engaged to cany the visitors to the fete, large numbers availed themselves, as well as a large number from the Port. On the ground the usual sports were provided ; there was dancing to the strains of a tine baud, a lucky bag was provided, and there was any amount of refreshments. All were brought back in the evening well satisfied with the way in which they had spent the day, and without accident. — The cattle show was a a great affair, there iieing; plenty of tine animals, and a large crowd to admire them. The class which excelled all others at the show was the sheep, nf which animals of every breed in the Province were exhibited, and for size of floece and length of wool could not be beaten anywhere. Butter, cheese, and ham, as well, as clothes, blankets, yarn-, &0., were alco on show ; with a large quantity of cordage of 11 sizes made from Phorminm fihre. The local breweries and distillery sent samples} of their productions, which met with rapid consumption, the place where they were showing being crowded all the afternoon. The implements shown were numerous, and comprised everything needed on a farm — horse gear, ploughs, harrows, fanners, tubs, churns, cheese presses, carts, harness, <fee. Both of these affairs were visited by the Governor and his suite ; at the show he remained a long time, walking about and apparently taking much interest in the animals and other things exhibited. Later in the day there was the Pantomime at the Princess Theatre— a trivial, childish thing— Jick the Giant Killer— but which met with great favor, as there was a very crowded honse. The Masonic Hall was opened by the Loyals, a couple of gymtiasts, assisted by Miss A. Bowring and a few rather so-so theatricals. Last night the Governor and his lady were present at a grand Masonic ball, at which there were over 130 present, com prising all the high masons, and, of courae, all the handsome ladles. Great preparation had been made for this ball, and the dresses of the ladies were quite beyond description by Buch a stiff pen as mine. Though there' was a smart shower of rain one evening, the ground is quite parched up, and' water is gettiug rathe* scarce here and there. The wea/hdr still remains the same — fine, warm, bright sunshine. Fruit- berries, and so on — is ! very abundant ; but I think the extreme heat is acting prejudicially on the apples and piiars, for the trees present a shrivelled appearance, and large quantities of fruit are lying on the ground. 1872 is drawing near a close, and I conclude my last letter for the year by wishing that 1873 may be a happy an i prosperous one for you and all your readers.