OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 79, 3 June 1879, Page 2

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

FROM OUII OAVN OOBUESPOXDEN'T,

HARD TIMES

The present commercial depression ii making itself folt over the whole colony, nnd we are coming in for our share of ir. Failurea have beeu rather numerous lately, but no large establishments have gone, slowever, the numbur of failures that have occurred, together with the finn determination shown by Iho Banks to refuse all accommodation, have sufficed to cripple the enterprise of many of our pushing houses, so that all branches of the building trade are just now especially dull. The favorable state of the Hume money market, and the receut healthy wool sales, will doubtless go far fc i bring about a more satisfactory state of things. flurnßilE court. Tenders are now called for the erectionof a new Supremo Court House on the Thorndon Reclaimed Land. The building is to be principally of brick, and of a neat and somewhat imposing design, although in this respect it does not in any way surpass our anticipations. Probably if the building were for Dunedin, something more elaborate would bo attempted. NEW POST OFFICE. ' \ One of those cherished relics of the.sem.N, jbarbarian ago — wir old post office — is at' k last to be consigned to oblivion, and will give place to a structure more in accordance with the times ; at least so it is " authorita*-. ' tively stated," b.it we hare had such an abundance of evidence as to the " pie-crusti-ness " of Government promises, that it is not good for one's health to place too gre&t r confidence in the hope of their fulfilment. We hear great things of this proposed new post office, which, by the way, is to be a telegraph office as well. It will cover all the ground now occupied by the post office, telegraph office, and Custom House— that is, the whole of the frontage to Ou<stom Hohbb Quay, from Grey-street to Panama -street. . It is to bo three stories high, and the whole surmounted by a massive tower seventeen; : feet >quare at the base, and of some considerable height This too is to be built of brick, and the tower is to contaiu a huge clock with four dials, nine feet in diameter, and it is stated that the fortunate citizens will be able to tell the time at any hour of the day or night at a distance of two miles, and to hear the clock strike five miles away. If the present generation should Hvo to see all thisj we, "]' shall indeed be a favoured community. : MAYORALTY ELECTION. A lack of obliging spirit on the part of Mr DrSfasfield's creditors rendered it advisable for him, to vacate the civic chair a short: time since. His place was temporarily fillel by Councillor Allen, a real old identity, and on J uesday last the great battle to decide who was to succeed him for the re« muinder of the year, was fought and won. The rival candidates were Mr George Hunter, M.H.R., a gentleman of affluence and position, and one commanding the respect of every respeptable citizen ; and Mr Wm. Hutchison, v the irrepressible," who has twice before held the chief magistracy of the city. There has been a good deal of hard bitting on both sides, but Mr Hutchison is a master toufcer, and. goes in exten* sively for the " working man " claptrap, and with the assistance of Mr Anderson, of the Evening Chronicle, who worked with a zeal worthy of a better cau«, he has oar- , , ried the day, and once more sways our des* tinies in matters municipal. '

There has been more fan and excitement over this contest than any other for years past. The front verandah of the Chronicle office on the polling day blazed with two immense cartoons of the Hunter party, and Mr Hunter's cubi in turn displayed ironical representations of the " Working Man's Friend." When the result was known, the Hutchisoiiiuiis were jubilant in the extreme, and flour was Hying about in a most liberal manuer. WEST COAST RAILWAY. I hear that a commencement v likely to be made shortly with the West Coast Line at this end. We have heard this so often, however, that to mention it n«ain seems very much like a mockery ; but the story I hoar this time sounds like a truthful one, and the authority from whom I heard it is, I thinlc, to be trusted. Some time ago, when the Railway Station agitation was at its height here, a deputation waited on Mr Macandrew. lie stilted that the Government could not possibly spare a site on the Tliorndon reclamation, but that a special piece of twenty acres would be reclaimed, immediately adjacent ro the present station. Well, this reclamation it is proposed to undertake immediately, and it is proposed to include in the oontvact the first mile of the Foxton line, up the Kaiwarra Gorge, to provide the necessary filling material, and so accomplish the two purposes atone operation. I hope the rumor will turn out correct.. "Man never is, but always to be, blesti". :• .