OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

Mt Benger Mail, Volume I, Issue 44, 2 March 1881, Page 6

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

Nearly everybody has heard of the military son of Erin who, when power-1 fully refreshed, astonished his friends by telling them, with heroic gestures, how, «»Be jabers, he made the inemy run." Closer investigation of his story, however, revealed the fact that it was after him, and that he had adopted this method as the bette r part of valor. There are men in all positions of life who act poor Paddy's drama ; who, if they cannot make their mark by ordinary means, have got the idea that a mark must be made, even though the extraordinary be introduced, Some men will run, driving the world before them ; others expect the race to terminate with equal success in the op« poßite direction. - Since the rendering of the clock bill there has been nothing very exciting in or around the Council Chambers—nothing on which a Councillor might fasten by way of distinguishing himself; consequently Municipal matters are flit, and debating capabilities in little demand. To make things more lively, and at the same time draw a little contra against any lack of mental qualification, Cr Barnes has got upon his mettle and unburdened his righteous soul—which doubtless has been undergoing a process of vexation at the action of the Roslyn Tramway Company, in having erected a shed and engine house on the Town Belt, at the terminus of their line, and in a vehement protest, let fly at the unsuspecting shareholders in general, and n r oinotera in particular—the Mayor and Councillors themselves having fr.-ids considerable their desire to encourage the work But why this worthy Councillor should be cognistnt so long of the above fact and remain silent until now, when the wo»k is all complete and the line in working order, is one of the things which the uninitiated cannot well understand, and so fails to explain. Tt is just possible that thia method has been adopted by our representative as a grab at something gloriously popular, so that a stir may be made, even though it be in the direction indicated by our parable. Nothing, however, has as yet been done, and it is devoutly to be hoped that nothing will be done to hinder a work which is so to the comfort and convenience of the general public. The ashes of Hudson and Co.'s factory are being removed, and the damaged coffee palace restored. One important lesson oan be learned, as one gazes on the ruins—vis,, that a feeling of greater security from danger must be experienced by boarders and occupants of large buildings, before they will avail themselves of the comfort and convenience of moms 50 feet from the street level, and that to have furnaces and ovens in such close proximity to one's bedchamber, is enough to produce dreams which may to a great extent mar our rest, if not our slumbers.

Mr Gordon Forlorn* lectured on the B«me evening of the fire in the Queen's Theatre, a few feet from the dividing wall of the factory, on " Hell," proving j that material fire was a component part | of the horror of that horrible locality. This ia going a step further than proving that there ia a devil. The heat of the building was intense, notwithstanding the wellarranged method of ventilation. The Bible-in-Schools question has brought an unusual number of debaters to the front, and opened an escape valve ] for the Free-thinking community, who J have not failed to make the most of i their position—barking and growling! furiously at the Bible-in Schools Associa- j tion rolling up at the election of School Committees., and engaging in a war of words through the press. Mixed np with some highly flavored doctrines of Freethinkism, they have led a sober and discerning public to wonder what constitutes a member of their Society. At any rate, if we subtract from their peculiar tenets the spleen and vicious feeling against orthodox men, and teachers of trntb generally, coupled with an ignoring of all things Biblical, we have so little left that it matters but slightly whether it is bond or free. The time has now come when we can afford to dispense with the

scant instruction in Bible knowledge intended to be inculcated in our public schools, and allow the responsibility to rest where God evidently intended— on the shoulders of pastors and parents—and < this can be accomplished without the aid I of mere free-thinking machines.