OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4404, 1 May 1875, Page 3

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

(i'ROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.^ April 28. Since last writing nothing very startling has occurred to turn ns from our ordinary groove, and if things are not brilliantly prosperous, it may at least be said that they are sufficiently so to make the mass of the people comfortably happy. Even the Supreme Court, the criminal sessions of which are just over, has failed, for the last week, to arouse any very great interest. Indeed, whatever incentives there have been to excitement have come from the newspaper offices in the shape of " extras." I really think there are more of these published here—in fact, I am sure of it—than in any other city of New Zealand. If there is a fall of earth at Port Chalmers and a man is killed—a common enough occurrence, by the way—out comes an "extra.;" if a calf falls down a well, and a boy is suffocated trying to rescue it, out comes an 'extra.;" if a child falls down a disused shaft and breaks its neck, out comes an "extra.;" while if mail intelligence arrive, no matter by what means, and the wires can bear the news to this city, out come the "extras" three andfour deep, amid an air of immense bustle and excitement. As you stand, one among twenty, reading the first issue of this little sheet pasted up against the chemist's or the tobacconist's window, and learning, to your intense gratification, that the p.s. Muddleslush has arrived at Auckland, after a rapid passage of sixteen day 3 from Sydney, the imp of a printer's devil rushes among you, and, before you can say "knife," the Muddleslush's career is blotted out, a second issue is pasted over it, and as eight or ten people are craning their necks you, having a good position, are enabled at a glance to pride yourself upon the knowledge that her Royal Highness the Princess Stinlitsingen has been delivered of a fine boy, and that both mother and son are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances ; and you are just felicitating yourself upon this knowledge, and wondering what the amount will probably be in twenty years that the English Parliament will annually have to vote, to support some hundreds of royal princes —all from the parent stock—and are, perhaps, devoutly wishing to yourself that the Parliament of this great country would vote a supply towards the maintenance of your little boys and girls, when your reveries are rudely broken in upon by another imp, who, red-hot from the office, comes with the third issue of the "extra.", comprising the "Australian news." There must be something in this "extra." business containing within itself the germ of strong excitement, for news that would hardly be glanced at in a newspaper, or at most only cursorily read, if plastered up against a window in the street, will .at once cause a crowd to rush round it; nor will they stir a peg till they have read the paper from its headline to the last word of its imprint. But I am digressing. The Chief Justice has got through the business of the criminal session, and on the whole has acquitted himself remarkably well. In one respect he may be said to have particularly distinguished himself—that is to say, he has sentenced a large number of persons twice over for the same offence. In the first instance, when passing sentence upon them, he ordered them to be kept in "her Majesty's gaol" for such and such a period. This, however, it seems, was hardly the correct expression ; so the prisoners were all brought up again and re-sentenced, this time to " the public prison in Dunedin." The criminal business being over, the civil will commence next week. The first case on the list is that of Barrowman v. Stevens. The defendant is master of the ship Auckland, and the action is brought by the plaintiff to recover £SOO damages for assault and imprisonment on the voyage out from London to this port, the plaintiff being a pasBinger at the time. "Hoskins and Colville," as they are familiarly called by their numerous friends and patrons, are again in the ascendant. " Off with the old love and on with the new." May Howard—if I can call her an "old love"— has been set aside, and Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins it I can call them in their dual character a "new love"—are again before the theatregoers. They were welcomed back last night by a crowded and delighted house. Mr. Hoskins is the same as ever, and I really can't -say that I think the lady has much improved—except in the way of dress. _She now dresses with the most faultless taste, which is more than she used to do. But a lot of dressing will be required before Miss Howard can be excelled in this respect. She dresses with the most exquisite taste, and ladies say that her wardrobe must be worth a little fortune when taking one of her well-known and favorite characters—that of Lady Isabel and Madame Vine in East Lynne. Miss Howard advertised the fact that she would appear in the " dresses made for her by Worth, the celebrated man milliner of Paris." To this the Guardian took very strong exception, saying it was derogatory to the character of such an excellent actress to adopt such a mode of advertising herself. Opinions are divided on the relative merits of the two ladies aa actresses—l shall give none on the subject, and none as to their personal appearances. For myself, having seen and admired them both upon the stage, I shall not be so ungallant as to say that one i«". better-looking than the other; I shall content myself with saying that they are two very handsome women, moulded in nature's, fairest form, and that so long as they tread the #tage and,,act as'theydonow theyare likely to have plenty of admirers and supporters." It is stated that Mr. Hoskins hae taken the lease of the' "Wellington and the Christchurch theatres, and that it is possible -Jit- may also secure the theatres in Dunedin W)d Auckland, making a circuit from one to another, with an efficient company, as opportunities offer, and letting the other theatres in the meantime. I believe he opens at your theatre on tho 24th May—Queen's Birthday. In- the meantime, Miss May Howard plays with you tuxtil - the night bufore tho 24th, and I am quite «ure Bhe will get a hearty welcome and will-plesse your theatre-goers. 'His Excellency the Governor is expected to arrive here on the 3rd prox. There was some talk about the members of the Club at I'ernvacating that building during his Excel- .. ency's visit, and giving it up for the benefit of

the vice- regal party." I now learn that it is likely his Excellency and Lady Normanby will be guests of John Hyde Harris, Esq. It is rather unfortunate that the visit is to be made at the time contemplated, because as a rule at that season of the year the most wretched weather prevails. The Working Men's Club, after a deal of discussion and correspondence, is to be a fact at last—that is, if we are to believe the subcommittee. .At a recent meeting they resolved to get out a prospectus, take club rooms temporarily, and commence business at onee. All they will then want will be members. My own impression is that the club will be a failure, but nous verrons. ' And this reminds me of the Saturday night popular—or people's—concerts, to which I alluded in my last. The Odd Fellows' Hall was well-filled, the thing being a novelty and the charge for admission only sixpence ; and his Worship the Mayor occupied the chair. The audience joined in the various choruses, the solo singers being amateurs ; and as each, as a rule, saug in a different key, and gave the most unbounded license to the air, the effect, as may be imagined, was highly exhilarating. No drinking was allowed on the premises. If any one wanted a " wet" he had to go outside to get it. The concerts are under the auspices of several Good Templar lodges, though the advertisement particularly specifies that they are not strictly " temperance concerts," which candour is only equalled by-its truth. Concerts such as these can do little good, and will certainly come to an untimely end. There have been a good many convictions for sly-grog selling lately. It is to be hoped this will have a salutary effect, for this system of selling drink is most disastrous in its consequences to the moral and physical welfare of the country. Only second in importance, and in the bad results attending it, is the system of bottle licenses at stores. This, in my opinion, leads to incalculable mischief, and to a large amount of drunkenness among women. It is so easy to send to the store at the corner for a bottle or two of beer a day, or perhaps a bottle of something stronger, and have these

articles entered into the book as " eggs, bacon, cheese, butter," &c, so that the husband, although he may wonder why his bill is so heavy, can find nothing in the book to show what is going on. No, no, the bottle license is a mistake, and ought to be abolished altogether. Why is it that the price of milk has been raised simultaneously in Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin ? Has it anything to do with the equinoctial gales, the tidal wave, or the earthquakes which are said to inhabit this country ? If so, the influence of these various phenonema must extend for a very long distance, as I see from files to hand that a milk agitation is going on in Ballarat, where the price has also been raised. Even at the small town of Port Chalmers they have caught the infection, and raised the price to sixpence a quart. And rich as we are in resources and inventions in this glorious Britain of the South, we cannot manufacture the lacteal fluid, and must therefore submit to its increase in price.

The steamer Ladybird yesterday came right up the harbor, and brought up alongside the Rattray-street jetty in Dunedin, being the first of the New Zealand Company's boats that has achieved such a feat. The saving of carriage between the port and our city will be very great. In the meantime, the dredging operations are going slowly on ; but when the new steam dredge Era is completed and at work, the Harbor Board tell us that the progress will be very great. It will be a glorious thing for Dunedin when large ships and steamers can pass by Port Chalmers with contempt, and sail right up to our beautiful city. But that time is not yet; and there are some people—in spite of the Harbor Board—bold enough to say that it never will be. That the salmon ova experiment was a failure is a matter to be regretted throughout the colony. The Timaru brought two boxes in addition to those containing the salmon ova. One of these contained the ova of brook, and the other the ova of charr trout. As in the case of the salmon ova, the ova of the brook trout was utterly valueless ; but out of a thousand eggs of the charr trout some 300 were found to possess vitality. These were at once carefully conveyed to the ponds on the estate of Captain Boyd, near this city, and I am glad to say that fully the half of them are hatched, and are now living and swimming fish. And this is the sole result of the experiment by the Timaru.

We have had another batch of immigrants in since I last wrote you. They are being rapidly engaged and absorbed into the population, and no doubt ■will soon settle down to their new positions, and make industrious and useful colonists. It is said that there are some 3000 Chinese in this province, and last night a meeting was held, and a committee of clergymen appointed, to devise a scheme by which the Gospel might be disseminated among these disciples of Confucius. This course has been rendered necessary in consequence of the late China missionary in this province having left for the Flowery Land on " urgent private affairs." A new feature in temperance has sprung up : Mr. J. P. Armstrong, M.P.C. (and very likely, by-and-bye, M.H.E.), has offered a prize for competition among the boys of the various district schools in and around Dunedin. This prize is to be won by the best reciter of a piece of prose strongly pourtraying " the curse of drink," and its evils on the community. If my boy wins that prize I shall look upon him as past all hope, and shall at once enter him for the Church, or the bar—of a public house—probably the latter. Seriously, I think Mr. Armstrong is going a little too far when he drags his teetotal principles through our public schools in this way. The Caledonian Society's evening classes have been resumed. These classes are a great benefit to a large number of boys, who go to work during the day and who can avail themselves of the evening and free education offered by the Society. One of the greatest "muff" matches at billiards ever known in this city—or I should think anywhere else—came off on Saturday afternoon between three of the Guardian and three of the Times staff. The game was a hundred up, and the time occupied about two hours. !The Guardians Bcored 100 to their opponents 83, and the winning hit was made by a "potting" stroke, which was considered awfully mean by the Times men. A return match comes off on Saturday between the same offices and the same number of men ; the only difference being that instead of being the worst players in the office, they will on this occasion be the best. Considerable interest is evinced in this match by those following the " ink" business. The Hon. Major Atkinson has been very busy during his stay in Dunedin in visiting our schools, our hospital, gaol, and other public institutions, besides a very large number of manufactories, of which Dunedin can boast so many. He has expressed great pleasure and surprise at the very rapid strides we have made, and at the prosperous course which we appear to be running. "With regard to the resignation of Major Atkinson, Adjutant of Volunteers, and the appointment of his successor, the Volunteers are very indignant. They complain very loudly at a Constabulary man being put over them, and I hear a good many say that the movement may now be considered to have utterly collapsed, as the men will probably resign in a body. Great preparations are being made for the opening of the Provincial Council in May next. The hall of the Councillors has been thoroughly renovated, and great changes made for the better in many respects. It is now one of the best chambers in this colony. Your City Council seem to be conducting themselves with great propriety just now. Their spirit has evaporated, and evidently entered the body of one Councillor Dodson, a member of the Port Chalmers Town Council. At one of the meetings ho told a member " to go to jumping," with other equally enjoyable pieces of advice. When asked to apologise, he said he " would rather swing at eight the next morning than do so." At the next meeting one! of the Councillors asked that the words used by Dodson bo placed upon the minutes. Tho Mayor thought it would be blasphemy to do bo. Ho was again asked / to apologise, but refused. " He would apolo-

gise to a man, but not to a thing like Councillor Asher." And other little e ccentricities of a like agreeable nature. There is great scarcity of water in town—so much so that the supply has been stopped to several of the manufactories. The Guardian printing machine is worked by water-power, and notice has been given that in all probability it will be cut off to-morrow, at which the directors look glum ; but the literary staff are quite cheerful, seeming to think that two or three weeks holiday will agree with them remarkably well.