OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4494, 14 August 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

(from due own correspondent.)

Dunedin, August 10. Of course, the great topic of the day is abolition versus provincialism, and Mr. 8 tout, M.P.C. and Provincial Solicitor, a politician of high rank in his own estimation, and undoubtedly a shrewd and clever young man, has taken advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him to air his eloquence in the presence of some sixty or seventy of his constituents at the schoolhouse at Forbin-y, about two miles from town. Here in the course of his address he took the opportunity of speaking at considerable length upon the abolition question, and apparently made out so good a case against it and in favor of provincialism that his constituents passed an anti-abolition resolution with great unanimity, and then they patted each other on the back, and agreed that it would be a sad day for Otago when the provinces were abolished. On the following night a meeting of the electors of the thriving township of Boslyn was called, to consider this same question of abolition—combined with waterworks. _ Being pretty thirsty when they arrived, the large and influential meeting, of some thirty, swallowed the waterworks question first, and then, at this stage, Mr. Stout, dropped in amongst them, and so out up and mangled the new Abolition Bill that those who had read anything at all about it scarcely knew whether they stood on their head or their heels, and were quite carried away by the sophistry of this rising young politician ; and despite' a powerful speech by a Mr. Jackson in favor of the proposed change, Mr. Stout remained master of the situation, and an anti abolition resolution was again carried by a considerable majority. It may seem a strange thing that while the electors of so many large towns and so many small places have spoken throughout the length and breadth of the colony, and while the tone of the Press is, with a few unimportant exceptions, so strongly in favor of the change—l say it may seem strange to persons at a distance that Dunedin, the largest and most important city in the colony, has given forth no sound. Yet the reason is only too apparent to those who know the feeling existing here. That feeling is so unanimous that really there is nothing to call a meeting about, and nothing to be gained by it. One side alone cannot make a fight or get up a good discussion and tussle on the platform, and the provincialists are so thoroughly in the minority that they dare not call upon the Mayor to convene a meeting on the subject, lest they should be beaten down by such overwhelming numbers that their defeat would be an utter rout.

The death of Mr. Tolmie, M.H.R. for Caversham and M.P.C. for the Peninsula, has caused a vacancy in the House of Representatives. Mr. Stout, Provincial Solicitor and M.P.C., would doubtless, had this event taken place before the session, have stood for the seat, and as likely as not have been returned by the district; but it is not very probable that he would accept any requisition now were it presented to him, because before the election could be completed and he could be at Wellington, the ; session would in all probability be over, and being the last Parliament, it would hardly be worth any one’s while to contest the seat, or, in fact, consent to be elected under such circumstances, even without opposition. Mr. Tolmie was a gentleman much respected, and during , his residence of some twelve years in the province had proved himself a valuable, ener- , getic, and enterprising colonist. His death was very sudden, and was the result of a cold. We have had a perfect epidemic of fires since my last writing, but as you were no doubt supplied with full and sensational par- . ticulars by telegraph, I am not about to inflict any further dry details upon you. I will, , however, give you one or two “ notes” that may prove interesting. On the occasion of the first fire—that at the theatre—which commenced about a quarter to two, all decent people . had retired to rest, except those connected with the morning newspapers. No sooner had the bell rung than the theatre was surrounded by a perfect mob of editors, “subs,” com- , positors, machinists, and in fact the printing , trade generally. The lessees, “ stars,” and common actors too, were there in a remark- , ably short space of time, and to believe all they said under the influence of—well, the fire—one would have thought each man’s wardrobe worth a fortune. “ Lost, sir ? I am ruined ! Three hundred pounds, if there's a penny, gone —but that’s not a tenth part the value to me !” Another had lost fifty wigs, each worth £2 10s,, and impossible to be replaced. Authors too were heard to bewail the loss ! of their valuable MSS., which could not ' be replaced—“ No, sir, not for thousands.” ' A cynical critic who was standing by was : heard to mutter that “ if they (the MSS.) had i come to the same untimely end long ago it ; would have been all the better for authors, managers, and the public generally.” Fortu- i nately the unfeeling remark was not heard by two authors who were standing near, lamenting their, sad lot, or the cynic would have been withered to the ground “ by one glance of their eagle eyes.” But do you know, Mr. Editor, not being a dramatic author myself, I have a great deal of sympathy with the remarks of the cynical old gentleman above menmtioned. Other members of the company— “heavy villains”—whose wardrobe certainly never exceeded a fur cap, a slashed petticoat, and a pair of smuggler’s boots, with perhaps a dingy velvet coat and a pair of brick-colored tights thrown in, were observed to go about wringing their hands and crying out that “ they were ruined." There is no doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Darrel], the Lessees,' and Mr. and Mrs. Hooper lost heavily, but I strongly suspect that a five-pound note would cover all the other losses. It was an exceedingly fortunate thing that Steele and Keogh had another theatre under engagement at the time, viz,, the Queen’s, to which popular place of amusement they shifted next night. This is an exceedingly fortunate thing for them, I say, as they have the Queen’s under engagement for a lengthened term, and during the whole of this term there is not likely to be any very strong opposition playing against them, and certainly the new theatre, even supposing it is built, which is very problematical, will not be completed for six or seven months. During this time there will bo the races, the Christmas holidays, the Caledonian sports, and several other matters “ on” that cannot fail to prove a “pile” to the lessees, who have the Queen’s at a remarkably low rental; so that in the long run I am not at all so sure that the fire was such a very disastrous affair to the management after all. The Darrells arc still doing a splendid business, and as a consequence the lessees are looking the very “pink” of perfection. The present week is billed as the last of the Djirrells, but it is pretty well understood that doing such a good business as they are, it is not at all likely that they are going to “move on.” Mr. Darrell plays “ Hamlet ” for his benefit on Friday, and is likely to have a crowded house. Also in the way of amusements 1 I may say we have the De Glorians, who opened last evening at the Temperance Hall, 1 but their performances are not spoken of very ■ well by either of the morning papers, nor are any of the people who went to see and hear 1 them in ecstacics of delight. All of which i has taken mo away from the subject of firos s with which I started the last paragraph. 1 Well, on the following morning, a few minutes : before three, the bell again ran out the alarm, ■ and as on the previous day, it was found that ’ the two “ subs” and a crowd of compositors 1 wore first on the spot. This time the fire was at Coombes' tannery, and about £15,000 worth i of property was destroyed. Next morning it i was stated in the daily journals that the sub-

editor of the Daily Times was the first who saw the fire and the first to give the alarm. Not to bo outdone, next day the Guardian said it was their sub-editor, assisted by the “ entire printing staff of the office,” who had rescued the furniture from the house of the Coombs. lamin a position to say more even than this, for I know as a fact that at the time of the fire-bell ringing I happened to be in a certain hostelry trying the quality of Mr. Wolfe’s aromatic schnapps with the Guardian sub-editor aforesaid (for, unfortunately, I am myself in the printing line) and I can safely say that at this time he was actually waiting up for a fire, and, indeed, said he would not go home until the bell rang, as he was sure there would bo another conflagration—from which I infer he is a Northerner. And now people say that the two “ subs” planned the whole thing between them, and burned the tannery down in order that their names might be in the papers, all of which is a base calumny, for there was no suspicion of foul play of any kind, and the insurance money was paid over without a murmur. When these two gentleman figure in the paper legitimately, it will be in another way. Our O’Connell Centenary was a great success : did I not tell you it would be ? When people pay a guinea for a feed, they don’t miss it; whether it’s for a Shakspere, a Walter Scott, a Captain Cook, an O’Connell, or any other centenary. Why ? Simply because they get their monies’ worth—though, truth to say, I heard a good many who attended the late spread make remarks the very contrary to this. To describe the affair Would take up at least a column of “ your valuable space,” as correspondents say. I shall therefore not describe it, but shall merely content myself with observing that the proceedings which took place after the National Anthem had been played, and when the more noisy of the company had dispersed to the lower rooms, was decidedly the most exciting part of the evening’s entertainment, as several found to their cost.

The people of South Dunedin—a large fiat district embracing an area larger even than the city of Dunedin itself —are agitating for a municipality, for they are heartily sick of the “fostering care of the city,” which indeed is no wonder, seeing how their interests are neglected by the City Corporation. And not only neglected, but considerably worse, for all the sewage of the city is brought out by carts at night time and shot on the land of the South Dunedin people. Is it then a wonder that they wish to get rid of such a fostering paternal government ? It is something like the General and the Provincial Governments, where the former has so much to do, and is so careful of its own interests, that it shoots much of its cares and responsibilities on provincialism willy nilly. Our powers of absorption are by no means at an end yet, judging from our most recent experiences. But a very few days ago and the number of immigrants within the depot was something like COO. Bad weather ruled at the time, and but a few engagements were made. Since then, however, there has been a change ; the weather has been magnificent for the time of year, and in consequence there has been an immense rush by employers of all kinds, and not more than about 100 persons now remain in the barracks unemployed. And the sooner they are cleared off the better, for fresh batches are expected daily by overdue ships. Indeed, the weather has been so fine that the ploughing matches, which at this season are as a ride failures, have been this year great successes. Not that I know what the word “success” means when applied to a ploughing match, because my experience in the printing trade has always shown me that the most “successful” part of such matches has been connected with the interior of a snug barparlor, with a roaring fire and a bowl of punch on the table. And I believe this experience can be pretty well borne out by others of the Fourth Estate, who, as a rule, know about as much of things bucolic as a cat “ sitting on hot rails.” Yet they (the reporters, not the cats) manage to furnish most excellent accounts of these “interesting” events. Then how is it done ? Well, perhaps the ploughing match secretaries know as much about this as the reporters themselves—possibly more. The proposed cricket match with an Australian team being' off, a proposed match with the Auckland football players is on, and we sincerely trust that when the footballers come down from the northern capital we shall be able to “ kick ” out of them that bounce which has been their stumbling block ever since they beat us at cricket. I say advisedly that if they came down again they could still beat us at the same game, but at football they will have no show—by jingo ! we can kick them into the middle of next week.

I now learn that Stout is likely to come out after all, and that he will move heaven and earth to reach Wellington (if returned) before the great division takes place. What a splendid opportunity this will give for the Opposition party to speak against time.