DUNEDIN

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2129, 19 January 1880, Page 2

DUNEDIN

TOWN EDITION.

[from oub own correspondent.]

Travellers will have no need in future to complain of scarcity of accommodation in Dunedin for to the already large number of hotel palaces is to be added yet another and a greater. Messrs Watson Bros. —who made a fresh departure in hotel buildings some six years ago by erecting that well-known hotel and restaurant in High street, bearing their name —have secured a lease of the whole of that valuable laud running from their premises in High street to McFarlane the grocer’s, Princes street, embracing, beside several business premises, tbe site of the present Empire Hotel. The block has a double frontage to main streets and the lease has been secured for a term at a cost of £ls per foot frontage. Oliver’s Sussex Hotel in George street, is being rebuilt and the new building, when completed will comprise, besides the usual suites of rooms, a Skittle Alley and large Concert Hall.

The Interprovincial Cricket Match, which occupied but two days of the three set apart for it, resulted in another victory for Canterbury. The local team was perhaps the best that could have been selected, but they were weaker all round than their oponents. McLennan, an Albion Club player, was very sucessful with the ball, whilst, of the remainder, Conway, Paramor, and Cargill with the bat, and Crawshaw and Haskell in the held were most distinguished by good play. If it had not been for Conway’s 49, the second innings of Otago would have been veiy poor. Our fielding was very bad, in fact, until they practice more assiduously this department of the game, they can never be the equal of Canterbury. Vernon, at point, was a noticeable failure. The moral pointed by the result is that a greater proportion of young players must be selected for the iuterprovincial match, and that practice (without nets) must be gone into both with greater spirit and for a longer period anterior to the match than heretofore. With a determination to succeed, and careful of the above remarks, there is no reason why Otago should not, ere long, wrest the laurels of victory from more favored Canterbury.

Dunedin has for some time contributed more than its provortion to the satisfies of the colony under the heading of deafhs by accident, and they do not appear to be decreasing. A few days ago the wife of Mr T. Birch, J.P., was burned to deatli by falling asleep with a candle by her side, which set the bed curtains in flames. On Sunday Mr Bode, a well-known hairdresser of George-strcct, was going out for a sail on the bay, and whilst being conveyed to the yacht with three others in a small punt, only capable of holding two, it upset, and he met with a watery grave. Both accidents might have been avoided with greater caution. Another piece of work for the coroner was the inquest on William Desmond, who, becoming despondent, took to drink, and finally took a dose of Battle’s vermin-killer. His death could not be traced directly to cither one of those causes, but the jury declared that each had a hand in it.

Onr tramways are rapidly taking tlie place of the trains for short distance journeys. On New Year’s Day the railways carried hut a few hundreds to Kensington, whilst the tramway manager informs me that on the first two days of the year their cars carried no less than 30,000 fares. A long and cheap ride is that to the lower junction in the NorthEast Abdley for 21d, a journey of quite three miles. The cabs are having a very poor time of it, for the cars rim every five minutes, and the travelling public show their preference for the spacious cleanly car by deserting their ancient friends—the cranky, jolting cabs, whose trade is now mainly confined to jobbing work. Besides the engines, no less'than 100 horses arc employed on the tramways, and the bustle of the old coaching days is revived at Chaplin’s well-known stables.