WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1694, 24 May 1884, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(from our own OOBRESPOHDENIj)

:. I :{.r'Wellington, May 22. I do hot know what' sort of weather you have bad in Masterton of late, but in Wellington' it'has been I l 'wry stormy indeed. It is. a singular coincidence that when;,the ■ciiizens 1 here; were waiting impatiently for Water to t'e supplied them from Wainuiomaia, and the supply in the Wellington reservoir became so low that it had to be turned oft tho greater part of the twenty-foar hours, there was nothing but dry weather day after day; but directly our mains are charged, even to bursting with the new supply, it rains almost without ceasing.

Business in Wellington is:at present anything but brisk.. Most of our merchants complain that they cannot get their goods to move off at other thiin a snail's pace, while the retail tradesmen are all wondering where all the ready money can have vanished to during the last two months, Yet trade here is not anything like ao dull at it is in Chriatohuroh audDunedin, so we- ought hot to complain; but hope for better things in the future. There are very fow men out of work' and very few people leaving.,to look for it, All the foundries are fully employed, and some of them have work in' hand for the next three months. Several private houses are springing up here and there; a large brick store on Lambton : Quay has been lately completed for Messrs Hannah & Co., boot manufacturers; important and extensive alterations havo not long been finished in the old Supreme Courthouse, and it is now occupied by. the .Bank of New South Wales; the building of the Roman Catholic College in Tory street is progressing very rapidly; so are the buildings on Mount Cook for the central prison of the colony; and the Manawatu Railway Company are pushing on their line with vigor, and in a comparatively short space of time we shall be ablo to. take our pleasure trips by rail towards Wanganui ai well as to Masterton. Considering these facts, Wellington ought not to be so dull as it is; but I think a good deal of the depression is caused by people being afraid to spend what money they could lest things .become worse, and to a great extent they bring upon themselves and others that which they wish to avoid. It is understood that the vestry of St Peter's are about to purohase a large organ of the best quality-tor use in that church, to replace the small one now in use. Mr West, organist of the church, will forward the required, particulars to the best organ manufacturer in England by the Ttißoo mail at the end of the week. In all probability the instrument will cost about 11,000, of which about £450 has been colluded with but little trouble, while it is understood that several members of the congregation intend giving considerable sums towards this grand addition to the church.

In addition to the many alarms of fire we have had in 'Wellington lately there waß another on Monday night. Fortunately the fire was not of a serious nature as its progress was arrested in the nick of time. Shortly before 1 o'clook smoke was observed issuing from a hole in the side of the arcade,. Manners-street, and in a very short : time after the alarm hundreds of people had flocked to the place, but were denied witnessing a great conflagration as tho fire was put oat at its commencement with a few buckets of water; _ Pieces of. 'iag saturated with turpentine and kerosene were' found close to where the firebroke out) and there oan be but little doubt bat that the place was wilfully set on fire. The Wellington Underwriters Ausooiatiou offer a sum of £IOO for information to convict the person or persons who did the dastardly deed. Had the fire taken plaoe iu the middle of the night it is very probable that not only the Arcade, but many other large aad valuable buildings would have been destroyed- . Owing to a dispute between Dr Diver, a momber of the honorary visiting staff, and Dr Mackellar, ex-president surgeon of the hospital the former has been requested by the Colonial Secretary to cease his official visits to that institution. In consequenoe Dr Diver demanded an inquiry into the whole matter of dispute between himßelf aud Dr Mackellar, but the Minister did not consider it necessary and refused to grant it. It is stated that Dr Diver intends to publish shortly the correspondence between them, so that the public may be undo aware of the facts of the case, and thus remove any doubts as to his professional character. . It is very doubtful if the football match between the Now Zealand team, and sixteen seleoted by the Wellington Union will oome off to-day (22nd), as the woather is very stormy. "Rip Van Winkle" was performed again last night to a large and appreciative house. The piece was gone through by the performers with great care and ability, and as a natural consequence the audience greatly appreciated the per* formance, _ The music of tho opera is most fascinating, and the'oftener it is heard the better. Auy lover of good musio in your district would do well to pay the theatre a Visit if they are in town while this opera is being performed, A firm of storekeepers in North Canterbury sent home about fourteen months ago, about' 200, kegs of,, butter. It realised about Cd per pound, but .after deducting carriage, and other .expenses stood at about 3d net. - In one particular kog a glass bottle was inserted, containing an account of whore the butter was made and asking those who received the keg to kindly write to'the sender an account of the condition of the butter and its markot value. 'The receipie'nt of the keg writes from the Isle of Wight, saying that the market value'of the butter waß abcut 14d, but had the same article : been of a well-known brand it would have been worth about 17d.