DUNEDIN.

(From our own Correspondent.) Monday Evening, January 29. In the first part of the week the weather was bright and warm, but on Thursday evening, and part of nearly each day since, we have been favored with heavy rain and bitter cold winds— quite unusual for the season. This will retard harvest operations a good deal. Wednesday brought us our November mail fiom old England, and the general bustle and excitement at our inconvenient little Post Office was a sight worth going some small distance to see. In a few more months, and tempusfvgit, the Panama Mail ervice will put an end to the absurd delays of the present service. I find on enquiry, that since the month of August, 18G4 (nearly 18 months), the English mail has only twice come to hand in time to admit of reply correspondence by the outgoing mail. St. Paul's English Church presented a gay and animated appearance, on Wednesday. The marriage of the second youngest daughter of our leading ci'izen and merchant, John Jones, I>q.,withaMr.lsaac, drew together a fashionable and crowded auditory, and what with fine weather and magnificent summer costumes, the scene was really a grand one. The old gentleman looked very proud of his daughter and her choice for better for woise, and well he might, for seldom have I seen at the hymeneil altar a better or more douce-looking pair. I doubt whether any wedding in Dunedin ever pjvsed over with greater eclat. The wedding partj r proceeded in private carriages to Mr. Jones's private residence, Fern llill, where luncheon of the most recherche description was provided, and the healths and happiness of the young couple warmly pledged previous to their departure on the honej-moon trip. News came from the North by the Otago. on Fririay, of dreadful distress reigning supreme in Auckland, and ninny are actually reported as having gone without food of any description for days, till exhausted nature literally gives up the game, and the poor human mature falls down. There are cases of the kind consta- tly occurring in Dunedin. of active, able-bodied, and steady men who /have not where at n : ght to lay their heads. " jijid do not know where to obtain a sirfl*le meal The Provincial Government are in a measure bound to find all such instant'work. The ' ifv Corporation* have in their employ ftbot^M dozen laboring men, Kit these, with their gaffer, have been, to my certa'n knowledge, the only men employed since the Corporation entered on its functions. And yet our streets and our pavements are in a miserable enough condition With the exception of making a fairish roadway from Dowlingstrext to the front entrance of Dr Burns' ehun-h, making a sut>stantial street running past the Waverlty Hotel off Geo7g^-street, and levelling the groin d at the Volunteer Fire Brigade premises (all right and proper enough in thtir way), it would be difficult to know how these laborers have put in their time for a few months past Then, what can be wrorg with the Water Company ? The idea of having only six or seven laborers at prrsmt employed on the works is utterly preposterous, and says very little indeed for the Directors of such a much-needed institution. The Princess Theatre was fairly filled last jiight, on occasion of the farewell benefit to Uriiss Julia Mathews. The performances were gone through with much spirit, and Miss ilnthows was loudly called for, and gracefully bowed her sckriowledgments. After. a few retirement we shall doubtless be able to welcome this accomplished actress' reapprarnnee. Lady Don arrived by the Otago on Friday from Sydney, and will appear in one of her favorite impersonations to-night. Another very popular entertainment in Dunrdin at present is that given by Miss Grace Fgerton (Mrs George Case) and her husband, who is a highly accomplished player on the concertina. Miss Egerton's entertainment consists of an olio of oddities, and she^s equally at home as Lord Dundreary or the servant of all work. The entertainment has been well patronised, and is well worth seeing. The Timaru, the second wool ship to London from this port, sailed yesterday. Owing to the boisterous state of the weather, she was detained a fey/ days. The crew was supplemented during the week by a number of old hands, anxious to return home, and they were engaged at L 8 * per month. Large quantities of wool, washed and unwashed, are daily arriving at the old jstty for shipment; and I notice, from the smart, firm appearance of each bale, that wool presses are now in universal use. Those from the Deep Dell station of Messrs Douglas, Aiderson & Co. were p r- * ticularly clean and firm. John Chinaman has come, has not been molested, has smoked his cigar in Princes-st., gone to the Theatre, looked at our new building's (including the Bank of Otago, and probably its anti-Chinese manager, Mrßathgate), and is now, with a dozen of his countrymen, digging with success in Peg-leg gully, on the Upper Manuherikia. Some 30C0 are coming very shortly, and I don't think they will be sent down a flooded Molyneux after all. They will at the present time do us a very great deal of good if they come over in the hurober s represented ; and whether or not, this is a g

free a soil as that from which we are all so proud to hail. lam informed that a Store in town Ins been taken by one or two of the Chinese, for the supply of their countrymen. The screw steamers Keera anil Star of the Evening arrived in the bay on Saturday forenoon from the West Coast Goldfields, bringing a few diggers to old quarters The Keera likewise brought up from Chalky Inlet in tow the steamer Star of the South, which received considerable damage to her bottom a week or so since, and had to put in to the above-named Inlet. The Star of the Evening had a narrow escape on the bar at the Grey, but the captain behaved with great pluck and saved his neat little steamer, passengers, and crew. Our new brick and stone bnildi gsin Princes street are progressing rapidly, and bricklayers and sfoneuvtsons, who, for a long time had little if anything to do, are now earning high W a ire's. The new Post Office, however too ] ar 7, e for the business it may be. will undoubtedly form the most handsome building in Du-neilin, but it will be much blurred by its neighbor on the south— the Provincial Government building. If instead of squanderin"- money a f ew y ears bacii on *"*"> tlia! ' an(s the other useless tiling, the Government had thought proper to erect a really creditable j edifice, it would have been a wise act. But the pre p ent brick affair, corneied with white st'>nc will look no better than some of the lar^e' store?, and will contrast somewhat strangely with the Post Office and Custom House. The now building for the Bunk of New South Wales is erected, and is really a gem. Without being loaded with carving, j what i* on it is extrenvly well done, and does much credit >° tn s skilled workman who executed it. The nest building to it, known :is j Temple Chambers, is two storeys in height, and very narrow, and the building known as the Bank of Otago, has an imposing appearance from the street The new building is four storeys high, so that the narrow Temple Chambers h as nothing of the Temple about it, and looks pigmy '» the extreme. If this is to continue the order of building in Princesstreet. Punpdin. it will soon eclipse what Princes-street, Edinburgh, was ten years ago — one b^iMin-z high, time low, one high, six low, find s<» on, for its mile's length to the four lain pp. The authorities should see and remedy this at once. Tlie god escorts for this month have been indeed wretched. 'and must have damped the givnf expectations of company shareholders in the mining speculation business. The floo !s in ma r ly all the mining districts have been more or less disastrous and many digrrrs are now in town, bavins left their claims in consequence. Whether they arc here for holiday, or 'or the Hokitika and Grey diggings, remains to be seen ; but from what I have gleaned from more than half a doz.-n this afternoon the latter places will have the preference, j The ' Saturday Review ' again appeared on \ Saturday, and Mr. Grant, as usual, was laboring hard from morn to night, endeavoring to j disposp of his armful It is a pretty child j when all the niceMes of literature are taken into account. 'Dunedin Punch' has cone to the west for good. It was badly conducted from the first, and its speedy end wp.s predicted some time since. I often wonder that a Monthly Magazine is not started here. Well got up and in the hands of literary men its success would be certain. There are fvw heads of families or respectable single men who would not unhesitatingly pay their half crown for an ably conducted monthly. The annual let of the tolls at the various bridges, the Dunediri jetties, and weighbridges, took place this forenoon, at the Government buildings. The bridge tolls fell well under the hammer of Mr. Power, and the jetties, &c, also let well under that of Mr. Milner, both auctioneers exercising their elocutionary powers to a pitch. The attendance was numerous, and the bMdings in some instances exciting and laughable. Jetties, L 2760; Clntha and Tuapeka Junction, LSOO ; Water of Leith, L 1385; Waikari, L 405; Saddle Hill, L 1585; Hillside, L 2505; Waihola Gorge, L 500; Blueskin and Waikouiati, LI 250. Flags are half-mast high on the shipping today, in consequent of the death of Mr. John Cargill's wife, who was the eldest daughter of Mr. John Jones. I have thus noticed a marriage and death out of the same family in my weekly letter. The Press throughout the Province has re-echoed the severe terms in which the conduct of Mr Hardy, with reference to the Canada Quartz reef, was dealt with by you, and the Government has been severely handled for allowing that official to retain his situation. F understand that the Executive have at last, j after several interviews on the matter, conveyed to Mr Hardy the result of their deliberations in his discharge from the pnblic service of the Province. Although the fact has not previously been made known through any of the public prints, I have it on good authority. I believe, that but few will sympathise with Mr Hardy in the loss which he has deservedly brought upon himself. We are informed by the Wellington Press that the writs for the General Election will not be issued before the end of February, and the General Assembly will not be summoned before the end of May, owing, I believe, to the delay in the preparation of the electoral roll?.

I hear that Mr Hughes, accompanied by Messrs Moss and Reynolds, purpose visiting the Tuapeka goldfields next week. Any matter of pul.lic importance connected with your district might then, no doubt, be talked over with them. Tuesday, January 30. | Lady Don met with a mcst enthusiastic reception Lst night at the Princess, the house I being crammed in every part. The scene presented nt the ticket -window for the pit and stalls reminded me of similar home scenes, nor have I ever had such a squeeze for the honor of paying away m; ney before in the colonies. Any of your readers who may visit town for the ue^t few weeks should m>t miss the opportunity of hea ing this accomplished and celebrated actress. lam told that our late Sheriff, who was reported to have sailed for the North several weeks ago, was this afternoon escorted to quarters in Sroddart's Motel, to which he had formerly consigned not a few, Ms c -nductor being one of the Detective Staff who had discovered his man on boar-.i the Susannah Booth, [about to sail for Sydney. lam also informed that it was necessary that the Coroner should jsijjn the warrant lor his apprehension, the Sheriff being the head Criminal I'ros.cutor of the Province, su'ject to the Coroner in cases such as the present. Thomas S aw, on remand, was to-day discharged by the Resident Magistrate, after due exhoitatkm to take care of himself fur the I future. I The ship Warrior Queen is to-day reported at the Heads from London, November 2nd, • with about 60 assisted emigrants. i — — 7T — "' ."1~TT" ■"._.~ l — — .'",.. "~ " ■ — _ _ *"