THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS.

CHRISTCHURCH. J The election of a gentleman to occupy! the position of Mayor of this city opened at! nine o'clock yesterday morning, and even afl that rather early hour awakened no Bmalfl amount of interest. Since the nominatiom of tiie candidates—Cr. Ayers and Mr HuIJ bert, an ex-Councillor—both sides have been particularly lively, and their ingenuity has been exercised on the production of cartoons, which meet the wayfarer at every i street corner where the walls of houses - or advertising boards afford an opportunity I fat the display of these caricatures. Their objects are evident, and that they have been a means of constantly keeping the all-important topic of the week before the: mind's eye of the burgesses is unquestion-j •hie. j During, tiie past two years the annuaT election for Mayor has been denuded oe interest through lack of competition, andf now that our present Mayor has decided W retire from the position, the excits ment over the return of one W the two contestants has increasfE eonriderably. . Thin fact was exemplifies by a visit to the polling booth, arounjf which numbers of ratepayers were to bit observed loitering, and discussing th* merits and demerits of the candidates, ojs holding a controversy as to which of th* men could the most ably fulfil the duties «f the office to which they aspired, whili -other burgesses recorded their votes, passed • "Good-day," and returned to their nd vocations. 1 In the vicinity of the Council ChambersJ 'Committee rooms had been erected and ■engaged, and in these animated scenejj presented themselves. Mr Ayers' Com* mittee was provided with a sfaokms tenti* 'On* the inner walls of which was pinned lists of burgesses entitled to vote at the -election; at a table two officials wer«j -assiduously erasing from their books tbi names of those persons who had recordejfl "their votes, aad at the end of the teuyj numerous ratepayers were quietly and aggjj - _*ren_y appreciably devouring biscuits anft'j -cheese, accompanied by long draughts <$y non-intoxicating beverages. Some tance south a room in proximity to tbM Clarendon Hotel did service for the Conra 'mittee of Mr Hulbert, and here BevenjF gen'lemen were working in a similar manner to those in the tent. Bnt tharjr, was an absence of refreshments, and aequently very few loiterers, Near the rooms the fences were dec* _J*ed with cartoons, which formal "tiie subject of laughable comment. Bojja Cr. Ayers and Mr Hulbert were cc%4_acuo_3 among the small assembly. '

f_-e polling booth waa closed at'6_&s_se and during the time the officials wer of counting tiie votes, an eager crowd outf; f side awaited the result. When it was an*? ■ nonnced that Mr Hulberthad secured thg \ victory a triumphant shout was raised b* \- his supporters. The result of the polling ■ is ac f ollowb :— &■. Votes, .fe C.P.Hulbert 671 # A. Avers ... ._ ... 496 ~%\ Informal ... 14 / Total ... 1181 l : Majority for Mr Hulbert 175 ■ Shortly after the result of the poll hadJ become public, Mr C. P. Httlbkbt came forward amid cheers, and in returning^, thanks for the great honor the ratepayers^ of Christchureh had done him, claimed to"; be excused from delivering a speech on the'' | ground that after the hard day's work he . felt somewhat tired. Three cheers were then given for the successful candidate, and the crowd dis-} \ persed. _ Subsequently, at the invitation of tiie; - Mayor elect, a large number of Mr Hulbert's Committee and friends adjourned to r , the Al HoteL * - Mr H_N_v Thomson, M.HJJ., having' been voted to the chair, arose and proposed the toast of " Success to our newly-elected I Mayor." The toast was received, enthu-. ] siastically, and drank with three times] * three. j. \ Mr Huxb_bt, in responding, said he| \ - could hardly express his feeling of grati-f; \ tude towards hia friends who had worked? \ so hard and ao well, and who had succeeded';; in placing him in such a proud position. \ The fight had been a hard one, and the; \ result was far different to what he could ? have hoped to expect. He felc from the i time of his coming out that he had to | make uphill work of it. The immense: c requisition that had been got up for his \ opponent was almost enough to dishearten I jf any man who had to fight him. But when* \ he saw the large number of personal! | friends who came forward and offered theug 1; 'support, he had hardly any doubt as to the| final result. Instead of delivering himselS of a speech on the present occasion, h* would leave it to his future actions to spea|f . ; .for themselves. Before concluding, howp| lever, he would like to propose the health <S| iime gentlemen who formed his •'. and who had at a great sacrifice of timef! : -and expenditure of labor, assisted sotmaterially in bringing about the result off fthe election. % ■ Messrs Hill and Thomson : *The latter speaker said he had known ' jßulbert for years, and had worked with;:., him in the Council, and had therefore no; \ difficulty in deciding which of the : candidates to support. Mr Gumass proposed," The Press," andS _' in doing so said the Press of Christchureh} *j were seldom wrong in discriminating- , between the qualifications of rival candi-1 dates, and the result proved they were h right. .' i Mr C. E. Bbigos felt much obliged at '\ the hearty manner in which they had re- I ceived this toast. The Press of the City, | lie believed, were unanimous in the sup- r* trt they accorded to hia friend Mr Hnl- | rt, and conduced greatly in bringing \'-£ tabout the satisfactory result. t\ £; Mr TTtt.t. proposed, " The Ladies." He | -thought the manner in which the lady rl '{ratepayers had come forward was very 5j creditable to their judgment. Mr Briggs j *had been very successful- in tbe birge | number he had been the means of bring- | Jag to the poll. :| 5;Mr C. M. Gbat responded, but thought; | r&e pleasure of doing so should have de-; | 3plved upon one of the bachelors present,' | wd not upon a benedict. i | JfjfThe meeting then proceeded to harmony; | gad general conversation, and a very plea-'. 1