THE POLLING.

The proceedings in connection with the election of a member for Christchurch, today, were marked by great earnestness and absolute orderliness. The partisans of Messrs R: ,M» •..Taylor, T. E. Taylor and C: Lewis worked for- their respective candidates --with-, a-' determination * which might almost be described as grim; and . their earnestness was, no doubt, enhanced by the fact that the result of the contest was generally looked upon as a very open thing, though the prohibitionists seemed confident of being able to put their candidate in. All parties, however, kept their tempers, and the proceedings were so orderly as to seem dull to persons who remembered the excited election contests of years ago. The voters poured into all the polling booths in a tolerably steady stream. The door of the principal polling place, the Provincial Chamber, where the Eeturning-officer, Mr John Whitelaw, presided in person, was practically blocked during most of the day by electors wishing to exercise the franchise. Matters were much the same at the Opera House, around which the crowd was larger than at any of the other polling places. A large number of vehicles were plying in the interests of the various candidates, carrying voters to and from the booths, and all three parties distributed leaflets instructing their supporters how to vote.