OUR DUNEDIN LETTER,

Bruce Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 2263, 8 May 1891, Page 3

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER,

[By Mary.] May G. Ueally, the amount of illness that is in tte town and. saburbs ; especially among children, makes one quite nervous for the safety of one's own small people. I hear that the doctors have dozens of cases of bronchitis and whooping-cough. In almost every house you hear that dreadful sneezing and whooping going on, heralding a time of anxiety for somebody. To give you an idea of how serious a hold the bronchitis has got on the community, one undertaker alone in six weeks buried twenty- five children, mostly very young, under twelve months. You see this is the worst possible season for such a trouble to come among us. However, the selection of ailments and seasons is not left to us ; all we can do is to stave off the approach of the enemy with careful precautionary measures.

Signor Squarise's concert last Friday was quite as enjoyable as any of its predecessors ; and to judge by the increasing size of the audiences, the general public are becoming more aware of and inclined to appreciate these entertainments. Of course, most of the items are from the compositions of classical writers, but never of so severe a type, or so long as to weary any of the audience. Its a funny thing to notice the different ways people select to appear adorned for these concerts. One or two have arrived in full evening costume, but not more than once in a hall full of be-hatted and be-jacketted beings, who stare with unsympathetic smiles at a too much adorned feminine. Even that comfortable, half-way arrangement of a " dressed head " and opera cloak is too stylish for a concert hall in Dunedin, though what unspoken rule governs the proceeding I know not.

The Hiudoo Fakir Abdool Ahumed whose entertainment we went to at the City Hall, was in most of his items a distinct fraud. So long as he kept to the particular juggling, and playing of tricks, and sleight of hand generally, he was really clever and good, but when he turned his attention to an attempt at hypnotism, the result was bo much worse than weak, that we surmised and openly laughed at the fraud. In one thing that Fakir was truly wise. He never stays in any place, town or city for more than two public appearances. For a thoroughly amusing evening, a prospect of laughing till one's sides are sore, let me recommend the mesmeric hynotistical display of Madame Cora at the Princess Theatre. Madame is by no means a wonderfully well educated person full of scientific terms, and many syllabled words. In her opening address — it hardly deserved so imposing a name — she disclaimed in the simplest language being anything but an experimenter in the laying on of hands as mesmerising is called in many far away countries, who never heard of hypnotism. Various willing subjects to be tried, presented themselves on the stage, succumbed almost immediately to her influence, and subsequently were put through a collection of absurd situations and delusions that absolutely convulsed the audience with merriment To see half-a-dozen full-grown bearded men flapping about, perching on chairs, and trying to crow in different keys, under the impression they were roosters, and the sun was just rising, was comical enough to make a cat laugh, as a man near me remarked as he wiped his eyes. Then to watch the faces of the subjects, awakened one by one by Madame Cora, and fully entering into the ridiculous appearance of the others still flapping and crowing vociferously : oh, it was loveiy! .

By-the-way, in telling you about last week's wedding, I forget to mention that the wedding cake was in fire tiers, quite a colossal confection. I always found that one small wedding cake became an object of antipathy after a time in a small household. Its impossible to absorb more than a very limited amount of this dangerous condiment, unless your digestive organs are constructed on a different system to those of most people — what will become of those five tiers ?