OUR AUCKLAND LETTER.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 347, 5 January 1876, Page 3

OUR AUCKLAND LETTER.

(l?BOM <Oir«*=OWN COBEBSPOKDENT.)' Auckland, December 81. A3 everyone anticipated, the contest between Mr W. L, Bees and Mi JV MsCosb Clark for City East turned bat very close and exciting. The polling, as you are- aware, came 1 off oa Thursday, and- both candidates were sanguine up to the last. Clark's requisition waa signed by so in%ny, and bis -committee worked bo> hard that his partisans - deemed defeat n&xt to ini possible. Many persons Bay that' his letter to the Herald/ in which he temporised with the Grey faction; cost him' his election. His chief committee-man was < MrltlH. Stevenson, .the secretary p&.the^ Improvement Commissioners, and Kees missed' a point when .he omitted to bblj how .it Was that' Mr Stevenson, who- draws £300 per : annum' salary, from the ratepayers' pooketp, found the 'opportunity for devoting nearly an entire mouth to canva^ing -for Mr Olnrk. Friend* and foeß.are alike sorry tbat-Mr-Clark "• has been defeated, as it is generally admitted he would make a capital member. It is well-known that Mr Bees has aimed at a seat in ParKameufe for a long while." Now he bargained bis object we shall see whether -he wifl fulfil the large promises he baa made, -or- whether he will accept the first billeb offered ■ him to procure his silence. Throe candidates were proposed for Eden, for the one Beat} viz. : Mr Hugh Oarleton, Mr A. K. Taylor,' and Mr J. A. Tole. The lastmamed gentleman way pus • forward by the Grey Committee at tlw lasß^moment in default of finding a better man, and as he went. to the nomination with plenty • of friends, and as very few Bottlers came in from Fanmure and the other country "d'is» triofca, he managed to secure a majority at the show of hands. A singular circumstance connected with the Eden nomination was that the Eeturning Officer, Mr Barstow, ruled that no questions should be asked of the candidates. His reason for so doing was, as he explained, that the praotice had gone to extravagant lengths, and was becoming a nuisancevThe reason did not satisfy many of the • electors, who growled very audibly, but Mr ! Barstow was obdurate. This morning Mr Header Wood was elected without opposition for Parnell. Mr William Coleman, one of the eleetorßJ took the opportunity td protest very strongly "against , Mr. Barstow's ruling; about the questions,.. He put his protest in the form, of a question to Mr Wood, who answered that he believed there was no iaw against the practice, but he was of opinion : that the fullest scope for discussion should be. allowed. Sir George _Grey is now engagedcarrying out the little dodge which I told you some time ago he intended. He is already elected for City West, and yet he has gone to the Thames to try and get one of thereat*-* there. His object is palpable enough, :natn'ely,- : to throw over (Jity West to one of- his friends-, and secure the Thames for himself. He did not do much at the nomination, for he was" only fifth by the show of hands. It is not considered at all certain he will succeed in his little game. A query is raised as to the legality of his proceedings, but I expect he knows whot be is about, You will have seen by the telegrams from • Australia which have reachedjyou since"myjast that my prophecy of a breakdow-n in the mail service- ka& been fully realised. The City of.Melbourne arrived here unexpectedly last Sunday from Sydney; having been chartered by the' New South Wales Government, independently of the Pacific Mail Co., to take the mails, which should have been carried by the Colima." The vessel was eenfc via Auckland because the-.-'Sydney people understood that the New Zea-~ land Government had refused the Cyphrenes- ■• as our outward mail boat, whereas" they had done no bucli thing, but simply protested . against her as not being of the class stipulated* in the contract. Whether the Cyphreces.wilk.wait at Kandavu long enough for the City to • meet her there is quite uncertain j. if she doea-> all will bo well, but' if not there will be another mess. I see by an article in a Sydney paper that the folks in New South Wales are beginning to be of the same opinion as myself about the preference to be given; to the directservice via Auckland. At the. time I jvrife. we are expecting the Mikado with the English mail, and the City of San Francisco; which according to advertisement, is to be our next*, outward mail boat. Ihe arrival of the latter is very problematical, for we have only heard the intended date of- her leaving, and do not know for certain whether Bhe had arrived at 'Frisco from Philadelphia. • • - Qui' new mayor, Mr Tonks,, took his seat at the Council Board yesterday. In his inaugural address he mentioned several reforms which < he intended to introduce, and the Councillors ■ listened smiling, whether with incredulity ocapprobation is difficult to say. MrTonkfralluded to the fact of scarlet fever having appeared at the Thames, and stated that he was in communication with the Central Board of Health with a view of preventing it coming to Auckland. : ■ . . > The Boxing-day Sports were completely spoiled by the wretched weather, fctill in spite of the rain there were a large number of holiday makers «u4y and their indifference-.-to the elements ~ was perfeotly ; . astonishing... The Caledonian Sports at EllersKe ware.postponed till to"morrow, but the North Shore ,- Rowing Club carried their programme throughwith partial success.; The Hero arrived on Wednesday, and v every one looked tosee Mdlle. lima de M'urska.-thft--Hungarian nightingale, a passenger, but-they-were disappointed. It seems that Alfred Anderson, the pianist, has been ill, and.,ahocould not leave Sydney at tb'e time~appqinte(i. She was to have appeared at the Choral Hall next Tuesday, and over 150 tickets had been sold. She has now made up her mind to come to Dunedin first, bo that we shall net • see her here for a month afc least. . : The Criminal Sessions begin . next ; weekiThe calendar. is unusually heavy, and 'tfiere are no less than -five charges of wilful murder. The discovery of a subterranean forest, just belowrthe surface of .the bed of the Thames, near Cherry .Garden pier, is of- great interest The oak, the alder, and tbe willow are (lie principal trees. These retain their/vegetable character, but other e\ idences ebow that the forest belongs to the period of the elk and the red deer in theusouth of.Englaud.