DUNEDIN.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 9947, 28 January 1898, Page 7

DUNEDIN.

■J** the evening of Friday, January 12th, r™ Wright gave a large dance at her ?*j<M>nce, Bishopscourt, in honour of her *«p>ter, Mrs Buckland, who is at present W«n_| her a visit. The house waa moat decorated with a profusion of flowers, and the supper-table wa "°» daintily and temptingly arranged. The •"we, which was supplied by Messrs Yates, V*_ v «ry inspiriting, and in fact no pains *_• spared to make the enterUinment a ***__ delightful one. _y* twe ek we welcomed back to our ■"<»t Mrs and Miss Cutten, who have just -earned from a trip to the Old Country. *_■ and Mrs Pitlans (Balclutha) are at *J_**M>t >n town at the City Hotel. They J_*J* ,8 »ng through on their way to Eng- _*?• accompanied by their son, who will Fooably remain there for two or three •J™™ lor the benefit of his education. -f_*"lf" d Mrs Walter Cargill are staying at £ -aT p 9 ' where the y are the gu* 2 * lß of Mr U_ ruj r P"'' "-'-"-y are also en rout * iol ' _..? Country, where they meditate *°*i"ng a lengthened stay. ._* j ' " Bounds Trip " went out last *» n rsoay, with a full complement of pastmL'i t Thiß y ear * the Tarawera has been 3*"M by a large new boat, the Waikare, fort »-ii_ bt a B°°d deal of additional com- _??*'" .be the result, though it Beemed as •veh with the little Tarawera the arrange-•T-awfor everyone's pleasure and comfort that Ju nearly P erfect tt « possible. I noticed ___• ii n, '- aeß on tDO passenger list were those of strangers, which would Wi 0 ? , for the large number of "J*j«B_ lately to be seen in our streets. By .way, how is it that one always •_m.li * tourist when one meets one serf *i" , ia not hecause we all know Z, ot r 8 faces so well that a stranger w-ruid fe w Qmt9 dtttcUd# uoc i»,

there any peculiarity of dress or bear* ing, which draws one's attention to them. There is simply a je ne tai* quoi, which everyone recognises immediately, and -is enabled to say " Ah ! there is a tourist." * I wonder if you are suffering in Christchurch as badly as we are here, from that worst of all scour_-es, the influenza. Here it has been holding high carnival. Whole families have been rendered hor* de combat el one time, and I have even heard of one or two large and fashionable boarding houses where, not only all the guests, but also the 'landlady ana her servauts, were laid aside by this terrible illness, so leaving no healthy people to nurse the invalids. 1 should like to call the attention of my readera to a book that I have lately been reading, entitled ''The Counterfeit Sea," by Mr Adams. It is a very bright little book, written in novel form, and descriptive of the first settlement of Otago. By giving it to us as a story, Mi* Adaniß is better able to depict the feelings of these early settlers and their friends, both before embarking upon the enterprise and afterwards. One cannot help being struck by the spirit and steadfastness of those people, who, in spite of great discouragement from friends, and but a vague idea of what they were coming to, were yet willing to risk so much in order to assist in the founding of this little colony. Just now, when we Otago people are on the eve of celebrating our Jubilee, any book of this kind cannot fail to be interesting, and I feel sure that it would be almost equally enjoyed by our Canterbury neighbours, who have always been so thorough in their spirit of kindliness and sympathy with us. We are very sorry to hear of the serious illness of Mr Hodgkins. He has been laid up for some time, and his friends have had cause for great anxiety on his account. We regret to say that Mr Haggitt is still in a very precarious state. He is again at his own house at Anderson's Bay, having been obliged to abandon the idea of taking a trip for the present. Shirley.