Our bunedin Letter.

Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1038, 15 June 1894, Page 6

Our bunedin Letter.

» (From Odr Ow.v Correspoxdk.vt.) The weather during the latter part of last week vrvs exceedingly wintry. There was no question of " samples," it simply rained steadily all th<i time and made locomotion very difficult indeed. As a. consequence the streets in and about the city are in a very bad state. Death has been busy with us lately ; nne by one they are taken away. On Thursday the remains of the irenial Vincent Pyke were conveyed to their last resting place in the Northern Cemetery, nnd a large representative gathering followed to the £i-ave. On Friday Mrs Belcher, late wife of the rector of the Boys' High School, was interred in the Southern Cemetery, and services were held by "Rev. Mr Diggins at St. Matthew's Church and the crave. A larce number attended the funeral. The large contract; mentioned by me last week in connection with our City Council was safely necotiated on Wednesday evening. His Worship, Mr H. S. Fish, was in trrand form, and there was an " evening "of it. There can be no doubt about it that gentleman has put vitality into municipal affairs, in the management of which he is head nnd shoulders above most men. It is expected that the Government will now go on with the erection of the new gaol and the council with certain improvements, and thus give work io the unemployed, which will be a^great help to a large number, and enable some of them to keep their families going. The winter show of the A. and P. Society held in the Garrison Hall was a great success, and 3500 persons paid for admission dining the two days. The exhibits were on the whole very noon 1 , and great credit is clue to the committee nnd their worthy secretary (Mr E. F. Duthie) for such a result. A monster cheese weighing over half a ton was one of the principal attractions, and was freely sold at Is per lb. This was in a jrreat measure due to the fact that LlO in various kinds of coin were scattered throughout the cheese. All sorts and conditions of men and women were purchasers, many of whom no doubt strongly condemn gambling, but then you see " circumstances alter cases." The cheap fares instituted by the Railway Commissioners brought a large number of visitors to the city from north and South, and it is reckoned that fully 2000 persons availed themselves of the inducements offered. As a natural sequence our streefs looked busy, and in some lines of business quite a boom predominated. The granting of wholesale licenses in the Clutha district created quite a surprise to many here, but the able exposition of the law made by the S.M., Mr Hawkins, puts a new light on affairs, and numbers fully n«ree with his opinion. As mentioned in my last a meeting to establish a Court of Foresters for Women in connection with Court Enterprise was held on Wodnesday evening, and some 50 members have joined this now departure. The contributions and benefits areInitiation fee 2s Gd ; contributions for which medical attendance, medicine, sick allowance, and funeral allowance is provided, aije 16 to 18 years per week 8d • 18 to 25 B£d ; 20 to 25 9d ; 25 to 30 Okl ; 30 to 35 l(Hd ;35 to 4o Hid ; sick allowance 103 per week for first six months ; Gs 6d for second six months ; and 5s per week during remainder of illness. Members already provided with T medical attendance and medicines through parents and husbands contribute 2id per week instead of the foregoing. "Married members may have service of doctor and chemist on payment of small additional fee. A ladies committee has been appointed to assist the movement to raise a memorial to the late Dr Stuart. Mrs Whitson was appointod chairwoman, and Miss Hutchinson secretary. Fourteen districts have been parcelled out, not included in the business area, ami collectors assigned to each of the districts. The shape in •which the memorial shall eventuate still causes correspondence in the newspapers, and Mr Davie, the secretary, stated 'that he had received L2O from one gentleman who said it should take the shape of a free library ; he had also received L2O from another gentleman who suggested a statue.