DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1083, 17 January 1872, Page 3

D UN E D I N.

[fbom oxtbl own correspondent.] January 6. The Now Year was ushered in with the usual ceremonies. As soon as 12 o'clock struck on the University clock there was ' a sudden break upon the stillness of the , night, and a round cf cheers from the people on the street, accompanied simultaneously by the report from the Naval Brigade guns, gave taken that the year 1872 had begun in real earnest. Shortly afterwards' the St. Patrick's band paraded the streets, and for an hour or two there was a discordant mixture of noises of all sorts — crackers, guns, bells, tin pans, whistles, mingled with the strain of the band, and now and again the shout of some excited loon or other. This lasted for about a couple of Boors, and then all was quiet again. The morning broke bright and beauti- : ful, and the day was a scorcher, with a light north-east breeze. The great attraction, of the day was, as a matter of course, the Caledonian Gathering, and towards the North Recreation Grounds, from before noon, a steady stream of people set in, till over 7000 people stood, sat, or walked within the enclosure. The scene was very gay indeed. Ladies seemed to predominate in the crowd on the ground, while the grand-stand was of course nearly all ladies together. A considerable proportion of the visitors were from the country. Of the games themselves little need be said. There was the usual round —leaping, running, walking, <fee, ; a good show of kilties, whose dancing of reels, $0., on the platform was no small feature of the day's doings. The music was supplied by the Battalion Band, which played some selections of Scotch music in splendid style. There were only three pipers this year,: and their playing felt very small in comparison with the band. Some of the running matches' were very well contested, and the system of handicapping pursued by the society seemed to give general satisfaction. The two-mile walking match of the first day was perhaps the most interesting event of the whole games. Four competitors were brought out— one of them a new man from Christchurch ; but the great speed and endnranceof the victor, M'Gregor,' carried him past all the others, though he had to give 325 yards handicap to Bowden, who, came in second. Bdie, who is generally reckoned about as good as M'Gregor, was this year in bad formfar too fleshy, and gave up early in the match, as did the Ohristchurch man. As furthering athletics generally, the Bociety did a good thing thjs year in giving prizes fcir 'y outnß ' matches in walking anib running, which had the effect of bringing forward some very promising colts, whose performances created a good deal of interest. The second day's games were aB greatasuccessasthefirst, and were attended by nearly as great a crowd. The day was still warm, and the dust was very bad for some time, leading to a very great consumption of "long-sleeved" drinks. The publicans who had rented the various booths had no reason to complain of want pf patronage. On the whole, the Caledonian Gathering of 1872 may be considered a success. There were, in addition, a large number of minor affairs in the neighborhood— Sunday-school picnics, excursions to various places of. interest in the vicinity, aad so on. all of which were well patronised. In the various country towns, too, games and sports of different kinds were held. A.dded over all, the fact that the weather was delightful the whole time, and the holiday makers have had no reason to complain of the advent of 1872. , The Supreme Court sat on Tuesday, for the disposal of the criminal accumulation of the past quarter, or rather four months, as by the new; arrangements the sittings were shifted forward a month. The calendar on this occasion was rather heavy, there being eighteen prisoners for {rial on twenty indictments.' None of the cases had anything of a heavy nature about them, beint? mostly larcenies, false pretences, and the like. There were, however, some cases of assault with intent,' bestiality, about which His Honor the Judge expressed a hope that the legislature would empower the Courts to order the infliction of W"to 100 lashes, as being a much greater deterrant than merely so many months' hard labor to men of the sort most .likely to commit such crimes; Most of the cases have been disposed of, and the Court adjourned yesterday till Monday next. After many attempts to come to an unanimous discussion on the gas question, our City Council have at lajtt arrived at {heir goal. A special meeting was held pn 'Thursday,' at which the report of the Gas Committee was brought up, discussed, and unanimously adopted. The report details the attempts that had been made to arrive at a solution of the question and

the failure, the negotiations carried on with the present lessees of the works, &c., and arrives at the conclusion that the Council erect new works of their own. Of course, this is all very well. But who is to pay the piper ? There will have to be opposition to the death with the old works. For years the new ones will have to be carried on at heavy loss. The streets will have all to be opened up and a duplicate set of pipes laid, and no end of trouble and annoyance to the citizens generally. And all for what 1 That the idea of one man may be carried out — that noan our present Mayor, Mr Fish. There is not the least doubt that the whole scheme will result in a large increase to the already heavy debt of the city, and a heavy addition to the rates paid by the citizens. It is rather a suspicious circumstance that on this question the Mayor and Mr S. Hutchison Bhould now be at one. What were they a year ago? The reverse of friendly, to say the least of it. If it should all end in Hutchison becoming engineer for the new works, and his friend something else, the reason will then be plain. The body of the missing brother Scrymgeour, drowned at the boat accident on Christmas Day, was picked up by the police boat on Wednesday. It was not thought necessary to hold an inquest. The funeral took place on Thursday, and was attended by the Fire Brigade, of which deceased was a member, the Battalion Band, and a large concourse of I friends. The three brothers were all I buried together. i The weather has been very warm and 1 sultry during the week, and the wind has occasionally been strong and gusty. Considerable damage has been done to the crops in some of the country districts by the drought, which has now lasted a good while. Indeed, water is getting scarce in some localities to such a degree as is not remembered by the oldest settlers. Your correspondent walked over some ground in the country the other day which he has known for a good many years, and never before saw clear of water ; but now it is perfectly dry. All the rivers and creeks are very low, and some have almost ceased running.