LIVELY PROCEEDINGS OVER A MAYORAL ELECTION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 817, 25 November 1878, Page 2

LIVELY PROCEEDINGS OVER A MAYORAL ELECTION.

■Wellington, Nov. 23. The Mayoral election here lias excited strong feeling. Mr. Dransfield is working the citizens, but doos not attempt to curry favor with tbe working men, and is withai, somewhat short tempered. Mr. Hutchison is a regular demagogue, running on the working men ticket, and thinks lie can certainly ogle the ratepayers to any extent. He has a following of a lot of roughs, who are not ratepayers. They go about from meeting to meeting creating disturbance. Last night Mr. Hutchison held a meeting at the Victoria Hotel, but there being no large room in the hotel, the meeting was held in a garden at the back of the house. The scene was a somewhat novel one. The reporters pursued their avocation at a table illuminated by a cheerful radiance shed by two stable lanterns and four candles, inserted in bottles' bottoms. Behind the reporters' table, on a raised part of the garden, stood the chairman's table, on which was a plate of burning fat technically known as a "rush lamp." This latter subsequently played a prominent part in the proceedings. The place was further illuminated by a number of Chinese lanterns. The proceedings became exceptionally lively, and an immense sensation was created by a Hibernian gentleman leaping upon the reporters' table, flourishing a big stick in true Dpnnybrook Fair fashion. Fortunately the reporters had just before left the table, and were standing at the edge of the crowd. Having kicked off the lamps and candles as a playful preliminary, the individual in question straightened himself up, and fixing his gaze with an air of drunken gravity on the crowd, exclaimed in a tone of firm conviction, " Upon me soul, I believe ye are all drunk, every man of ye." Haying delivered himself of this remarkable sentiment, he jumped down off the table amid a roar of laughter and a cry of " Heuc re" from a number of small boys congregated round about, to whom the spectacle appeared to afford immense delight. Amusement was heightened by a respectable looking man stepping forward, exclaiming with great earnestness, "That's a sober man, Mr. Chairman, that's a sober man ;" whereat the crowd laughed incredulously. The respectable looking man again earnestly endeavored to impress upon the meeting that the interrupters were all " sober men." Atthis pointthe Hibernian gentleman, thinking it necessary to give further proof of his sobriety again leaped upon the table flourishing his stick about more excitedly than ever, making profuse bows towards the Chairman and Mr. Hutcheson. Some one from the crowd below was next observed making darts at the excited gentleman's legs with the view of makiilJ.' him descend, but he was beaten off by the stick, and made po'itic retreat. Next the "slush lamp" was thrown at the unfortunate man by some one: it struck him on the back and' well nigh smothered him with melted fat. This missle was immediately followed by a chair, which alk.w took eflect on the unhappy individual, who still managed in spite of all these drawbacks to hold his gro-.nd. Then somebody in the crowd pulled away one trestle from under the table, and the performer'canie down with a crash. The next instant he wag seen hitting out wildly at the crowd with his stick. The majority of them fled in all directions, nearly trampling over over each other in their ljastc. A number, however, stood their ground, and after a few minutes' fighting, he found himself overpowered, and had to give in.