THE Otago Daily Times. "inveniam viam aut faciam."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17, 4 December 1861, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. "inveniam viam aut faciam."

WEDNESDAY, DEG&HBER 4, 1861. A paragraph, which we copied from the J/ondou correspondent of the Melbourne Ar%us, mentions that the monster fire in Tcoley-street (the largest since the on,e known par excellence as the Great Fire of London) has been foil owe .fgby a series of conflagrations involving most disastrous losses of'property. Wo have no desire to indulge in prophecies of evil, but certainly now that Dunedin has enjoyed the luxury of one fire, it has every •reason to expect more. This recurrence <i.f evil, when once commenced, is so usual that it has passed into a proverb: "It never rains but it pours," and " misfortunes never come singly," are the popular interpretations of the curiously frequent way in which calamities multiply when once they have commenced. The story is not unfamiliar of the Irishman on board a man-of-war who, during his first engagement, was. detected trying to squeeze himself into the gaping orifice Jkf, by a carman ball in some wooden work. He calculated he said that no ball would come twice to the same place, but hardiy "had he1 said so when a second ball put at once an end to his existence, and exposed the fallacy of his! reading of the doctrine of probabilities. We! only fear lest the people of Duneden, reposing! 4# like security,on the grounds £hat they only!

(had one serious fire in many* years and therefore are not likely soon to have another, may find themselves again rudely awakened from their apathy. Certain it is that they will not have to consider theirs a singular case if for sqme time scarcely a week elapses without a fire. In London, in Kew York, in California, and in Victoria, the instances have been frequent qf one fire following another in rapid succession after a long interval of freedom from calamities of the sort. Mr. Pullen, whose long connection with fire brigades we have referred to, mentioned to us that in one night he was called out to ten fires in some city in California. AH statistics of fires show the unaccountable frequency with which, at certain periods, they occur in certain localities. We do nqt wish tq excite unnecessary alarm, but it is worse than folly to consider (ostrich like) that danger is by hiding- it from the view. Roused by the lesson they have lately received, the people of Dunedin should iiot lose a day in providing means for protection against fire. Already have we sounded the note of warning, and our prognostications were only too literally fulfilled, inasmuch as we ourselves were the victims. It certainly was rather odd that we who were most anxious to take precautions, should have been the first to suffer; and as Mark Topley would say, there is some credit in being jolly under the circumstances. We believe the agents oif the Insurance Offices Jiave held a meeting, and have come to the determination to call a public meeting for the purpose of instituting a Fire Brigade. But we complain that they should allow any delay to intervene. The meeting should be called at once, and such precautions as can be immediately carried out, should have instant attention. The procuring fire engines (of which two large ones are necessary) may take some time. We believe they can be obtained in Melbourne or Sydney. But other steps can be taken without any delay. A Brigade can be organised, consisting of a certain number of paid men ; these, with others who liked to volunteer, could be put through the necessary drill. Tackle for pulling dqwn houses could be prepared in the place. A watch-tower on one of the high spots commanding a view of the town could be constructed, and an alarm bell erected. Last, but not least, large cisterns could he excavated in the junctions of the principal streets. The water in the Bay would not be available for those parts qf the town in which the houses are most crowded. We have only tq repeat what ye said before the late fire—no person with property in Dunedin can consider himself safe, and the exertions he may use apparently for a public purpose may prove to be of most essential service to himself privately.

We hear that H-M.'s 31st and 67th Regiments, now forming a portion, of the British force in China, a^e the conps ordered to New Zealand; the 3nd battalion of H. M.'s 60th Rifles, also at the Peih.o, not going down to the colony. The two regiments are single battalion corps, at their full strength, and in robust health, from the bracing winter of North China, and will give q, strong turn to the contest anticipated in New Zealand,

The folloAving are the particulars of the tenders received by the Provincial Government for conveying the mails as undermentioned per monthly trip :—Melbourne and Otago direct, .£200;" Melbourne Bluff and Otago, 4300; Melbourne, Qta^go, and kyttelton, remaining .two dajrs in Lyttelton, £600; ditto ditto, three days ditto, £700 ; Melbourne' Bluff, Otago, and Lyttelton, remaining t\voj days in £700; ditto ditto, three days ditt©, £800. The contract also states that it might suit the owners to run two steamers. In, that case the subsidy would be about £-8000 per annum. Each boa.t would require an, extra £100 for calling at the South, to cover detention,, extra insurance, &c. One ■cabin of two, berths for the accommodation of the mail agent, for sorting the mail for Southland, would require an additional £54 a month for each boat.

We understand that the Police are instructed by the Commisi.oners of Crown Lands to lay information against parties in the unlawful occupation of Crown Lands, the penalty for which offence ia £50. A number of these cases were brought before the Police court yesterday, and His Worship in consideration of the circumstances, allowed the defendants time to remote their b.uildings; several of the offenders belonged to the fair sex, and they did not know where to go to. His Worship allowed them an extended time for their removal.

Mr. Jones, of the Provincial Hotel, forwarded to Mr. Branigan a cheque for £20, requesting that gentleman to allow it to be distributed amongst the police, for their splendid conduct at the fire. Mr. Branigan, whilst expressing his acknowledgments for the highly complimentary tenor of Mr. Jones' letter, declined to receive the cheque, on the grounds that the Police should require no incentives to perform their duty beyond the liberal conduct of the Government that employed them.

The first of a course of Lectures under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Associa tidn will be delivered in Dr. Burnes' Church this evening, by His Honor the Superintendent, on " Thoughts connected with the formation of a Young Mer»'s Christian Association." We trust that a large audience will reward the efforts of the Society—indeed we expect there will be qu.ite a nisu,

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Monday, 2nd December. (Before J. H. Harris, Esq., R.M.) H. Williams, Thomas Pardoe, and J. Pucaw were each fined 20s. for being drunk.—J. Fennel and R. Farmer were charged with a similar offence, but having stated that they had bepn hard at work at the fire, and that the glass of ale had got into their headX the charge was dismissed.— R. Rogers, Ellen M'Donnel, Janet Campbell, J. Jj\>rd, IJuchan & Smeaton, M. A. Lee, Eliza Dabin, li. Broughton, Jane Solomon, and F. Dehoy were charged with the unlawful Occupation of Crown Lands. His Worsh p granted time (varying from one to fourteen days) tQ remove the buildings complained of—except in the case of Dehoy, who did not appear, and was therefore fined 55., and 7s. 6d. costs.—ll, Calder was ined 2s. 6d, and 7s. 6d. costs, for leaving his horse unattended to in the street.— J. K. jfry charged J. Samuels with assaulting and beating him. Mr. Kenyon appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. T. B. Gillies for defendant, The evidence having been goue into, his Worship said that the conduct of the defendant appeared most unjustifiable, and he sentenced him. to a fine of £4c and costs.—-Four bays, fpr furious driving, were fined 2s. 6d., and 3a. costs. —An information for breach of the Licensing Ordinance against William Grey—-which was postponed siuce last week —was dismissed.

Tuksbay, 3rd. December. Chas. Hoist, Ed. Davis, and J. Brown, were each fined 20s. for being drunk. S. Smith, charged with disorderly conduct in a lodging-?house, was discharged. Jarn.es Staplaton was brought up charged by Detective Tack well with obtaining various sujus of money for forgoing prosecutions in several sly-grog cases, detective Tuck well informed the Court that there was no, less than fuur clear cases against the prisoner. 1 'he OJi=e was remanded until Thursday. Stapleton was recently discharged fro,m. th,e detective force for taking bribes.