DUNEDIN IN 1890 AND 1897.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 36

DUNEDIN IN 1890 AND 1897.

By Country Cousin.

I. When a sensible man has a tale to tell he begins at the beginning, working along the thread of the events till the end finishes his labour. Following this rule in what we have to say, we make a starb at Queenstown at 6.15 a.m. one hazy morning during the holiday /excursions on a journey across Like Wakatipu, which was performed before the sun awoke the hills and lib up the crannies and recesses with which old Father Time has wrinkled them.

Opinions may differ, but anyone with a spark of romance in his composition must admit that the wild and rugged yet sternly grand scenery of the lake is seen to much greater advantage when clouds and mists glide through the valleys and cling to the hilltops as ghosts of the departed past, of which our mountain giants are at once the outcome and the record. Bright laughing sunshine is a mockery of the character that is so indelibly impressed upon the rocky furniture that adorns the shores of Lake Wakalipu.

THE RAILWAY JOURNEY

begins of course at Kingston, at the foot of the 1 ke, and, as with most other things, the beginning ia small. Two carriages, thinly populated, are soon supplemented by others as station after station is reached. At Gore and Clinton all the available carriages are forced into service, and are soon crowded with hilarious and, to a'l outward appaarauce, happy holiday-makers ; in fact the discomforts of the journey arising from the crowded state of the carriages are overlooked in the prevailing good humour, begotten of pleasant anticipations.

As Dunedin is ueared the train has grown to such a length that a second engine has become iif eeasary, and both laboriously p iffiog and blowing at lest succeed in lauding a living freight of upwards of 1000 human beings at the Dunedin station — to end a journey, begun aud Buffered under tribulation and discomfort, in a babel of boDgues less polite than forcible and in a confusion of hurry and scurry that reminded one of descriptions ot Pandemonium.

A word must here be said upon the remissmss of the Government in not providing the commercially principally city of the colony with a suitable railway station. The site for such a struc'ive has been fixed upon, tliß plans for it have been prepared, <he necessity for it has exited for m\ny years and has been recoguised by the powers of the land by the erection of an overbridge, and yet the t>ld order of things is allowed to exist ; so that the busiest city of the colony is the lewt provided with the facilities ntc-ssary to help along the progress of trade and the development of ihe resources of the country. The present Government takes credib for having created the progress now generally noticeable throughout tho land, aud one is constrained to sslr, Where are the proofs of the assertion ? Certain ib is that they a-e the least visible where the progress and the prosperity are the greatest.

A-rived in Duntdin, old frit-nds are looked up and old acquaintances renewed, with a result not favourable to the cause of prohibition. Speaking of prohibition, it may be mentioned that quite a number of people went in quest in Prohibition Clutha of the wherewithal to quench their thirst, but I can answer for one individual only as to what with, and say that it waen't water.

One of the priucipal observations that obtruded the vision everywhere along the line was an air of

PROSPERITY AND COMFORT

The psople in the train were a!l well, and nob a few even expensively, dressed, and seemed to ba well provided with the needful ; the chil-d-en who went; to attend the closing for the holidays beamed with health and happiness ; the settlers' houses along the line bore all the evidences of comfort and the presence of means to gratify the more exptnsive tastes of the owners.

The signs of improvement upon former years of depression steadily increase as you near Dunedin, and arriving there are you confirmed of the fact in a very tangible manner. Everywhere is bustle and activity, and everj body appears to be busy ; houses are going up in evtry direction, and many of tha warehouses and factories are having additions made to them.

The town is redolent with new paint. Au army of cleaners, polishers, and renovators are busy putting a new appearance upon things in general. Ladders, stage*, poles, and a miscellaneous lob of similar material obstruct the footpaths, giving country couxiusthe impression that the whole town was to be taken down, shifted, and put up in some other place, after the m-suuer of early golcifielda towns.

Then there are the smells inseparable from a city. Gas, paint, coffee, roasted spice— a thousand and one sorts of merchandise and produce help to fill the air with perfumes that are somewhat of an unknown quantity to the country cousin. Though these smell* ate not alwnys dissgeeeab'e, a few -are unavoidably so, and serve the purpose of reminding (he country cousin that the difference between town and country life strikes down deeper than appears upon the surface.

There is something in the smells and the bustle in which he is interested otherwise than as an observer and a witness. AU this is the working of the main artery th»t sets .a-going the railway?, tho fac'oriee, the steamboats. It fills the streets with tramcars laden with human fre : ght, &c. ; with drays carrying and distributing the product of thousands of busy hands. Shops, stores, warehouses are filled and emptied to supply the multifarious wants of a prosperous community, furnishing the means of making life happier than it used to be, lengthening our days, improving our health, soothing our pain in eickness, and generally smoothing our way through life in a world ever ready to grow trouble, disappointment, misery, and pain.