OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1142, 6 May 1885, Page 6

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

(From our own J '< Ev&yjßvening during 'lai^woek meetioßSjFere hell to "form lae 4 w-,yplun-teer Cffimpanieo, abd'tbe thole community kn^h^atfghlj^iufufted with.a military ■pir^tt. 'G^e' hundred lancf eighty-nine Irishmen sigfiedtnetrollyine evening, and the following 'd»y*'"ai«v>» were^iaken to form* garriaSn corpajf t£fe greater part of which will be drilled men. 'Although, as I have aitted before, I do not think it probable that Russian cruiserf will visit our shweb; yet it is very gratifying to see how all the bone and sinew of the Opjony is offering itself to defend our hearths and hornet, A. good deal has been said, and rightly) too, about the patriotic spirit which has induced the New South Wales contingent to volunteer for Afghanistan, yet I am confident that if required New Zealand could send over a couple of thousand men to help the Mother Country. Our local defences are now well advanced, and a detachment of Armed Constabulary, under Major Goring, has arrived to take charge of the guns. Torpedoes will be laid during the next ten days in the channel leading from the bar to the Port, so that any hostile vessel which seeks to take Dunedin by storm will meet with a warm reception in that quarter. The Volunteer-muster, which was held last Monday, was in every way satisfactory, about 700 able-bodied and efficient men answering to the ro.ll. The prevailing irn^ prejUi6i| seems.' t6 be\that war/ will- evenV tnaUyVpe decfaredf, but it is considered that at least a week will elapse before the formal declaration takes place. Colonials are credited by Mr R. E. N. Twopenny with possessing a mania for gambling, and this is borne out by the number of wagers that are being offered and taken | about the war. The next thing we shall see announced will be a consultation on the Afghan war, the man who draws the ticket giving the hour of the day upon which^war is proclaimed taking first prize, and so on? y;" , rV '3 We have in Dnnedin at present two men, widely different in opinion, yet each of whom is possessed of great oratorical gifts. I refer to Mr R. T. Booth and Dr T. L. Yorke. The latter gentleman is a wonderful speaker, and if, as a competent authority remarked the other day, he was lecturing on popular or religious subjects, he would fill the largest theatres. He does not seek to force his opinions down e^ery mana throaty yet his eloquence has done more for the' Lyceum in a couple of weeks than Gerald Massey could do in a year. Mr R. T. Booth, on the other hand, is full of earnestness and endeavors to persuade everyone to think as he does. No one who has heard him once will ever wonder at the enormous success he has met with in all parts of the world, as he is far and away the most fluent, eloquent, and convincing temperance lecturer who has ever set foot in this Colony. At the same timejWr Booth is not. visionary^in hu|uleis,«|ut, tpn^tieKcontrary, *he iaka man?wn\> rels difficulties ahead of him arfd intends to overcome them. On Sunday evening. .hundreds of people had to be turned away from the Garrison Hall, and there is no doubt that every evening up to the 24th inst., when his mission closes, that building will be crowded. .He certainly is not as humorous as Mr Glover, but when he does tell an anecdote it is sore to be to the point, and he has the wonderful power of working up his audience to the highest pitch, and imbuing them with some of his own spirit —in fact, keeping them entranced from the moment he opens his lips until he finishes with one of his sublime and exquisitelyworded perorations. The session of the University of Otago was opened in due and ancient form by the Chancellor (Dr Stuart) and Professor Sale last Friday evening. No doubt by this time, thoae of your numerous country—readers—who take -an - interest in higher >educ£tioli L lfave digested the Professor's speech, so I will not refer to it. The proceedings, were, however, chiefly noticeable for the. unruly behaviour of the ,students, some' of 'whom are old enough to have:'known '^better. It is a time-honored custom in Oxford and Cambridge upon ' commemoration days to allow the undergraduates a' certain amount of license, which, to give them their due, they certainly .make the most of. Many of us have heard ■ how- the honorary D.C.L.'b are chaffed when they take their degree; for instance, when ' the Poet Laureate was thus distinguished the whole gallery burst forth with, " You must wake and call me early ;" and Professor Darwin had a stuffed let down on his back as he entered the hall. There is a certain amount of excuse for such old-established customs as these ; but I fail to see why the Otago students should be allowed to annoy • visitors and others • with peashooters and other childish .toys—in fact, behaving as any boy over the fourth form would be ashamed to at"Dtfhe Domum." I notice that the Melbourne papers spoke very sharply about the way the students of the Melbourne University behaved, on a similar occasion, one of .them going so far as to say that no wonder .there were so many larrikins when the future occupiers of the ju'dical benches conduct themselves in such a* disgraceful manner. The political world, so, far as Dunedin is concerned, is as dull as ditch water, and no one seems to know or to "care what Parliament is going to do when it meets. It is generally looked upon as a moral that the Stout-Vogel Ministry will hold the reins of government' till'the next general election, and if they behave themselves iii anything like a decent manner will then be returnedtb-office. The exact figures of the revenue and expenditure for the past financial year have not yet appeared, but it is known that there is a balance to the good of some £20,000, and this is considered satisfactory. .The cost of defence worts will run into, a lot of { money, yet the Ministers arehotlikely to be asked any unpleasant questions about , them, and the necessary accounts will be passed for payment. The; Horn W. J. M. Larnach (Minister of Mines) and Mr Fulton, M.H.R., addressed their constituents, during last Week,' but'nbthmg of importance,could be elicited from either of the speeches. ;. 4th May, 1885.