DUNEDIN NOTES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1676, 22 March 1890, Page 4

DUNEDIN NOTES.

( From our own Correspondent. ) We are at present, I regret to say, threatened with a very severe outbreak of sickness, and unless the most stringent precautions are at once adopted there is likely to be a lively season of work before the doctors. The dreaded la grippe, as the Parisians have appropriately christened it, has succeeded in finding us out, far-removed and all as we are- from those places in the Old World where it has lately been claiming so many victims. Over a thousand people have already been placed Itors de combat by it here. There is, of course, not much said about it by the papers here, as it is feared it might lead to an Exhibition scare, and so cripple our prospects during the remaining days of the big show. I don't quite approve of such a stand being taken. I feel that if there is danger to be apprehended visitors or intending visitors from the country should be apprised of it, and not be permitted to rush blindfold into danger. This la grippe is undoubtedly infectious— a fact clearly enough demonstrated by the rapidity with which it has travelled and is yet travelling through the city. From what I can learn it has been conveyed here through the medium of imported goods, and within the last day or two I heard of no less than eight employe's in one large warehouse having been all stricken down at once, and singularly while they were engaged in opening out some goods just arrived from Home. The symptoms are decidedly unpleasant, and when the infection reaches a certain stage it has a very prostrating effect on the system. There is . just now a good deal of inconvenience experi- { enced in the large firms and warehouses owing to the number of employe's down with the epidemic, and the doctors assert that the mildness of the' weather alone prevents the usual fatalities. In addition to this there are also some very serious cases of typhoid reported by the doctors. This is very correctly attributed to the impure water now being used for domestic purposes, and, in some degree, to the foul drainage of the city. Indeed, I have often marvelled very much that this latter cause has not before now resulted in a serious outbreak of typhoid. The smells in some of the back streets and in the suburbs are strong enough and contain sufficient poison to kill off a colony of elephants. Nothing but the splendid climate, the cold winds and the rains have prevented an outbreak before this. The City Council are notoriously apathetic in these matters, and do not at all exercise the supervision that the importance of the subject demands. The drainage of the city will haveto^e faced some day, and the sooner the better for the health of the inhabitants. Possibly the present trouble may have the effect of causing action to bo taken.

The big band contest has ended in a terrible storm of discontent and a deluge of anathemas on the heads of the three luckless judges. No one who understands anything of musicians and their ways will be in the least surprised at this. The judges are all men of high reputation in the musical world, and are allowed to be thoroughly competent for discharging efficiently the somewhat delicate and unpleasant duties delegated to them. But the fact is if three judges from the Celestial Choir were deputed to act it is extremely doubtful if their decision would not be impnnged and protested against just as in the present instance. The cream of the joke is that the only band that objected to the appointment of the judges previous to the contest was the Oamaru Naval Artillery Band -the very band that is now adjudged the place of honour in the contest. By all the other bands and bandmasters and the general musical public the competence and impartiality of the judges were not even hinted at. On Monday the leaders of all the bands, with, of course, the exception of the Oamaru Navals, met together and, after discussing the situation, signed a formal protest and lodged it with the judges. Of the three judges Mr Mackintosh, of Wellington, seems to be the chief object of aversion to the defeated bands. On Monday evening as he appeared on the stage, clarionet in hand, he was very fiercely and, to my mind, with very bad taste, hissed by a large number of bandsmen ; but when he concluded his solo he was treated to a regular salvo of applause. If his judging is defective, as the malcontents say it is, his playing is undoubtedly superb. Nothing that can be said now will have any effect on the judges'decision, though it must be said the feeling against it is very strong. A large number of the Exhibition choir, among whom there must naturally be some highly-qualified musicians, have also joined in lodging a protest against the position awarded the Oamaru Navals. It is said that the judges must have made a mistake in crediting the wrong band with the scores, but this is hardly possible, and is simply laughed at both by the music committee and the judges. At all events the dissatisfaction is very marked, and is shared in by thirteen out of the fourteen bands that took part in the competition. One of the defeated bands has gone the length of issuing a challenge to the winning team for £100, and it is not improbable that another contest of some kind will yet be arranged among the defeated ones. In that case there is a possibility of more protests and further wrangling. At present each of the thirteen bands claim the prize of £100 awarded to the Oamaruvians, a state of things that renders an amicable settlement of the matter an absolute impossibility. Sir Robert Stout, attended by his trusty henchman Mr John M'Kenzie, as you will have noticed, has been on the warpath for the last few weeks.^ He has again been in print, and as usual with him, has come very badly out of the engagement. Both in the columns of the "Daily Times" and "Evening Star" he received a severe castigation. His aggressiveness and his want of accuracy are constantly exposing him to discomfiture and humiliation. There is no public man in the colony who has so often been convicted of inconsistency and a disregard for the exact truth, and yet strangely enough there is no other man who is half so ready at accusing others of these very indiscretions. He has for some time been tilting at the Minister for Lands (the Hon. Mr Richardson), and endeavouring to get up a feeling against him in connection with the leasing of small runs. It has been shown, however, that the very system against which his denunciations are levelled is his own creation, and was always advocated by him until, of course, he was turned out of office and, I might add, out of political life. He has now determined on going on the stump to Oamaru,the primary object being to stir up opposition and hostility against Mr Hislop, whom it is determined to defeat at all hazards at the next election. In the draft of the new electoral boundaries, I have been informed on the very best authority that the greater portion of Waihemo, Mr John M'Kenzie's present constituency, will be absorbed by Oamaru. It has, therefore, been arranged that Mr M'Kenzie is to run the Hon. Mr Hislop, and Sir Robert Stout's trip into that constituency is merely the first move on the board. lam aware that Mr M'Kenzie had very strong private reasons for declining to enter politics again, at least for some time, and expressed himself positively to that effect some months ago. He has, however, been induced to change his mind on the subject by the promise of a portfolio as Minister for Lands in the Government which his old chief Sir Robert Stout feels confident of being at the head of after the next elections. There is no local man strong enough to move Mr Hislop, and with Mr M'Kenzie's influence in Waihemo, and the assistance of Sir Robert Stout and others of the party, his chances are regarded as pretty certain. As for Sir Robert Stout himself he has now abandoned all idea of going Home, and has definitely decided to enter political life again, indications of which are visible enough in his renewed activity during the past few weeks. In the amalgamated city constituencies, his election is a matter beyond doubt ; and unless the calculations of himself and his friends are very much wide of the mark, his chances of the premiership are equally certain. Patience and perseverance, according to the old proverb, can awwouufc almost any djffi..

' culties -even mountains, I think it says, f this is correct we will yet see Mr Jules f Joubert's " bold project " providing sport for the Cockneys at the expense of the people of this colony. Mr Joubert is certainly a man of great tenacity of purpose, never takes "no'" i for an answer, as the expression goes, and from long years of custom has come to regard exhibitions as a kind of universal remedy for all national ilia. This country, he asserts, is rapidly goiug to the dogs for the want of being properly advertised, and advertising, he takes care "to say, in the case of a colony, can only be done through the medium of an exhibition. This and similar arguments he has now dinned into the ears of every man of consequence in the country, into the ears certainly of every politician. He has laid himself out to badger every member of the Ministry who travels this way, and, no doubt, he has succeeded as far as conditional promises'go in scoring a success or two. But this is attributable to his pertinacity more than to any belief in the bold project. His great object now is to convert the Press to his view of the matter, and for that purpose he has for the past few weeks been busy compiling all kinds of information to place at the disposal of the newspapers. So far the project has been scouted by every paper of any standing in the country as something little less than madness, and so annoyed is he at this that he ha 3 positively decided to send the hostile papers no more information nor solicit their opinions in any way. This is a cunning move on the part of Mr Joubert, though hardly straightforward ; and is certainly a one-sided way of testing public opinion on the matter. Bnt, as it is the safest, Mr Joubert is probably enough not much concerned as to the look of it. Public opinion in this city is decidedly against allowing the colony to be dragged into such an expensive and, at the same time, stupendous piece of folly. Both the " Daily Times " and " Star " have treated the matter with something approaching contempt, the " Herald " alone allowing itself to be made use of by Mr Joubert, but that is hardly to be wondered at ; nor can it make very much difference one way or the other. A very determined effort, I understand, will be made on the opening of Parliament to obtain the necessary authorisation for the purpose, together with a grant of £50,000 or £60,000 just to give the thing a start, further calls to be made subsequently. For Mr Joubert and those who are in the swim with him an exhibition in London is, no doubt, everything that could be desired, otherwise it can only be regarded as an impudent attempt at imposing on the colony.