DUNEDIN NOTES.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 117, 6 February 1872, Page 6

DUNEDIN NOTES.

By 0. P. Q. i The opera company have commanded good 'houses since they opened in Dunedin, and ore still drawing well. They have produced in rapid succession the finest works of Donizetti, Verdi, Bellini, Wallace, and other eminent composers, and have in nearly every the most lavish plaudits and expressions of approval and delight of the numerous and fashionable audiences which have attended the theatre. Trovatore, Sonnambula, Norma, Lucrezia Borgia, Lucia di Lammermoor, with the lighter operas of Don Pasquale, the Barber of Seville, Pipele, &c, have been excellent!"' rendered. The conruanv is a stron" one, and has amongst its members some very sweet and pleasing singers. Their performances have proved a treat such as Dunedin theatre-goers have not experienced for many years ; and although the charges for admission are rather high, and have told considerably on the pockets of regular attendants, people cheerfully submit themselves to be plucked in consideration of the rare treat which is afforded them in return for their outlay. As was anticipated, Reichelt has come off victorious in the action which he brought against the New Zealand Insurance Company to recover the amount for which his premises were insured in that office. The rather peculiar disclosures which were made by the plaintiff during his examination have created considerable talk in town. Not that they came o\it as a surprise, either, for they were spoken of, sub rosd, even while Ileichelt was undergoing his trial at the previous sessions for incendiarism. The trial has been a notable one, taking it altogether, and has proved a harvest for the lawyers. Mr Barton (counsel for plaintiff) got amongst his favourite element, " blazes," and warmed to his subject when addressing the jury on behalf of the plaintiff in his own peculiar style, and administered a slight castigation to the police for their treatment of Reichelt when he was arrested on the night of the fire, remarking that " hitherto he had been under the impression that there was only one place where a man, when burning, would be kept without a drop of water. It did appear, however, that there was another, and that place was the police office of Otago. The treatment the recollection of which brought tears into Reichelt's eyes when giving evidence in the witness-box the previous day, must have been bad indeed." The Eev. Mr Backhouse, a representative of the British and Foreign Bible Society, preached in the First Church on Sunday last, and gave an interesting account of the operations of the Society, and the almost incredible number of copies of the Bible—translated into more than two hundred different languages—which have, through its instrumentality, been distributed throughout the world. At the close of his discourse, the rev. gentleman made an earnest appeal to the congregation, and to all Christians in the Province, to do their utmost to assist the Society in still further spreading the glad tidings of salvation throughout the countries of the earth. We had a shower or two of rain last night, j but only sufficient to moisten the parched earth. As a consequence of the almost unprecedented drought, our green fields have all disappeared, the grass having assumed an aspect very similar to that presented by the yellow, withered production of the earth which cattle and horses have to content themselves with in the neighbourhood of Cromwell.