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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 75

City of Dunedin

City of Dunedin.

Dunedin, the capital city of Otago, is situated at the head of Otago Harbour, which is divided into two parts—the upper and lower. The lower harbour is six miles long from Taiaroa Heads to Port Chalmers. The upper harbour, from Port Chalmers to Dunedin, is seven miles in length. Dunedin and Port Chalmers are also connected by railway.

Although the hills surrounding Dunedin are rather tame in character and outline, the city itself is picturesquely situated. The business part of it is on level land near the harbour, and the residences occupy the sloping hills which rise on the west side of the city. The city proper is about two miles and a half long by seven-eighths of a mile wide, and is bounded on the land side by what is called the Town Belt. Tins reserve averages one-fifth of a mile in width, and comprises 500 acres, a great part, of which is virgin bush. A pretty road, called the Queen's Drive, has been laid out through the Belt, from end to end, from which many fine views of the town and harbour can be obtained.

It is thirteen miles down the harbour to the Heads in a north-easterly direction, but the Ocean Beach, lying to the south-east, is only two miles from the centre of the city, and the favourite seaside resort—St. Clair—is about three miles. Trams run to" both these places at short intervals. The city is also connected with the suburban boroughs, lying on the hills overlooking the town, by excellent cable-tramways. The Botanical Gardens to the north of the city are well laid out, the native bush contrasting with the cultivated parts. The Reservoir also, which is within easy walking distance, and the drive to Blueskin Bay, have many beauties.

Dunedin is well supplied with elementary schools, there being six large schools in the city proper, and eight more in the suburbs.

There is also in Dunedin a training-college for teachers. The students in training number eight men and twenty-one women. They devote every fifth week during the session to practice in teaching and management of classes in the ten. associated schools of the city and suburbs.

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The School of Art and Design is in the same building as the Normal School, and has a staff of four teachers.

The Otago Boys' High School stands on a commanding plateau 300 ft. above the business part of the city and the harbour. The school was opened on the 3rd August, 1863, in the building in Dowling Street now occupied as the Girls' High School. The new buildings were opened by Sir William Jervois, Governor, in February, 1885. The teaching staff, including the Rector, numbers ten; the attendance is 204.

The Otago Girls' High School was opened on the 6th February, 1871, with a roll of 78 pupils. The present attendance is 144, with a teaching staff of eleven. Otago holds the proud distinction of having established the first Girls' High School in the Australasian Colonies. Among the earnest band of workers who laboured to establish this first High School for girls the name of Miss Dalrymple stands preeminent, and will ever be held in grateful remembrance by the people of Otago.

The Otago University was founded in 1869, and opened in 1871. It is well housed in a handsome pile of buildings in the domestic Gothic style. There are four separate faculties in the University—viz., arts and science, law, medicine, and mining. The School of Medicine provides the full course for a medical degree of the University of New Zealand. There is a Medical Museum in the University buildings containing anatomical, pathological, and other preparations and models. The teaching staff numbers at present twenty-four professors and lecturers. Of undergraduates keeping terms there are 227—viz., 136 men and 91 women. The University Library contains over 5,000 specially selected volumes, and is open to the public under certain conditions for purposes of reference. The Chemical and Physical Laboratories are well fitted up, and furnished with all necessary instruments and appliances. There are six scholarships tenable at the University," ranging in value from £15 to £10 per annum.

The public Museum, of which the Professor of Biology is Curator, is under the control of the University Council. It is situated in Great King street, about five minutes' walk from the University. There is an art gallery attached, which contains some good works of art. Up to the present time only the central portion of the original design has been erected.

The Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute possesses a fine library of over 16,000 volumes, and a membership of over 1,000 subscribers. Besides the Circulating Library there is a Reference Library, and two good reading-rooms, well supplied with newspapers and magazines.

There are some fine specimens of architecture in Dunedin, the buildings for the most part having an air of permanence and solidity. Some of the churches are very handsome, and St. Joseph's Cathedral (Roman Catholic) has a particularly imposing appearance, although only about one-third of the original design hag been completed. It is built of stone in the decorated Gothic style. The portion at present constructed will seat 1,000 persons, and has cost £23,000.

The First Church, in Moray Place, and Knox Church, in George street, belong to the Presbyterians, and are both handsome stone structures. The Cargill Monument, which was erected to the memory of the late Captain Cargill, the founder of the Otago settlement, stands in the Triangle, between the Customhouse and the Bank of New Zealand. It. is an ornate specimen of early decorated Gothic.