The finishing touches are being given to the outside of the building, and it is expected that everything will be in readiness early next week to allow Mr R. Glendining to hand over to the Mayor and corporation his valuable donation to Dunedin.
Should this eventuate, as no doubt it will, the Winter Garden will be forthwith opened to the public, and will unquestionably be largely visited by citizens and also by visitors from the country who will be in town for the Otago A. and P. Society's show.
Mr Tannock, Dunedin's able curator of reserves, and his staff have for a long time past been carefully collecting and preparing for the occasion which means so much for the city's chief botanic reserve.
Of course, the tropical and sub-tropical compartments cannot be fully stocked at the time of opening, for many specimens which will be procured could not be brought here until such time as adequate provision for their reception had been afforded.
• The exceptionally fine weather that has been experienced throughout Otago for several years past has been specially gratifying to country councils and road boards.
Complaints coming to hand to such bodies regarding the condition of roads, etc., are few, and as a consequence the expenditure in such matters has been considerably reduced, with a corresponding buoyancy of finance. This fact was commented upon by the chairman of the Waikouaiti County Council at yesterday's meeting.
• That there was justification for the establishment of a female employment bureau in Wellington by the Labour Department is borne out (says the New Zealand Times) by the applications made thereto during the first week of its existence.
About 20 employers have applied for servants, while about 40 applications have been received from persons desirous of obtaining employment, the various callings represented being housemaids, waitresses, housekeepers, nurses, cooks, general servants, ladyhelps, and char-women. The bureau has been instrumental in securing employment for a fair proportion of the applicants. - ODT, 27.5.1908.
