death-rate may be attributed to the skill and unwearied attention of the medical staff. In connection with the Hospital there is a medical school and an operation theatre which accommodates over forty students.
The Lunatic Asylum is the largest public building in the colony. It was designed by Mr R. A. Lawson, after the Scotch Baronial style, and stands on a commanding, though insecure site, overlooking the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles north from Dunedin, presenting an imposing appearance to travellers by land or sea. It was built to accommodate 350 patients, and cost about £80,000.
The gaol—well, it is nothing to boast of. It was compounded—(perhaps is the better word, and more applicable than designed or constructed) of stone and corrugated iron. But it was one of the early buildings, and has been added to as occasion required. The idea of building a new one has been talked of, and perhaps the authorities will one day realize the necessity.
The banks until recently led the van in erecting ornate and handsome buildings; but now their claim to the first position is disputed by the Insurance Companies and hotels.
The Colonial Bank of New Zealand has its headquarters in perhaps the largest, most conspicuous, and most centrally-situated building of the kind in this city. It was erected in the first instance in the height of the gold-digging days, "the good times," by the General Government for a General Post Office. The then Postmaster-General, in giving his instructions to the architect, after describing the requirements, told him to design the building "after the style of St. Martin's-le-Grand."
As a piece of classic architecture, it is an ornament to the city, and does credit to its founders, and to the architect. The building was never used as a Post Office. The Provincial Government, which was then in power, and the General Government, disagreed as to the terms of occupation in some way; and the former erected the massive but plain red brick building adjoining, that now does duty as Post Office, accommodating the Survey and Registration departments, and the Supreme and Resident Magistrate Courts; and what was intended for the Post Office was handed over to the newly-established University.
