Privincial and General

Otago Witness, Issue 1456, 11 October 1879, Page 7

Privincial and General

THB ELECTRIC LIGHT ON IRONCLADS. The electric lighting apparatus of Messrs Wilde and Co., of Manchester, which has been tried on board the Alexandra, Temeraire, and other vessels, having proved efficient, the order has been given by the Admiralty to supply similar apparatus to the ironclads Northumberland, Warrior, Bepulse, Superb, Nelson, the steel-aviso Iris, and the dispatch-boat Lively. Some of these ironclads already use the light, and others are prepared to follow. The trial of the electric light in the Eoyal Arsenal, Woolwich, has encouraged the authorities to fix more lamps in the several workshops — viz., in, the carpenters' workshop, tbe laboratory department, &c. A similar experiment has been made in the Eoyal Carmgo Department at Woolwich. A large and lofty shed known as the " mounting ground," which had been inefficiently lighted with 150 gas jets is now furnished with two electric lighf s, SPORTING EXTRAORDINARY. It is carious to note the change of idea?, observes the Broad Arrow. During the first China War it was considered that an officer had done something at least infra dig. in taking a pot shot at a Chinese some distance off during a temporary lull of hostilities ; and the late Lord Gough, with all his faults a chivalrous soldier, and the " bravest of the ■ brave," in hia Indian wats peremptorily prohibited such trials of skill. But ia Zululand, if we may trust our contemporaries, a different feeling prevails, and on a recent occasion a " special correspondant," in company with an officer, pathetically tells us what bad luck he had when operating upon some Zulu scouts at a distance of only 500 yards. His companion had put the eaomy to flight by a shot ; but, sayflthe "amateur," "to my intense disgust, after carefully coveting one of the fugitives, I got a miss-fire, followed by two others in succession^' These " black buck " appear to make good sport, and as a true sportsman is believed never to eat his own game bagged, there may not, after all, be ao much harm done to our reputation as a civilised people. DISAPPOINTED IMMIGB.A-BTS. The Chronicle Bays :—": — " An interesting petition was yesterday presented by_Mr Stevens, one of the members for Christchurch, on behalf of a Canterbury settler, praying for compensation on the ground that advertisements in the Home papers had led him to expect he would obtain a free grant of land on his arrival in the Colony, whereas he got nothing of the kind. Wo have reasen to believe that he is not the only man in the Home Cc untry who has been deluded by the rash promises and exaggeration of the emigration agents. The exuberant fancy of these gentlemen occasionally requires a checking." MEMORIES OB THE PAST. The table upon which Napoleon 111. signed the declaration of war by France agaiaßt PrusBia at St. Cloud in July, 1870, has been juat added, with the sanction of the German Emperor, to the Hohenzollern Museum in Berlin. When St. Cloud was bombarded and occupied by the German troops daring the operations against Paris, the table was saved and taken in the first place to Versailles and afterwards to Berlin. The table is round, about five feet in diameter, and covered in the centre with green cloth ; the outer rim of the top being of ebony, richly inlaid with mother-of-paarl and various metals, and bound with an ornamented gold ring. Under the top of the table are six drawers of tbe form of a truncated segment of a circle, and each provided with a cunninglyconstructed lock ; the inner part of the drawers being of mahogany, the outside of quaintlycarved and inlaid mother-of-pearl. By the side of the table stands an arm-chair covertd with green leather, which, being a favourite chair of Napoleon 111., was sent to him at Wilhelmshoho. RESUSCITATING THB DKOWNED. A Frenchman has the credit of inventing an apparatus for aiding in the resuscitation of per* sons apparently drowned, or who from any other cauoe have been temporarily deprived of animation. It consists of a cylindar of sbeefciron large enough to contain the body of an adult perßqn. It is cloaod at one end, and the inanimate individual is inserted, feet foremost, in the receptacle as far as the neck, round which there is placed a padded diaphragm, fastened to the cylinder so as to be air-tight; An air-pump, attached to an opening ia the tube, creates a partial vacuum, and then tho outer atmosphere, by its own pressure, forces its way into tho lungs by the mouth aud nostrils, which ars kf I exposed. By a reversed action cf the pump tto air ia allowed to reentrr the cylinder, and ra-pirafion is tLerohy reestablished. A gla^a plate iiissrttd in the iron cudug enables tho operator to watch the movements of the ckc-sfc, which ri.-cs and fall-? as iv life with the working of tbo pump. The action may be repeated, it h Elated, 18 t!ni;» in a minute, an exact imitation of natural breathing bfdng thus produced. OYBRSTONE V. ROTHSCHILD. Under the heading "A Bankers' Battle," the Rock gives the following anecdote, ia which the two greatest (pecuniary) potentates of the age were concerned, on what it regards as good authority ;— At the time of the last great com*

mercial crisis, when the money market was juafc beginning to show signs of " tightness," Messrs Rothschild lodged a large sum (1,300,000, we believe) in Lord Ovetrstone's bank (then Jones, Lloyd, and Co.) This seemed bo strangre a prop cedure that it aroußed the noble Lord's suspicions, and ho bid his cashier put the monoy away in a parcel by itself and await further orders, which was done accordingly, Meanwhile money grew more and more in demand, and just when the pressure was at its height Messrs Rothschild drew a cheque for the L 300.000, hoping, no doubt, thereby to embarrass their puissant rival. So far from that, Lord Overstone had the exquisite satisfaction of returning the parcel of money precisely in the state in which he had received it some months before. It was such a bagatelle that he had not even cared to make use of it. ANOTHER MISSING TRIBE. As bearing upon the value of canvassing and the protection which the ballotbox affords, > as well as the sincerity of electors, It is said that one gentleman in the late election who polled 1250 votes brought up 1500 votes to the poll ! What, then, became of the remaining 250 ? HEMATITE ORE IN AUCKLAND. Mr Edwards, who has been engaged for some time experimenting with the hematite ore which (says the Now Zealand Herald) he hasjdiscovered on the Thamas Goldfield, ia about to commence tho manufacture of the ore into paint powder. Mr Edwards has received considerable encouragement from several firms, and also from some Auckland merchants. He ha 3 leased the premises known as Spencer's Rodaction "Works, where he will commence grinding the material at once. Any quantity of the crude ore can readily be obtained, and the market value of the manufactured article it ftbout 26s per cwt, which will give a good margin of profit. Should Mr Edwards be successful in this undertaking, it is probable that the manufacture of hematite paint will becoma an important industry. Mr Edwards has also discovered a fine bed of lithographic stone in the neighbourhood of Grahamstown. The Btono, however, is supposed to be on Native land, and consequently Mr Edwards is not disposed to make the locality public at present. The stone appears to be of excellent quality, and takes a good polish very readily. DISSIMULATING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION. Geography (says an English paoer) is a weak point witii the French ration. The Germans, when they iuvaded France, were found to know the country better, and to possess better maps of it, than the natives themselves. Culture in Franco, indeed, seems to be the possession of the few, and that probably is one cauße of the dangerous instability of th 9 Government. The , men in power appear to have discovered this, and are evidently doing all they can, despite pi lastly opposition and intrigue, to strengthen themselves and the country by educating the masses. One of the expedient adopted for popularising science in the army partakes of the ludicrous, suggesting as it does the " moral pooket-handkercher " for the elevation of the little niggern whom Dickens has made famous. The French soldiers, we are told, have for some time had pocket-handkerchiefs served out to them, on each of which is printed a map of France and its principal colonies ; and no w others are being distributed bearing impressed upon them the leading directions in reference to arms, equipments, harness, drill, &c, of the infantry and cavalry. AN INSULIBD BX-M.H.K. The New Zealander is responsible for the following :—": — " It is said that the miners of Stafford Town recently got up a shilling subscription and purchased a pick, shovel, and tin dish for presentation to Mr Edward Barff as a new start in life. The articles were sent by coach, carriage paid, and were duly delivered, but were soon after seen lying in the gutter, i despised and rejected in the scorn of offended dignity." THE PARIHAKA PROPHET AND THE MAORI PAPJJB. Te Whiti does not appear to meet with much encouragement from the Waka Maori, judging from the following extract from its answers to its correspondents :—": — " We have received a silly ' Proclamation' from the Prophet of Parihaka, for publication in the W»ka. He says the ' orphans and the poor' are under his special protection. This being the case, we beg to inform him that we are extremely poor jusfc now, and that we cannot afford to insert his proclamations without payment. If he will pay, we shall be happy to insert as many as he may be pleaßed to issue ; otherwise, we must decline the honour." OUK IMPORTS AND BXPORTS. During the year 1878, the total iraportrf into the Colony fimounted to L 8,755,667, and the exports to L 6,015,700. The imports from the United Kingdom alone amounted to 1j5.333,170, and tho exports thereto to L 4,727,242 Next in the list comes the Colony of Victoria, from which we imported goods to the value of L 1,443,702, and to which was exported merchandise to the value of L 750.390. From Naw South Wales the imports were L 789.739, and the exports to that Colony L 239,190. Oar dealings with the other Australian Colonies were comparatively trifling. From Tasmania we imported goods to tho value of L 110,450, sending in return exports valued at L 20.939. A considerable trade was done with tho Pacific Islands, the exports in the aggregate largely exceeding the imports. With the United States of America on the Atlantic, our dealings were as follows : — Imports, L 373.050; exports, L 40.784. Pacific States— Imports, L 59.526 j exports, L 3159. Imports from China, India, and Mauritius amounted to L1G5.453, L 131.136, and L 207.210 respectively, the exports in each case being comparatively small. No exports are shown to any of the European countries, exclusive of the United Kingdom, and the imports are very small, France heading tho list with L 25,101. A BLOT ON AMERICAN TOLERANCE. Roumania is not the only country where hostility to the Jews still finds expression in a way mor j or less disagreeable to that people (says tho Pall Mall Gazatte). Since they were shut out from the principal hotel at Saratoga a year or two ago as customers who damaged the business of^the house, there has been a running discmaion in America as to whether they really do drive Christians away from the places to which they resort. A Mr Austin Corbiu has no dou'ot whatever on tho matter ; and ho has even gone so far as to exclude Jews from the Manhattan Beach railway. This ba~i given great offence in all quarters; and the general feeling^ that Mr Curbin has injuied his r.dlway ami infringed hig charter. At tbo same time it is surprising to observe the number of hotelkeopars who state that they find themselves obliged to a>jk from Jewa what are virtually prohibitive prices for rooms, because th>y would otherwise lose thair connection. But when so much is being said about Iho behaviour of the Roumanians to the Jews — and shameful their conduct undeniably is — it is not amiss, perhaps, to call to mind that even in enlightened America the same prejudice exists without any reason, or rather with many ' reasons against

MAKING TIMBER FROM STRAW. Some samples of hard-wood lumbsr made ou'. of common wheat straw have lately been exhibited in Illinois, and havo, it is stated, attracted much attention among the lumbermen. The wood has all the polish and finish of the hardest black walnut and mahogany. An ordinary straw board, such aB is usvially made at any papor-mill, ia used for producing it. Ab many sheets are taken as are required to make the thickness of lumber desired. These SnGGts are passed through a chemical solution which thoroughly softens up the fibre and completely saturates it. The whole is then drawn through a succession of rollers, dried and hardened during the process, as well as polished, and then conies out of the other end of the machine hard dry lumber ready for U3e. It is said that the chemical properties hardening ia the fibre entirely prevent water soaking, and reuder the lumber combustible only in a very hot fire. The hardened finish ou tha outside also makes it impsrvious to water. The samples which have beea exhibited could hardly be told from hard-wood lumber, and in sawing the material the difference could not be detected. TWO IN ONE. There was an amusing discussion in the Vie torian Assembly lately on the question of female voting. Mr H. R. Williams advocated an Upper House to be olectad by the male ratepayer. " Why male ?" asked Mr Cooper. In reply, Mr Williams said hs would give careful consideration to a proposition to admit to the Buffrage widows and ladies of a certain age who have failed to obtain husbands. They are consumers, and representation, philosophised Mr Williams, " is supposed to go hand in hand with taxation." — " But married ladies," urged Dr Madden, "are supposed to be greater consumers than the single, and you ought to admit them first."— " Married women," said Mr Williams, " have their husbands, and those two are said to be one." FIRE-ARMS V. THE POLICE FOR PROTECTION-. The practice of carrying revolvers is becomfar too common in America. Sp»«akiog of the "pistol mania" in the United States, the Nation observes that, what with _ carrying pistols and keeping piatols and thinking of pistols, that reliance on the police which occupies, or ought to occupy, 00 large a place in civilised life has been with a large number even of the m< i st respectable people seriously diminished. One of the most striking and most barbarous features of Southern life is the fact that when a man hears that somebody else is looking for him to kill him, far from goicg for a warrant and having him arrested and bound over to keep the poace, he yets a pistol or a knife and lies in wait, p.nd thduthe twastab or shoot each other. This sort of incident rarely occura in New York ; but larger numbers thin is generally supposed of peaceable well-be-haved citizens carry pistok in th«ir pockets on the theory that they may be engaged in some kind of fourteenth- century encounter with a foe. Numerous murders result from having weapons at hand, but it is doubtful whether a caseoccursonceinlOyearsinwhichanhoneatman saves himself with a pißtol from a robber. The Nation wishes that some of the reforming fanaticism of the day could be turned against pistol- carrying ; or that those who carry pistols could be compelled to wear them openly in front in an outside belt, and streak their face with red ochre, like other heathen. AN EXPENSIVE ETSABLISHBIENT. Some returnß lately prepared by the Italian Ministry of War are interesting, since they show how enormous the supplies of weapons and munitions of war are which even a, secondrate military Power now considers it neces* sary to be provided with. On the Ist of January last there were, we learn, 104,809,198 ball cartridges ia the Italian storehouses and arsenals, besides 18,420,144 unloaded cartridge casea and 25,087,447 blank cartridges. On tb« same day, also, Italy had 382,055 rifles of tho moiel of 1870, 34,016 infantry and 13,550 cavalry carbines also of the 1870 model, 12,000 revel vers of the 1874 model, and 29,204 cavalry sabres. The heavy artillery material for employment in coast batteries and defences consisted of 96 24-centimetre guns, with about 14,000 shot and 3000 shell j 2 32 centimetre guns, of which clas3 of ordnance 13 more pieces are to be constructed during the course of the present year ; and one 45 - centrimetre gun of cast steel, manufactured in 1878 ; while the field artillery material comprised 40 complsta batteries), each of 8 9 centimetre guns, with parks carrying 400 rounds for each piece j 60 batteries of 8 7- centimetre guns, with parks to convey 500 rounds for each gun } 3 batteries of 8 9-centimetre guns and 20 of 8 7-centimetre pieces without parks and ammunition ; and, finally, 30 9-centimetre guns and 200 ammuuition wasgoDS not arranged in batteries, togetht-.r with 92 7 'centimetre guns in use at the schools of instruction and other similar establishments.