Correspondence.

Press, Volume IV, Issue 447, 5 April 1864, Page 2

Correspondence.

TO THE EDITOH OF TITE ' PEESS.'

Sib, —I hope you will allow mc the privilege of access to the columns of your valuable paper, to reply to an article which appeared in the paper of your contemporary, the Lytlelton Times of Thursday, March 31st. It appears the editor of the before mentioned paper has a very poor opinion of the cotton operatives. Now, the writer of the article alluded to is inclined to make it appear that the road to the West Coast was an entire failure, owing to the uselessness of the " Lancashire weaver. " I don't think your worthy contemporary has any intention of doing that particular class any injustice, but I do say before condemning these men it would be as well to enquire into all particulars connected with that undertaking. The number of Lancashire men there employed was 22 ; and out of that number there were about. 8 or 10 not wearer?, but bona fide laboring men ; men who have pained a livelihood at the brick fields, coalmines, and other laborious employments. The number altogether employed on the works was, if I am rightly informed, between 40 and 50; beinjj old colonists, that is, men who have been in the colonies for years. Now Mr. Editor, knowing this, would any rational man say that a work of that description was a failure because there may have been a dozen cotton spinners employed at the work of making a road. Now the writer of this knows by experience that hard, laborious work is not so diflleult to learn as nil that. It might not be known to you, Sir, and others, but I assure you as a fact that there are a great number of the " Lancashire weavers," as they are designated, employed, and have been sinoo entering the province, at one* of the greatest undertakings now in Canterbury ; and I am of opinion that if they were so useless as is represented they would not have been long employed there, and especially now, when there is such a surplus of labor in the market. Now, Sir, it is not in my province to enter into the merits and nature of the Waitohi, but leave it to those who were superintending the works to reply, as from what has appeared in the papers the reflection falls on them and not the men. It docs not need a man of a mind of ' a great calibre to understand that the work should be given up as a failure, and impraejic.aLle because a dozen cotton spinners are employed fhereat. Ypur contemporary complaining of the high' rate of wages, confounds it with the qualifications and value of the Lancashire men, a* tf those few men ruled the price of labor paid in thf; proyiflc*. T. myself, am not going to attempt Hzm§ $g J^te'fl* , > v »gPS in the colony, con- - **JU iTPP* ipaif has a perfect right, to ask sidenng ' '''« W«tf& U\ uith the what he thinks he .. -wmßee. I algn flatter rate of wages paid in the t . "—<»>. generally myself that the Lancashire operaw. . pp'eaking, hare been very fortunate in obmimng employment, although being placed at a disadvantage l with the agriculturalists. Your contemporary also ; states that the Lancashire men are frightened of . wetting their feet; however, a number of them having been sent up to the Waimakariri and worked ; there ?or three or four months continually in water, , whilst men (not Lancashire) came up to the job and retreated because of having the rivers to cross, night and morning. I merely mention the facte to chow how easy men may be led away with a wrong impression. Ihope*yourco7ii,::vm orar y (who caused mc to write this) will arrive at the' tfntn 0* his . B " b .^. ct ere he commits them to the newspaper again. .. I will not ereroach on your valuable space with the , attempt to write a long letter as I am only an illite- ] rate and ineffectual letter writer. * , I remain, yours, 1 A Loveb of Teuth a>-j> Lancashire Ma>\ t

PATENT CONCRETE STONE^ The Xehon Examiner abridges the f o n o ' • the Tpxirich Express of December oo .__ ln g from Ransomed Stone W.rlis h-ive 1,.,"" b rent the worlil. uirl, on tl *" to nient w:is lion.iuml by the "f gentlemen wh.w names i :! » nil>n of • a o f various Lraivhes of arts ami K.-iences nrc l' 0 t,,e thrmselves. Aninui't 11n* <Ustin C uU],etl a lin wore—Sir Kit/roy Killv, Ml. ir n \>i, M.P.; C IT. Smith, X,,, appointed by Govenunent for selecting the ncr » the Now Houses of Parliament, and sub*equp tl' *** investigating the causes of its present decay a *°* Burnell, E*q also one of the *' pointed for tlie latter purpose • Wvntt t> a P' T- «j. ;C. F. Howard, 1- ~,.; mA QoSriu. H Ksq.: a deputation from the Royal Instihi*** ,, British Architect*, &c, Ac. * lnsmu t« of Tlie object of this gathering was for then of testing the qualities, strength, &c, of thn '"P oß * stone prepared by Mr. Kansome's peculiar comparison with thnt of other eminent patentepT ,111 Mr. Ransome first proceeded to the Boiler Ho where the stone is put through its first process. tT* unprepared stone consists merely of the en flint, heaps of which were to be seen lvine W ° U the boiler* ready for use. These stones are 3? boilers, and to use a common phrase, actually bo'Ui "down"—in fact, melted. However incredible 5? may appear, such is really the ease. After be subjected to a heat something like 350 degrees Pah * licit, the flint is then acted upon by a chemical rml! cess, and the next form in which it is seen is in fb shape of an almost transparent gelatine, contained large iron reservoirs. This fluid appears to be !rf about the same consistence ns treacle, though r course, exceedingly dense; and this, the visitor i told is actually inr.de from melted flint stone. * The party were then conducted to the MiiineJim where the manner in which the substance formintrthe stone was also explained and illustrated. The mill j! formed by a large iron circular bed, in which two heavy cogged wheels revolve upon a single shaft. I n tliis bed was a quantity of sand of a peculiar kind and with this sand was mixed a quantity of themelted flint as shown in the iron pans. The mill was then put in motion, and the mixing process commenced. In a very short space of time tlie melted flint had become so incorporated with the sand as to form a kind of plnster, which felt exceedingly soft and pleasant to the touch, and capable of being moulded into any form, Pome of this plaster was then taken to another department of the works where the moulding was going on ; and the peculiar process of hardening was then shown and explained to the company, so that in a very brief period that which wj» seen in the form of glue and sand was converted into a beautiful kind of stone, capable of being used for any ornamental or architectural design. What an. peered most to sstonish the less scientific portion of the was the almost incredibly short time which elapsed from their seeing the ingredients composing the stone in a semi-fluid state, to the hardened form, capable of bearing the mallet and chisel, lie Portland stone or marble. The principal object of the deputation from the Royal Institute of British Architects waa to test the strength and durability of R«nsome'e Patent Stone in comparison with other materials for architectural and building purposes. For this purpose a number of blocks of stone were made by or under the direct supervision of the members of the Royal Institute, tt the Stone Works, from the composition! which hare already been patented. Tlie tensile strength of theia blocks was to be tested in comparison with othen, One of the principal being Coignat's Beton Agglomeres. The tests were under tho supervision of O. Hansard, Esq., and George Dines, Esq. j andw» feel bound to say that in every case " Ransojne'a Patent Concrete Stone" stood forth triumphant against all others. And this too in the fece of a material, not made by practical and! experienced hands, but by the deputation itself, for it appears to bo a rale of the British Initi* tute, and a very wise one, that no invention shall be assumed to have stood a fair and just test, unlem/ii in this case, the article to be tested is mad*« moulded by themselves or under their lupet* vision. ■;. 4..,-.. One system of testing was by small soettont of the stone being clutched by a pair of grapnels, which were suspended—the upper one from the oentreofs long iron hcam, exactly like the beam of an enonnoM pair of scales, the under one being connected by itont iron links with a beam on the floor. A heavy weight hung at one end, and at the other were hooks to, receive the weights, as the strength of the material required. By this means a strain was put upon the stone till it broke. The tests were conducted with scrupulous cere. Small blocks, of about Gin. square, were next tested by hydraulic pressure. Some- of the results gained, here were extraordinary. The blocks were pieced between small squares of wood, so ac to equalise the pressure. One, of a six-.ineh cube, was cracked only, with a pressure of sixty-three tons ; and when token out of the press, it was found that the wood upon which it rested had a large hard knot in it, which, under pressure, acted like a wedge upon the fece of the stone. But for this it would, no doubt, haw ,; sustained a much greater power. The wood itielt was, of course, squeezed into a dry pulp, and, nhei removed, dropped in flakes. Here, again, the experiments were eminently successful. Pipes were e)» submitted to internal hydraulic pressure. on6,w nine inches diameter, did not break et lOOlbs. to the. squnre inch. Another was shown which had cracked, with a clean longitudinal fracture, at ISOlbfi. pef. square inch, which, as its internal diameter was nine inches, and the pipe being only an inch end half in thickness, exhibited the cohesive power of the miterial to be equal to 3601b5. per inch; or, in other words, the pipes were found to resist more than four times the strain for which they were required.