MR. CLARK'S DRAINAGE SCHEME AND LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

Evening Post, Volume XVII, Issue 384, 2 April 1879, Page 2

MR. CLARK'S DRAINAGE SCHEME AND LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

Among the many reckless and inaccurate assertions put forth by the opponents of Mr. Clark's drainage scheme, few have been insisted on more strenuously than the allegation that it is an indispensable feature of the scheme •that tb© drainage, pipes should be imported from Home, and not procured ' from local makers. This is entirely incorrect. What Mr, Clark said was that the best pipes must be procured, and that those shown to him as made in Wellington were not good enough for the purpose. At the same time he did not at all assert that sufficiently good pip9B could not be made in Wellington, and the fact that some Auckland-made pipes recently shipped to Wellington are pronounced by experts to be equal in every way to the best Home pipes (a sample of which had been obtained from Christchurch as a standard to test by) shows that pipes of the best quality can be produced in this colony. It may be explained that the pipes reqnire to be of the best glared "stoneware," and' that the common red pipes are too soft and brittle to stand the strain which they would nave to sustain. These common pipes are somewhat soft and porous inside, with a tendency to crumble,' are easily cut. or scraped with- a knife, and often are not truly cylindrical in shape. The approved pipes are hard as flint, thoroughly' glazed inside and out/ impossible to cut or scrape, and difficult to break or even chip. It is absolutely imperative that the pipes to be laid down shall be of this class, ' and if our Wellington makers can produce them they will -of- course receive the preference, provided the price asked be not excessive- In Christchurch it was resolved that if, on tenders being received, the price asked by local makers were' found to be not more than 10 per cent higher than that of imported pipes, the former should receive the preference. The local makers, however,' were unable to comply with even these favorable conditions. It must be borne in mind that unless our local makers can supply pipes at as cheap a rate as imported ones coum be obtained for, every penny extra which might be paid to them would be simply a present made to them out of the ratepayers' money. 'It is for the ratepayers to say if they are willing that this ' shall be done as a protection to local industries, and pending the necessity for this question to be decided, we desire to impress upon our local manufacturers the desirableness Of making such arrangements that they may be able to compete successfully for the supply of sufficiently good pipes, at a' price not higher than that of the imported' article, when the time arrives for tenders to be Invited.

Sir George Grey arrived in town last night by the Government steamer Hinemos. We learn from the Government that the removal of the survey party from a block on the Manawatu River was the result of a misapprehension on the part of the Maoris. It appears that Mr. Baker, the surveyor in charge of the party, did not give the natives notice' of his intention to survey the block, and when he entered on the land the natives wanted to know his authority. * None of the party understood Maori, and so were unable to make any explanations, and the natives thereupon removed their instruments. The Native Department was communicated with, and explanations followed, upon, which the Maoris expressed their regret, saying that they acted in ignorance, and the survey party was allowed to return to work. It is satisfactory to see tbat the urgent necessity of abating that deadly nuisance, the Kent Terrace drain, to which we have felt it our duty dally to call attention, at length has been recognised by the Corporation, not however before at least two lives have been sacrificed to their past neglect, and others seriously endangered. The Public Works Committee recommend :— That arrangements be entered into for having tbe Kent Temctt drain covered in on similar conditions as were stipulated % in tbe case of Riddiford-street formation, and that- in the nfeantfme the City Surveyor be instructed le have it flushed down as frequently -as possible.- The Committee also recommended that asotW public nuisance, the rubbish depftt at the Store, be; aY once abolished It Is to be hoped - that the <Sty Council will see the necessity of having this work done without delay, and we are glad to

learn that a deputation of residents will wait on the Obuncfl at to-morrow evening's meeting to urge that this be done. The vevenue for the third quarter of the financial year, which ended on Monday, is not yet definitely ascertained, but the returns sent in enable an approximate to be formed, from which it appears that, notwithstanding the loss in the revenue from land sales, there will be a surplus over the Estimates. The Arawata with the Suez mail will arrive here to-morrow morning. - The Hon. Messrs. Ballance and Macandrew left this afternoon for the West Coast. They travel by buggy, breaking from the main road at Kaiwarra, and travelling over the route which has been provisionally adopted for the West Coast Railway. It is hoped that thier visit will expedite matters, and that tenders will be called for the first section oi the line within a few weeks. , It has been decided to bold the ball in honor of His Excellency the Governor and Lsdy Robinson, in the Imperial Opera House on Wednesday, the 16th inst. The price of tickets has been fixed it 15s for gentlemen and 10s for ladies. The names of the Ball Committee, from whom tickets can be obtained] appear in our advertising columns. We understand that the first marriage of a Maori woman by a Registrar of Marriages took place to-day at the Supreme Court House, the happy |bride beiog a chieftaineas from Oroua. We have received the " Postal Guide " for the current quarter. Hii Excellency the Governor yesterday paid a visit to the Public Offices, and expressed himself as well pleased with his visit. The following is the return of the patients admitted into and discharged from the Provincial Hospital, Wellington, during the month of Much:— Admitted, 30: discUarged, 26; died, i; left in Hospital, 64. A drain has been authorised to be laid in Constable-street, at an estimated cost of £17 ISs. A further claim from Mr. J. C. Crawford for compensation has been referred to the City Council. The City Surveyor has been authorised to proceed with the drainage of Ingestre-street fortfiwitb, the matter being considered of urgent necessity. The as to the formation of the streets on the reclaimed land has been referred by the Public Works Committee, for the -consideration of the Council. Mr. John C. Ponsonby has resigned his position as purser of the ss. Wakatipu, and his place has been taken by Mr. C. Liggins, punirof the Hawea. Mr. Ponsonby, who has Bad many years experience in the wine trade, has entered into partnership with Mr. Preston,' wh6 has recently Btarted business in* Wellington as wsnemerchant.e merchant. Mr. Ponsonby 's retirement will be much regretted by the {travelling public, with whom his invariable 'courtesy bas rendered him a general favorite. We wish him all success in his undertaking. Mr. C. O'Neill has presented a copy of his new; and excellent map of Wellington and suburbs to his Excellency the Governor, and has received a courteous reply from Captain St. John, A D.0., conveying the thanks of the Governor for the present. The Public Works Committee have reported that they do not consider Mr. F. G. Johns has any claim against the Council for damage to his property in Grant-road.- . The Public Works Committee recommend that the application/from the' Governors of the College for leave , to form certain new streets in the College Reserve be agreed to, on the governors undertaking to comply- with the ufual conditions; that Mr. S. Parked applica"tibn for leave to form a new street to be termed " Brunswick Place," be agreed to on the usual conditions j that the Town Hall Reserve be put up to auction with the right of occupation for 12 month's certain, and 6 months' notice on either side ; that the sum of £100 be paid to Mr. H. Meech in full of all claims for damage to bis slip and in consideration of his surrendering 1 his lease of the premises; that the sum oorf r £300 bs invested and the interest thereof paid Ito Mrs. Eliza Hedges in full of all claims for damages, the said £300 to revert to the Corporation at her demise, also that all costs incurred by Mrs. Hedges be paid -by ,the Corporation ; that the balance of P. Scally's contract for lowering Willis-street be paid. Yesterday the employees of the New Zealander presented to Mr. F. B. Senior, the late manager of that newspaper, a, handsome gold locket. Mr. Senior's connection with the New. Zsalaxtcer ceases in consequence of the -recent change of proprietorship. The official result of the smelting of the D'Urville Island copper ore has at last been received from Sydney, and bears out in every respect the statements nude at the recent meeting of Wellington shareholders. Mr. Yale, assistant manager of the English and Australian Copper Company's works at Waratah, Newcastle, where the ore was sent to be' smelted, says : — " It was seen at once, on the bags, being opened, that one-half the quantity was composed of simply the ground accompanying the ore, and that no attempt whatever had been made to sort or dress the ore. It is > a great pity that some one was not 1 on the ground to have attended to this matter, as the are most disastrous. Out of the "47 tons actually weighed only about 15 tons should have been sent. The worst part of the business is that the ore is so easily selected that a blind man could almost undertake to sort it ' by mere weight alone. With a view of determining the actual value of the ore, I have had a> fair sample .taken out, such as if I were in charge Would have been sent for sale. I made two assays thereon, which give 29$ per cent.; this is not so good as the appearance of the ore indicates. I therefore subjected it to a critical examination,- and find that although the ore in the lode is unquestionably good, yet it is mixed up with a large quantity of specular iton, which cannot begot rM of by dressing. However, I have no hesitation in saying that the ore can, and should be brought up to 20 per cent., whlcb/even at the present low price of copper would pay well. I may further say that it is my opinion that the ore will change at no great depth below thar present workings, And that the serpentine roeJk in which the permanent ores, consisting Af yellow sulphides, will befouba. Consider! ig the easy shipment o,f the ore, the mine appe »rs most promising, and will show good resultsl with (proper I Was going to say) managemen : by an experienced ' person." A telegram recdived yesterday from Mr. Cook, the manager of the Waratah works, states that on looking through the accounts he finds that the yield has bee,n under-estimated, and that further credit will have to be given to the D'Urville Company] The copper improves as the smelting goes on, and one assay of a; sample of rich ore gives 47 percent, of copper. The new water mains having arrived, the following services have been authorised :— Clifton Terrace, Sage-lane (Tory-street), Park-street (Adelaide Road), Hawker-street, Hansen-street, Drummond-etreet, and Douglas Wallace-street. A meeting was held last evening at the St. Mark's schoolroom, Sussex Square, for the purpose of taking steps to farm a society to be called the St. Mark's Young Men's Society. The Rev. R. Coffey, incumbent of the parish, presided, and there was a good attendance. About forty enrolled themselves as members of the new society, and a code of rules which had been drafted received adoption by the meeting. The following office-bearers were elected:— .President, Rev. R. Coffey ; vica-presidents, Rev. C. D. De Cestro and Mr. Kenneth ¦Wilson, M.A., Principal of the Wellington College; honorary secretary, Mr. F. K. De Castro; honorary treasurer,- Mr. Herbert Gaby ; auditors, Messrs. J T. B. Hickson and H. C. Garrard ; committee, Messrs. G. Beere. C. Callis, C. S. K. De Castro, C. J. Hardy, and H. D. Young. The first committee meeting will be held on Friday next, the 4th instant, at 8 p.m. The last of Mr. Bright's week-dsy lectures will be given at the Athenaeum tab evening. The subject will be " The Reign of Law." Another meeting of Mr. Climie's supporters will be held at the Princess Theatre Hotel, Tory -street, this evening. The second of Mr. Young's lectures on elementary geology will ba given in the Terrace Sch h>l on Saturday afternoon. The admission is free, and though the lectures are specially given to pupils of the school, outsiders are also invited. Next Saturday's subject will be " Nature's agencies in producing geological formation." The ordinary meeting of the Teachers' Association will be held in the Thorndon schoolroom on Saturday. Mr. Mowbray will read a paper on " Music in Schools." The first shipment of wheat brought by railway from the Wairarapa arrived on Saturday last. We find on enquiry that this wheat was grown by Mr. J. M'Masters on bis property at Waihenga, forwarded through Mr. T. W. Piicher, and consigned to Messrs Levin and Co. for shipment. We hope this is the forerunner of many a similar consignment. The- new (gas-making machines rectnfly introduced into the colony appear likely, If all that Is said about them is true, to bring down the price of gas very materially. The Wairarapa Valley Guardian, in noticing the erection of one of these machines at the Marquis of Normanby Hotel, Carterton, enters into a calculation as to the comparative cost of coal gas and that obtained from the gasoline used in these machines, and declares that the pries I of the latter does not at- the most cxc.cd 6* per lOOOifcet. The gas is said to give a softer and purer light than that from coal gas, and it is added that there is no dagger of exploit sion. The whole apparatus requires little space, not more than a square yard, and can be managed by any one after a little explanation as to the mode of working. There is no storehouse required for gwf, as it ii manufactured only w required ; the well at the bottom of the machine being SUed with gasoline, and 1 the weights wound ;up (once in 24;honrs), is all.

that is required. Alight can be obtained immediately, which is entirely free from sulphurous or ammoniacal qualities so common to coal gas, and so destructive to picture frames, the covers of books, &c. Our contemporary adds that gasoline is a mineral oil found in inexhaustible quantities in America, the flashing point of which is said to be over 115 degrees Fahrenheit We can hardly reconcile this latter statement with the fact that when tested by our Inspector of Kerosene the oil was found to be " extra dangerous," and was not allowed to be stored even in the kerosene hulk Mr. Duncan informs us that the Government propose selling several other sections of the reclaimed land to the north of the Government Buildings, as well as 4 or 5 other sections withdrawn from last sale. Mr. Johnson, the Inspector, held an inspection of licensed hackney carriages to-day, and issued the licenses. There were 37 who put in an appearance, and of these Mr. Johnson refused the licenses of .two on account of their not being in a proper state of repair. The ketch Emerald, fromGisborne to Picton, put into Wellington last night in consequence of the mate, a German, named Auguste Pollnow, having become insane on the voyage. It appears tbat the unfortunate man had been "jilted " at Auckland by a young woman just as he was on the point of marrying her, and the disappointment preyed on hto mind. During the voyage he stated that a man worth £40,000 was employing people to poison him, and he declared tbat he could smell poison in nearly everything tbat he could touch. On arriving in the harbor, the master (Captain Walsh), got the doctor from the man-of-war to examine the unfortunate man, and subsequently obtained a warrant in order that the.iatter might be committed to the lunatic asylum. We regret to state that there are still no tidings of the missing yatch Fanny Goddard. Yesterday Messrs. Walden and Hill started in the Contrabandiire and spent the whole night in searching the Heads from the Lighthouse to Lowry Bay. They returned at 11 o'clock this morning without having seen a single vestige of the missing craft. A meeting of creditors in tbe estate of Emanuel Rothenburg, storekeeper, WelllngI ton, was held this morning, when Mr. W. Berry was appointed trustee. Tbe debtor returns bis liabilities at about £630, and bis assets at about £110. At a meeting of creditors of Hamilton Andrew Moore, storekeeper, of Parawanui, Manawatu, held yesterday, Mr. C. E. Capper was elected trustee. The debtor, who was adjudicated bankrupt in tbe petition of his creditors, has disappeared. A sitting of the Supreme Court In Banco was held this morning. In a demurrer raised I by the defendant in the Bank of New Zealand I v. Wemyss, arguments were heard, and the Court reserved judgment. Mr. Travera appeared iv support of the demurrer, and Mr. Conolly for the plaintifii. In Philips v. Nathan the order of reference to arbitrators was decided upon. Mr. Travers was for the' plaintiff, and Mr. Brandon for the defendant. When we went to press the case of Conolly v. Fisher, on appeal from the Wangunui District Court— in which Mr. G. Hutchison appeared for the appellant and Mr. H. S. Fitzherbert for the respondent — was being heard. , The Hon. W. Gisborne, who addressed his Totara constituents at Ross on the 26th ult , received a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence"^ A buggy accident occurred at Oriental Bay to-day, but fortunately was not attended with any very serious consequences. Mr. T. B. Smith was returning home after a drive with his wife and child, when tbe horse first bolted and then jibbed, finally overturning the trap. Mrs. ' Smith was severely bruised, but the child fortunately escaped unhurt. Mr. Smith states that he particularly asked at the Nag's Head yard, where he hired the trap, for a q~ulet horse as he was going to take his wife and child, and he complains that such an animal as that which' acted as described should be supplied to him. The Perseverance Tent, 1.0. R., met in the Primitive Methodist Schoolroom, Sydney.street, last evening, when it was announced that none of the members were on the sicklist. It was stated that the intended conversazione in connection with the " Haste to the Rescue Tent" would take place on Easter Monday, when it is anticipated that there .Will be a large gathering. A conversation took place respecting the financial tables which the Government have recommended for the consideration of Benefit Societies. The Tent 'passed a resolution in favor of them, and recommending the District to adopt the same. The initiation fee was taken into consideration, and it was thought the* large sum which those had to pay who had reached middle life was unsatisfactory, and therefore it was recommended that a uniform sum be charged; so that the difficulty in this matter, which has long been complained of, may be obviated. There will be a complete change of programme at the Theatre Royal this evening. First will be presented George Conquest's drama " Hand and Glove," and this will be followed by a' concert, of which particulars will be found in our advertising columns. On Thursday -a farewell benefit will be given to Miss Amy Thornton, under distinguished patronage. We notice by an advertisement in another column that Mr. Benno Newman has purchased Mr. M. J. Mulligan's watchmaking and-^ewellery. business on Lambton- quay, and intends clearing-out the balance of Mr. Mulligan's old stock at exceedingly low prices, to make room for an entirely new stock, which is on its way from England. The arrangements for reserving seats at the public performance of Handel's " Messiah" at the Opera House next Tuesday, under the patronnge of Sir Hercules aad Lady Robinson, are advertised in another column. We have to acknowledge the receipt of the New Zealand Bradshaw, for the current month.