COLONIAL .INVENTIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 131, 3 June 1904, Page 6

COLONIAL .INVENTIONS.

Application* for Letters Piitent, with provisional .specifications, have ljeeh accepted a-s under: — Alfred Kilckmann, of Wellington, and Robert Thomson, of Ngahaurang.i, an improved gumbrel ; Alfred Morris, of Clinton, Otago, waterprooi dubbui ; Edward Brooke-Smith, of Auckland, an improved exhaust-nmf-Her for gas ajid other explosive engines ; Martha Helenbelle Butchait, of Armadalo, Prnhran (Victoria), an improved eJqmnding cover for protecting Japanese cane baskets and the like from rain and dust ; William Johnson and Charles Tandy, of "Wellington, improvements in or relating to tho. construction of building cornices and other analogous structures ; John Howcroft, of Mbonee Ponds (Victoria), improvement i» or connected with machine milking-appliances ; Stuart Reid and A. B. Reid, of Eddington, near Campordowu (Victoria), an improved chalf-cutting machine ; Horace Andley Fry, of Riwnka, Nelson, means for use in teaching young calves to drink ; William Arthur, of Gisborne, on improved cultivator ; William Stcvenmn, of Devonport, Auckland, a combination (fining and billiard table ; Keith Stewart M'Kinna, of Collingwood. Nelson, im]>rovcd means for retaining hat-pins in position, and for protecting the hats from the wear incidental to the use of such pins ; John Bailie Robineon Davidson and John William Borland, both of Yarragon, Buln Buln (Victoria), .an improved machine for winding, uuwinding, fixing, and straining wire' for wire fences ; James Morvikou, of Dunedin, improved insole ; John Darling Douglas, of Auckland, improvements in aid and relating' to dredging machinery ; Dugald M'Donald Robertson, of Christchurch) an improved tolalis.vtor ; Edward Cornwall-Cook, of Hawthorn (Victoria), an improved bell-sounding instrument for punching, classifying, and recording ticket. 1*;1 * ; Thomas Hall, of Wadestoun, Il'rankI I ' rank Klvines, of Wellington, improved non-siltab'.e mat ; George M'lutosh Scott, of D.unedin, improvements, in railway signalling-apparatus ; Helena Setwood, of Kingston, improved holder and marker for books ; Edward Duncan Richards, of Palmcrston North (assignee of Frank E. A. Gordon, of the Bluff) improvement** in or relating to hammocks j John Henry Harrison and William Matthew M'llwrkk, of Melbourne, Unproved snips or lwmd-she^rs ; Iyar Fredrik Witting, of Yangafl, Warwick (Qu eon si and), destruction of bacteria in milk and preserving of milk by the use of hydrogen-peroxide ; Bcriuu'd Francis Dunn, of Auckland, means for automatically scouring the bottom of rivers or hai'bours to prevent the Biking uptiiweof ;

Andrew Grainger, of Taihape, an improved method of destroying noxious weeds ; John Watson and William Muckay, of Dunedin, a chemical process for treatment of flax and suchlike ; James Turnbull and Samuel Nicholson, of Gore, an improved compound foi the manufacture of boles of Wots, tiies. of motor cars, and other vehicles; Andrew M'Lcod, of Wellington, an improved diving-dress ; Thomas Boulton, of Kirwee, Canterbury, improvements iv fences ; John Thomas Hairh, of Invercargill, improvements in boot-lace fastenings ; Frederick' Walter Pjterson, of Dunedin, vole-recorder; William Wood, of Dunodin, improvements in pie-making machines ; George Pluck, of Rukuin, an improved device for holding a cow's leg wnile milking.

Mr. R. M'Nab, M.H.R. for Mataura, is engaged in writing a histoiy of that division of the colony known as Murihiku, and it was to search tho records in the possession of the New South Wales Government that he made the trip to Sydney from which ho has just returned. Mr. M'Nab says he is fairly •woll satisfied with the result of his investigations, and he hopes to bring about his book in 1906, the Jubilee of Invercargill. It will go back o.ily as far as 1853, or possibly 1856, tl" date of the founding of Invorcargill. 'X'ne chief material that he discovered hi Sydney was •the published accounts of t'.o reports furnished by captains of sealing craft that used to go out from Sydne-" Cove as far back as 1803, to Solander Island, South Cape, Stewart Island,, and Dusky Sound. Whenever anything special happened on the trip they nsed to give fairly lengthy reports to the Sydney . Gazette, which Mas first issued in 1803. Prior to 'that references to the colony aro found in the Government record. 1 * at Sydney. Those of the very early dates were destroyed by fire, but as New South Wo!«s was then a Crown colony duplicates of the more important reports were sent Home, and the Government of New South Wales has for years been engaged in having them transcribed and published, at considerable cost. The complete records, however, are not available of an earlier date thmi about 1836 or 1838. Other records have- still to bo searched at Hobart. Another field still unexplored is in America. In the old whaling days the Americans had the largest part of the trade, and the records of the old whaling ports on the east coast of America should be well wortli searching. Tho directors of Miramar, Limited, in their second annual report, congratulate shareholder*) upon the fact that) after writing off all preliminary expenses, bringing all unpaid liabilities to account, uud paying a dividend of £10,000 to original* .shareholders, there * remains a balance to credit of profit and loss of £4894 7s lid. This result, the directors say, has not been brought about by any inflation of value*. The land has been valued- at its original cost, to which is added the cost of roading and .surveying, as it is reasonable to suppose that it has increased in value to at least that amount. Altogether 73J acres have been sold for £42,040, giving an average of £570 peracre. The report goes ou to say : "As a considerable portion of this land has been jso'.d to tho Minnnar Building and Investment Company aud to tho members of the Starr-Bowkett Building Fund, mi tho terms that the balances due ore to be free of "interest for some time, care- kae been taken to reduce such sales as shown in the balance-sheet to present values. During the year Mr. Chase-Morris promoted and sneceeded in floating the Mican«w Building and Investment Compauy, Limited, also a Starr-Bowkett Fund of 50 members. The result of tbese two building, schemes Us that the Building Company has. erected nine houses, and thr«e more are noaring completion, while the Starr-Bowbett fund has erected six houses and found tenants for all of them. Two more Starr-Bowkett houses toe nearly completed. In all cases but two the members of the Starr-Bowkett Fund have acMed to the amount of £300 received feo build larger houses." It is anticipat?d tliut the nalance of the now shares will all bo placed in the next two montlis. Messrs. C. H. Treudwell and R. C. Cho*™Morris are sUmding for,, re-elect-ion as directors, and there i« also a vacancy on the directorate through the resignation of Mr. Myers. Mr. I). T. Stuart' is a candidate for re-election as auditor. That chopping is increasing jn popularity as a sport in the North Island is shown by, j the fact that th<* number <»f clubs affiliated to the New Zealand Axemen's Association increased frqm five in 1901-2 to nineteen in 1903-4. Prize-mon«y grew in tho same period from £76 to £470. and while in the season fivst mentioned there Mere only 55 licensed axemen registered, ther.e were 165 in the season just clobed.