ANGLO-COLONIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 123, 25 May 1908, Page 7

ANGLO-COLONIAL.

NEWS AND NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 10th May. According to The Mail, an English team of bowlers will sail for Australia next autumn. This departure promises to be the beginning of a regular tour which 'it is thought should be of benefit in bringing the bowlers of the Antigxles into touch witb these of the omeland. It is announced that Dr. William S. Bruce, of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, who returned from a journey to the Arctic last autumn, is now planning a new Scottish expedition to the Antarctic. Dr. Bruce suggests followand extending the deep-sea investigaions made by the Scotia in the South j Atlantic and Weddell and Biscqe Seas. The work, mainly oceanographical, is divided into three parts ; firstly, a i thorough investigation of the South At- ; lantic Ocean and islands south of 1 40 degrees S. ; secondly, similar investigations in the Weddell and Biscoe Seas, including the mapping out of the limitations of these seas by the coastline of Antarctica ; and thirdly, to investigate j the lands adjacent to the Weddell and Biscoe Seas, and to make an attempt j to cross the Antarctic continent. Dr. Bruce estimates that an expedition fitted out with one ship of about 250 tons register, and 36 men, including six scientists, would cost some £40,000. Additional funds, including the cost of a second ship, would be required to carry out efficiently the project for»the exploration of the land. It is estimated that the expedition would la«fc over two years. Last Sunday evening, at the Albert Hall, a demonstration took place wolcoming Mr. Keir Hardie back to England after his round-the-world tour; the immense Ijall was packed. Describ- j ing his tour, fMx. Keir Hardie declared ' that the people from the Old Country whom he met in the colonies found themselves still pursued by the ghoulish capitalist system from which they had hoped j to escape when they emigrated. The land speculator was to be found in the colonies, and the evils which beset the people were not duo to protection or to free trade. They were due to the fact that the people of these newcountries had foolishly parted with their greatest inheritance — national right to own the land. So long as land and capital were privately owned, and production was conducted for private pro- j fit, there could be no solution of the labour problem. "The one country where the working man has a chance," thundered Mr. Hardie, "is New Zealand !" At which there were resonant cheers. "It's neither due to climate nor soil nor anything, but this fact — there's ! been more Socialistic legislation there than in any other part of the world." — the only country where there- is real Socalism. In the colonies, he remarked, he found that many of the co-called problems, with which England was face to face at home, have been solved. ■ Women's suffrage was one, "and it ; works well there," he declared. j At yesterday's meeting of the Institu- < tion of Naval Architects, a paper was ; read by Messrs C. A. Parsons and R. J. Walker, entitled "The Combination System of Reciprocating Engines and Steam Turbines" ; the authors mentioned that Messrs W. Denny and Brothers were building a vessel for the New Zealand Shipping Company which was being fitted with tho combination system of twin triple-expansion engines and one low-pressure turbine. In the ensuing discussion on the paper, Mr. John Ward, of Messrs. - Denny and Brothers, said that his respect lor the turbine and for Mr. Parsons had been strengthening for years ; he believed that the combination would fulfil expectations as to economy and utility in every particular. Many complimentary things were said of Mr. Parsons and his invention, and an interesting account was given of the speed trials and service performances of the new Cunarder Lusitania. The adoption of tho Parsons turbine as the propelling machinery of the huge liner, and of trie Mauritania, was in the nature of an experiment, and its success was naturally a subject of great interest to marine engineers. In the light of present-day experiences the adoption of turbines, even on snch an immense scale, appeared very* different from what it did in the summer of 1903, and too much praise could not be awarded to the late Lord Inverclyde for his courage and far-sightedness, and also to the Cunard Board for so heartily supporting and furthering the progressive views. Mr. Parsons mentioned that it was the success of the cross-Channel steamers that determined the CunaTd Company to adopt turbines ; very great risks were run in fitting turbines in such hugo vessels. So great was the risk that he proposed the adoption of eight propelloTs, which would not have necessitated the construction of turbines much larger than those of the crossChannel steamers. But the Cunard Company decided to take the risk involved by the adoption of large turbines. The coal consumption had not exceeded what had been expected. Lord Glasgow was in the chair. j

A telegram from Invercargill to the Wellington V.M.C.A. records that gratifying results are being achieved with the builuing campaign in that city. In the first twelve days £3638 was collected, of which sum £1618 was promised! to ' workers constituting the Young Men's i Team. The outlying districts of Invercargill aro to be worked next, and it is hoped that sufficient funds to justify a beginning on the work of erecting a building will soon be assured. The Wellington Woollen Company's *nill at Petone is working at full pressure to overtake orders which had accumulated owing principally to the scarcity of skilled labour. Overtime is being worked by the operatives in the spinning and carding rooms. The arrival of six weavers from Home has eased the pressure somewhat, but room can still be found for additional hands The company's clothing factory in Wellington is working skortbanded, and the chairman (Mr. Exley) states that the manager can find work for one hundred more girls in that 'department alone. "Hummer" writes : — "The septic tank at the Upper Hutt Railway station was again overflowing and polluting the vicinity of tho milk loading dock on Friday morning. A telegram was despatched to Dr. Frengeley by the local Town Clerk and the contents of the tank svere removed, and, as usual deposited in the open air near-by. Some day legislation will be introduced — none too Boon— to prevent Government departments doing what ordinary citizens are forbidden to do. At the present time, a deposit of manure some four to six inches deep and probably twenty feet wide extends for a chain or more alongside th« railway line opposite the passenger platform. Fortunately the weather is nofc warm otherwise the railway station would be a bed of roses or something else — with stinking stable litter and the foetid contents of a septic tank musically inclined within a chain of the platform." Special storage accommodation always available for furniture and all sorts of dry goods in our stores. We make a speciality of packing and handling furniture. The New Zealand Express Company, Limited, 20, Customhouse-quay. Telephone. 1333,— Advfc