IMPORTS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1670, 11 December 1873, Page 2

IMPORTS.

(A special charge is made on consignees' announcements inserted in this column.) . Per Waipara, from Hokitika: 1 trunk boots, 1 boiler and fittings, 5 packages turnery • „■,. ; . EXPORTS. Per Sarah and Mary, for Lyttelton: 55 tons coal, 15 empty casks. Per Waipara, for Hokitika : 15 tons coal, 3 drums oil, 1 parcel. The arrivals on Wednesday were the p.s Wallace and Titan, from Hokitika, and the schooner . Sarah and Mary, for Lyttelton, with ( a cargo of coal, was towed to sea on the morning's tide, and shortly after midnight the p.s. Wallace sailed for Westport and Nelson. The- p.s Titan and Wallace have been indulging in trials of speed between here and Hokitika. On the run down to Hokitika on Tuesday, the Wallace won the race by 15 minutes. On Wednesday the Wallace left the Hokitika wharf, first and waited outside for the Titan, when a fair start was effected, resulting in the Wallace arriving at this wharf five minutes ahead of her rival. Two ot M 'Meckan and Co. 's steamers are expected to arrive off this port ou Friday. The Omeo, from Nelson, will take passengers for Melbourne direct, and the Alhambra, from Melbourne direct, will take passengers for all New Zealand ports, and Melbourne via the Bluff. Steamboat fares between here and Hokitika are being still further reduced. The p.s Lioness is now running passengere each way for 2s 6d or 3s 6d the return ticket. The Circe is loading timber at Hokitika for Lyttelton. We quote the following from " Chambers' Journal :" — "As is well known to chemists, sugar exerts- 'im injurious action on iron ; hence it is that an iron ship may be ruined by bringing home a cargo of _ sugar. Professor Crace-Calvert, of Manchester, has made experiments on the rusting of iron under different circumstances, and he finds that strips of zinc; fixed to the iron preserve it from rust. Shipbuilders may take notice of this fact for their own benefit ; let them build a sbip with thin, platoo of zino fixed here and there upon the iron, and it will keep free , from" rust for many years. Or they may build, the ship . with galvanised iron plates, and find it equally : durable. Another effectual way to preserve an iron ship is to wash it well with alkaline solution. If, for instance, a quantity of . soda-ash were thrown from time to time into the bilge-water of an iron ship, the rusting of the iron would be retarded, if not prevented; And besides this, there ' would be very good economy in following Sir William Eairbairn's advice, as given at the reading of his paper 'on the durability and preservation of iron snips,' before the Royal Society ; ' build your ship,' said the veteran, 'so that ever}' part <if her can be inspected ; let your inspection be frequent, and you' will find the iron ship last quite long enough.' Another fact worth mentioning is, that iron bolts destroy the timber through which, they are driven, but if the bolts are made of galvanised iron the harmful effect is avoided." •