TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2594, 29 April 1869, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

New Supreme Court. —This building will be finished in time for the September sittings. Bankruptcy. —Meetings of creditors were to have been held yesterday in re Horatio Bunting, David Gray, E. W. Hedge, and William Shepheard, but no creditors attended. The two former estates were declared to be vested in the provisional trustee; the other meetings were adjourned until Wednesday next. Timaru Mails. —The mail, which was due in Christchurch at 7 p.m. on Monday, did not arrive until 7 o’clock on Tuesday evening. The coach was detained for 24 hours on the south hank of the Rakaia, which was higher than it had been known to be for two years previously. The mai l . due yesterday arrived at the usual time.

Meat Preserving. —A large number of stockowners again visited Messrs Miles and Co’s stores yesterday morning, to taste the meat specimens exhibited by Mr Hyde. The meat nad been boiled without change of water, and the consequence was that it retained most of the salt used in its preparation. With careful boiling, however, we believe that it will taste very nearly like fresh mutton. In the cold state, it will afford an agreeable breakfast relish. The cost of erecting buildings and machinery capable of preserving 4000 sheep per week according to the process in question, is we are informed, about £3OOO. The price of the requisite number of casks is not included in this estimate.

The Waitaki Bridge. —The Superintendent of Otago, in his opening speech to the Council on Thursday last, thus alluded to the necessity of bridging the Waitaki:— “ Another very important work which it is to be hoped will be commenced this year, is that of bridging the Waitaki river. During the past two years I have placed myself I repeatedly in correspondence both with the Provincial Government of Canterbury and with the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, with a view of obtaining their ,coopetation in this great work. From the recent action of the Timaru and Gladstone Boad Board, in relation to this subject, lam induced to hope that they will shortly be in a position to provide a fair share of the cost of the bridge. (Should it turn out otherwise, however, so strongly am I impressed as to the beneficial results which must ensue from the carrying out of this work, that I would not hesitate to recommend its being gone on with at the sole cost of this province.” Board of Conservators. The usual weekly meeting of the Board took place yesterday. All the members were present. The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. The Chairman reported that he had received the assessment from the Clerk of the Halswell Boad Board dist riet. The tenders for the erection of the embankment near Mr McLean’s were opened, and it was decided that the lowest tender, that of William Hall, at one shilling and throe farthings per cubic yard, be accepted. _ The Chairman was requested to insert a notice in the newspapers, informing contractors that tenders for further works would probably he called for after May 5. It was resolved that contracts on behalf of the Board be signed in their -name by the Chairman. The Chairman was requested to apply to the Government for the advance of a sum of five hundred pounds. It was resojvcd that the engineer be requested to examine the upper and lower embankments and report to the Board at its next meeting, on May 6, what additions or alterations he recommends for immediate, execution,, and to prepare a specification for such proposed work. The Chairman m empowered to make the necessary arrangements with Mr Potts for entering upon his duties at once.

Lyttelton Parish, 6^s«eriko— Owing to the inclemency of wheYfeather, the annual gathering had to be postponed till to-night, at the Colonists’ Halt, Childbbn’s Tbbat_— The treat to the children of the town of Lyttelton, in honour of His Royal Highness’ visit will take place to-morrow. The children and their friends will assemble in Dr Donald’s paddock, where refreshments and games will be provided. In the evening they will muster at the Colonists’ Hall, to witness a series of dissolving views. The Late Royal Visit. —The following reply has been received by the Loyal Orangemen of Canterbury, in reply to the address presented to His Royal Highness. “ Gentlemen, I accept with great satisfaction the address in which you proclaim your deepattachment to the person and government of the Queen, and oiler me so kind a greeting to this loyal province. You do no more than justice to the other ports of tb J s interesting and beautiful country when you speak of the enthusiastic reception which has been everywhere accorded me as the son of your Sovereign. That that prosperity may continue and that industry may meet with its just reward, will ever be the constant prayer of your Sovereign, of myself, and of the people who share with you the blessings of free institutions. For your fervent prayers for the preservation of my health, and for success in my career, accept my warmest thanks. Alfbed.”

Ploughing.— The Argus of April 15, in its agricultural report, says The old idea of two and three furrow ploughs for horses is revived now and again in one or other part of the country. It was a favourite idea with the South Australians for some years, but we hear little of it now. A few days since, however, there was a trial in Dowling Forest of two and three furrow ploughs, mode and patented by Messrs Kelly and Preston. Some of the well-known members of the Ballarat Society, and other farmers, were present, and the results of the trial are stated to be, that the double mould board plough turned two furrows, each 9in wide, and 7in deep, with a draught of scwt 50lb, the treble plough turning three furrows, BJin wide and 6jin deep, with a draught of 7 cwt 56lbs as shown by the dynamometer. A single plough of Tynan’s make is said to have shown a draught of 3cwt 56lbs while turning a furrow 9in wide and 7 Jin deep, so it is argued that there is great economy of power in using the extra mouldboard, as the second furrow is turned with a force of 2 cwt, or little more than half what is expended in turning the one furrow. Such always appears to be the result of these trials, but somehow in practice these double-mouldboard ploughs prove to be of no advantage to those who use them with horses, unless where a wide extent of land has to be skimmed over lightly. Not Bad. —The Gipps Land Times relates as follows a new dodge to quench the cravings of alcholic thirst:—The stratagems that have been resorted to by “ tipplers ” to obtain a supply of their much-prized fluid, when in indigent circumstances, have formed the subject of many laughable stories ; but an artifice was put in force in this district recently, for ingeniousness certainly will bear comparison with any previously chronicled. Some few days since a man, footsore and weary, bearing a heavy swag, and with the inevitable tin billy swinging at his side, halted atan accommodation house notabundred miles from Sale, and enquired of the proprietress if he mightsleepinan outhouse that night proffering to perform any little jobs about the premises until nightfall, in consideration of his receiving his supper and breakfast. The offer was accepted,and.the ’tramp’ was set to chop some wood at the rear of the premises. He quickly stripped off his coat, and went to work apparently in right good earnest. Many minutes had not elapsed, however, when the labourer rushed into the bar in the most abject terror, exhibiting a slight scratch on one of his fingers, and declaring he had been bitten by a snake which had emerged from a hollow log he bad been chopping. The good lady of the house having no other-antidote at her command, plied the patient plentifully with brandy, which he imbibed with an eagerness and gusto that quite surprised her. A young lad who happened to be passing on horseback was hastily summoned and ordered to ride into Sale with all haste for a doctor. The patient at first strenuously objected to this course, but finding the philanthropic mistress of the establishment obdurate, he shouldered his goods and chattels and left the scene, after having consumed the major portion of a bottle of ’Hennessey’s Battleaxe,’ declaring that he must bare been mistaken as to ‘ that there bite, cos as how it could only have been a scratch with the wood!’ The landlady readily understood the ruse , and profiting by the experience she bad gained, resolved for the future to be more cautious in the administration of alcoholic antidotes to snake bites.”

Oamaru. —The Times of April 23 has the following account of the discovery of a coal seam in that locality:—Messrs Simms and Willett inform us that they have succeeded in striking an extensive and valuable vein of coal in the Awamoko district. The situation of the new mine is Section 16, Block VIII, Awamoko, and the seam is stated to be thirteen feet in thickness. The quality of the coal is said to be excellent, and it is also said to burn well in a stove or grate. There are, we understand, no difficulties to be encountered in working the seam ; and we are further informed that the section upon which Jie coal has been found has, on the application of Messrs Simms and Willett, been reserved from sale for coal-mining purposes ; but we believe that the area to be permanently reserved for this purpose is now matter for negociation. We have been favoured with the following particulars as to the mode in which this valuable discovery has been made. The settlers in the southern portion of the Awamoko district having for a long time past felt great inconvenience from having to get their supplies of food from Otepopo, a distance of twenty-two miles, necessity, proverbially the mother of invention, became in this case also the parent of exertion. Having discovered on the face of a hill, laid bare bare by an extensive landslip near Fin Vallfy Farm, a dark substance cropping out, which, when examined, proved to be a greasy lignite, of the appearance and consistence of soap, Messrs Minins and Willett commenced a drive into the bid, at which they worked from time to time, until they had tunnelled close upon one hundred feet—still hoping, but still failing, to find hard, inflammable coal. They abandoned the tunnel, which they had driven horizontally into the bill, and proceeded to sink a number of shafts, at a higher level These shafts were in ah six in number, and at a depth varying from thirty to _ sixty feet. A vein of dead lignite was struck in three of them, but good hard coal was not met with until the sixth shaft had been sunk to a depth of nearly forty feet, when the miner’s pick was heard to ring upon the anxiously sought-for mineral. The vein was bottomed, and found to be thirteen feet in thickness. The coal, having been burned both in a stove and on the hearth, is said to have proved freely inflammable, very lasting, and to emit a powerful heat. It is described as “ unlike the brittle and soft lignite usually obtained and offered for sale in New Zealand, being bard and firm, so that it will bear carriage or shipment as well as English coal ” We understand that a sample has been forwarded to Oamaru, and may be inspected at the stores of Messrs Cargills and M’Lean, and also that Messrs Simms and Willett purpose, at their earliest convenience, to present settler consumers within a moderate distance of the mine, with a sample bag, in order that they may be enabled practically to judge of its qualities. Should Messrs Simms and Willett's estimate of the value of their discovery be borne out by the test of experience, there can be no doubt that the opening o the Prince Alfred coal pit (which we understand is the name by which it is to be known) will prove an event of very great importance in the history of the district. We believe that the seam now opened will prove to be a portion of the same recently opened by Messrs Douglass and Bradbury, Papakalp, and should the coal prove available for the consumption of steam vessels, it is impossible to over estimate the value of the discovery to the future of this district, as, if our opinion prove correct, there can be no doubt that a coalfield, extending over four square miles, has been opened out.