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New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3998, 4 September 1874, Page 2

While it is satisfactory to learn that a recent inspection of weights and scales by the Inspector of Weigh ts and Measures has resulted in not one single seizure being made, the whole being found exact, we can only add that auy shopkeeper who would keep a pair of unstamped scales, when liable to the visit of an inspector, would deserve to be mulct in the heaviest penalty possible, for it is just as easy to cheat with stamped scales as without them, and it looks a deal more honest. The act of stamping scales, -without any other supervision over the honesty of " cutting" tradesmen, is simply a farce. The Inspector can assure us that the weights and scales are all stamped " according to law." Can he also assure the public that, notwithstanding this fact, they are not frequently the victims of " short weight 1" This is the point we should like to be satisfactorily advised upon.

An entertainment for the benefit of the ■widow and orphans of the late William Gribble will be given in the Prince of Wales Theatre this evening, by the Vivian Royal Comique Company. The case for which the benefit is intended is one well known andfully sympathised in by the public, and the announcement of tlie generous offer by the company at present performing at the theatre should in itself be sufficient to ensure a full house. The programme for the evening is an excellent one, and the efforts of the company, assisted by our best amateur talent, will, we have no doubt, give satisfaction to their patrons. In the bills announcing the entertainment a sentence is quoted which is deserving of consideration, it is "That one cannot help many, but many can help one." That the many can and will help in cases where help is required has been frequently proved in Auckland, and it may be confidently expected that the present instance will not prove a bad exception to a good rule which has been so thoroughly established to the credit of the community. Persons who do not feel called upon to contribute to the subscription lists, have an opportunity of indirectly helping the distressed in a very pleasing manner, by attending the entertainment to be given this evening.

The difficulty which has long beset the Kawakawa Coal Mining Company of obtaining a road from their coal mine to the Kawakawa River has at length been overcome, the Government "having been pleased to take and lay off a road for public use as a road and tramway, a curved road one chain wide from the Kawakawa coal mines, commencing at the southern boundary of the Te Wharau block, and ending at the derriek erected on the edge of the Kawakawa River." The schedule of blocks of land through which the road is to pass appears in the Colonial Gazette of August 27.

By the Colonial Gazette of August 27th, we notice that Mr. W. J. Smith has been promoted from traffic-manager on the Auckland and Onehunga Branch Railway to the post of general manager. The promotion, we believe, is well earned, for in Mr. Smith the Government have secured a good servant, and one who is not only watchful over their interests, but who is also obliging and. attentive to those who have any dealings with him in his department.

We can recommend an exceedingly clip-*, and simple process by which landlords a 3 tenants may greatly improve their W gardens or their back yards, or both Th Corporation is covering the footpaths of Hobscn-street and the streets thereto adh. cent with scoria. This scoria, before benir spread, is laid up in heap 3 as it is dischar«Jf from the carts of those who contract t supply it. The process to be gone through is to remove by wheelbarrow or other con veyance the heap which has been discharged on to the pathway into the yard or yards o garden or gardens requiring improving if has been tried most successfully in Ho'oson and Cook-streets. Our reporter places on record more than a dozen of these experi ments. He enquired of a free and indepeV dent citizen who was in the act of removing his third heap of scoria with which to fonn a garden walk and line his back yard whether it might not be looked upon in the light of peculation to appropriate to one's personal uses what might be fairly con sidered as the property of a body corporate 1 The free and independent citizen said, " Certainly not." He paid taxes. With the taxes the Corporation bought scoria. Therefore the scoria belonged to the citizens. H e a citizen, therefore the scoria belonged i o him. And he called his boy Joe to bring on 4 - the barrow for another load. ' "

Two fires in the country districts have been, reported to the police authorities. The tirsfc took place at Pamnure on Fridav last, on the premises of John Dunn. Two old building used as a stable and cow shed were lit.? troyed. The property was insured for £150 in tile South British Insurance office. Detective Ternahan was despatched on Wed nesday last to make enquiries, but could discover nothing leading to the origin of the fire. The second fire took place oif the Ist instant, at Avarimu, beyond Drurv. A. house belonging to Mr. Parr was destroyed, tee ther with his furniture. The origin of this lire has not been ascertained. °l'he house was insured for £200, and the furniture for

How premises may be set on fire without other than natural agencies Mas exhibited recently in Meyer's White House Hotel Hokitika. A decanter of water was standino on a paper mat, surrounded by a fringe of paper, when the sun was shining through the window and through the decanter. °Ic was about 10 a.m., and very shortly, though the sun's heat had first to come through the window, next through a bottle tilled with water, its rays so concentrated were sufficient to set lire to the paper mat border. Subsequently, through the same medium, matches were set alight, and it is evident that the sun on the West Coast has more than ordinary power.

The Supreme Court was occupied the greater part of yesterday with the argument by Mr. Gillies in shewing cause against the rule to set aside the award of the arbitrators in the case of Craig v. Macfarlane. The proceedings were interesting, ss a defence of the proceedings of Mr. J. S. Macfarlane, whose conduct as trustee has been the subject of so much comment upon the various stages of the litigation arising out of the disputed accounts of Macfarlane v. Craig. The proceedings had not concluded when the Court rose at 5 o'clock, and Mr. iiccs will be heard to-day.

The annual meeting of the members of the Scottish Company of Rifle Volunteers was held yesterday evening, in Capt. Mowbray's office, Queen-street, that officer occupying the chair. A large majority of the members attended. The financial position of the company was discussed, and the balancesheet, which shewed a satisfactory state of things, was submitted to the meeting and adopted. Other matters in connection with the corps were also discussed. Several new members were proposed and duly sworn in, and a cordial vote of thanks to the chairman brought the meeting to a close.

The Southland 'I'imes gives a very good story in connection with one of the domestic servants who arrived recently by the C.irrick Castle. Having been duly installed in a comfortable situation, she was asked by the lady of the house if she knew how to trim a kerosene lamp. "Oh, yes," was the ready reply, and having been shewn the oil tin, she was left to her own device. The surprise of the thrifty housewife may be imagined when, on returning in a short time to see how her "help" was getting on, the latter was found coolly engaged in pouring the oil down the chimney cf the lamp !

We take the following from the Melbourne Leader:—What with a free library, a free billiard table, free baths, and a caterer who, in addition to free quarters, coal, and light, receives an allowance of £SSO, possibly to recoup him for bad debts, the members of the Victorian Legislature are not badly off. But they are nothing to the lucky fellows sent to Wellington by the people of .New Zealand, who have turned the Assembly into a jirivate club, live there altogether, and manage to lay by the greater portion of their honorarium for a rainy day.

The annual meeting of the Auckland Cricket Club was held last evening, at the Thames Hotel—Mr. James Kussell in the chair. The report of the proceedings will be found in another column. The principal topics were the new ground at Ellerslie, and the presentation of bats for the best average batting, the highest score (in not less than four matches), the best two bowlers, and the greatest number of runs during the season. There is every prospect of a most successful season.

Some time ago, says the Grey Star, we remember an editor of a West Coast paper stating that some " cold-blooded miscreant, dead alike to the promptings of moral rectitude and humanity, had poisoned the postmaster's poodle dog." l-'or years we lost sight of that writer, but fancy "we have iliscovered him : for a late Tokomairiro paper in its report of a municipal election at Milton, speaks of a person guilty of throwing a snowball at the candidate as" a "fiend in human form!"

Since the commencement of 1852 the value of timber imported into Victoria principally for building purposes has been over £10,000,000. Timber is being taken from the Victorian public forest lands to the value of £2,000,000 each year, and the income derived by the state from the licences authorising this removal amounts to about i'3ooo at the rates now charged. Much of the firewood now used in Melbourne is carted a distance of 20 miles, and brought by rail or by water twice and thrice that distance.

A Wellington contemporary says, among things not generally known, it may be mentioned that during the March quarter of tliis year as many as 23,421 rabbit skins were exported from Wellington, their value being £641. The only other port from which similar exports were shipped was the Bluff, but there the number was only 500, valued at £10. All the skins were originally collected in the Marlborough province.

The treasurer of the I'efoniiatory and Womenis Home begs to acknowledge receipt of the following donations : —Rev. Mr. Cornford, £1 ; Jlr. and Mrs. Lennox, £1 ; Mr. Leigh ton, 10; E. Dickson, us; Mr. C. A. Harris, £1 Is; E. J. Turner per llev. T. B. Dudley, £3.

Subscription lists are being tilled up " m various parts of the town for the benefit ot the widow and children of the late William Gribble, who was accidentally lulled on Saturday last. We understand that Mr. P. Doran and others intend giving an entertainment in aid of the same.

We are instructed that the Miltiades difficulty has been settled, the captain and crew accepting £500 from Captain Casey as their share of the salvage. We are glad to learn that this sensible course has at length been t->ken..

The steamer Golden Crown was the bearer, last night, of the following parcel of gold from the Thames Goldlields, shipped by the Bank of Is ew Zealand :—t boxes, containing 4252 ozs., valued at £12,000.

It mil be seen by our telegraph columns that the Anglo-ANstralian Agency has been authorised to contradict the statement anent what was reported to have taKen place between the Premier and Mr. Stafford.

In his report on the Victoria Mint, Colone Ward lias made a suggestion that the Mint, to become payable, muHt be made a competing medium to the fullest extent. A correspondent, writing to the Melbourne Argus on the subject, says : —"I desire io call your attention to the fact that there are nine banks in Melbourne, each of which has about 20 branches buying and melting gold and approximately assaying the same, that each branch for each bank employs at the least three persons, and that the aggregate number employed is (9 x 20 x 3) 540, all of whom have been during many years acquiring a knowledge of the gold trade and a judgment of promiscuous parcels submitted to them. To use Colonel Ward's words, ' they hare been carefully instructed in the work required of them.' If the suggestions of the colonel be carried out, these 540 men will be deprived of all advantage of their education, and put back in their positions as bank employees, if not altogether dismissed. Colonel Ward desires naturally to make the branch Mint of which lie is chief pay, but I must respectfully submit that in no case should the Victorian Government become traders in precious metals, and compete with banks, private gold buyers, inciters-, and assavers, and even die-sinkers, as would soon j be the ease if his suggestions were carried out. I cannot believe it equitable for the whole of the inhabitants of Victoria to pay a large sum for the purpose of subsidising an establishment presided over by a gentleman who, with "his 50 or GO assistants, is the

olficer of the Home Government and only rcsponsible to the Home Government, to the great detriment of some 600 ' carefully trained men,' who, being Victorians, have

been trai:ied by the banks and private

buyers, but have not passed under the dominion or approval of Colonel Ward. If

under tie proposed regulations I send ozs. oi gold for coinage, 1 have to pay

3d per ounce —.I*l2 9s 9d—but if I send

1001 oi'.s. 1 pay Ud per ounce, or ,C 0 5s l Ad, which is certainly unjust to the poorer miner. Tiie branch Mint should not be

allowed to compete with melteru, refiners, rongheners, and die-sinkers here any more than it car. in England.—I am, &c., F. I. A."

They have an Immigrants' Home in Nev

York." ITarjn'rs HY-'/.'ty states:—-"In this city of 1,000,000 inhabitants, there are (jO,OOO

girls and 40,000 married women who earn their own bitad ; that is, they used to earn in prosperous timeu an average sum of 3 dollars -tt cents per week, with which to pay rent, clothe themselves, and live. One who appreciates the enormous rentals in New lork will find it difficult to calculate how a human being can subsist' upon such a sum, and then have strength and heart to work. There are depths in which miracles are produced, and poverty calculates by instinct, discerns as by a revelation, and in its expedients attains a something almost sublimity. In the light of the present, those were gala days. Now tlie streets are tilled with destitute girls, factory and workshop doors are closed on every hand, and 00,000 women are struggling without work, and without means to preserve life in their bodies from day to day. On sucli occasions as these, the applicants for shelter come thick and fast to St. Barnabas House, 304, Mulberry-street, where the Episcopalian Sisters of Mercy await meekly at the door, receiving with words of cheer and kindly greeting their unfortunate sisters, the waifs from the street. Inebriety is the only thing that has power to drive one away from that door, over which is written, ' Peace be to this house.' 'Fifty beds' the matron tells us, 'are all we have in the house, and we are so crowded ! Many nights the tloors are covered by women and young girls, who arc more than grateful for shelter and a blanket, or any covering we can provide. We give them food, and those who arrive earlier in the evening retire at nine. Of course others come in later, and from time

to time. We hare altogether to-night fifty five in the house.' "'

A London paper says Sir Henry Thompson's proposal to burn, instead of burying, die remains of our deceased friends, has been received almost universally with a feeling of severe shock and distress. On the whole, tliere are few objects round which our best affections .are more fondly clustered than the graves where we have laid those who are most dear to us. Before we resort to repulsive modes of dealing with the dead on sanitary grounds, it would be well to exhaust ail other resources to improve the public health. All the cemeteries in a great towr: are not half so mischievous as one factory. The untrapped drains of a single city throw up a thousand times more noxious vapour than the graveyards of a wide district. One farm-yard in a country village will do infinitely more injury to public health than all the interments in the parish burial-ground. But were it otherwise, it does not follow that burning the dead is the only alternative, and till that is proved, public opinion will still refuse to give up the sanctities and solemn associations of "God's acre" for the revolting tiery furnace of Sir Henry Thompson.

The poultry, fancy bird, and dog show, to be held in the Market-house to-day, bids fair to be an immense success, should the weather prove favourable. Between three and four hundred exhibits are entered, of which about one-half are dogs. This is likely to be the largest show of dogs ever exhibited in the colony. A band of music will be in attendance during the day. The show will open at 1 o'clock, and will extend over tomorrow.

The Ji<l Coaxl Times takes the following cheerful view of tilings:—"Thanks to Dr. Featherston, scarlatina, typhoid fever, measles, smallpox, and other agreeable visitants, are now pretty well acclimatised by immigration means in New Zealand, and, when the summer comes on, the seeds that are now lament will in all probability bloom luxuriantly."

It may be worth mentioning, now that the coming transit of Venus is attracting general attention, that the first observer of that interesting phenomenon was Jeremiah Harrox, an Englishman. A memorial recording the fact and commemorating his name is about to be erec:ed in Westminster Abbey.

Brighton, on the Nelson South-West Coast, Diu:st be a pleasant place to live in. Recently the sea broke into the main street, knocked down several buildings, and nearly killed three men.

A meeting of this 'Board of Education took place yesterday atieriioon. A report of the proceedings appears elsewhere.

Tenders are required by the City Council for the purchase of debentures to the amount of £20,00(1, issued under the City of Auckland Loan Empowering Act, 1874. The debentures are secured upon the rentals of the city endowments, and will bear interest at the rate of 0 per cent, per annum.

Meetings of the committee and members of the Pakuranga Hunt Clnb are announced to beheld to day at Boulter's Hotel—the former at twelve o'clock, and the latter at two o'clock.

Mr. G. Von der Ileyde will address the electors of Waitemata in the Lake district at 4 o'clock this afternoon, in the district •School-room, and also in JJevenport Hall, North Shore, at 8 o'clock in the evening.

The attention of the sporting fraternity is called to the fact that the entries for the forthcoming steeplechase, under the auspices of the A uckland Racing Club, close at S o'clock this evening, at the Auekland Hotel.

-Mr. S. Coombes will open his new premises (formerly the Duke of Marlborough Hotel) in the clothing trade to-morrow morning.

Mr. Rcr.der Wood, M.H.R., will address his constituents this evening in the Parnell Hall, at 8 o'clock.

The annual meeting of the Hamley Gun Club will be held at the Occidental Hotel at thee o'clock this afternoon.

Mr. T. B. Gillies will address his constituents, at the Mechanics' Institute, on Tuesday evening next. We notice by advertisement in another column that the free-passage ticket to and from the -'lot Springs will 'be discontinued. A call cf 6d per share has been made in the Van (fold Mining Company.

. THE ABERDEEN BOOT FACTORY. , Tuts establishment, belonging to Messrs. Black and Co., is a new brick building, situate in Albert-street, at the corner of Durham-street, and next door to Williams's » Fire Kindler Factory. There is an old '■ saying that "a burnt child dreads fire;" perhaps Messrs. Black and Co. think themselves safer next door to a fire-kindler's factory than anywhere else. Certain it te, however, that the firm have been twice burnt out in the space of a few months first at their factory in Wellesley-street, which was one of the 54 houses burnt down in the fire of the upper part of Queen-street, and the second time in the large fire in Lower Queen-street. They are now a"ain established at the premises above mentioned, where a large and lucrative trade appears to be carricd on. Forty-five followers of St. Crispin, and five machine girls here lind constant employment, and, on an average, one thousand pairs of boots are turned out weekly from the factory, the wages to the hands amounting to nearly £100 per week. All the latest improvements in machinery,' both American and English, have been brought intc "'": by the firm, thus enabling a large amount of >~ork to be performed, and with greater precision than by the old-fashioned hand-labour. Passing through the stock-room, where a large stock of boots and shoes of various descriptions and sizes are kept, the leather store is entered. The leather made use of in the factory is principally of local manufacture, and procured from the two currier firms of Ireland Brothers and B. Gittos and Son. The Auckland leather is used for the heavy work, the light uppers for women's boots being procured from Sydney and Melbourne. Messrs. Black and Co. say that the cost of the locally-made leather is just one-third less than that imported froir home, and quite equal in quality. The machine and cutting-room runs the whole length of the building. In this room the firm have at work a self-acting eyeleting machine, an American invention, by which the brass eyelets are fitted into the uppers of Balmoral boots in an incredibly short space of time. It is certainly an ingenious invention. The eyelets are placcd in a revolving brass chamber, inside of which a brush is fixed. When the machine is put in motion the eyelets are passed out of the box, the right side up, and drop singly down a slideuntilthestamperisreached, when the dies are fed with the eyelets and the operation of clenching them in the eyelet-hole is performed. A hook eyelet machine and a punching machine for making the eyelet holes are ranged next. A blocking machine is another clever and useful American invention. This is used for shaping the uppers or fronts of elastic-side boots. This operation formerly took a workman one hour to shape a pair of fronts. By this machine five pairs can be easily shaped in cue minute. At the end of the room eight sewing machines are in active work. These consist of two circular head machines, used for putting in the elastic to sidc-sprin" boots. They are a Britannia and a Carver. There are also Howe's and Singer's machines for plain work, and a very powerful Britannia manufacturing machine for plain boot work. Four of these machines are from the Fitting Shop, Vulcan Lane, and their work gives great satisfaction, especially the last-mentioned machine, which is described as the best in use. Messrs. Black and Co. have ordered a wax thread machine, an invention which was described in the columns of the Heeald a few weeks ago. On the lower floor a number of riveters are at work, and more machinery is in operation. A rolling macliineis herein useforrolling the bottom stuff iusteadof liammeringbyhand, ■as formerly practised. A skieving machine, for split lifts and stiffners, and two cutting machines, for cutting out soles, heels, and stiffeners; a large stock of steel knives, nearly 500, and costing on an average los each, are kept forcuttingthevarioussizedsoles, &c. Oneofthesecutting machines was made by Mr. C. Hawkeswood, at the Staffordshire Iron Works ; the other machine is not quite so modern, and is of Leicester manufacture. An immense quantity of different sized leather soles are arranged on shelves along the lower shop, ready for making up. A number of other machines, in addition to those described, are also on the premises, and used in the manufacture of boots. The hours of labour are from S a.m. till (5 p.m., and on Saturday from S a.m. to two p.m. for meu; for females, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., one hour being allowed for meals. With such establishments as this in our midst the importation of boots and shoes must, in course of time, become very limited.