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New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4122, 29 January 1875, Page 2

We arc glad to learn that on removal of the stones which have been filled into the springs on tlio Hospital reserve, on which it is proposed to erect waterworks, at two feet from the surface, a strong spring of water was found, and there is little doubt, when all the springs are cleared out, there will be an ample supply of water for the city, and we trust, now the City Council are waking up, that the work will be prosecuted vigo--1 oualy.

Wo presume that whatever comes or goes, "red tape" must have its sway, hence the farco of issuing yesterday the following notice in deep black border as an Auckland Provincial Government Gazette :—" Superintendent s Ullice, Auckland, 28th January, 1375.—The Superintendent deeply regrets to announce that he has this day received, by telegram from the Honorable the Minister for Immigration, the following official intimation of the destruction by lire of the ship Cospatrick, with immigrants, bound for Auckland.—J. Williamson, Superintendent."—" Government Buildings, Wellington, January 27, 1875 —To the Superintendent, Auckland : Agent-General telegraphs Bth January—Cospatrick totally destroyed by lire in latitude 37 deg. S., longitude K. Believed all perished except three sailors picked up in a boat. Only one other boat got away, but not heard of since.—H. A. Atkinson."

Mr. Waymouth's Art Union drawing took place yesterday evening, at the Mechanics' Institute. There wero eight prizes, including the well-known yacht Knergy. The following were the winning numbers : —No. 61, yacht Energy (Mr. T. Williams); No. 37, water-color-drawing, by Hoyte; No. 40, oil painting, "Sunset ; IMo. 81, pair of chromos ; No. 85, oil painting, " Monnt'a Hay '; No. 153, landscape in oil; No. 177, water color drawing after Claude; No. 183, pair of paintings in oil.

A correspondent in journal supplies in the following paragraph a tion to the, mystery .why the railways dooiot; Canterbury " The railway authori— ties decide ~t)iat it ia ; necessary to Hi"up portions of the Station ground at Rangiora, and require, say, 800 to 1000 yards of earth and gravel for the purpose ; and this is how they set about it. A ballast train, consisting of locomotive, eight waggons for carrying gravel, and two for carrying the workmen, is despatched to the gravel pit, near the meat factory on the south line. The waggons being filled and the men seated, the. train runs to Addington, and is shunted on to a siding until the North line is clear ; it then makes tracks for Raugiora, probably shunting again at Kaiapoi en route. Arrived at Rongiora, the men set to work to shovel out the gravel, and when finished take their seats, and are carried back twenty-six miles to refil the waggons. With 500 a luck and no unexpected hindrance on the road, they do this twine a day; sometimes only once, but the gravel is not in the right spot when shovelled out of the waggons ; therefore, another gang of seven or eight men is set to work to till it into wheelbarrows, and run it on planks where required. Now for the co3t; Engine-driver and fuel, say £3 3s ; guard, 10s ; thirty-two men filling and discharging, at 9s, £14 8s ; seven men wheeling and spreading, at Bs, £2 16s. Total £20 17s. (Note. —I am not sure of the exact cost of engine, &c., but believe I am under the mark.) The proper load for each waggon is six tons or four yards of gravel, but as the waggons sometimes carry more, I will allow 41 yards each, or 62 tons, and this will give 36 yards carried each trip, or 72 yards for the ordinary day's work. Dividing £20 17s by 72, the result is 5s as the cost of every yard of gravel which the railway department is now spreading at Rangiora, without allowing a penny for the wear ami tear of engine, waggons, and permanent way, over 52 miles run for each load. Comment is needless, bvt will you or any one else believe that there is an excellent gravel-pit belonging to the Government on the station ground at Rangiora, within two hundred yards of- where the gravel brought from Templeton is deposited at such a ruinous cost ? and any road contractor in the district would be glad to cart and spread it, where required, for two shillings per yard.

A meeting of the Victorian Rifle Association was, as we have been advised by wire, recently held in Melbourne, at which a letHr was read from Captain St. .Tohn Mildmay, Secretary of the National Ilifle Association of England, in reply to one sent by the Secretary of the Victorian Rifle Association relative to sending a team of Australians to the next meeting at Wimbledon. He expressed the satisfaction that would be felt at receiving a colonial team in England. As in the case of the Canadians, who had now been present at Wimbledon during three meetings, camp accommodation would be provided for them, which would greatly facilitate matters for them, and save them some expense. He was in hopes of being able to announce that thirty Snider rifles would be sent out on loan in order that the Australian riflemen might practise with them so as to place them on a level in large-bore matches with the riflemen in England who were armed with that weapon. He also promised that if a colonial team visited England, they would be allowed to make post entries for the various matches.. It was decided that a copy of the letter should be sent to the New South Wales Rifle Association, and its consideration be deferred until a reply had been received from them. The half-yearly meeting of the Red Queen Gold Mining Company was to have been held yesterday, but lapsed for want of a quorum. We lake the following from the half-yearly report and balance-sheet :— Kcceipts : Balance in hand, £23 os ; calls received, £357 6s 6d; gold, £21 Gs 3d ; tines, £4 5s 6d ; sale of forfeited shares, £1G lis 3d; sundry creditors, £94 lis; bank overdraft, £100. Disbursements: By liabilities at June 30, paid off £3S 63 Sd. Mine expenditure for half-year: Wages account, &c , 1'475 12s 6d ; material, £76 17s sd; crushing and cartage, £7 9s 6d ; drainage, CIB Ss 4<l ; rent and interest, £2 13s 4d ; general, £15 lis 4d ; mine surveyor, £12 lis Gd : total, £009 2s lid. Total receipts, £647 13s 3d; expenditure, £GO9 2s lid. The directors are favourable to the proposal to amalgamate with the adjoining claims, i.e., the ' aledonian, Golden Calf, Central Italy, and Cure. The half-yearly meeting of the Sliotover No. 1 G.M. Co., convened for yesterday afternoon, lapsed for want of a quorum. Whether owing to apathy on the part of shareholders or some other cause, it is a fact that about four fifths of the convened meetings of gold mining companies share the same fate. We append the following extracts from the statement prepared for presentation to the meeting:—Cash in bank, 1'595 3s lOd, with no liabilities. The company's property consists of leasehold crushing plant and buildings. The surface portion of the mine is let on tribute, the company receiving 12J per cent, of the gross yields. We (New Zealand Times) have been informed, by a private telegram from Dunedin, that the directors of the Guardian Printing Company have appointed Captain Baldwin general manager, in the room of Mr. Leary, who resigned in consequence of the duties interfering with his private business. Captain Baldwin is to have full control over every department of the newspaper. We havo no doubt, from this gentleman's wellknown energy and intelligence, that he will discharge his duties with marked satisfaction. The Guardian is a leading colonial newspaper, and the fewer changes in its management the better. The drawing for the prizes in Mr. Wayte's Art Union, took place yesterday afternoon. The twenty-two prizes were won by the following gentlemen :—No. 1, Dombey ; No. 2, H. Shepherd; No. 3, H. S. D. ; No. 4. T. W. ; No. 5, J- R. Smith ; No 6, Chuzzlewit; No. 7, H. S. D. ; No. 8, Nickleby; No. 9, J. May, jun. ; No. 10, J. A. Walker; No. 11, W. M. Lloyd; No. 12, Cheeiible ; No. 13, N. S. L. ; No. 14, W. M. ; No. 15, H. S. D. ; No. IG, E. Wayte; No. 17, E. Mace; No. IS, C. White; No. 19, T. Wood; No. 20, J. M. ; No. 21, J. W. Thorpe ; No. 22, H. E. In a review of the state of the crops in Canterbury we find the following estimated average yield given for the several districts mentioned :—Halswell: Wheat, 3S bushels ; oats, 40 bushels ; barley, 33 bushels ; hay, 2} tons; potatoes, 6 tons. Templeton: Wheat, 30 bushels ; oats, 35 bushels. Lin coin : Wheat, 30 bushels ; oats, 33 bushels ; barley, 35 bushels. The Springs : Wheat, 27 bushels; oats, 32 bushels; barley, 30 ! bushels; hay (as cut), 2 tons; potatoes, 4 tons. Ellesmere : Wheat, 31 bushels ; oats, 35 bushels ; barley, 33 bushels. We have received a sample bottle of a new sauce, bearing the title of " The Duchess of Edinburgh Double Cross Sauce," prepared by Westbeech and Co., sauce and pickle merchants, Auckland, New Zealand, and Kencliurch-street, London. The sauce is an admirable one, and the get np of the bottles reflects much credit upon the manufacturers. The sauce, notwithstanding the competition in that line, is likely to find a good colonial market. Mr. Dawes, a farmer living near Lancelield, Victoria, imported from England a quantity of barley which, as far as pedigree was concenicd, was not to be surpassed. The land was well pulverised and properly cleaned, and one bushel of the imported barley was sown. Time passed on, and the farmer got a crop of wild oats instead of barley, and the carefully prepared land produced more filth than the whole of Mr. Dawes' land. The nomination of a member of the Provincial Council for the District of Wairoa and Mangapai (in place of the late Mr. Ormiston) will take place at the Kopuru Hall, Wairoa, at noon on the 15th prox., and the polling, if necessary, on the 20th-. - The meeting of the shareholders "of the Auckland Whaling Company, which was to have been held yesterday for the transaction of so'no formal business, lapsed for want of a quorum.

"The authorities of the French Museum," writes a London daily paper of recent date, " hav#recently had a delicate* operation to perform in the removal of the .various living reptiles from their former domicile to more commodious premises. 7 The task 'was undoubtedly one fraught with danger, in coa sequence of the venomous character of some of the creatures, but was fortunately performed without accident. The boa-constric-tors and pythons had been previously overfed, and were very easily handled by the keepers, who at any time could prevent any attempt at strangulation on the part of their charges, by dexterously twisting and gently uncoiling their deceitful folds. Had Laocoon been a keeper of reptiles in a modern menagerie he would have been able to preserve himself and his sons from their fate. The venomous snakes, such as the crafty cobra and the deadly rattlesnake, presented of course greater dangers, and they had to be tempted by offers of food into small cages, in which they were hurriedly enclosed and transferred to their, new home. But even the poisonous serpents were' more easily managed than the " crocodiles anil alligators. These scaly saurians protested against any interference, and made a charming display of their formidable rows of teeth and the curious trau-door .which marks the entrance down their capacious throats. N either offers of food nor encouraging words were of any avail, and handling was out ofquestion; so nets had to be brought into requisition, in which they were ignominiously hauled oui of the water and forcibly trail- 5 ferred to the appointed place where they, as well as the snakes, are now reported to be thoroughly happy and contented. The incident is interesting, taken in connection with the great risk there was of the liberation of the reptiles in the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park by the recent explosion. Where so much glass was shattered it is wonderful that none of the glass fronts against which the cobra and rattlesnake dash their heads in vain attempts to strike the astonished visitor were even cracked. The blankets in which the tropical species are considerately wrapped were rudely shaken off them by the concussion, and a fairly thick mantle of dust was dislodged from the top of the cages. Had any of the glass cases been fractured and the snakes been liberated, the coolness; and skill of the keepers would have been tented to th 6 uttermost. Mr. Holland says he was perfectly prepared for such an emergency, but he must at the same time feel gratified that he was not brought face to face with a miscellaneous collection of snukes and lizards and crocodiles, making the most of a new-found liberty."

The Otago Daily Times, in commenting on teachers and school committees, gives the following good advice to the latter, which may be useful even in this province:— '' What requirements beyond sound learning, professional ability, and moral life are needed, we fail to perceive. These given, we imagine the committees would best fulfil the object of their being by unobstrusive assistance,. the despatch of vexatious business, and hearty ce-operation with the teacher. Above all, they should be careful guardians of the teacher's prcctige, and laying atiide national or personal prejudices and piques, they should spare and shield the. teacher in the execution of his arduous duty. That this 1 vision' is not too often realised we are well aware. In the centres of population, doubtless, where committees are usually composed of practical business men, prompt, and of sound sense in the execution of their trust, abuses have no existence. But it is on behalf of many a labourer in the educational vineyard, dwelling in remote districts, that we speak. He is too often, perforce, obliged to remain under the thumb of unfriendly and ignorant men, and we unhesitatingly repeat that such cases call for frequent criticism by i the Press." We CSacramento Record) were shown yesterday a model of Cowles & Johnson's new quartz crusher, for which its inventory and proprietors claim great superiority over all other mills in use. It consists merely of a large wheel or ;!rum, twelve feet in diameter and eighteen inches face, to weigh twenty tons, revolving in a bed or trough a trifle wider than the face of the wheel, made of segments of the hardest sron. This wheel is revolved by gearing placed near its outer circumference, worked by steam or other power. It is calculated that the weight of this wheel (twenty ton s) rolling over any ordinary rock will crush it, at once, fine enough for amalgamating purposes, or at least as fine as it usually comes from the stamps of the common stamp mill. We need hardly say that if this mill will do what is claimed for it, it will revolutionize quartz mining entirely. The comparative cost will be about one-tenth that of the stamp-mills now in use for the same capacity in tons. One of these mills is now in course of construction in this city at the foundry of Wm. Guttenberger on the corner of Front and N-streets, to be completed in about five weeks, when its proprietors expect to demonstrate its practicability. The Resident Magistrate yesterday took exception to the Town Clerk, Mr. P. A. Philips, appearing in a case at the Police Court, but on learning that the charge was laid under the city by-laws, and not, as he at first thought, under the Municipal Police Act, he freely admitted Mr. Philips's right to appear and conduct the case. The mistake was readily acknowledged and accounted for. The band of the Hobson Company of Volunteers gave their annnal ball last evening in the Lome-street Hall There was a brilliant assemblage, and everything passed off satisfactorily. At twelve o'clock an adjournment was made to the supper-room, where the guests sat down to an excellent supper provided by Mr. Riordan, of the Custom-house Hotel. Holders of tickets of admis-ion to the flagship to-day, will find the steamer Scotchman in readiness to convey them on board from the A.S.P. Company's tee. The preliminary examination of. candidates for admission will commence at the Auckland College and Grammar School on the Ist February. The Central Waikato Agricultural Association's annual show will take place at Te Awamutu on the 3rd March. A bankruptcy notice re Samuel Duthie appears elsewhere. A bankruptcy notice re Henry Thomas Pycroft appears elsewhere. Return tickets to the Ellerslie Gardens te-day have been reduced to 9d. A notice in reference to bathing at the North Shore appears elsewhere.