NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9712, 7 January 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Mb. John Burns, the celebrated labour leader, whose speeches in America have attracted a considerable amount of attention lately, left England towards the end of November last. To use his own words he went to the United , States as an inquirer, believing that America has within her political constitution many chances . of social change nob possessed by European States bound by aristocratic or military rule. Americans have the power, ■ he says, and therefore with them rests the responsibility of showing the way. He believes that ib rests with the workmen of America do this, and his object is bo get them to take this view. . Mr. Burns went over to the States at the request of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, and as the invited guest of the American Federation of Labour. He has invitations from every kind of public body and every type of public man. Some come from trades unions, others from labour organizations, and yeb others from millionaires who are philanthropically disposed. Here is one," he said in answer to an interviewer, from Mr. H. D. Lloyd, of Chicago. He promises me an audience of 20,000— least 15,000 too many, for me at any rate. ' Your coming here,' he writes, ' at this moment is providential,' and he is pleased to consider that an English labour man like myself may give some good advice to the movement in America. I shall watch closely their systems of monopolies, their development of trusts, and their peculiar method of railway administration; but those are nob the chief reasons lam going for. It is American municipal life that I really want to get a grip — their fire brigade system, their asylums, their industrial schools, and their methods of housing the poor. Yes, sir," he concluded, " I shall come back stuffed with facts, and I can promise you a rattling interview on my return."

In view of the negotiations which, according to a cablegram published on Saturday, are proceeding for a daily mail service between Southampton and New York, a return just issued by the Superintendent of Foreign Mails ab Washington wHI be of interest. It gives the records made this year by the trans-Atlantic steamship companies conveying mails from New York to London. It gives the average number of hours and the quickest time of the various steamers, as reckoned between the actual receipt of the mails at New York and their delivery at the General Post Office, London. The records for the best-known steamers are:—Quickest trip, Lucania,_ls9h 7m. ; average, 168h. 4m ; Campania, 159h. 9m. and 167h. 3m. ; Teutonic, 170h. sm. and 174h. 2m. ; Paris, 172h. sm. and I7Bh. 3m. ; New York, 171h. and 178h. 4m. ; Majestic, 169h. 9m. and 178h. sm. ; Etruria, 1711.. 6m. and 178h. 9m. ; and Umbria, 173h. 6m. and 184h. lm. The four twin-screw steamers of the Hamburg Packet Company have also made remarkable time between New York and Southampton, but as theirs are only summer trips, and the number of voyages made is fewer, the average is naturally higher. The returns for these steamers are as follow Quickest trip, Normannia, 167h., average, 169h. 7m. ; Columbia, lG7h. 3m. and 173h. 6m.; Fiirst Bismarck, 165h. 3m. and 175h. 7m. ; and Augusta Victoria, 179h. 6m. and!Blh. 9m.

From the above it will bo seen that the records for the best known trans-Atlantic steamers is at present close upon seven days, but according to First Officer Pierce of the Campania, the tine will yet be reduced to five days six hours. He says a trip of five days and six hours will be done by the Campania yet when every circumstance is favourable. When she broke her last record she had eight hours of head sea on one day and twelve another, besides other hindrances. The officer goes on to say:—" Taking all things into account I look for a trip of five days and six hours when the ship gets worked down a little more. All the Cunard record breakers have done their best work in five or six years after being built. We expect the same of the Campania. I regard a five-day trip as likely, too, but ib will cost a lot of money. The necessary speed for such a record can only be brought about by greatly increased power. To give an idea of this let me say that the Campania, which is only three knots an hour faster than the Etruria, has double that power. Another knot added to her speed now would call for a vasb amount of added horae-power."

"All this," Mr. Pierce says, "costs money, nob to speak of the great amount needed to pay coal bills. It would require most careful building, fine lines, powerful engines, and huge boiiers, nob to speak of all the attendant circumstances of fair wind and weather, bub ib will yet be done. We have reached thab poinb now where every minute counts. A gain of only ten minutes on the whole trip requires an additional three-hundredths of a knob to be made every hour. This is getting to a pretty hard thing to do, but we'll do it, and yet the ship has never been pushed. We would have broken the record on our last eastward trip had nob something gone wrong in the starboard engine after we had steamed 2000 knots. Ib had to be stopped, and all chances of breaking the record were lost. On that trip we averaged sometimes as high as 22*6 knots. On this trip the best we did was 21-6. That will show whab a lasb trip we might have made and what the vessel is capable of," The Campania did the 2783 knots of the voyage ab an average of 21'49 knots an hour. To pull the record down to five days and six. hours she will have to average 22*09 knots—a thing nob so hard to do. A steatoship to cross in fire days will have to keep it up to 23'19 knobs an hour. Shipbuilders regard bhis speed as practicable in view of recent improvements. Such a boat would easily cosb 4,000,000 dollars. The Lucania and Campania cosb £1,250,000 bogebher— 6,250,000 dollars. The extra two knobs of speed on any vessel to beab them would easily cosb another 1,000,000 dollars. .<■■ .7

Last year the Australasian gold yield is estimated to be the largest since 1874, and new and valuable finds have just been reported from Tasmania. , In this connection it is interesting to know that it is now 56 years since the first mention of gold being found in Australia. r It was in a despatch from the Lieutenant-Governor of Mew South Wales, dated Soptember 2, 1840, stating that Count Strzelecki had discovered in the Vale of Clwydd, in 1839, a small quantity of gold in an auriferous sulphurefe of iron, partly decomposed. No further notice was taken of this communication. Sir Roderick Murchieon, however, between 1841 and 1843, asserted his belief that gold must exist in Australia. Meanwhile, email quantities had been | found by a shepherd, and sold in Sydney. About 1841 gold was« found by! the Rev. W. B. Clarke, and in 1849 specimens of Australian gold were sent to the Governor by two persons, who offered to

== ; **!!* divulge f the i localities ; *« bat ; ; these offers were ' declined. The Opbir" Gold Mine discovered by Edward; Hammond Har. greaves, was the first public mining venture in Australia. , lb is situated at Bathnrab, on the upper part' of the Macquarie River, where operations were commenced in 18511 * Next year the Ballarab Mine was discovered in Victoria by a shepherd, who stumbled accidentally ' upon a valuable nugget. On this becoming known, men of all grades flocked to Victoria, and a city of tents sprang up as if by magic. Shortly afterwards mines were opened at Mount! Alexander, Bendigo, and Castlemaine, where, as in the previous cases, gold was found quite near the surface, at the roots of trees, or just under the sods of grass. The largest nugget of gold ever found was taken out of the Byer and Haltmann Mine at Hill End, New South Wales, on May 10, 1872. It weighed an ounce or two over 6401b. lb was slab-shaped, 4 feet 9 inches long, and about 3 feet 8 inches wide, and of an average of 4 inches in thickness. The finder sold it for £30,000.

An internecine war has broken out in China between the Chinese section of the army and the Manchurians. Both sections are plundering and murdering the unfortunate inhabitants. A meeting of the Notables of the Russian Empire has been convened by the Czar to consider the condition of the people, and especially that of the Poles. It is stated that a difference of opinion has arisen between the Emperor ol Austria and Count Kalnoky respecting the foreign policy of the Empire, and thab in consequence the Count is likely to resign. The Czar of Russia has issued an edict in which he declares that he will pursue the same policy as his father in regard to promoting universal peace. There is the prospect of a great strike in the building trade in London. Counsel has advised the shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand that the recent call is perfectly legal and cannot be resisted. The new Premier of Canada is said to be seriously ill. Turkey is appealing to the other Powers against the demands made by England and Russia.