THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, MAY 4, 1891.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9106, 4 May 1891, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, MAY 4, 1891.

The report of the Committee of the Mining School published on Wednesday, deals with one or two matters of special interest to the public. This school is the one part of the University which, more perhaps than any other, is in touch with a large section of a public which concerns itself very little with most branches of University work. It is, strictly speaking, a technical school, though, of course, with a scientific side, and should appeal with much force to those people who earnestly support technical education. Like a school of agriculture, that of mining is intended to prepare young men to produce under the most advantageous circumstances. Its domain'is the teaching of practical and scientific mining, and it will be admitted that in a country like this mining is second only to husbandry in importance. Some years ago the Legislature gave an annual grant of LSOO to the University on the condition that the money was expended in equipping the School of Mines more completely, and this was carefully done. Last year the vote was attacked, and only got through Parliament by what may be termed a Ministerial ruse. The figures of the mining vote were lumped instead of being carried item by item. This year, however, judging by the result of Dr Stuart's interview with the Hon. It. J. Seddon, there appears to be a very great unwillingness, to say the least of it, to continue the grant. Now we may first of all remark that the original vote was made on the express condition that it should be used in a certain way which would inevitably entail a permanent annual expenditure on the University Council. There was alao the implied condition that the vote should be given annually so long as it was spent as desired. No doubt circumstances alter cases, and we think a much stronger reason for continuing the grant is to be found in the practical utility of the work which is being done in the School of Mines. This is now.the only fully equipped school of the kind in New Zealand, though there are several other such schools doing very useful work. Moreover our local school will compare very favourably indeed with tho.e in Australia, students who have received their training here having gone to the front in a very remarkable way in the sister colonies. It has been alleged that the students have not as yet been numerous, and have therefore cost in their mining education a large sum per head. This is due to several causes—first, that the reputation of such a school is not to be made in a day; and, secondly, that it is only quite lately that the school has been fairly well equipped. We may add that we think the Council to blame in not taking more active steps to make the opportunities open to intending mine managers here better known throughout the mining districts by advertisement and otherwise. We are aware that practical miners from whose families mining students would most probably be drawn often know little or nothing of the advantages offered by the Otago School of Mines, which they are apt to regard as too scientific and not sufficiently practical in its course of teaching to be of much real value. We observe that a committee has been appointed to wait upon the city members and endeavour to obtain their concurrence and their aid in urging Ministers to continue the annual grant. Without this amount of assistance from Parliament the school must sink back into the condition of incompleteness in which it was a few years ago. It is to be hoped the city members will make it their business to visit and examine into the character of the work now being done in this department of the University. | Among many other matters in which ( this school appeals to and is of use to ] the mining community is that of assays. , It will be noted that Professor Black, who has now for many years done most t of the assays for the mining com- ] munity, is to entirely discontinue that s branch of his work, which is handed 1 over to Mr Wilkinson, the newly * arrived lecturer on metallurgy. Pro- ' fessor Black is only to be allowed to J make chemical analyses; ores of all kinds and coals are to be dealt with ! by Mr Wilkinson only. This division t af work appears a proper enough c one, and will no doubt prove satisfactory to the public. j One other matter of even more { general public interest was com- i nented upon in the committee's £ report, and by several members of the c :ouncil. We refer to the fees given :o Professor Austen and Mr W. * Kennaway in connection with Mr k Wilkinson's appointment. It must be t •emembered that the University is . mly, after all, an administrative body, r sontrolling and directing certain public a ands, and the revenue arising there- t rom, which havo been ear-marked a md set aside in the interests of v uperior education. The University b Council employs the Agent-general T ti conjunction with some well-known . xpert to appoint a professor or _ jcturer for a colonial institution. We 8 , my surely assume that such a duty as c ais comes fully within the scope of n ac proper duties of the representative E the colony in London. To do Sir fi lillon Bell full justice he has always i<* ccepted this view o_ his duties, and jol as most courteously and carefully dis- j' J larged the not very arduous duties ]_\ jnnected with making such appoint-! E

nients as those we .'refer to. Wo believe this is the first occasion on which . under precisely similar circumstances, _ i.e., of the Agent-general being one _ of the parties to select, fees have c been given to his coadjutor. With y regard to the fee to the Agent-general's t clerk, tho reasons for refusing to pay r are even better grounded, and we trust ' the University Council will poremp- | torily decline to sanction the payment j of such a fee. The colony pays Mr ( Kennaway a salary, and it would ho a ( very bad precedent to pay in addition ( a fee for public work done by him. : There is, we may add, no attempt at ] concealment in the whole matter : the i account containing the item to which we object comes under cover from Sir F. D. Bell himself, plainly and distinctly stated. It is entirely on the ground that to pay such a sum would be a bad precedent that we draw attention to it. In an advertisement of the Auckland University College, under the heading "Medical Curriculum," students .are informed that they can, on "attending University College, register as medical students, and can complete the course o£ study for the intermediate examination for the medical degree of. the University of New Zealand." It appears that our friends in the northern capital are holding out inducements to medical students, with : the apparent object of initiating a medical school of. their owd. In the Otago University Calendar (page G5) we find a list of the subjects recommended to be taken prior to the intermediate examination: they are biology, physics, anatomy, chemistry, hospital practical pharmacy, bandaging, and minor surgery. These subjects are taught here in the first winter and first summer terms _ and during the second winter term. Each winter session lasts from April to October, and each summer session from December to February. We observe that in the advertisement alluded to above it is said that "certificates of instruction are given in University College in biology, physics, and chemistry." These are all of them subjects commonly taken for the Arts course all over the colony, and havo no .exclusive relation to medical education. The other subjects at the intermediary are, of course, only taken by students who intend completing the curriculum of medical study. With_ regard to special schools lil_ that of medicine it seems all the pity in the world that institutions should be duplicated in a small population like ours, with the inevitable result of producing two weak institutions instead of one good one. Wo write in no spirit of local jealousy when we express a hope that University College, Auckland, does notlntend a medical school of its own to compete with ours; but it does seem so great a pity to duplicate medical tuition when there are other branches of learning languishing for want of funds. Possibly our friends in Auckland have no idea of going any further than they have gone at present. We are told that "students who have kept two years' terms in the University of New Zealand can enter and complete their medical course at Cambridge and Edinburgh." This is true to the ear, but not ivho'dy correct, since such completion entirely depends on the studies they have undertaken and the certificates they hold; and these certificates, we may add, must be for more than biology, physics, and chemistry if a student's two years'workin New Zealand is to count for more than one at Cambridge. There is to be a formal opening of the completed portion of the Otago Central railway, but traffio is to be commenced upon it this morning, and a cheap excursion trip in celebration of the opening of the line is to be run on Saturday next, when there will probably be some demonstration at Middlemarch. The 6 a.m. Hindon train will run through to Middlemarch this morning, returning at 1.30 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday the trains will leave Dunedin at 3 30 p.m., and Saturdays at 8.10 a.m., leaving Middlemarch at 6.45 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The excursion train will leave Dunedin on Saturday at 10 minutes past 8 in the morning, and the return journey will commence at 2 p.m. For the excursion the return fares will ba 7s 8d first and 5s second class, but at other times the ordinary rates will be charged. If the weather is favourable Saturday's excursion ought to bewell patronised. Middlemarch ia at the western end of the Strath Taieri Plain, and a distance of 48 miles from Dunedin and 39 miles from the junction of the Otago Central railway with the main line. The excursion rates are really very moderate, and with favourable weather it is likely that a great many people will pass through the mountain barriers that have hitherto divided the interior from the coastal districts of Otago. There now remains between Dunedin and free access to Central Otago only the construction of the Hyde Gorge portion of the railway—a comparatively trifling work; but until that is don e tbe railway only makes Strath.Taieri available for settlement. / Regarding the instructions received by the District Engineer, Mr Ussher, to peg out for the unemployed another mile of work on the Catlin's River railway, we may mention that this necessitates the locating of the line through the bush, and that this work will occupy from three to four weeks. The surveyors will be on the ground to-day, and the survey will be pushed on with all expedition.' We are given to understand that by the end of the month the 60 additional men it is proposed to employ will be at work on the ground. The new section will be about as near the main road as the latter portion of the present one, so that all supplies will be readily available at moderate rates. The work now in hand has been divided into small sections suitable for parties of 10 or 12 men. In the first instance the lots were arranged as equally as possible, and their distribution among the different gaDgs oE workmen has been decided by lot, so that there can be no question raised as to partiality being shown to anybody. We understand that the men are likely to do well out of the work, and tbat there is no difficulty in the way of getting food supplies at fair rates. The output of coal from the Westport and Greymouth mines for the month of April was as follows:—Westport Coal Company, Westport, 17,148 tons 9cwt; Grey Valley Coal Company, Greymouth, 11,545 tons scwt. We understand that a small dose of Dr Koch's tuberculine administered ou Saturday to the consumption patient has produced a very marked reaction. Mr Vincent Pyke yesterday received the following telegram from the Minister for Public Works: —" It being your wish, and the wish of the general public, I shall be only too pleased to . be present at the opening of the Otago Central railway to Middlemarch.—R. J. Seddon." The Government consider that the report of , the Imperial naval officers exonerates Captain j Falconer from blame for the Bhelly Bay explo- . sion, but think it discloses laxity in tho Dofence , Department in not seeing that the officers had , instructions from the War Office properly for- j warded to them. Tho question of appointing a j responsible head, as suggested, is already one of £ the reforms in the department which it is pro- t posed to submit to Parliament. c The statement made by the Dunstan Times j that Mr Scobie Mackenzie has joined the staff c af this paper is wholly without foundation. t The census returns for the Hutt county, Wei- t lington, show the population to be: — Males r 3216, females 5557 ;—total, 11,773. In this are t included the boroughs of Petone, 2175; Onslow, c )70; Melrose, 1204, aud the Lower Hutt town _ -istrict, 1317. A meeting of the past and present students of I the technical classes was held in tbe Normal t School on Friday evening to discuss ways aud F Beans for enabling the association to commence a the erection of workshops, and iv other ways to 8 oromote its usefulness. As the outcome of tbe I neeting an energetic committee was appointed h md a plan of action was formulated. It is in- ' iended to issue collecting cards to all those past J md present students who will charge themselves n vith the task of raising subscriptions for the h milding fund. One or more courses of lectures 2 will be arranged, and it ia believed that there a will be no great [difficulty in securing the best b alent in Dunedin. Lastly, it is proposed to lold a conversazione towards the end of the o ession, at which students will be requested to V ixhibit models, machinery, &c, of their own fi aanufacture. v At Edinburgh, on March 13, it was decided by f< ive judges on an appeal that the operation of « ishorning cattle was necessary in the interests f the animals themselves, and that, therefore, H< he perpetrator could not bo found guilty of ruelly. The judgment of the Scottish Court ; P n this point is contrary to that pronounced by j C Ingliah judges. pi

Tho directors of the Union S.S. Company lavo forwarded the following letter to Captain a fames Mcados, who was in ohargo of the Wanaka 8 vhon Bhe struck near Waitara:—" The directors o ,avo given very careful consideration to the t circumstances attending the loss of the Wanaka C vhile under your command on April 2, and regret _ ihoy cannot see anything in your case to war- t rant a departure from the rule of the service, c which provides that in the case of stranding tbe c master will not bo reinstated unless the accident t is proved to havo occurred under such excep- I tional circumstances as entirely exonerate him i from blame. I regret very much that your I connection with the service should terminate in i this way, as since you joined the company in 1 1879, as second officer of tho Ladybird, you ' have always shown yourself to be an efficient and careful officer." The travelling ipublic will no doubt learn with regret of the decision of tho directors, as Captain Meades was very popular. The funeral of the late Mr Wilkie took place on Saturday afternoon, the body being interred 'n the Southern Comotery. As the funeral cortege passed through the main street of the city, at about half-past 3, most of the places of busiuess were closed, and business was entirely suspended. The weather was very inclement, rain fell heavily, and the wind was keenly cold, but the followers were very numerous, the general esteem in which the deceased gentleman was held being thereby plainly manifested. There must have been between 200 and 300 gentlemen walking in the procession, and there were some 15 carriages. Very many of the professional and business men of the city and a number of ministers attended the funeral. The services at the house and at the grave were very impressively conducted by the Rev. Dr Stuart. Mr E. H. Carew, R.M., presided at the Port Chalmers Magistrate's Court on Saturday. In the case of Alexander Nicholls v. William Cathro, a judgment summons for £4 5s Bd, Mr Platts, who appeared for the plaintiff, applied for an order that defendant pay the amount by monthly instalments. The defendant did not appear, and was ordered to pay 20a on June 1, and the balance by monthly instalments of 20f, together with 8s costs, or in default seven days' imprisonment.—The case of David Lee v. Alexander Sutherland was adjourned, on the application of Mr North for plaintiff, until May 16, and that of Mary Ann Larkins v. William Kemp (labourer) until May 30, on the application of Mr Platts for the defendant. A correspondent of tho Christchurch Press, writing from Pukuratahi, says:—"On Sunday last a most remarkable noieo was heard in the mountains adjoining the little settlement of Pukuratahi, which is at the foot of the Rimutaka hill. At about noon numerous settlers were out in the bush shooting, &c, when their attention waa attracted by a fearful screeching noise. Many took it to be a man-of-war on tho coast whistling, but it could not have been tbat owing to the fact that the noise came from the direction of Mount Hector, and I should say immediately on this side of it. Directly after the whistling, which lasted at least for five minutes, a heavy rumbling noise like that of a thousand pieces of cannon took place, which kept on banging and rumbling away for over a-quarter of an hour, frightening several settlers, who thought that an eruption had taken place in the adjoining mountains. This is not the first time by many we have heard heavy rumblings and explosions in the hills, and not many years ago, in tho direction of Mount Hector, a column of smoke was seen rising on a perfectly clear day. What I have stated has not only been heard and seen by myself, but alao by many others." The London correspondent oF the Auckland Herald hears that the New Zealand Estates Company are disposing of their properties to great advantage. They recently obtained £60,000 for ono estate in New Zealand, instead of £30,000 at which it wa? valued. It is now generally admitted that the valuations were too low. A property at Parramatta (Sydney), upon which a large amount had been lent, recently fell into the hands of the company, and has been promptly cut up into building allotments, with the result tbat the land realised far beyond the amount advanced. Rarely has an English commander-in-chief made a more remarkable statement than Lord Wolseley'a confession that it has happened to him to refuse to allow battalions to go into action because he knew their commanding officers were unfit to lead them. Thus he has been compelled, when in the field and sorely wanting men, to leave behind battalions composed of fine soldiers because they were led by incompetent colonels. For he had retained vividly in his memory a striking passage in a work written by General Sir Charles Napier which he had read in his youth—a passage which he now tells us " ought to be written up in every officers' mess room, in every room of the War Office, and where the Cabinet Council assemble from time to time to select men to command armies in the field." The passage referred to is: "An ignorant general is a murderer. All brave men confide in the knowledge he pretends to possess, and when the death trial comes, their generous blood flows in vain. Merciful G.d! How can an ignorant man charge himself with so much blood? I have studied war, loDg, earnestly and deeply, yet tremble at my own deficiency." The brand new American method of illustration consists of photography pure and simple. The editor of a magazine desires to illustrate a novel. Instead of commissioning an artist he calls in a photographer, and gives him proofs of the passages that are expected to illustrate well. Let us say that there is a melting lova scene, where the heroine falls upon the manly bosom of the hero. If the photographer cannot induce—he usually can induce—a fashionable actor and actress to pose he uses his own male and female assistants, or anybody, passably good looking, that he can get. Then he photographs them in the attitudes prescribed by the author. The result iB purely and simply ludicrous. As often as not the hero comes out as an undersized, unattractive young man, and the heroine as a bunchy, inelegant young woman. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? The beginning and the end of art is imagination, and in illustrations of this kind there is do room for the idealisation of anything. Nothing more flat, more commonplace, more truly American, could be conceived. The experiments of MM. Fremy and Verneuil on the artificial production of rubies have been iv progress for some years; but it appears, from their recent communication to the ComptesRendus, that they have now successfully overcome the difficulties which attend their manufacture, and are obtaining much larger crystals. The artificial rubies have already been employed as pivots in watches, and are said not to be inferior to the natural stones in hardness. Tho process consists in heating alumina and a trace of potassium bichromate with barium fluoride or a mixture of fluorides of the alkaline earths to a high temperature for several days. Recent progress has beeu duo to tho discovery that the addition of a small quantity of potassium carbonate to the mixture, so as to render the Eused mass alkaline, facilitates the formation of the crystals. It is believed that the crystals ire produced directly from the interaction if the volatile compounds produced, and by jmploying crucibles of several litres capacity in jas furnaces as much as three kilos, of rubies ire obtained in a Bingle operation. In a letter ;o the Standard, Mr E. W. Streeter says that in ;he manufactured ruby all the spots and flaws run into one corner like the tail of a comet, and ;hat in no imitations of diamonds, pearls, rubies, >r emeralds can there be found that hardness jossessed by nature's own gems, A good story is circling about the Linden Promenade as to a Berlin Schusterbub or cobiler's boy who was lately waiting outside the >alace to see his Majesty come forth for his j ifternoon airing. Finding the delay tedious, he uddenly exclaimed," The booby isn't coming; '. shall go." A policeman at once caught him ly the collar, and shouted, " Whom do you mean j >y the booby, sirrah?" "Why, my friend ] flichel," whined the boy, " he was to havo met 1 ne here, but he's not come." The policeman ' lad to let him go, upon which the boy retreated c 10 paces, put his thumb to his nose, spread out lis fingers, and yelled, " And whom didyo" mean y the booby ?" The Oamaru Acclimatisation Society turned j ut 100 young salmon three years ago into tho _ Vaitaki river. During the past season some sh said to be real salmon wero caught, but nfortunately theso were never sent to experts or identification. Mr H. Aitken has been [ e-elected president, Dr de Lautour and Mr J. I'Lcan vice-presidents, nnd Cuptain Crawford scretary. Francis T. Kenny, who was arrested at Ne".v 'lymouth on suspicion of setting fire to tho lommercial Hotel there, whero ho was cntloyed, has been committed for trial, I B

Tho Southland Times devotes a leading ai rticle to a report current that Mr Henry v; lusson, Crown lands ranger, has been dismissed O n tho pica of retrenchment and his place * aken at a higher salary by Mr Duncan Campbell. It says the change has not >een made direotly, but by sending hither and bither all over the colony a hoßt of unhappy i, ilbcials. Mr Campbell our contemporary j ieclares to be "notoriously tho henchman and ilacquer of the Minister of Lands, and we f°e' parfectly justified in saying that to this fact md to nothing else he is indebted for the position ho has attained. And if we are correct in ( this account of the transaction, we are entitled j to say further that a großs job has been perpetrated and a political scandal occasioned for whioh heavy reckoning will yet be exacted both ( from the Minister implicated and the party to which he belongs." Tho Oamaru papers report tho death, on . Thursday, at Farkside, of Mr Henry Mitchell, his illness dating from a severe accident he received three years ago. The deceased came to Otago in the days of tbe gold rush, and carried on business in Dunedin for some time. Some 13 years ago he acquired the Parkside property. Ho made a name as a breeder of draught stock. He leaves a widow and six children. Owing to the inclement weather prevailing there was a poor attendance at the City Hall on Saturday night when Abdool Ahumud, the Indian juggler, gave another of his interesting entertainments. The different tricks and sleight-of-baud feats called forth loud applause, and the feat wherein the juggler swallows a glass ball, a quantity of woollen yam, and a number of pence met with the especial appreciation of the audience. Mr G. Dickie's ventriloquial performance was a pleasing feature of the evening, and the performer received a large Bbare of tbe applause. Madame Cora will make her first appearance in Dunediu as a hypnotist at the Princess Theatre this evening. The interest taken in this matter will, no doubt, cause a large attendance on the occasion. m • The Portobello district annual lioensing meeting takes place on June 5. The train service between Dunedin and Hindon will be discontinued after to-day, and henceforward trains will run from Dunedin to Middlemaroh on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3.30 p.m., and on Saturdays at 8.10 a.m , returning from Middlemarch on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6.45 a.m., and on Saturdays at 2 p.m. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agenoy Company's sale at Milton, advertised for Thursday next, has been postponed. Mr D. M. Spedding sells general groceries, wines and spirits, &c. on Thursday next. Mr John Grlndley holds the usual weekly grain and produce Bale to-day at 10.30, at the Farmers' Agenoy Company's stores. Messrs Donald Reid and Co. sell 250 store wethers at Burnside on Wednesday, and hold their usual weekly sale to-day at 10 o'clock. Mr H. Lamer sells mining shares (unless previously redeemed) at his rooms to-morrow. The quarterly licensing meeting of the Peninsula district takes place on June 0. An ordinary general meeting of shareholders of the Trustees, Executors, and Agency Company will be held on Msy 12. Mesirß Hunter and Nolan, auctioneers. Auckland, advertlie a large sale of furniture from the establishment of Glllow and Co.. London, cabinetmakers and upholsterers to the Queen. Money can be obtained from B. Franois, Ootagon (next Athenssum). Repaid weekly, monthly.—Advt.] Jobs Hislop, Watohmaker and Jeweller, 7i Prlnoes street. The oldest established house ln town. Repairs of all kinds. Good assortment Watches, Clocks, and Jewellery. Spectacles to suit all sights.—[Advt.] See G, and T. Young's stook of watches, clocks, jewellery, sterling silver and eleotroplated goods, Five flrst-olass awards received N.Z. and S.B. MxhlbitioD 1889-90. Prioes striotly moderate. Largest and finest stook in N.Z. to select from.—fADVT.)