FRAUDS IN THE FLOUR TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 554, 12 July 1862, Page 2

FRAUDS IN THE FLOUR TRADE.

11 TO THK EDITOR OF THH SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REiIISTEII. "Sir, Our attention has this day been diiTPtcd to m\ article under the above heading in your is-me of 29tli ult., in which our name is mixed up v/ith a certain flour transaction of a discreditable kind; an I ad se^ei'.il oftiie statements made in that article in relation to our part in the affair are incorrocl, we shall feel obliged by your favouiinp; us with the insertion of this letter in an early number of the Rcyittcr. " Let w, premise by stitine; the actual facts in the case, so far as we were conr*evn n d. " About the beginning of Januacy last, wo were applied to l>v Mr. Bre'mer, of Ge 'long, who is a miller and flour met chant, for an advance upon a parcel of Hour— &ome 120 tons— the flour to Le consigned to urf for bale at the usual commission of 2\ per cent. Having been in regular busine^ comma niCiition with Mr. Biebner for several years (although we had not had any previous transaction in Hour, as we are not in the habit of dealing in that article), we acceded to Mr. Brebner's re jue&t, and undertook to make the advance. At the time this arrangement was made, there was not a word sfikl, so fir as we remember, about the brand of tlio flour ; and even if there had been, it would not have altered our action in the slightest degree At that time we knew no-thing-of the Adelaide brands of flour. Wo stnicelv even knew that such a firm existul as Dunn and Sons, or tb.it flour with that brand was imported into Victoria. Not having purchased or sold on our own account a single ton of flour for a period of four or five years, and having no flour agency either from VictPrian or South Australian mills, we were just as ignorant of the various brands and their relative values as any mei^antilehoiiie whoae exclusive attention is devoted to the English import trade could possibly be. " The transaction with Mr. Brebner was a solitary one—out of our u&ual line of business — and was entered into more with a view to grant a temporary accommodation to an old customer, than in the regular way of trade. From beginning to end we had

Induration of Sionk. — Mr. Ransomc, of Ipswich, vho'-e name has 1 for many \car& licon proiniuditlj bufore tlio public in connection with the process patented by him fur the production of artificial stone, ;nul moie lecently as havh".r introduced that process for tlie preieiviirioii of natural .stones liablo to ptpmature decay, v, hii h has excited <~o much ; uention in lefeieiiee to its application for preserving the stonework of the ne>v Hou«e-s ot Parliament, hju recently discovered an entirely new and r>\ti emely .simple, but at the same time must import int and cileetive process, bj which some of the commonest and mo it abundant natural materials may be combined and forme 1 info solid blocks of masonry, or moulded into the most e'aboi ate w orks of art, at a co«-t comparatively so tiillin^a-3 to pkee the mean*- within I In, ra ,<;h of all. The pioCfs's i~> ba-.e-l on liio Soundest scientific principles ; and its etlicieney has bj«» severely tested by sjiuc of uur nn^t eminent chemist 1 -:. Its merits have thus been complete'y proved. It ha-- long boon kno ,\ n ti thobuientilic wond th.it the peculiarity of Mr. Itanb'Hiie's process, for j» -."-ervina; stone from decay consisted of the piobu,tioii within the ports ot the st'jne it elf of c ilic,iC.' of lime, a siib.st.mce >\hn'li posses* s the moat enduring pivpeitie*>, and, in fact, is really that w hich has conferred surh dmahility on the old Konnn nioruir which v.c sea remaiuing uncli lilted by e\po-,ure to tho weather and other destructive in,Wie:iccs, often for more than •2,000 year... ; and it i> this sub-tance albo in fie main is the cjiabinint? medium of thi best n >tmal limestone and hydraa'iic oement 1 . j\[v. llansjine has hitherto accomplice I the iuduiatiou by fir it f-atar ttiu2' the fct^ne with a solution or" tlie sidc.i'e of so 1 :! (soluble and by aficr»\av h applyin 1 ; a solution of chloride of calehim of I'm.j.) Here double decomposition takc-s place, the silica Coitib;ni,i o ' with the cilcium to form a solid silieatj of limn, an 1 the ulilorino at the same time co'iiblniu,' with tlw-odi, fuimiu^ chloride of --odium, or cMumon Fait, whii-li ii remored by snib^a |iiont waihinqs ->l othevwi^e. It -si.ib in noticing the cohe«ivo properties exhibited by th'i '.ilicate of limj thus pro lilted tint Mr. lUnvjme w.^s led to \n\ estimate the anpli-übilily of that material a« an c^ential inj^re li^nt in the manufacture of .stme itself, and the reiuks of liis have proved so succe.sful thai he at once pitcnted them. The now prices consists in mixing; CDiamon sxnd, cluiUv, or other suitable mineral subftiuus, \\Wa a bolutiou of silicate of sjda iuti .sii'-Ii a consistence that tlie ;uicture can be easily moulded into blocks or any other forms, rolls 1 into blieuts or slabs, or even applied with a trowel as ordinary •3iient. Affcenwud-;, a solution of chloiida of calcium is applied by means of a brush, or byimmerbii n. as may b? most convenient. The eiiect is instin-tmeou-j — the matjiLil i-> Lmiuediately cmvorted from a soft sululile substaneo into a hard insoluble com])ound, capable of resisting the inihunc-es of the most deleterious atino^pliere, and pOaseihiH^ the property of gT.iiiua'ly incieAbinj; in hardness with the l.xpbe of time. Among 3 t other advantaajes which Mr. RauS)mc liaaSj'Hfed l>y his discovery in tlie above process, it will be evident to all com ei>ant with such matters that the stone can in most cases bj manufactured upon the spot, from material obtained in the locality ; that it can bo moulded into any form or made in masses of any dimensions. : that it is equally available for ornamental and decorative as for cunstructiro purposes. It requires no artificial drjing or mirnin?, while it is in no w.iy liable to shrinking, warpa^e, or di>tortion of any kind : moreover, it is strong' rand harder than any uf the natuial stones at M(."=entiu u^e. It exhibits all the cliiiriWtcvistic features and appearance of the best freestone, can be produced of any desired tone of color, while it is proof as; unit those destructive inthiences which so seriously aH'o^l our natural building stones. — Unylhh Paper. The Shah Fight. — If the weather continues favrrablt, the military and naval sha'u fi^ht to day is likoly to be a \erj att'iir. Every arrangement to ensure the success of the operations and afford convenience to the spectators has been made, and heiiy a c.oueral holiday in town, there will doubtless be a lar^e number of persons to witness 1 the evolutions of our Volunteer defenders on this novel occasion. It is intended that an enemy's squadron will leave AVil-iiam-t')wi) at ten o'clock, and having enwed the batte'ies in the Bay, leaving one ship (the Victoria) and several boats to effect a landing of about 1000 nun, and to attack the batteries on tlie St. Kilda andSandrids;c side of Ilobson's Bay. Tho Victoria, Commander Norman, will then piocoed in the direction of Point Oiniond, about a mile and a half below St. Kikla, where the .supposed enemy, consisting of a lim ited force of rifles, naval brigade, and artillery and the crew of the Victoria, design to effect a landing. This will, thciefore, be the scene of excitement. All volunteers not ordeied elsewhere will be st-a-tionclatthis Point, in order to prevent the enemy c-u'iying out its purpose; and, from what we have heard, there is every probability of our volunteets having an opportunity of displaying their military tact in this novel s:enc. The supposed enemy will, of course, ultimately be repulsed and driven back into their boats, amidst a heavy lire of artillery and rifles, while the successful army will be formed into a Una on shore. The proceedings at Point Ormond will con - mence at about eleven o'clock, and in addition to other conveyances to the 3eeno of action, trains will, we believe, run at intervals of a quarter of aa hour. — Herald,