NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Volume 15, Issue 1562, 15 October 1881, Page 17

NOTES AND QUERIES.

D W., Waipahi, asks (1) whether it is necessary for applicants for land under the deferred-payment system to apply personally ; (2) whether deferred-pay-ment agricultural land is balloted for now.— (l) The application need not be made by the applicant in person ; it is to be made in writing. (2) Where more applications than one are mad« on the same day for same land, the land applied for is put up to auction, and 'the bidding is limited to the applicants. Antiuon?, Arrow, asks :— What is the market value in Dunedin of antimony ore per ton, showing by analysis 50*5 per cent, of that metal ?-j£B to £10 per ton. Intending Settler, Waikaka, asks— (l) Has the Ballot Act passed? If so, when will it come in force ? (!i) Can a person hold two or more sections on deferred payment, said sections being detached, but not exceeding in all 320 acres? (3) When applying for land on deferred payments, is it necessary to pay deposit on more than 320 acres if applied for 1 (4) Can land be applied for without going to the Land Office in person ; if so, what forms have to be gone through ?— (1) We do not understand what Act you refer to. (2) We do not think so — how ceuld the selector fulfil the condition as to personal residence ? (3) Yes. (4) The application is to be made in writing. Thk Box Tunnbli.— W. H. S. Roberts, Oamaru, writes :— ln the Otago Witness of 6th inst., under "Notes and Queries," in answer to "E. R. W., Invercargill," you say : " The Box Tunel is the longest in England, and iB called three miles long." I think that is not correct. The Box Tunnel is 3123 yards long, or a little more than one mile and threequarters 1 The longest railway tunnel in England is the Stand Edge, on the London and North- Western, nrar Huddersfield— it is three miles 60 yards long. The Woodhead tunnel is also a little over three miles long. There are upwards of 80 miles of railway tunnels in Great Britain ; the average cost of constructing them has been from £45 to £50 per yard. On the canals of England there are five tunnels exceeding 3000 yards in length. The longest of these is the Marsden tunnel, 5500 yards long. T. E., Otepopo, asks:— Can the ashes of lignite be profitably used in a small garden— if so, how?— lt depends upon the nature of the soil. If it is heavy land it may be greatly benefited by mixing the ashes well with the soil, thus allowing the air to penetrate, and inducing the moisture to rise from the subsoil. If your soil is of a light nature you might use the ashes in a compost heap of weeds, straw, litter, leaves, muck, &c. R. Oamaru, asks for a list of all the local industries that have been started in New Zealand, stating locality, and, whore known, date of starting.— We do not think the desired information can bo obtained until the results of the recent census are published. E. M., Gore, asks how many houses a township must have before it can take advantage of the " Town Board Act," lately passed.— lt is necessary that there should be 50 householders in a district proposed to be brought under the Act. You will find a brief summary of the provisions of the Act in " Notes and Queries" in our issue of the Ist inst. Conbtakt Bba,der, Oamaru, asks; (1) If a school committee employ ft person to provide provisions or luncheon for a concert in aid of school funds, is any one of the committee responsible for tho money ? (2) If the committee deem it not advisable to build a school, then are they supposed to give an account of the nionoy raised? (3) When haß a deferredpayment selector forfeited his claim to a section, suppose he has failed in tho second payment and not resided on it, and when is it open for second application?— (l) Each of the members present at the meeting of committee, and who voted for the provisions being ordered, is personally liable. (2) Certainly. (3) Failure in payment is a ground of forfeiture, and the Board can recover possession at any time, and sell the land by auction. Inquisitor, Blueskin, sends tho following account of tho life of tho author of tho song "Spirits of Scotia," and asks whether it or the one published in a previous issue is the correct one :—" The author of tho 'Spirits of Scotia' was James His.op, of the parißh of Kirkconnol, in Nithsdale. In his early youth he followed the occupation of a shepherd, and it was while thus engaged that he composed the much-admired stanzas entitled ' The .Cameronian'a J)r'eam.' " Lord Jeffrey was s6 much pleased with it that he procured for him a situation as tutor in the Ship Dons, under the command pf Captain William Hope Johnston, in which he sailed to South America. On bis return be went to London, wbcro

he was for a time ongaged in teaching, and latterly as a reporter in the House of Commons. In October, 1827, he accepted a situation as preceptor in his Majesty's ship Tweed, under the command of Lord Churchhill, but was only at sea a few days when he died."— We should say that the previously-pub-lished account, written by the author of the " Glasgow University Album " of 1836, is more likely to bo the correct one than the above, which you say you "copied from a book"; especially as the former account was published within a few years of tho poet's death, when it would be green in the memory of everyone living in Scotland. L. Henry writes:— lf R., Oamaru, means the following lines, they are to be found in an epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq., by William Cowper :— Go, fellow ! Whither? turning short about. Nay. Stay at home ; you're always going out. 'Tis but a step, sir ; just at the street's end. For what ? An' please you, sir, to see a friend. A friend ! Horatio cried, and seemed to start ; Yea, merry shalt thou, and with all my heart. And fetch my cloak ; for tho' the night be raw, I'll see him, too -the first I ever Baw.

W. Teviotdale, Clifton, also kindly forwards the lines. Contractor asks : — Can a contractor compel a land-

owner to allow him to take gravel off his property, and if so, what is the maximum amount he can claim as compensation ?— Certainly not. Anxious, Invercargill, asks whether A, having leased horses, cattle, and chattels from B, with a purchasing clause, for a certain time, seeing there is part of the purchase-money paid already, can force B to sell and sign over the said horses, &c, before the expiration of the stated time on payment of the remaining amount of purchase-money.— You should consult a solicitor, as it is impossible for us to advise you without seeing the agreement. Libertas, Oamaru, asks the amount of ground contained in a right-angled triangle having its base and perpendicular sides each 26 chains in length.— B3a

3rßp. A. H., Awamoko.— We scarcely understand your question. Is it not the same as the foregoing 1 Subscriber, Ngapara, asks :— (1) How (in the event of a second marriage) a divorced wife would describe heraelf— whether spinster or what ? (2) The preliminaries of a marriage by tho registrar, and fees. — (!)

She resumes her maiden name, and should therefore

be described as " spinster." (2) The preliminaries are the same in the case of marriage by the registrar as in other cases. One of the parties has to givo notice in a certain form to the registrar, and to make a declaration verifying it before the registrar, who then issues a certificate. The fees are— for the

notice, 2s Gd ; for the certificate, 20s ; solemnisation

of marriage by the registrar, 20s. Minbr, Naseby, writes .-—Will you kindly inform myBelf and others in the same position— (l) If the holder of a miner's right, whose name is not on the roll, is entitled to vote at the election of county councillors ? (2) If bo, would he be entitled to vote in the riding wherein he resides at the time of election, although he resided in another riding of the same county when the miner's right was issued 1—

No. Experimentalist wishes to know how to prepare sheepskin mats. The following method, given by a contemporary, seems to be a simple one : -Make a strong lather with hot water and soap, and let it stand till cold. Wash the fresh skin in it, carefully squeezing all the dirt from the wool ; then wash it in cold water until all the soap is taken out. Dissolve a pound each of salt and alum in a tub containing two gallons of hot water, and which should be deep enough to admit of the skin being completely covered by the solution. Let it remain for 12 hours, and then hang it over a pole to drain. When well drained, stretch the skin carefully on a board to dry, and whilst undergoing this process it should be well worked and stretched several times. Previous, however, to ita becoming quite dry, sprinkle on the fleshy sido loz each of finely pulverised alum and saltpetre, rubbing it in well. Try if the wool be dry on the akin ; if not, let it remain a day or two longer. Then rub again with the alum, fold the fleshy sides together, and hang it in the shade for two or three days, turning each day till quite dry. Afterwards scrape the inside with a blunt knife, and then rub with pumice or rottenstone. Very beautiful mittens can be made of lambskins prepared in this manner. Amateur writes:— "l forward the following recipe for tanning any kind of fur skins, as I notice frequent inquiries in reference to preparing skins in your columns :— After having cut off the useless parts, and softened the skin by soaking, remove the fatty matter from the inside and soak it in warm water for an hour. Next, mix equal parts of borax, saltpetre, and Glauber salti (sulphate of soda), in the proportion of about }oz ot each for each skin, with sufficient wator to make a thin paste ; spread this with a brush over the inside of the skin, applying more on the thicker parts than on the thinner; double the skin together, flesh sido inwards, and place it in a cool place. After standing 24 hours, wash the skin clean, and apply, in the same manner as before, a mixture of loz sal soda, Joz borax, and 2oz hard white soap, melted slowly together without being allowed to boil ; fold together again and put away in a warm place for 24 hours. After this, dissolve 4oz alum, Boz salt, and Joz saleratus, in sufficient hot rain - water to

saturate the skin ; when cool enough not to scald

the hands, soak the skin in it for 12 hours ; then wring out and hang it up to dry. When dry, repeat this soaking and drying two or three times, till the skin is sufficiently soft. Lastly, smooth the inside with fine sandpaper and pumice-stone.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

M. R. F.— We presume you mean for Hyde. If so,

not at present. Farmbr, Christchurch.— Thanks for your experience.

Next week. StbMiA.— Could you not indicate some month, or space of time, in which it appeared? We have looked over back files, but have failed to find it.