NOTES AND OUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1852, 20 May 1887, Page 20

NOTES AND OUERIES.

"Sol." — Mr Beverly replies to your query: The tangents of the hour lines, on a horizontal dial, are equal to the tan gents of the hourangles multiplied by the sine of the latitude. The lat. cf Lawrence is 45deg 55min, and its cine '7183. The tangents of the hour angles, 15deg, 30deg, *c, are '268. •5774, 1, 1*732. and 3-732. These by "7183 give '1925, -4147, 7183, 1-2441, and 26808 the tangents of the hour lines. Hence the angles of the hour lines from the meridian are lOdeg 36rnin, 22d g 31min, 35deg 41mio, 51deg 13min, and 69deg 33min,. the 6-hour line being 90deg. These may be laid off from a scale of chords . , But suppose you have only a foot rule to work with. Then you draw a line of indefinite length at right angles to the, 12-hour line, at a distance of,' say, lOin from the base of the sloping edge of the stile, and on this line lay off l'92sin, 4'l47in, 7-183 in, &c; from the 12-hour'line, and draw linea from these points to the base of the stile. The elevation of the stile must equal the lat. Thus a right angled triangle whose sides 1000, 718, and 696, give the form of the stile, the smallest side being the base. The simplest way of finding the meridian line is to insert a pole vertically in a level piece of ground, and draw a circle round the pole of such radius that the shadow of the top of the pole shall cut it at two points. Then if a line be drawn from the base of the pole to the middle of the intercepted arc, this line will be north and south, nearly; not exsctly, because the sun's declination, alters slightly between the times of cutting the circle in the forenoon and afternoon, except at midsummer and midwinter. New Zealand mean time is llmin 4sec in advance of Lawrence mean time. Cockatoo writes :— A. > stream runs through my section and the adjoining one. In the latter the water ib obstructed by debris and through weeds growing in the stream, bo that after a few days' rain my land is flooded. (1) Can I eompei the owner of ,the,adjoinu>g stream to clear the portion running through his land, or claim damages, from him? (2) My neighbour and I have put -up a dividing fence. Must I help to repair the portion put up by him hi'addition to keeping my own in. repair ?-(l) No^ (2) Unless it was agreed between you that each was to keep his own half in repair each can be compelled to bear half the cost of repairs to any part. J. H. H. GK writes :— A owns a farm. He is indebted to a company a certainsum. The creditor sues for the amount; and A is served within 100 ' yards of the courthouse. Can the court or bailiff claim the sum of 16s extra mileage, A'a farm being 25 miles from the town in. which the case is to be heard. — The bailiff is not entit'ed to mileage. Farmer, "VVaikoikoi :— (1) All grain imported into Victoria with the exception of maize is subject to a duty of 2s per 1001b. The duty on maize is Is' per 1001b. (2) The following charges are incurred in sending grain from Dunedin to Victoria : Cartage, Is 6d ; harbour dues. Is ; insurance, 10s per cent ; freight, Is 6d per bag (oats), la 3d per bag

' (wheat and barley). ; 'The number of bags totfte» :tofl is respectively— wheat, 10; barley, 12; owtsv 14. Duty is, of course, to be added to these

figures. <: , "''- ' - * '•'■.• Inquirer:— Under the new regulations the following 1 , is a description of the target for- 800 yds used at ■ .Wimbledon :- Bullseye, ,3ft In diameter j centre, ,Sft>, oiiter' (remainder ',ot target), 6fb by Bft. There is no firing at I.oooyds with, the Snider ' rifle. ,>'''■'' J. M. X.— Apply to ihe r secretary of the Marine department, Wellington', from which lighthouse business is transacted.' .« , :'>,'... - ' T . H. J. asks if any of our readei s can describe to him - ' a method of making a trap door or cover for thetop of a pit- to be used- for trapping rabbits in a bush- surrounded with wire -netting. — We suggest , the following method, but if any reader knows off ; a better plan we shall be glad to publish particulars :— Have the door on an axle fixed nearer one- < end than the other, Of course the long end wilt ; fall into the pit. To prevent this fix a weight or» ' the small end sufficientto,. retain : it' in i to horizontal position. , Sprinkle grain on the long portion of the door to tempt the rabbit on to itBunny is Buch a cautiouß ( 'Uttle> " eusd " 'that wo .■ t are not at all sanguine, of .the success* of, the arrangement, but in lieu of a better suggestion it , might be tried.— [You did not stamp your letter, an omission which resulted in a, fine r of 4d being inflicted on us by the postal authorities. lou wifi . * oblige by sending the amount in stamps by i return

X. 1 . Z.— (l) There are many methods of getting rid •, of the aphis in apple trees. < Blight on the rows, if your trees are not on blight-proof Btock, may be got rid of by occasionally 'applying fresh unslaked lime, covering it up with earth. Diluted sheep.- ■ dip syringed over the trees,, a kerosene emulsion' (a tablespoonful to the bucket of water), or * , mixture of '21b soft soap, ■ lib sulphur, and Agzl • water are all equally effective. If you apply ( kerosene do not be tempted to use it undiluted or ' you will injure your trees. (2) It depends a good deal on the locality. The following list r«ora- ;. mended to a correspondent a few weeks back should, we think, suit the circumstances of your case also i— Apples— Hawthornden, ' Cellini, EjA- ! peror Alexandra, golden pippin,' French crab,. Kibston pippin. Peats— Beuwe diel, Bergamotte, Marie Louise, William's' Bon Cretien. ' CherriesBlack heart, May Duke," Bigarreau, Elton, black eagle. Plums— Coe's golden drop, damson, dia« ; mond, Goliab, Jefferson. , (3) See artiole in farm i page of Witness of April 22 last. Macrocarpa is both inexpensive and quiok growing, requiring but little attention, and seldom failing. Subscriber, Arrow.— No. A Breeder asks for {the pedigree of the Olydeskale entire Royal Chatter, who was at one time the property of the Moa.Flat estate, and vita, he thinks, bred by Mr B. Charters, of the'Taieri, Eliza, Crook'ston.— Thankybu for your reply tofl.C, The question is, you w}ll see, answered more fully , below. B.O.B.— The First Church steeple is the highest* , The measurements from the ground line to the; I capping of the spire are: — First Church, 170 ft;; Knox Church, 150 ft; Town' Hall, 150 ft. The--north end of the town is higher than the aoufcb end. The centre of the Water-of-Leith bridge, Great King street, is 41ft higher than the highest , part of Princes street, or about level with the ' parapet of the City Hotel. Inquirer. — No, a boarder is'not entitled to vote ' for a school committee. ' < • Railway.— The time differs, but generally civil 1 servants are allowed one hour for dinner. Coon.— The Tramway Company do, not charge" ■ extra, for travelling on their lines in North-Baat < Valley , provided you come through , the city with a " connecting car." , Chart.— The scale matted on the margin of tb© Admiralty charts is in miles. A degree of latitudeis 60 miles' in length, and If you are deshous of ascertaining the, distance, from one place to another, prick it off on your chart by means of your compasses north and south, while your parallel rulers will give you the course required between any two • points. ■ Mariners generally obtain the course and distance « between any two places by means of Mercator's projectiou— the method of . working which you' , will find in •' Node's Epitome of Navigation," page 98. If you wish an Instance— say, take the court© and distance from Nelson Light to the nearest point of Adele Island, which you will 'find is N.W. JW, distance 18j miles. Beyond this we do not feel inclined to instruct, 'as there are many gentlemen (shipmasters) who are at all times willing to teach navigation, which is an abstruse science, to persons desirous' of acquiring a knowledge of it. Among these may Ue mentioned : Captain Thos. Hodge, of Port Chalmers, a gentleman who has held the position of 'Navigation IdJ structor in the Eoyal Nary, and who not only instructs orally but also 'by letter. Brucb Contributor.— You' have neglected to, forward your name with your letter,, and conse* quently it cannot appear. As, however, a report of a meeting in connection with the Bubject you deal with appears in. another , column your object will no doubt be gained. , , Wasp.— Your suggestion is certainly worthy of consideration and although we are afraid that the amount of encouragement we should be likely to receive would scarcely warrant the adoption of it in its entirety, we have made arrangements for n short series of articles to appear during the course of a month or two.

Lizziß, MauDgatua.- (1) Thickened varnish may bereduced by the addition of spirits of turpentine 1 and linseed oil used sparingly. (2) Peel the marrow, which mußt not be too ripe ; cut' it down th* centre, take out all the seeds, and scrape the inside* clean ; cut it in leDgths, and then into smallor pieces about lin long and §ln thick. . Put these to steep into soft sugar and water the night before you preserve them ; make a svrap of alb of loaf r sugar to one pint of water. When this is boiled for a quarter of an hour, put in your fruit, and let it boil in the syrup for an hour, or until quite clear. When done, add a Little essence of lemon y to flavour it, put it into jars, and do not cover it until cold A Hesident.— We are afraid the question will continue to be a source of discussion so long as the definition of the term " householder" remains in its present partially explained state in the act. The case you state presents some different features to that of " Householder," replied to in last issue, and we should imagine that a point would b* stretched'ahd'the claimants be allowed to voto. J. T. G. — The steamer Great Britain first anchored In Port Jackson November 20, 1852. She was th« largest vessel then afloat, her burthen being 3500 tons.

SOME FACTS, ABOUT THE BIBLE. E., Oamaru, gives the following information for the benefit of "H. C. 1 , Oamaru ":,— Old New Testament. Testament. Total. Books ... .39 27 66

Chapter* 929 260 1,189 Verees ... 23,234 7,059 31,173 Words ... 592,439 181,253 773,692 Letters ... 2,728,100 838,380 3,666,480 The Apocrypha has 483 chapters, 6081 verses, and 153,185 words. The middle chapter and the least in the Bible is Paalm CXVII. The middle verse is theßth verse of Psalm OXVJIIt In the Old Testament—. The middle hook of the Old Testament is Proverbs. The middle chapter of. the Old Testament is Job XXIX. The middle of the verses in 2 Ohron. chap. XX, between the 17th and 18th verses.

The least verse is Ist Chron. chap. I, 25fch verse. The 21st verse of the VII chap. «f Izra has all the letters of the alphabet except J. TheXIX chap, of 2nd Kings and XXXVII of Isaiah arealik* • In the New Testamenfc-r The middle book of the New Testament is 2nd Thessalonians. . The middle chapters are the XIII and XIV of Romans. The middle verse is the 17th of the XVII of Acts. The word "'Lord" occurt 1855 times. The word "reverend "occurs but once (9fch vers of Psalm CXI) The word " and " occurs in the Old Testament 35,513 times, and in theiNew 10,084 timea;total, 46,227.' ■ The word " Jehovah " occurs 6855 times. The least verse in the' J3ible is 35th of the XI cbaDter of John '"

The longest verse is fche 9th of the VIII chapte of Esther.

There are no words or names of more than six syllables. The number of words in the new version of the New Testament is 83,715 ; and these words were telegraphed from New York to Chicago on tie Sl&t of May 1881 (the day the new version first arrived in New York), between the hours of 5 and Xi*SO p.m., 19 -wires being vied up to 9 o'clock, and 31 -wires after that hour. It all appeared in the -Chicago Times of the ?,2nd May 1881, in which it .-occupied 89 columns out of an issue of 176 columns.

, 4 f«*r* T-.reT -.re. t jt-r I,3a&a1 ,3a&aa y \l" I*l M-- V »g-i-.^«^fg,«t*'s.gy».^

'THE BEPBESENTATION AND CIVIL LIST OF THE EABLY DAYS.

E., Oamaru, who has in times past supplied much historical statistical information to the readers of this column, contributes the following :— Now that there is so much talk' about representation, the following particulars of the •' Early Days " will be read with interest by many :— By the Constitution Act of New Zealand, 15 and 16 Victoria, chapter 72, passed on the 30th day of June 1852, the General Assembly of the colony was to consist of a Legislative Council and House of 'Representatives (clause 83). The members of the Legislative Council were to be appointed by the Governor in the name and on behkif ot her Majesty, not to be less thau 10 in number, five to be a quorum, and to bold their seats for life (clauses 33, 34). The members of tbe House of Representatives were to' be elected by the ratepayers, and hola their seats for five years (clause 40). ' The number of representatives to be not legß than 24, nor more than 42. By clause 41 the Governor was empowered to divide the colony into electoral districts, and to determine the number of representatives to be elected for eaoh district ; "regard being had to the number of electors within the -same, so that the number of members to be assigned <to any one district may bear to the whole number •of the members of the House, as nearly 'as may be, %he same proportion as the number of electors within such district shall bear to the whole number of elec-, tors in New Zealand.", Sir, George Grey, , who was th'en Governor, proclaimed the number of districts and representatives on sth March 1853. Polling places, rules and regulations were also published in the same proclamation. The number of districts was fixed at 24—14 for the North Island and 10 for the Middle ; the number of representatives at 37— 23 for the North and 14 for the Middle Island, as follows : — * l; City of Auckland 3 15. Town of Nelson ... 2 2. Suburbs of Auck- 16. Waimea district ... 2 . land . ... 2 17. Motueka and Mas- . 3. Pensioners' settle- sacreßay ... 1 ment ... 2 18. Wairau district ... 1 4. Northern Division 2 19. Town of Christ's. Southern Division 2 church ... 1 6. Bay of Islands ... 1 20. Christ church 7- Town of New Ply- country ... 2 mouth ... 1 21. Town of Lyttel8. Grey and Bell dis- ton ... ... 1 trict ... 1 22. Akaroa district ... 1 9. Omata district ... 1 23. Town of Dunedin 1 10. City of Wellington 3 24. Dunedin country 2 11. We 1 1 ing t o n country ... 1 12. Hutt disft-ict ... 2 13. Wairarapa afcd Hawke's Bay ... 1 14- Wanganul and Bangitikei ... 1

23 H Sir George Grey, however, had not the pleasure of calling together the first meeting of the " General Assembly " as he left the colony in January 1854. His successor, Colonel Wynyard, summoned it for the 24th May 1854, on which day it met at Auckland. The Otago members were Messrs James Macandrew, O. W. Cutten, and Captain W. Cargill. Charles Clifford was elected the first Speaker of the House of Eepresentatives. He was the member for' Wellington Country. Before the meeting of the Assembly the Executive had been the nominees of the Governor; now they were chosen by the House. The first Premier was Mr Fitzgerald. His colleagues were Messrs Francis Dillon Bell, Henry Sewell, and F. A. Weld. But the first really responsible Executive was the Bell-Sewell Government of May 1856 — Henry Sewell, Colonial Secretary; Francis Dillon Bell, Treasurer: Frederick Whitaker, Attorney-general; Henry J. Tailored, Legislative Council. The districts and number of representatives were •aoon and frequently altered as the colony progressed and population increased, as the following table will show : —

The number of members in the Legislative Council By the schedule to the Constitution Act the salaries of the Civil List were fixed as follows : —

governor ... 3hief Justice ... Puisne Judges... of the General Government ... Native Purposes £3,500 1,000 800 si 1858 £3,500 3>, 2,000 GO gj ".2 4,800 5 2 7,000 £4,500 } 6,200 £7,501 1,701 6,001 4,700 7,000 7,300 7,000 10,051 7,001 £16,000 £18,700] £25,0001 [£32,2!

b £ a o 1 i 8 li ! L 853 32,000 24 B« By Constitution Act and rules and regulations. By Representation Act 1858, No. 55. By Rppreseetation Act 1860, No. 12. By Representation Act 1862, No. 11. By Representation Act 1865, No. 70.' By Representation Act 1870, No. 15. By. Representation Act 1875, No. 77. By Representation Act 1881, No. 14, not including the four Maori representatives. 1858 59,413 28 41 1860 83,000 43 5i 1862 200,000 45 57 1885 250,000 62 70 1870 260,000 68 74 1875 375,000 69 84 1882 489,498 .91 91 I 573,940; LBB6| ,91 91