CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2244, 4 March 1897, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

A Wellington man, Mr Sheen, is the latesb in the field to attempt to solve the problem of aavigating the air, and claims that ho has perfected a machine which will travel successfully at the rate oE a mile a. minute in defiance of all atmospheric currents. It has baen claimtd that a successful trial h«s been Made, and that the machine has carried Mr Sheen from Tcrirua to Upper Hutb, via Wellington, quite exceeding th» anticipations of the inventor. At the Hit meeting of the Wellipgton City Council Mr Sheen applied for permission to giro a public exhibition of his deviceon the Baiin Reserve, and when this event comes off it will be s-ien •whether or not he has ao3<<mplisksd ft ftftt rrhioh bui>^ *"Se4 the

FLYING MACHINES.

greatrst scientist* of the day. To fly has been a human aspiration ever since the days of: the Greek Mythology. When Dsedalus, who was the designer of the famous Labyrinth of Crete, and his son Icarus were imprisoned, he made Mings for the latter with which to escape. Unfortunately he fastened the wings with wax, but Icarus flaw too near the sun and' the wax melted, bo that the serial voyager fell into the sea and was drowned. Dcedalm chose the wings of a bird as his model, but modern aerial iuventions have been based upon the f not that certain gases are lighter than air, and to msohinea constructed on this principle have been added motors and steering appliances. But the tendency now is to return to the vring, nnd Mr Maxim has made considerable advances with a device called &n aeroplaue, which has a screw motor and sundry steering contrivances. Per- ' baps invention will progress until people will be able to order their aeroplane as they now order their carriage.

I.ONDONDEHHT.

Ife will be remembered that what conduced greatly to swell the wave of excitement about the Western Australian gold fields was a wonderful discovery ia the Londonderry mine. The claim was purchased for a , fabulous sum by Lord Fingall, and the apI proaches were locked up for six montht in order I that a gigautic company might be floated to | work it. The discovery turned out to be ! what is known as a " pothole " — one [ of those freak* of auriferous nature whioh are discoTered by accident aud lead to golden hopes. Oases where this has occurred [ form a great portion of the romance of gold mining. But there is no romauca in the matter for the unfortunate shareholders who invested in this Golcond*. The late Nitrate King was concerned in the flotation, and with great generosity undertook to return to purchasers of shares all the profit he had made out of the transaction. Lord' FiDgall and Mr Myring, who also made large profits, invested portion of them in certain Australian ventures, intending alio to devote the profits therefrom to the reimbursement of purchasers of Londonderriec. But, so far, these investments have ; proved barren ones, and the Londonderry shows only Gdnt to the ton, though the manager is confident it will become payable at greater depths. Unfortunately that kind of belief if the one most commonly met with, and ib is so common as to have no appreciable effect on the I share market.

SOUTHERN NATIVE CLAIMS.

The errand of the Hon. Mr Carroll, Colonial Secretary, to the southern part* of this island is stated to be for the purpose of inquiring into claims made by tbfe South Island Natives for lands to which they allege they are entitled. No doubt many of these claims are of a substantial and just kind, la the contest between the white maa and the brown the advantages lay in tnoit cases with the former. And it i» equally true that there are many shadowy olaims. These are not peculiar to the Natives. There are still living men who claim to have purchased — for a. song, it is true, but ntiil legally purchased — vast track* along the coast from the original owners. To disentangle such conflicting claims is now almost beyond human possibility, and Mr Carroll has been convinced of this in the course of his inquiry. He recognises thst all the G.overni ment can do is to atone for the past. We are uure the public wilt not grudge liberal endow* mente of land for such a purpose. Even though the Natives had dissipated their patrimony, there is so much regard and sympathy for them that they would be provided for, though the provision might be secured in such a way ai to be inalienable. The request of the Natives that they should be conveyed to the Snares and other mutton-bird islands on their annual trips is not an unreasonable one. The " blackmailing" to which they have been subjected by owners of small craft is, no doubt, very much exaggerated, buij the mutton-birding is their harvest, and an important item in their | yearly income. The Government might very I well land them on the islands and return for them in due time at a fixed rate of psesige sufficient to cover the cost.*. Everything in reason should be done to soothe the dying hours of the Native race. I | The intimation that it is intended to manufacture gas for use in the railway carriages in the North Island will be received with pleasure by the travelling public, who have submitted with praiseworthy patience to the gloom which has hitherto pervaded the carriages after nightfall. It is still more satisfactory to , learn that the crude Taranaki petroleum is to '. be used for the purpose of making the gag, as ' this affords grounds for hope that another colonial industry is to ba established. It» value hat already been proved by Mr J. Watt in ' the manufacture of gas for the Borough of Bal- ' clutha. The telegram conveying the informa- j tion to which we have referred' somewhat vaguely adds that the plant ia now used on the Christchurch - Dunedin section, and this is open to the interpretation that it ia the intention of the department to remoy* the plant. We learn on iuquiry that such is not intended. The experiment* vhloh h&vc b«>n m*(U b J tue e^'Oit* »nd <#bieb tuve ftttttat

GAS FOR EAILWATS.

The intimation that it is intended to manufacture gas for use in the railway carriages in the North Island will be received with pleasure by the travelling public, who have submitted with praiseworthy patience to the gloom which has hitherto pervaded the carriages after nightfall. It is still more satisfactory to | learn that the crude Taranaki petroleum is to be used for the purpose of making the gag, as | this affords grounds for hope that another colonial industry is to ba established. It» value hat already been proved by Mr J. Watt in the manufacture of gas for the Borough of Balclutha. The telegram conveying the information to which we hare referred' somewhat vaguely adds th»t the plant ia now used on the Chriitchurch - Danedin section, and this is open to the interpretation that it ia the intention of the department to remoy* the plant. We learn on iuquiry that mob. is not intended. The experiment* vhloh have

proved the suitability of the ontive oil for gas manufacturiug purposes. Lava baen conducted at Dunedin, where the Finteoh plant is looated and supplies compressed gut to a number of railway carriages. This gas is made from imported crude oil, thau which the Taranaki oil ii said to be much more suitable. The use of these crude oils for gas purposes is an interesting process, »ud one which leads to considerable saving as well as efficiency. It has been oo sticceisfully carried but on the HurunuiBiuff section that it is intended to largely extend the system to other carriages not yet supplied with the neoessary equipment.

britaih's TJBADB.

An interesting correspondence is going on in f he Economist on the subject of Britain's foreign trade, and Us efforts made* to s cure and retain it. Of late years British consuls abroad bare been in the habit of reporting on trade possibilities. Many of these reports condemn British apathy, but a correfcpoucUnt points oat that French and German consular reports contain the same complaint. Th» French oonsuls nnifce in a chorus oE accusations "of incapacity and want of initiative against their couatrymeD," to ' whioh they add that " they Bead no travellers, or only those who apeak in foreign languages, nor do they etndy tho tasteß and reqairemeati of the consumer." Business men, however, attach bat little importance to consular reports, preferring those of their Agents or travellers, because they are more praotioal and nob so diffuse find general. A correspondent-point* out that the consular bod* might profitably leave business to business men, and occupy itself with sundry commercial reforms which he names. This correspondent concludes with a protest :— "lr is customary with consuls to lecture us fot adhering to Euglish weights and measures, bat remonstrances on this score should be made to the Home authorities, who have it in their power, and whose duty it if, to remove the inherent disadvantages of our current standard by tho adoption of the metric system. Notwithstanding the adherence to the reooguised standard as a necessary legal precaution, our export merchants and shippers have lotjjg been acoustomed to measure, work, and quote per metre, kilo, &c., wherever it may be advisable or compulsory to do so ; and although this in itself offers no difficulty whatever, still the substitution of our inconvenient system by the metric system (as regards weights and measures) would be very welcome, and would obviate the doable labour of marking, iovo'cing, &c, incurred by present circumstances."

MONOPOLIES.

The Spectator has an article about the mono* poly trouble, and prophesies that the extension of the "trust" system will cause a great fuss in Britain some day, saying that around the right to create ft monopoly, as a pivot, will occur the first dapgerous fight be* tween capital and the people. Thii, whether in America or Britain. The fight has already commenced in America, and the Spectator understands this to be the way in which it is waged: — A group of capitalists, usually calling themselvei a " syndicate," subscribe as many millions ,of dollars as they think necegsary, constitute a company with shares, and procned to buy up all the stocks and supplies, aa they arrive, of the materials upon which they have fixed their eyes — say, the more popular chemical drugs. They next offer a very limited number of shares to all druggists who will " enter the combination, " who will buy chemicals exclusively from them, and who will" sell to the public at prices 'which the syndicate fix. Most druggists yield, and the few who do not find their credits with the great importers suddenly gone, their supplies cut off or ran up in price beyond reason, while their retail shop trade is locally under-sold, and in six months disappears. Within 12 months the chemical trust becomes possessed of the whole drug trade of the unionit is an enormous one, for Americans are usually dyspeptic, and always believe in medicine — and thenceforward the syndicate settles the prices of all drugs at discretion. Ifc is said that within the union no fewer than 160 articles of consumption have fallen in this way under the control of syndicates, and that in many large departments of trade it iB no longec possible to open a shop without their consent. Something like this has actually been dona in England, where a bedstead mana-v faefcurer has been driven out of the trade because he had cot joined aa association of manufacturers. The Spectator concludes by saying : — " We feel quite confident that the effort to acquire great fortunes through, monopolies will be made in England, that id will extend to articles of prime importance, such as salt, tea, butchers' meat, and perhaps svgar — though the last may require too enor> mous a capital — and that it will on some fine day excite immense irritation among the mass of voters, who will find that most things which they eat, drink, or wear have been, so to speak 'patented,' — that is, monopolised by small alliances of rich men intent on heavy dividends'." They will cry out loudly for competition — the • devilish system ' whioh socialist orators now rail at — and they will apply to Parliament foe help, whioh, avon if PftiUameat if billing, will