NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2359, 11 May 1899, Page 46

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in earning issue lo be rejxived not later than 31O2TDAY night.

R. B. — The specimen is one of our mud rushes, Isolepis riparia — a very variable plant. Topsy. — (1) Apply to Mr Pryde, secretary to the Education Board, who will supply you with a circular giving all necessary information. (2) The fees for day scholars at the Otago High School is £1 per term, or if paid within 21 days of tho beginning of the term, £3 Gs

Bd. Hindoo. — We know of no one in the colony to whom you could apply, but the following quotation from Hazell's Annual may serve your purpose: — Appointments in the Indian Civil Service are highly prized, and can only be obtained at the expense of much, labour and energy. Situations in the Covenanted Civil Service are gained by passing a competitive examination in England. . . . The candidates who have successfully competed arc required to undergo two years' probation, and to pass periodical examinations in special subjects of study before proceeding to India. The limit of age for candidates is from 17 to 21. ... The members of the Statutory

Civil Service are selected from among the natives. . . . The Public Works department is recruited from the Royal Indian Engineering College, at Cooper's Hill, A. B. — We know of no amendment to the Munir cipal Corporation Act permitting the levying of a general rate in excess of Is 3d in the pound. New Chum.— Will be replied to by " Agricola," in " Notes on Rural Topics." Thank you for your note on your experience, which shall find a, place in the same column. Amateur. — " Agricola " will also deal with your question. A. M. writes: — I noticed 'in the Mining column of the Otago Witness the account of Mr • Alfred Smith's suction pump. Would you kindly tell me through your Answors to Correspondents' column whnt the cost of pump, pipe, etc., would be, and if it would be suitable ■ to work a beach claim like that at Barrytown, near Greymouth, where they use the blower principle? Our Wakatipu correspondent replies to your query as follows : " It is impossible to give even an approximate estimate of cost of plant to work one of Messrs Smith's suction pumps without some information as to physical surroundings of the ground to be treated, quantity of water, and what quantities of material are to be removed in a given time, etc. From the following data, however, it will be easy to arrive at the cost with tolerable accuracy. Ascertain what length of piping is required to give, say, 100 ft of vertical pressure. Next the quantity of the water to be employed will have to be considered, and the diameter of the pipes adapted to it. Besides the pressure pipes there is the pump, the length of which must correspond to the deptb to be reached. Then there is the casting and discharge wipe. This is tho whole apparatus which should not exceed, say, £60 or £80, and might not cost half that amount. It chiefly depends upon the length of the pressure pipe and its cost per foot. I have heard it statedthat pi-Ding is one-fifth les= in Otagc than on the West, Coast. Messrs Smith's suction Dimm would do admirably well upon any sea beach where it would work to a depth of 30ft, or perhaps a little deeper. Horsehair, asks if anyone can tell him the proper way to clean and dress horsehair so as to make it fit for stuffing or padding buggy eiishions? Can any reader oblige with the desired information ? N. and Q. — A good composition to make boots waterproof for winter use is composed of one part mutton suet and twice that quantity of beeswax melted together. It should be applied to the leather at night, and the boots wiped with a flannel next morning. Although when the composition is first npplied the leather will not polish as well as if blacked, yet the boots will be susceptible of a brilliant polish after the blacking has been applied a few times. The following composition not only renders the leather capable of resisting wet, but also makes it more pliable, softer, and more durable;— Dissolve half an

ounce of Burgundy pitch in half a pint of drying oil, mix with half an ounce of turpentine. To use this fluid, the boots should be made slightly warm before the fire, and then painted over with the composition by means of a soft brush. Then allow them to dry, and paint them over agaiu with the liquid. The boots should then be placed in a warm and dry place until peifectly dry. Another composition of a similar kind is made by dissolving one ounce of powdered resin in a quarter of a pint of linseed oil made hot over the fire in a pipkin ; then add two ounces of mutton suet from the kidney, chopped small, and simmer until the materials are well mixed. This composition is applied like the last, but does not require a second application. X. Y. Z. — (1) In the case you put, the Stock Inspector can only give B leave to trap rabbits while the land is in ,the hands of the Crown. C, by taking a lease of the lands from the Crown, renders himself responsible for the rabbiting, and can eject B. (2) Section 50 of "The Stock Act, 1893," says: — " Every occupier of any land who shall muster his stock for either of the purposes of ear-marking, shearing, oi removal from the land shall, before yarding the same, give due notice to the occupiers of all adjoining lands of his intention so to yard his stock. Any stcckownei who has reason to believe that any of his stock have strayed on to any land in the occupation of any othei stockowner may, by writing under his hand, require such other .itockowner to give him personal notice or notiie by letter of his intention to muster his stock 24 hours at least before yarding the same. jSvery person who neglects to give any notice as mentioned in this section to any such occupier or stockowner, is liable tc a penalty not exceeding £20. Speculator.— Section 24 of " The Mining Companies Act, 1894," provides : — " No manager or secretary of any mining company shall carry on business or act as a sharebroker for the sale or disposal in any way of shares on mining companies liable to the provisions of this act, or in their stock or property of any kind, or be concerned or interested either as a partner or in any other capacity or manner directly or indirectly in the business of any such sharebroker. . . And if he shall commit a. breach of this provision he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds'. For the purpose of this section the word ' manager ' includes any person acting as a manager or secretary of a company whether permanently or temporarily." Speculator.— Section 2i of " The Mining Companies Act, 1894," prohibiting managers or 'secretaries of mining companies fiom acting a-s sharebrokers, is repealed by section 195 of • The Mining Act, 1895 " "in so far, but so far only, as it prohibits a manager or secretary of any mining company from carrying on business or acting as a sharebroker for the sale or disposal in any way of shares in mining companies liable to the provisions of that act (" The Mining Companies Act, 1894 "), or in their stock or property of any kind."