NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming istu* to b» received tut later than MONDAY night.

G-. E., Masterton.— Mr H. M. Davey, consult- - ing engineer, Moray place, kindly replies :^ — (1) You may well ask -the questioil you do, seeing that though we have water' under all manner of conditions, yet so very little use seems to -be made of it tha,t persons with a beautiful and constant power actually running past them will still use steam or other power at not only a far greater first cost.- but ' ;alko ;at a far greater; upkeep and repairing'account,- As a matter of fact, .water is adapted ,for any, .power where the supply is • fairly-constant, .as -it' islin^s,o, inany^ways in - ttis: country. ' (2) . As/watef-pWer can most undoubtedly be- applied to sawmilling, and r-.'js:' so jri many places giving^-tfie best results, -"the"' only" -reason-" of 'its being so little used -"s'se'mslto, be that persons do not know how " tola.pp.ly it. And yet miners do apply water in. many w,ays for their purposes," and even. ioi, t he very thing 'you. speak about in some : cases where they require' it and have timber. ,c-, c-s Ifj you have a water supply you '. can write again 'to the' editor explaining the quantity of water, which, if you cannot " measure properly, you can measure roughly by giving the size of the stream and its speed; then give the fall or height of the water above the place where the tail race could be made. Remember that a little •water at a great height gives good power; that a large quantity of water at a small height may be as good, but if height, or fall, as some "call it, and quantity are combined

you get excellent power. M'CAiLCM^MoRE.-rMr Davey replies : (1) Your idea,, as described and 'shown, or any modification of it, a3 'far as , I oa>n see, will r.ot work, arid cannot be made' to do whait you wtot. There is no advantage, though there certainly "wjould seem to become, but again I must.-say that there is no possible advantage gained by sihapin^ the dam this way or that wayj for, the object you aim at. You will see this readily on c. small scale if you look at a kettle; 'you "will soon find that no ma'cuer ■what (he relative size of it to its spout, no matter what its. shape and ,the -shape of its spout, you never can get liquids to stand higher in the spout than in the kettle. If" sir ' the water would always empty it t>y

the spout, or. at^anyrate eentam shapes (would <t6 -so, iut. they won't. Then, again, as has \Tjeeii explained" in . these answers before, syphons will not raise water or any liquid. It is'tru** 'hat 'they will raise water to a little over 20ft above the reservoir level at the loeaMy you' write from, but only if the syphon bends- down- Ixfcyw the level of She water in the Teservoir-and delivers the water lower than' said* I ' reservoir, and you cannot get water 'out krf the "pipe at its high point, for if you n.ake «,-Jiole in tha pipe at any (bdgh level, instead of the water coming out air igoea in, ' ar.d the syphon's action, is destroyed, but in no case can any portion of the syphon be higher, anci probably in practice scarce^ perhaps as high as it can befpumped by .suction. If it would lift as yo\i suggest the depth of water in the reservoir would not matter, saeing that the water is "forced up the short, or suction arms of a •Syphon by the pressure of the aiLr, and that is why tha lift is limited to about 30ft at the sea level, and in fine weather, and is de-

creased at higher levels, and in bad weather, as the air pressxire is less under those conditions, with a further deduction in practice. If, ihowevet* you me-an, some other thing than has been thought,- write again. (2) This question can bo . answetfed with the word " yea," but some explanation may help you a, little. You ask if water delivered by a Jin pips to a turbine would develop enough power to raise water by a pump to the same freight. Of cautrdS dt is only a catch question, for if you Mvo water at a given height ■why eend it down, say, 60ft to drive a machine that in ita turn drives' another, and «U to be able to Jump water (you ontit to say how much) up to the same level. As a matter of fact, a little would be capable of being so returnedi depending somewhat <m the efficiency! of the machinery, but of ©ouirae ncdi; as much »3 you sent down, bu f j you might ba interested in knowing, or of bourse you may know, tha-t you can. do better than you ask about. With a ikm you can let "water drop, any. from 4ft to, say, 12ft, or more ; and then get a portion of came lifted to 50ft or more higher than the origin ail reservoir was, and pevhaps you might get your (requirements m No. 1 question salved iv this way, for referring to Blake's catalogue, I find tihat his rams drive a portion, of the ■water thafl 4rive3 them as much &s S2olt

and once it is cracked, we are afraid there is no remedy for it. (2) We have never heardi of -the sulxstancei, bwt shall make inquiries. (3) No, but you can gel the copper tinned, which would answer much better. You ■would, however, require to send it to a coppersmith., which we sxipposc is irnpxacticable as you live so far off. A. and T. Burt, Dunedin, do this class of work, and would quote you a price for it. Gardener.— After chopping off all the growths on the willow roots, water with diluted sulphuric acid or arsenic overhead immediately the young growths make an appearance. Putting straw and rubbish over them and ' burning* in -some cases is efficpcioojis, hub the only snii'o preventive, . according to the Scientific American, is to grub them out. — J. G. Big Stbawberbie.— Lime would be of no iise. Forking out the roots is the only remedy. — J. G-. Miner. — The following is a good method of cleaning copper plates : — First : Get a piece of clay free from grit, and mix common salt well in with it. The clay and salt being sxifuciently moist will enable the plates to be painted with the' mixture. This being done, put the plates on four bricks, kindle a fire, nd heat the plates till blood red ; then lift them quickly and plunge them into a bath of. cold water. Thia will quickly take all the gold off the plates, and not injure them in the least. Second: Take muriatic acid and salt, and mix well, and soak the plates the side the gold is on, and heat as recommended for No. 1. A scale of copper comes off in both process-^, but this <k>es not injure the plates in the least. To .gave the gold, put the copper, after washing clean and drying, into 9n earthenware dish, and bum with uitrio acid until it is clean. To smelt, if in

from! ithe time ol payment or making of the written promise ax acknowledgment. Sxtbsceiber. — Yes, if the wife has withdrawn from cohabitation without reasonable excuse. Subscriber, Southland.— WUl be dealt with by "AgTioola" in "Notes? on Eural Topics' in due course Inqotwer.— Mv W. B. M'Keay, jun., Main Souith road, Cavershanr, can 'supply you with an excellent s&ries. Astronomical.— Mr Skey, ol the Observatory, Leith Valley, kindly replies : —The larger star is Mars, belonging to the solar system. It has two moons, but it requires great telescopic power to isihow them. The other star is Antares, a fixed star on the background, as it were, of the heavens, and very distant. Mars sometimtss appears to be going backwards, which apparent retrograde motion arises from the motions of our own planet, Ihe ea.rth, projecting its appearance on different parts of ths background' of the sky. Chook, Waiai'eka. — Any firm or private individual may, if it or he chooses, export ungraded egga or poultry from this colony, but merchants prefer graded produce, because the contents of each package have been certified to by an expert. The charge for grading eggs at the Government depots is Id per dozen if packet? in ordinary cases containing, say, 50 dozen eggs. This charge includes railage to depot. For grading, packing, and supplying export cases with strawboard divisions the charge is 2d per dozen, which includes railage and one month's free cool storage.

above tho level of the supply reservoir, and lie does not say that that is the most that can be done. If you want to know about rams, send particuilaars of the quantity of water you have and the quantity of water you need to be raised per hour, the fall you can get neaa 1 the reservoir, and the height to which said water is to be raised. M'Callum More. — (1) The globe is divided into zones of 15 degrees, or one hour breadth. Inquires. — Apply to the Inspector of Machinery. Supreme Court, Dunedin, who will fiiirnish you with all particulars. JTindon. — The nearest trig to IJmci on is Trig V, Mount Hyde district; height, 1413 ft; S. lait., 45deg 14rnin 32sec (about); E. long. 170dsg lSniin 02sec (about) Alpha. — Will be replied to by "Agricola" in "Notes on Rural Topics." Not Quite Sure. — (1) Once every five years. (2) Auckland, 57,340; Wellington 57,663; Christchurch, 51,771; Dunedin, 58,938. J. L. — B's children would be A's cousins once removed; A and B's children would be second cousins. K. T. E.— The only chance of getting the papers would be £f they were published m x tlra local newspapers'. Your best plan would be to write to the Adelaide Observer

or the South Australian Chronicle. Turk asks if any reader would kindly state whether they have had any success in fruit drying with a .home-made evaporator. " How to-Mrke and Use Ono" is ; given m the Hoin<3 and • Farm Encyclopedia, and appears very practicable, but before starting to make one the experience of others in that

line would be very useful. Personal. — Yes, but he will be called upon ' to sign a declaration that he is not in a position to pay. ' • ' Enamel. — We know of no substance for ' renewing enamel ware where breaks m the enamel occur. That is the drawback to tHis -useful kind of Kitchen utensil. The enamel is put on at a high temperature,

a Hessian crucible, use fluxing saltpetre ; if in a plumbago one, flux in borax.~ Linwood. — No. The shares are merely liable to forfeiture, as indicated in the notice.

Inquirer, Poolburn.— (l) June 29, 1901; £796 15s. (2) Order of discharge was granted on September 16, 1901. (3) No partnership existed at the time of the bankruptcy, and we have no knowledge of a subsequent partnership. (4) Not if the debt was provable in the bankruptcy. Stirling.— lf you claim moTe than £200 damages, or if the action is one in which tho title to any coporeal or incoipoareal hereditament is disputed, or if the Magistrate before whom the case may be iieaa-d is vested only with ordinary jurisdiction up to JEIOO, and you intend to claim a larger sum, proceedings must be taken in .the Supreme Court. T. W. Y.— Wiite to the Council of the New 'Zpaiiir-d Amateur Athletic Association, Chiistehurch. Faih Play.— lf goree 1 has been proclaimed a i\ox ; oiis weed in the district, it is your neighbour's duty to clear the gorse off at the pTopcr season of the yoa.r along the entire leinsrth of every boundary fence to Mie extent of ~ at least one-quait«r oi a chain o-ac-h year until ths> whole is cleared. Katwui.- Not if yoiu title is he.M und'ei" the Land Transfer Act. If yoair title is he.d otherwise, if takes 20 years' ■uminteM.-upfen use of the right-of-way before ingress' ami egress can be clairocd as a lighc. Fsw Zealand —(1) The Iranafer of the property conveyed the portion of the original boundary bounding the portions sold, biiu irf tho light-of-way has been used without mttiruption far 20 years it must remain opei>. (2) After the lap&e of sis years a debtor may plead the Statutes of Ldmitetdons a© a valid and! effectual defence, unless he has made' in th* meantime a part payment, or payment on account cf either principal ore interest, or a written piomise to" pay or written acknowledgment of the debt In any of these events the peiiod cf six years is counted