NOUS AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 51

NOUS AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be received not later than SATURDAY night.

Answer.—(l) The shearers' award for Ocfcago and Southland district, which came into operation in April, 1909, remains in operation until superseded by a fresh award. A reference to a dispute was before tho Conciliation Council, and it is understood a recommendation has been made to the Arbitration Court. The award made in Wellington did not in any way affect other districts where work was carried on under an award, .'out it is generally believed that in about a fortnight's time a similar award will iys made applicable to Otago and Southland, and will a little later become an award for tho whole Dominion. (2) The i exchange rate on cheques in Otago and Southland is one-eighth per cent, (or 2s 6d on £100), with a minimum of 6d for every £2O or under and 6d for every additional £2O or fraction thereof. Double tho above rates are charged outside the provincial district. Subscriber, Lovell's Flat. —Before attempting to colour your butter, trv skimming the milk soon after the cream rises, if -rou do not have a separator. Much butter is spoiled by leaving the cream mo Jong on the milk. Arnatto, which may be obtained from a druggist, is used for colouring, but those who have -.;ried it prefer the juice of carrots. . Select the highest coloured carrots, boil them well, and then mash thorn in the -water; strain very carefully through muslin. Add as much of the juice as you may deem sufficient to the cream, and then churn together. Pjako.—A good polish may be made •■>- taking equal parts of vinegar, salad oil. and ammonia, or methylated spirits. JCew Chum. —So far as we are aware, there is no expert in Invercargill. You -will find a Dunedin lady's advertise' ment in the Otago Daily Times. Theatrical. —(1) The information you ask lor is the kind of work for which an advance agent is usually engaged. There are halls in all the twelve boroughs you mention, in some oases more than one nail; but whether all would be suitable :*or a small vaudeville company we cannot say. If you wrote to the secretaries or caretakers of the halls you would orobably receive replies giving all' particulars. (2) We cannot give you any idea of the rents of the various halls. •<3) The Garrison Hall has seating accommodation for about 1800 people. (4) Communicate with Mr C. S. R«evcs, one of the trustees.' .Tahora.—We have not the detailed figures of the number of sheep in England and Wales. The number of sheep in the United Kingdom in 1907 was 30.011,833. The number of sheep in Scotland in the - same yea/r is given in another work as 7,439,495. This deducted from the first figures would give tho number in England and Wales as 22,572.338. The nam- • ber of sheep in New Zealand in 1907 was 22,449.053. The number of sheep in the United Kingdom in 1908 had fallen zo 27,119,730. while the number in New Zealand in 1909 had increased to 23,480,707. In all probability the number of sheep in New Zealand this year exceeds the number in England and yV«J«s. Sr.'OTTiE.- (1) There should be no difficulty in comparing tho reading of your barometer with thoso given in the Otago Daily Times. Every tenth point is numbered in the diagram of your barometer sent in. namely from 1 up to 9. If the Times reading is, say, 29.82. that would be equivalent to two points beyond 29.8 in on your barometer. (2) As you will have seen by a reply in last week's issue, we believe* the rye referred to in " Coming thro' the Rye" is rye corn, not the Rye stream. Farmer, Kelso.—lf you have had no experience of tho making and working of - a septic tank, make sure that it is far ■ enough awav from the dwelling to avoid doincr —.irchief ahouid it not work properly. In a sejjtie tank ,4ii ojxA

4ft deep, the dividing wall should be 2ft to 2ft 6in in height, so that the sewage will flow over it. The inlet drain (4in in diameter) should enter the tank as near the top as possible, and continue down on the inside to within a foot of the bottom. The outlet opening for the effluent discharge should be placed 3ft from the bottom of the tank, .and the pipe (4in in diameter) attached thereto carried upwards vertically for 6in. The outlet drain should then.be laid in the usual manner. The objects attained are: —First, trapping out the air; second, avoiding the disturbance of the upper part of the contents of tlio tank, where of course the work of the microorganisms is in progress. In the absence of light and air, the organisms present in the sewage increase enormously, and rapidly attack all organic matter. The final result is water, ammonia, carbonic acid, and other gases. Kokoxga.—(lj A glance at the Australian weekly you mention for the month of July "failed to discover any notification such as you mention. You could purchase back numbers from the librarian of the Free Public Library, Dunedin. (2) Bromide of potassium is not a poison if properly used. It is used in a large number of diseases, owing to its powerful sedative properties. (5) See Legal Notes and Queries. A Constant Subscriber writes:—Would any of your correspondents or readers kindly inform me whether it is customary for grease interceptors to be installed in practical municipal drainage schemes, and if so, a short description of where and how the grease interceptor is attached'.' The Dunedin Drainage Board's bylaws provide- that every sewage drain shall be provided with a grease intercepting trap, if the engineer shall t=q direct, fixed outside the building, and be of earthenware or brick, as shall be directed by the engineer. Internal traps where permitted must be of copper. Every drain must be so arranged as x,o be selfcleansing, and where it cannot be cleansed an automatic flushing apparatus must be provided. The grease traps varv according to the requirements of the premises. There are no grease traps in the drains in the streets, etc. Inquirer writes: — (1) Under the Inalienable Life Annuities Bill, now read a second time in Parliament, what auiouiiL of money would have to be deposited to give an income of £1 a week for life,' commencing when 50 years old, _the present age of applicant, being 43 years? (2) Say the depositor died between the ages of 43 and 50. would the money be refiinded, or could it be transferred to another? (3) Would the depositor be Debarred from receiving the old age pension at 65 V (1) l\o schodde is attached to the bill setting out the rates to be charged. They will probably be the same as those at present charged for annuities which may be purchased from the Government Insurance Department, or from any life insurance society or company. (2) The bill provides that annuities may be purchased for cash or under any contract for the payment therefor by instalments, with or without provision for the return in whole or. in part of the premiums to the applicant or his nominee in any stated event. i 3) Nothing is stated in the bill about the old-age pension. In the National Provident Fund Bill, a quite distinct, measure, it is provided that moneys received from the fund shall not be deemed to be income or accumulated property within the meaning of the Old-age Pen'sions Act. As there is no similar provision in the Inalienable Life Annuities Bill, the presumption is that the annuity would bo regarded as income under the Old-age Pensions Act. Stratagem asks when to sow peas (Stratagem) to be readv for use in March.— — About the middle of this month. Woolly.—The progeny of a purebred Border Leicester ewe and a merino ram is a ha If bred, and in a sense a crossbred, A halfbred is a crossbred so far as it goes, but a crossbred is not necessarily a haifbred. When the haJfbred is again mated the progeny is termed crossbred in all its stages.

Fj.axmill.—H. M'. Davey, consulting engineer, Prihces street, replies :—i wish you had told me the brake horse-power you want, or mentioned what the 16 horsepower engine really developed -probably, at 'least, double that power, or it may be oven more. In J. Burton's list (Liverpool) tihere is a single turbine to wdrk at 6ft fall; a 60in one, giving 34 b.h.p., and costing £135; also a double one, 40in, giving 31 b.h.p.. £llO. Those would probably take about 70 heads of water. Cannot yoti get more fall? For £l3O you can get a larger double one to give 39 b.h.p. Practically you would want about two heads per b.h.p. at your fall. If you write again give the speed and cut-off of the engine, unless you have taken, or can take, the brake horse-power, and say if you want that, or less or more, for the turbine. The race would have to !»:> very wide, and everything done to prevent the water banking up behind the turbine, and farther on the width will not so much matter; but here, again, all depends on the lay of the country, of which I know nothing, and you do nob mention anything about it. The speeds of the turbines are not given, but they would be fully that of your shaft, if not more, which is all in your favour Of course there might be such turbines here, but you are apt to get ai\ unsuitable one if you are not very careful. You use such a lot of water that you iw>ed a large entrance. Thy one on the larger of the double turbines is 34in by 34<in. Still, there may be some when you know exactly the conditions you require. T. B* S., Nuggets.—(l) There is no lighthouse on Staten Island, off Cape Horn; but. there is one on New Year Island, a little to the north of Staten Island. It has been in existence for some years now, and is kept going by the Argentine Government. (2* The Queensland statistics for 1910 are not available. The latest reliable figures are for 1908, when the number ~0l sheep in Queensland was 18,548.851. The number in New Zealand in that year was 22,449.055. (3) In ISOB- - the yield of maize in Queensland was 2,767,600 bushels; in New Zealand 713,838 bushels.