The Mellsourne Exhibition.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1186, 2 December 1880, Page 2

The Mellsourne Exhibition.

[By Cosmopolitan.] (from our own correspondent.) The visitor to the New Zealand Court cannot fail to be struck with the evidence around of almost complete independence of external aid, for all that makes life endurable, whjch..thi* remote colony presents . We allowed, pur imagination to picture to ourselves the old country submerged in the Atlantic the European continent also, and as much of the rest of thte,, world as is neces-. sary "iof illustrate ""oWi^ views. ' Then^ . New Zealand ' eoulcl, nohw'ikhalan&ing such a dire catastrophe, gee along Very well witfcqtyi^those institu-, 1 tions. Looking round the. exhibits, it is 1 pretty clear that one might obtain aU. . moat 'Anything, from a earringe to a i canoe, from a pocket of hops to a bottle of soda-water, from a,richly-.carved side- , board to a revolving bee-hive, or a new hat, and a fashionable "bonnet made from the'" lace- bark of a New Zealand tree. The display of planed wood from the principal forest trees is remarkable the kaxiri especially. One-fine specimen measures 7ft. 6in. in breadth of plank ' and the mottled- varieties must be susceptible of conversion into beautiful art- * furniture. Hugh contorted masses, of lava-like looking substance proved to be "gum," found, we are told below the surface of the ground, the excretion of former trees, which has run down ! and coagulated into these strange forms i. We wonder* \ifheth,er the expletive "by .' gum," has and philological connection with this resinous substance ? And such ferns ! Were Mr Heath here from Eng--land, he would dance a wild Highland fling at the ■bare sight of gsich beautiful ■ varieties. The samples of grain are . very numerous, finer, larger, and the ; yield, we are informed, is relatively i very large. But, perhaps, the coal seems are the ' most surprising. Seams of two feet are ;• considered "large in Great Britain, but here we have coal-seems represented as 16 feet in measurement, and there is said to be one of no less than 40 feet,; nbw being opened at Wisport, on the West Cast of New Zealand. We learn 1 that no less than 160,000 tons of New ■ Zealand coal was consumed within the , colony in 1878, and .that those raagnifi- 1 ' cent steam vessels, the Rotomaliana and L the TVaJcatipu — of which two beautiful '. models are exhibited here — consume 1 coal of home production. Few things , astonish English visitors more than the sight .of these magnificent ships, and. • the fact' of their finding a sufficient field only inCsintercoldnial " transits. .Two tor i three skeletons' of Moa give an air of antiquity to the Court, sill further, increased 'by the display, of prehistoric weapo,ns r v-. though' only intended to illustrate their u parity of use by modern savages. „ The furriers cases, like Goldsmith's chest of drawers, " Abed by- night, n chest of drawers by day." serve a double purpose, exhibiting to some extent the ornithology of the colony, and some excellent work in adapting the feathered skins of the penguin, the paradise duck, the spoonbill duck, molly-hawk, kiwi, pukako, and other, birds of feminine uses. There are few things more repelling to a stranger in Melbourne ■ than"' being handed a glass of water, just as it is commonly used. Anyone accustomed' to. the clear pellucid springs of .old England feels a lump in his throat at once. With most of the filters introducedd- it ]\afl, bee.n.:>oyer.lo.oked:-"that. a necessity existed forreplacing t he fjlteringraedium, . which becomes foul in proportion to" the turbidity of the- water, and the wafer here can boast of a maximum of turbidity. Dr. Bernays, of St: Thomas Hospital in> London, some time ngo discovered and introdnceced the " Manganour's Carbon Filter," which meets this want of some perfect purifying medium, which can be: easily and readily renewed. Charcoal is the best of all . purifying agents. When mixed with manganese bin-oxide and strongly heated out of "contact with air, the efficiency of the charcoal for filtering purposes is greatly increased/ as the-'water is brought into contact with more powerful oxydizinsf agents than would be. the case with charcoal aloneV Tn£ hjrarog^n contained . in all charcoals is^ in part oxy^i^edj. and the charcoal from its greater ' "punty acquires : in-; creased effioiancy. By a most ingenious arrangement^ Messrs, -Doulton and Go.y =of -""Lambeth Pottery" .fame, Ynatfttfacture'-a stoneware filter which is both ornamental and useftfl, reducing the trouble of renewing the : manganese carbon to the most trifling effort. Dr. Berriay's filters appear to be almost a provision of nature for Melbourne water, and will doubtless come into extensive use. ; - '■■ ■■■'■• ■'' • : Are we to have a lottery as in 1878 at Paris? Will some : honourable member put the question to the Chief Secretary at the earliest opportunty 1 By all means let us send round the " lucky bag, "-and

keep aH ; the unsold exhibits. Who ■would not invest for the chance of a carriage of a steam-plough, a? mammoth bride-cake, or a ton of carbonate of soda Charles Summer's statue of "Lyecus and'Hypermriestra" or the aborigineal grojgp in the South Australian Court. ° jgut, seriously, does not Victoria mean toiicquire any portion of all the works of -art she has gathered together, from -the four corners of the earthy Adelaide has made larsje 'purchase^Sydney also. So far Victoria makes no ssigl#' and yet I there will be the huge building tojurnish in'some sense— if only as'lhe' nucleus of another South Kensington 0 museum— when all is over, .and the. .TJsitqrs. gone, aiidt the lights put-out. ■ The charge of 3d. for access to the roof and parapet' of. |he, . Jjlxhibition building is proving a oorislde'rable source of income to the Commissioners, a large proportion of the visitors-availing themselves of this means of "inning a panoramic view of the town an'M'uburbs. We" take the liberty of suggesting that the Venetian gonidola lying idle by the lake might be made available for another " extra." It is, however, incomplete in its present state* -and', should be fitted with the /efee— that central little black structure seen in all gondolas . in. their native home. ,It serves both as a. protection from the sun and rain, secures privacy when desired, is a delicious little retreat for flirtation, or serious converse, and is to the gondola what-* a—svrcnjmer'house is ,to a garden lawn,- or tliei". oriel window 1 to a salon. Browning mad^ it the scene of one of his best aild most dramatic lyrics, entitled " In a Gondola .;" and who that has floated in- one of those fairy-like structures amid the scenes 8O beautiful and so strange "fhafc . Venice presents can ever forget it?" A gondolier might easily be arranged for ;' there are plenty of Italians here who would enact the part, or teach a man how to propel a boat in the Venetian fashion -for a consideration. .We predict a large-access of " threepences " for a row on the lake —round and round. Remember Arthur Clough'i delightful lyric ! . . , ; " Afloat ; we nir>ve. Delicious ! Ah, t What else is like the goj}dola:j; :■:■'' ■■ '" How light it moves, how snfjfc^-hj.Ah,..! <»,«. ; Would li ebe Ika tlie gonflo'.ii, ..' , " " .*. , : .(UfrfCxed V{th/q iarrels,-crioied'-au<3 diires, ' ' . ."" Arid moral duties nu,d flffyirs, . / 1 ' Uuswaying, noiseless,' siyift antl str nfe, "For every thus — thus glitl* along I •■ • ( How light we move, how softly \i ■ k\\, ""/. /" *! .'• ■^Verelife bub tis the gonflola r •• ■ • ■ -