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Southland Times, Issue 3302, 20 January 1879, Page 2

Traffic Inspector.— -We see by a Government notice that Mr Joseph Louth has been appointed- traffic inspector of raihvaays in the Southland district, or, as defined by the notification, Clinton to Kingston and ; hranches. Cricket. — The match "which, was to have been played last Saturday afternoon, on the Invercargill ground, between the old and the new members had to be postponed on account of the thunder ; storm which broke over the town just about the time tor commencing play. We understand that, weather permitting, the game -vill be played next Saturday afternoon at the same hour. Railway Banquet.— We are informed that already a considerable number of favorable replies to the invitations to the railway banquet have been received by his Worship the Mayor, so.,, that there is every. probability of the gathering at the new theatre on Wednesday evening being one of the most influential and important that has ever taken place in the colony. . Labor at Command. — The shin Western Mornach having arrived, those parties having any houses to let would do well to inform the Immigration Officer of it, and all employers of labor should cali early and select from amongst this large shipment of immigrants what number of hands they require. It is expected that the single women will be landed torday, and married people and single men to-morrow. Southland Hospital. — The weekly returns for the Hospital show a total of 25 in and 25 out-patients, of which 16 of the former are males and 9 females. There were 3 males and 2 females discharged during the week, and 3 males and 1 female admitted. Of, the above males, one was admitted on Saturday for a fracture of the leg, He was engaged at Mr Cleaves nursery, and fell off a fence, thereby breaking his leg. He is progressing favorably. In Memoriam.— The very admirable article, on the death of Sir John Richardson, contributed to our columns by Mr Pearson, has we perceive been revised, corrected, and largely supplemented by the same pen, and as the first article was in much request, every copy of the papers in whichit appeared being disposed of, a second edition has been published in pamphlet form and is on sale at all the principal booksellers in town. It is an interesting production, and gives a clear insight into the life of the lamented knight. Hotel Accommodation. — The committee having charge of this branch of the Railway Demonstration are attending well to their duties. 'We learn that, so far, accommodation has been secured at the Albion Hotel for the Mayor, Councillors,- and Town Clerk of Dunedin, 14 in number • at the Imperial Hotel for the Mayor. Councillors, and ToAvn Clerk of Christchurch, 10 in number ; and at the Criterion Hotel a suite of rooms have ben secured for the comfort of the Hon. the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, and the Hon. the Attorney- : General. The Demonstration of Wednesday. — Visitors from the .North will be conveyed by special train, which, leaving Christchurch on Tuesday, will remain. at Dunedin that night, and come on next day, as per the foUoAving .time-table : — Leave Dunedin at 10.20 a.m., Abbotsford at 10.30 ; arrives at Milton at -11.55, and leaves at noon ; leaves Lovel's Flat at 19 minutes, past noon, arrives at Balclutha at 40 minutes past noon, stays there five minutes, and arrives at Clinton at 1.30 p.m ; leaves again at 1.35, and reaches Invercargill at 4.20 p.m. According to the time-table, there will be ;no stoppages betAveen Clinton and Invercargill.: Too Lenient. — Wife-beaters, says the European Mail, have just received a severe lesson. We say that a. mistake AA'as made in not hanging the man. The facts of the case are as follows :— -At the Manchester Assizes, Patrick McGab was charged with kicking his wife, Mary, at Rochdale. In the course of a .quarrel the prisoner took off his coat, knocked his wife down, heating and kicking her until she gave him her purse; Afterwards he threAv a "brick at /her,: which inflicted a terrible wound on- her forehead. -From these injuries she died. Both judge and jury spoke in strong "terms. 6f the brutality of the prisoner^ who was sentencedrto. penal servitude for life. I A PAiNFUri -;■ CA.SE.7^Baron : Hu'ddlesworth, at the. Warwick Assizes, in a lamentable case, which he '* -haracterised as almost" the most painful in his, extensive criminal experience, passed sentence of ten years' penal servitude. The prisoner, a young artist, nam Marston Whitaker,; well educated, having exhausted the means of his mother) a widowedlady, _ivii^ sistehtly herewith letters, always demanding money,, and 'containing shocking j threats. He then renewed; his menaces per- I sona_y,'and;:threatened;hissister,_ and -upon j her evidence.{arid'that of his' oAvn mother, ! who. Avas the reluctant prosecutrix, the prisoner was convicted and sent to penal servitude; • ~ , Following- it Up. — The New Zealand I Jurist is sardonic in its remarks upon a recent notice emanating from the Commissioner of Railways. The Jurist says : — A recent notice from the hand of that authority lays down the following proposition : — " Notice is hereby given to all persons owning or occupying lands adjoining the railway boundaries, that the planting of gorse is very dangerous from the liability of such hedge to take and spread fire from engines. And all those who' plant gorse on raihvay boundaries will be held responsible to make good the damages to the railway works, should fire be communicated thereby." Seeing that the " liability to take and spread fire from engines" applies to other things as well as to.gorse hedges — e.g., haystacks and 'weatherboard cottages — the Commissioner might as well have extended his notice so as to include the owners of haystacks and weatherboard cottages, and all other inflammable articles, on lands adjoining the railway boundaries. The Alleged Insanity. — As we were advised by telegram the other day from Wellington, the" Government had, in consequence of certain representations made with regard to the insanity of the murderer Welsh, appointed"" a commission of three medicalmen to examine and report upon 'his case. We have since ascertained their identity, and may say that a better selection could not have been made than^Dr .Skae, Government Inspector- of Lunatic Asylums, Professor Macgregoi - , tbe medical attendant P$ tbe Punedin Imn&tic

'Asylum, and Dr Kemp, q& Wellington. Dr Ken|p arrived here on Saturday, Dr Skae has left Wellington en route, will call at Dunedin, and there be; joined by Professor Macgregor and come down here with him. Accordirig to_ the Lunacy Act the examination of Welsh willtbe made separately by each of thecoinmissioners. , . :'; ;■ :■ ; The Western Monarch;— Th c. arrival of the Western Monarch; was rumored in town ; yesterday : rriprning, and by the afternoon train -Dr. Grigor, .the health officer, and Mr Lillicrap, immigration .officer,- proceeded to the Bluff to prosecute, their respective duties in connection -with the'ship. Unf Orturiately, V: however, the exceedingly rough weather prevailing:prevented their . boarding her, as there was rio steamer available. Captain Thomson, the harbor master, however, boarded her in the morning and procured". the,; surgeon's; re-.; port, and by.the courtesy of.. Dr Grigor, to ; whom itj was delivered, we perused it and fiud that it fully confirms the ; favorable report of the passengers' health sent' to us by our shipping reporter from the Bluff. Only . one case of sickness of any importance occurred during the voyage, and terminated in the death of the patient. from:;consurixption.; Of skin diseases but one, erysipelas,-' occurred and; was, soon, subdued. Besides 368 inir ririgrants the ship' brought- out nine saloon passengers. -; Seven births occurred; . during the passage 'as against four deaths.v Makarewa Road Board.— The fortnightly meeting of the; MakareAva Road Board -was; held on Saturday. The whole of the'memberS; were present Avith the exception of Mr Grey; The . Committee for ;the Winton A subdivision reported that they had; accepted:;the).foliovying tenders :— -No. 66, earthworks near Mr Malcolm's farm, Henry Kidrt, £40; 69, G. McDonald, £45 ; -70. Popenhagen, £43 5s 6d ; 71, outfall ditch, Cameron and Stewart, 12s per chain : 77, Cameron and Stewart,. £60 ; 78, Charles Pearce, £126. It was. resolved, on the motion of Mr Baldey, seconded by Mr Brown, that the engineer should be^instructed to report on the road east to £he last corner of section 41, near the -properties of Messrs William Cameron and Charles Coster, with a vieAv to'the alteration of the ground, arid also to report on cutting 15 chains west of the "above. It was resol ved, on the -motion of Mr Brown, seconded by Mr Baldey, that a swamp on the road-line passing between' the. properties of Messrs Main and Cosber, and leading to part of Mr Lawrence's estate, should be fascined. The following contracts weredet'": — For formation and bog-clearing oh the West Plain's Road, Mr W. R.. Fraser, for a total amount of £284' ss; work on Allan's road, David Clark, £42 ; work on- road from McDonald's to McKinnon's, James McKinnon, £52 10s. The report of the engineer was read relative to the road from Gorman's, and the clerk was instructed to take legal advice in the matter. Accounts were passed for payment amounting to £18 6s, and the Board then adjourned. The Circus. — A very large audience considering the inclemency of the weather assembled in the circus on Saturday night. The performance was similar to that of the preceding evening the first part consisting of acrobatic and equestrian feats, and the second of the drama of Dick Turpin. Of the acrobatic feats the most noticeable were a trapeze performance, some remarkable somersaults and tumbling by a couple of artistes, and walking on stilts by one of the clowns. In the equestrian acts Madame Rosalie, and Monsieur Loyal each greatly distinguished themselves as riders. The latter, owing to the difficulty of getting his horse into the proper pace, had to make several abortive attempts before he finally succeeded in turning a somersault on horseback. He was loudly applauded foi that and other difficult tricks. The first part of the programme concluded with the wonderful performance of the trained dog and monkey. Dick Turpin was again produced in "a first-class manner, nothing being omitted to render the piece perfect in every respect. The animal that represents the ever famous Black Bess performed its part with marvellous fidelity. Its simulation of death Avas absolutely perfect, and elicited enthusiastic applause from the audience. Dick Turpin indeed is one of the most attractive features of the programme. In the afternoon a performance was also given at Avhieh there was a fair audience, largely composed of juveniles. To-night the company perform at Riverton, but will return here for the railway demonstration. Rev. Mr Byng at Gladstone. — The Rev. Mr Byng, of Dunedin, preached at All Saints, Gladstone, morning and evening, yesterday. Notwithstanding the unpropitious weather, ihere was a large attendance at both services. In the morning, the rev. gentleman preached from the words "lam the light of the world." The discourse was ar. eloquent and exhaustive one. At the outset, the preacher pointed out that Christ compared himself to many things in the Bible — such as a door and a shepherd, and, amongst other things, to light. The simile was a veiy appropriate one for several reasons. The chief points of comparison between light and the Gospel of Christ brought out by the preacher were their mystery, cheapness, and accessibility to all men, their impartiality, their essentiality to life, their rapidity of transmission, their purity and purifying power, and their harmony. Several other points of comparison were ably broue,ht out, and the preacher concluded with au earnest peroration. In the. evening the preacher took for his text the 16th and 17th verses of the third chapter of Malachi. He dwelt particularly on the complete exclusion from social conversation of all religious topics. Were a census to be taken of the religion of the people "Christian" or "Not Christian," the : probability was that every one would Avrite himself and herself down a " Christian," and yet, notwithstanding that this state of matters prevailed, there might be notable exceptions ; but this was the rule. The same state of matters prevailed in families as between parents and their children. Every possible subject was freely talked of but this one, which was the most important of all. He gave several vivid illustrations of the thread of his discourse, and concluded by showing that while conversations should be permeated with religious topics far more than Avas common, still anything like coarseness or undue familiarity in doing so should be carefully avoided. When this was not done the feelings were apt to become disgusted, and to revolt from the subject. Between Dunedin and Invercapgill. — According to a new time table issued by the Railway Department, and which will be in force on and after Thursday next, January 23rd, the express train between Dunedin and Invercargill will run as follows : — Leave Dunedin, at 9 a.m. ; . Abbotsford,. at 9.15 : Greytown, at 9.45 ; and arrives at Milton at 10.45. A stay of five minutes is made there, and Balclutha is reached at 11.35. Here the train stays five minutes, and arrives at Clinton half-an-hour after noon. Another stoppage of five minutes occurs there, and the train next stops at Gore, at 1.50 p.m., leaves again in five minutes, and reaches Edendale in -time to leave again for Invercargill at 2.33, and arrives at 3.30 p.m., thus making the journey, in 6h. 30m. Northwards, the train leaves Invercargill at 9.25 a.m. ; Woodlands, at 9.56 ; Edendale, at 10.23 ; and arrives at Gore, at 11.4 a.m. Leaves Gore, at 11.9; arrives at Clinton, at 12.15 p.m. ; leaves at .12.31, and arrives at Balclutha at 1.31. • Remains there four minutes, and then on to 'Milton; reaching, there at 2.15 p.m., and leaves five minutes later, and goes right through to Dunedin without stopping, ;arriving there at 3.55 p.m. A mixed train of passengers and goods Avill run through from Dunedin each day as at present, leaving at 7.35 a.m., and arriving at Clinton, at 12.15 p.m. It remains there 'within three minutes of three hours, leaving at' 3.12, and reaches Invercargill at" 7.38 p.m. An afternoon train leaves Dunedin at 4.30, and arrives at Clinton at' 9.20 p.m. ; remains there that night, and leaves at 6.12 next morning, arriving at Invercargill at 10.40 a.m..' Northwards a mixed train lexves Invercargill at 7.30 a.m., arrives at Clinton at 11.51, proceeds on again at 12.50, and reaches Dunedin at 7.45 p.m. Another leaves in- the afternoon-at 4.30, arrives at Clinton at 8.51 p.m., stays there all night, and goes on next morning at 9.25 a.m., arriving at Dunedin at 3.28 p.m. There are five stations on the section - of railway between Clinton and Balclutha — viz., Waiwera, Kaihiku, Wairepa, Tairo, and Waitapeka. Mixed 'trains only stop at them when necessary to put down and take up passengers and goods. Another Invention.— Anything tending, says the Dunedin. Times, to facilitate the teaching of the pianoforte to young pupils \yili be welcomed with eagerness by all music teachers. ' The handleiter or " hand rest" does this in a most satisfactory manner ; indeed, so great, an acquisition is it to musical' Students that when it becomes better knovvri it is certain to find a home in everyplace where the art of playing the pianoforte is imparted. It is only a recent invention, i the originator of the idea being an American- 1 German named Behrer. One of them ha« , found its way to Dunedin, having been > specially imported by Madame Miiller, the ' proprietress o{ a todies' seminary in York '

Place, AA'ho finds it of incalculable -advantage. It consists of a round bar? of polished walnut of the length of the piano, to which it i> intended to be fixed by means cf clam screws, leaving a few inches' space between the. rod and the instrument. Upon; this bar are two steel wristlets, which are intended for the pupil's wrists. This has the effect of keeping the wrists *in a proper position, and helps to prevent the /pupil from . getting into the bad habit of moving the whole arm whilst striking the notes. The Avristlets move up and doAvn the rod Avith the greatest ease, and can be raised : or lowered as required; The. intrqV dnction ofthis-usefid aid is;tb be regarded as ; ' encouraging alike to teacher and pupil. : Amianthine Coal.— The name amiahthinei coal has been given to an artificial: fuel, invented by_M. B. L. J.. Rocher, of Toulouse, and- adapted for -beating public Conveyances, or for use in works ■ jor laboratories where .; an open ... . fire without a ... chim-..---ne y ;: is : required. ; ■' .-;_£.-. ... Rocher desired;, to produce a fuel in -the combustion, of "which the least possible quantity of carbonic acid is disengaged, while a pleasant and healthy odour is evolved. - His amianthiue coal is of a cheap nature,, and, being, dense, affords with a. small; volume a considerable and constant heat, burning ft-eeiy'butslovvly, ; producing no smoke, and requiring no special apparatusfor effecting its combustion. .'/The.J essential ingredient is", green, white, or blue, amianthus, >pr flexible;asbetps^ which is cap-? J .able "-of subdivision^ into small particles" in water; and which, Avhen intimately mixed; with other substances, forms a sort of fibrous paste, possessing 1 when dry- great elasticity; whereby it is enabled to, stand considerable transport, without breakage, and the ashes- of ; Avhieh. after combustion, retain the original conglomerate form of the fuel. Moreover, the-amiarithus .fibres in" each fuel block, while it is burning, remain uhconsuiried, aril serve to * tranmifc tlieheat ' to the surface; of the block.. As regards the development of carbonic acid, the green amianthus in particular is of great value, being composed of .silicate of liine^Sllicate of magnesia, and prbtpxide of iron, which by its combustion is further oxidised, as shovA'ii by the change of color of the fibres from; green to rusty bro wn, "and thus its effect is much the same as that of the pieces of iron sometimes placed in : braziers; for neutralismg 7 the carbonic acid. In order further tp neutralise the carbonic acid as hiuch'as possible, with the amianthus is mixed fat lime, which, when- formed into a paste therewith, also acts as agglutinating material, imparting great solidity to the fuel. In place of the lime may be employed other known agglutinating materials, preferably those capable of absorbing carbonic acid. To the above ingredients are added charcoal and acetate of lead, or nitrate of soda or of lime, or substances having analagbus" properties. Thus, -f or. one description of the fuel, -1,000 parts of charcoal, 100 parts of amianthus, 25 parts of gum, 1,500 parts of Avater, and; 100 parts of ascetate- of lead are mixed; for another description, 1000 parts of charcoal, 130 parts of amianthus, 60 parts of lime, 55 parts of nitrate of lime or of soda, and 1,500 parts of v/ater. The above proportions may be modified according to the purpose for which the fuel is to be employed.' The charcoal and amianthus are reduced to a fine state of subdivision, and are then mixed together ; the nitrate of lime or analagous substance is also pulverised, and then mixed with the two other substances, and to this compound is added the water in which the agglutinating material, gum or lime, has previously been dissolved or suspended. . The -compound being then stirred so as to incorporate all the ingredients as thoroughly as possible, forms a pliable paste. This paste is placed in moulds to form briquettes or blocks, which are dried either in the open air or in stoves. — Scientific American. Tickets for the railway banquet are on sale at the Municipal Offices, Mr Lumsden's, Dee street, and Mr Mitchell's, Esk street. A meeting of the railway committee in connection Avith the coming demonstration Avill be held this evening at the Council Hall, at 8 o'clock. The raihvay employes ball is to be held at the Drill Shed, on Wednesday evening. We direct attention to Miss Carden's educational notice elseAvhere. She is evidently resolved to keep pace Avith the requirements of the day. The banquet and invitation committees in connection Avith the demonstration are to meet this morning at eleven o'clock. Several neAv Avanted notices have been ■ included in the long list in the proper column. We direct attention to the advertisement giving notice of the sale of Mr R. B. Williams' extensive coaching plant. Mr H. Driver is to dispose of it at Balclutha, on the 31st inst., and also some valuable landed property belonging to Mr Williams.