THE LOCAL EXHIBITS FOR THE SYDNEY EXHIBITION.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XII, Issue 3352, 27 June 1879, Page 3

THE LOCAL EXHIBITS FOR THE SYDNEY EXHIBITION.

The announcement that the exhibits which the Thames intends to forward to Sydnoy for the great Exhibition, to be held there in September next, would be on view at the Court House, in Queen-street, drew'a largo number of porsons to that place yesterday afternoon and ovoning. The doors were to have been thrown open at 1 o'clock, but owing to some of tlie exhibits not having arrived until the last moment, and having to be placed in position, tho publio woro not admitted until 2 o'clock, by which time a goodly crowd had assembled outside the building. The goods, although not large in number, presented a pleasing appear, ance, having been arranged with much taste by tho employees of the Borough Council. ThoßevE. Laishley's fine oil painting depicting the scene of the discovery of the body ofEufus was the great_ attraction. This picture, a description of which we hold over, has cost tho artist years of labour, aud it is the largest work Dew Zealand will probably send to tho Sydney Exhibition. The artist also sends oil paintings of the Babes in the Wood, aud a Maori Girl, which we shall notice more fully in ournext. Amongst the other exhibitors of pictures, Mr Calder sends one representing a scono on the Ohinemuri river, tho ftlac'caytown Gorge. The production is a fnithful i representation, and iheartist has bestowed great care on its execution. Mr Henry Driver, of Polleu-strcet, exhibits a painting, the scene of which is land at Stoney Point, 'f araru, and represents two children wuding in the tide, whilst in the distance are to bo seen a schooner beating up tho gulf, and a steamer on tho passage to Coromandol. The rocks, foliage, water, &c, arc admirably represented. Ono of the most prominent objects in tho room is a slab of kahikatca timber sent by Mossrs Bagnall Bros., of the Hauraki Sawmill, It is about 12 feet long, 3 feet broad and 3 inches thick, one side being rough and the other finished off, one portion being planed by the planeing machine, and tho other varnished, The slab contains three

or four knols, which tho varnish shows up very prettily. Messrs Bagnall evidently intend to combino business with show, for they had a placard beautifully printed in gold and colours attached to their oxhibit, containing the following: —"This specimen of whito pino (kabikatea) was cut in the Turua Forest, Tharaos River, owned by Messrs Bagnnll Bros., and sawn at the Hanraki Mills, also situate on tho Thames River, and owned by the same firm. The timber is tho best of its class, and is well adapted for making furniture, for all kinds of indoor work, and for goneral building purposos. It can bo put on board ship at tho mill wharf at 7s per hundred superficial feet, and can ho supplied in lengths of 50ft, and three feet sqare, sawn or junk as required. There is good entranco to tho river for vessels drawing 15ft of water; vessels of larger tonnago can be loaded from punts. Tho timber has been extensively used in tho colony, and many buildings in tho district have stood the test of a quarter of a contury with no visible signs of deterioration."

Messrs Mennie and Doy, tho well known proprietors of tho steam biscuit factory, appear determined to lot the visitors see what can be produced at tho Thames in tho • way of biscuits and confectionery, for they havo sent no less than eighteen tins of fancy biscuits, one of saloon biscuits, one of navy bread, and ono of cabin bread, the whole making quite an imposing array. Tho same firm, who lately added to their extonsivo businpss a new branch, in tho shape of tho manufacture of cenfeotionery, exhibit four or five tins of lollies, which appoar to be of a very superior make.

Messrs Fraser and Kelly exhibited a case of Puriri mineral water, in pints and half pints, tho medicinal properties of which will, no doubt, cause a large demand to spring up for the" water in Australia,

Messrs Bawdon and Climo's collection of minerals treated by their, ohlorination process received a good deal of attention. Their samples of tailings, pyrites, gold, silvor,. and lead ore, " showing," as tho card which is affixed to them states, " the different stages of working." _ Tho collection consists pf (1): —Tailings from battery previous to concentration. (2) Concentrated pyrites from tho tailings; Eirst size ready for calcination. 2nd ditto; 3rd "ditto. 5, Quartz sand after extraction of mineral by concentration. 6. Calcined pyrites thoroughly oxidised for chlorination; _ 7. _ Solution of chloride of gold by lixiviation of chlorinated ore by water.' 8. Solution of chloride of gold with chloride of copper by lixiviation with water. 9_ Gold precipitated from chloride solution by proto sulphate of iron. 10. Copper precipitated from ohloride solution by metallic iron. 12. Precipitated gold after melting. 13. Silver chlorido solution by lixiviation of ore with hypo-sulphate solution. 14 Silvor sulphate precipitated by poly-sulphate of calcium. 15. fcilver metallic precipitated sulphide.

Mr Edwards contributes his quota in the shapo of a small but excollont assortment of clays and building stono. There are five samples of clay suitable for pottory purposos, obtained from the Moanataiari, Waiotahi, Karaka, To Papa Gully, Murphy's Hill, and two samples of building stone taken from tho Karaka and tho Hape creeks. The samo gentleman also sends two samples of felspar for mixing with the pottery clay, ono of them being in a crude state, and the other burned. Mr Driver, of Shortland, is tho oxhibitor of a largo blook of stono from tho Hape. Creek, The _ colour of the stone is n grayish blue. It is easily worked, and bardons by exposure. It* is suitablo for building purposes, but has proved to bo too soft for flagging, and that kind of work Not tho least noticeable of the exhibits were water-coloured paintings of the bush, by Mrs E. F. Tizard. Thoy aro about eighteen in number, and aro without doubt really splendid productions, "he. subjects are taken from nature, and aro faithfully executed. They consist of native flowers of New Zealand, only to be produced by .the brush of an artist. Painted by the SRmo lady in water-colour were contributed four beautiful paintings of the seasons. Mrs Tizard also contributed a splendid collection of New Zealand ferns. Mr John Eegan shows , considerable faste in his arrangement of pressed ferns, which are enclosod in band, some glass cases. In the way of articles of consumption, Messrs Ehronfried Bros., and Brown, Campbell, and Co, contribute samples of beer and ale (both in wood and bottle), Mr Koofoord his now famous' tomato sauce; Mr Gough, of Block 27, a dozen ot cider, half-a-dozen light grape wine, and the same quantity of peach wine; and Mr Walker, C.E., a sample of tomato sauco. Mr Austin was to have exhibited some of his famous cider and wine, but from some cause did not do so. A valuable exhibit was a large earthenware dish of antique design, tho property of Mrs Wayto. The dish is valued at £50, and is over 200 years old, having been manufactured in 1606. Mr McLaren, Government Engineer, and Mr H. R. Jones, of Auckland, sent very valuable collections of gold, silver, and othor minerals. Theso were enclosed in glass casos, and labelled, and received no small sharo of attention. Mr Plant, who has been employed for the last week or two in manufacturing articles of pottery for tho Exhibition, had not completed them in timo to be placed on view yesterday, but will forward them direct to Sydney. Mr J. 0, Williams' collection of lead and roppcr ore from the Comstock claim, Tararu creek, is very complete, and may bo tho means of drawing the attention of capitalists to this portion of the colony. The photographic views taken by tho Messrs Poy Bros, were genuine speoimens of the artists' skill. Tho shadows of tho buildings and trees appeared as if limned by the painter's brush, united with the fineness of the best steel engravings. The view of Thames from Parawai was specially admired, every feature of tho landscape being so distinctly visible, up to the distant view of the Grahamstown wharves, with Tararu in tho still further ken. Nor was the view of tho field from an opposite point of view without its many admirers, the romantic onvirons of Shortland and Parawai being shown most strikingly. The view of tho township .with its numerous batteries, crushing mills, and mining plants would naturally suggest the idea to strangers of the vast amount of business in gold production which is and has been carried on in our noted goldfield. The samples of kauri gum exhibited by the Thames Produce Company elicited muoh comment and attention Tho sample of superior gum of XXXX brand was particularly fine, resembling in appearance the finest ambor. The three following samples of re scraped gum were also very good, and would probably fetch £100 a ton in the London market. The ordinary samples were vory clean, and i showed that the Thames district can pro.

duco other valuable staples of commorco, of as much utility, though not so precious as the golden ore. Samples of kaurigum chips nnd dust wore exhibited of a quality surpassing many parcels lately consigned from Auckland firms. In all wo counted fifteen different qualities of this resinous product, peculiar only to _ tho hills and valleys of tho Britain of tho South.

Notwithstanding "wind and weather" the Thames Volunteers with the customary spirit and enthusiasm for which they are remarkable, turned out last night and performed tho duties allotted them in mounting guard on the Exhibition of local products, at tho Court House, in the Government-buildings, Grahamstown, Through the courtesy of Mr Kenny, a comfortable guard-room and a blazing firo were provided in tho A.C. portion of the block, for tho guardsmen off sentry. Tke_ challenging, visiting, and general routine of guard duty were carried nut in a manner which would have reflected credit on an embodied force of crack militia, if not to a regular regiment. The soveral guards dotailed for duty were paraded by an orderly officer, on their respective private parades previous to their mounting guard. Punctually at 5 p.m., the Hauraki Engineer guard, consisting of one sergeant, one corporal, and twelve rank and filo, took up their position at open ordor in front of tho Governnient Buildings for inspection by tho field offieor, after which the first relief of sentries was posted and the remainder of the guard dismissed to the guard room to await the first call for du.y. At tho expiration of every twenty minutes the sentries were relieved. Ike relieving guards were formed up at open ordor in front of the Govornnieut Buildings in line with and at fifteen pacos interval on tho left of the old guard. The procedure as laid down in F.E. Book, part vi., section 13, was strictly followed by both old and new guards. Guards, consisting of one sergeant, ono corporal, and twelve rank and file, were mounted from tho several companies at tho following hows;—Hauraki Engineers, 5 p.m.; Ho, 1 Company Thames Scottish Battalion, 6 p.m.; Hauraki Engineers, 7 p.m.; No. 2 Company Thames Scottish Battalion, 8 p.m.; Thames Eifle Bangers, 9 p.m. Tho sentries were relieved and posted strictly in accordance with the Queen's regulations made and provided in Part 6, section 14 and 15 F. E. All the sentries challenged, according to mode described in Part 6, section '17. The. Thames men evidontly intend to bo prepared for Taranaki, or any contingency which may arise calling for their services.