THE TRANSIT OF THE PLANET MERCURY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 2245, 1 December 1881, Page 8

THE TRANSIT OF THE PLANET MERCURY.

(By Telegraph.) (From ovn. Ottn OojiKßsroMßEKi,) Wellington, Not. 8. The transit of Mercury was «eru yery well today, the weßther being exceedingly fine. Ehe UoTernmentObspfvercourteouily favored mo with tome iiiterotting iiotos on tbe phenomenon. Es eaya be obtained a pond ibirrTalioD of tbo transit notw ithstmding tbe want of "definition" owing to moisture •till rsDiaioiDg m the air after yeaterday't rain. * There wsi a spot on tbe diio of the inn Dfirly m the centre, »nd »• Mercury

pa« ed ihia epoi. the contrast of tin- i ter.ae hluekness of the (.Unit's di-c ttSi h the browninh-blaok ol the lU'i tpoi cm the nucleus w ■ »«ry (linking Meroury was rot Ti-ihlo to t' b naked eye, f.,r though it« diameter is nearly 3ui 0 miii'B, its apparent s'ze is very tmall. 'lheie »as do " ibb tup" *h«pe of 'he plant t owing to the boiling •■{ the jun't edge, which there wi.uld have bean h»d the ltmi'sphere been clear.

NEW ZEALAND EX POETS TO THE UNITED KINGDOM. Wool Season 1880-81 — From Novombor Ist, 1830, to October 3lßt, 1831. (Compiled from the New Zealand Shipping Company's Boturna.) ill j riff||lli | <g §

Tho apparently large quantity of wool shipped at Port Chalmers is due to the fact of almost all the Timara and Oamaru wool baring been shipped there. Dednot, say, 99G3 for Timaru and same number for Oamaru, or, m all, 19,926 bales and this leaves Port Chalmers' share 35,438. There is a slight falling off of wool shipped last year, as compared with 1879-80, of 8823 bales, and of 1878-79 of 1850. In grain shipments wo hold second place, Lyttelton being first ; Port Chalmers, third j Bluff, fourth i Oamaru, fifth ; Wellington, sixth ; Nelson, seventh. In ships Mid tonnage we hold third place. The Matohaltt. -The only nominition miide on Monday for tho office of Mayor of Timimi for the ensuing term was lhat of Mr J. H. Putter, who was declared duly re-elected by the "etnrning Officer, Mr K. H. Lough. This will mako the " third consecutive year m which Mr "-utter will have held the position of Chief Magistrate of tho Horough, and the citizens are to bo congratulated on having again secured hia valuable services m that capacity. The Watebwobkb. — On Monday last the water was turned on at the reservoir and the mains m town fully tested, 'i he result waa moat satisfactory, no leakage being dißCerna'le anywhere. The aighi. oF tho water freely flowing down tho channelling* was a novelty, and was hailed with feelings of delight. We understand that it i» proposed to formally open the watemorka on Deci-inber 16th— the anniversary of the landing of the Canterbury Pilgrims and we think a better or more suitable day could hardly be chosen, as a large number of country people flock into town on that day to visit the Flower Show and witness other annua' festivities^ Fibb at BrrßKß'B Pass.— A destructive fire, by which the ctoni of Mr Spading, together with all its contents, were totally destroyed, occurred at Burkes Pass on Friday morning. (Shortly before 'our o'clock, Mr Spalding, »ho lives some twenty yards from his store, was awakened by a loud crackling noise, and on going outside observed it to be on fire. In a few minutes nearly the whole population of the place had assembled, bub the dunes, fed by the inflammable material inside the store, had obtained such a hold that all efforts to quenoh them proved unuvailing. The only article Mr Spalding was enabled to save was his ledger. The store was closed up shortly before seven o'clock on Thursday evening, wheu everything was left safe. The walls of the building (which contained four rooms) wera partly of stone and partly of wood, the roof being of corrug ted iron. Tho fire ia supposed to have broken out m the centre of the main store. The building was insured for £250, «nd ihe stock for £lfioO, the risks being £600 m the Standard office, and £1300 m the National. Mr Spalding estimates his loss at £350 over and above the insurances. Fiee. — A fire broke out shortly before eleven o'clock last Tuesday, m the premises occupied by Messrs Wood and Smith, drapers, m George street, oppoite the Club Hotel. The flami'S were fir«t noticed issuing from the^roof of tho le»n-to at the back of the building, and the alarm was at onco sounded from the Town Hall bell. The Fira Brig-ide were on the spot m a faw minutes, but hafora they arrived Inspector Pender, with the assistance of t*o or three men, had broken into the back part of the building, and deluged the flumes with water, the I 1 ire Brgade turned on the water from the hydrant at the Club Hotel corner, and m less th»n ten minutes the fire was extinguished. The pressure of water from the mains was fully tested last night, and proved conclusively that m future we need have little fear of fires spreading, 'i here is no clue as to the origin; of the fire m this m-tance, Mr Dimond — Messrs Wood and Smith's representativehaving locked up the shop carefully early m the evening. Tho building is a very old wooden on, and had the fUmea spread a considerable amount of damage would have been done the premises on either ride. MB HoLLKSTOJf AT THE FbOJTT. — Thfl following instance of Mr Kolleoton'a imper* turbability of character is well worth being placed on record. — We may recall to tho minds of our readers that Mr Bryce and Mr Holleston sntered Parihaka at the head of the Constabulary on tho eventful day on which To « hiti, Tbhu and Hiroki were arrested, at the risk of being made targets of by tho natives. This certainly shows that the two Ministers were possessed of no ordinary amount of courage. When the word was passed to the volunteers that there wai no chance of any fighting that day, Capt Ham ereley walked along the line towards Parih«ka r to meet M«<»rs Bryca and Holiest on, hoping to gain some information from them as to what had occurred m the marae. Ho met them right enough, but he was quite taken' aback when Mr Eolleston, instead of alluding: to the affairs of the morning, ssk«d him— " How is my grass looking at Temuka ? >r Captain Hamersley'a reply to the question is not to hand. 'J hk Olive Ikdustst iit New Zealand, — The following appears m an Auckland; journal : — " On a beautiful sheltered pl.teau at the eastern base of One-tree Bill, Dr Campbell has commenced the experiment of olive cultivation. Some 5000 grafted plants are at present m the nursery, preparatory to being plan led out, over an area of about forty acres. The olivo plants are exclusively of the oil producing variety. They are apparently promising well, and are budding out, with a few isolated exceptions, the soil and climate being to all appearance suiluble to their pro* duction and growth. The original stook w«» imported from Adelaide. Some of the plants grafted two years ago are growing very luxuriantly. Dr. Campbell deserve* thohighest credit for his public spirit and Kberali y in going to tho trouble and upense which he has done to solve tho question— oan the olive be profitably grown van article) of commerce m tho province of Auckland ? If tho experiments realize tho sanguine anticipations ent«rlain«d, the community will be substantially benefited thereby, and another avenue opened up for absorbing labor and. pWflttUy inYWViDg o»plfc»l."

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