ALNGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4616, 12 April 1893, Page 2

ALNGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

fFEOM OUR LONDON COBEISPONDKNT.J London, Feb. 17. The Federated Institute of Mining Engineers has just ißßued as a pamphlet the second portion of Mr George J. Binna* excellent lecture on "MiniDg in New Zealand." The third section of the paper will, it is understood, be read before the fellows of the Institute in London in May or June. OBITUARY. Too late for the last mail, I received 1 notification of the death of Lieutenant- - Colonel John Augustus G. Frederick Sewell, who Berved in the New Zealand' War of 1864-66, and was medalled for his work in that campaign. The deceased, ■ who succumbed at Plymouth on January 21 to an attick oE acute pneumonia, was ; | born in 1829. He entered the service Bhortly before the Crimean War, and served before Sebaetopo), receiving the i medal and claap, also the Turkish medal, . 1854; I I have also to chronicle the death of another old soldier who served with distinction in the Maori War of 1864-66, namely, Sir Thomas Baker, who died at j Pau on Feb. 10, from dropsy after a brief illneßS. Sir Thomas, who at the time oE his death held the post of Quartermaster- . General, had seen a great deal of active ■ service in all quarters o£ the globe. When ! only a lad of seventeen he made a name for himself by " gallantry displayed at the : attack of the cemetery and suburbs of Sevastopol on June 18, 1855." From the . Crimea Sir Thomas went to India, and was actively engaged during the Mutiny of '57, when he served with the field force under Colonel Beaston. During the Waikato and Wanganui campaigns Sir Thomaa served first as Deputy- Assistant Adjutant- , General, and afterwards as Assistant? ! Adjutant-General. He was present jctt ! the action of Rangiawhia as Actj ing-Assistant Military Secretary to • Sfc Duncan Cameron; was mentioned in the despatches, and received the brevet of Major. He was Staff-Officer to the force under General Carey, at the attack and capture of Orakau, and was again mentioned in the despatches " for gallantry, untiring energy and zeal evinced." Hia laat active service was in Burmah during 1886-87. From the latter year to 1890, Sir Thomas commanded a division of the Bengal army, and was appointed Quarter-Master-General with the rank of Licutenant-General. ; Sir Thomas Baker was born, L in 1837. .- ••; THE IMPERIAL INBTITFTJSi- . The Imperial Institute is to be opened in May next, and yet nothing (or next i door to nothing) has been done with ! regard to the fitting up of the New Zealand ! section. All the other Colonies have been "shoving along" — as Mr Ptrceval tersely expressed it — during the past few weeks, f and bid' fair to make very creditable disi plays. The Agent-General is naturally i very anxious that the Colony he reprei Bents shall not Buffer by comparison with. j the others, bnt his hands are tied, and he I can do nothing to alter the present state \of affairs until exhibits and Sir Walter 1 ! Buller find their way Home. ! i Though Sir Frederick Young will not , \ admit that negotiations for the amalgama>l tion of. the Imperial and Colonial InstiI '■■ tute have been initiated, he allows that I their ultimate conjunction is not im- •; probable. The chief objector to the k ! scheme will, I imagine, be Mr F. S. t O'Halloran, who' can scarcely be expected _j to contemplate with equanimity being ■ devoured and practically extinguished by '••the good gentlemen known as "theS.E. ► .' gang." Mr O' Hal) or an has made the : \ Colonial Institute what it is, nursed the ; | concern from its frail weakling youth to L ! prosperity and strength. Unless he can. . I see clearly (which is more than I can) ' I that the Institute will gain by sinking its 'individuality in Sir Frederick Abel's i j hobby (the future of which iB by no means , | assured) he may be trusted to effectually i ! oppose the amalgamation scheme. • COOL STORAGE ON BOABD SHIP. , Amongst the few addenda to Professor . Wallace's paper on Australasian agriculture, was the description of an ingenious ' invention for maintaining a uniform ' | temperature in cold chambers on board . ship, aa well as at freezing works, the , Shiels Automatic Temperature Regulator. The machine, which is said to be capable of regulating within two degrees the temperature of. refrigerating chambers, consists essentially of a series of Bmall tubes (arranged in gridiron form, and suitably protected), placed obliquely, usually on the two internal walls of the chamber. These tubes are connected to the regulators which consist of a reservoir containing mercury and a small cylinder with piston, piston-tod, and gearing to transmit the piston movement to the. regulating yalve of the freezing machine. The tube system ia closed, except to the mercury reservoir, and contains a sensitive fluid which, expanding and contracting with the change of temperature in the chamber, supplies the motive power to the piston-rod through the medium of the mercury butting againßtthe piston. The regulator is applicable to the various forma of freezing machines, viz., cold air, ammonia, brine, carbonicanhydride, &c. The mode of action is somewhat as follows : — Suppose we want to maintain a steady temperature of 32deg. Fahr, then the regulator is set that it will completely shut off the supply of cold at, say 30£deg Fab.., and will turn on full supply at, say 33$deg Fah. In this way the temperature is maintained within, these two limits, generally at a point a little below their mean. The machine is quite automatic in action, and does not require to be re-set for each trip. It has no complicated working parts, requires no attention except oiling once in three or four months, and occupies small space. One of the regulators has been working, for some months at the Yorkhill abattoir, Glasgow, with very satisfactory results. PEHSONAL. Surgeon Major-General Sir William MackinnoD, who has just been appointed Honorary Surgeon to the Queen," is the Dr Mackinnon who brilliantly disiin- . guished himself in New Zealand. Hia bravery at Katekara and at Gilbert's Clearing, and in the fighting in the Waikato, Tauranga send Wanganui districts, gained him most honourable mention in the despatches, and laid the foundation of Mb brilliant career.