IMPORTANT TO SHIPPERS OF WOOL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 205, 23 August 1860, Page 1

IMPORTANT TO SHIPPERS OF WOOL.

The following is an extract from a letter written by Capt. Harmsworth, of the Heather Bell, dated London, 16th March :

“ Perhaps you remember my mentioning the great beat and the large quantity of steam * from the wool before leaving Hobart Town.. We kept the hatches off all the way home, when it was possible to do so. For the first three weeks after leaving, the steam, heat, and smell of .the wool was rather alarming, , after which it decreased, and there was very little of either during the remainder of the • passage. But lam sorry to say that much of: the wool has deteriorated in value and is discoloured from the great heat; and here they, say we must have had a narrow escape from.fire.”

The cause of this must have been either that the wool was packed before it was thoroughly, dry, or that, through the absence of tarpaulins, it was allowed to get wet on its way to the ship. Too much precaution cannot be taken.'. Iu the present instance the owner of the wool will be a great loser by this neglect, whilst it*, seems to have been a miracle that the ship < and crew were not sacrificed. We -hope this warning will not be lost -sight of .—Hobart Town Mercury.

Cleaning Guns. —l have shot with the same gun for the last fourteen or fifteen years,, and during that time I must have burnt, say,, one hundred weight of powder in it, but uutiL Z’hursday, Bth /September, 1859, it never was washed out or had a cleaning rod put down it. . It was washed on that day out of curiosity. I had been shooting from the first of September, with a friend in Hampshire, and was well into the fourth pound of powder, when we got wet through at 4 p.m., and I said we would/, have the gun washed to see what would be the result. The keeper washed it in a white basin, and he reported that the water was hardly coloured. My mode is very simple. I use the common wadding (about, three-six-teenths thick),, but 1 oil it so much that when ready I can, by squeezing hard, get a little oil. to show itself, and with this I load, carrying the greasy wadding in a tin made to fit the waistcoat pocket, about four inches long, one and a quarter wideband two and a half deep in front, and three inches inside, made with a curvature to fit the body. This case will hold about fifty wads. Immediately I have fired I point the muzzle of the gun downwards, and tap the barrels; a fine crust falls out, aud if this is neglected five or six times it is as well to snap a cap off to clear the breech. I have never a dirty or rusty gun, and it is always loaded, nor do I ever have a miss fire.. Of course I use the oil', brush the nipples aud. locks after shooting. I learnt this mode from, my friend Dr. Maclean of Colchester, and I. ’ can recommend it to every sportsman. — Thos.. Lane Coulston (Clifton). A Kew Siesmometer (from seismos,. Earthquake) has been uveutel. It is intended to mark undulatory, horizontal, vertical,, ard subsaltatory motions, and the duration. o£ shocks of earihquake.