MISCELLANEOUS.

Wellington Independent, Volume I, Issue 40, 3 December 1845, Page 1

MISCELLANEOUS.

"TIIEItKS NOTHING Llitli LEATHER. " (From the C.jionialGazette, June 7 ) We think it was Governor Macqnare who a<«Ferfed, in me of h-s tantrums, that ll ere were only *>wo clespes ofpeople in New Sou*h-Wales—those «ho had bei'n, and those who oucht to have been, convicted. Governor George Hall, of Paikhurst Penitectiary, has improved upon the smart saying of h ; s brother governor -, he asserts that all England contains no more than these two elaeses» and that the convicted are the heter of the two. Id. a letter addressed to the manager of the South Australian Company, Governor Hall maintains a principle the reverse of that recognised by I-w : he asserts that all men are to he thought iuiiiy till they prove themselves innocent. I also affirm that, on the ground of mor 1 charncter and ■ ptinciple-alone, apr.rt from alt other qua! ficati >ns, I ?hould, ;f I wurea colonial settler wanting a domestic or predial set vant, or a c donial merchant w-shing to engage an assistant in my fctcre, decidedly- prefer a iad v»hose conduct had borne, the test of con-inn 1 and c!b i e observauon at | Parkhurst, to an emigi-a.it who might lave come oot to the colony on bis own account, but rf woose previous history I knew nothing. 1 am far from ihit.king thit all 'he criminal members of society are convicted in a cou-t of justice, or that the mere j fact of such conviction proves that the individual convicted is really mire dei-savi-d tian vert Mi-Y others who may not been brought bef re. a court of justice. Governor Hall's " geese are swsn? ;" his pet blackguards are be'ter than r-thfr p-op'e's honcit boys. Luckily the cohmies are not of the Governor's opinion, or an honest man wruld have no i .-chance at, Adelaide: no one crulJ obtain emp! y roent there unles-s he-kad matrieu'ated and taken his degrees in PHrkhurst College. Ltme and Salt Manure.— Y>y wheat crop of th-s season has quite convinced meoftheva'ue of the mixtine of salt and lime. I bad it used on twenty-eight acres of wheat in two situations; eiglneen'scres of high and dry land, and ten acres ot low but well-drained lend, both clover ley ; twenty bushe : s of salt, and foriy bushes of lune per acre, were sown a week before the seed, by shovel*, from the tail of a 1 w cait. It was mixed dry, aid cortinued so in aheap nearly three months, and was turned over four or five times. The land, though in good conditi 'n, had no other manure except one course of the sheep fold The whrat was the s'rongest and largest in the straw of any I havr ever seen. IVly turnips witn salt and lime are quite as good as those with yaid dung ; I a field of wheat, above fifteen acres, in the fpiing, the ridges being two perches wide ; commencing, riistridge, tweny bu hels cf coal: second ridge, suit and lime; third ridge, twenty bu hels of soot; and continue I this throughout the fir Id There suit was—that the su]c and lirre produced the largest gain by 1-3 th, the heaviest gtain taking similar quat.tiii-s by l-25th, and tie brightest cdour. The coal ashe< were the secend best, the soot third, though not much difference beween tbe two latter.—Cuthbert Jc hason's Fertilizer. South Australia and New Zealand Post Office Rfgulati ns —General Post-Office, Jute 11, 1545. —The PostmHster-Gefieral having now reason to believe that letters and m-wspspers tddressed to South AnstralU and New Zealand, and tian.-mitted by the monta'y m»il packets to Sydney, will not he liable to any postage for their receipt and despatch by the Po«t-Office of New Sr v h Wales, provided they are made up in this country in se»led mails, addressed to South Australin or New Zealand, as the case may be, but thnt they will be forwaided to their destination by the fi st opportunity presenting itself; all letters and newspapers ported hereafter, addre<sed to South Australia or New Z aland, m-t directed to be forwarded by private ship, will be despatched in sealed mails to Sydney, by the packe's before alluded to. Under 1 his regulation the rate of postage'to be taken hereafter on letters for South Australia Or New Zealand not directed to be f;maided by private ship, will be Is. for a letter not exceeding b&lt' an ounce; 2s. for a letter not exceeding an ounce, &c British nnvspsipers,howeveri provided thry are dul> stamped and posted in conformity with the regula tions required by this department, will not b? liable to any postage in this country, unless addressed " hy private ship." A squadron of line of battle ships were anchored at Spithead, under Rear Admiral Hyde Parker, and were about proceeding on an experimental cruise. The squadron was composed of the Albion 3033 tons, the Queen 3099, the Trafalgar 2721, the Rodney 2625, the St. Vincent *612, tie. Vanguard 2609, the Superb 2590. 'he CanOPUS 2257 ; makiug, for eigtit ships, 21,596 tons, which is 1801) more than the thiiteen *hips could count with which we gained the Nile victory. A company lias been formed in London under

j the tit'e of •'. ihe kast India and Colonid jcew j Nivigat'on Company." f.r the purpose j r-f establishing a rapid communication wth the j Cape, Indi s mid Eastern C-.'-bn es having a ["Capital of 4t,0 O.'OO, and a most respective -«mI j influential directory, amongst whom we perceive (several names of gentlemen who hsve from th* very fi:st of its estahli-hment taken great interest in the affairs of Amtialasia. South Australian gnra was realizing prices Tarring from 40s. per cwt. for co;.r»e and unciean to i 80s., and 82s. for firsi-rßte sampler. railroad speculators. The night was stormy and dark. The trwo w<s shut up iv sieep. Only those were abroad who were out on a lark. Or tbo,e who'd no bet's to keep. I passed through the lonely Ftreet ; The wind did sing and hi w : 1 could hear the pdiceman'* leet Clapping to and fro. There stood a p tato-man In the midst of all the wet; He .stood with his 'tato can In th* 1> nely Ha>nwket. ; iwo g-nts of dismal mien, And dank ard greasy r ags, Came out of a shop for gin, Swaggering over the flag*: J Swaggering over the stones, These fhsbbr bucks did walk ; And I wei.t ard fo lowed tbo,e seedy ones, And listened t > their talk. Was I sober or awake ? Could I be ieve my eirs? These dismal beggars sp.ke Of noihin* but railroad shares. I wondeied more and mire. Says one, " GroJ friend of mine, how many shares have you wrots tor In the Diddlesex Junction line ?" " I wrote for twenty,'" says Jim. " But th»y would n't give-me en -." His comrade straight rej Luked bim for the fol ; y ha had done : " O Jim, you are unawares Of the ways of this bad town ; / always write for five hunored (■hares. And then they put me down." '' And yet you got no shares," Says Jim. " for all your boast." " I would have wrote." says Jacl: ; ,! but where Was tne penny to pay the pos> ?*' " I lost, for I couldn't pay—That fi st instalment up ; But heie's taters smokii g hot—l say. Let's ftop, my by, and sup." And at this simple feast The while they did regale. I drew each ragged capitalist Down ou my left thumb n<il. Their talk did me perplex. All night I tumbled and tost. And lhought of railroad specs, And how money was won and lost. " Blpss iailroads everywhere," I said, «' and the world's advance.; Bles= every railroad share In lay, Ireland, France; For never a beggar need now d.spair, And every rogue has a chance."— Punch. How to extinguish Fires in Chhkneys.— The following cneap and simple meihod of extinguishing fires in chimneys cannot be too extensively known, and as the remedy is to ba met with 111 every bouse, from the palace to the cottage, publicity is the more desirable en that account. The modus operandi is thus related by a correspondent: When visiting a few days ago, I saw ed by a lady the following mode of putting out a chimney on fire. The chimney of the parlour, where an additional supply of wood was put upon the fire, at once ignited, The lady immediately brought a. plate full of commi n salt—shut the door of the apartment, to prevent a current of air, andsprink'ed rf few handfuli of sat upon the fire. In about a, minute and a half the fire in the chimney, which roared like distant thunder, was. quenched. This neither caused smoke, nor precipitated soot, mr put out the fire, nor disturbed the operations of the breakfast, which were going on. The rationale of this I believe to be, that in process of burning the silt, truriaticacid gas is evolved, which extingushe* fire. Strange.Fancy.—lt hns Veen suggested that the state of.the electricity of the atmo;-phere, mi which depeids most of the meteorological changes, may be greatly altered by having iron conductors traver-ing the countiy in aU directions. Thus iron tran.-niits electricity easily from one end of the country to amther, but not being insula ed, it only opens a communication of eas-ier transmission in all he directions of the iron rails. It has bten said that not more than half the quantiiy of rain his fallen during the past year. The electricity of the clouds would be puzzled were the surface of trie earth covered with a non-electric, as glass ; and why i-hould not a complete conduction in certain lines give passage to much electricity, which in the ordinary character of the usual surface of the j round, would be more naturally and more beneficially distributed ?— Jbe Builder. Plane Roads in Canada—The experiment of planking public roads has been successful in an emmet degree in Canada. One r-etwei-n London and Port Stanley, 30 miles long, is already finished, and auother now constructing between Port Dover and Hamilton, 50 miles long, and still a third between London and liamil on, 80 miles iv ex'ent, are now under contract- They are laid for double and single tracks; the expense of the former being #4000, and the Utter »t per mile. The roads aliendy con*truct"d are expected to last tea xears.