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Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 15, 4 June 1872, Page 2

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j TVo gentlemen (German-o h en appointed to i superintend the manufacture of "n ;ir »i the Bee;j root Sugar < 'omjiany's w -»rl > ;aughton Yah;, i Anakies. One of* the gentieme'i ciune from tlie | manufactories at Subiseldortand Schoenbraamor in | Silesia, the other from one .of the largest e<tabii>diI ments at Mag lelmrg and Ratisb.m. j A Guildford correspondent of tho if-unit Au r- ! under Mail has practiced successfully (&o he says) [ the following method of removing the stumps of | trees from.the ground "Ho sprinkles un the tops 1 of the stumps from Gd. to Is. worth of kerosene, and, as the stamps are seamed, weather-cracked, or decayed, it soon disappears. On the top of the stump he piles the refuse wood, and after two or three (lays sets lire to them, and they bum-com-pletely up, roots and all. Dicing up stumps has always been hard and tedious work, but now a lad can do the work, and have scores on tire at once." The su-«ir production in the Mary Kiver district for the past year (says the Chronicle) is represented by the following figures : —From a.total of 211 acres of cane crushed, were obtained S!H tons of sujfar, and a little over 30.000 gallons of rum. Various causes have combined to reduce the yield, which falls generally below the expectations of the planters. ddie number of live stock imported into Victoria from New South Wales during the quarter ending .'list .March, IST2. was 12,,Ji1l cattle, 25,727 sheep, and 928 horses. Mr. Wood, a member of the Fijian Gvernment, has been in negotiation with the Victorian Ministry for a steamer. Mr. Daily's administration declines to dispose of the Pharos except for cash. A gentleman in Geelong is ahout to try the experiment of shipping butter in 21b tins to China. •Some time since he sent some to Calcutta, and it paid very well. The colonists of Tasmania are making profit out of the excess of rabbits. Their furs are now being collected and exported for use by the furriers at home and in the sister colonies. Several consignments have been shipped lately in Melbourne, but j the largest yet made was taken by the Southern > Cross on one of her trips to that port. It consisted j

of twonty-six bales, shipped by a HobartTown lirm, an 1 c utaiuing G,OOO dozen, or 72,0i)0 rabbit-skins, worm, at 2s. pur dozen, 0000. j Great havoc among the trout in Canterbury is j being made by shags. | It is rumoured that a silver mine Ikh; been dis- j covered near Warwick., Queensland, and that the' 1 ! fortunate prospectors have refused 21,000 for their j interest. As the' prospectors were passing through i Toowoomba they Ave re loudly cheered. I The highest price of the season obtained for Tas- ' manian hops in the Melbourne market was a superior j pai'cel of iSharland's growth, which was quitted for j

2s 2d per lb. On the same day a line of 50 bales of Shoobridge's hops Avas sold for 2s per lb. These prices must prove encouraging to Tasinanian hop growers. An important contribution to the already vast body of literature on railway construction is contained in the report of the Queensland Royal Commission on this subject lately presented. The feature in the report that is most likely - to strike Victorian readers is. that the commissioners have mainly directed their investigations to the question of the advisability of .narrowing the existing guage. although that guage on Queensland nilways is already only a. .1 feet (! inch one. Tu the various discussions on the subject of guage in this colony 3ft. Gin. has been generally regarded as the minimum, all below that being looked upon as impracticable and purely sp-iculalive. But not or.lv has the question of reducing this limit been entertained in Queensland, and fairly considered by the coin-

I missioners, but nnw in ■ fcliwii* report they pronounce j in favour of a narrower one, and for certain cxten- ! sions of their railway system which tliey advise, they recommend that the image adopted should he 2ft. 9iti., and that some ot the existing line 3 should he altered to conform to this, and so avoid a break of guage. In discussing the matter in detail, they refer to the fact that the com missioners in India, witii one exception, recommended this guage, and say that they consider the reasons on which that recommendation was founded, conclusive. One contractor whose evidence was taken estimated the saving of a 2ft. Oin. guage over one of 3ft. Gin. at 1,500,' per mile. In addition they advise th it on the light lines thus constructed the rolling stock should also he as light, simple, and inexpensive as -is compatible with safety and etiioiency, with a limited speed, the rolling stock at present in use to be confined to lines on which the guage of 3ft. Gin. is maintained. Worked by very light engines with a pressure not exceeding 24 tons on. any wheel and capable of taking loads of 30 tons up the ruling gradients, they estimate that with one train daily each way the traffic would be annually to 9,00) tons, or with four trains daily each way to 30,000 tons, which .is about 00 per cent more than the total present traffic of the Southern and Western line. The commission have evidently shown great industry in procuring information from many remote and varied sources, and their report contains a valuable mass of data well worthy the attention of

members of our own Legislature, who may probably soon be engaged in dealing with the same subject. At the last monthly meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania, a letter from Judge Francis on the subject of the acclimatisation of fish was read. It contained the following passages —" As regards two of the fish now thoroughly naturalised, the tench and the perch, everything seems to have been done to establish them in their appropriate waters. We come now to the trout. These are doing remarkably well in point of size, and fairly, though very unequally, as regards number. In accounting for this difference, I should say generally that I think the stock have been placed too mueh in the lower and heavier reaches of the rivers, and not supplied, liberally enough to the upper, fleeter waters, where the best spawning-beds are mostly found. There is nothing at present to be said about sea trout. Whenever they become pretty numerous they will make themselves seen and. felt. But with regard to the salmon, I am very anxious to see something done, and that speedily. There maj-' be some in the river even now ; any day may bring news of a capture. But having never seen or heard of a parr or a smolfc, and having in vain looked 3on_r and often for the break of a 'fish.' I'cannot think that salmon are numerous, or have bred free!}". Surely it could do no harm to make assurance doubly sure by a fresh importation, of ova for two or three years in succession. This would not only render the successful acclimatisatfon of that noble fish a certainty, but would afford an opportunity for trying with so brio mlar the same experiment of breeding in confinement which has proved so brilliantly successful in the ease of $alm r j trai'a marina." Enough Alreajdt. —The "Echo," a Dnnedin paper, says :—" A paternal Government is said to be securing the serrices of 100 compositors in England, and this planting corps will shortly be distributed ' throughout the several newspapers office of Sew Zealand. We are to have cheap labor in every department of roloni&l industry. '

; Natuiul APFiN'TTtKS. — A most pathetic paragraph appears in the Tanmiiki Ih ru! ( on the rudeness of ! Now Plymouth donkeys. Mere it is :-" Grossly insulted. —\\ e really wj.sh t)io owners of these useful but stubborn .•ttiiiiiiila, the donkeys. would not them so near our office. We wore unwittingly insulted. yesterday. hv our devil through one. An as* was left at a blacksmith's shop ch»s« l>y to bo sho 1. and whilst wailing 1.-t forth one of j its unearthly brays. Immediately afterward* there ; was a knock at our .sanctum .i<n>r, .and <>ur iniji i putting in-'hia lie id, sti i ' Did you call jfir. Th<, Milk bottle is smashed, and the oiltee door, no ir ! where the. boy's henlsippoa'red. is disliyuredf" Why , .should the edror east oil' one <>f hi.s relat ions, and ■ siy when he tried, to address him thai lie was ;'• grossly insulted ?" The donkey was not to bin ne. j Sej how fadiionablo it has become '"or men and | women to claim relationship with some one higher •up in the world than thems.dves, The bray of this nnfortuna f e donkey might be taken as a satire on ' society. The editor lias kindly eoniirmed an impression whieh has hem growing upon us ; and we think lie should be kinder to his brethren in distress. lie would have had more compassion on Titoknwaru. It Oomks ki;om IJancitikri.—Mr. Fox has contributed int>-r iilia the following tit-bit to a contemporary :~The Charleston people have a flag-st ail" and harbor-master to signalize, and they want a t 'us!om-ln.useofHeer. .Some assert that a good deal of smuggling takes place there. Were it not for the eonciguity of the town it would certainly realize one's bean itle.nl of a smuggler's cove. In connection with this 1 hero is an aneedoto current that is too good ti be lost. It seems some patriotic Chariest onian in advocacy, I presume, of the e'aim of Charleston to have a Custous-hoii.se otlicer, went to Mr. Curtis Superintendent of a'cl.sou, and told him that there wis a large amount of smuggling going on in Charles ton, that the spirit was imported in butter kegs. lie stated also that the spirit earne from Itangitikei. The Superintendent told him to re- | o t the matter to the prop T authority, the Inspector of Customs. "'That's no use," said the man, "lie's in it; all the (■'ove'iiinent are in it. Why, you know, there's Mr. Fox going about and lecturing on tceto:alismWell, .said Mr. Curtis, what lias that to do wiih it? " Why." replied the man. "don't you see, it's all a blind. 'The. spirit comes from Rangitikei ; h ;'s in it ; all the Governmtint are in it." ThsarsTrNCi/v I'TcrT. —Everybody is becoming disgustingly rich in Victoria.. " --les" writes as follows dti the Aiitt.ruM'xi'Ui : - Uicher a.nd richer. The money deposited in the banks of issue now .amounts to more than ll.} millions sterling, ami litis irrespective of deposits with other financial institutions and with building societies. If is <>ntside of landed property, shipping property, mining property and manufacturing property It is the outcome of some of these, but tlicy exist independently of it. Nearly three millions in coin and gold bars lie in the banks. They have lent 12} millions, so that altogether we are getting into big figures.