TELEGRAPHIC

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 21, 18 June 1872, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC

Fro in the Evening Stai^ WELLINGTON. Friday. The "Independent" of to-day states that the data for the Auckland Waikato Railway tenders have- been placed in Brogden'a hands, and tenders will be submitted in a few days. Saturday. The "Independent" says-that the terms of constructing' the Manukau Railway are settled. Brogden received £86,000, exclusive of rails a.id railing stock, which are to be purchased jointly by Mr. Brogden and the agent of.the General Government, Brogdfen receiving five per cent, on the purchase. The "Independent"' also says that the tenders for the Waikato railway will be in next week. Tbe Appeal Court yesterday gave judgment in the W hi taker and Lundon case. The judgment is that Whitaker and Lundon possess no rights at law or in equity which are taken away or effected by passing the Native Lunds Court in pursuance to that Act. BUNEDIN. There is heavy snow falling here and up country. Several coach accidents have occurred in the province. The Government finally refuse to reinstate the police who struck. HOKITIKA. Saturday. Barber, the late Postmaster and Receiver of Revenue at Hokitika, is charged with embezzling two sums of money from the Government. He was brought up and remanded. MELBOURNE: June 8i Arthur Hunt (chemist), of Brunswick, has been killed while hunting. A valuable discovery of native copper has been made at Footseray, Victoria. SYDNEY. The rumour of the murder of the Rev. Mr. ': Gordon, at Erromanga, is confirmed. .He was sent far to visit the sick children of .a native, and found both The natives killed him, under the impression that he had bewitched them. Arrived—City of Adelaide, from Auckland. ' ■" News of the destruction by fire of the colonial barque Ellen Lewis, at Singapore, is to hand. • Tbe murderers Nichols and Lester have received their death warrants. The former has admitted bis guilt. A shocking affair has occurred in the execution of Conn, the Bathurst murderer. On the drop falling the head became separated from the body. • ' ") .": ~ A rich copper mine Kas been found! at Braidwood. A bottle hak been found washed ashore, stating that the first mate and nart of the crew of the Matoaka had reached the coast of New Guinea in a boat. The iron dealers have advanced their prices £2 per ton! '•' Wool sales are dull. The reports of an American subsidy in favor of Webb's line'of Steamers ; are contradicted. ADELAIDE; ./; Lewis, publisher of the Erotestaiit Advocate, was chargad with libelling Miss Wood, sister.of Joseph Wood.. . He pleaded justification, and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and a fine of £50. " Encouraging news is to hand from the Northern Telegraphic party. The Westcotfc gold prospecting party speak favorably of the country. - . It is the intention, of the Government to amend fchelaw relating to property of married* women, to make it assimilate with the lawin .England.; _~ Mr. Bayless, tbe knsband of Miss Gladstone, actress, has quarrelled with the Press, and the admission to the theatre of the Press has been stopped. i A large sale, of wheat has taken place;! 20,000 bushels were sold at Os. 9d s * i

The Teleoiiwmi as as Euuand Hoy.— The Now York "Evening Post" says:— " Electvlcity is to be reducod from its. pfL*. position as a messenger between the continents to the humblo unes of domestic- life. It is to bo madfekan. errand-boy to wnswor every household call. A company has been formed which proposes to establish offices at convenient places in various parte of this city and Brooklyn, whence messengers can I 1 © sent, on demand, ; to- any house within the respective districts. These oiuVes are to ho connected by telegraphic wires with the houses of such persons as pay a certain amount (2*50 dollars) for the benefits, offered by the company. The occupant of a house, by touching a key, wilf sirnply give notice at the office that a messenger is wanted. The offices will be numerous and so- distributed that a house can be reached by a messenger within three minutes after the notice. It will be the duty of the-messenger to go on any errands required of ,the% to. any part of the city, the pers'>D employing them to pay the company fifteen cents for every half-hour of service. The r telegraph apparatus, consisting only of wires'and the small 'key instrument,, will be placed in houses bv offices of the subscribers without charge. The butteries will be at the company's office only. It will boseen at a glance that this system will bring many conveniences-;, but all its advantages cannot be appreciated until it has become, as we think it will, ia necessity of domestic life in all large cities. There are thousands of little sorvices which persons in moderate circumstances would gladly pay for at the rates named, but they* cannot afford, or do not desire to keep an'errand boy, or other male in the house. But the plan promises safety and comfort. It will afford security against burglars at night, and a ready means of calling a physician "or friend in case of illness. If burglars are in the house'two touches of the key will bring a policeman at any hourof the night. In cases of fire, too, the system would be invaluable y many small firos bee>mo great ones on account of the unassisted efforts of servants or members of. the family to suppress them without a general alarm.. Indeed, the more ©>ne considers the uses of theproposed 'system, the more- they multiply themselves, and, we confidently predict that, within a few .years we shall be wonderinghow our ancestors got along without it." New Zraland Fr.Ax (Phorm'um Fibre).— We have been favoured by Mr. 0. Thorne, of* i(> Mark Lane,. London, with a view of the various specimens of the- different stages of his experiments ,in the preparation of flax,, with a view-to. .-enhance- the value'of this; staple in t-ie British and Continental markets. It was well s lid by one- of oar great politicians "That he was a benef ictor to his race who mide two grains grow where one only grew before ;";anl the. same trite remark will equally api liy to the- persevering energy of the individual' who, in response to the re-peatedly-uttered complaints of the manufacturer as to the shortuess o.f material—which, as a natural sequence, means enhanced prices for his. productions—endeavours to supplement the home and iorjeign supplies of this staple with that of a colonial dependency. It is, however, under most favorable circumstances a very hard task to overcome prejudices, and without doubt tbey did, and even now do exist, as to: the adoption of New Zealand flax in the various branches of our industries to which it is peculiarly adapted. The fact of the grass being so interwoven with the fibre as to almost necessitate the invention of either machinery or some plan of manual labor to effectually separate the one from the other is. a matter to be regretted.; In otie/rf the specimens of stout cloth submitted to us tne yellow grass gave it the appearance, we might almost go so- far as to say, of being a fancy ; fabric, and especially is this observable wherethe material has been bleached. Bnt our colonists may' take heart; for, in spite of decided opinions. pronounced by would-be competent judges' that its use was an impossibility it has reached a stage wbich promises ultimatesuccess. We kiaow of one eminent firm in Belfast who areubw experimenting, and are innguine of bdng^enabled-to.produce a damask tablecloth from an average sample of the fibre which, in their own words, " will be fit to lay upon the table of the- Queen." It will be remembered thatin the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the preparation of the phormiam tenax in 1871, many adverse its adaptability forgeneral use were printed in the appendix, emanating from the principal manufacturers in this country. Nevertheless we- have seen ppecimenaof cord, rope, bagging, sailcloth &c, also the fibre in its various stages of preparation, and we: think it will compare favorably with the products of other countries, and if cultivators wilkoofc use care in, its growth and baling, so as its delivery into our ports as free from blemishes as human foresight can ensorej • a profitable fixture awaits, this, feature of our colonial productions. So far as fche experiments have been conducted they have been em-ineufly successful; and as. we take .special-iuteresfc in anything relating to the material progress of <>vtr colonial dependencies, we .anxiously await the result of Air. Thome's latest production of the Quern's, tablecloth," ■■''■ . ; <.

FACf.S FOR FARMERS Thk introduction of machinery into the processes of agriculture, while it lessens the total ..mount of .strength that farmers must use of tlVcirowu muscle, has mere:.so* 1 the demand for skill of a higher older to manage these machines. Thus it follows thai, in all brandies t,f labour more skill is now required than formerly; and this is due to the progress men arc making- in every branch of production—and this is the < levatbn of men's labor, and the plaeingof itou an entirely different plane from that of mere animal, brute force. Thus the machine Hint im.uul.-h ihc man of brains to accomplish as mud. a:, six men who Only exercise brut.- fore, very justly gives him a much higher regard for his labour than cu.. be enmed J«y the ignorant owner of mere muscle; but it docs not give him all that is earned by the machine; by far the greaterpart of this advantage induces to the general benefit of society. The proof of this is found in the fact that the daily earnings of the least skilled laborer buys,a much greater amount of Ihe comforts of life as did the earnings of the same kind of labor a hundred years ago. JN'otonly is the purchasing power of a day's wages thus enhanced in value, but employmerit has been made more constant, and by just so much as it is more productive, by just so much have the material wants of men been placed within the reach of gratification by constant and well-directed industry. A valuable manure, too much overlooked by gardeners and cultivators generally, is fowl dung. It is equal to guano if properly managed! If you have a quantity, mix it with two or three times its bulk of the driest earth at hand, shovel it over and mix thoroughly, and put in a heap, with a few inches of earth over that. If it does not heat in a few days, make the heap over, wet it as you go, and cover the new heap with earth. Jf any ammonia escapes, put more earth on the heap. It will soon disappear as fowlmanure and be incorporated with the earth, and if you have a good many head of poultry, and'take care of the manure, you need not buy guano or any other expensive fertiliser for any quick-growing crops, top-dressing for cabbages or anything else for which you would use gimno. As it is very strong, it will not do to put it in direct contact with the seed. The cost of draining depends a good deal on the nature of the land and the depth of the drains. In sandy or mucky land a ditch V feet deep for tiles should be dug, with iubonr at Gs per day, for Bd. a rod; 3 feet deer) lOd. a rod. On heavier land, nearly free from stones, a ditch 2| to 3 feet deep will cost Is. a rod. A good workman at these prices can make 8s a day. An unskilful man who cuts the ditches unnecessarily wide, and is fond of using the pick, might work just as hard and nor, earn Is. a day. Barley, taking one with another, where there is a! market at hand, is a well paying crop on good land, and in the hands of those who know how to manage it. But it is a poor crop on poor land. A careless, slovenly farmer, whose land is >oor, wet, and foul ~hould not attempt to raise barley-oats will nay him better. As a rule, the earlier barley can be sown the better. But a still more important point is to get the land m good condition. It cannot be too fine and mellow On Tory rich, mellow soil, sown early, H bushel per acre, -drilled.in,, is sufficient seed ; but on average good land two bushels is none too much. In England, the best barley is grown on light sandy land, made rich and firm by consuming a turnip crop on the land, the previous winter, by sheep. The essential point on heavier soils is, to get them fine and mellow the autumn previous Barley is sown on a clover sod, but unless it was ploughed in the autumn, it is not a good plan. As a rnle, barley is sown on corn stubble, and is followed by win tor wheat.--" Town and Country Journal." ' •