ROUND ABOUT THE COLONY

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7, 18 August 1906, Page 37

ROUND ABOUT THE COLONY

To Those About to Marry. ‘•'Are the wedding presents the property of the bride dr bridegroom?” asks Kaituna. The answer is fairly obvious to one who is not in the happy or unhappy - position of receiving preBents. Friends or enemies who send these gifts usually send them specifically to the prospective bride ot groom, and they become absorbed in the personal estate of either party, according to the address. Of course, if a presentation arrives bearing no writing to definitely disclose the remitter’s, intentions, the disposition of the article would be a matter of arrangement between the lovers. The man. for instance, would take possession of shaving appliances or a ease of pipes, and would cheerfully allow his lady to assume suzerainty over a parcel of flat irons or the inevitable biscuit barrel. —“Wellington Post.” d* .« Confiscated Beer. The law as it stands at present in regard to the confiscation of liquor found in the possession of prohibited persons places the police in a rather invidious position. Sub-Tnspector Dwyer, at the Christchurch Police Court recently, asked the magistrate what he was to do with two bottles of "pale ale” which had been found in the pockets of a man against whom a prohibition order was in force. Ife pointed out that the police had no power to keep them, and they could not give them back to the accused. “Well,” replied Mr Bishop, “I cannot order you to drink them, and the best way to confiscate the beer will be to pour it in the gutter.” Ji d* “Good Old Wales. A memory of the memorial football match. New Zealand v. Wales, played last year, turned up at the premises of Messrs. Thomas Ballinger and Co., Wellington. the other day. On opening a case of ironmongery a large sheet of brown paper bearing the following lettering in chalk was brought to light: “Notice—To whosoever opens this case: This case was made on December 16th, 1905, the same day that New Zealand played Wales at Cardiff. Signed, Ar-hie Jones. Good old Wales.” The goods with which this document arrived were consigned to Wellington by a- Cardiff firm. Ji Slight-proof Potatoes. .Mr J. O. Eastward, of Taranaki, is kaid to be growing potatoes entirely free from blight. He uses a preventive that Was used by his father in the West Indies as a precaution against blight in the arrowroot and ginger crops, which take disease very readily. He has been Using this specific with his potato crops at Tongaporutu for live years, and has not once had them affected by blight. The specific is made up of 61b *** sulphate of ammonia and Gib of nitrate of potash, dissolved in 25 gallons of Miller, and the same strength is used for al! seeds. He soaks the seeds for 24 hours, and in the ease of potatoes allows them to dry for another 24 hours before planting, so as to avoid mildew. JK Ji Advance the West Coast? .Says the Greymouth “Evening Star”: ie prevailing spell of line weather is to ■ welcomed as an incentive to further ‘'“‘ie of the port. The bar, smooth, >i ( with a good depth of water, is just w workable at almost any state of the

tide, and both coal and timber are being shipped away as fast as possible. The West Coast of the South Island is rapidly coming into prominence, and in the near future will be on an equal footing with the more favoured parts of the colony in the matter of sea and railway communication. Our mineral and timber resources are such that in the course of a year or two they will come to lie recognised at their proper worth. Greyinouth, as a port and district, has a great future before it. The export of coal and timber is increasing at a rate that would not have been considered possible a few years ago. and. following this up. our jsteamer services arc keeping in touch with the progress of the port, as is shown by the fine class of steamers that are now employed in the trade. J* A Lucky Find. The (Maki “Mail” states that a few days ago two Otaki young women. Miss Alice Cootes and Mrs. William Roach, while out on the Waitohu beach were fortunate enough to discover a largo piece of ambergris. The “ Mail” understands that after careful inquiries the find has proved to be the real article, and as it weighs about ten pounds is worth somewhere iu the vicinity of £5OO. .* Jt The Fortunate Isles. A visitor to Rarotonga, writing under date 24tb July to a friend in Wellitigton, says the the New Zealand Maori is “not in it” with the fine race of people that inhabit Rarotonga. “What a splendid Ife they have; not a care nor worry in this world. With very little trouble Nature provdes all their wants, and they are happy and cheerful. It has surprised nie to find how up-to-date they are here. The .milkman calls at the houses twice daily, the butcher with fresh meat three times a week, there is plenty of fresh butter, and the selection of prints, muslins, silks, etc., iu the stores surprises the ladies. The Government has just ordered the pipes for supplying the residential township of lloarua with a water supply. They have not got an electric tramway service, but there are plenty of buggies and fairly good roads. I think it is a great pity we have not more of these Pacific Islands, especially Tahiti or the Society Group, for they are very valuable, and are on the direct line of vessels voyaging via the Panama Canal. Papeete has a splendid harbour; the steamers are simply moored to trees growing on the banks, the water being deep right up to the shore.” Good News for Anglers. There are now 760.000 ova in the Masterton fish hatcheries. Of this quantity 200,W0 brown trout ova was taken from the Opihi River. South Canterbury, and 100.000 rainbow ova from the river-fish in Rotorua distret. The curator. Mr. Ayson, speaks very highly of the quality of the rainbow- ova received from the North. The ova, generally, is hatching out well. <.* Wellington's Sensitive Ear. One of the saddest of a sal tribestreet musicians—was seen in a Wellington road yesterday afternoon wrestling with a violin, and the instrument was hiving the worst of the tussle. judging by its outcries (says the “ Post”). The artist was a little boy, propped against a fast-closed door, fiddling away for dear life, but instead of the money for bread he got stone silence in reply to his noise. He had little more know ledge of music than tftv differential calculus, an

ignorance which lie shares with eWers of his' class. People sympathise -with afflicted folk, who feel constrained to “ make melody” in the streets for a living, but the philanthropist would rather give money and receive no tunes in exchange. Some of these ‘‘musicians'’ go the round of the colony. There is one young fellow on the streets of Christchurch who frankly confesses, by a placard, that he “ makes hemp rope anti plays the violin” for a living, and his hearers have no douht that if the ropes are no lietter than his music he could never hang himself with one of them. It has often been suggested that a scheme should lie devised for assisting genuinely unfortunate persons without having the streets tilled with soulharrowing discordance. JU 48,436 Pennies. A rather striking example of what may be accomplished in penny collections is given by the Homan Catholics of Te Aro parish, Wellington. In the two churches in the parish (in Buckle and Bouleott streets) boxes are placed into which members of the congregation may deposit pence in ahi of the schools. On Sunday week the lioxes were opened, and it was found that during twelve months coppers were contributed aggregating £202 lti/4. During the previous year the amount was £152. It is now 14 years since these collections were initiated. and the gross amount subscrilied is £2224 4/1. J* Jt A Dilemma. The determination of the police to proceed against any licensee who permits the game known as ‘'devil's pool” to be played on his premises Ims caused great dissatisfaction among the billiardmarkers of the city, remarked a Dunedin paper. Two licensees have expressed their determination to continue allowing the game to be played, so that the position may be tested in court. It is understood that the ad ion of the police is based on a decision of Mr Justice Cooper under the Licensing Act Amendment Act of 1904. The decision declared ‘‘devil's pool” to be gambling. And here follows an awkward position. If it is gambling in a licensed house it is gambling in an ordinary billiard room, and conies within the scope of the Gaming and Lotteries Act. Yet the keepers of billiard rooms other than those of licensed premises have not received notice from the police. As they say in ‘*The Mikado”: "It's the slipshod way in which these Acts of Parliament are framed.” J* By One of Themselves. Mr J. F. Arnold. M.H.R.. at the Dunedin Y.M.C.A. strangers’ tea: "From my experience of three Parliaments, I can assure you that Parliament is very much above the average status of the community. The temptation >- political life to do that which is doubtful is even less than that which you would meet with in an ordinary professional or mercantile calling. You mav go for days in the House without hearing a single word to offend the ear; and although it may be true, as you perhaps feel inclined to remind mo. that there is such a place as Bellamy's where drink is supplied, I do not suppose that 5 per cent of the trade done at Bellamy's is in alcoholic beverages. A considerable number of the members of Parliament are Christian men. and I ask you to discount very largely what you may hear from time to time from people who are not qualified to express an opinion as to the alleged evil character and surroundings of members of Parliament.” Handsome Lectern, i The altar cross and lectern which wore dedicated at a special service in the Napier Cathedral last week are very handsome additions to the appointments of the church. The cross is striking and massive in appearance. It is of brass with a number of onyx stones inlaid. The lectern has been greatly admired. and lis said to be not only the finest in the colonies but almo-t if not quite equal to anything of the kind in the large cathedrals in the Old Country. It also is of solid brass, and consists of

a base supported by the figures of four lioits. a pillar set with precious >uotxe% surmounted by a Util on which a large eagle, in beautifully chased and bur* nished brass. i» perched, as symbolical of St. John the Evangelist. The outstretched wings of the bird form the leading desk. The design is extremely l»eautiful, and the workmanship is highly artistic. N.Z. Exhibition: Prevention of Piro. Any fears which the public may hare had with regard to insufficient lire pro feet ion may now be set at rest, as the Commissioners have decided to place 50 Underwriters’ fire-extingui<hers through out the main building, as well as having hydrants laid on everywhere. This b» the second exhibition which those machines have figures in the first bung the Fan-American Exhibition. Buffalo, in 1901. where they did such excellent work by putting out 28 outbreaks of fire before the brigade had time to run out the hose and lay it. These machines hold the unique position of being the only chemical fire extinguisher in the world that can be turned off and on at will. So the risk of any eon Hag ration at the Exhibition is reduced to a mini mum. Mr 11. Leslie Friend. KM. Victoria Arcade. Auckland, is the representaliw* for this most excellent tire preventer. Something; About the ■Suction’ 4 Gas Producer. Within the last few years a consider able amount of int rest has been excited among those to whom the economical production of power is a matter of con corn, by the introduction of the •‘Suction* (las Producer. Other methods <»f making what is sometimes called “poor gas* have been employed. and with economical advantages compared with town’s gas. but these had objections, such as the use of steam boilers and gas-hold-rs-h the latter occupying much valuable space —which has been eliminated in the “suelion” producer. A suction producer plant consi-ts essentially of three parts: (a) The generator. with which is usually combined tlm water heater; (b) the scrubber. for cooling and purifying the gas; and (c) the expansion box*. In the first-named is placed the fuel, anthracite coal for preference, but when this cannot conveniently be obtained, gasworks coke. The latter has to be employed in New Zealand at present, although it may reasonably b? hoped that before many years have elapsed the former may bo provided from mines within the colony. The objection to bituminous fuels if the difficulty of getting rid of the tarry product*. and this pn sent- itself in a limited degree when coke is employed—varying with the quality ol the coke—but it may be successfully overcome by the use of some form of apparatus for preventing the tar from passing oxer into the engine. Messrs. Tangyes, Limited, supjdy a tar separator, consisting of a serie* of bailie plates, which can b readily withdrawn, ami any accumulation of tar burnt off. The water heater is usually formed around the generator, and the xapout drawn into the generator by suitably arranged pipes. The expansion box i- a small reservoir placed near to the engine, to provide a storage to m ct the sudden demands of the engine. The furl in the generator i- i.sadr Incandescent. primarily and Ixdore gas of a. suitable quality for starting the engine is made, by a small fan ord inaril y <q»riated by hand. Oxer this incandc-e<‘iiA find. rendered gaseous by the high temperature in the generator, is passed the air and strain, which are first of all forced through by the fan and afterwards drawn through by the engine, and the result is that coniLu-tilc ga?es — mainly carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen arc formed. xxhicli arc utili-ed to drive the engine. After the engine ia started the “section" upon which th® continued production of the gas d-pends, is created by the outxvard thrust of thu piston* An important feature of the -act ion producer is that the gas is produced under atmospheric pressure, so ih.it it has no tendency to «—cape from the apparatus. There is tlwretorc pi act ic .illy ne risk of fire nr cxpl<*-ion. Th * economy xvith xvhich power may ba obtained with a plant of this kind fib

»ery remarkable, and this has tended to the development of the interest taken in this form of power producer to which reference has already been made. With anthracite coal—the ideal fuel •—the consumption ean safely be guaranted as lib per brake horse-power per hour, and with gas coke as not more than I pon this basis the economy of the suction producer is evident, and it is emphasised by the fact that only occasional attention is necessary and that, unskilled labour is quite adequate for all ihe supervision that is required. The largest manufacturers of this type .of plant, .Messrs. Tangyes, Limited, Birmingham. issue a list showing that more than 500 of their engines and producers if over 20.000 brake horse-power) have been supplied during about two and ahalf years ending December, 1906. This includes all sizes, from 4 to 150 brake horse-power. They now advertise that over .30,000 brake horse-power have been supplied. A considerable number of plants are now in use in this colony, and it will soon be possible for any one interested to see one in operation without making a very long journey for the purpose. . This is not intended in any sense as a technical or complete description of the apparatus in question, but it will, we tope, interest many- of our readers who have heard of the Suction Gas Producer Without having had the opportunity of learning much concerning it.