MISCELLANEA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 112, 2 January 1872, Page 6

MISCELLANEA.

A Tasmanian journal gives the following list of offices held by a fortunate individual named Henry Butler. Mr Butler is alsi a medic il man in practice, but it is scarc&y possible that he can find much time to attend to his patients : —Member for Brighton, Territorial Magistrate, Chairman of Court of General Sessions, Glenorchy ; Minister of Lands and Works, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Surveyor-General, Immigration Commissioner, Member of the Tasmanian Council of Education, Chairman of the Board of Education, Member of the Court of Medical Examiners, Commissioner of Hospital for Insane, New Norfolk ; Salmon Commissioner, Trustee Acclimatisation Society, Manager Hobart Town Savings Bank. Telegeaph Extension. —Communication with the old countries of the world by electric telegraph (says the Melbourne Age) bids fair to b3 soon an accomplished fact. The Investigator has arrived at Batavia with the Anglo-Australian cable on board. By the commencement of November she would be busily engaged in laying down the line. From Bitavia to Banjoewang, a distance of 480 miles, a land wire will run. At the latter point the real work of the Investigator Australiawards will begin. Fron Banjoewang to Port Darwin a land line of 1400 miles will read Port Augusta, South Australia. Working backwards from Batavia, a cable of 5G5 miles will have to be laid to Singapore, one of 4(5 miles from Singapore to Penang, and one a" 1409 miles from Penang to Madras —the total length of cable from Madras to Port Augusta being 3565 miles. At the moderate rate of 10D miles per day the whole length wdild be laid before the end of the year. As the South Australians are vigorously pushing on their part of the work it is exceedingly probable that by the Ist of January, IST2, or very shortly after, we may be able to exchange messages with London—providing, that is, that no serious accident should occur to retard the operations as they are carnal on. Firbpbwf RooyiNo. —Some interesting i experiments have been carried out at the Patent S,one Works of Mr Frederick Ran- . J some, at Greenwich, in order to ascertain the j power o; the roof covering lately introduced into Engand by Messrs Elrichsen and Co., of Copenhagen, to resist the action of lire. Two tinder sheds had been previoulsv con- : structed, both precisely similar in size and' . in materal employed. Each shed was 10ft. >1 by 6Zb. s<;"U"e, and 7ft. high. One of them j was covered with slates resting on ra'tcs, ; j the otheiwas covered with the so-called roof- ; ing pasteboard. Fuel, consisting o c straw i I and wood, .vas placed in equal quantities in ■! each hut, aid ignit?d. In the slated roof the ! I slate began to verish twelve minutes after the $ j fuel was igiited, and in twenty-five minutes ij it was entirely destroyed. In the m«antlmo, 11 the roof o the other shed remained, to all outward appearance, quite per'"ect, nor was -> \ it destroyed when the lire had burned out, - and the whole of the shed had fallen down. - A part of the pasteboard covered roof was r also covered with a coating of Itansoine's silif cious paint, and one of the most interesting results obtained was in reference to this material Not only did it remain quite untouched ly the action of the fire, but the hoarding upon which it had been laid rej sisted the action of the flames to such a de e Igree that for a quarter of an inch in thicks ness only was the wood entirely destroyed. -! Messrs Erichscn's covering has already earned i> ! a good reputation in Denmark, and will be - doubtless appreciated here ; but the experi--5! ment of the other day pointed out so clearly 11 the advantages attending the use of silicious t \ paint as a fire-resisting medium that the ;, greatest publicity ought to be given to its •; efficiency. We (Engineering) have already - : pointed out the good service this material : | renders in water-proofing walls ; and to a li--1 mited extent it has also been employed in co- , vering the woodwork of buildings with the > effect of making them almost fire-proof. In- ; deed, so thoroughly reliable is it that if a > | piece of timber coated with the substance is • i placed in a fire and allowed to remain exposed - i to intense heat, it will be found upon remov- • j iug it that the paint remains as a shell, and s ', intact, the charred wood contracting from it - : on all sides. With so inexpensive and effec- , tive a fire-proof medium available, there is - every reason for its universal employment, , which would bo attended with so much iny creased security of life and property. 1 Steam Superseded.—The Washington s Ghron icle says : —A new motor is attracting -> j considerable attention among scientific men ; I and, if it deserves all that is claimed for it, f j it will unquestionably supersede steam to a great extent in all places where power is re- - quired, and especially in railway locomotion. - It consists simply in producing a vacuum by e the flame of crude petroleum. The statement e is incredible, but it is confidently asserted d that its cost will be next to nothing, and its d use may even be made to produce a revenue, as in burning the petroleum only the lighter g ! parts are consumed, the heavy or lubricating o I oil being left at the bottom, from whence it o : can be taken and sold for more than the cost n of the crude oil. The machines constructed e on this principle will, it is said, soon be \m brought before the public, when the great r- invention, or discovery, can be fully tested. o Great advantages are claimed for it as a inot, tor for street railroads, as it is entirely noiseiy less, without smoke or steam, and perfectly j iinder control