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Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1531, 1 July 1873, Page 2

A po^bbspondunt of one of our Ohristchurch contemporaries calls attention to a mechanical invention which is calculated

to cause a revolution in the coal trade in the country, and the value of which is-likely to be not less appreciated in the Colonies. He refers to a machine which is intended to take the place of the pitman in the working of coal-mines — a machine which, it appears, has been patented by Messrs Baird, of the Gartsherrie Iron Works, in Scotland, and which has already been in use for a year, with satisfactory results. Those who have seeu the drawings, or read the descriptions of the rockrending machines which were used in the Mount Cenis tunnel, can easily conceive how machines on a similar principle might be utilised in coal-mines, and according to the description given, it is a machine constructed on some such principle which has been patented by the Messrs Baird. Of its importance as a labor-saving expedient, a -pretty fair estimate may be formed from the fact that it is the subject of special reports and a leading, article in the London Times, which thus refers to the invention : — "A 'coal cutting machine has not only been invented, but is actually at work, and with results which we transcribe with no slight satisfaction. This machine can cut, in eight hours' time, _ 350 ft of coal, yielding from 70 to 75 tons in weight — which -production we ate : told represents the work of 40 men for the same period. Three or at most four men ar.e .required to tend the machine, and the calculation is . that its general adoption would render it possible to dispense with the labor of 300,000 of the 360,000 men now employed in the coal mines of the country. Further, whereas the c waste' incidental to handcutting is estimated at fully 12 per cent, of the whole product," that 'waste ' is reduced to one third of the amount by this machine, representing an economy of no 'less than ten millions of tons of coal every year. As all this is stated of an invention actually in operation, and proved indeed by the experience of a twelvemonth's usej there seems hardly any room for doubtr nig the practical efficiency of the new system. The only wonder is that it has not been more commonly adopted ; but necessity is a strong power, and we shall now get the benefit ot its painful but most effective impulse." It is needless to point otit how specially suited such an appliance must be to the coal fields which we possess in the Colony, more particularly those which are already in process of development on the West Coast. The thickness of the seams, and the scarcity of. sufficiently skilled labor, suggest the propriety of adopting some such mechanism in the working of our mines, and any coal company existing or proposed to be. formed ; would be consulting its own interest by obtaining as much information as possible regarding an invention possessing so prominently the merit of effecting expeditionand economy.

Yesterday afternoon Mr W. H. Harrison, M.H.K. for the Grey District, left for Wellington by the s.s. Kangitoto. By the same : steamer Mr H. H. Lahman, Mi. C. and Mr W. S. Smith, M.C.0., proceeded as a deputation from the Greymouth Coal Company, to interview the Government as to certain modifications in the proposed terms of the lease to be granted. Messrs Calcutt, Mackay. and Sayle, the gentlemen who have : been examining the country through which the proposed Nelson and Greymouth railway would pass, also left by the Rangitoto. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yes- • terday morning, John Dougherty was charged with being drunk and disorderly, and Mary Davis with being drunk, both admitted the offence; the former was fined 10s, or in default 24 hours' imprisonment, and the latter was discharged with a caution. The tramway which has been used for the carriage of stone from the quarry to the protective works is to be at once extended along the wharf to near Johnston street, for the bringing down of material to make good the embankment and roadway which has there recently given way, and for the re- : building of which the balance of the loan is to be expended. Should the proposed Borough Council loan be speedily floated, an additional L 450 will be expended on this work. ■ ? From the evidence at, the inquest, at : Christchurch, on Sydney Burrowes Stiffe, it appears that he had been suffering from i delirium tremens or acute mania, and that he had been tied down with rope by or with the knowledge of Miss Herberte or Mrs Elliott, ; and neighbors of the name of Charles and Mary Hill. A verdict of manslaughter was ■ returned against them, as well as against his medical attendant, Dr Parker. Mr M. B. Hart, of Christchurch, has received information to the effect that the men working at his pit have discovered another seam of coal . at a depth of twenty ; feet from the old working,- and. that it is 2ft < 4£in thick, added to which the coal is harder and the knobs larger than from the old seam. The result of the experiment of introducing: salmon into the Colony is up to the present time, that out of 120,000 ova shipped by the Oberon for New Zealand, 600 fish have been hatched out at the Makarewa ponds, near Invercargill, and about 50 fish have been produced from the' ova which were brought to Christchurch. '>=.:, Mr Wiltchire^suciEeßsf ully completed his self-imposedjtask of walkingja thousand miles ma thousand hours at noon, on Wednesday last, doing the last ntile in excellent time. About three hundred persons assembled on the ground t<S"witness the completion of this feat of human endurance, and one and all were surprised' that, considering what he has undergone, the performer should be looking so well. So far from being knocked up, he is able, says the -Lyttelton Times of Thursday, still to continue walking, and intends to go on, at least, until this evening, or, should sufficient inducement offer, will try to add another five hundred miles to the thousand already completed. Noticing the production of the burlesque " Ixion," on the Wellington stage the Inde- . pendent says.— "Miss Stephenson's Ixion was a very clever personation • while Miss Follarid made as graceful and seductive a little Cupid as could be desired. The local allusions and riddles were well received, the dancing was above the aveiage, while, scenery and costumes were excellent. ; The death of Mr Henry Redwood, sen., is thus announced by the Nelson Mail, of the 20Mi instant: — At a late hour last night there passed away from our midst, at the good old age of 79 years, one of Nelson's oldest and most respected settlers. Mr Henry Redwood, sen., arrived in. this Province in the ship George Fyfe, in the year 1842, and at once commenced operations at' Waimea Weßt. By dint of hard work, untiring industry, and much self-denial, he succeeded in securing a large and valuable property in that district, and in 1855 made his first purchase of land in the Wairau, which he stocked with sheep, and at the time of his death was , the owner of one of the finest properties in the' Province of Marl- | borough. In the days of his prosperity he did not forget .to administer to the wants of others, and he and Mrs Redwood are known

far and wide for their kiadness and hospitality, and their willingness to assist all who were in distress. Until attacked by the disease which, after many weary months of suffering, ultimately carried 'him off, Mr Redwood never kuew what it was to have a day's illness, and his stalwart form and genial hearty manner were well known to all Nelson settlers. Honored and respected by all who' Knew him he has gone down to His grave, and if a history of the Province of Nelson should ever w written, the name of Redwood will be the" most prominent among the list of its brave pioneers. Henare Mataua) who aspires to be a legislator, and possibly to a seat in the Cabinet, is taking time by the forelock. The Hawke's Bay Herald &a.ys : — Henare Mataua,wehear, with his " committee^!' started overland yesterday for Poverty Bay. He is canvassing actively for a seat in the house, which he hopes soon to see vacated by Karaitiana. He will find Henare Potae, probably, his most formidable competitor. He has adopted a notion -which is a novelty, at least in New Zealand electioneering tactics. White rosettes with his colors — the red, white, and blue— attached, are being sent about the country, to be worn as badges by his supporters. The colors are loyal, and his present action, we are glad to learn, has been in keeping with them. . Fiji advices have been received at Sydney to 21st of May. The Government prosecution of the proprietor of the Fiji- Times has again failed. The jury added a rider to their verdict of acquittal, vthat tbe statement published respecting fflfe Government " officials endeavoring to incite the natives against the whites was true. . | The Australian edition of Mr Anthony Trollope's " Australia and New Zealand " is a handsome volume of 635 pages, well printed and elegantly bound. It is entirely a Colonial production, even the binding having been done in "Mr Robertson's workshops. Nevertheless, it is published at 18s —a price much below what a work of similar character would be published at in England, in fact, the published price of this work in England is 36s— just double the price of the Australian edition. Good progress is being made in increasing the share list of the Kanieri Lake WaterRace Company. Last Friday, says the West Coast Times, Messrs Beck, Boys, and the Manager of the Company, made a very successful canvass along the Christcburch road, obtaining not alone a large accession of shareholders, but also some very favorable offers for water to be brought in to the claims visited by the canvassers. We are informed that as much as L2O per week was offered for three heads of water. A vessel's rudder, which did not present the appearance of haying been long in the water, was found last' Saturday by Mr John Macfarlane, on the ocean beach, about a milft south of the entrance to the Hokitika river. It is coppered 4ft, and seems to be of the size pertaining to a vessel of about sixty tons register. The rudder-post is of hard wood, and evidently the vessel it belonged to was Colonial built. The settlement of Wangarei, Auckland, has lately been suffering from an invasion of rats The animals are supposed to have been diiven out by the floods, and hence to have taken refuge in the settlers' homesteads, " causing no small consternation by their numbers and voracity." *A pig hunter writes to the Marlborough Express complaining that after the trouble of catching his victims he finds many of them withoiit tails, and is thus deprived of his proper reward, as he is paid sixpence for each tail. Restates that in fourteen days he killed 750 pigs, Tout does not state the number of tails he secured, At a meeting of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society, held at the Thames, last week, several new members were initiated, and many others proposed. The action taken at a former meeting for the establishment of a grand lodge of the society at the .Thames was fully endorsed, and the President, Mr E. K. Tyler, is now engaged drafting the necessary documents, and otherwise preparing for the change in the constitution of the, present branch lodge of the New South Wales Society. Mr M'Kenzie, who was. re-elected without opposition as the representative of the Waihemo district in tbe Provincial Council, when acknowledging the confidence placed in him by his constituents/ is reported to have spoken as follows :— The country members of the House had been charged by Dunedin members with being ignorant, brainless clodocrats, and as not being fit to have a seat in the Council. He thought of Fish and others, whose business recommendations were, not a whit better than the farmers — in fact, he considered the farmer had the advantage over the paperhanger or the merchant, as he became personally cognisant with many of the requirements of the country. '1 he country member was placed at a great disadvantage with the town members, who left everything to be done by the farmer. When a town member was wanted, one of his clerks came for him, and he left the Council Ball to attend to his own business, and perhaps was not seen again for hours. If town members "were placed on a Committee a quorum never could be got. ' Country members did all the work. . Owing to the depression which has so long prevailed at the Thames, a good many men there are reported to be out of employment. Forty of them have been engaged by the Messrs Brogden to labor on the Wellington and Hutt Eailway. One of the largest goods trains that has yet gone to Dunedin went from Port Chalmers on the 19th, immediately after the .arrival of the 10.30 train. There were 19 trucks, and th« weight of the cargo was about 260 tons, winch included a large boiler and planing machine, ex Michael Angelo for the Government works. The engine started with apparently no more trouble than with an ordinary train.' ;. i