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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1140, 7 October 1871, Page 2

11l his " Century of Scottish Life " the "Rev, Dr Rogers has made mention of several gifted Scotchmen who were wrecked and ruined on the whisky bar. Not the lea*t of these wa« James Macfarlan, of Glasgow, said by Di Rogers to have been "the greatest poetical genius of the west country for at least half a century." A specimen of his poetic faculry is given in a composition entitled "The Lords of Labor" Tvvo of the verses may be here cited ;

Ho! these are the Titans of toil aud trade, The heroes who wield no sabre; But mightier conquests reapeth the blade That is borne by the lords of labor. Braye hearts like jewels light the sod, Through the midst of commerce shine, And souls flash out like stars of GOD i'rora the midnight of the mine." There seems a sevenfold difficulty in re claiming the followers of che Muses when tbey go truant after Bacchus. Poor J. C. Prince vowed and le-vowed to abstain, but sunk at last, and his dark fate repeats an oft-told tale. For much the same reason as that which renders the reformation of women so difficult when they become intemperate, is the recoveiy of the drink-tempted bard so hard to compass. The lesson which this poet enforces is but little heeded by those whom it- chiefly con cerns ; and each one in succession hopes to become possessed of the seductive bait without coming into contact with the fatal hook.

The Canterbury Press, September 31, says : —We yesterday were shown a small parcel of black iron sand procured from a locality on the West Coast. , A portion of it has been submitted to Mr Sydney Gibbons, analytical chemist, of Melbourne, for analysis, and that gentleman has reported very favorably upon it. The name given to it by him is auriferous magnetic titanic iron ore, and he expresses his opinion that the English steel-makers would be glad to obtain as much of it as they could get, provided the cost of shipment, &c, were not too heavy. The constituents of the sand as determined by analysis,, are gold j iron magnetic oxide, titanic acid, and sand. The titanic acid, it may be noted, is considered as conferring the fine quality on the steel made from, this ore, and its freedom from sulphur and phosphorus is also greatly in its favor. Another advantage is the small quantity of sand present, thus getting rid of the difficulty of having a of

useless material to increase the freight. The yield of gold, as stated by Mr Gib, boss, is lOozs. lGdwt. 20grs. to the ton, ai>cl be also states that it need not at all be injured for steel-making purposes by the process of extracting the gold. JRndeayors will be made to form a company, and should it be successful there is no doubt but that a very valuable addition to our mineral wealth will be developed.