ANNO DOMINI, 2071.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 67, 18 March 1872, Page 2

ANNO DOMINI, 2071.

We will once more join our visionary author in his wanderings through the streets of Londonia. As we walked along, he says, I saw a huge wagon without any horses, but simply governed by one man, in spite of which it seemed to roll on as easily as possible, and to pull up at pleasure. The wagon was loaded with all sizes of blackcolored cylinders, resembling casks or barrels. I was perfectly aware of the numerous successful experiments made long ago in England and elsewhere with the construction of steam engines destined to ruD, not along iron rails?, but along the ordinary roads. I could not, however, help noticing that this wagon differed totally from those old locomobiles, inasmuch as there were no signs of steam about the novelty. Once more I turned to my amiable guide for an explanation ; but, although he immediately prepared to comply with my request, still I am obliged to confess that not everything was quite clear to me. I imagine this was partly owing to Bacon's making use of the names of engines and materials with which I was unfamiliar ; but this is about what I understood him to say : — ' ' So long as we had abundance of coal, the use of steam was found to be amply sufficient for the locomotion of all kinds of engines, wagons, or carriages, but about the beginning of this century the quantity of coal in the different countries of Europe had decreased to such an extent that the price of the article became by far too high for daily and ordinary use. True, the supply of North America was far from being exhausted; but, of course, the exportation from thence could not but influence th .; cost. The same inconvenience further presented itself with such engines where the locomotive power was produced by continually recurring explosions of a mixture of light-gas and common atraoe-

pheric air, since the cost of light-gas naturally increased with the decrease of coal from which it was principally made. For remainder of news see fourth page.

*^""i**'iVTli-V-.* ,-,-,,■.,- ... . t :i - , -, „,. . , ■■ ' . .-.- --- Under these circumstances, recourse was had to the electro-magnetic machines "which could not bo used to advantage so long as coals were inexpensive; now, however, these were not only able to compete with the different kinds of steam engines, but they had this advantage over the latter, that they were entirely free from the danger of explosive boilers. Nevertheless, the electro-magnetic power, with all its improvements, was, and remained a more expensive one than that formerly produced through coal, and the consequence of this was a decrease in the produce of a great many things which had not only grown into matters of daily necessity, but even into a sine qua -non of a progressive and lasting civilisation. Then it was, since necessity is the mother of invention, that everyone contrived to devise a new means of locomotion, until, after innumerable unsuccessful experiments, a power was finally arrived at, in every way practical and satisfactory, whilst inexhaustible in its sources. It was, namely, this. From time immemorial, people knew the two motive forces of flowing water and of streaming air or wind. When the steam engines came into use, the latter had gradually superseded the former, partly because rapidly flowing water is not always procurable, partly also because the supply of water, as well as its power, depends on the quantities of rain falling in the higher districts. The latter inconvenience, the variability of power, made itself still more strongly felt in the application of the wind. The most absolute quietness in the air may be followed by tempests so dangerous that the skipper is obliged to furl his sails, and the miller finds it necessary to stop his mill in order to avoid the most disastrous consequences. Now when the mill stops, it becomes a useless machine, for then the work of the men is stopped, and ultimately their wages. Much valuable time is lost, and time is known to be money. Add to this that a steam engine may be worked unremittingly, so that the manufacturer can be sure to finish any given work in any stipulated' time, and it must be clear enough why the powers of water and wind got to be superseded by steam power on account of the latter's superior regularity. Meanwhile it is impossible to overlook the fact that water and wind may be had for nothing, and that steam involves expense. Moreover, so immense is the quantity of vital or working power of the water falling down on the surface of our earth, and also of the atmospheric currents, that the locomotive power of all existing steam engines is comparitively trifling by the side of them. One single great cataract has more working power than all the steam engines of Europe together, and one single thunderstorm may produce such frightful destruction that it would be rediculous to measure it by horsepower. As, therefore, steam became more and more expensive, one naturally looked for means by which, without losing the regularity and stability of steam-power one might turn to account the forces of wind and falling water. The question had really come to this — how to regularly distribute over a certain period of time a force or power so intensely variable. It seemed as if the working power of water and wind had to be collected and saved up, so as to have a regular provision of such forces in case of need. In like manner Nature had saved her working power when she caused the forests to grow, from whence resulted the coal layers. Art had already done the same in preparing gunpowder and other explosive matters. Why then, could the experiment not be tried in analogous form, namely, by temporary imprisonment or detention of that vital power which appeared to be so inexhaustible ? " That was the problem. With regard to its solution I could not well follow the details. All I could learn from Bacon was this, th&t the block cylinders on the waggon already referred to bore the name of Energiathics, force- holders, or energy-preservers ; that one of these, set the wagon in motion, whilst the others were to be delivered either at private houses for domestic purposes of hoisting, raising, or carrying ; or to blacksmiths, turners, and other artisans who wanted motive powers not so extensive as regular. Large manufactories used similar energiathics, only of greater power and dimensions. Some of these (in mountainous districts) collected the power of falling water ; others (situated in the lower districts) utilised the wind. With regard to the construction, &c. of these cylinders, I could do nothing more than to form a faint idea. Thus I thought of compressed air, or some other gas, which by some strong pressure or other might have been turned into a liquid or hard substance retaining the capability of rendering again its deposit of force on subsequent .explosion. But I merely give this hypothesis for what it is worth. (To be continued),

" A little Flattery sometimes does tvell." — Young lady (making a pie): " Frank, the kitchen's no place for boys. Has dough Buch an attraction for you?" Clever youth : "It ißn't the dough, cousin — it's the dear." Ye Infant Prodigy. — Maggie: "Why is your hair so grey, mamma ?" Mamma : " Well, because you're such a naughty child sometimes." Maggie : " What a naughty child you must have been ! Poor grandma's hair's quite white ! " "It is not often," says the Ballarat Evening Mail, " that orthodox ministers take Shakspeare for text; but the minister of Trinity Independent Church, the Eev. F. L. Wilson, is to preach on Sunday, Feb. 18, in exposition of Hamlet's avowal, ' Conscience makes cowards of us all.' " An Old Irish Officer, after a battle, ordered the dead and dying to be buried pell-mell. Being told that some were alive and might be saved, " Oh, bedad," said he, "if you were to pay auy attention to what they say, not one of them would allow that he was dead." The following advertisement recently appeared in the Scotsman. — " Servant. — Wanted, by a Family living in an Edinburgh flat, a Geueral Servant who will kindly superintend her mistress in cooking and washing, nursing the baby, &c. She will have every Sunday and two nights out in each week, and the use of the draw-ing-room (with piano if required) for the reception of her frieDds on other evenings. Apply, stating salary likely to be accepted, No. 4721, Scotsman Office." Dr. Gray, au eminent Oxford physician, has just been writing on the popular subject of smoking, the moderate use of which he approves of : " To quiet nervous unrest, to soothe a ruffled temper to favor calm and impartial thought, to steady and clear (not to cloud) a confused overworked brain, to counteract the effects of physical exhaustion," these, he says, are just the things which tobacco does ; and if it can effect these ends safely and pleasantly, who shall deny it a place among God's good gifts to men ? The dairy farmers of Warrnambool in Victoria have adopted a new method of disposing of their eggs and poultry. They do not sell the one by the dozen or the other by the pair. They sell both by the weight — eggs by the pound; turkeys, geese, and fowls the same way. This appears to be the fairest mode of doing business. There will be sometimes a difference of from three to five ounces between a dozen of eggs of one dealer and those of another yet both are sold at the same price. Now since the new system has been at work in Warrnambool, poultry breeders procure the description of hens, which lay the largest eggs. Paupers bibulously inclined should endeavor to become inmates of the Toxteth Union. Doctors, matrons, masters, and gatekeepers, are firm believers in Thudicum's doctrine respecting the virtue of alcoholic stimulants. They made up their accounts at Michaelmas for a year, and found that the paupers swallowed 40,975 pints of ale, 5670 pints of wine, 2337 pints of whisky, *473 pints of brandy, and 793 pints of gin. This is irrespective of the quantity imbibed by the officers, which in the small matter of ale alone amounted to 10,952 pints. They must have jovial times of it in that same Toxteth Workhouse. Handel was once the proprietor of the Opera House, London, and at the time presided at the harpischord in the orchestra. His embellishments were so masterly that the attention of the audience was frequently diverted from the singing to the accompaniment, to the frequent mortification of the vocal professors, .*. pompous Italian singer was once so chagrined at the marked attention paid to the harpischord, in preference to his own singing, that he swore that, if ever Handel played him a similar trick, he would jump down upon his instrument, and put a stop to the interruption ; upon which Handel thus accosted him : — " Oh, oh ! you will jump, vili you ? Very well, sare ; be so kind and tell me de night yen you vill jump, and I will advertishe it in de bills ; and I shall get grate dale more money by your jumping than I shall get by your singing." The Melbourne Age remarks : — There is a possibility of New Zealand becoming a country of great industrial resources. For a long period the phormium or native flax was neglected as an article capable of receiving a commercial value. This is no longer the case, however, for some enterprising English capitalists, having discovered how the flax may be utilised, have formed a company with a subscribed capital of £50,000, and are about to build extensive works in the province of Auckland to convert the phormium into a variety of marketable fabrics. There can be no doubt of the success that will attend the speculation, nor of the incentive it ; will give to manufacturing enterprise in New Zealand, considering that the phormium is of indigenous growth, and is to be found everywhere in the islandß.