CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 224, 19 September 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

. _q , . , %* Wo are desirous of ' affording every reasonable facility for the discussion of public subjects; but it mustbe understood that we are in no way responsible for the opinions expressed, by correspondents.

To the Editor of the Nelson Evening Mail. Sib, — Your correspondent ' "..Subscriber '«Vhas. expressed a wish to hear someone else's opinion concerning the manner tickets for St. Mary's Art Union w.ere. issued; Now my opinion as, that as " Subscriber " stated that he fiad not subscribed to it with any thoughts of gain, we were led to suppose that he had subscribed with the disinterested view of aiding the object of the Art Union ; if so, he should have been pleased to see. as many 'tickets issued'! as possible;; -He'grounds hisjcom'plaint upon the plea that the Art Union was supposed to have been held in Majr.last. JSut^as he wants ito; MoJHV^Htiim^fcead a^ain his ticketfaridj he will see that, as several of tne prizes were expected to come from France^it had been announced, in consequence, that it was to be held about, May, just as ithey-dofor/a^steamfeKwhicfias advertised to.saif ori or aborii Friday?: % '• : ,„_ ■' ' . ; Almi&c., ; ;.!■„.. .;,.. -.^;„:,"w^;'i: OPINION.

Port Darwin Goldfields.—Something more definite has been beard from the scpue of gold prospecting operations neartPort IJarwin. The place reported on , is^Westcott's. C^eekj. which.lies 120 miles inland from Port Darwin, and apparently in the direction of the Roper. It is, also, only seven miles from the overland telegraph line. A reef has been discovered and traced for about three miles, forming a well defined line of reef, showing gold' plainlyJn the surface stone. The whole of the line was pegged out, and about 50 men were on the ground, either working or preparing for work. The account states .that there is a wide field for a large population, but as for their oblainiug remunerative work, that is a matter that, of course, has to be tested. The ground being near For remainder of news see fourth page.

a telegropM^i^i- tha £ °f XsiP; Creek, we may re^sohabfy expect to receive full and: frequent reports of the progress;: of this goldfield. The telegrams we have already: received reiterate r the '■'■ caution that all who go ; with the intention of mining must be well provided with alljnecessaries, including horses and drays. They also remind persons meditating a trip that the wet season will soon begin, and will suspend vail traffic till February.. This news may perhaps have the effect of producing some restless excitement among our miners, .and the '. enterprising firm of Cobb and Co. have so far calculated on such a.. result as to make enquiries at Adelaide with a view of running a line of coaches overland to Palmerston. There would indeed be something flattering to our ideas of progress in taking a coaching trip along the linewere M?Douall Stuart was groping^bis way through an unknown wilderness about ten years ago. The news of the extensive gold dissoveries in North Queensland has also added to the excitement in our mining districts, and Chater's Towers now divides attention with the Eoper. — Australasian. Mr/Cuthbert of Sydney has obtained a contract to build four schooners for the Imperial Government, to be employed in the suppression of the Polynesian slave trade. The vessels are to be completed by the end. of the year. Carver, late teller of the Union Bank at Brisbane, has been tried for obtaining £sOo ! from the Bank of Australasia by false pretences. The first jury disagreed, but the second found a verdict of guilty, with- a strong recommendation to mercy, on the ground of the loose way in which the bank conducted their business. The prisoner, was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. Beligious Harmony. — In a Scotch church at Kingston, Jamaica, a Christian minister preached a funeral sermon in memory of a Jew, the late Mr. Emanuel Lyons. He took his text from Acts of Apostles, chapter x, verses 34 and 35, in which the following occurs — " Then Peter opened his mouth and said; Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him."r- Jewish Chronicle. The Bishop of Tasmania in a letter to the Eodart Town Mercury, says :— " Thousands of acres are now devoted to " cereal produce, for. which, with shut up markets, there is no sufficient return. The lands are admirably adapted to the growth of flax, for which the Dundee Chamber of Commerce promises us an unlimited purchase. I know of German emigrants, lately arrived, who understand its culture, and who are now wearing upon their backs clothing which they have, out of their fields, manufactured with their hands in their own cottages." The way in which the question of remuneration of labor regulates itself is shown by the following cutting from the San Francisco News Letter: — Now that the ships are getting go»d freights, the captains and owners have a difficulty in procuring crews- for the deep water ships. Our immense crop of cereals requires a large amount of men to harvest it, 'and sailors find.itrrnore profitable to work for 60 dols a month, and "all night in," on a farm, to " ploughing ; furrows on the briny deep" for 25 dols. a month, hard tack, and the numerous comforts . his liberal- hearted landlord forgets (?) to provide him with. Doubtless a little extra wages to Jack would rectify this in a measure. Br the Mail, news has been received (the Age says) that there is no probability; of an English eleven coming out next season, so that our cricketers will be disappointed in their, expectation of being able \to try their skill with England's champions. We learn that Mr. Shoosmith put himself in communication with Mr. W...J3-. Grace, who, after consideration, named, the sum of £1,500 as his idea of the value of his services. Mr. Shoosmith was ready to deal liberally, but this amount so very far exceeded anything he wa_u prepared vto offer that he did >: ;nbt proceed any further in the matter, it being a part of his instructions that unless Mr. Grace could come the affair was to be abandoned. yJitTjABLE./LANi).r~The Australasian Bays:-r-" That/sale, of land in Collins- street . looks as though there was some confidence in the permanence in Victorian prosperity. Not long ; since, 120,000 square feet of land on the /Hblborn Viaduct was let upon: a, ,buiiding lease :,for.'i £15,000 a year, or _?Si 6d. per squarVfoot^ Thisj' reckoned as a y fiv]e /per cent, investment,., would make the value of ihe land .62 105., V as against/s£2/^s^ at whicti^tbe^ laud was ; sold. ; In : Nem^rk^7B te&M*^MM*^ ,V:Streel£/w^ ; ll3^^ not long Ig^^/^iOoO:sddliars T -Bay, ia % round/figur^ -/aii/^-uieTicaii/ea :^acre?%^*muß^

AN EXPERIMENT AT SHOEBURYNEBS. (From the Times.") ' Perhaps among meahsof attack we rri ay at some futureltime count Quick's rocket! torpedo as available. Its performance on Thursday waß certainly offensive,* if not quite in the sense intended by its inventor. The torpedo— so called — looks like a copper cylinder with conical steel head. Within the head, so far as we understand . it, is an arrangement by which, on striking a ship, ignition will result and be carried backwards. in, the tube to a chamber filled with gun cotton— the real torpedo. Behind* the gun cotton chamber, the copper tube contains four small rockets^ which, pour the gas produced when they are ignited, through short, tubular orifices, placed at an angle to the axis of the main tube ko as to give a rifled motion to the torpedo in the water. Behind the whole conies a solid disc closing the rear end of the apparatus. It would be premature lo express an opinion as to the feasibility of tbe plan. Something is certainly wanting in tbe details. The torpedo, such as we have described it, was placed in a ten-inch quo. Two wires connected with an electric battery were lei through holes bored in the metal of the quo and attached to tbb rocket's, so that on : completing the circuit -the rockets would bo ignited. But the discharge must occur under water, so the holes have to be carefully rendered impervious to penetration of fluids. So, also, must be the muzzle of the gun, yet the torpedo mustissuefromitwitboutdimculty. This double task is. performed by iplacing a glass covering over the muzzle, and defending all possible entrances against the water by plastering them over with a waterproof composition — "lutening" them, in technical phraseology. Now, a glass covering to the muzzle of a gun under water is a curiosity, and we were not surprised to hear that it was not always successful. It is said at Sboeburyness that on the day before the experiments the 10-inch smooth bore was so invaded by sea creatures as to become an aquarium, wherein crabs, whelks, and periwinkles held high; revel. Yesterday morning these marine creatures were expelled, and all made ready for the experiment. When the moment for firing drew nigh, experienced artillerymen began to look for shelter, and tales were told of the wonder fui deeds of rockets in the air. It would have been a little too distrustful to seek shelter in the splinter-proofs, so the main body got behind gun-carriages, and tbe advanced guard, including, we believe, tbe inventor, stood boldly oh the end of the little pier, close above the spot where the strange new invention lay beneath the water. "Boldly," we say, but there were heard certain whispers that at the wild thing could not jump out so close to its point of departure. The group at the end of the pier included several officers of .rank, and we cannot suppose that any signs of trepidation were visible as Ihey stood to await the event. At last the moment came. The electric spark was sent through the composition to be ignited, there was a movement under water as of a huge fish rushing on his prey, one second of struggle, and then a commotion such as no fish ever made. The surface was broken, and forth lept one of the rockets, followed instantaneously by a companion. It was impossible to watch them both. One of them we noted carefully. It rose with hurried rush about 30 feet almost perpendicularly, sailed round in the air like a hawk over its prey above the startled advanced, guard (who' mostly divedincontinently under a friendly gun-carriage) and then rushed violently downward and buried itself in the beach a few feet distant. The. experiment was said in the programme to .be '•' merely for range and accuracy of direction." So far as we could see, the assembly, both committee and visitors, seemed quite of one accord-— that the country sbonld be. spared the .expense of a second trial under present circumstances. What became of the rest of the apparatus is unknown. The scientific ; experimentalists noted Hurriedly that the bottom disc must have been blown but by the action of' the gas from the rockets, and turned serenely to the next part of i tlie programme — which was the lunch.