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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 66, 17 March 1873, Page 4

1 . — — It will be conceded Chicago should know something about fires. In addition, to the usual means, she is preparing for; putting out conflagrations by the use of. fire-annihilators. There are four of these stationed in different parts of the city, each provided with a team of horses. The machines are not so ponderous as .the steam fire-engine ; they approach in size more nearly to the old-fashioned hand engines, with which New York used to be provided in the days when the highway to political preferment was "to run wid a machine. 1' They supply only a small stream, scarcely more, than an inch pipe being in service. The force is obtained from carbonic acid gas, procured by the action of sulphuric acid on the bicarbonate of soda, the water being strongly alkaline when it is thrown on the fire. It is claimed that. wood and most combustible matter in flames, if extinguished by this solution, will not relight. The New York World has been figuring upon the cost of an occasional drink, and says: —" Once in a while a pensive man may be heard to say, 'I wish I had all the money back that I have spent for drink for the last ten years.' No man in twenty, that retrospectively ga'ziag gives utterance to that wish, has in his mind an approximating estimate of the amount which a person of even moderate bibulous propensities may spend upon drink in the space of ten years. Leaving wines and expensive liquors out of the question, let us see what the plain cock tail ist, or modest imbiber of oldrys, is likely to disburse on his favori e refreshment in the course of a year. Take a very moderate man, for example. Assume that hs drinks every day four glasses of whiskey at 15c. That amounts to 60a a day, which makes .4dol 20c a week; multiply by four, and you have 16dol 80c a month,- which comes to 201dols 60c a year. Thus, if a man. who bas gone on at this rate for ten years had all his liquor-moDey back, his pockets would be inflated to the tune of 2,016d015. This is only a small-beer, calculation; but think of those who spend .five times that sum on liquors, and remember that their name is legion." The San Francisco Seevice. ; — The American Senate, according ,to our latest telegrams from London-, says the Australasian of the Bth instant, has repeated its refusal to subsidise the Webb steamboats, and it is to be hoped that we have heard the last of these vesselsYand their eriorr mous but' quite imaginary' subsidy. We do not yet know whether this job was denounced by the outspoken Senator Chandler with the homely vigor of expression he employed when exposing tbe attempt twelve months ago. It is sufficient that the subsidy is refused, and the line doomed, thus .leaving the field clear for the establishment of a new service. Instead of Mr.( Vogel being able to get New South Wales or Victoria to join New Zealandin supporting the Webb line, he will nowbe veiy glad to be allowed to co-operate with the New South Wales Government in establishing a new line for which tenders j-have ? been invited. Nobody, except .perhaps Mr; Webb and Mr Vogel, will regret that an end is to be put to this irregular service, which is practi-?: eally useless for mail purposes, and is not likely, after recent exposures, to be very largely patronised.by passengers,,; ;There is nothing now? to: interfere with the formation of a good line of fine, smart steamers. Such a line would be of great advantage to Australia, beyond the limits of (the colonies more directly interested in .its'.establishment,'-and- experience shows that it might calculate upon a large and probably increasing passenger trade. T^he number of people who, in .spite.,ofYthe discomfdrtsandl oncer t|es of the -prf^erit service, for a long time persisted >' in travelling this way shows that the !Mmffi"a!lffl^ a sure and comfortable mode of travelling \t^^i;Yy'Zy'yyzy'yxy;; \-Zi"Y ''■,"'. Yy,-"-'