WAIMEA ROAD BOARD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 49, 26 February 1874, Page 2

WAIMEA ROAD BOARD.

The Board met at the Bridge Hotel, on February 17, all the members baing present. ,4* After the minutes of the last meet'iDg had been read nnd confirmed, the Overseer reported r— 1 * Mr Csborne has finished his contract for erecting a culvert at Spring Grove, but to complete thia work some extra filling in has had to be done, also a couple of chains of gravelling. I ana clearing out the channel of 40-Line Stream, and trying to stop some of the overflow on the byeroad; it was necessary to do this, now the creek is dry. Most of the daymen have now returned to their work; I have sent four to the upper end of the district to repair the cutting on Kay's Saddle, and also to finish the work on Spooner's Range Iv Trass's Valley, the bridge erected by Mr J. Norris ha? been passed and the forming is being proceeded with. The flooring of the bridge at Stoke, near Mr Satxon's, being rotten, I have ordered new timber for the same. The culvert at the foot of Burlace's hill I found must be pitched at once. About 15 chains from Smith's creek, towards Richmond, the road should have a coating of beach metal. A portion of the drain tiles are now ready for the chaßm near Mr B ggar's. I wish for instructions wiih regard to an old culvert which is dangerous on the rpad leading to Richmond Church. I have to cull your attention to the state of the Moutere Hill road, . which is getting much out of repair ; and also to the road leading to the same in Redwood's Valley. There are about 30 chains which will require gravelling before j the winter sets in. It will also be necessary to have a new top on the culvert by Mr Osborue's. The Moutero Road Board having applied i for 4000 culvert bricks for use on the Hill road, I informed them that they could have the same at prime cost. It would be. advisable to gravel about seven chains by Mr Price's smith's shop, there being no water in the Waiiti, and a good bank of gravel is come* atable in the middle of the river. A one-foe t brick culvert is wanted here. In Eves' Valley about 40 chains of gravelling is required. This can only be done in dry weather. In Dovedaie, I should recommend extra labour be employed to form the remainder of the read from the Dove to meet the other forming." The Overseer was directed to arrange for the delivery of gravel for the rrad near Smith's Creek ; to have the pipes laid in the ditch by Mr. Biggar's ; to call on the parties who made the dulvert near Richmond church to repair it, and, should they not comply, to open out the original ditch at the roadside ; and to employ seme additional labour in Dovedaie. Resolved, " That tenders be invited by next meeting for gravelling by Price's, in Waimea West, and rhat the remaining works suggested stand over till then. Resolved, " That the Inspector of Slaughter-houses take action under clauses 34, 35. and 36 of the ' Public Health Act,' where necessary, with the assistance of the solicitor of the Board," Also, that the Superintendent be respectfully requested to introduce a bill into the Provincial Council at its next session, providing for the removal, under authority of the Board of Health for the district, of slaughter-houses from the precincts of towns and Filhiges ; such bill also to give to the Board of Health power, if it Baw fit, to build public slaughter-houses ; also to prevent. pig 3 being kept at private slaugh-ter-houses, except under proper conditions." Some additional cases of the nuisances having been reported, the Secretary was directed to forward to the Superintendent a copy of the bye-laws agreed to, aud to request that they should bo confirmed, as through want of them the Board "annot interfere to abate the Cvils complained of. Resolved, that application be made to the Railway Commission, respecting the claim for compensation for loss of wharf near Richmond. A letter was received from the Provincial Secretary, in reply, to the application for certnin special votes, stating that, the Board is authorised to proceed wiih the road from Quail Valley to Foxhill, when the Government will pay the amount vot^d; that before authorising the expenditure of the sum voted for the road from Pigeon Valley to Stanley Brook they have decided to have the piopossd road examined and reported upon by the Superintendent of Public Works end that the amount voted for the road from Ngatimoti io' the Dove has been paid to the Pangatotara Road Board. . The Secretary was directed to ascertain whether the holders of land in Quail Valley, through which the road is likely to pass, will object to its doing so, and should the replies be satisfactory, to survey the line as soon as possible and report! A letter was received from the Secretary of the Pangatotara Road Board, stating that the Board being desirous of completing their portion of the new road between Orinoco and Dovedaie, request to be informed which line of road the Waimea Board intend to adopt on their side of the range, so that the Secretary may be enabled to set out the work on the Pangatotara side. Resolved, that the Secretary reply to the Secretary of the Pangatotara Road Board, in answer to his question, what road the Waimea Board are about to adopt for the expenditure of the sum ©f £100 voted by. the Council

under tho bead »• Dray Road— Ngatimoti to the Dove ;" and that the whole of that sum having been planed at the disposal of the Pangatotara Board, the Waituea Board .have no present concern in deciding which road to choose. A plan showing the surveys executed for the various proposed lines for a road from Pigeon Valley to Doverfale, with a report as to their respective lengths, gradients, &c, having be&n laid before tbe Board, it was resolved that before dec : ding which line should be adopted, such members as conveniently can should meet on Monday next and examine these lines. A letter was received from the Provincial Secretary enclosing a copy of the regulations under the Payment to Provinces Act for tbe current year. The Secretary was requested to acknowledge tbe above* and to state that the required information will be supplied as-soon as it can be collected. Warrants were signed for £204 3s 9J.

From tbe 'North British Phonographic Standard ' we extract the following:— At the Wesleyan Conference, held at Newcaßtle-on-Tyne this summer, one of the most remarkable feats in reporting that the world has ever heard came under our notice. Signor Sciarelli obtained permission from the President to addres3 the meeting in his native language — Italian. Three-fourths of the audience knew nothing of the language, and tbe reporters laid down their perjs, to wait for the good offices of an interpreter. This was no more than might have been expected. Imagine, theD, , the surprise of the spectators at seeing an English reporter competing with an Italian Speaker. Mr R. W. Martin, President of the South Belgravia Phonetic Inatitute, London, proved" himself equal to the task of reporting a speech uttered in a foreign tongue. Such a thing has, we believe, never been done before. His report consisted of something like 3,500 words, written in thirty minutes. The gentleman who accomplished this feat commenced life as a cabin boy in a Tyne collier-, and now is master, not only of the Bcience of phonography, but also of eight different languages — what an incentive this to young compositors* who are endeavoring to acquire a practical knowledge of shorthand. It is generally assumed that the con/ sumption of paper affords a rough criterion .of the intellectual status of a country. Statistics recently elaborated by Dr Albinua Rudal, of Vienna, are particularly interesting: ~On an. average, he enys, every Rusßian useg one pound of paper annually. Spinn usesone pound per. individual; Mexico, with Central Araef^f two pounds and a half. In Italy and Austria the annual consumption is three pounds and a half; in British America, five pounds and a half. France uses seven pounds and a. half; Germany, eight pounds; the United States, ten pounds and a quarter; while Great Britain consumes eleven pounds find a half. Throughout tbe ; world ~Dr Ruial estimates the yearly productions of paper of all kinds— made of hemp/ wool, cotton, flax, straw, jute, and the fibres of esparto, rice, &c— at about 1,800 million pounds. Of this one-half

ia for printing, one sixth for 'writing purposes, and the remaining third includes every other description. For the production of,: the total 1,800 millions there are 3960 factories, affording employment to 90,000 male and 180 ; 000 female operatives, besides which there are 100,000 working people engaged in collecting and sorting ragg. At present the United States import only three million pounds, their own manufactories turning out about 374 million. Indian Manufactures. — We notice that an intelligent Parsee, who is now an extensive iron manufacturer at Bombay, has lately leftagain for this country, with a view to profit by visiting, fo^L second time, some of the beßt iro?*** manufactories. Manchester, too, ia now threatened; for, from a recent issue of the ' Indian Mirror,* we learn that a cloth manufacturing company has been started at Nagpore, with 500 shares of Rs. 10 each. It will sell cloth of bona fide Indian manufacture. . : ? Tbe quality ot paper is very essential in lithographic printing. It will be reffdily understood that the stone and drawing""" upon it, forming a kind of chemical affinity, are easily influenced by tbe quality of the paper. The paper for printing crayon drawing must have fine grain, be of soft and glossy, mellow texture, and be free from acid or alkali. When it is to be used, it is made slightly damp, to give adhesion to the printing ink; for the printing of chromos it is used dry, and requires to be of very fine texture, firm and well calendered. For this kind of .work sized paper- is preferred, as being firmer, and not so liable to stretch in printing, which would be a serious obstacle in ' printing chromos, as it would prevent the colors from fitting in their proper places.. For the printing of line or map tfork it is not of so much importance, provided it does not contain substances injurious to the work on the stone.— ' American Printers' Circular.' In a recent case, the Lord Chief Justice said tbe manner in which English witnesses were browbeaten by -.the lawyers was simply disgraceful. £

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