THE PROFITS OF BOILING DOWN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 137, 12 June 1877, Page 2

THE PROFITS OF BOILING DOWN.

The Wairarapa Standard has been supplied with the- following return relative to the produce from boiling down 441 full-mouth Romney Marsh ewes, at Mr A. Tyre's boilingdown works, last month : —

Thus (adds the Standard) the net produce of the boiling down of these 441 ewes ahiounts to a little over lis each, or three shillings per sheep more than what was offered by the Wellington butchers.

-..■■ ..ill ,_re.. ,w ->■-,-„ ri -■— r T-I«.tf__-Tjje revenue of the Inangahua County is aaid to be £7000, while its expenditure is estimated at £14,310. President Hayes has set an example by declaring relationship with himself or family to be an insuperable obstacle to appointment to office, and thus has destroyed the policy of nepotism that marked General Grant's administration. • The dealth of a woman 120 years of age at Rcnaico, on the frontiers of Chili, ia reported. An attempe was made recently to shoot the editor of the Alta Califoria, General John 1 M'Comb, by a lawyer named Hayes. The editor belaboured his would-be assailant unmercifully. Three more sheep (says the Napier Telegraph) were destroyed by a train passing over them yesterday morning. The railway is apparently doing the most flourishing butchering business in the province, and it has been suggested that the Superintending Engineer for Constructed Railways should be compelled to take out a slaughtering license. A Wellington paper says— «*A remarkable illustration of the curious freaks which nature sometimes indulges in is now in the Rangitikei district. There is within a hundred yards of Marton a baby 18 years old. This may seem a 1 misnomer, but we know of no more appropriate term ; for though ' the . little thing ' has a head of the normal proportions belonging to a girl of that age, with long dark hair, the body is that of an infant some six months old.. She is carried about by a nurse, is in every way tended as an infant, and unable to articulate a single sound." The correspondent of the Otago Daily Times ih a recant letter says:—" Sir Julius Yogel has been very ill again, I hear, though still struggling to fulfil his duties, in which he takesa much more active personal interest and participation than did his predecessor. Last week, Mr C. A. Pritchard published in the City article of the Times, a note complaining of the New Zealand Government having raised a half million loan in Sydney, on the ground that it was a breach of Sir Julius Vogel's assurance that-LNew Zealand would borrow no more money this year. Of course, the reply to this was easy to anyohe pbssessed of a memory and a regard for accuracy, so that the next day the same column contained a concise little note by Sir Julius, in which he pointed out that he had only promised that the New Zealand Government would borrow no more in London this year, while the loan under discussion had been j raised in Sydney. The correction, however, i is not likely to afford much comfort to Mr Pritchard and the increasing number of per- > sons in this country who, like him, view with j uneasiness the apparently never ceasing I growth of the debt of New Zealand. To such persons the mere locality of the creditor does not make much difference, sb long as the amount of the debt incurred is the same."

The arrival at Australian ports , recently of several vessels from London . mth small-pox on board has excited some little comment 6n the part of the English medical journals. The Lancet, referring to this subject, says : — " We are/not : aware that giny special: precaujtions are just now taken, as to vaccinal«tion, &c, as respects emigrants Lsent this country. But, having regard to" the fact that thesie ar4 collected froai all s parta qf the United Kingdom, and. that small-pox is epidemic in the metropolis as well as in snaoj qf.^he chief towns, it would seem advisable to insist upon a special and v _ J?tejaatiQ.^iaminatiQn of all guch pjerjsonant the ports of embarkation, so that thejjnedical inspectors should b$ ableJ-Q certifyjnpt only that the emigrants started in good health, but were, one •^and .all, properly protected by vaccinalr tion. ships have, during/the past two" or three years, been somewhat unfortunate as regards epidemics, * r _6tably, as to scarlatina and measles'. cQßufc there are few more deplorable ocr jUSBTOinc-sth.an. an outbreak of smalli^^;/ I -^^ on .S.:Y < ?X a g e paying as itf* cargo a large number of persons of all ages arid of both sexes. J^ndeed, such an occurrence, once or;fcwice repeated, ' would justify the colonial authorities ih ' .Reclining to receive any more immi- • grants from this country until this epi- ' 6 - demic has ceased." ! sn . ' 7 ■-••■• n .. X -.. America is certainly, a wonderful country, with its underground sea 61 [liquid fuel, lakes of borpx, and phenojLmenal deposits;* and now somebody has .. struck amine of soap, if we may believe the transatlantic papers, from one oif 'whioh we extract a circumtitantial ac--1 count of this unique disbovery: — "The r irook soap mine, it seems, is situated ip ■ the lower mountains or foot-hills of the ' eoaat range in Ventura County, California, five miles from the city of the same name, It was discovered by A. ij- F. Hubbard while prospecting for coal. •' He accidentally discovered "some that p».!fell into water and dissolved. " .being, a hew experience to sea rock dissolve, ,ha gaye it his aMeotion,; found it eoapy, took it home to experiment with, .and Boon learnt its virtues; yet, strange to tell, his fa_oi|y used it for nearly a yedr before it was given to the public, when Mr Hubbard associated himself with Messrs. Crouk and Bickford, .forming the present company, who are the eoje ; proprietors, of this wonderful mine. It is accessible only through a canon \ .leading to, and opening upon, the beach. •^ The coast-line stage road passes ttie mouth of this canon three miles below the mine. This canon or ravine pene- "* trates one of ths wjidest possible vol- ..- canio regions. Along the side of ti*e ravine, sometimes . in the bed of the X stream, sometimes high up its precipi- - banks, winds a little trail leading to - the aoap mine, travelled only by the safe pack mule. and hardy miner. The <- rock resembles chalk or lime. At the '*' southern extremity is an extensive ....deposit, veined, marbled, and .particolored, resembling Castille soap. The ledge at its opening is IS to 20. "feet wide, and crops out for 2000 feet ' loan unknown depth. The lode is well defined with wall-rocks of hard •-*' slate-stone, and has, in common* with X-'' the slate and sandstone strata about it, „ been thrown up from the depths and i turned completely on edge.' In its vicinity is a mountain of gypsum, aleo turned up on edge; indeed, the whole country bears evidence of fearful con--7 vuleions, also of some time having lain peacefully at the bottom of the ocean, for on the highest mountain, tops can j>e found nearly perfect sen-shells and ;. specimens of marine matter. ' -In a recent speech in Victoria Sir James M'Culloch, referring to the management of railways, is reported to - -have-said :— I don't believe any politi- -; • bal officer, whatsoever, is fit to manage the railway system bf this country. Tl believe it is too gigantic an undertaking fi (| to be managed by a political head',, and therefore, as was proposed last session, a measure wiil be submitted to take the . railways out of the hands of politic;al parties altogether, and place theai jin tbe bands of a Board. It is impossible' not to ccc that political influence will be brought to bear on ministers to get, / tbem to reduce the rates, and otherwise alter the management of the lines. We have had an instance jof. that. A very short time before , a minister left office he made great reductions in the rates. It is impossible for him to know whether the rebates were proper or not. A minister lis hardly well in the' saddle-before heLis turned out of it, and it is impossible for him to understand in one year or even two the real workiojg of the system. I believe the . establishment ofi a "' Board would- not only effect a saving io .the expenses of management, but would lead to an increase in the revenue. Another advantage from the change would be to remove from the Government the patronage connected with the railways. There are, I tbiqk, 4000 men now employed on the lines. That is too large an amount of patronage to put into tbo hands of a Minister. Ministers are often subject to a great deal of pressure. However firm jie may be, a minister is often temptedj to give way. Even if he does not give way, it is not' right that jwe should put him under temptation. '. I . feel that we cannot take \ a better step in order to secure the efficient management of the railways, where life and property are bo much! at stake, and where the public are brought . L/jo much into contact with the officials, < than by. placing the appointment: of those officials in the hands of parfies who wiil not be influenced in any ijray by members of Parliament."

There lately came over the seas a report tbat Da Murska was again a widow; but it proved to be a canard for which one of the San Francisco dailies was mainly responsible. Mt Hill was ill, bata sufficient remove frotn death to initiate and carry on an angry correspondence' the offending journal, in which it is almost needless tp say he has been utterly discomfited. The " Maestro" was thus let down by the Mail .qn qne occasion :rr'* ,Pujr criminal news detective Had the pleasure of looking through a .work .now ip course of erection by Maestro Strauss Ilia, which bears the suggestive titlb ; "Pinned to Her Petticoat, or Iron. Penury to Plenty." The book is ip the form of an aufobiogF^phyj i,aacT U realiy full of interest. It details the early strugglesof-the^ author. to pouafi a living but of the piano; his -irst meet- , ing with -Madame lima; De Mureka, their marriage, apd . the life of easje which the writer Ms siace been able to lead. -, A full account appears of the causes which led him to murder hia talented wife's pet poodle. and .monkey in Australia, and it must be confeasau! tbat he makes an able .defence of hip conduct in that regard. The reasons fojr chpoging his name from plebeian John Hill to his present. stunning handle ara ; given at length. .. Tbe gifted author devotes a chapter to American journalism, and avails himself of the opportunity to pay the Mail many high compliments. (.The Maestro in his preface acknowledges that, his main reason for going into literature is to provide himself with a little independent pocket-money." The Mail representative gratified the Meastro by looking over his proof slips, and placing the scattered '_V in their proper places.'' L

■'■■■■£ s. d. £ s. d. 441 skina at Is lOd ... 41 7 6 Legs 20 10 0 Six tons tallo-iv, estimated at £40 ... 240 0 0 « ... , - - ' £301 17 ° Boiling down at 10d... 18 7 6 23 casks, 13a ,„ 14 19 o Carriage, tallow ... 15 10 6 48 J7 0 £233 0 fi