WHITE ISLAND SULPHUR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 137, 10 June 1881, Page 1

WHITE ISLAND SULPHUR.

It will be remembered that Borne time since we (New Zealand Herald) intimated, that Mr R.. W. Maclvor,! F.C.S., had ..visited AJicKlantf on bebalf of ileibourne capataliets, for the purpose of reporting uyon the prospects of utilising Jhe sulphar dt posits on White ißland, in the Bay of Plenty. His report on the same has been published in Melbourne, in whicbr be statles (bat "the amount of sulpbur on tbe island is practically inexbaafitable. Id some places it is met with in a, high state of purity, while in others it is found together; with gypsum (hydrate sulphate of lime) forming immense masses; which contain from GO to 80, and even 90, per oent of the element.'' . He statee that there: are no mining of other difficulties in the wey of "obtaining the sulphur, and' the formation's, which it may be observed are of greatar or lee's depth, occur in situations contiguous to (he shipping points.'' He found from personal observation odd inquiry that there is good anchorage for vessels on the north, east, and south sides of the island. He describes the refining works whioh have been erected at Tti'urangaT; tbe condensiqg ohamber U said to beof 7000 cubic feet capacity. There is a chimney stack fifty feet high, a six-horse power engine in good condition, and the retorts are cast iron. A tramway, jetty, and tee connects the work with tbe shipping. He estimates that tbe plant is worth about £2500, and the judicious expenditure of &n additional £1000 would put the whole in good working order. He shows tha the value of sulphur imported into Australasia during last year was at least £20,000, which, taken with tbe fact that shipowners are disinclined to carry the material from Europe, he thioks" shows the 'foundation of a large and profitable industry in developing tb& resources of White Island. He also states that the manufacture of vitriol in New Zealand would be likely to prove highly renumerative, "The iraportr ance of treating phosphatic manures^ such as bone dust and guanos, with sulphuric acid, previous to applying them to land, is duily becoming evident! to the agriculturists j and, as a conseJquence, the demand for the acid has much improved during' the past year or twOi Io probf of this, I may meDtioo that the Government offer a bonus of £500 parjannum for three years for 50 tons of gcod acid made in tbe colony. In conclusion, I unheeitatiDgly reoommend this turely profitable enter- 1 prise to tbe favorable consideration of the capatalist.'^ He adds that tbete 1 are large quantities of gypsum on the island, for which there is likely to be' a good local demand for manuring purposes. It is to be hoped that the result of his report and personal efforts will be the utilisation of this natural resource in our midst. We should: have been glad if it could have been done with local capital, but as that is not likely to be realised, the next beat thing ia to have the work accomplished by some one, and have a large' m'adufactoring tfosk established' in!' our aridet^ .

The "influx of the Chinese is' creating a! stir in lliverton. A special meeting of the Eo rough Council was recently held, p$ which the Mayor ia rep6rted to have stated that I " one of the principal reasons that induced bim to' convene the meeting was to consider ■ the Chinese question. When the census was taken a month ago it waß found that there were eighty-six Chinamen returned as occupying a certain building, and the smell that was emitted therefrom was so noxious that people were compelled to give 1 the premises a wide berth, and travel on the other side of the street." ; Spurgeon said, in a sermon which was delivered while ho was suffering great bodily pain, ' f When. a man gets to cut- . ting down sin, paring down depravity; and making little of future punishment 1 lot him no longer preach to you. Some 1 modern ;divines whittle away the gospel to the small end of nothing They make our divine .Lord to be a sort of blessed '■ nobody; they bring down salvation t6 mere salvability,' make certainties into probabilities and treat verities as mere opinions. When you see a preacher making the gospel small by degrees and miserably less, till there is not enough of ifc left to make soup for a sick grass. ! hopper, get yotf gone." .... . . " As !fdr me, r believe, in the colossal j a need deep as hell, an # grace as high as hea- f jven. I believe in a -pit tfiat is Tjpttoraiesß/ Bis^'CTeJwefr tfet/is. tossis,^ . ;. : c »*■''■'•■ ■''■■'•■ ■.••'. . . • , . >