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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4780, 18 July 1876, Page 2

In an article with regard to the recent appointment of a select committee of the House of Representatives to enquire into the expediency of using brown coal and other native fuel on the lines otj-nrilw&y in New the Bmce Berald says:—" The subject is a very interesting 01% to: the inhabitants of this district, for almost'at their doors they have a practically inexhaustible supply of coal of a good quality. We entirely agree with Sir Julius Vogel that a very great benefit to the' country will arise from the investigations of the committee. Mr. Wason Btated that" brown coal was largely used in Austria and Bohemia, and other parts of the continent of Europe ; and if there is any possibility of bringing the coal that is produced in New Zealand 1 into general-use on our-lines of railways, few per-: sons will be foun if to* disagree with the honor 1 able member for Coleridge, when he points out the absurdity! ofTadnding such a large sum of money out, •of A. ;the ' colony every-year for the importation of fuel from other countries. We arevery glad to : observe that the I Premier : took up the question with' evident interest, and that he gave the House the benefit of his experience during his late visit •to Europe.' Sir Julius "Vogel Btated that artificial fuel—compressed coal—was extensively used on some of the continental railways. The Premier then went on to state that from enquiries he had made in London he found that such fuel had been manufactured for many years) and that its value was fully recognised.7. "He had been in communication with a ! gentleman who purchased coal, for' the Admiralty, . and he informed him that artificial fuel was in high favor by the Admiralty, it being cleaner and better than ordinary coal. ,He bad been anxious, to ascertain whether the brown coal of' Otago could.be Utilised, 1 and the information obtained led him to suppose that affg9od a composite fuel could, be made out of New'Zealand coal as was made out of Welsh anthracite. The great difficulty with New r Zealand coal was that it contained 20 per cent, of .vfater ; but there was very little difficulty , in'.pressing the wet out at a comparatively triflipg expense." We hope to see the members of the select committee bring up an intelligent, and exhaustive report on the important, matter that has been entrusted to them,' for. if it is proved that the Premier is correct in his assertion that compressed fuel can be made from' brown coal, at a reasonable cost, the result will be the establishment of an industry that, will give employment to thousands of persons iu New Zealand, and prove a source of wealth to the country."

"We notice by exchanges that the AgentGeneral for Victoria," has forwarded to the Chief Secretary of tHat. colony a cutting from the Sanitai-y JtccorctHot November 21, 1874, being an interesting account in detail of a new system of removing sewage from towns, a system which Mr. Michie and Mr. J. Denistoun Wood think eminently fitted to meet the needs of the city of Melbourne. Captain Liernur, the inventor, has been practieally appointed in Amsterdam and. other continental towns to supervise the carrying out of his plan, which, whilst effectually securing the sanitary object, is inoffensive and profitable, inasmuch as the concrete sewage matter, in the shape of what is called poudrelte, is a kind of valuable guano fit for agricultural uses and free from the serious objections which have been urged against r ordinary sewage farmihgas practised hitherto. The Berlin Tribune says that Dr. Strousberg, the eminent financier-and- contractor for public works, has entered into a contract for putting the Liernur system into the whole of St. Petersburg for £4,000,000. The leading principle of the system is that of separation, in' contradistinction to the present system of commingling everything in one sewer He confines the duty of the sewer proper to the work of water drainage only, and does not allow any putrescable matter whatever to enter therein. Excrementitkms matter of every description, Buch as the contents of closets, privies, chamber slops, and the fatty sedimentary products of the kitchen, are all kept out of the common sewer, the arrangements for doing which are highly ingenious, simple, arid effective. The cost of carrying out the works is estimated at £4 per head of the population, though the productive power of the first outlay always remains the same, whether the population be 2000 or 20,000, or even 1,000,000. Assuming a population of the average density of 75 persous to the acre, and assuming the town to be 250 acres in area, this would give a population of 18,750, and the total cost of the works would be £75,000. The working expenses, with interest on capital, &c, would be £5430 per annum, but the poudrette manure would yield £9375 on similar calculations, giving a profit of £4OOO annually.

A telegram which appears in another column seems to point to failure in the iron-smelting experiment at Taranaki. This is much to be regretted, but failure was not unexpected. It bears out the opinion expressed by Dr. Percy to Sir Julius Vogel. We would it had been otherwise. Large sums of money have been spent in the undertaking, and failure in such enterprises as these retards progress more than can be easily estimated.