The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1205, 26 February 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1880.

As might have been expected, the Oamaru atone has made a favorable impression at the Sydney International Exhibition. The judges have awarded it the first prize. This i 3 another feather in the cap of Oamaru, and is a-circumstance that shows clearly that the prognostication of the promoters of the Oamara Stone and Export Company that it was possible by good management to work-up the stone industry to a pitch at which it would prove remunerative, is being fulfilled. What'more conclusive testimony is'required of the excellence of the product of the quarries of this district • than that which .has just reached us from the Exhibition. It is true' that Mr. Blair's testimony of the value of the Oamaru stone is ; far from high. Bat ifc is satisfactory to know that, whatever may be its quality in the estimation of Mr. Blair, it is considered by men who are no doubt the most competent judges that could have; been seleced to be entitled to take the first place amongst the numerous similar exhibits aggregated at the Exhibition. What is the deduction to be drawn from these adverse opinions ? That even if theOamaru stone is as faulty as Mr. Blair pretends to believe it is, it is at all events the best amongst the multitude of samples sent to compete with it. The thought is encouraging. But Mr. Blair's predilections are such as to cause most people to allow a veiy considerable margin for exaggeration on the part of that gentleman. Granted that ho is a man competent to give an opinion on the value of stone for building purposes, he is the last man that we would expect to give a favorable one on stone that was not found in the vicinity of Dunedin. Again, he was careless enough to base his opinions on the condition of stone that had been saturated with salt water and had been utilised whilst wet. One might with equal propriety denounce the ingredients used in a delicate chemical test as impure because of some blunder made in the quantities. The art of building is a delicate one. The scientific observe certain precautions in the selection of materials and Neglect these, and the best ingredients may be rendered more useless than the worst. "Where Mr. Blair was at fault was in denouncing the stone instead of the builders who improperly used it. If all could witness the Oamaru stone as it appears in the buildings of this town, we would not have introduced Mr. Blair's name on this occasion. Unfortunately the majority of those upon whose good opinion of our stone we set great value may see Mr. Blair's book—although, happily, the probability is rather a remote one —and glean from it an erroneous impression of its value. "Wisely, the promoters of the Oamaru Stone Company, before embarking their capital in the development of the quarries of this district and the establishment of the stone industry, and recommending others to co-operate with them, consulted Mr. Cosmo Newberry, of Melbourne, whose scientific estimate of the qualities of the stone is worth more than the opinions of an army of such detractors as Sir. Blair. What will Mr. Blair say to the decision of the judges in Sydney ? If he values the good opinion of those who have viewed him as a judge on such matters, he will forthwith write another book, therein confess his errors, and excuse himself by telling the whole truth. However, this is a matter that interests him more than it does the Stone Company. The produce of the quarries has been adjudged before the whole world as being superior of its kind to anything else that wa3 exhibited at the ° Sydney Exposition, and, if we mistake not, the effect will be an increase in the popularity of the stone and a corresponding increase in the business of the Company, which has already grown to an extent that should be gratifying to those who floated it and have kept it afloat during the period of its infancy. Before long, monuments of the beauty, amenability to the chisel, and durability of the Uamaru stone, will be erected in every populous centre of the Australias. Then Mr. Blair, and anybody else, may write a thousand books on its imperfections without incurring the slightest opposition from U3.