Untitled

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1263, 31 January 1883, Page 2

The Bay of Plenty “Times” says:—A large white bull, the property of Captain Crapp, of Omokoroa, was shipped per s.s. Wellington to Auckland the other evening. It was led (or supposed to be led, as the lead ing was all done by the bull) by two men attached to a long rope. As it proceeded down the Strand, it would make an occasional dart, head down and tail in air, for one of the shop doors. There would be a flutter of coat tails and dresses, whose wearers apparently had pressing engagements elsewhere ; the men in charge would look as though they were toboganning, with the shelly surface of the Strand as a substitute for the snows of Canada, and then the cause of nil the excitement would coolly resume its journey towards the steamer, as if nothing had happened. One gentleman was seen to clear a heap of merchandise, and land in a shop with his silk frock coat forming the nearest approach to angels’ wings he is likely to wear, and underneath the extended coat the advance guard of the bull. When he came to earth once more, a bystander asked how he felt, and he said “bully” When a man chooses a mate she frequently turns out to be the master. A piece of steel is a good deal like a man ; when you get it red hot it Rises its temper.

With rofsronce to ths failure of th« Mar. salt's froten meat shipment, the Wellington "Evening Post" has the following A private letter received by Mr Hackworth, Col. lector ot Customs hero, from Dr. Johnston, who was a passenger by the s.s. Marsala, gives the following Information with regard to the failure of her froren meat shipment. It is dated from Batavia. He says:—The whole cargo has been discharged into the mighty deep. The machinery broke down, and the space allotted to the machinery was so constructed that it was impossible for men to remain long enough in the engine-room to i make necessary repairs, the temperature S ranging from 120 deg. to ISOdeg., Fahr. In my opinion there are several causes for the unfortunate catastrophe. An immense iron steamer, with an iron deck, in the tropics will naturally attract the heat, and I have seen the decks so hot that sacks were laid down for the coolies to run upon, when taking in cargo, to protect their feet from the hot deck. The engine-room belonging to the refrigerating machinery was only about 7ft. high, and the temperature there sometimes went up to 137 and even 140 degrees. The man In charge of the machinery wu an ordinary workman, who, I should think, WM never in such a position before, and did not realise the responsibility. He could not stand the excessive heat of the engine-room long enough at a time to keep the engines in order, and he says that the engines were constantly heating, and some brass screws which were fitted into oast iron were not protected > from sea-water, and therefore became cor. ' roded and loose. The new patent snow syphons conntcted with the machinery became choked, and, in addition to this, the external atmosphere wu so attenuated that no amount of pressure oould be got np sufficient to condense, and this difficulty, in my opinion, was increased by the fact that there was a Urge space left vacant in the refrigerating chamber sufficient to contain nearly 1000 more sheep. ThU void made the con* densation still more difficult. Said Mr M'Elhone in the New South Wales Assembly the other night, “ I wonder whether the House will ajourn if I slipped my cable.” The eminent phonographiste on “Hansard” have reported this M follows :— It is possible that when seme insignificant member of the House like myself quite this life the House may be asked to adjourn."