INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS.

Southland Times, Issue 1256, 27 May 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS.

r , 7.^ The • -reccsntlj; :- formed G-oulburn ' {N.SWj "ja^preservuig Company, jsfhose. machinery is now being, manufactured in. Melbourne, (says the Argus) jjropose to introduce some slight novelty into their tinning process, the presumed being an alleged assimilation 7 to the machinery used at the government :; ineatipreservirig establishment connected _. with Jner Majesty's dockyard, Deptford. .It will be. remembered that the highest credit yet gpven by the ha me authorities td Australian tinned meat was to declare that' of^ the Melbourne Meat-preserving Cojnpany scarcely inferior to that which came from the Deptford establishment, henceanatural desire on the part of the new colonial companies who adopt the system whicti Mr Kitchie has introduced and worked -so successfully ou behalf of the lastrmentioned company, to avail them.aelves of the Deptford process if possible. Government establishments in England are notoSously^difiEcult of entrance, but, nevCTtheleas, Mr O. Bobardt, of King--Btre¥t7^hb has hitherto made all the machinery of this Bort used in Australia, .professes, to have obtained the latest 'Deptford pattern, and to have adopted it Sn .preparing the Goulburn Company's plant. The main differences are only two .in. number, and include a different scalder " and ; cooling-trough, and a new lifting : apparatus. In the new scalder the use . of, coils -is abandoned, and the pan is "jacketed " instead. The purpose of this variation from the former pattern is t secure the meat from overheating and consequent over-cooking. The difference in the lifting apparatus does not seem to be .of very great importance, but the result of the change in .the scalding and : cooling will doubtless be watched with come interest. An aborigine, one of the few of the well-known Lodden tribe remaining alive, died last week in the Maryborough Hospital. ;He was (states the Advertiser) living upon very affectionate terms with a half-caste lubra, and on his removal from his wretched mia-mia in a condition of helpless , misery, there was a great outburst of grief. The approximate cause of death was disease of the spine. His surviving native friends turned up at the closing "scene, and all ' his worldly wealth — 2s — was handed over to the inconsolable widow, who bemoaned her loss with great sorrow. During, the second visit of Prince Alfred to' Australia (says the Argus) His Eoyal Highness was accompanied in all his expeditions =by Detective Christie, who was entrusted with the duty of preventing any suspicious characters intruding themselves upon the Duke. By the mail, which has just arrived, Detective Christie received, through Captain. Standish, - a handsome watchchain; of- colonial gold, weighing 2£oz., from the ftrince, in acknowledgment of the detective's efficient services while acting as body-guard. This is not the only present received by Christie from the Prince,, and the only thing to be hoped is that the British taxpayers will not be called upon to defray the jeweller's bill. . Edward Kelly waa brought up at the police-court, Benalla, on remand from the charged as i an accomplice in highway -^robbery under arms on March 16, at Kilferd; but not being identified, he was discharged. A second charge was made of highway robbery under arms at Seymour' on March 25, but the person :Xqbbed was not to be found, and the prisoner, was again discharged. Superintendent JSTieolas then produced a 1 "warrant for prisoner's apprehension for L J^ighway , .robbery at Lauriston, and l^aaked for a remand , to. Kyneton. The ■Beach remanded him. to the 20th inst. The Argus, in a leading article, expresses opinion that thQ- National Bank will,

not suffer in public estimation by the report presented to the meeting of shareholders, and by the action of the proprietary upon it. " The check," says our contemporary, "is not a severe one. The stability of the institution remains untouched, and the thorough exposure of its poeiiion which took place should have but one effect, and that is, to restore and strengthen the confidence which the bank baa hitherto enjoyed." The auditors are highly complimented for having resolutely placed the affairs of the bank before the shareholders in an unflattering manner. The worst is now known, and the result is this : — " The bank has a paid-up capital of £660,000; the reserve fund during the last seven or eight years has increased from £2,900 to £215,000, and during that period the sum of £380,000 has been paid in dividends. The loss, including bad and bad and doubtful debts, recently sustained, amounts, according to the highest estimates, to some £88,000. At the last half-yearly meeting about £22,000 waa set apart for bad and doubtful debts. This has been absorbed, leaving about £66,000 more to be provided for. On the half year, up to the 31st March last r the credit to the profit and loss account amounted to £58,461. After providing for the expenses of the establishment, the rebate on bills, and for the interest on accounts, it was found that the actual loss which had accrued daring the last six months was £20,000, and that there was a probabe loss to be provided for of some .£40,000 more. In fact, the absolute and probable loss up to the 31st of March last, swallows up the whole of the profit made during the halfyear ending at that date, and some £7000 pr £8000 extra, so that, supposing ■ no dividend to be declared for the half-year the bank would have its capital and large reserve fund almost intact." "The directors proposed," it is added, "to write off £20,000, the amount of the ascertained absolute loss during the halfyear ;to have declared a dividend of 10 per cent., which would have absorbed £33,000 ; to have carried the remaining £5,000 from the profit and loss account to the reserve fund ; and then, in order to meet the other probable losses, to have transferred the sum of £40,000 from the reserve to a contingent or suspense fund. Being guided by the opinion of counsel, theboardfound that they could nottake this course, and had no alternative but to submit to the shareholders the report presented." But while admitting the propriety of this course the Argus argues that a dividend should yet be declared, "as there is nothing in the position of the bank which renders such a proceeding [through the operation of a special meeting] hazardous or improper." It is stated that Mrs Brown, whose name was mixed up with that of jthe notorious New South Walea bushranger, Gardiner, commited suicide at Tappoe Creek, on the Thames Eiver, New Zealand, a few months ago, by shooting herself with a pistol in a fit of remorse. She had been living with a man who for some time had been a butcher on Lambing Elat. Before her death she stated what she was, and desired that a few photographs she possessed should be buried with her. Samples of Californian wines, from the northern, middle, and southern portions of that country, have been received by Mr Sariger, of Oorrowa, on the Murray, that , they may be compared with Australian wines. Mr Sanger proposes that they should be tested at a Wine Exhibition, in Melbourne, to be held in July next. A young Chinese man is at present being educated at the Scotch College, Melbourne, at the expense of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, with a view to his future employment as a missionary to his countrymen in that colony. He is not only said to be a superior English scholar, but a classical one as well, and it has been suggested that he should be sent to China for a couple of years, for the purpose of perfecting bis education in his native language. Boot factories on a large scale have, as a rule, been rather unfortunate in Melbourne as compared with other manufacturing enterprises. Messrs Sargood, Son and Co. have, however, carried on operations in the line moßt successfully for the last three months, in that detached portion of their premises which formerly belonged to the Port Phillip Club Hotel. This place is only temporarily used for the factory, which is shortly to be removed to a much more commodious building ; a step, indeed, which is necessitated by the increasing business. The Age says : — " There are now seventy or eighty men and boys employed in the factory, and constant work is given also to about twenty more without. Something like 1000 pairs of boots are turned out weekly, or £400 worth. The goods include Wellingtons, elastic sides, bluchers, water-tights, and children's boots, and all are finished in first-class style. Only a portion of the machinery with which it is intended to provide the factory, has as yet been obtained ; and the firm will adopt all the latest improvements from America and elsewhere. They have latelyprocured a pegging machine, which is remarkably ingenious, .and, we believe, the only article of such a description; in the country. It is worked by the feet, and performs the operations of punching the hole, dropping in the peg, and knocking it down. The sole of the boot is passed by a workman under the needle, and the whole job is performed with the same rapidity as in the case of the other ingenious machine used in this city for sewing soles on. The work in Messrs Sargood's factory is all pegged and rivetted ; and the boots are double soled, except in cases where an order is given for single soles. As an instance of the Bmartness with which the work can be done, it may be mentioned that the firm received a large order for single-soled boots on Tuesday last, and had them ready next day. Messrs Sargood have purchased a tan-yard and pits in Biehmond, and all the leather used in the factory, except the lighter calf for Wellingtons, is there dreised."