THE BEST NEW ZEALAND COAL.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 432, 13 December 1861, Page 2

THE BEST NEW ZEALAND COAL.

A poitTiotf of tho coal procured by the Government from the river Grey, West Coast, was tested by the Tasmanian Maid on Tuesday last with highly satisfactory results. Steam was got up in fifty minutes, the usual time being an hour and a half: and she left, the wharf shortly after two o'clock with the ship Gladiator, drawing nearly 14 feet, in tow, the tide being at the last quarter of flood. Having taken the ship to her anchorage, she stretched across the bay for a short distance, making abundance of steam, obtaining ten pounds with the furnace doors open. Having run a few miles out and back she returned to the wharf to land several gentlemen who felt an interest in the experiment. The trial of the coal appears to have been highly satisfactory to those who are the best judges of these matters, and no other New Zealand coal yet tried has at all approached it in quality, and when it is remembered that the sample was procured fiom the surface, and that tlie best quality has yet to be reached, we may aj; length consider that the province possesses one of the greatest possible advantages in the coal seams of the Grey river.

We believe that a further test will be given by the Tasmanian Maid going to Collingwood this day (Thursday) and also by the Lord Ashley on her Wellington trip, and we shall look for a conclusive proof of their thorough applicability for steam purposes.