GENERAL NEWS

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 248, 31 October 1872, Page 9

GENERAL NEWS

Tli3 " Bendigo Advertiser " has been shown a specimen of a new patent gunpowdsr, culled Xylobrome, for the sule of which Mr. Daniel O'Connor, of Balhirat, is agent in the Australian

colonies. The .preparation is very siinilur in appearance to gun-cotton, anJi when ignited on a piece of paper ox^luJl'S in a purfGctly harmless way. Nevei-thless, il is stated lo be six times as string as ordinary bListing-powdwr, and trials of the composition which have been made at the New North Ulunes and dunes Quartz Mining Companies have produced the nioi>t satisfactory results on the hardest rocks.

The latest novt* lty is the opal mine in Queensland. Few are very learned E.b«_mt opals, but those who profess to know declare the specimens brought ilr wn to be equal to anything produced from the Huugaiaan mines. The proprietors, however, are so modest that they have put they capital of the company at only £1-50,000, out of winch :330,000 is to be taken "in cash, and the rest in shares, £10,000 to be placad to the credit of the company. On the,:e terms the prospectus has fallen rath. 3 r flat.

The "Daylssford Mercury" says, <c to show what can be done in quartz mining with the aid of water power, W3 may mention that Mr. Jam is liurkla is manager of a eo-opei'ativs company at Black wood that , is payi-i^ excellent weakly dividends, from a yield ■of lirdwfc. per ton. The party luive a battery of eight or ten heads, driven by a wiitenvheol ; the stream being brought to the machine by a race four cr live miles long. It is said that so low are their expenses that .the party can make wages even from filwt. stone. They have a large but poor lode that would bo valueless bat for the water power. If the Government scheme for th? supply of water to this district could be completed, there is scarcely a reef in ib that would not be remunerative."

Our Maori, brother, -of whom tin Exeter Hall parly related such touching narratives, cost the colony, 'luring a ,i time of profound peaeo, as the phrase goes,, for the year ending 30Ui June lust, th.3 vsry nice little amount of £bb,7U 13s. lOd. out of the -current revenue of the colony ; and from tha. year 1353 to the same date, an expenditure, from the same source, of £1,591,712 6s. 1;!., which is antireljirrespective of a small item of money borrowed during the same period of £4,327,358 Bs. 3d.

"The present dull state of our mining market," remarks the " Bendigo Advertiser," " affords our local wags full scope for their joking propeusities. An instance' of this was given on Friday at the Bauk of Victoria, outside of which building, resting against the wall, was placed a small case, on top of which were two pieces of quartz (wonderfully like the ordinary run of cur Bendigo quartz), and surmounting tbe whole was a small board bearing the inscription that ' This was the first stone discovered at Port Darwin, by B. Brown.' Numbers of persons critically examined 'tho preciDus stones with great interest, until a doubt suggested itself that if the specimens were genuine their proper pljiee Avoald-have been inside the bank instead of out. The cause of the universal excitement having been discovered, a prominent "officer of the bank, with great indignation, threw case, specimens, inscription, and all, ignominiously into the gutter, a fate which would probably have befallen Mr B. Brown himself, had that facetious gentleman put in a claim of

ownership." Dr. E. Decaisne. in a noted communication to the Paris Academy' of Science, showing that from the triple point of view of the farnndity of the marriages, of the absolute number of births, and of the excess of births of deaths, France occupies the lowest place of all the European States. In

■Prussia 100 marriages gives 4GO children ; in France the same number of marriages give only 300 children. In Prussia the number of births for each 100 of the population, generally, is 4.98 per annum ; in France there are only 2.25. In Prussia the excess of births over deaths in each million of the population is 13,000 per annum, while in France it only amounts to 2,400. "If we may admit," says Dr. Decaisne, "as a conclusion i'r9m the above figures, that the doublingof the population ■of France, despoiled of two of its finest provinces, and by unheard of disasters, -will require 170 years to be affected, while that of Prussia will require only 42 years, Great Britain 52, .and Russia 66, some estimate maybe made of the amount of evil that has befallen this country."

A Victorian, lately from Queensland, tells " iEgles " that the growth of Stanthorpc, the capital of Tinland, is something marvellous. Six months ago, he saw a single tent ; now there are three theatres and a newspaper. Things are still a liftle primitive. It is a" cold country there, and the especial- privilege of reserved seats in the theaire is the right to place your feet on the nail-cans of hot charcoal which warm the building. It coat the 'proprietor .£SO to build this theatre, and be has had an audience in it worth £30 cash. On the -opening night the footlights were represented by four candles, and the scenery consisted chiefly of sheets of corrugated iron uf the G-ospel Oak brand. Being a modest people, they essayed the opera of " L'Afrieaiue," as a simple thing not requiring any extraordinary effort on the part of the performers. A contractor, who had just completed the erection of a pla"ce -of .worship, said appeal ingly, " Well, sir, I have just finished the church", put a lock on the door, and handed the key to the parson ; total cost, £17. I don't think, sir, that it was dear for a church, but I can't get the money." The are'iifcecfcwre of these digejin^s is not of a florid character, and bark is much more popular than granite." The island of Gnornsey iv to have its little line of railway, a company having been formed by M. Le Feuvre, ;i civil engineer, who successfully laid the Channel . Island cable. Wjbh misplaced energy, two dozsn I)i^fsnting ministers strenuously opposed the bill unless a clause prohibiting Sunday travelling was instated. The Eoyal Commissioner, however, not only failed to lake so puvelv a Presbyterian view of Su:nliy travelling, but reprimanded the ministers for trying to coerce, the Conrt. The ex-E.mperor has written the following letter to the well-known military writer, M. St. Grenest : — Monsieur Sfc. Genest, in a remarkable article, published in the " Figaro," has pretended that the crime of the Emperor was to declare war when he knew that France was not ready to subtiin it. It would be more just to say that the fault of the Emperor was to count upon the exactness of the slates of the situation and the possibility of uniting in a few days the various 3lem?nts of which armies are composed. — Xapoleox." ' The " Wanganui Chrouicle " is of opinion the Civil Service " shelters a numlar of insolent and ignorant ' swells ' who in any other capacity, would fail to earn a bare living." • A correspondent of the " Wanganui Herald " writes :—": — " A number of quartz specimens brought from the Tuiipo district by Captain M/Donnell upon his last visit to' that place having been placed in my hands, I have examined them imcroscopially and otherwise, but failed to detect the presence r -f the precious metal. Iron pyrites exist in a number of fhem, whHe other are. -coated with the oxide of iron, and filled with crystals. Upon the whole, they are what diggers would pronounce ' likely-looking quartz.' " A correspondent'of the " Wairarapa Standard" suggests as a motto for ihe paper. "Advance Wairarapa." In answer, the' editor suggests a much more practical one, " Fay in Advance, Wairarapa," A most atrocious robbery and inurr'er was committed recently ip Jeddo, Toe whole family of a rich merchant which, together with his servants, consisted of twelve persons, was murdered, with the exception of one little son, nged thirteen years. A sum of $H,O'JO was stolen from the houst). An o'Srial inquiry was held, and a num-ber of policemen whose beats were in the locality o" the scene, of the murder were examined, but noue of them knew anything about it. When the lit tie boy was examined, be was first asked how m he had managed to escape. He stated that as soon as the murderers commenced their bloody work, he crept into a large iron pot and concealed himself till the work was finished. When asked if he could identify any of the murderers, he replied he could, and pointed out four polteetrien who were then in the room where the examination washing 011. These; on being seized, confessed the whole thing. Some twelve of those I public guardians had banded togefc'ier for the purpose of. the robbery. ' They have all been arrested and every doll ir of the plunder has been recov;re«k They will probably mako twolve ropes stretch. It seems strange that such an esculent as onions, is so little appreciated, not. only for use by the

human family but for poultry. Its curative properties do not seem to le understood, or else are much underrated. And as a pieventive also, it has no superior. A few raw onions, chopped up fine and mixed with the feed of young chickens, acts Me a tonic, and a^e equally good for - old fowls.* The tops too are good. "We remember long years ago, seeing an old maiden aunt chopping up onio* tops and sives for young turkeys, deeming it a certain specific against gapes, pip, or other ills that fowldom if heir to. Three times a week is not too often to give them a taste — not merely a taste but a good bite also. Were the use of green feed more common with the poultry raiser we should hear of less cases of cholera, gapes, and pips, &c. If sameness of food will engender disease and distaste in man, why not in fowls ? ifeed. your fowls as you do yourself. Give them change, variety, and .onions. — ''Farmer."

One Sunday, two clergymen, in two of the-letfding churches in Melbourne, preacLed on the subject of marriage with a deceased wile's sister sermons which were reported in the newspapers. Both of them uevoced a good deal of time to the discussion of the Levitical argument, but one of them, in addition? showed a capacity of dr>alinsj with his subject "in the li^ht of the practical considerations connected with it — a capacity which it is as gratifying as it is uncommon to find displayed in the pulpit. The Ecv. A Eobertsou, the gentleman we allude to, could see quite plainly that the real point for bimself and other clergymen to consider was, that whatever may be the "objections felt by some to the legalising of these marriages, that legalising throughout the British Empire is only the work of time, and in all likelihood of a very short time. The principle has been conceded in the c.ise of South Australia, and must, if demauded, be also conceded in other parts of the Empire." And that it will be demanded is very certain. To umintam different marriage laws in difierent provinces, so that the same marriage would be legal at one place, "and illegal at another, and all within the limits of the same rule, is fraught with all kinds of dangers, and possibilities of wrong, aud fraud, raid injustice. No theological subtleties, were they much le.ss doubtful than iv this matter, can lonsj perpetuate such a condition of thinas. This being so, it was wise and prudent fv/r Mr Bobertson to speak in the following strain, as he did at the end of his sertiion : — "For myself, I am not disposed to move a finger to procure an alteration in the law, but I should not interfere with the liberty of others to do in this matter w'has they think right, whilst I feel solicitious that my clerical brethren both here and at home should avoid committing themselves to any course of procedure which would place them in a false position when the law of Great Britain and tbe colonies will become, as humanely speaking, it must become, a law granting not to one portion of the Empire,, bat to all of it, the same permission which has "been conceded to South Australia. We must therefore face "the future, and prepare for it."