LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 239, 13 June 1861, Page 3

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

' ■ » June 12, 1861. Sib, —Being one of the greatest sufferer*by the late fire, I shall feel obliged if you will allow me, through the medium of your columns, to make a few remarks, which since reading: the evidence strikes me to have been thtr origin of the fire. The evidence of Morton, Mr. Waters’ porter, who occupied the building immediately on my left, was, that lie went to bed about eleven o’clock, leaving a fire; that it Wfcs not hid practice to extinguish the fire at night, but to put the embers together, placing the kettle in front to prevent accidents. Mr. John Peake stated, that he saw the fire from the back ? that in his opinion it began on the ii|| of thif building. Mr. Mayers, my neighbour on the Tight; gives evidence to the effect,, that he was busy melting gold and silver up |o seven o’clock bn the.£ veiling prior to the fire; that he smelted the metals with charcoal *nd •.blowpipe; that after he had done, lie placed the supposed extinguished embers in a pami'kin; ami put it down on the floor on his left.hand, immediately adjoining my store. Sir. Oaitt fo lows. that lie wiis the first to discover the fire; that being unwell, he got up very' early', and seeing an unusual light upon the beach, he walks up to see what it was, when to- his surprise he saw flames coming out of the front of Mayers’ shop, at the corner immediately adjoining my store ; that at this time the fire was in a small compass; that my store bad not then caught. -Such, Mr. Editor, was the confliciing evidence elicited. But, since the inquiry, I find Mr. Gaitt’s evidence confirmed by two others, who were at the court waiting to be called as witnesses, and further, by the Putiki natives, who saw the origin of the fire, and have, sin** marked me out the spot, which exactly corresponds with the situation, of'the pannikin, and Gaitt’s statement. If the fire originated in this buildin *, an explanation of what appeared a m;. stery to Dr. Tuke and others could be given ; for those who ever went into MrMayers’ shop wi 1 perhaps recollect it as an air-tight box, lined and ceiled with timber, j- dnts ploughed and tongued, separated from Mr. Roberts’ office by a double partition and lobby, the' whole roofed with iron. Now. taking it for granted (as in all probability was the case) that the charcoal re-lighted, and. 'melting the solder of the pannikin, reached the floor—-would not fire in so close a room, smoulder for a considerable time, in fact, until, it had eaten its way through the floor (which by the evidence before us it appears to havodone) and, the flames getting into the space between the walls of the two buildings, thewhole of my roof, being shingled, would be in-tantiy on fire?—and further, being shingledon batt«as the embers, falling into the body of the store, would consume it, before theeffects of the fire would be visible on Mr.. Mayers’ building, it being roofed with iron. This, Mr. Editor, is how 1 account for mystore being the first to suffer, ami that led to* such contradictory evidence, .and the still more extraordinary verdict—that tl»e fire occurred’ in the only building where it was proved'no fire existed, and consumed the buildings, on. both sides, where the presence of Ore was admitted. I am, Ac. Tnos. Warm Guxkjeoh.

■" *■' May 31st, 1861. Sin.—l, regretted much to learn the decision of the meeting called by Mr. Harrison yesterdayas I feel persuaded it does not represent the feeling of the Wanganui electorsgenerally, and that had there been longer notice and time to think the matter over, the result would have been different. I deeply sympathise with Mr.’ H. ; and the more so f* thinking he has erred in judgment.' X fully admit that the course he has taken is the most dignified and accordant with gentlemanly feeling, but thiuk this is hardly the time foe assorting dignity. JVith or. war* aodk

the very existence of the colony dependent i perhaps on a single vote, and a steamer ready i to take him to Auckland, surely Mr. 11. i should have gone, so as to be ready, if the election were decided to be valid, to discharge his duty at once ; if otherwise, to resign,, and allow a new writ to be issued ; for I doubt if a new writ can issue till his resignation is received—at all events, I know that in the parallel case of Baron Rothschild nd new writ was issued, but that the Baron’s name appeared in every list' of members of the house of Conv roous ; he'sat in the house, though _Without speaking or voting > and "'session' 'after session presented, himself to be'sworn in f the cify of London;, meanwhile' remaining* ’partia|ly unrepresented. It: WouldOppear,’ indeed,- that ,a personal; disqualification; though presenting a person from acting, does not,‘like an \ informality, invalidate the election itself; but that a. constituency electing a disqualified.peiv son. must bear the inconvenience;; I do'ifot • jjepj also, how. the question of' Mrrlh’s qualification can be so readily brought before]the ■Assembly iu any* other -form as by his.pre--senting-himself tof ibe sworn'in. By the course' he has taken, Mr. H virtually shifts the decision from the Assembly to the Government. I feel convinced, too, that- Mr! ‘II. is being by these .who dread' his- presence in "the house, as the very-question of qualification now raised has (although perhaps not. formally mooted), been virtually decided years ago. Mr:...mil,* M.H.R. and M.P.C. for Christchurch country district, is' also ; Resident Ma-gistrate-and Sheriff, receiving I belie’ve £3OO a year,for-discharging those duties ; and'lam satisfied ‘.that, . from • the' leading part lie'lnis always takeu-ih-both houses (iu the Assembly as mem.ber.of* the .first and ' opponent of the eat.ministry ; and.at' Canterbury as Pro-, vincial Secretary and aTtenvards iti opposition) the que6,tio;i*of his qualification, if'Wprthfaisi)ig,. would have been so long ago. I venture tp suggest,, therefore, that ;a ' memorial b.'e. at ogee dra\y,u up, and. signed by a majority bf. the electors, .requesting Mrl H. to. proceed, tu Auckland without further loss of triiie.; and. am,'sir, ' * ' ..-Your obdtv servant, - .

. / 7. Rangitikei, 30th May. IBGI. Sib, —It was uot : my design, when I sent you remarks on the Potato disease, to provoke controversy:; But *1 find some of my neighbours are sceptieal—unwiUmg to believe my report. I have offered to show it to thenv by the most decisive proof—seeing ;. but 4 they, know’ without seeing, though: they think it is nqt amiss to give the warning.. They own there is something the.matter, as their crops are not right. .Some, of them have,- nearly perished—rotted others* say “ they have no yield f’ another ‘.‘ from. some, cause fears he shall 'not get his seed back but none are. willing to own that it is disease that is.: “ halving the crops” with them. They readily attribute it to any but the right cause,, —namely, either bad seed,, or bad husbandry, ■or perhaps ? both. One says, the calves were

let in, and they eat the topsanother; that; lhesheep trod theifiVHml nipped them jnst.as they were» third,.’tinnks it must havp been tlie wet' weather; just at - .time of gathering ; .and a fotfrtli * can says, lie don’t biSt his crop is half rotten,. und~thq.<Q£her.italf not worth getting. . ’ Tliaft* ybujtvr iudi'e-- immediate ..Wanganui friends may' be satisfied (if they choose to see). I have sent herewith a sample‘.or two,.taken from, .onev£oofr, the * whole of which, ten in ajpe alike '*'lf this is not the disease in iU latent form—(latenffur a crop, positive, for. >lll6 individual sample) —•and'-likely to be :g.merqted if not. carefully watched, I would say, iP nezicr, existed !; 2’iiis r.oot ’wa9 grown with others,, and left two months ago for experiJftent,. The plot was a saiidy ridge, and this ,*pot was grown on the lower and dampest t side of it; All the, others of the same kind were taken .up in March, and were, as far. as could be seen;, perfectly sound. In this root, every

one isi- diseased, like the sample. If these were laid in a dry place they would probably keep through the winter (I intend to try), ami at seed time would “ chit,”, .and a person.(this operation is ofteir left, to children), would.cut them, and plant them,'without, observing anything particular- And this, might go on for a season or two before, any serious mischief, would he. noticedbut under such treatment it would gradually extend. There is but little doubt this was the beginning of it at home; the seed was but little cared for in general before the observance of, the evil, being'mostly gathered from the refuse of the store pits, and picked out'of the rubbish, Jet it be remembered, it was this breaking suddenly upon us, promoted probably by auxiliary external causes, that produced a(amine in Ireland, and made food, in England' for 'two years nearly twice its. usual price. I am net sure that meteorological influences may not do something ,in, precipitating tfle disease.' .It has been thought that such is the case, nor-: is it, unljkely. that such, an agent should affect the._ plant, if previously tainted, and thereby accelerate its. destruction. There was no apparent, disease.in those of the same kind as sample before, the late heavy rains and thunder storms; apd. lids \yas .precisely the case with a large plot which'l, took up in the 2nd year of the, disease in England. lathis case the seed hud. been. Eft in the ground from the "previous.’ season, and it is Nyorthy. ol remark, that .alt. were ..quite sound which were taken'-up before thunder storm, which occurred just a? the.crop wai ripening; but all taken up after that day w’ere tainted, and ci till not be' consumed before the greatest part were destroyed by disease. A neighLo.ir' of- mine se ing tliis planted a small plot in the November fallowing; taking

care to use good seed lie put them in six inches deep to keep them from the frost]; lie watched them daily, and laid litter rows as they came up. These were ripe in the-A/ay following, and taken up early in June before the summer thunder storms came on. Not one was diseased. An account of this experiment was published in the Gardener’s Guide, iu which periodical a gentleman afterwards stated that for the previous five years, i.e. two years before-the'disease became general he had pursued precisely the-same .course, always taking care . -to *lmve sound seed,- and lifting the produce early in.--June•; and he stated that fip to the time of his writing lit* had not noticed a bad root, and this plan, of early sowing and taking up at a corresponding period is now much practised with beneficial results.

As'this'is a subject deeply interesting to the Colony I should like to see others who may be disposed; take up and examine the matter, f have written'of ‘what /.know from a sense of duty; had I oniitte’d the task and evil should come, I should have condemned my indifference. Should ’ no evil arise (which there is much reason to fear) none.,will be more thankful to the giver of all- good, that We bhould be spared, the infliction of so dire a calamity. ‘ ' ' - /am dear Rir, yours, .truly, * ' ' j. F.

'TEE GROWTH AMD PREPARATION OF WOOL.

(Trorn the Mark Lane The dearth'of raw materials for our stable manufacture!?, and especially for - our textile indUstriesris becoming a matter of grave interest; That is, if pur 'factories are -to be kept employed, and' our leading interests art* fd fiifVancfe]'inkead of standing still, feott'b'h ‘and flax are both deficient in supply, and the Secretary .of State ho§ bad. to commuii’i’cate fo‘the coipiiies the extreme want, felt by the manufacturing interests of : Great Britain of taw material for the.production of textile fabrics.'' This., has induced an application' to the General Association for the Austrcdiail* colohies, for. the purpose of discoyering'tbe existehce—if any—of some fibrous, product is* the*Australian' continent, that might.tend to* remove the difficulty, and at the same time prove a sufficiently valuable article of com-. merce 7 to ensure its being successfully and profitably cultivated. "

In another great, industry the manufacturers are trying out for larger . supplies of: raw material. Wool is ..not so abundant in. the market as could be wished, great as has been the progress of production in'our colonies of late years. We bave learnt to utilise all descriptions of wool, from the long silky fleece of the /fugorag.at to the low common wools of China and India. But yet the manufacturers cannot k,eep pace with the:.demand for worsted and woollens at home and abroad. Other nations also press for supplies of wool, and compete witlrus in the markets of the world.' Already about '£ 10,000,000 a year are required to purchase foreign and colonial;wools ; and we should be ready to greatly increase this sum, if we could obtain additional supplies' a't moderate prices. But there has been a gradual upward tendency in. prices, .pwing to increased foreign demands- and limited ''slipplies. A leading firm of Liverpool brokers

thus speak of the matter :—“ The position of 1 the woollen and worsted trader throughout£he 1 manufacturing world is, such' as' to, bespeak l grave reflections,, and.; ought 'to . command dn ; active sympathy ; they are not * exiendfn|. in . the same way sis other branches'* Of industry, 1 and are precluded from doing so for want of adequate supplies of the raw material. "The cry of scarcity which has been sounded for the last eight or. nine years has produced no practical elect, the small increase of growth lmviug been absorbed without any relief. In England economising expedients have been resorted to, on an-enlarged scale! The use of cotton in woollen and worsted fabrics has been vastly augmented ;, and -the manufacture of rag-wool (which consists of old worn out woollens torn and ground up) has' been developed into quite an important branch of business,

under tue name oi ‘snoctuy or ‘mungo. The rag-wool is now utilised to the extent of at least 50,000,000 lbs. annually (equal to more than one-third of our yearly importations of colonial and foreign wool) for the purpose of mixing with or adulterating wool in its manufacture, to the great* complaint of consumers and buyers of manufactures. This trade, both as regards collection, distribution, and manufacture, is attaining gigantic proportions. Instead of consigning old woollen rags to the soil as manure for, hops or other plants, every shred is carefully, collected and sorted; and as an article of import the samples may be seen in. city brokers’ offices as often, if not to the same extent, as raw wool. So in k>eeds, as other towns of Yorkshire, the business oi the rag grinder has become most important, f. r iii F.eeds alone there are a dozen dr more

factories, which produce about 4,000,QG0 lb. o’r 5,000,000 lb. of this riig-vjool annually, 'l'iie pieces or patches of cloth are forcibly torn asunder, and remodelled into raw material again,, to be once more used by the £pst customer. The mania for cheap goods has no doubt something to'do with this branch of the trade, but delicieucy of foreign supply is a main cause. Yet, with these enormous aids, the prices of wool, when not checked by adverse extraneous’ influence, ever gravitate, to an extreme range—such, in fact, as effectually to limit the consumption. The commercial treaty wi tli France is.cal,julajed.tp..give additional stimulus to. the ex.: jorts of woollen .fabrics, and to develope more

particularly the. resources of the carpet and Worsted, trade. 2'herO, will Thus be a great •utlet. in, China, for English, woollens,’so,That

while there is at present positive scarcity of most current descriptions of wool, there is a great fear of ft further deficiency of the raw material.

Looking to the continent for 'any'probable additional supplies of wool, we find sia, with all her large flocks, can 1 spare us but little, and there is a rather than an increase** it*; p(tr> imports 4b6rice.-’ "Germany wants ail she produces. -The imports of wool and woollen yarn in Prussia.kave ing each five years, andtiid fluniber 'of slieepTlecreasing. France is now a large consumer, of foreign wools', in iM6- : 'h'er supply, and the productioir-of-Algeria. Four or five years ago her -foreign imports of wool were 'upwards, of: 83,p.Q0,0.00 .lbs;- atjdr -shs supplies woollens to the value of j£1,000,000 yearly ta-SWitkerland. Z'-he consumption' of foreign wools in Belgium has been largely on the increase.. From the continent. we have little therefore to expect: in. .the - ; way of increased supplies.- Looking bpck;at tl.re last five yearsj, we find that .there has been a cfinsiderable decrease in our import of German, wools, a small" increase. from Spain and Por tugaJL a. decrease from /reland and Russia, and stationary supplies from South America geuerally.. ; The imports of wool into Zi.verpool in the last eleven years show .a rimarkable pr.ogres> siori, and yet the .supplies are quite iusufficieut the Wants' of "the manufacturers. In 1850 only 63,774 shales of foreign and colonial wool were ‘ received at Liverpool;. in 1855 the supply had' increased to 113,098 bales'; anil in 1860 it reached 200,382. bales-. This forms a large, proportion of the .entire imports of the kingdom, which in 1800 were 486,356, bales. It is true that our aggregate imports of foreign wool have gone on increasing; but.'so have- our exports of wool and woollen manufacturer. Last year our exports .of homegrown wool were enormous, exceeding 28,-: 000,000 lbs., .besides the same amount of colonial wdpl re-exported. ’ , . : Unless We receive additional- supplies from India and.qiu; southern colonies, we know not where morfi wool is to ’ come from., The production of ■ Victoria cau scarcely be more pushed at' present', Tasmania, New .South JTules, and Western Australia, will.hardly be able to send forward more-'wool as yet; : fior can New Zealand do much, unless with additional labour. Increased supplies might be obtained ere long from the new colony -of i| i Queensland, in the north, if labourers for sheep | tending were available, as there are yet boundless plains of pastoral land unappropriated. In British Kaffraria', and the more northern districts of southern Africa, there is ample scope for increased wool production, although there jare difficulties in. bringing it forward for shipr '■ meat. The Wool production of the Capq colony has- already doubled every five years. From India we have been drawing large supplies of low. coarse wools, and ; there is am in ■ creased field for -material ..of a peOufiar class, fitted at least for some purposes.. But, as Messrs. Littledale, of Zivergool, well observe,- “ Our present cmtomers are evidently taking all tbat we have the raw materials to make ; and- as the high prices of 1853, 1857;-1859, : ,and 1860 have palpably failed to influence ! anything like a proportionate increase of'suppjy, the present scarcity must for. all. practical purposes be considered absolute ;. ergo, . all busiriess in' woollen and worsted goods to new Customers,, must necessarily be so much abstracted from the old, ones 1 This is a most 'oywelcome conclusion.to arrive at. 2'o men of the world, having the word prof ession eternally on. their, lips, it sounds incredible ; but who can gainsay it ? Better ask* Where can we look for help? What we. want is mcye wool, for which v/e can give a good price —fifty per cent, above what was considered profitable to grow it ten years ago I ' We might point to Canada as especially capable of assisting our growth of English,'to South Africa for an increase of fine colonial, and to India for a larger-, supply of low wools ; but if the stimulus of excessive., price has proved insufficient to effect the desired purpose, we are at a loss for a stronger inducement.” The unusually severe weat-hor experienced during’the wiuter and spriag of 1860 caused a great falling off- in the “production of homegrown fleeces, and consequently led to an increased inquiry for all foreign wools that could in any way be adapted as substitutes. As this deficiency is a very, important item of our supply, and is likely to be again experienced [this season, it becomes a serious question how the demand is to be met, supposing coxisumpr J tion to progress at the present rate.. Messrs. [Ronald, the; wool brokers, one of our own correspondents, states that the position of our market seems at present to be this“ Z’liere is an increase in-the imports of wool, according to the official trade returns, of 10. per ceqt. ft om which must be deducted an increase in the export of wool of 9 percent., thus.leaving a surplus of 1 per cent, only.' Against this, hqwever, therfr appears an iucrease in the exports of manufactured woollen goods and yarns of -8 per cent., which.,, added. to the deficiency in the home growth of 15 per last, year, leaves The'-’Supjdy of -wool 22 'per. cent .short of that of i’859.” * ‘

There is great room for |improvement, both in growing -and preparing wool for English markets; aad some useful hints, have lately been thrown out On this subject by brokers. Many countries, particularly, North Africa, .7’urk.ey, Egypt, libssia,\ Portugal,. and the Eas,t ; :iHdies, possess breeds' of sheep, the wool of . which,- by the introduction of suitable rams, or by judicious.crossing with.the best,of what they already- have, might be vastly improved, and rendered adaptable for many additional purposes. Care should be taken to eliminate those sheep whose white is.sgoilfd. by a.

sprinkling of, thick coloured lmirs. The wool should he sent to market more free of burrs, seeds, and filth ; and the matted 7 , inferior, and coloured fleeces should be packed separately from the good white ones. At the same time an indiscriminate growth of long wool is not at all desirahle-for .the climate and herbage of some, countries, which eminently favour the Merino Wd Mestizo breeds, but that would prove altogether unsuitable to a larger kind.

! i:v I!*:"-' •' ” , Slave Tkade Anecdote. —“ ‘ Bleeding’s easjes.t {or gip\vn.men and. women,’ observed the.Dljl genfleimin, filling his glass. 4 I’ve bled u dozen and more to death whilst the men were at dinner.. They"scarce"seemed to feel it after the first gash.’* Bullingdon pushed his chair three feet farther i ff, with a took at his neighbour which it is impossible to convey. There was a pause of astonishment, and the' old gentleman proceeded with the utmost snvy /raid. “‘ I was running a cargo—that’s a blaelc cargo—from the Gold (?oast. Uot driven.by bad weather to the southward, and found myself becalmed in the Bight of Benin. Water short, schooner over-manned, and the cargo bad off for stowage, though we'had a third on deck, leg-hampered, "day and night; It was warm down in the hold ; for though she-was a sweet craft, d’ye see, she Jiadn’t'.heen built-for the trade, ami I\l altered her run inyself,'when 1 ought ty have known better. My first mate was a long-winded chap.; • I think lie never left off whistling for a week; but the schooner headed .all round the compass just the same. I thought I should never see. a caVs-paw again. Well, the cargo suffered horrible. It’s bad to be thirsty in these low latitudes when there is nothing to driiik. I was* obliged to make away* with some of them* to gave the rest. 1 divided them into watches', auJ-put the weakest. of the men and tlie- oldest of the. women ilito the jcondemned..'Watch,. igfving . each su chanty by lot, according-as tlm weather should hold.*- First 2 took and hovel them overheard oneihy oiie, - thinking -it Was a cool and merciful death. for the poor thiisty creatures ; but I’m a humane man, sir, aiid I .couldn’t bear to see their eyes—’specially the.woiiien—as they went over the side. Have you ever watched a face, sir, just when the last chance is up ? U’s an ugly sight, a very, ugly sight,’ said tlm old gentleman, with a retrospective sigh, filling his glass the while. “ Bullingdon, to whom this ghastly narrative was especially addressed, could not find a voice to reply. lie set his wine down untasted, and looked-as if he was going to he' sick.\Vell, .sir,’ resinned the slaveowner, I’d a surgeon’s mate aboard;-a sharpish-fellow enough—he was hanged - afterwards at Porto Riifo—says he to. me, i‘Skipper,”*' says he i*‘ it’s cruel-work to frighten these poor devils to death before you put ’em to death,” says he," “*if you’ll give me leave, and a couple, of hands, to -swab, I’ll just ’lice ’em f in here, ia-the cdok’s galley, and finish them off. on the quiet, as nice as possible.” So I weut in with him, as. in duty bound- —fora man’s not fit to command a ship, / say, unless he knows all Ithat’s going on »7i that ship and I kept a bright look out, though I let him use his own .tools in. his- own’way. //e was a neat 'workman, a very neat workman, to be sure, die .just slipped a lancet inti) the jugular here, you see, under the' 'ear, mid they bled to death -—a baker’s dozen of’m—as easy as I could crack- a biscuit, 2’he breeze got up after this,- and I’d a rare good run to the Cape de Verde Islands; but I never had a chance afterwards. It was a bad speculation, was that a bad speculation from one. end of the log .to the other.’ ,

. ‘V Gracioii&lieavens !’ burst out Bullingdon, j'n a white heat ; ‘ can you bear to talk of such, horroro ? Can you bear to think of your victims ? Shall you ever forget them to your dying day V , 5 “ The old gentleman sitook :liis head,. and emptied the bottle. 7. •; “ * I can bear most things,’ lie said ; * I’ve had.such a many ups and downs; but / don’tthink l ever shall forget that, calm. It couldn’t have cost me less than seventy-five dollar : a-head t even for .the weakest of them. Seventy?: five dollars a-liead,’ ho repeated, thoughtfully. ! ‘ No, I . don’t think I ever shall forget 1 it 1’ ” Fraser, for March.