Reefton Electric Light.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3029, 15 October 1888, Page 2

Reefton Electric Light.

Reef-ton, October M, Mr Horton, electrician, formerly ot Dunedin, who latterly has been engaged in connection with the olectrio light installation at the Melbourne Exhibition, has been engaged by tho Keefion lilectricCompimy to complete the electric light system. Ho arrived in Reefton last night, and the work has been placed in his solo charge. The lighting was started about a month ago, but owing to some defect in the insulation, tho required nuinber of 500 incandescent lamps could not bo kept at their normal degree of brilliancy, tho full capaoity of the plant, as at present laid, being ii'iout 120 lamps, Tlicso wero per. fatly satisfactory, but tho number '>eing buite inadequate to the demand it was necessary to apioint some qualified person in the absence o( Mr Prince (who has left for Auckland) to find tho defect and remedy it. Rinding Mr Horton's arrival, the Directors of the Company decided not to keep tho plant running, fearful that in the abseiice of competent supervision the dynamo might bo overrun, and consequently injured. It is not true that the undertaking is a failure. Tho defect existing ianifiroly one of construction, and can, it is fully believed, bo remedied ins few days. Tho light supplied up to about 120 lights is all that could be desired; indeed, it is, if possible, too brilliant for any thing but shop windows, Tho dynamo has a registered capacity for 500 lamps, while tho water supply (the motive power used for generating) is 120 horso power which is equal to the supply of 1,000 light?. Mr Horton commences work to-morrow*

Another Extensive Fire. Auckland, Monday. Tho Northern Hotel was burned down at 2.80 this morning, Tho building and furniture are insured in tho South British, Norwich Union, and North German Offices. The owner, Moss Davis, states ho will lose considerably over insurance, The Boating SeasonDuhedis, October 14. Owing to the strong wind on Saturday, the formal opening of the boating season had to bo postponed. Mining Reports. Greysioutu, October 14. The coal report for the last week was 8209 tons. Beefton mining returns for the waok-.-Keep-il-Dark, 1970z amalgam from 180 tons;. Globe, 104oa of amalgam from 190 tons;. Fiery Cross, 2250z of amalgam for tho week; Vemi? 4 2500z amalgam from $0 ions; Just-iu-Time, 210oz of amalgam from 95 tons, •■ "I

Funeral of the late Miss Galloway. The funeral of the lute Miss- Jessio Galloway took place yesterday afternoon. Tho coffin was conveyed to the Wsleyan Church, where the iinpvessivo service was conducted by the Eev. W, Bowso, the building being full to overflowing with a sympathetic audience, While the service was being conducted in the Church the' public school children, marshalled by Mr W. T. Grundy, and the Sunday school children, m charge of Mr Frank Harrison, tho snperintendant, were arranged four deep along Hall street to the number of nearly 500, When the, service was over the coffin was brought from tho church on tho shoulders of bearers, and tho large procession, the children, proceeded to the cejp* tery. The pall bearers, consisting of the pupil teachers, companions iu work till but recently of the deceased, walked on either side in white dresses; tho immediate ralatives, the infant class the late Miss Galloway taught, the School Committee, members of the local Foresters Court followed, and a long string of friends brought up the rear. On reaching the entrance to the cemetery the children were ranged in single file on each side of the walk, and the procession passed through. The assemblage of little ones standing each with a bunch of flowers, and the boys with their hats off was an impressivo sight, whilst some hundreds of persons, principally ladies, waiting in the cemetery, added considerably to the general effect. After tho closing ceremouieß at the grave, the Rev Mr Bowse addressed tbe large concourse of friends gathered around, and took advantage of tho opportunity presented to impress upon them the desirability of so living,- that death, no matter when it 'came, should find them prepared. In the evening a memorial service was held in the Wcsleyan Church qu which occasion the seating accommodation of tbe building was taxed to its utmost capacity. Tho Eev Mr Eowse took for bis text tho 40th chapter of Isaiah,6th, 7th, and Bth verses. At the close of an earnest discourse the Rov. gentleman gave some details in the life of the late Jessie Galloway, in whoso memory tho speoial service bed l.een held. He alluded to her many oxcellenoies as a daughter, as a companion, and as a teacher to the young, and also lefci red to the rapid progress she made in all branches of learning, arts, aiid sciences. He drew a vivid picture of the death bed scene and the audionce was much affected. Appropriate hymns were sung during the Borvice,

A Wild Weird Tale About a Man, a Snake, and a Fireproof Safe. Twenty years ago I was tlio managing clerk in an English merchaut'B office My -work was heavy. Many nights I sat at my books" until the small houra of tlio morning. Onoe or twice I actually dozed off into a sleep to bo awakened by the woman who cleaned the various rooms coming to her work.

This house I was connected with had a branch establishment in India, doing a large business, and many curious consignment of poods, quito outsido ot our usual articles of commerce, passed through our liarnk Priceless cloths and Native fabrics, brass and gold ornaments Bet with precious stonos, collections of stones, botanical specimens, birds, animals—everything in fact, until at times tlio contonts of the cases, if opened and spread out, would have made a very average museum. » One afternoon a large box was delivered from ono of the ships labelled " To be kopt in a moderately warm place." I was away from tlio ware house at the time of its arrival, and tho men placed it in the outer oflico. On niy return I casually noticed the case in passing, and saw thatonoond was slightly orushed, as if by somo heavior case falling on it. This was a mero accidental observance. My private office was jtißt four walls, hung with maps and charts. A writing bureau in the centra of the floor behind tho door; behind tho bureau a largo iron fireproof safo somo six feet high and four feot squaro, standing twelvo or fourteen inches from tho wall, and a case of books, andthreo or four chairs completed tho inventory. I was going to work late, and in a short time I was alone in the largo building. I worked stoadily until midnight, I arose and paced about the room fora few minutes. A sound, as of a chair being movod in tho adjoining room startled mo, I stepped to the door and openod it, Tho light from a strcot lamp lit tho room fairly well, and after a glanco, I concluded it musthavo beon fancy, and returned to my desk leaving tho door open. A few minutes afterwards a faint, harsh ound camo from the samo direction,. a curious rubbing sound, undoniably within tho next room, and •quito as undeniably moving towards tho door leading to whero I was sitting. I rose to my feet, and as I did so tho head and neck of a huge snako protruded through the doorway into the well-lit room. I stood transfixed with horror, When tho reptile saw me it stopped for a second, its eyes grew more aud more aflamo until they resembled two lurid balls of firo, its tongue darted in and out of its mouth, and tho head raised bighor and higher until nearly lovel with my own. I could hoar its body ooiling and recoiling in fury in the darkness boyond, and thero I stood powerless, unarmed, and apparently unable oven to move;

I looked once around in a despairing Boarch for somo outlet of escape, and, as I took my eyes from those of the horrible reptile, it lowered its bead anil darted towards me. Another second and it would havo caught me, when, seeing the open snfo, I rushed in and shut the door. A small petty cash-book fell to the floor, half in, and half out of tho safe, holding the door opon about half-au-incb. But for that book I would have speedily been suffocated. Not'thinking of that I stooped and tried to draw the book inside, but tho snake moving simultaneously with myself, had dashed itself against the safe, and in its brute fury, thiuking tho ! safo part and pared of myself had thrown its coils around it, pressing tho door so tightly that I fortunately could not remove tho book, which was my solo means of ventilation. Half-crazed with fright I pulled and lugged at it without avail. Tho porsperation rolled down my face, my heartbeat almost to bursting, and oven with tho book holding tho door ajar I seemed to bo at the point of Huffoeation, Gasping for breath and utterly nerveless, I fell against tho door and slid to the floor in a dead faint, flow long I remained so I cannot tell—perhaps a few minutes, perhaps an hour. At last my sensca

roturned, mid although dreadfully cramped by tin position into which I had subsided in the narrow space, 1 found I kid not power to riso, mid ' lny therMfcing through the narrow tho two folds which oncirclod my refuge feeling a horrible fascination that I shall never forget. I ovon passed my linger out ami touched one, feeling n quivering movomout that told me tho reptile had drawn its coils to tho utmost tension, in tho hope of crushing tlic shell that held the precious kernel of mysolf, By an effort 1 collected my ideas, and remembering tho box and crushed ond, could readily account for the presence of the intruder. I : knew that it was customary to feed tlwito satiety before shipping, send tliem off, and as a rule they arrived hero still in a stato of .stopor. This one might havo had ipQ ng passage, and, coming out of tho sleep wanted wator, grow furious, burst tho weal; ond of tho case, and finding mo attacked me by instinct, I grow calm, and investigated my position Ap'oughly. I rose to my feet, aniTOl did so my foot rested , on soinolhhig uneven, I picked it up and found it to bo one of those fong ink erasers, having a blade about

four inches long, sharp as a razor, tempered liko a Damascus blade, the handle being about five inches bug and flat in shape. It must have fallen out of tho cash-book, these knives being frequently shut in books by tho careless clerks. Taking the ltnifoin my right hand I thrust it into tho thinnest fold with all my strength. Tin rj was a horrible, sickoning learn"- sound, and quickly withdrawing V ■ blade, I thrust it *»gejtf nto tho I .'ls. until at the third ortourthstab J ,aw tho folds relax and go sliding down tho sides of the safo to tho floor, lying there squir- j ming and writhing in convulsions, I dared move for nearly an hour, nap all seemed quiet, then opening the door I dashed across the room into tho outer office, banged to tho door, locked it, and hatless rushed to the nearest police station. At first my story was discredited, and I was almost locked up as being drunk, hut eventually four officers armed with revolvers camo with me. Wo found the reptile nearly dead, but still tremulous when touched, tho cuts of the ken knife, owing lot'io oxtremo tension of the coils, having noarly severed the body in half. Jt measured 88i't sin from tip to tail.Now York Sun,

An Old Sea-Dog-Thomas Cavendish, pirato iiml circumnavigator, wns not ut credit trUfh name or country. Ho was an ofUlot of tliH old Btock, horn at Griniston Hull, near Harwick; and, having squandered his fortune, lie determined to repair it hy joining Raleigh in ins first plantation of Virgini;» a (1585). Ealiegh, though, liko ajjfeliß Tudor "worthies," was scrvilojVhd self-seoking, and Machiavellian in policy, had high aims ind novel aspirations. Cavendish's aims were limited to bttucaiicering; and the way he, Granville, and othius treated the natives of what is now North Carolina should shut the mouth of thobo who cry against Spanish cruelty. As soon as he got homo he planned an expedition on his own account, and sailed in July, 1586, from Plymouth, with three ships and 123 men, After trying to burn tho town of Sierra Leone, ho got down to the Straits of Magellan, through King Philip's City only long enough to dij.' out and carry off the cannon which tho poor Spaniards had buried when famine had forced them to abandon tho place. The placo was not invitingjfcr the noisome stench and vilu savoWwherewith it was infected through tho contagion oftbeSpaniarda' jiined and. dead carcases." He saw 23 of tme starvelings (two women), who vm trying to make- their way

f by land to tho River Piute. GivenI / diab himself fared badly enough in / that wretchedest ef all countrieß. Ho ' was six wocka in getting through, "and lor quito a month we foil almost altogether on niussels, limpets, and birds, seeking for them every day as tho fowls of the air do, in continual rainy rather." OneatarvingSpaniaru Jio rescued; but when tho man was put ashore near Valparaiso to parky with a reconnoitring party ho made off and gave the alarm. Cavendish, iboroforo, Bailed northward, burning what barijiies he met, and in one inntance "tormenting a prisoner with his thumbs in a wrench," partly by way of warning a captured pilot to be "reasonable." By May ho had reached tho Chinoliii Isles, where ho captured three big incrchantships, one worth £2O,OoOjJ>urnitig all tho goods which hocouligotstowon his own vessels. On PunpMu, in the Gulf of Guayaquil, lived the great cacique, with his Bpunisli wife, and his palaco chambers decomied with "hangings of Cordovan leather, gilded all over, mid painted very rare and rich," ut successful atto'mpt, it would seem, at that fusion of race 3, which for (he AugloSaxon seems impossible. Alus I the foolibh natives made a sortie to try to save a big ship lying at anchor; and in rovenga for this their town was burned, palace and all. Burning and spoiling ho reached Cape St. Lucas, in Lower California, and beat up and down for ut month till the great Santa Anna, from thePhilipiuos to Aoapulco canio in sight. Her hecapturud after asixhoimj'fight, and took from her 22,000 gold pesos, besides 80 tonsall ho could carry away—of her u'OO tons of'very rich roorcbandiso, 110 had only two ahips, having sunk the smallest for lack of bands; however, lo found room for two Japanese and throe Manilla boys, and a Portuguese who gayo him the map of China, tiesctibjKn Ilakliivt, Ho also took tho Pwippines' pilot, whom ho afterwards hanged for trying to run him into Manilla. Of his two remaining ships, the Desiro and Content, tho latter parted company when she had watched tho Santa Anna and fivJi hundred and twenty tons of richest waro burned to tho water's edge, and was never hoard of aftor. The Desiro wandered about tho Moluccas, and by mid-March sighted tho Capo of Good Hopo, On tho Bth Juuo he discovered St, Helena; and reaching the Lizard early in September, heard of the destruction of the Armada, Thence, after a four days' fitorm, "like wearied men, through the power of tho Almighty, wo got into Plymouth." And so completed tho second English voyago round tho globe, celebrated in " A Ballid of Master Cavendish's Voyage, who by travel encompassed the Globe of tho World, arriving in England with abundanco of treasure," and other songs of which tho names only survive This was in 1580; before 1591 Cavendish had squandered all his moaja"in gallantry und following tho^irt"—tho Queen received him at Gretnich sud was planning another expedition. In this ho wholly failed; ho started too late—in August instead of July; his attack on Santos, ju IJraiil, was fcoblo; and, aftor again , 4

wintering in the Smut", ho wauled to Riiil lioiiiii by Hi.' (.'ape of (loud Hope. "You m»'i .In lint with so faille a cr«w,' ; m,;! I Luis of Davis's Smuts, his sivui.'i "i niuiiiininl. "Well, then, I'll re ut: . inlS.iiiiosaiul have another try" n-j.:i -il tlitor, who bud evidently 104 immh' through the Imrdaliijis of the «inmr. lie got lia»k to tho coast of Brazil, where Dnvis and ho parted coinp.iii<, a'.d he died of ut brnkmi heart just oil' St. Helena, crying out most unjustly, that Davis had deserted liim. A year nfti'f his death, Davis got to Boielwven in lei'laiul, "with a remnant of fifteen, ;so feeble that they could not take in |or heave out a siil,"—All the year i Hound,