INSTANT VENTILATION OF MINES SECURED.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 126, 25 February 1873, Page 3

INSTANT VENTILATION OF MINES SECURED.

It 13 frequently urged that in some parts of the omitr/ 1 labourers, w ith provisions at their present price, euiin )t, even ou wages considered high, obtain sufficient fi>"d to satisfy the cruvjngs of their appetite* ; and there j.-. a 1 -bo, i fiat Dundeo who certainly, from the account gi\cn In 'he Dundco Advertiser of his proceedings, must find it diliicilt at times te provide himself with a dinner 111 any win >"ujj-rh\ the name of a meal. It seeing that ono d&j lately tins unfortuuate man .was observed at a pic shop m tho {own to eat nine large twopenny piei m Hi minutes ; and Monday evening, it being known that he was about to dine at the samo establishment, and had expresiod \nn intention of eating 12 pieirin 25'nnnntes, a crowd tsseiableti-in the fctreet, and % number of liw friends attended at the shop to cheer hini'by their presenco during tho repast. His dinner, which consisted of a pile of pic* measuring 11 inches high niul weighing si\ pounds, having been placed- on the table, he commenced operations without delay. At the end of five minutes six pies had disappeared ; nine more had gone in eleven minutes ! and the cru-»t of the last pie disappeared down his throat as the watch denoted" seventeen minute* Having !»aid graco and tw'pcd his mouth with a napkin, ln> professed to taka six pies more by way of a finish "With this easo before us, the problem of " how shall we feed our labouring ela-Bci " seems further from solution than ever* — Pail Mall Gazette

A macovEHT has been inado by Mr D Crichton (manager of Bathurst Gold Mining Company, at Urunkoy), the •impUcity, mexpensiveness, Mid undoubted success ot which render it bo important to the mining community that it ahoull widoly bo made known During the late close and Bultry weather, producing a heavy and stagnant otateot the atmosphere, great difficulty was experienced iq ventilating fio mino, and the me* x ..the deep work ng v . were frequently ' compelled to come to to the surfifco through the awumuiation of foul air below ; and at last the deep shafts had to be abandoned, since none of the usual methods for restoring a c-r-entof air proved of any avail. This state of things went on for three days, when Mr Crichtan determined to try tt fresh experiment. He had noticed that the flame ot the kerosene lamp In ed much longer than that of the caudle*, and as he would not ask any one to do what-.he was afraid to,attempt himself, he determined to put the design into execution bt- descending II shaft alone. lie took an ordinary itomc-pau and emptied into it about a quart of kerosene and placed in the liquid a handful of cotton waste, and setting light to it, word was given to descend. One mau plied the fan, and another lowered tl»e hose, to keep pace with the whnn-iojt , and a considerable suspense was felt by the workmen round thcjsbaft as their plucky managerjisappeared from sight beneath the underlay. The appearance of the upbiLket, a minute or two afcer a nnounoed the completion of tie deacen', and then came a panod-of aome anxiety to those -who were waiting above. Of a sudden came a swarm of flies that had been noticed clinging on to the slal^of the shaft by the workmen ; but still no signal from the manager. There was a dead silence as minute after minute passed aw_ay —then a perceptible current of air was felt coming from the •haft, followed a minute or so after by the ringing out, in vigorous tones upon the bl'll, the preconcerted signal to nend the miners down to their work, complete ventilation bemc established. Mr Creightnir says that on reaching the "bottom of the- shaft the kerosene blazed lazily ibr a while, just as spirits of wine would do, and then- the flame gradually ahot up higher and higher till it reached the height of two or three feet, and, a strong current of air was established. The success of the experiment was complete, and now whfcnevcr the candles give warnn.g,of foul air, the captain of the shaft seta fire to some cotton waste •tceped in kerosene, thrusting it on a shovel through the centre slabs towards the other half of the shaft, securing perfect ventilation in a few seconds at a cost of about sixpence. Wo were curious to test the fltate of &he mine on Tuesday last, and descending the shaft found the air as pure below as i Iwas on t e -ur.aee. Mr Oichton's discovery u therefore, ■we think, one ot great value to gold miners, and cawaot b« made known too widely. — Balhut sb.Tnnes.

A Siierut Cobbler — "Pray, sir, of what profession aro you ? " asked an eminent QC. recently on circuit of a w ltness who had come pre &■ ed to pivne afar', \nd who was deem ed not very rospednblc. "Sir, I am n b ocniaker nnl w 'no merchant." "A what, sir'" " merchant and slioemuls^" •'Then," Said the counsel, " I may descube jou a 9 a sherr\ cobbler,"

IfEQAL QI7E3TION — A jury v*s brought into court in order fcbat^one of their number might bo instructed upon the 'following, point, of law :— " If I belies that, tlie eudenie was ono vty, nnd, the o.!*er eleven believes different, does that justify any other jurjmau in knocking me, down with a chair 5 " — The iudas answered m K^noral terms

New Wxx 10 Ivy IT — A man recently had a monstrous saw log drawn clear across his body by a yoko of oxen The log wasn't hurt rery much, aud tho widow realised sufficient from it ttr buy a rosewood overcoat for her dear squeezed out. Jf ir what way ahoufr'ftlie nations of Europe take tin? raols ns an ciatuple? Reiec to light without caws.

The particulars of an extraordinary yield fiom a recent threshing have heen communicated to tho Oipps Land Times by a Briagoloiig conespon tent :— From seven acres of oats 112 bags were obtained, being an average of nearly 70 bushels to the acre. The wheat yielded 45 and the barley over r.O bushels to the acie The land from w lnch this rich return was obtained was well tilled and the, scantier fully used befoie the grain was sown. Mb Diskaeli,— Mr Disraeli bos earned » place in history ; and will be remembered when many wiser and theater men fire forgotten. To meet him m the long roll of Enghah Prime Ministers is a perpetual swpiiso,. something like that of encountering Saul among the prophets. Not that to be ranked in tho list of English Prime Ministers is a sure title to fame. The Addmgtons, the Jenkinses, and the Kobino oas, are nearly as much political accidents, mediocrities whose high position illustrates their personal insignificance, ns if they were English Lord Mayors or American Presidents. Mr Disraeli's prem-iprslnp is of «a different order. Itwill be one of the standing jokes of history, aa amusing to future students of the Victorian eiaas to us to have had the happiness to enjoy it at firstfl and. It) supplies the vein of comedy which runs through a momentous, epoch, as tho frolics of Falstaff and Princo Heiwy lighten the intrigues and wars of Shakespeare's chronicle plays It is not liLely to be forgotten, since what is grc»t often attracts attention less than what is cur ou*. A paradox, however trivial, tin unmettled point, howevar, trumpery— the sex of Chevalier d'Eon, or the authorship of the Letters of Jduius— engage us move than an important but perplexing truth. Mr Disraeli is a curious puzzle. Nobody ever mentions his name w ithout a smile ; nobody hears it without a corresponding smile. It awakens that t>e"n<=e of incongruity in the perception of which ■we arc told that humour consists Among the staid respectabilities of English politics, Mr Disraeli is a Fifine at Court or turned duemm. Inone sense this is to Mr Disraeli's credit It shows that- he had the courage to be himself, and has not shaped his nature upon any conventicual model. ll> has spoken and acted according to his disposition, and brought foifcu works -and deeds after his kind. He has not suppressed or pared away his individuality into commonplace. When he has. tried to do so expelled nature has returned ■with a bound.— Daily Xeirs.

"Fvthek'sSon." — "Of Captain Marrvnt s eldest son .Frederick, mentioned in his letter (a fine, wild, generous fetlcrw, who perished m his prime bv the wt*ck of the Avenger), many stones might be told tjnite as amusing as those which ovgnalised the early life of his father. He -was a universal favorite, but the pranks he sometimes played in his profession alarmed even, .the. least sober among his companions Among his boyish, escapades it is related how, wTienhta ship once lny off Gab. he used to be selected to command the boat which took a certain blind admiral to and from the Rhore, and part of his duty consisted in telling the old gentleman t\ henever an officer saluted him when parsing. The temptation to mischief was too strong for poor Fred; the warning, 1 Officer salutine you, sir,*" was given upon all occasions, necessary or otherense, and tho eW admiral was- never allowed to rest quiet two minutes without raising his hand to his hat. The trick played upon so important n personage having been discovered, Mr Midshipman Marryat was transferred to another ship in chsgroee; when he piled all his baggage in a boat so as to resemble a coffin, cohered it with the Union Jack for a pall, and played the ' Dead March in Saul ' on a cornopean as he was convened to bis new destination. On another occasion he was serving in a ship off Singapore, and not on the boat terms with his captain, who, on giving a ball on board, omitted Mr Marryat's name from the list of invitations. On the following day, however, when all the glass and crockery which had been hired for tho guests were ready packed to go back on shore, he was the one told off, with malice prepense, to command the boat. On receiving the order, midshipman Fred appeared on deck, »Wy and indolently. ' Make haste, sir ! ' cried the indignant captain. ' Run, sir,— jump ! ' ' Ay, ay, sir, 1 was the mulv rtsponso } and jump he -did right over the ship's side, and dashed into the midst of the hired crockery, the destruction amongst which may bo better imagined than dswibed The younger boy, Frank, was entered on the roll of the navy at tho tender age. of three years, and his father used to say that when he took him up for that propose to tho port admiral at Plymouth, and tho officer, wishing to be gracious, patted the little one (who was attired in the costume of a seaman) on the head, with the observation, • Well, you're a fine liltlt; fellow,' the youngster pet all the bystanders in a roar by the cool reply. "'And 'you're afino old-cock too! "'—Life and Letters of Captain Marrvat.

A driiosT in tiie Stvtion-housi: — Few positions in life can bo imagined moro disagreabio than that of bring imprisoned in a haunted cell in a polico station. The New Orleans Timer tells a most unpleasant story of a ghost-infested cell in the Fourth Pivcinct police station in that city. It appears that several yeara ago " a little old woman" named Ann Murphy committed suicide by hanging herself in this cell, and since that event no fewer than 23 persons shut up in the cell have attempted to destroy themsches in a similar manner, four of these attempts being attended with fatal resulti. One of those lattrl v cut down before life was e xfcinct was a girl nnmed Mary Taylor, who on recovering consciousness declared that while lying on the floor of the cell she \yas aroused by a little old white w oman, dressed in a faded calico dress " with brown jeans and joscy," no stocking, and downtrodden slippers, with a faded handkerchief tied round her head. Her faded dress was bound with a sort of reddit-h-brown tape, and her hand was long, faded, and wrinkled, while on the fourth finger of her left hand was a plain thin gold ring. "This little woman," said the girl, "beckoned mo to get up, and impelled me by Bomo mysterious power to tear my dress in strips, place one end of a strip round my neck, and tic the other to the bars. I lifted mv feet from the floor, and fell. I thought I was choking, a thousand lights seemed to flash before mv eves, and I forgot all until I found myself i«j the room with the doctors and police bending o\er mv. It t£ / not until then I-roally comprehended what I had done, and was, Lbehcve, under a ( kind of trance or influence at the time, ovor which I had no control." Mary Tii>lor had never heard of the suicide of Ann Murphy, whose appearance, according to tin* police, exactly tallied with the description given by the girl. Others having complained m like manner of the ghostly occupant of the oe)r; the police, to tc«t tho real facts of the case, p'aocd a night lodger who hnd but )UBt arrive^ in the cttv n thi* cheerful apartment Being thoroughly tired and worn out, he fell asleep immediately, but shortly afterwards rushed into tho office in a state or terrible alarm. He, too, had boen visited by the little old woman, and wisely declined to sleop another hour in the ■tationi An inebriate stranger precipitated himself u>wn tho hofo 1 . stair*, and on. striking the landing reproachfully apostrophised himself' with -.—"lf you'd been a wantin" to coma down tt urs, why'n thunder didn't you say so, you woodenheaded old fool, and Ida como with you an' showed 3ou the wav "

A Nsuvco gentleman Rave his two little boys & pistol to Elay with the other morning, but when he came homo at noon c took it away from tho surviving onn — American paper. Mm Parlirgton, noticing the death of Mr K,van, tho wcllinuwn imentor, in extremely anxious to know if bd 13 the inventor of kvnn ner>per. « jf o^j T jj as jj p Stanley returned from hm Africnn etpcd tion," wji a French paper, " than the English Government Bends Bartle brothers (Sir Baitlo Frero) to stop the slai c trado on the east cot*, t.