GAS V. ELECTRICITY.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1638, 4 January 1883, Page 4

GAS Y. ELECTRICITY.

JBtftiic coiiftc!iy6T';tf^^ r :Ztsfi,lumlijlfß!i'clian'l wo have Ik'ch permitted to see some lefcte'rs fiom a Efome coHespoh'deht on the relative merits of 'ilni arid'felectricifiy. /rijc, witflei, after uargful unt/nji-y, js. strongly impiesscd with; tliej i»fea» th.w gas will hold its ouu as/ to] eftfij;i against the electi ie light. It's also mnyobying, largely used for hooting and,.cooking|>u^])()^es, l»y means of stoves, supplied by the juompmves to tin 1 coiihiunors „at ,iv rental of 10 per cent ppv ((nimni on,,,tl)eiri costl Tlie most eoonomic form of lientiiig lequires a gas apeeially m.ii{uf<iohnn'(l for tho pulpo^e. The uM'i'aifu g.is rtstjfj' in tho CoioDy^may, Jiowovoi, tliuwiitei t'ou<iilei3 t be satiafackoiily cippli^d to, .huutjnj,' pui',popc l\y me.vis of -.foves in <|iit'stic»ii, Hliich coatliom iJ'l 10-> to ill 10 each at Hume. As reg.iub lighting, l>y f.u 1 tin 1 , best li^iiiug in London — admitted on nil hantlb.to hu Letter than the bc-t electric — is the Sienions g.»h lighting of Jiolborii from (ir.iy'fc Jiiii Jlo.id to the Viaduct. The total oobt for the whole 22 lamps is only Is7d per hum . Kaeli lamp tjncij a light of about 130 cuullcb, and consumes 22ft. to '2ot. oi gas- per hour, or o.">Oft. per lioui in all. The Corpoiatiou, after long and full testing, have taken the system oft the liandb ot tho Siemens Company, with many expressions of satisfaction. The JOdison liglit has no show whatever agaiiibt the Siemens ga& system. The arc liglit is tho. most economical of the clectiic lights, the ineandesecnt lamps requuing .seven or eight tinieb the power ; but e sen then the arc light cannot /show results at all ecjinil to the Siemens system. Wilting at the end of August, the conc&pomlcntin question says that no elccric company hab ab yet made anything by woilving. — Koo Zealand Tnnvi.

Tin, Kail of Aberdeen lately entertained his whole tenantry — 4000 people, comprising 882 families. A nsiu'ini \\ caught recently in his net at Queen's Ferry, a few miles belqw Clie&tei, England, the largest salmon ever caught in the Dee. It was found to turn the scale at 4011) was four feet in length, and a healthy, clean, and well-developed fish. Tjii; wine harvest of Tuscany is cxttcmely large tin's year. (»rowei.s, from its .abundance, are helling all the old wine they can at any puce, ieaiiiu' they will not have bands enough to hold the now. Tin; Uussinn Minister of Education finds the e\peiimentof gi\ ing elementary msti notion m medicine in the municipal schools of the capital answei so well that he hasnuthoiiscd ltr extension I7VNDKD proprietors in Jluugaij still hold absolute contiol o\ei the liquor trallicon their estates. This i ; , now to cease. The power is to p.i&t. 111 the hands, of the local government tmthoiitics and the landowners will louuive Sl'i, ooo,ooo compensation. Ov all the industual ai ts of the early days of Alcxandia one only still survives — that of fine emlnoidciy. In the time of the Caliphs this had reached an admirable pitch of perfection. In those days the European princes procuied their most costly dress-stuffs fiom the East ; and even the coronation mantle of the ltomun-(!erman Kmpeiois, pic&ervcd 111 the Ticasury of \ r ienua, was woiked by Aiab hands. Novu, (ta>ii-. ok Ciu;ss. — The Rev. C. C. Che\ allier, the \ icar of Heighington, in England, in order to laisc a fund to pro\ ide bells for the parish church, anaiiged, says tlic l'ttll Mall G(i:tt/<, for a game of cherfs to be played liißedworth Piik, by playcis wlio weio dicsffed to repi osont the different pieces on the chessboaid. The day was fine, and a large and fashionable company was attiacted fiom Dailington, Bisliop Auckland, and other parts of the di&tiict. Theie wa*> a consuleuible space of green swaid 1 oped off inthepai k, which was laid out in squaies. The band escorted the opposing forces on to Mil- giound, who matched in piocession and picacnied a mctstpiotuicsquo appearance in their iiflocn century costume. The pievaihng colour of the costume of the playcis on one side wasgioen, and on the other led, The pawns worn dieted as images ol the fifteenth century, with long pointed ahoes and tights. The eastlos weic imitations of the cab tics known in ches&, consisting of canvass in which four young ladies w 01c cm eloped. The bishops appealed in bishops' costumes, those in led being the cardinals. The two gentleman w ho directed theplayeis were the lie\.C. C. Chevallier and Mr Johnson of tin 1 Hcighington School. The moves \v*»U' faultlessly male, showing that tliu pljycii \uu\ been well drilled. Anotiims "gold lush"' is taking place i.v iSouth Afuca, wheio the repoi'ls (says tl\u Calaiiw «n't Jfiuu) of enormously rich finds of s^old being made at the Dv K aap, in the Ti ansvaal, are engaging the attention of all clashes to the exclusion almost of every other topic, AtSpitekof one digger is repotted to have been turning out over 1000/ of gold a week ; a neighbour of his has from 20 to 30 men in Ins employ, all successfully engaged in the all-absorbing search for gold. A thiid man lepoits having picked up Ulb weight of gold in six weeks by mcicly tuimngovtei the stones. On the banks oftheKaap GO iai uieyn claim that their lands aie gold-bearing. JJnt this very facts makes one rather suspicious as to the aaaoition, for it the land in question was ically auriferous it would seem njore likely that the fortuuntu owneis would endeavour co keep the matter secret until its wealth had been pioved. Undoubtfully, however, gold has been found, and in considerable abundance ; but caution should be exercised by those A\ho meditate ti«a "rush.' A shrewd ob.sen or remarks that tho&e with money aie not so eagei to join as those without ; and this indicates that the permanent gold-bearing capacity of this new field has not been absolutely proved as yet. The cxistanee of gold in the Transvaal has long been known, and ' there are vast stores of other minerals, a\ hich, if not so fascinatiuy as gold, will e\ entually repay u'orkiusr e\ en moio thoroughly than the "precious metal" itself. There is always the vUk that "rushes" of this kind will entail much mi&ciy on disappointed speculators and prospectors ; but an accession of fresh population in a naturally rich couutry cnnuot.be regarded -as otherwise than an advantage iv tlie long run. ' •'- '•r' '' ,^ ; • A novki, ' iflea has emanated from Japan. There has lately been a profusion of suggestions for new applications of old forces— the tides, the waterfalls, the wfnds, the waves, and the beat pf the sun But one {jreat, although not easily accessible, source of power has been overlooked — namely, the earth's own 1 iutprnal heat. At a recent meeting of thej Seismological Society of Japan, Mr Milne introduced the subject for ( ' the consideration of the members. He drew attention 1 to the commonly-received notion that the wholeavailable energy on the surface of ihe earth had in someway or othevits action • and its existence traceable to the sun ; but no mention waa made by those who beld this view of the fact that there is a va«fc)mpply of energy in 1 the interior of the ; earth. , iv speaking of this energy, Mr" MilW 6alled 'pavtU&lar attentfbtiltp «hlt portion of it' which- crops put upon^thej lrt cpiO^kie?' Uke^aflaii.j/Jgelwid, j $m\ Ne^o^paH^^fjb the^ovjns of notl springs; j^^olcanyes. Com-i ing to- speeiafrpftDfci^irtj&he, stated, that! 'there' was • ''''aitiiiiMfe^^bpJJfe^^hflt water jn. hot sp.rroll^ll^^W^^iwfifH h«»dred(n)ilesfrojui^™^|o^^||^|blies h'eAtofjbh^ses'pi'ingscoulabecon^M^^g au el^ctrip PUi'i^Mt, and the energJMtapjp- f .mitteci'.tQ we 'to'iVn to be utifis^^MJ | fiith(sr.tihe ilium inatiou or»)fcj^jhj?9)tjujgp thejwuses. Of .cotirse/, Jtlje^g^e^f 0^ Xce^ajJjT.niigjit in Hke',iltiaun6y bfe^brbugbt