INTERPROVINCIAL.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 452, 25 November 1875, Page 3

INTERPROVINCIAL.

AUCKLAND,

We extract the following items from our exchanges of the 19th and 20th inst: — Rumor says that among electioneering probabilities are these; Sir George Grey to be run for the Thames, in conjunction with Mr W. Rowe on the Opposition ticket ; Mr Swanson to take Sir George's place in the City West : and Mr Sheehan quietly to step into the shoes which in that event Mr Swanson would leave behind him in the Newton District. That is the rumor ; for its accuracy we vouch nothing, because we nothing know—only that if the course of this move run smoothly, the Opposition would effect a a gain of two seats. Messrs Fraser and Tinne are constructing a wire tramway for Tairau for the conveyance of quartz. It is half a mile in length, and falls in the distance over 200 ft Owing to this fall it is self-acting, as the full buckets bring back the empty ones. It is calculated to convey five tons of quartz an hour, at a cost of Is per ton. One of the features of this tramway is the use of a new patent clip, which will hold the buckets stiffly to the rope on a gradient of one inch in two, and yet disengages itself when required, automatically. These wire tramways are coming largely into use in England, where they have been built four miles in length. We yesterday referred to the progress which is being made in the erection of the new building for the Auckland Museum and Institute. Although some delay was caused in the commencement of the work, the contractor, Mr Dickson, considers he will be able to finish it by the 3rd of April next—within contract time. The building is very much required, and its early completion, therefore, is a matter of importance. Its site, which is adjoining the old museum building in Princes street, is central, and in every way suitable for the purpose. The building will be very substantial and commodious. It will contain two large rooms and a number of small offices. The museum room will be 80ft by 42ft, and the lecture room 42ft by 20ft. Owing to the inequalities of the ground, the stone work of the foundation descends no less than 27ft. The foundation will be finished this week, and on Monday the brickwork will be commenced. The new harbour dredge, which is now being built by Messrs Fraser and Tinne, is one of the largest and most complete constructions of the kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The dredge will not, owing to some difficulty in procuring plates, be completed for about three months, but enough can be seen now to show what it will be like. The vessel which will carry the dredge itself is entirely of iron, 65 feet long, 18 feet beam, and 6 feet 5£ inches depth ; in shape nearly an oblong, narrowing scarcely at all at the bow and stern. Her stern is divided, leaving an opening 2 feet 8 inches in width, and 22 feet long, in which the ladder, as it is called, on which the bucket-chain revolves, is raised and lowered. She is very strongly built, the frame being of 2J inch angle-irons, only two feet apart. Her plates are fths inch thick in the top streak, the other 5-T6ths. Outside she will be surrounded by two belts of iron bark, 6 inches wide by 5 inches thick. The dredge buckets are 22 in number, each having a carrying capacity of about 4 cwt. A number of ingenious contrivances exist for raising and lowering the dredge ladder, in which the buckets revolve, and shifting its depth, which can be done with the utmost facility. The machinery is worked by a 15-horse horizontal engine, driven by a tubular boiler, 16 feet long by 5 feet thick, the tubes of which are 4 inches in diameter. She will be a most useful vessel of her class, and may be expected to work great improvements in the harbour. The recent discovery of stolen amalgam at Coromandel and the committal of the thief, or rather one of the thieves, reflects great credit upon the police and upon Inspector Bullen for the ingenious manner in which the crime was brought to light. The ordinary police system is not always successful in the detection of crimes of this nature, and in the case at Coromandel a person who is not a member of the A.C. force had to be employed to trace the stolen property, as the police were too well known to extract much information. Mr Bullen visited Coromandel and formed a theory regarding the missing amalgam, and from the first suspected Boycroft, and had him searched in Auckland and again at the Thames, under different excuses, but,without finding any evidence to confirm those suspicious. The police, to all outward appearance, withdrew from the Thames, and after locking for a “ missing horse,” and chopping firewood for a few days, he contrived to get sufficient evidence to warrant the arrest of Jones and Roycroft. The former, however, was found at once to be innocent, his filling up of the shaft where the amalgam was “ planted” being merely a singular coincidence. The latter was committed for trial mainly upon the evidence of an accomplice. Whilst we are bound to give every praise to the police for the detection of crime, we cannot help censuring the Tokatea Company for placing such a temptation in the way of dishonest persons as that of leaving large quantities of amalgam in a box in their battery without any one in charge.— Thames Advertiser , WELLINGTON, The New Zealand Times of the 23rd says : We have been favored with an inspection of the plans of the building proposed to be erected by the New Zealand and Australasian Mutual Provident Society. These plans have been submitted by Mr Toxward, the architect entrusted with the work of designing a building for the new offices of the society, the present premises having become totally inadequate to its requirements in point of accommodation, no less than in respect of the high position held by the society in the colony. The plans certainly do the architect credit, and if accepted, the building to be modelled after them will be no less a credit to the company. It is proposed to erect the building on the blank piece of ground adjoining the Bank of Australasia on Custom House quay. The structure submitted by Mr Toxward is of the modern Italian order of architecture, three storeys in height, and fifty-six feet in length, the front in Hunter-street. There are five windows in the front of the upper storey, and four on the

lower. The front is highly ornamented, and the sky line is terminated with a neat balustrade. The chief feature in the plans is an elevated tower, which occupies a corner position of the building, and would overlook the harbor, while two sides would face up and down Willis street, thus affording an opportunity of having a town clock —a want that has been, and will continue to be greatly felt in Wellington. It is much to be hoped that the society, if this plan should be adopted in its entirety, will see the advisability of supplying this much needed article, while, by so doing, they will add considerably to the appearance and general effect of their offices; although these towers are not, of course, necessary for office purposes, we believe the idea of the architect is to elect a building of a permanent character that will compare favorably with the future architecture of Wellington as the capital city of New Zealand. The internal office arrangements appear to be all that is necessary to carry out the business conducted by the society in Wellington. The principal office is a fine apartment of 35ft by 20ft, and immediately connected with it are the secretary’s and accountant’s offices. The upper storey comprise a handsome board-room, medical officer’s room, waiting-room, and other necessary official apartments. As stated above, the new building will occupy a very central position in the city, and we shall be happy to learn of the adoption of Mr Toxward’s plan by the local board. There was quite a vigorous competition today, says the Post of the 22nd, in the Crown Lands office to secure the very last unsold section of land on deferred payments hitherto left in the Palmerston district. The section, which consisted of fifty acres of rural land, had been applied for by several persons simultaneously, and the necessary deposits lodged. This necessitated the section being put up to auction to-day. The competitors were Mr Nathan, MrT. K. Macdonald, and an agent of Mr 1). D. Walker, a resident in the Manawatu district. The land was put up at an upset price of £2 per acre, and quickly ran up to £3 l?s per acre, at which price it was knocked down to Mr Walker, The section was good bush land, but rather swampy. This is the very highest price which has ever been obtained for any section of land on deferred payments. It indicates what we have often contended, that the Palmerston district is the most progressive in the Colony.