THE Inangahua Times, MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 29 August 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1881.

Adveeting to the subject of diamond drills, and thoir great utility as prospectors, we find from a late Victorian paper that a company is being formed at Bal« larafc for tho purpose of importing sis of the machines to explore for new leads on that field. The objects of the com* pany are tliu3 explained in the pvospee* tvs :— The Victorian Diamond Diill Company, Limited : capital £50,000, in 10,000 shares of £5 each, half of which only it is proposed io call up; payable— los on application, 10s on allotment, and the balance by calls of 5g per month. The important vrork that has been aeeonis plisbed in Europe aud America with the diamond drills during the past few years affords ample evidence of the use the machines can be turned to for prospect" ing in auriferous country; Keeenfc surveys and geological research have established the fact that r'tbe districts north' west and west of Ballarat are rich in unworked gold leads, but the enormous coat of sinking trial shafts has hitherto stood in the way of any regular plan being ad» opted for tho proper development of the mines. To meet this want, and to effect at the same time a great saving of time and cost this company has been formed. Arrangements have already been made i vrith leading fjrm.3 in San Francisco to ship per steamer, on receipt of order by wire, six of the lafost improved diamond drills, and it ia anticipated that these will be available for work on *the ground not later than the middle of December next. \ The drills, which will be the property of the shareholders, will'^be rented to the \ authorised agents and managers of mm* ing companies for prospecting and boring purposes, at rates to be fixed by the Board of directors. An idea of the ex* traordinnry saving of expense which the use of the diamond drill effect may be gathered from the fact that the actual cost involved in boring 5000 feet, inclu* sive of wear snd tear, interest on capital (rent of machine), steam power, and labor, was only 2s ,per foot. Mr David Ferris, cf the great Comstock Silver j Mines, Bays ?-— ' HaviDg had tvrontys years' experience in mining on the Pacific coast, being amongst the first who helped to develop those great sUverribearing lodes of the CciKistock, and it was after many years of experience and the expenditure of millions before the diamond drill arrived, which has been the key that has unlorked to the world untold millions of hidden wealth which to-day would have boen unknown to man only 'or the introduction of tho diamond drill.' The coat of the first six dirmond driils rornplc.t.o, with latest improvements, delivered Wee on EaiJarat will involve an ouilnv of about £7000. From enquires it is believed that engagements covering a period of twelve months would be booked for every niaehiuo prior to nr* rival, at snch )Mps ns not only would return the slmrcliolclcrs ft handsome divi« ikvnl on Ihoir shares, but would i-ivn the district of LNllarat such a start m lu.iintr wallers tliat enoimous advantages would bo {.-ciiiViri'd Oil the entire eonrwuuicv." VVti havo pu ! .;!i:il.«.'d the whole of the l>fO.-pecNiH,_ firmly boerunw it contains i:tu; ilicit ii i.-i* !ui:c;vu in iccarii to <Iv> <-«:|-«iM:il:!..i o\" ll'; disiMK-irij drill, and oconuly Yx-fi--,::-,,) )..y r-ul-htiutin;!; Tnrtn j7/A\'s.i I.:- TVLurt, \Ur i\-cl.: *"<:■■ ;i! a an-

ew we-fli.s ago wo suggested tho advisa.-< bilityofa similar company being formed in il-eefton, although upon a less pretentious scale, hut, as the whole of the West Coast is in equal need of these machines, it mU',bt he more advisable to form one large company in Greymouth, Hokiti* k'a, Westport and Reef ton, and import iou? of the drills. As to the great utility of the machines for exploring new ground it is beyond an 7 doubt, and in the face of the small prospect there is of obtaining the loan of the Government drill, at all events for a period long enough to confer any substantial benefit upon the field, the people of the Wost Coast cannot" be too soon brought, to see the urgency of moving 'in the matter.

A final practice of those who are to take part in tho forthcoming Fire Brigade concert will be held in Dawson's Hall thi9 evening, at 8 o'clock.

The heavy rain yesterday" did not deter a number of peraona from holding baited hooks ia the river, in the hope that the fiah would hang themselves on, the number of fish caught bore a very small proportion to the amount of fiahing done, except in one instance, where a boy obtained^ about a dezen fine "grey liog, some of the fish weighing quite half a pound.

Tenders for the erection of court house at Lyell close at the Survey Office, Keefton, at noon to-day.

The shave market during the'pastjvreethas rnaihtaiued a fair degree of activity, and a considerable amount of business has been dsmo in buying and selling. The Lyell Low Level Tunnel Company wa9 brought into notice in the early part of the week, and a slight rise took place in the shares. The Lycll is slowly but surely forcing its way into notice, and in the mean time much at* tenlion 13 diverted from our more immediate district, which on all si des shows great pro* misc.

There was a tolerably stiff fresh in the Inangabua yesterday, carrying the first migras tion of drift wood ; It was feared that the flood would do some damage to the riverbank below the bridge, but expectation was fortunately cheated.

The "final matches in Cochrane 'a billiard tournament weraj played off on Saturday evening last, Messrs Melody and Paine taking first and sneond prizes respectively.

The first of a series of « popular entertainments in aid of the funds of the local. fire brigade will bo given in Dawson'a Hall tomorrow night. It is hardly necessary to point out that the brigade has a strong claim upon public liberality, and as tho charge for admission has been purposely fixed at a very low rate, it is to be hoped that the townspeople will combine to bestow a bumper house.

' 3?he battery returns for the week which wo publish elsewhere, figure up a very res» pectable total, and indicate more eloquently than words the advancing prosperity of the field ; what tends to make the position still more hopeful is the fact that many other mines are well advanced towards getting ont stone, the returns from which will serve to greatly swell the gross product for the incoming, quarter. The fact of the long dormant Fiery Cross and Just-in« Time mines being brought to the front once more, can-* not but impart a great stimulus to other lagging ventures in the Boatman's district 5 boih these companies havo by prudent manaes ment been rescued from obscurity in the course of a few months, and placed upon a better footing than has been their lot for many years past. Mr W. Cochrane announces another of .bis popular billiard tournaments, nominations for which >will close on Wednesday next. From a Lanncosfon paper of the 10th in» slant wo learn that Messrs Samuel Barr, and- G-ulline arrived there from Melbourne on the preceding day, en route for the gold> fields. The 'talented Juvenile Minstrels announce a final performance this evening, at million pvices, having been detained by the weather. Endymion in the Queen-slander learns' that Prince George has been suffering from chilblains on his toe. He believes that chilblains will bo fashionable in Australia just now, and he recommends the aristocracy to apply to the manager of the meat freezing manufactory. Oh !he exclaims, tho rapture of feeling that one's toes itched in concert with those of juvenile royalty !

The Bendigo Advertiser reports the finding, at the root of a tree, by some little children Peterson, of a nugget of pure gold weighing SOozs, which, computed at £3 153 per ounce, mounts to a tidy sum. It is scarcely necessary to soy that an immense crowd congregated to sco the nugget, and that the grehtesb excitement prevailed in the neighbourhood.

Several physicians ere engaged in investigations with a view to discovering an artificial yaceine lymph, which shall possess all the properties of tho lymph extracted from men or animals, without the danger of com« munieating diseases, such as blood-poisoning or syphilis. Oases have been known wheie tho latter disease was paased from 'one patient to several hundreds of persons owing to the injection of the T)rii3 along with the lymph. There is every probability of an artificial lymph being discovered in tho case of the virus of smail-pox, as it has already been discovered by Dr. Pagtern for that of chicken cholera. That eminent chemist found that the virus of the disease could be propagated to any ex.tent by patting a email quantity of it in certain artificial solutions. Such a discovery with regard to the virus of small-pox would probably rendev vaccination a perfectly safe operation uuder all circumstances, excepting the nctual illness of the person to be operated upon.

An ftiNUPing correspondence oppears in the Taranuki Herald between a Mr Col i well of tb.3 Insflswood Hotel, Inglewood, and Colonel I'rimblo, M.H.R. The CaJonel it -will be remembered, in ppenLisig on the Licensing Bill maclo ;t furious onskujjlit upon certain publicans, etrongly coaclemning the liquor tliet cold, aucl relating tv somewhat, apocryphal anuaibto, (lif: point of which win, that he Fad b2ea ViimleJ by (hii;liing one glass of a). The worthy Mr OoUweli who li VCB| ft may bo prcDumotl nci»- the abode of Colonel Trimble became cou^rr.od -'.bout the Colonel's ve.nurks con, -jivi v; tiwr pc-wio mi c >ht imanino that hj

was the dispenser of the villainous fluid which affected a legislator in so peculiar a manner. Accordingly hs wrote to the Colonel on the subject, and.thQ election being near, received the following reply ;— c I am this morniug in receipt of your favor, and regret that an uns guarded expre3Bion should have given you pain. The circumstance to which I alluded occurred before the railway tolnglewood vraa opened, and long before you came to reside there. The fact that I for some years dined daily at your hotel, * both long before you became proprietor and afterwards also,' until my family came into the bush, and the further fact that I invariably took a glass of boer to my dinner, shows the estimation in which I held the hotel and the liquor. If every hotel in the country were conducted as well as yours, there would be less outcry for restrictive laws.'

A plot of land in the City of London, formerly the site of All Hallows Church, at the corner of Bread street and Watling street, and having an area of 3270 ft super, together with the reversion to the buildings thereon in 73 years, has just been sold for £43,200, over £13 per foot super, or at the rate of half a million per acre.