THE The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1049, 15 February 1882, Page 2

THE The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1882.

The contract for supplying the Keep-it-Dark Company in mining timber for two years, was let at a directors meeting on Monday evening, to .Messrs King and Moore. We are requested to state that the Oulton Park Estate, the property of Mr William C. Mirfin, of the Little Grey, which was advertised to be submitted to auction on the 20th instant, has been withdrawn from sale. It is a good feature of the buildings now in course *of erection to replace those lately burnt down in Reefton, that iron is being largely used in their construction. The walls and roofs in every case being enclosed with corrugated iron, instead of wheather-boards and shingles, which ertered so largely into the construction of the old buildings. The plan of leaving gaps between the buildings is also being followed in many cases. Thus Dawson's new hotel will be detached on all sides, and this together with the use of the corrugated iron, will, no doubt, very greatly reduce the risk of fire spreading. Men were sent up yesterday to the Balaklava with instructions to break down quartz for a trial crashing^ arrangements for which having been made with the Rainy Creek Company. This step jyas taken in consequence of the favorable report of some of the directors who had visited the ground, and found sufficient inducement to test the value of the large outcrop of stone. An almost unlimited quantity of quartz is easily obtainable, and as some gold can be seen here and there in the stone, it is thought that with the chance of cheap crushing now offering it will pay to work. A select ball will be held in Eater's Hall, on Thursday (to-morrow) evening, and in the intervals of the dancing . Mr Barry O* v eil'a Combination Company will give a musical entertainment. The music will be under the direction of Mr Kennedy-Scott. There was a considerable stir in the shares of the Lankey's Creek Ctmient Company on Tuesday and yesterday, and quotations advanced to 55., at which figure a good deal of business was done. By lost night's mail Mr Schulhof received from England a parcel of the very latest novelties in valentines. They are probably the choicest things of the kind yet seen on the West Coast, and will be found well worthy of inspection. The'defceimination* of ihe OFovenmrenfc to compel lease applicants to man their leases, although regarded by some of the occupants as a hardship, is at all events likely to force on a good deal of prospecting work. ■' nd the value of systematic prospecting has been forcibly ghown in the case of the Golden Point Company. It may be said that we are indebted wholly to the energy and perseverance of Messrs Perotti and Kilgour for the opening of the Golden Point district ; the locality had been " rushed," but abandoned when only half tried, and it remained for them after long and patient examination, to prove, as they have done almost beyond the possibility of doubt, that the reefs in that district are equal in richness to any stone yel found in the InangahuaP And there is every reason to believe that the same kind of prospecting will be attended with equally fortunate results in other parts of the field. An experiment was made in Paris recently with a view to observing whether the course of a balloon could be con trolled by mean* af an vox. Two balloons ascended at the same time under equal conditions, except that in the car of one of them was a prize rower of the Seine, pnvidud with au oar, with which from

time to time he endeavoured to influence the direction of the balloon. His efforts were, however, without effect, as both balloons followed exactly the same course, and descended in close proximity to each other. It is reported that the Sultan has given orders for the remains of Solomon's Temple to be restored, and the surrounding place to be cleared of all rubbish. On that place stands the Mosque of Omar, the revenue of which is said to amount to £150,000 a-year. Hitherto this sum has always been forwarded to Constantinople, but for the future it is to be appropriated for the above-mentioned purpose^ This act of the Sultan is believe to be a result of the visit of the Crown Prince of Austria to Jerusalem. An Addiaon's correspondent writing to the Westport Times says :— "In the event of the Banks not giving the usual price, at Patrick's time all the gold from this locality is to be forwarded to the National Bank, Reefton. The perils of those who go down to the sea in ships are frequently brought under our notice with startling force. But those who work in the bowels of the earth, and* bring forth its hidden treasures run terrible risks as well. It is appalling to reflect that within one generation over 30,000 lives have been lost in the pits and mines of Great Britain. More ablebodied men than are to be found in any one centre of population in New Zealand. The Riverton Star learns from a correspondent that a scheme is on foot to obtain the gold that is known to exist in the bed of the river Waiau. It is proposed to divert the Waiau from its course into that of the Orawai, the connecting point to be about Rirchwood station. The services of a thoroughly practical engineer will be procured for preparing the necessary plans and estimates, also to report upon the practicability of the undertaking. The New Zealand Times says : — '• As the incidents of the recent elections throughout the celony are narrated in the public prints, the conviction becomes, day by day, more certainly assured that the, Corrupt Practices Prevention Act will prove of little practical use, except as an instrument of retaliation or revenge in the hands of the disappointed candidates. The penal clauses of the Act have proved no obstacle to the ordinary customs of surrounding circumstances of elections, against which the promoters of the Bill, on its introduction in the House, so vigorously and virtuously declaimed." The following will be found useful to persons who are instructing children on the piano : — All the 6 and A keys Are between the black threes, And tween the twos are all Ds ; Then on the right Bide of the threes Will be found the Bs and Cs ; But on the left side of the threes Are all the Fs and all the Es. At Hororata, Canterbury, a few days since, a young man named Rhodes committed suicide in a most determined manner. It is supposed that some love affair had preyed upon his mind, and a few days since he went to Christchurch and purchased some strychnine, taking a friend to vouch for him to the chemist. He stated he required it to poison rats with. He then took the bottle of poison to the place where the young woman lived, ,'and after some conversation deliberately drained off the contents, first, however, trying to induce the girl to drink out of the bottle. At the inquest the jury returned this verdict :—" Cause of death-^Poison, administered by himself ; state of deceased's mind uncertain." Last weak, according to a Canterbury paper, Mr Federli submitted to a number of gentleman some of the practical results of his experiments in sericulture. The operations had been so conducted that the visitora were enabled to see every stage of silkworm life, and also to watch the manipulation of the cocoons in reeling the silk. As a matter of scientific interest, it may be mentioned that of the *£ grain" received from Japan portions were subjected to currents of electricity of % varied strength; and that whilst the "grain" not operated upon is yet lying dormant, that which was subjected to the strongest current is hatching out freely.- Mr Federli purposes, during the forthcoming International Exhibition, to exhibit silkworms in all their stages, and to daily demonstrate the simplicity of the required operations. Professor Neumayer, of Hamburg, and formerly of the Melbourne Flagstaff Observatory, an old friend of the lost explorer, Dr. Leichhardt, has announced his belief in the truth of the statements made by Mr Skuthorpe, of Queensland, concerning the finding of the Leichhardt relics. After investigation into the matter, he has come to the conclusion that the truth of Skuthorpe's story and the genuineness of the relics must be considered as established. The expedition for the observation of the transit of Venus in New Zealand, which is to be sent out from Home, is expected to arrive at * uckland some time in July, so that there will be ample time for making the necessary preparations. The names of the gentlemen composing it are not yet known here. Dr. Hector has recommended the Government to erect the observatory at Napier in preference to \ uckland, the reason being that there is a greater chance of obtaining a clear horizon at the former place, where the sun also rises over the sea. As the transit occurs at an early hour of the day, this is a great consideration. Amongst the recent importations to the Colony has been a quantity of fruit from Australia, and strange to say, a portion of the shipment has reached Nelson. That there is a considerable demand for fruit here is certain, for both the * elson and Motaeka Jam Factories have been purchasing large quantities, and besides this dealers have been purchasing largely for slipping to other parts, and in one line

thia week throe tons of Nelson grown fruit was despatched to the Dunedin FruitT Factory J but when so much fruit is being shipped away it seems unaccountable that any should be sent to Nelson, which is generally admitted to be the garden of New Zealand. — Colonist.