The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1885.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1522, 16 March 1885, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1885.

The European news this morning is unsensational. . General Graham's army, with the exception of the Indian and New South Wales contingents has landed at Snakim, on the Red Sea coast. The force will numlwr 12,000. The journey thence to Berber is 250 miles, 100 miles of which is waterless. There is an ominous silence as to the movements of the Soudan army, «nd for more than a week we have had no news concerning General Wolsely, or his wherealiontS anddoingfroh the Nile. The last information. ,<s= V? c 8n^ > J e p t was that the Britisli force was in the neighborhood of Korti* Tbe news regarding affairs in Gentra! A«ia is a trifle more reassuring. The tension between England and Russia is still nnrelieved, although parleying is still in progress. In the meantime the Russian troops are at Punjdeh, a fort nights march from Herat, the British forces being in the vicinity of the latter place. Rnsaia bag therefore reached fhe limit of her tether in Central Asia, and any farther advance in the direction of Herat pending the negotiations will precipitate war, in which case England and India are in readiness topourat ouce 70,000 troops into Afghanistan, The events of the next few days will therefore bo full of interest

It is announced that Messrs Mitchell and Campbell will despa f ch a special coach to Greymouth to-morrow morning reaching the Greymouth race course in time for the races.

The bazaar in aid of the finds of the Reefton Catholic School will open in the Oddfellows Hall this evening. Great preparations have been made for tho occasion and the display of fancy needle work and fancy wares generally will be unique. Contributions to the stalls have been received from Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Ahaura, Westport, and in fact from almost every part of the Colony, many of the gifts in this class being of a rare and costly description. The bazaar will continue to-day, to-morrow, and probably Wednesday, and bids to be one of the most attractive and successful held on the West Coast.

One day last week a man in Reefton backed himself to drink a gallon of beer at a tingle draught. The beer was measured out into a large basin, and the man, having loosened all his tackle, turned tho beer on. Incredible as it may seem, the fellow drank it all but about a cupfull, but this effectually hitched him up, and so he lost the wager.

We have received full particulars of '•Ada Mantua's" last drawing on the Dunedin Cup, together with the names and addresses of the three principal winners. The first prize, £896 nett was drawn by a musician, of Stuart-street Dunedin ; the second, £448 nett, by an employe of a leading brewery at Invercargill; and the third, £224 nett, by a carpenter of Leitb-street, Dunedin.- The names of the winners are furnished in full to us, but for obvious reasons cannot be published, "Ada. Mantua's" programme on the Great Autumn Handicap is now out. and » filling rapidly. The event .will ologe "early in April next so tliat investors should be in time with their applications. Mr J. Stevenson, MKlaffln's Hotel, is the local agent.

A strong earthquake was felt in Reefton at about 11.55 on Saturday night. The tremor was north and south, and' a gentleman who was sitting reading at the time informs us that the shock Was so strong that a " tall " candlestick on the tabic beside him visibly swayed to and fro in the' direction stated. The house creaked loudly, and the furniture moved. Immediately after a strong guest ef wind swept over the town, apparently in the same direction.

At one of his recent Reefton lectures Professor Black said he was surprised to learn the prices charged for sodium-amal-gam. He said if what he was told were correct the price «»f the article here was a third more than on the other side of the island. This was probably to be accounted for by tho small demand that existed for it, and also to the supposition that it was a very dangerous article, and liable tt; deterioration. He explained,

however, that there was no reason why battery managers should net make the sodium-amalgam themselves. It was commonly believed that the process of manufacturing it was a very langerous one — something like making dynamite or trior© glycerine, but such wa»£i»]]y wttbtfase, and iti order to demonstrate this he manufactured sumo on the plalform. He took a small earthen vessel *ndf potn^T'tnto it a couple of tahlespoonsf uW of oiwfnary quicksilver. The silver was then slowly heated over a spirit-lamp to the degree of about bloodhcat, or perhaps a little more and small chips of sodium were then thrown into the silver, a slight explosion following the immersion of each. .Tbe silver wan then poured on the table, and solidified instantly, forming the sodiumamalgam of commerce. Sodium-amalgam is used for "quickening" and cleaning silver amalgamating tables, and is pretty extensively used. Tlie process of manufacture is so simple and harmless that, as Professor Black says, there is no reason why it should uot be made on the spot. As we have'nt a widow and opiums fund in connection with this paper we dou't advise any of our mining managers to make sodium - amalgam upon the directions given above. There are two compounds known to chemistry which if united in the proper proportion produce a very beautiful and harmless effect ; bnt if mixed in any other than the proper proportion would blow a bullockIray through a key-hole. For all this, however, we think we have correctly described the process, but those who desire more sure information on the subject should refer to Professor Black who, we are sure, will be only too pleased to afford it.

Dr Black is drawing large audiences at Boatman's and his testing classes are well attended. The lectures there will close during the present week.

The autumn meeting nf tlie Reefton Jocky Club will open to-morrow morning. Most of the horses entered are locally owned, and although fast performances can hardly be expected, there is no doubt the events will be squarely run for.

The Boatman's Athletic Carnival will be held at Capleston to-morrow, and judging from the large number of entries already received for the different' events, some really exciting sport may be looked for. The principal handicap race is regarded as an open event, and there is reason to believe that it will be very keenly contested. The admirers of wrestling have nat been forgotten in the programme, and there will be some heavy bullocking iv this department. The coaches have arranged to run at convenient hours during the day.

Attention was directed a few days back to a paragraph in the Canterbury Times, respecting the discovery of gold bearing quartz ati Browning's Pass. It is not yet known whether the locality ia situatld in Canterbury or Westland. In any oase.it is sufficiently accessible to' make it worth a visit from some of our more enterprising miners. It is beyond doubt -4tokfg^

our alluvial gold workings owe their origin to quartz reefs in the main range. In addition t» gold, traces of copper, tin and antimony have been discovered at times and a thorough prospecting would probably disclose many rich mineral deposits.

A reporter of the jtfew York World, who was instructed to visit the starving factory hands as Paterson, in New Jersey, gives some terrible details of what he saw : — ''Those of the inhabitants of the houses who were able to be abroad were thin aud attenuated, and utter starvation was depicted npoti their features. Hollow cheeks and glaring, hungry looking eyes made the men women, and children look little less than savages, but an inside view of some of the houses presented a terrible sight. Ragged little children stood in the doorways and besought the visitors, not for money, but for food. Tho women and children were in tatters, and the latter were supplicating nourishment which the former were unable to provide. Greyhairedgrandmothersand grandfathers sat by, crying like children In tme family of six all were in the last stages of starvation. The head of the family said that neither himself nor amy of his family had tasted meat for three weeks, and it was only through the aid of charitable neighbours that they had obtained even crusts of bread. The neighbours of the surrounding villages bave done all they can to assist the poor people, but the number of destitute has greatly increased until their means are exhausted, and they have been compelled to j?ive up iv despair. One of tho villagers said that one of the families had subsisted for nearly a week upon tbe carcass of a big Newfoundland dog. He said the children eagerly ate the flesh and cried for more, although they, knew whence it came. It is said that cats have also been eaten. Other incidents of a more sickening nature are related."

Mothers with sickly, fretful, nursing children, will cure the child and benefit themselves by taking Hop Bitters daily. Set..