OUR -EXHIBITION LETTER.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 129, 30 March 1881, Page 3

OUR -EXHIBITION LETTER.

t BY COSMOPOLITAN. <&ICTONKB TUBS— J*" ; R. GuER AND Co-— P;est Sokdku ' : 'W mkhit -- c Beabtt op the Australian oposs!dm's' JtvA — CI'^IVAL TO SEAIi^KIN _ -|-Marine mammalia^— -, The »orseal - The red "jt ang aeoo —An ACCEPTABLE gPRESBNT— THE 1 ? YXS" CJOIN AND ' PELICAN — THE Van' TeAN MIXTUKE— AgMIpICAIi /TOAST --. -^-The Adams-Dahlke 'Eilteb— "* Its BUPERIORITT — Me. JrCoswo NeWBERT'» BKPOBT-^FIIiTBRS FOR TRAVELLERS — AWARDS. There are few things which have interested foreigners more thin the furs and skins shown at the Exhibition. The advtince of civilisation m. tht old countries has extinguished /aii proximity, to such wild animals as yield furs capable of being comraercbily valuable. There exists .here the T uqique circumstance, m these: latter days, of the hunter and trapper being m 6ueh contiguity with the manufacturer, that thy two cqine into direct business relations, instead of as at honi^, where seas and continents intervene between these twi>: indispensable factors m the demands of modern fashion and dress. The " Hudson's Bay" and other great fur-purveying companies arealmost mythical m, their existence,, so remote from the centres of civilisation. The first order of merit for furs at the Melbourne International Exhibition, 1881, has been justly awarded to J. B. Green and Co., of 154 Gertrude-street, Fitzroy who has on three previous occasions (1863, 1872, 1873) obtained medals — the patriarch and pioneer among Australian furriers. His exhibit contained many rare and ,cuxious things^ and sohie others whicli are unapproachable elsewhere, ; °V?e had never before Leen so much impressed by the real beauty and excellcuce of the opossum skin. People are too apt to associate with the name the earlier and longer known opossum of America, a very different and immeasurably inferior animal. 'The contrast on s* eing them side by side is stupenduous. There are few thing so perfect as the Australian opossums skin. It partakes both of the nature of wool and hair, and the American variety looks like the skin of a/mangy cur beside -that of the Victorian opossum. Naturalists ascribe much of this beauty to the fact of their feeding on the leaves and young' shoots of the Eucalypti^ which, they believe' furnishes the tissues with splendid material, for growing a beautiful furry skin. The natural undyed skin is a. lovely study colour though m obedience to the demands of fashion, most of them are dyed before manufactured- Mr. Green has perfected a method of cutting down the fur of opossum to resemble the short, close texture of seai-skin, m such an ingenious and skilful mauner that when djed. it-rivals the most expensive seal-skin coßtingsix times as much m price. We shall doubtless hear more of this remarkable adaption. VVe saw among the exhibits a dyed opossHm muff, so r beautiful, that it might have cost, we know not how many guineas instead of less than one. Also the rich deep flouncing for a lady's cloak — an immense quantity of opossum tails— for some fifty , shillings. Another curious thing was a rug made of 700 opossum's tails, sewn ou tape. Another rug had the skin of a " dingo." or wild dog, now gradually disappearing throughout the more settled districts, extended whole on a background formed by a variety of other skins. The -size is somewhere ahont that of an ordinary foxhound, and the bead has a wolf _litce aspect', the skin being of a reddish -chesnut color, and the -tail,- a* usual tipped with white.,- It is very doubtful, however, whether this animal should be regarded as strictly indigenous to Australia. It is quite probable that the original stock m»de its way at some remote period m cqnnection with man, across the narrow seas that separate Australia from the Asiatic islands. .The marine mammalia of the shores of New Zealand have also been laid under contribution by this enterprising furrier, The " fur.seal " or " sea bear, has yielded up his nkin to be utilised f|tr the needs of warmth and fashion. Mr. Green displays the New Zealand seal-sfeiu m three stages— first m its natural state, then pickled,; and lastly dyed. The cost is about jhalf that of the seal-skins used m England. T^e,. greatly „ admire the rich golden biie of some smoking and -travelling caps made of this material, but a set of fqrs of this color is both hand■ome and uij^pommon.. Mr. Green exhibits mnfpj and furs made from that straqgeoreature, the platypus. This.js the f^r which most of all resembles sealtskin : but m its up plucked natural itate, it is to oqr thiqking even more i beautiful. It is a mistake to think man can improve nature. The platypus skin presents m its natural rate, a lovely piece of variegated color, like the silvery moss on some old English trees, Wh.a,t says the bard of AvOn P «< To gild rAflned gold, to paint th« lily> Ii w*»tef ul ud -ridicnioua •xo«m," The kangaroo furnishes a material that will somtdHybe/yet further utilised. Mr Green has been able to manufacture from [the red, tanety of New South Wales, a fur that blasely resembles seal-skin. The Bealiab, somewhat resembling a wallaby, but innaller, U another of hit specialities approaching, chjnchlli,. and his patented. hot water foot»muff made of skins artistically ananged, concealing at the bottom a hot water receptacle, capable of keeping water hot fqr 16» hours, would be a most acceptable present to send to England just now. Other skins, including the native wild cat, other rat^ flyiug•quirrel, are seen m Mr Green's exhibits, as well as the costly fnr« best known m Europe, via , the sable ermine, minx, martin, chinchilla and mu*qnicb, Of Native birds, the New Zealand penguin furnishts a complete set of ladies' furs, and swan down opera cloaks are also feature m the exhiliit. The pelican contributes inufo and collarettes, as well as the better known jgrebe. The sikin of the ehiu > chit^y used foTmats.- --••; It :has! been always a proverb" tbattbe man who is his lawyer has -a fool for his client, and at those private professional, and yet festive occasions, when lawyers meet lawyer*, the fayorite toast is to " the man who makes * his own will " a preceding proverbiaHy. fertile of litigation and fees, Wicked people say here that the toast of the medical profession is^TheYan Yean 'Mixture J" A more isbpminHble beverage than, that bo- called ; witer has neyer been'qh'dured by aloug--'^ffering pejojpl^B^ 6n^. tjbUt 'excites: the

patiently endured." Filtration is the only alleviation of this state of things, and hence it becomes important that <he most efficient filter should be within reach. Mr Adama has supplied gratuitously the International Exhibition of 1880-1 with Dahllie's Victoria filter 1 — some thirty or forty Of them standing m various places about |t he building — and they have proved an inestimable boon during the past five months. The late Mr Gustive Millwood Dab lice, M.S.A.L., was a scientific chemist of such attainments as to secure him the; friendship of Liebig, Faraday, and other eminent chemists. He first invented the *' Carbon Filter," which drove out of the market, at that time, all others. "_'.'.' Not satisfied, however, with that, he set to work again, possessed by the idea that he bad discovered a means of filtration which should so "purify sea-water as to supersede distillation. He succeeded m this, but unfortunately for the world, died an early death. Mr Adams has, however, the secret that is the subject of this discovery, . in his possession, and continues the mauufacture of this perfect and scientific filter, at the manufactory .known as "Dahlke's Filter Works," Prince's Bridge, Sandridge Lload. In reading the voluminous reports of the Rivers Pollution Commission it is affirmed " that the sponge and sand filters are worse thau useless, that animal charcoal filters develop myriads of minute worms." It is not then to be wondered at that hydatids m the human system occur. Mr J. Cosmo Newbery has reported to the Royal Society the results of his experiments with the Dahlke Filter. He states that it is " peculiarly adapted for filtering watir containing organic matter, or water which having passed through lead pipes or vessels containing salts of lead." He says (> that upon receiving the filter into it so utions of sulphate of magnesia and common salt, and found only traces m the water after it had passed through, so small indeed, that they could only be detected by chemical means." These salts were followed by strong acetic and hydro-chloric aoids^ with like results, the water being perfectly tasteless, and he ends his report by saying that it is almost impossible to over estimate the value of Mr Dahlke's discovery as a household filter, and as a means of procuring fresh water at sea. . Mr. A dams has received the extra gold medal and certificate, London ; three special medals, Sydney, 1870, 1879, and 1880-1 ; six silver medals, Victoria: and the special medal, Philadelphia ; also a number of miscellaneous awards, aud frst award m the present Exhibition. The interesting collection of filters m the Victorian Court, coutain varieties for inspection—the household and office filter — the portable canvass filter and wine cooler — the syphon tank filter, with twelve feet of tuba — the travellers syphon filter, m small case — 'the high pressure copper filter, inside silvered, self-clean, sing, for public institutions, schools, &c , made- expressly for the Van Yean and other water works ; and a glass case containing samples of Dahlke's filteriug medium.