HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1879-01-03, Page 44
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
Annual Meeting—James Young.
Estray Heifer—William Aitcheson.
Estray Steer—Robert Campbell.
Estray Heifers—John Nichols.
To Pig Breeders—William T. Carieve.
Monthly Sale—J. P. Brine.
Election A.ddress—Wm. Campbell.
Election Addtess--Wm. Hill.
Chancery Sale—H. MacDerinott,
Apprentices Wanted—Miss Rogers.
Directors Meeting—R. Landsborough.
Estray Heifer—William Grievei.
Protection—John Williams.
nrott Oxpeoitor.
SEAFORTH, JANUARY 3, 1879.
The Old Year and. the New. .
One Thousand .Eight Hundred and
Seventy-eight, with its joys and sor-
rows, has passed away forever, and we
have already entered. upon Seventy-
nine. Time flies fast, and. it behooves
all to improve the passing hoar. The
year which has fled has been an event-
ful one in many respects to Canadians.
It has witnessed the departure from
our shores of one of the most popular
representatives of Her Majesty that has
ever ruled over Canada, and it has wit-
nessed the arrival of his successor, in
the person of the son-in-law of that
same beloved Queen. All will join in
the hope that he may leave behind him
when he returns to his native land, as
good a record -and as many admirers as
his predecessor did. It has also wit-
nessed one Of the greatest, as well as
one of the 'most unexpected political
revulsions that has ever taken place in
Canada. We hope it may not be the
most unfortunate. To many, also, it
has been a year of misfortune, while to
others, 'Of keen, pinching poverty and
distress. A more acute season -of de-
pression than existed in Seventy-eight
has not been experienced in the history
of Canada, and all will join us in the
hope that Seventy-nine may not be so
markedly notable in this respect. We
in Canada, however, and ,especially in
the rural districts, have only cause for
thankfulness that the dull cloud has
affected us so lightly. When we think
of the suffering, the starvatian, in other
lands, and. even in some, of our own
larger cities, it is enough to make us
ashamed of our own murmurings. We
venture to say that there is not a family
in Huron whicheduring the past year,
has missed. a meal. Yet while this is
the case here, there are thousands in
other parts of the world, in the eities of
the mother country, as well as in those
of the United. States, who are famish-
ing for bread. They are willing and
anxious to work, but there is no work
for them to do, and the new year ushers
in for them no hope. The prospects
are not even so bright now as they were
a year ago. They are patiently, but
surely starving. It may well be said
that one-half of tlie world do not know
how' the other ib.aelf live. When we
hear well-to-do farmers and business
• and professional men, whose families
have never known want, and who have
scarcely ever had to deprive themselves
of a coveted_ lueury, much less the
actual necessities of life, complain: and
growl atout hard. times, we often think
how happy and contented the Staxving
thousands of Glasgow or Manchester
would be if they only had a very
small fraction of what we grumblers
possess. If we would but occasionally
take a look arouncl us and consider how
well off and comfortable even the most
unfortunate amongst us are, in com-
parison with the thousands of respec-
table people in those and other places
we have mentioned, we would all' be
much more contented and happy than
we now are. Let us then all endeavor
to enter upou the labors of the new
year with a more contented and hope-
ful spirit, and. although tirnes may be a
little dull, and prices a little low, let us
be thankful they are not worse. As we
have already said, we have little cause
for complaint here, but have much for
thankfulness, and we should give our
thankful feelings practical, tangible
shape, by donating of our abundance t�
relievethe sufferings of those who are
starving and ii want.' We do not
know that a be
Year could be ix
Could not a cou
ter start in the New
ado than in this way.
ty fund be raised and
sent in aid of th'ese who are dying from
starvation? The scheme is worthy of
the attention of our County Council at
its first session. We could well give of
our abundance and we would be none
the poorer, and our offerings would be
a great boon to those who are suffering.
We make the suggestion, and leave it
for those wlio concur with uslo give it
practical effect. In the meantime we
wish our readers a Happy New Year,
and trust that onr noble country may
long occupy the proud position it now
does, and that the day may be long dis-
tant when in it thrift and industry will
only receive as their reward' starvation
and want. That, is not the reward,
they -now receive in Canada.
ineememesmsossmsism•
ALTHOUGH We are not in favor of con-
tinual tinkering with the- municipal
law, yet it is well to make changes and.
improvements as experience dictate's.
We think ib Would be a very great
convenience in towns if the nomina-
tions- were all held. at the one time and
place, instead of as now at different
.times and places. Now, the nomina-
THE HURON EXPOSITOR.
,
e
S •
JANUARY 3, 1879
meminimme,
tions for Mayor and Reeve are held at
10 o'clock, While those for Councillors
are heldin the respective wards at 12
cJclocle. We see no reason why tl.e
nominations should not be held. at t e
same time and place. This would 1e
an improvement in so much as it woi4d
save time, and would secure a -mu h
better attendance of ratepayers, and s
a rule, cause more interest to be taken
in the proceedings.
"The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie was not t e
inventor of the soup kitchen, but he has the ere t
of having beef' the means of making it netese
In Canada."--lioNDox HzitALD.
If this be so, which we do 'not by a
means admit, we sincerely .hope tla
Sir John' Macdonald will be rightful
entitled to claim the credit of maki
it unnecessary now that he is in pow
and has the opportunity. .
Another Raid.
We notice that railway prenacteas
and rings in various parts of the Pro
ince are already on the move, and a e
preparing for a fresh raid on the Loc 1
Legislature at its next session. The e
is a road Wanted from Toronto to S t-
tawa, there is another from Bellevi e
to some place else, and there are thr e
or four minor schemes, all of which a e
ready for a slice of the surplus in t ie
Ontario Treasury. We have frequent y
expressed iit as our view that there a e
now just about as many railroads as t ie
Province needs, or can support, and ad
from the pnblic Treasury should be giv n
very sparingly, if given at all. It wou d
a
a
be well for:members of the Local Le
islature to prepare themselves to turn
deaf ear to the seductive and silve
tones of 1,the railway projector. If
railway if of sufficient importance a
,necessity to justify its promoters
carrying it to completion upon th
own resources, a slight bonus from t
Government in the way of recogniti
might not be out of place, but wh
these schemes rest mainly on Muni
pal and Government aid, and whe
they, are net likely to pay running e
penses even it completed, it is simp
wasting niOney to encourage them.
the matter of railway grants and
dealing with railway prom.oters fro
this out, it behooves the Governme
and. the Legislature to move carefull
If there iS money to spare there a
many way' s in which it could be mo
profitably invested than in building n
railways, except it be in the new
sections of the Province, where roa
are needed as colonizers. Any of tho
which are no* mentionedehowever,
not of this class, and if money is pro
ised them at all, it should be
moderate sum. If the people of To-
ronto and ]Peterboro, and Ottawa waiit
more railiaays to assist in building iip
their citieshet them show the necessity
for them by subscribing liberally to-
ve
11
e.
wards them themselves, instead. of look-
ing- to the Ontario Government
shoulder the lion's share of the burde
It may be necessary for these places
have a shorter dbunecting link betwe
them, but We do not see that it is nee
ed in the interests of the Provin
For all that any person wants to do
•
_ •
Ottawa he can get there quite co
yeniently enough by the present avenu s„
and as for our connection with MOn-
treal, the ;Grand Trunk and the St.
Lawrencecan easily carry all that ve
shall have to send. over them for ma1y
years to came. :When we say that tiro
other schemes mentioned, with the x-
ception of course of that from Bayfi Id
to Clintonare even less needed than the
Toronto and Ottawa road, it will tbe
seen that, if aid be granted at all it
should. be , on aevery small scale.
o
11
e.
at
'A Real Utopia.
It has hitherto been a question of
considerable doubt, whether a sm 1
compahy of.human beings, brought jup
to civilized life; and then left to them-
selves on a desert island, or somewh re
apart from civilization, would contin ie
from generation to generation, to ret
the custoras and virtues that had b en
traditional with them, or would deg n-
erate into the condition of . save es
•
This doubt would. seem, to have been at
length, pnt to rest, as the follow ng
particulars show that there is at le st
one existing example of such a con-
minity having risen far above its
original Source morally, and hav ng
improved and purified itself with4ut
the aid of outside influences. e
notice that Admiral A. F. R. ile
Horsey, of her Britannic Majesty's s ij
Shah, and Commander -in -Chief on. he
Pacific Station, has just submitted to
the Lords Commisioners of the Ada
ir-
ality a report of his visit in Septem er
last to Pitcairn's Island, a bit of Eng "sh
earth located in. the Pacific Oce n.
This island, he says, is little more t an
two miles long, and. about one nile
wide, stands high, as becomes an •ut-
post of Christian civilization, has a
genial climate,' and fruitful soil, nd
seems, morally and socially, to b -a
veritable Utopia. There are just nin ty
of the inhabitants, and the little c HI-
raunity presents human societyredu ed
to its simplest terms, and, theref re,
very convenient for study. It shoes,
for instanCe, the tendency of wome to
outstrip Men in numbers, for thoug it
began three generations ago with an
equal division of the sexes, there re
now 49 females to 41 males. The c n-
ails is a very eimple matter; there e
16 men and 19 women, 25 boys and 30
girls. But the Main interest in t 'Et
rnicroosm of human society is to be
found in its moral, religious, and social
condition. In the first place let us note
the pOple are healthy. There have
been but 12 deaths in. 19 years, and.
the _undertaking ;business is extremely
411. I This may not be unconnected
with the further fact that there is no
doctor on the island. The few simple
remedies that may be required for the
unavoidable ailments that flesh is heir
to, even in the South Pacific Ocean, are
administered with judicious .care by
the " Governor." .Contagious diseases
are utterly unknown, and the few ani-
mals—sheep, goats, pigs, fowls, dogs,
and cats—that share the joys of the
island with its human population, are
entirely free from the maladies that
sometimes afflict their kind.
We have spoken of the "Governor,"
for, the island being English and the
people of Anglo-Saxon blood, at least in
part, there is, of course, a Government.
It is the simplest of all forms and seems
to work admirably. The Governor,
who, by the way, is ehosen on the 1st
of January each year by the people, all
Persons male and female above the age
of 17 having a vote, not only executes
the laws but makes them. The task
does not appear to be a difficult one, as
the only crimes contemplated as pos-
sible are theft, fornication, and pro-
fanity, and no instance of any one of
them has been known since the present
laws were enacted.. The executive,
legislative, and judicial powers of the
Government are vested in one man
without formiug much of a burden, and
the present depository of this one man
power, Mr. James Russell McKay,
unites with his other functions that of
steersman of the only boat that his
little dominion possesses. He guides
this whale -boat and the Ship of State
with equal skill and ease. He has as-
sociated. with him in the Government
two councillors, for advisory- purposes
only, and the "heads of families " are
called together for consultation when-
ever any affair of sufficient moment to
justify it is to be considered. There has
.never been a case of official corruption
i
or dereliction, and investigations are
unknowneall of which may be due to
the lact that th'ere are no political
parties there and but one office to be
filledPerhaps another explanation
1
may be found in the fact that the people
have no money or currency of any kind.
Their traffic among themselves is purely
one of barter to meet their simple con-
venience. Nobody is'rich, nobody poor,
nobody in. debt. The productions of
the iSland are sufficient for the wants
of its people, and they have no trade
,
except such as is involved in the ex-
change of some of their fruits and veg-
etables with a casual ship's crew for
artiqes of clothing and a few tools.
But the chief glory of the Pitcairn's
Islanders is yetito be mentioned. As
we have said, the three crimes of their
simple code are practically unknown,
and, ?more than that, they are free from
all vices and devoutly religious. Alco -
bol iS never used, unless on rare occa-
siona, as a medicine. There is a church,
which is also a school house and. a lib-
raryi Ser,vice is cenducted according
to the liturgy of the Church of England,
every Sabbath morning and afternoon;
there is a Bible -class every Wednesday,
and a general prayer -meeting on the
first Friday of every month. Besides,
family prayers are said in every house-
hold the first thing each morning and
the lest thing every night, and no food.
isev r taken without an invocation of
Goals blessing before and after. Mr.
Simon Young is the pastor, and also the
schoblmaster, of the people, and. his
daughter, Rosalind Amelia, assists hint
in the latter function. . Every child of
proper age, and every unmarried. wo-
man, of whom there must needs be at
least three, are required to, attend
school from 9 A. M. to 12, and from il
to 3 P. M., and are taught elementary
branches, together with Scripture his-
tory as a "higher branch." There are
a few simple industries, such as tilliik
the soil, fishing, and house -building, flir
the men, and. cooking, sewing, hat arid
basket making, for the women. e
are not surprised to learn that the peo-
ple live together - in harmony and. con-
tentrnent, and are cheerful and hospi-
table, as well as virtuous and religious.
New, what is the origin of this little
community, with its ideal perfections,
this Utopia, this new Atlantis, this homie
of Paradisiac' purity? These people are
the descendants of the eight 'mutineers
of the Bounty, who set Captain Bligh
adrift in the Pacific ninety years ago,
and of the dusky wives from Otaheti
whom they took unto themselves. The
oldest inhabitant, Elizabeth Young,
,aged 88, was -the daughter of John Mills,
gunner's mate of the Bounty, and his
Otaheitan wife, and the oldest man,
who rejoices in the name of Thursday
• October Christian, and is 59 years of
ageeiS the grandson of that 'Fletcher
Christian. who headed the mutiny in
1789. It has long been.. regarded as a
strange and fascinating story, that of
the _Bounty mutineers, but not the lest
interesting feature of it is the present
condition of the little colony founded lay
the descendants of those fierce outlaws
of the sea, which for twenty years was
utterly unknown to the world and h s
rarely been visited. since its discoveiy.
It has certainly belied. the theory that
men with Christian traditions and
herited virtues necessarily degenerate
to savagery if left to themselves int a
small and is9lated community. It would.
be a pity if the serenity of Pitcairn's
Island should be disturbed- by any in-
trusion -from the wicked. world beyond
its surrounding waters, but A.dmiral De
Horsey mentions one OfflittOUS fact,
that a single "stranger, an American,
has settled on the island," and sagaci-
ously adds, " a doubtful acquisition."
News of the Week.
HA.NDSOME.—Wm. H. Vanderbilt gave
his broker, George A. Osgoode, a Christ-
mas present of $50,000.
Smoot, BOARD. — The Edinburgh
School Board have arranged to supply
seventy destitute children daily with
food.
FIRE IN HONG KONG.—A. tremendous
conflagration broke out in Hong Kong,
China, on Christmas Day, and raged all'
day following.
DIED.—Dr. Millingen, who attended
Lord Byron during his last illness at
Missoloughi, died at Constantinople
on the ist of December, at the age of
78.
CHILDREN DROWNED.—A Paris de-
. spatch says forty:eight children have
been drowned by the breaking of the ice
on a pond at Chapele Mochin, in. the
department.of Orne.
FIRE IN THE KHEDIVE'S PA.LACE.—A
destructive conflagration has occurred
in. the Abdin • Palace, the winter res-
idence of the Khedive, in Cairo. Half
of the building is destroyed.
THE OLDHAM STRIICE.—The Oldham
cotton operatives' strike is virtually
over. The district meetings have de-
cided to leave the question with their
committees, who have requested an in-
terview with the employers.
GERMAN MINISTER.—Myer S. Isaacs,
a prominent Israelite and senior editor
of the Jewish Messenger, of New York,
is being urged on by the President to
accept the position of Minister to Ber-
lin, in the place of Bayard Taylor lately
deceased.
SMALL PDX AND FAMINE.—, -A telegram
from Gears, in North Brazil, reports
that deaths in the capital from small
pox number 600 daily. The distress in
the interior of the Province is appalling.
The people are devouring the carrion
and corpses of the dead.
BEECHER ON THE AMERICAN GOVERN-
MENT.—Henry Ward Beecher, in his
sermon on last Sunday came down for-
cibly ou the United States Government,
and said its policy towards the Indians
was the most ignominious ever witnes-
sed. by liberty loving people.
A PHENOMENON.—A river in Hayti re-
cently changed its bed. and crossed the
town of Porte de Tails, overflowing the
principal parts and destroying many
houses and lives. St. Louis del Nord,
situated about three miles distant,
is said to be entirely destroyed by the
flood.
FATA_LITY.—FiWi Sudden deaths oc-
curred in Brooklyn on Christmas day.
The Rev. Dr. Uriah Scott was one of
the victims. An unknown young Ger-
man the same evening went through
the -New York train on its arrival at
Newark searching for some one. He
appeared disappointed, went out on the
depot platform and blew his brains out.
ROBBED—Lord and ' Lady Rosebery
,have been robbed while travelling from
Scotland to London. During the stop-
page of the mail at York they left the
carriage a few minutes for refreshments
and on returning to their eompartment
Lady Rosebery missed a hand bag con-
taining jewels valued at 2500, and. a
large sum of money in gold and. notes.
The thief got away without detection,
and the property has not yet been trac
ed by the pelice.
SINGULA1i1 ROBBERY.—Charles Otto, a
jeweller at Peoria, Illinois, reported to
the police the other morning that he
had been robbed of $2,800. cash, and
$10,000 in goods. An invegtigation into
the affair indicated_ Otto himself as
the thief. He was arrested, his broth-
er being held as an accomplice. Otto
is a young German who had moved in
the best of German SoCiety there.
THE -ESTIABLISHED CHURCH.—There is
said to be a serious movement going on
among the working classes in many of
the towns in the midland counties and
north of England, having for its pur-
pose an organized attempt for the dis-
establishment and disendowment of the
Established Church, and the appropria-
tion of its large revenues to relieve the
grinding diptress now pressing upon the
people. Ai tentative manifesto which
has been prepared in aid of this move-
ment, but not yet printed, shows that
the annual sums paid to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York,
the twenty-six bishops, the twenty-nine
Deans and 128 Canons of various cathe-
drals, amounts to $1,684,000, and. it is
_argued that this annual sum, if invested
for the amelioration of the industrial
classes, ,would produce results of almost.
incalculable economical and. social
value.
ANOTHER SHIPWRECK.—The Evening
Telegram's London special says the
steamship Emily B. Souder, which left
New York on the 8th of December,
bound for Turk's Island and San Do-
mingo, foundered at sea after bears
only two days out from New York°.
This new's reached London on the 27th,
being telegraphed from- Kingston, Ja-
maica, by ,the Lloyds' agent at that
place, who states that two of the crew
of the ill-fated vessel—the only sur-
vivors of the wreck—had just been
landed at Kingston. e What became of
the passengers, officers and the remain-
der of the crew is not known, but the
two wrecked sailors, who were picked
up by a passing vessel, state they be-
lieve that all the others on board were
drowned.- The Souder was looked upon
as a very dangerous craft by the ship-
owners. She was a wooden propeller,
built in 1861, 203 feet long, and of 778
tons burden. The list of officers and
crew number 29.
MELANCHOLY Evetera--The Right Hon.
Sir Win. G. Hayter, formerly a well-
known. Liberal member of Parliament,
and at one' time Secretary of the Treas-
ury, has been found drowned. in a lake
on his estate in. Berkshire. The de-
ceased was born in 1792, and was edu-
cated at Winchester and Trinity Col-
lege, Oxford, where he took a second.
class in classics. He was called to the
Bar of Lincoln's Inn in 1819, and prac-
tised in the Court of Chancery. In
1827 he was returned to Parliament
from the City of Wells, and held the
seat until '1865, when he retired from
political life. He was Judge Advocate
General from December, 1847, till May,
1849, when he was appointed to the im-
portant office of Financial Secretary to
the Treasurer. In 1850 he was appointed.
Parliamentary Secretary until 1858,
when he was rewarded with a baro-
netcy. in 1867 he was the recipient of
a handsome testimonial presented at a
banquet presided over by Lord Palmer-
ston. Deceased was a Deputy Lieuten-
ant for the County of Berks.
STILL RAGING. — The visitation of
small -pox with which Brazil is now
afflicted. does not wane. The ,Eraperor
has telegraphed. for all the, vaccine
that can be procured in the United
States.
DUELLING IN PARIS.—In consequence
of angry words on Saturday between
Baron Rogniat, diplomatic attache, and
Count Pairnett, foreign officer; a duel
with swords was fought on Sunday.
Pairnett received two wounds, one in
the shoulder serious.
THE GLASGOW BANK. — The City pf
Glasgow Bank liquidators have only
realized £800,000 as a first instalment
of the call upon the shareholders due
30th inst., instead of £2,000,000 nomin-
ally due. The subscription in aid of
the sufferers by the Bank failure now
reach £321,000.
DECLINE IN MARRIAGES.—An indica-
tion of the depressed state of trade in
Scotland may be found in the fact,
mentioned in the Registrar -General's
return for last month, that the propor-
tion of marriages registered. in the prin-
cipal towns during November seas lower
than for any corresponding period since
1862.
TEE CHURCH AND FINANCE.—Leading
Roman cathelia are becoming aroused
to the seriousness of the financial com-
plications threatning the Church in
Cincinnati and vicinity. Various
schemes for raising money have been
devised. One is to sell the Cathedral
property to persons who will lease it to
the Archbishop until re -purchased.
SUICIDES.—Charles Moog, a Prussian,
who came to the United States a few
years ago with $5,000, was -unfortunate
in the bakery business, and hung hina-,
self inNewYork on Monday, leaving
a widow and five children destitute?,
James Kavanagh, a well-known resici,
dent of East Baltimore, committed;
suicide by cutting his throat in presence
of his family on Saturday, because of
financial reverses. While the blood
was spurting from the wound he picked.
up his youngest child, embraced and
kissed. it tenderly.
INSTRUMENTAL' MUSIC IN CHURCHES-
-The Free Presbytery of Caithness,
Scotland, are exercised on the subject
of instrumental music in church, the
matter having been brought up in con-
nection with a letter in the newspa-
pers, which mentioned that a harmoni-
um was in use in the Free Church at
Florence. The Rev. Mr. Gunn, Wat-
ten, declared that instrumental music
in public worship was sinful, and led to
sinful coursesand that on the -occa-
sion he had. thought it proper to warn
his people against this particular sin.
On Mr. Gunn's motion, the Presbytery
expressed. regret that any member of
the church shOuld publicly countenance
such a practice.
THE VATICAN AND GERMANY.—The
Vatican organ, the Observatore kimano,
publishes a letter from the Pope to the
Archbishop of Cologne, itt which the
Pope says that from the commence-
ment of his pontificate he has desired
peace between princes, people and
church. He has turned his thoughts,
itt preference, towards the noble Ger-
man nation, but God alone knows
whether his work is near success. He
declares he will continue in the path
hitherto pursued, and appeals to Ger-
man Bishops to obey all the laws not
contrary to their faith, and. concludes
by saying, " We must pray God to lead
the noble and powerful Emperor of Ger-
many and his advisers to show more
disposition towards goodwill." The let-
ter is dated December 24th.
THE WOULD-BE ASSASSIN.—The pastry
cook who lately undertook to kill the
-Ring of Italy had sold his jacket in or-
der 'to buy a dagger, and when the
weapon was in his swarthy bosom there
were still a few coins in his pocket. He
then bought some red. stuff and made a
flag, sewing the strips together in his
own room. When he was arrested. he
plunged his hands into his pockets, and
throwing a few coppers on the pave-
ment, cried out, "1 have no further
use for money."1 In his room was found.
a largeeoctavo volume in manuscript.
It was his sketch of the ideal republic
for which he longed. It was a queer
medley of subversive and. rehgious ideas,
with references to Jesus Christ and.
Brutus—a scheme in fact for an inter-
national republic inspired by religious
fanaticism.
The Australian Colonies.
TASMANIA..—BOUNDARIEB.
North, Bass Strait • east, south and.
west, the Soath Pacific Ocean.
EXTENT.
Greatest length from north to south,
170 miles; greatest breadth from east
to west, 160 -miles. Area, including
islands, 24,330 square miles, or 15,500,-
000 acres. Area of the surrounding
islands, 1,131,500 acres. Population,
104,000, of whom 48,000 are females,
and. 59,119 of the total number have
been born in Tasmania. This is the
land of convicts. Many hundreds
have been banished to this colony.
Some of them are very rich; others
again are found. more or less in all the
colonies and from the lowest order of
society.
PHYSICAL OUTLINE.
That feature of the country which is
naost striking and which has mainly
determined. its surface configuration, is
the extensive development of the trap
and basaltic formation. A. plateau or
table -land about 3,000 feet above the
level of the sea occupies a great part of
the centre of the island. This elevated
region is formed chiefly of mountain
masses of trap greenstone and. basalt,
and the other detached mountains,with
few exceptions, are either entirely com-
posed of the same materials or have
been formed by eruptive outbursts of
'trap elevating and overflowing the
older sedimentary rocks. The trap
formation occupies about 10,000 square
miles, or nearly two-fifths of the whole
colony.- Granite also is saicl to occur
in several of the mountains. especially
in Ben Lomond. and the Frenchman's
Cap. To the north of the central trap
district the framework of the country
consists of rocks belonging to the si-
lurian system, broken up and inter-
sected by eruptions of greenstone and.
basalt and overlaid in several places by
various tertiary formations. Tovaards
the south the country is chiefly occu-
pied. by various members of the great
carboniferous system. The different
strata of this system have also been
greatly disturbed, broken 'bp and alter -
-
ed by the intrusion of igneous rocks,
and. herea too, depressions in the gen-
eral framework have been filled up by
various deposits of tertiary age. The
different parts of the carboniferous sys-
tem are Well represented. in the neigh-
borhood. jof Hobart Town. In the
sandstone rocks there are certain cav-
erns which, being inerusted with a
pure white coating of muriate of soda,
are both interesting and beautiful. Not
far from Hobart Town, on the banks 'of
the Derwant, there are extensive de-
posits of travertin, where a light builds'
ing stonelhas been quarried. for about
40 years. Itt this formation are found.
numerous fossilized plants, fresh water
shells and other organisms of such a
kind. as to prove that the whole has
been deposited during. the tertiary
period. To the west of the trap, mar-
.ble is found in several places. The
mountain limestone having been ex-
posed tol intense heat from. igneous
eruptions, has been converted. into
fine crystaline marble. The prevailing
color is blue, but the rock is often rich-
ly variegated and streaked. with irregu-
lar lines 0 white. At the great bend
of the .RiFer Gordon, where the water
rushes through a deep, rugged. Chasm
between the mountains, marble is
found_ underlying high, massive rocks
of water -worn quartz. It is also found
at several other places in the, channel
of the saMe river. There is great vari-
ety itt the nature of the soil in different
parts of the island; in some parts it is
-poor and; in others remarkably rich.
The central plateau affords a great ex-
tent of excellent pastures, and the al-
luvial soil of the lower plains and. val-
leys being derived_ in a great measure
from the !disintegration of the trap, is
exceedingly fertile. The scenery is
very varied, nauch of it being marked
by a quiet; homely beauty, while some
of it, as at St. Mary's Pass and. other
places, is noted for its wild, picturesque
grandeur
CLIMATE.
The climate of Tasmania is remark-
ably healthy. This is so well recog-
nised that it has beat .called the sani-
torium of Australia. Extremes of heat
and cold are unknown. During the
surrirner, hot winds do occasionally oc-
cur, but they are neither BO frequent
nor so intense as in Australia, and the
winter is 'never so severe as to put a
stop to ordinary out -door operations.
ABORIGINES.
The natives of this colony, as ,,well as
those of Australis., are the most hideous
beings alive. They come as near Dar-
win's missing link as can be. The men
are very icpert in throwing the boom-
orang. The weapon is made of wood.
and nearly at right angles. They will
throw it around. a tree with ,force
enough to kill a man and the boomer-
ang will Come back and fall at their
feet. They are also very expert with
the spear. J. C. McKee.
n's
ammommimeamonamsemmx
Notes on California.
PLACER MINING.
This, which in the days of '49 drew
adventurers from all parts of the *orld
to California, is now a thing of the past
with all practical miners. Still a de-
scriptionof it may not be out of place.
Marshal's wife—the credit is generally
given to the man—happened. one day
to be walking by the mill race of Gen.
Sutler, Marshall's employer, when she
noticed. something yellow glittering in
the stream. On examination, it proved.
to be gold, and the news soon spread, in
spite of, Marshall's endeavor to keep
the discavery a Secret. At the com-
mencement, then, gold was searched
for only in the beds of streams, and
soon every stream in the new El Dora-
do was being eagerly !prospected. A
1
placer miner needs only a shallow iron
pan. the size of a milk 'pan. With this
he goes down to a stream, takes up the
richest dirt and. gravel from the bottom
of it and; partly fills his pan. He now
rocks this from side to side, causing the
gold to settle O11 the bottom. To catch
the fine gold, a little quicksilver is
sprinklea in. A. constant motion or
rocking is kept up, adding water a few
times and gently tipping the pan. The
motion causes the lightest substances,
the dirt and gravel, to pass out, and in
time the gold, only remains, mixed, per-
haps, with a little black sand or iron
ore. This sand is separated. from the
gold by the aid of a common horseshoe
magnet.! If quicksilver is used, a heavy
naixture or anaalgara of gold and ("nick -
silver will. be found on the bottom of
the pan,! which is easily dipped up with
a silver Spoon. Other metals may not
he used, as they would amalgamate
with the mercury. The amalgam is
put in a buckskin bag and pressed by
hand. Most of the mercury passes
through' the bag, leaving a substance
resembling pure silver ore. This is
heated in a retort, the mercury passing
off as a as, which is condensed to be
used. again. The residue is the much
covetedl gold dust. Besides pans, a
wooden 'conduit, called a Long Tom,
now an obsolete term, was used in
placer mining. Streams were taken
out of their natural Channels by ditches
and wooden acqueducts and conducted.
to old beds of streams rich in gold. The
water was made to run through the
Long Torn or trough, into which men
constantly threw the gravelly dirt.
Across the trough slats of wood were
nailed a, few inches apart. Into these
crevices the gold settled, and the gravel
being lighter, was swept away by the
force of the water. Quicksilver was
used. in this, as it is in all places where
fine gold_ is found.
Placer mining is now carried on only
by the Chinese. They work in the
beds of rivers, where, I am—told, they
only get from 50 cents to $1 a day.
Sometimes, however, rich strike's are
made by them. The overland traveller
may see the. Chinese at work, using
both pans and troughs, at Auburn and
west of it, on ground long since aban-
doned by regular miners as worthless.
The' richest places were itt early times
mined. in this way. , Many old. miners
thought it the only way, and. when
placer mining did notpay they left the
state.
But in the whole mining region large
beds of gravel were found remote from
rivers .and. with fine gold scattered.
through all parts of it. But to work
this an imnaense amount of water was
necessary, and. if conducted in the old
way, endless labor. And now, who was
the inventor, I can not tell you; but
we to -day have the grandest and most
fascinating work in the world.
tilDliAITLIC MflttN
I have watched the miners at their
work for hours at a time, and expect,
when I see the work again, to view it
with unabated. interest. The Niagara
has no attraction like it. I will take
Iowa Hill, a village, tailed. in Califor-
nia a mining camp, 6 miles up the
American River from Cape, Horn as an
instance in this kind of raining. The
gravel beds are here 1800 feet above the
American River. The descent to theriver
is veryseeep in some places,perpendicular
200 or 300 feet, and averaging about 400
incline. To give you an. idea of the
grandeur of this part of California, let
me tell you that -though Cape Horn, is
consideredethe nao-st sublime point of
interest of the many on the overland
route, still you but imperfectly see that
from the railroad, and. besides there
are several places in this neighborhood.
more awe iiispiring. The gravel beds
are -here very rich and water alone is
needed. To get it many effoets by pri-
vate individuals have been made. Small
streams emptying into the Arcierican.
River were tapped or taken out of their
channels in ail directions around the
IttiDing claims,and the water conducted
in ditc,ies for use. But this was not
nearly enough, and for years a Scarcity
of water has been the result.- A few
years ago, therefore, a company was Or-
ganized to tap the south fork of the
American River 60 Miles above, and
the canal is now completed. The canal,
near its termination, is constructed. ou
a ridge of land, and. that the pressure
may be still farther increased, the late -
ter part of it is a flume raised 120 feet
above the ground. From the flumes
above the water is taken down to the
gravel beds in thick iron pipes. These
pipes are malein sections 12 feet long
and form perfect joints by being screwed.
together. The pipes at the conameiace-
ment are 18 inches in aiameter, the
size decreasing in the descent, but the
iron made thicker and vastly stronger,
to resist the enormous pressure. Whea
the water reaches its destination, from
200 to 400 feet below, the pipe is re-
duced to 6 inches. To this, on a mov-
able pivot, is attached. a brass nozzle
having an orifice of 3 inches. The
pressure is reckoned. by the number of
feet of perpendicular descent. Water
in a confined pipe descending vertically
400—the pipe may be 1800 feet—is
said to have 400 feet pressure. Such a
force is tremendous. The stream of -
water as it emerges feels as solid as
rock. The bed or gravel at Iowa. Hill is
150 feet deep from the surface of the
ground to the foundation or bed. rock.
A miner, from the distance of 200 feet
or more, in case of danger, directs the
force of the stream at the lower part of
the bed, hollowing it out, and in time
causing all above to come crashing
down.e In the fall, boulders or large
loose rocks bomia away -for hundreds of
feet, sometimes destroying the piper
and all his machinery in their course.
,After the fallthe water playing on this
mass of crumbled earth, plows through
it like magic. Rocks as large as a
man's head fly in the air as if shot from
a cannon when the water 8triklu
them. Every thing, the boulders
excepted; is swept away as easily
as a broom sweeps chaff, into
the sluice below. This is a ditch, elat
sometimes through solid. rock, about 4
feet wide and about 3 feet deep. When;
made through granite no side work is
needed, but in other places the sides are
built of thick planks, and look verylflee
a mill finial°. Across the Fluke, pine
blocks 1 foot square lby 8 inches deep
are laid close together on the bottom,
and having a space below of 3 inches to
allow tbe gold. to drop in. The sluice
has an. incline of 1 foot in 12, which is
sufficient to:carry off all but the largest
boulders to the more level ground be-
low, when the heaviest material is de-
posited or dumped, the and. and mud
being carried. on to the sea, but in its
course much is left M the beds of rivers.
'While washing the gravel into the
sluices care is taken. not to overload the
sluice, for if so gold is carried off. In
fact, with all care, the finer gold is con-
stantly being washed away, settling,
only in the dumps " many miles off.
Every month. the sluice boxing is taken
out for a "clean-up." At the eom-
mencement of the run mercury is scat-
tered into thewater all alongthe sluice.
This settles into the crevases between
the rows of boxes and forms an amal-
gam with the fine gold instantly on its
approach. A gentle streana of water
after the blocks are taken up carries the
amalgam to the end of the sluice, where
it is taken up. Nuggets or himps eef
gold are found scattered. along the sluice
way. If the gravel is mixed with sand
and. clay it forms cement, a substance
almost as solid as rock. In this case a
200 foot pressure is inadequate to un-
dermine the 'bed., and. blasting is re-
sorted to. A tu.nneI or horizontal We
is made several hundred feet into the
bed. A charge of from 50 to 300 ber-
rels of powder is then put in, tamped,
and exploded by electricity or a fuse.
To carry on such extensive operations,
you will easily understand, repitOs
capital, and. the miners, therefore, now
consist of a few wealthy employers and
the many -poor employed., the latter
mainly composed. of the servile Chinese.
JAMES VERCOD.
A Bag of Wheat.
To the Editor of the Huron Expositor;
Oh, that wonderful bag of wheat, Mr.
Editor! Have you. heardof that bag of
spring wheat which I exhibited. at the
TucOrsuaith. Branch Agricultural :So-
ciety show,held in Seaforth this fall?
it is really surprising what stories Solna°
people get up for the sake of making a
talk. Have the people of Tuckersmith
given up discussing the National -Policy
more especially the Directors of the
Tuckersmith Branch Society ,since they
returned Mr. Cartwright to Parliameht
Well done, Tuckersmith. I understanj
by what I have heard that the real
topic of conversation at present is about
this bag of wheat. The_circumstaniees
are as follows: There was a prize of a
horse rake, given by Stewart 66. Camp-
bell, agents of the Masson Manufactur-
ing Company, of Oshawa, for the best
spring wheat of any variety, and 1 Was
awarded. the prize. 1 called some few
weeks ago on Mr. Jamieson, the treas:
urer, for ray prize money and the rake,
but to my surprise he informed me that
he was ordered. by the Directors to stop
payment. I asked him -what tb_e ob-
jections were., He told me he did not
know. I was informed shortly after by
another party that the objections were
that it -was old. wheat, but such is not
the case, as I can prove by several
nesses that the wheat was grown on
my farm in 1878 1 undeittand: by
what I have heard that two of the
judges- said. it was old 'wheat. Mr.
Pringle, the other judge, did not agree
with them. He knew bus business, and
was a good judge. Those i two judges
did not know new wheat from old, nor
• n
X
A
4
3
1
t
I
; 1
vi