706
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 29

GERALDINE TOWN BOARD.

In the matter of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1886,” and the Amendments thereof.

I HEREBY give notice that at the poll of the ratepayers of the Geraldine Town District, taken on the 22nd day of March, 1899, to decide for or against the proposal to raise a loan of £2,500 for the purpose of obtaining a supply of water at high pressure for the use of the inhabitants of the said district, the number of votes recorded for and against the said proposal was as follows, viz.: In favour of the proposal, 130; against the proposal, 7.

And as a majority of the ratepayers voted in favour of the proposal, and the number so voting are entitled to more than one-half in number of the votes which can be exercised by the whole number of ratepayers, I hereby declare the resolution in favour of raising the loan to be carried.

Dated this 24th day of March, 1899.

JAMES W. PYE,
Chairman, Geraldine Town Board.

Approving and appointing a Bonding Warehouse.

CUSTOMS.—In exercise of the powers in me for this purpose vested by “The Customs Laws Consolidation Act, 1882,” I, the Commissioner of Trade and Customs, do hereby approve and appoint the under-mentioned warehouse to be a warehouse for the reception of kerosene and other oils under bond, namely,—

Port of Auckland.

An iron-and-wood building, roofed with iron, situate on Beach Road, Auckland, to be known as

SHIPLEY’S BOND.

Given under my hand, at Auckland, this eighteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine.

R. J. SEDDON,
Commissioner of Trade and Customs.

Commissioner’s Order No. 607.]

Notice to Mariners.—No. 11 of 1899.

Marine Department,
Wellington, 25th March, 1899.

THE following Notices to Mariners, received from the Acting Port Officer, Melbourne, Victoria, the Marine Board, Hobart, Tasmania, and the Portmaster, Brisbane, Queensland, are published for general information.

WM. HALL-JONES.

PORT OF PORT PHILLIP. — SUBMARINE MINING IN THE VICINITY OF SWANSPIT BUOY LIGHT, AND OF SOUTH CHANNEL FORT.

It is hereby notified for general information that an additional port regulation is in process of being issued, providing that, for the purpose of permitting practice in submarine mining, vessels shall not, on and from the 6th day of March, until and including the 6th day of April, 1899, be navigated or anchored in the waters to the northward and westward of the Swanspit Buoy Light, within an area bounded by a supposed line running south-easterly from Swan Beacon to Swanspit Buoy Light; thence northerly to small black can buoy moored east-by-north five cables from the north-east end of Swan Island; thence westerly to the outer pile which marks the entrance of the channel leading to Swan Island jetty; thence due south to Swan Point; and from thence southerly along the shore to the starting-point. And also that during the period above referred to vessels shall not be navigated or anchored in the South Channel between Nos. 5 and 7 black buoys north of an imaginary line extending between Nos. 5 and 9 black buoys of said channel.

CHAS. A. PARSONS,
Acting Port Officer.

Harbour Office, Customs,
Melbourne, 27th February, 1899.

CAPE SORELL LIGHTHOUSE.—PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

NOTICE is hereby given that a lighthouse is now in course of erection at Cape Sorell, entrance to Macquarie Harbour, west coast of Tasmania, 42° 11′ S. latitude, 145° 10′ 30″ E. longitude, approximately.

The light will be of the second order, showing white and red flashes, with eclipses. Height of light above sea-level, 175 ft.

Due notice and full particulars will be given of the exact date when the light will be exhibited.

J. W. EVANS,
Master Warden.

Marine Board Office, Hobart, 7th March, 1899.

INNER ROUTE TO TORRES STRAIT.—CHANNEL ROCK LIGHTSHIP MISSING.

NOTICE is hereby given that the lightship at Channel Rock, off Cape Melville, is reported missing. She will be replaced as soon as possible.

Charts affected, Nos. 2764 and 2922; Australia Directory, Vol. 11.

T. M. ALMOND, Portmaster.

Marine Department, Brisbane, 7th March, 1899.

INNER ROUTE TO TORRES STRAIT.—BEACONS DOWN.

NOTICE is hereby given that the beacons on Dhu (d) and Ead (e) reefs are reported to be down. It is possible that others in the same locality may also have been blown down during the recent hurricane.

They will be replaced as soon as practicable.

Charts affected, Nos. 2922 and 2764; Australia Directory, Vol. 2.

T. M. ALMOND, Portmaster.

Marine Department, Brisbane, 9th March, 1899.

Bonuses for Encouragement of New Zealand Hemp (Phormium tenax) Industry.—Notice No. 535.

Department of Agriculture,
Wellington, 13th February, 1899.

BONUS No. 1.

A BONUS of £1,750 is offered for a machine or process for dressing New Zealand hemp (Phormium tenax) which shall be an improvement on the machines or processes now in use, and which shall, after trial, be found to materially reduce the cost of production, improve the product, or increase the quantity of dressed fibre.

The following are the conditions:—

1. All applications for the bonus must be sent addressed to the Hon. the Minister for Agriculture, Wellington, and must reach him not later than the 31st March, 1900. Each application must be accompanied by a description of the machine or process, particularly stating improvements on present machines or processes, and also the cost at which the machine or process can be supplied.

2. The applicants must be prepared to submit their machines or processes to examination at such time and place as the Government may direct.

3. The Government shall appoint a committee of three or more experts, to whom all applications shall be submitted. Such committee shall, after perusal, state what machines or processes they deem worthy of consideration, and may inspect the same at any place within the colony; and, having so inspected the whole or any of them, may direct that the whole or any of them be brought for further trial to such place as they may think fit.

The cost of bringing the machines or appliances on to the ground, from within the colony, supplying the necessary shafting, motive-power, and buildings, to be defrayed by the Government. If any machine sent from beyond the colony is awarded the bonus or part thereof, then the cost of bringing such machine shall be borne by the Government.

The following shall be the basis of the test:—

The committee shall supply a sufficient and equal quantity of green hemp to each machine or process as a test.

The committee shall take into consideration—

The time occupied by each machine or process in the operation;

The cost of labour and time required after the fibre has left the machine or process before it is ready for baling;

The percentage of dressed fibre and tow produced by each machine or process;

The cost of producing the same;

The cost of the machine, and the simplicity and durability of the working parts.

On completion of the tests the committee shall furnish a report to the Minister on all the machines or processes which they have examined or tested, and shall state,—

(1.) The machine or process which they consider on the whole the most efficient and economic.

(2.) Whether they consider that any machine or process tested so materially reduces the cost of production, or improves the product, as to be worthy of the whole bonus or of a part only.

(3.) Whether, in the event of no one machine or process being entitled to the whole bonus, they deem any machine or process worthy of a part of the bonus, and, if so, how much.

BONUS No. 2.

A bonus of £250 is offered for a process of utilising the waste products of the hemp.

The first three conditions of Bonus No. 1 to apply to this also.

The committee shall supply a sufficient and equal quantity of the waste products to each process as a test.

On completion of the tests the committee shall report to the Minister, and shall give the following particulars of each process: (a.) The nature of the article made. (b.) The quantity produced, and the cost of production. (c.) The value of the product. (d.) Whether any of the processes are of sufficient importance to warrant the Minister in giving (1) the whole, or (2) any part, of the bonus; (3) if a part only, how much.

JOHN MCKENZIE,
Minister for Agriculture,