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CUR m\m com FIELDS, A London Colliery Journalist Dis- cusses Their Future. THE COAL OF GOOD QUALITY Mr j.. am* II Will Kind Tw Cr**f arketii la em.il. *..i Mew i:l<i -TrnprlmllB rruhl, mi following Li a paper by Mr. C. Ochil- tree Maedonald, of the London Colliery (Juarrlian, which wa* read before the Conauil of the Board of Trade of that city : 1 jronld preface thia paper on the ooal field* of the (iulf of St. Lawrence with a few remark! equally short. The writer has studied this coal field from the point of yiew of the British and European tonnage owner in particular, and from the point of yiew of an economic supply of coal to the Canadian and New England consumer. For this purpose he hat made two distinct visits from London to Cap* Breton, and although he has not folly interviewed the Canadian consumer, he has devoted con- siderable time to the consideration of the Mew England manufacturers' relation* to the Canadian Atlantic collieries. The opinions formed in the course of these researches have been published from time to time in various parts of England as well as in Canada, and appear iu part in their latest form in the shape of a brief pamphlet, entitled " Cheap and Papid Coalinq in Nova Scotia, recently addressed to three hundred British and foreign shipowners. This paper, it is felt, embodying, as it does some of the salient features of these publications, will be interesting to the most eminent Board of Trade in the colonial empire of Great Britain, and is now respectfully pre- sented. In and around the shores of the discaided in favor of tha ordinary system of transportation by steam colliers, a* practised between London ami the North of England. The same applies with even' greater force to the supply of the New Eng- land market. Next in order of review come* th* w*U disputed subject of the quality of the Nova Sootian, and especially of the Cape Breton coal. Undoubtedly this is a matter in which the entire future of the Atlantic coal industries is bound up, a* wall at the supre- macy of Canada, as the coal power of the Atlantic coast. It is fair to infer from the widespread discussion both in Europe and th* United State* at this time, that this i* clearly realized. A very great deal has been written on the quality of tha coal, and much unfavorable evidence ha* been pres- ented. I find, however, that a good deal of this evidence is perhaps a* much as fifty years old ; that in some case* it tas been repudiated as insufficient by the oompilon themselves, and that all the testa made during the past ten yean nveal a tendency to place th* best class of Cape Breton coal OH A LBTEL WITH TUB BBS! BWILI8U and Welsh fuels. The actual origin of much of the current difference of opinion on thia polemic of quality i* to be found in the system of handling, shipping and dis- charging, long, and at this time, in vogue. This system i* undoubtedly primitive, re- ducing a* it doe* the cleanline** and shape of the fuel and ha* long since been discard- ed in the Welsh, North of England and American trade*. At this time, however the owners of the Nova Scotia mines seem mere fully aliv* than ever before to the es- sential nature of improved shipping, handl- ing and discharging facilities, and during the late year very respectable improvement* hav* been mad*. There are two market* upon which 'Hove Scotia is anxious to place her right and left hands. The** are the Ontario and New England. Respecting the first, a great deal of valuable evidence was brought forward at the tiote of the Island of Cape Breton, almoet midway be- j '* "*1 trade commiswon. The mam tenor tweenths factories of the St. Lawrence I of ' hu w th *' tha *" '""easing volume nd New England, 3,<>00.000.<>00 tons of of down St. Lawrence freights made it po.- virgin coal lie undisturbed. Outoftbe*oft bl* to send coal to BrookYill*. Ottawa rocks in which this coal is found, the ad **" P nU ^ oi Montreal. Atlantic ooean has excavated six megnifl- 1 WM >" d "P " the supposition that the the prosperity of the trade and indostri** in whioh the members of this board are engage*!, for in th* expansion of the ooal industry exists th* expansion of consump- tion of Canadian produce. By granting this paper th* few moments' indulgence DBoese-ry to thia reading, tkis board is set- ting it* seal, so to speak, upon the effort* after progress of the coaly East. Such will enutle this paper to the attention of all those interested, or who should b* interest- ed, in the progress of the collieries, and the faots oited will b* received with interest in many part* of Europe, and reacting to th* welfare of th* Nova Scotia colleries will thus be ultimately helpful in introducing new maritime provincial business to the Upper Canadian producers and manufactur- ers. *!* swell A baby with th* cent tidal harbors. The blurf coast of the ! "rout* aocimg from th* return cargo- Island, m almost every ca*e, throws oat would <-><>* ""X "> "> f rough headlands to protect these insular transporting west of Montreal Although BVWaiH B* USX k* BMS)**> SJV ffaj WVB*WSJt VUBSTO 1UU1B1 -- , ports. Along the shore, uiu* collieries are ! ""thing wa*donebe yond afew experiment- in active operation. Th* probl.m of mm- J ~'8. . "> > d " ~~ * * been ing in Cape Breton is simple. That of '"""ring m th* minds of the coal owners transportation to the sundry market* is not *" : " /*. f > r ' ' a* simple. Th* latter may be divided into four classes, viz. : Land, coast w is* and river carriage. LAND TRANSPORTATION. Land transportation in Cape Breton is at this time never more than ten mile* from pit. to loading pier, but these piers b*ing only accessible for about eight month* in the year, it ha* become necessary to pro- cure the independence of th* island of drift ice by a much longer line of rail into Louis- burg. Twenty years ago this project wa* actually initiated by Mr. Oiaborne, whose association with Mr. Cyrus W. Field in the laying cf the first Atlantic cable, will b* fresh m the memory of the older members of this board. Under the influence of a passing fear that the English coal fields were approaching exhaustion, this gentle- ma* federated three Anglo-Cape Bret >n coal companies, and spent $.'l,li">,(H>0 in a msnner whioh has never yet been satisfac- torily explained to the English stockhold- ers While this expenditure was going forward, th* Brit's 1 ! American coal trade was going backward, and by the report of a Royal commission on the Home cool fields, the public mind of Great Britain wa* relieved of it* anxiety respecting the do- mestic coal supply. Colonial ooal stocks consequently declined in vain* and the Cape Breton Coal Company speedily collaps- ed. It wa* eventually re-constructed into the " Sydney A Louisbnrg Coal & Railway Company, " (now in the hands of a Boston coal corporation), which was the first to cure rail connection with the winter port of Louisburg over a narrow gauge railway. The port became a favorite bunkering resort, but owing, probably to the expense of keeping the line open in the then severe winters, shipments were discontinued in I an interest in this matter and in reply to my communication, the leading Ontario ooal merchant* have handed me their opin- ions. In a word these are that the exporta- tion of Nova Scotia coal, we*t of Montreal, will b* BAILED WITH PLEASURE AND INTEREST in Ontario, that a large down stream traffic will result to the collier* engaged in any such trade ; but that the time i* not yet ripe, owing to th* still sha.low draft of th* canal* and the, as yet, incomplete condition of distributing facilities. The** opinions are encouraging, and have elicited a fact hitherto little known, vis,, : " That Ontario U quite willing to burn Nova Scotia coal when she can get it sent into the province. In New England, after .travelling up and down the country, I am forced to conclude that the people bar* bat a very vague id of the dimensions and position* of th* At- lantic coal field* of the Dominion of Canada. A very prevalent idea i* tliat the field* an poor, wet and insignificant, Th* origin of the belief that Nova S.-otia coal is poor lies in the exceedingly primitive fashion in which the ooal was exported to th* M chusett* and other markets during the Civil war. But these prejudice* are not sufficiently deep rooted to discourage Coca dian energy, and if the usual enterprise of the Canadian merchant* anil ooal operators is steadfastly brought to bear upon the New England consumer, the Northeastern states will again b* brought within th* sphere of influence of the Nova Scotinn mines. There are TWO ADDITTOKAI. A98CRA!CW of .his. The first is that these states are steadily retrograding, it* in Massachusetts, from first to third among the manufactui ing states of the American union, owing to the 1HSU. Cape Breton then reverted to its old tup , rlor fmcl utie* of the sister states' forth* position in winter, of an ica-blockaded coal field, from which it is now only being res- cued by an American company, which ha* purchased all the collieries, except Sydney mines, since my first visit in 1X91. A line of railway i* nw about half built, stand- ard gftu^e, into the old Kronen town. W hen this is completed, th* collieries will all be connected liy 20 to .'M mitet rail haul with the winter port. This distance, although undoubtedly a drawback,* not to b. com- 1 , utet ig N(>ra ^^ Coincident with to the distances over which American hi , ( Mtiv , onter p rille in New England is in consequence ^. (ljpecUd by tha OWI1 ers of several of r^! l h"^h r * ' th *P Breton mineB, and it i. thought that tliey will succeed in getting for Nova assemblage of raw material and the restric tion of purchasing power among the West- ern consumers. This is compelling Massa- chusetts to look ont for cheaper supplies in raw material iron ore ami coal. By intro- ducing cheap material she hopes to introduce competitive ratea and secure supplies at a very low figure. Tha only country so situ- ated geographically as to beable tocome into '' the native coal and iron . 1 co.l has to be hauled, and e Breton is muc rivals m the south. KIVRK TRAXSPORTATIOS. River transportation, as a feature of the development of the coal industry at this time, demands, and appears to be obtain- ing, the careful attention of tho operator!. It is complex because of the prevalent fogs, the tortuous channels a-ul other features of St. Lawrence uavi^ition, woll known to this board. Im ividual vessjeli do not, it is true, suffer as severely from thews draw- backs as is sometimes asserted, but tho economic transportation of Cape lire ton ooal to market is sol amat'oi of individnal vessels at all, but of scientific towage. On the American riven as-much as 40,000 tons of coal are moved at one stroke and by one tugboat. The ambitions of Cape Breton in this direction are said to be restricted Scotia a fair shar<> of orders. There is, however, a wider range of opportunity for Nova Scotii than all this. An im- portant problem at present exercising the minds of the Kurupoan steamships owners is the reduction of working expenses to something like conformity with profits. The days of f.O, 61), and 70 per cent, divi- dend*, in which the writer once shared, are gone.aboliahed by the fatuous ship-building policy of the English people of the past ten years. Hunker coal iu the western ocean is a oa*e in point. Th* British steamships' owner* are ready to learn when cheaper bunker coal can be procured than is at present consumed beneath their boil- ers in these Until. ies. U is mcessary that cheap coal be easily procurable by thunc European steamships on the edge of that A howling mumps. A Boston girl spoke of a tight-rope per- formance as an " inebriated cordage enter tainment." Money talks, but with many of us at the present time it seems to have an impediment in it* speech." The philosopher who said that all things come to him who waits, might have added that th* man who goes after them gets them much quicker. Father " Is the girl you are going to marry economical ?" Son (enthusiastically) " I should say so. Last year she spent $500 in bargains. " Mistress "Cook, don't you know there" * place for everything?" Cook "Yes, mum bat I never made bash and I never will ; so there." " I can't understand how Mrs. Smiley can waste so much of her time with her pet dog." " Well, yon would if you had ever met her husband." Mamma " Robbi*, why i* it that you always quarrel with th* little girl next door r" Robbi* "'Cause she won't ever hit a fellow like boy* do." What a quiet, simple little Sonnet yon liave thi* Spring, my dear." Daughter- in law " Yes, I bought it to please John ; you know it's just exactly like him." Axton" Wa* yoar marriage the result of love at first sight r' Kxum (sadly) "Yes, on my part. Had I been gifted with d sight, I'lLuitver have married. I want," said th* astronomer, " an in sciiption for my new telescope whioh shal be in the nature of a new address to the tars," " How would 'Here's looking to yon' do V 'What make* Smith stutter ? He didn' use to." Well, you see, when be ask* I man to loan him 96, and say* it over three time*, he sometime* gets fifteen. " Jackson (in a restaurant) "This ohioken of mine was kept too long alter being kill ed. " Currie "Aad the one I'm eatin| wa* kept too long before it was killed." " I'll ni-v. r weak the dishes," The girl in waiting said ; Her words ware quite prophetic, for She broke them all instead. A subscriber writes, asking the meanin) of the "lilent watches of the night." W answer with pleasure that they are those which the owners neglect to wind up before retiring. She " I should think you would be ashamed to cone home to your wife hal drunk." He "I am, m'dear, but (hie) many places (hie) closed 1 couldn't get an; more.' "The flush of thy cheek in Winter, In Summer flee*, oh, winsome maid. She giggled before she gave reply. "Perspiration," was all she said. Mamma "Oh, I am terribly worriet about Robbi*." Papa" What i* wrom with him now ; some simple little ailment T" Mamma "No; he has washed hi* face twice without being told." " Well, I don't believe I wilt hav* U worry over Tommy learning to swim." Mrs. Smith" Is ho afraid of water ?" " Mercy ye* ; he'll cry if I just pour a little into th< washbowl when he i* near." Frail man an egotist is, forsooth, When tho truth about him is told ; In the days when he is young he is proui of his youth. And he's vain of his age when he's old Jones "Oh, what a very charming baby I have always taken such an interest in very young children. How old is it? Mother (with pride) "Only just eleven weeks/' Jones " Really 1 A and is your youngest ? " The Aunt "I think Sibyl's conduct is simply outrageous. Flirting disgracefully and only just buried her husband !" Th Niece "That 1 * not vary bod. Some of u would not wait so long." Kleptomania is so much on the increas that a young lady, alarmed at her mother' delay in returning from shopping, wa heard toexclaim : "Oh, dear, I am so wor ri*d about mamma ! I do hope nothing ha caught in her cloak button, and they'v arrested her." He "I understand you have been at tending a Bollevue ambulance class. Can you tell me what is the beet tiling to do fo a broken heart ?" She "Oh, yes. Hm up the fractured portions with a gold band bathe with orange blossom water, and appl; plenty of raw rice, i iuaranloed to 1> well in * icouth. " ARCHITECTS OF THE AIB. URIOUS HOUSES BY THE CUNNING- EST OF BIRDS. W Aerial Wavrr Wh* I onilrurl Whale ili.nr or i.i. Ea*>r > stu. ( r Thatch a*>4 Btwell In rmcur. Henry Coyle contributes to Vick's Mag- azine an interesting article on bird archi- cu. Speaking ot the humming bird, of which there are a hundred varieties, he says it oonitraou iu nnt of the finest ilky down and of cotton, or, if these are not vailable, some other aimilar material. The iniide ii lined in the most delicate manner with soft substances; the onttide U covered ith mono, usually the color of the bough r twig to which the not n attached, thus iving it the appearance of an ezoreecence. 'he delicacy and ir^euuity of workmanship by the-eho|>pv seat in the (julf, which - .- . make it unsafe for bargee, and the difficulty | "' circle traversed by multitudes of ves of steering *ame in the well thronged chan- "' between Europe and the Southern _i i W IT;>__,1 tJ*nr-A*l nek, of th* stream is said to be a severe obstacle. Hut this is probably exaggerat- ed. An alternative system is shipment in large steamers, holding perhaps A.OOO tons, and this would seem to be at the present time a convenient and cheap method of ooal transportation. The existing evidence seams to point to the adoption of the latter system. COASTWISE TRADE. Tue problem ot moving coal Into south- ern Nova Scotian point* has been pretty well ventilated by the disasters of last year, by which both tugbast and barige, in one ease, were totally lost, with all bands, and in another c*ae by the barge being separat- ed from her consort and left to the mercy of the elements for nr.aiiy days. C'oai towage, it may be said, can never be reliev d of extraordinary peril* on the coast of IS'ova Scotia ana will probably b* largely States port*. Cape lirotou is actly in TUB MOST VAVORAl'.l.B I'liSITIOX for this economical bunker trade. If a ves- sel leaving, say, New Orleans for Europe, instead of turning otf at right angles to her course and steaming a day's steam into Newport for coal, keeps right on she will encounter the Canadian mines drawn ont into her course along a rocky wharf which reaches out to within 80 hours' steam frpm the Kritish Islet. Cape Breton'n relation to the dividends of the European steam tonnage owner will thus be seen at a glance, and I have chosen tho present as a fitting opportunity to impress the facts upon him, through the machinery of this august body of Canadian merchant*. In conclus- ion it only remain* for ny to point the mor- al at all this : Th* progr*** of the Nova Scotian collieries is intimately allied with Another Prince. Prince lieorgn, of 1'russia, wl 0*0 stron literary tendencies arc well known, and wh has published a number of hooka and drum i mi'ii.-r the pseudonym of "Conrad," is writ ing his reminiscences. Although, says th Tall Mall Uaiette. they will hardly treat o much that is new from a political point o view, they ore sure u. Contain many faots of literary Cud general in'rcst. Princ Ceorgo has never engaged in politics, no has ho cared to play any prominent part i the life of the court. For the last ten year he has lived iu seclusion, devoting himae! exclusively to his literary and artistic pur suit*. Ho is a great bibliophile, and hi passion for collecting old printed books go* so far that ho takes the greatest pleasure i visiting second hand shops and rutnmagm among their content*. His dramas, whio fill several volumes, were given to the worl as th* works of " Q. Conrad." One them, "Plimdrit," h-< won considerable sue cess on the stage. Th* people who talk most of giving th Uevil bis one often forget to pay their shar of the minister's salary. JTEST OF SOCIAL WEAVERS. and skill could hardly be excelled by human art. The ne*t of the golden-crested wren, a most beautiful bird fonnd in England and Uicr port* of Europe, is a fine example jf weaving. It is made of moss and licii- n and lined with feathers ; it ha* a very mall entrance at the top and the interior if the neet i* also small, bearing no pro- portion to the size of the structure. The tving of this nest is a work ut great and firmly woven together as to be I trable to rim. This is aoanopy underwhich each bird builds it* particular oeal; tho can- opy project* a little, which servesto let lue water run utf whan it rains. The nest con- tained .TOO nesta, and it was calculated u<at the number of bird* would exceed 600 in thia one nest alone." XE8TS Or THB BOTTLE BIBJ). The bottle-nested sparrow i* a basket maker; it is found in India and is a vary intelligent bird. It resembles our native sparrow in some particulars, but it* odor is brown and yellow. It associate* ia large communities and builds iu neet* OB palm trees. Hi* formed in a very inge- nious way, by long grasses woven together into the shape of a bottle, and it is then suspended at the extremity of a braneh in older to secure the egg* and young birds from numerous enemies, such a* serpents, monkeys and other aiiimala, whioh infest that part of the world. The** nest* excel in the neatness and delicacy o/ their workmanship. They con- tain several apartment* intended for dif- ferent purposes; in one the female deposit* her eggs; in another is stored the food which the male gather* for his mate during her maternal duties, and a third is sleeping apartments for the male bird. The sand martin is a most curious mem- ber of the swallow tribe. It appears in th* Spring a week or two before the common swallow, and it is fond of skimming swift- y over the surface of the water. Thia iird makes a hole in a sand bank, some- times two feet deep, at the extremity ef which it constructs a loose nest of fin*) gran and feathers, in which it rears it* roung brood. Th* beak of th* sand mar- gin i* like a sharp awl, very hard, and tapering suddenly Ui a point. The tailor bird is not the least interest- ng of the bird family; it has a curious bill, which it uses like a needle, and it forms it* nest by sewing the material together, instead of weaving. WOODPECKER DRILI.ISfl A 1IOI.K. labor and assiduity, and, compared with the bulk of the bird, it is of largi dimen sions. The neit is suspended from the under surface of a fir branch, thickly clothed with foliage, by which it is almost entirely concealed and partly protected from the rain. Thus beneath a natural canopy this little bird rears her brood, whose ctadle swings to and fro with every breeze. The eggs are from seven to ten in number, and of a pale brown color. A naturalist who watohedanest containing eight small birds with a powerful opera glass, observed that the parent birds came to the nest with food every two minutes, or upon an average of thirty-six lime* an hour; and this continued full sixteen hours a day, which, if equally divided between the brood, each would receive seventy-two feeds, the whole amounting to 576. The woodpeckers are carpenter*; they not only bore holes iu trees in search of food, but they also chisel out deep hole* in which to deposit their eggs and rear their young. They generally build their neet in 'May, selecting an old apple tree in the orchard ; the boring is first done by the male, who pecks out a circular hole ; as tha work progresses he is occasionally relieved by the female. They both work with great diligence. and as the hole deepens they carry out the chips, sometimes taking them some distance to prevent discovery or suspicion. The nest usually requites a week to build, and when the female is quit* satis- fied she deposit* her eggs, generally six in number 'and of a pure white color. . A bird called the grosbeak builds a nest shaped like an inverted bottle with a long neck, through which it passes up to a snug little chamber above. Tho nest is skilfully constructed of soft vngelahle substance, sewed together in a wonderful manner, and suspended from a twig of a bush. The social weaver is found in the south 1CHT OF TUB TAILOR UTRD of Africa. Hundreds of these birds in one community join to form a structure of inter- woven grass containing various a partmcnts, all oovered by a sloping roof impenettalilo to the heaviest rain, ttnd iiicrcaso.l year after year as the population of tho little community may require. A traveler, returned from a journey through South Africa, writes: "A tree with an enormous nest of these birds was quite near where our party camped for the night. I dispatched a few men with a wagon to bring it to the camp that I might open the hive aad examine the uest in it* minutest part*. When it arrived I cut it to pieces with a hatchet, and saw that the chief portion of the structure consisted of grss, without any mixture, but so compact SCIENCE AND INDUSTBY. The question of comparative effectiveness) a* between go* and oil lighting on th* rail- roads in India is declared to have been proved, in some recent vest*, decide.) ly in fa- vor of the former. To determine this ques- tion there was employed an experimental or special train, consisting of a first-cla** car and a guard's von, lighted with tha well- known Pinttc'i's compressed oil gas; th* illuminating power of the gas proved to be some tenfold thatof th* oil lamps employed. In order to ascertain the degree of stoadines* pertaining to th* gas flam*, the* fastest possible speed wa* resorted to, and, not- withstanding the oscillation of th* oars, the gas flames exhibited not the slightest flickering or wavaring: tho pressure in the go* reservoirs, which at starting stood at six atmospheres, was hardly affected dur- ing the short run, the reduction in fact not exceeding three pounds to the square inch. The smallest newspaper type could b* read with ease in the gas- lighted cars. A notable work in it*) tin* i* described by the Engineering Sews, namely, a suction sand dredge with a capacity of 4,000 tons per hour, built by the Naval Construction and Armament Company of Barrow in- Furness, Kngland, for operation* on the Mersey bar. The sand-pumping machinery consist* of two centrifugal pumps with thirty-six-inch suction and delivery pipes. These pump* are on each side of a well, and draw from a T head at the top of the suction pipe; and around this head as a trunnion th* tube can b* raised or lowered to suit the depth of the water, and a ball and socket joint gives a certain amount of lateral motion. The snction no*> t\e is turned over at the bottom, with it* aperture almost at right angle* to the axi* of the tube. The hull of the dredge is :iir> feet long by about 2) feet 6 inches deep, ami 40 feet 10 inches wide, thu loaded diaftl>eing!6feet and 4 inches. She ho* twin Hnrew engines and a speed of t*m knot* .loaded. The sand is pumped into hoppors, and operations show that the lat- ter may be filled at the rate of 100 tons per minute. So-nn of the characteristics of Italian as- bestos have given a decided preference for that article, it seems, over the American, for certain manufaotur.ng purposes. The Italian mineral lies in beds and pocket* which are mostly reached by open quarrying dynamite being largely employed in this operation. The lumps, as they are taken from the mine, consist of bun lies of hanl fibres, lying parallel to one snothur and strongly bound together; they vary in color frm light grey to brown, the general ap- pearance of a fine sample being suggestive of the interior of the riven trunk of a tree. By the exercise of a little care, threads may be separated many feet or even yards in length, the con- tinuity bring porfoct from und to end, the general appearance and strength being very similar to those of llax; it is this char- acteristic of length and strength of fibre, iin.l its chemical purity, that are said to distinguish Italian asbestos from ollffthurs. Si i!l another peculiarity remains to be mentioned, namely, a certain greasy feeling, resembling that of French chalk or soap- stone. sir pi la face*. The inhabitants of New Britain have peculiar custom of confining their girls in cages until they are old enough to be mar- ried. The cage* are made of tho palm tree, and the girls are put into them when two or three year* of ago. These caj{os are built inside of thn houses, and the girl* are never allowed to leave the house nuilur any circumstance. The houses are closely fenc- ed in with a sort of wickerwork made of reeds. Ventilation under the circumstance* is rendered dillic'ilt. The girls are raid to Krow up strong and healthful ip spite of the** disadvantages. * Critical barber (feoling new customer's bristles)--" Where did yon get *hav ! la**. air !" Customer "On my fo."