The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-04-17

"THE ISLANDER Of yesterday intimates pretty
plainly that the isolation of iepers is 5 hilure-thst
cur labor and money has been expended in vain
We must take the statement eHn grans sails, how
ever. Bu; if that Journal will give the subject the
necessary examination it will fad tha, the error Of
the authorities has been in working altogether st the
wrong eud-in attacking the effect and negiecting
the cause Of the disease
TREE PL.srISo.-During the past fortnight His
Majesty the King has set his subjects a good example.
which We could hope to see extensively followed
throughout the islands; We refer to tree-planting
Daily the King, accompanied often BY the Queen
aud other members Of the Royal Family, and sur
rosuded by scores of mel, women and children, may
have been seen busily engaged in the work of laying
out and planting a park of trees on the top Of Punch
Bowl hill. The hill is an old crater, With quite q
depression in the centre. Here the trees-Ingas,
Acaeiss, Algerobas, Eucaypti and other varieties,
have been set out in circular rows, with space for
carriage drives between. A modicum Of continuous
care for a few mouths will give the young trees q
good start, and not many years hence we shall see a
handsome park on Punch Bowl, a visit to which
shall constitute a delightful afternoon ride. The
subject Of tree culture is deservedly attracting atten-
ton throughout the civilized world. Says a late
California paper:
" The act of Congress Offering one hundred and
sixty acres of prairie. land in the Western States
to any person who would set out forty acres in
trees and cultivate them for eight years. has in.
-aVced many persons to 60 into the business.
About l 100 persons had taken up 10000 acres in
Minnesota, on the LIST OF January. By the efforts
OF the State and of associated individuals it is esti-
mated that 20,0O0.00O trees are now being grown
in Minnesota besides those planted under the Con-
gressional land grant. \ report on the subject
says that the cost OF planting and Of cultivation is
maryellOnsly small, 10 many eases not exceeding
two TO Eve cents a tree. The patents for the public
lands offered by Congress are not issued until the
end Of eight years Of continued cultivation of the
trees.
OBSERVATIONS OF The NEXT TorAL SOLAR EcLTPsE.
An English journal is informed that the President
of the Royal Society has received an animation that
Her Majesty's Government is prepared to grant Gl000
to secure observations Of the total eclipse Of the sun
in April next. According to Mr.. Hind this eclipse
will give better opportunities for the observation of
totality than are likely TO be again offered before the
close Of the present century. Even if, therefore, it
were not the duty of astronomers to do all in their
power to secure records of all total eclipses, there is
abundant reason why the approaching one should
not be neglected. We believe that the course taken
by the Government will give general satisfaction, the
more go as the Royal Society and private observers
are coming forward with money and instruments in
aid of the modest sum granted from the national
funds. The world of science also is to be c~ongratu-
lated on the fact that the expedition will be organ
lied and controlled by a strong committee Of the
Royal Society. Astronomical inquiries are now
becoming so many-sided that the attempts of any
one man, however eminent, to deal with them single
handed are most likely to end in disaster; in fact.
the successful application of spectroscOpes, polari-
scopes. and cameras to telescopes requires very
special knowledge, and a long practical apprentice
ship, while the work to be done depends upon physi-
cal rather than astronomical considerations.
-t "
The PROPOSED INLAND SEA IN ALGERIA.-Le Rad
zeal describes the departure from Constantine, Al
geria, of the Scientific Commission charged with
making observations prior to the construction of the
inland sea contemplated in that province. The Com
mission consists of four officers of the etat-major, 80
soldiers. picked men, a well known Algerian geo
grapher, also an inspector of mines, besides q guard
of spahis and servants. The exploring party will
commence operations at Chagga, 81 miles southeast
of Biskra, and will take an eastern route by way of
Negrin. The expedition will last FIVE months; and a
glance at the map win show the gigantic nature of
the object in view, namely: To bring the waters of
the sea into the borders of the African Sahara. This
project has been before the Algerian public for some
time, and the observations of the first pioneers are
eagerly looked for. From LIE Courier de Self,
another Constantine journal, we learn that an Eng
lish company has undertaken mining operations on
an extensive scale near Batna. Lead, copper, anti
mony and mercury have been found abundantly in
this district, all within q few miles of the projected
railway from Self to Constantine; aud it is proposed,
before commencing mining operations, to construct
roads and tramways communicating with the railway
and the ports so as to have means of transport al
hand. These undertakings will employ a great
number of hands, no less so than the proposed e-
tension of railways throughout the colony. The
Governor, Gen Chanzy, has realized the great impor-
lance of multiplying means of Communication; and
lends his support to every scheme having this object
in view. Several new lines are contemplated, the
most noteworthy being that to saba, a station on
the borders Of the Sahara, hitherto quite unsafe as a
settlement; and the proposed Kaby line, which is to
traverse the heart of ancient Barbary, a region as
picturesque and primitive as any described by modern
travellers.
THE CHELSEA LAUNDRY.-one day during the
past week we made a visit to this establishment,
situated about half a mile from town on the Palama
road. We found the works, which are run by
steam, in " the full tide of successful experiment.
the washing, drying and ironing of clothes going
forward at a rate that would have ~dismayed a live
{" Biddy,' whose occupations gone. The Laundry,
in all its curious details, is a credit to the ingenuity,
enterprise AID energy of its proprietor. The first
object that attracted our attention was the patent
steam washer, which looks like q huge cask revolv-
ing on a cylinder. 1t is 6 fl. 6 in. in length and 5
#. Gin. in diameter, and has four Compartments, each
giving the clothes the fall of the whole diameter as
the machine revolves. When loaded to its full ca
pacity, it will contain some 1900 pieces, though
from 900 to 1000 pieces is the usual load. After the
clothes to be washed are in, two or three buckets of
liquid or " soft-soap'' are thrown in, water added,
and the machine revolves-about 8 revolutions and
then reverses. After a few minutes. hot steam is
turned on, setting everything into a boil, which con-
tinues for an hour or so, by which time the clothes