A requisition from the Goldfields, asking Messrs O’Neil and Vogel to resign their seats, was presented to them to-day by Mr Haughton, with upwards of 200 signatures.
CORRESPONDENCE.
NEW ZEALAND FLAX.
TO THB EDITOB OF THE LYTTELTON TIMES. Sib, —Seeing in the last Home News an article headed, “ New Zealand flax is in the shade,” and that rope-makers say it is not adapted for maritime purposes, 1 ask for space in your journal to give my experience of it.
I spent some years at sea, and from having seen it used continually then, and since in vessels of my own, I can say that rope well made of clean New Zealand flax is, for running gear, nearly, if not quite, equal to Manilla. It wears soft, stands the water, and is very durable, especially if tarred, which it readily takes. The greatest objection I think which can be raised against it, is that it stretches more than Manilla. I remember when whaling was carried on more extensively than now, that New Zealand whale lines were very much used. This is sufficient to prove the quality of the material, as none but the best are fit for the purpose. I noticed some time since that the English rope makers had attempted to mix it with Manilla hemp. If that is the test of its utility I think it a bad one, as it is a well known fact that the New Zealand stretches more than the Manilla, therefore the two cannot go together, as the latter would have all the strain ; it must be made up alone.
