Oct. 1, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
Mr Clark described his aocommodation at Canhan- 
toa as a long shed, part of which was a house aud 
part of which was a store, ths whole covered with a 
loof of corrugated iron. The sleeping acoommodatiou 
consisted of a small room in which seven or eight 
officials hung up their hammocks. The only alternative 
was to sleep on the verandah. As for furniture, there 
was only one or two chairs, and scarcely anything 
else. They had to use soap boxea instead. The food 
was mostly third-rate tinned stuff, and as a delicacy 
was added dried cod lish. la reply to his Lordship, 
i^r. Clark stated that there was no chance of shooting 
any game, a parrot being about the most that could 
be obtained. At another station where he was sent to 
the accommodation was even worse, the roof leaking 
badly. When they arrived at first the room was full 
of sick natives suffering from fever, dropsy, bad 
throats, and so on. They had to turn them out, and 
as a consequence about a half of them died. There was 
no doctor, and when he fell ill the only attendance 
he could get was a chemist's assistant who used to 
come up to practise on the natives. As he did not 
like the looks of this assistant he did not undergo 
treatment. 
Ultimately Mr Olarke was sent to Para, where he 
received notice of dismissal. His health had been 
bad ever since. In' cross-examination Mr Clarke 
stated that, aa they oould not drink the water, they had 
to drink beer. 
Oa behalf of the Company it was stated that the 
aocommodation was only temporary and as good aj 
oould be expected under the circumstances. The 
Company's manager at Para said that no complaints 
had been made, otherwise he would have doneallin his 
power to mitigate matters. Judgment wasgiven for the 
Company with costs. — India ilubber Trades' Journal, 
Aagust 4, 
♦ 
EXPERIMENTS WITH LIQUID FUEL 
The question of liquid fuel is receiving 
my general attention from planters in Ceylon. 
When it is mentioned that it has been es- 
timated, by a competent authority that 
planters have spent for oil to date this year 
K60,000, and that to produce the same result 
with liquid fuel R30,000 only would be required, 
it will be seen that consideration of the subject 
is profitable to the planter. An up- 
country correspondent writes to us: — 
■' I have just returned from Nawala- 
pitiya wliere I went to see a Hornsby Ack- 
royd Engine, 9i actual horse-power, tested 
with liquid fuel. Messrs. Brown & Co. 
have been driving their workshops there 
with a 9.J horse-power Trusty Engine, 
but to test the liquid fuel at the instance 
of Messrs. Delmege Forsyth & Co. they 
put a 9i horse-power Hornsby Ackroyd 
Engine alongside of the other and the 9^ 
horse power Trusty Engine used '80 of a 
gallon per hour to drive the workshop while 
they used only '15 of a gallon per hour work* 
ing with liquid fuel in the Hornsby. They 
tested the Hornsby for an hour to 92- actual 
horse-power working with liquid fuel and it 
used '84 of a pint per horse-power per hour. No 
alteration is required in the engine and it was 
worked as easily with liquid fuel as with bulk 
oil and the one or other could be turned on 
or off at will and the engine continued to 
give the same result. This is a very great 
matter for the planting community as it 
reduces the cost of power to under half of 
what it was before. Liquid fuel at Nawala- 
pitiya costs 20 cents per gallon getting it 
If) Qasks ; JBiUk oil leas rebate 15 centy. If 
Bulk installations are arranged for the liquid 
fuel the cost of freight will be much reduced. 
The cost of liquid fuel in Colombo is 12 cents ; 
freight and sending it in casks is 8 cents per 
gallon." 
SOLUBLE TEA. SYNDICATE, LTD. 
The memorandum and articles of association of 
this nsw Company are givjn in the Gazette. 
The objects for which the Company is established 
are, among others: — 
(I) To purchase or otherwise acquire in Ceylon or 
elsewhere any patents, brevets d'intention, licences, 
concessions, and the like conferring an exclusive or 
non-exclusive or limited right to use, or any secret or 
othec information as to any invention in relation to 
the manafacturo of soluble tea aaliu the pi-ooessea 
by which the same is effected, and any improvement 
in such manufacture, and any advantages and benefits 
incident to or be derived from the same. 
(3) To enter into any agreement or agreemsnts for 
effecting such purchase, and in particular into aa 
a?reement with Montagu Kelway B imber and John 
Rjger for the purchase of their inventions and patents 
in connection with the manufacture of soluble tea and 
in the processes for effecting the same and any im- 
provements thereon for a sum of Oae thousand Pounds 
(£1,0 )0) sterling in cash and Sixty-one thousand Rupees 
in ordinary shares of this Company, and a further sum 
of Three thousand (£3,000) sterling and Six 
thousand (£6,000) sterling to be piid to them 
out of the profil;s earned by the Company 
during five years from the incorporation of 
the Company, or out of the profits to accrue to the 
Company from the sale of the business thereof within 
auch period of five years, as provided in the said 
agreement with the said Montagu Kelway Bamber 
and John Roger, and subject to the conditions therein 
contained. 
The nominal capital of the Company is 
R500,000 divided into 5,000 shares of lllOD each 
with power to increase or reduce. The signatories 
to the meinorandum and articles ot associatioa 
are ; — Messrs John Spicer, E Ernest Green, 
John Roger, M Kelway Btmber, J A Henderson, 
W T Highton and G W Suhren each— taking a 
share. The first Directors are to be as follows ; — 
Messrs John Spicer, Frank Liesching, Montagu 
Kelway Ba:nber, and Francis TheopUilus 
Tiirpin. 
CONTRACTS AND COCONUTS IN 
CEYLON. 
[by a settler.] 
We were partners, Jack Ohren and I, and had 
lost rupees and time in many wild schemes by 
way of making a fortune in Ceylon. Our latest 
venture was a coconut estate. We had secured a 
Government contract for the supply of wood as 
fuel on the railway engines running between 
Colombo and Nauu Oya. It was necessary to 
live near the railroad and in a district where this 
fuel should be easily procurable. We pitched 
upon a village close by Veyangoda, about forty 
miles up the line from Colombo. Plenty ot jungle 
lay around, and the station -was within a mile. 
We experienced some ditlicnlfy in discovering a 
habitation ; the only one available was an old 
house standing in about 100 acres of coconut land. 
It appeared to have been untenanted for years ; 
there were no doors, the verandah was broken 
down, and great vines chrusc their way from 
Hoor to roof. As for the plantation, it had re- 
jurued to its original state of juugle, However, 
