Opinions of the Press.

(From Saturday Advertiser.)

"Sermons in stones, and good in everything."—As You Like It.

For thirty years, the gray cliffs of Oamaru, covering many a square mile with their protecting mantle, have been silently proclaiming to the industrious and enterprising, "Here is abundant wealth for the carrying away. Here is an admirable building stone of unrivalled colour, of texture so pure and free from silicious particles that, while abundantly compact, it yet can be cut with a common saw, or turned in a lathe and polished with sand-paper; with the close grain of a stone, it yet can be carved with the freedom of wood." Now for the first time, a proper response is to be made, and a Company has been formed for the quarrying and export of this valuable material. The stone is a pure limestone, capable of the most delicate manipulation. We recollect seeing a piece of it which had been carved by an ingenious Dunedin artisan into a small branch of a tree. The veining on every leaf was distinct, and on one of the leaves was a fly crawling, true to nature. We do not know any other building stone capable of being chiselled into such delicate tracing as this. It excels the far-famed Caen stone, from Normandy, so extensively used by the church-building abbots and bishops of the 15th and 16th centuries in England. Fine-work was made in earlier days of selected specimens of sand-Stone. Witness the foliaged capitals of the columns in Melrose Abbey, which exhibit "the curly greens," so exquisitely carved that a straw put in at one corner comes out at another. A clever workman will be able, with the Oamaru Stone, to out-rival all these carvings, and even the garlanded pillar of Roslin Abbey, which cost the precocious apprentice his life at the hand of a jealous master. For indoor work it is unequalled—the rich, warm, cream colour is refreshing to the eye; and stone pulpits or baptismal fonts may be easily cut to the most intricate pattern. The skill of the designer is the only limit to its beauty and adaptability. We have often thought that it would make an admirable and unique lining for halls of houses, cut into slabs page 9 and fixed to the walls with fine line. On the surface of the slab, arabesque or diaper patterns might be cut, which would have a pleasing effect; or the hall might be pannelled with bold mouldings, and enriched with wreaths of foliage, or fruit, or flowers. To those who are fond of the medieval style, it would prove an unapproachable medium for decorating their mansion houses with the shields of their armorial bearings. The facility with which the material may be cut, may lead to the revival of the fine old custom prevalent in Edinburgh, of ornamenting the doorways and walls with pious mottoes and texts. There is a world of wisdom staring the householder in the face daily in his outgoings and incomings, when he reads the stone letters: "He that tholes overcomes."

We have no doubt that a large export trade may be developed in this material, and that if proper efforts be used, it will become a favourite with London stone cutters and architects. For outside work, also, it does well, as the surface hardens through exposure, and it may be water-proofed to resist the wettest climate by a mixture of quicklime and tallow, which may be toned to the natural colour. We anticipate a lucrative result to the undertaking and cordially recommend it to public support.