The Press. — London, England, 1858-10-02 00:00:00

954 and that these had been no neglect on the part of any officer of their court. A resolution affecting the ventilation of sewers was passed, ordering that the reports of the medical officer and engineer on the subject should ho referred to the improvement com mittee, to consider if any of the plans should be tried, and to estimate the cost. THE CONTROLLER OF THE CIRCULATION DE PARTMENT IN THE GENERAL POST.OFFICE, acting on the authority of the Postmaster-General, has addressed a letter to the London letter carriers in which he takes them very seriously to task for their agitation to obtain 'redress for their alleged grievances. He insists that there are other and more legitimate means by which they might have made their complaints known with the cer tainty that any injustice would be remedied. He states that measures for the further amelioration of their condition are now under the consideration of the Postmaster• General, but that any repetition of the public agitation on their part will lead to the entire abandonment of the contemplated improve malts. _ THE RETURN OF THE REGISTRAR GENERAL exhibits a favourable condition of the health of the metru• polis. The deaths declined last week to 955, which is less tban the average number by 150. Scarlatina, however, is still very prevalent and fatal, the deaths for the week having risen to 1'25. The number of births was 1,657. Dr. Letheby also describes the health of the City as most satisfactory, and the number of deaths much below the average. SOUTH KENSINGTON AIUSEVI was visited during the week ending September 25th by 10,397 persons. THE PRESS, OCTOBER 2, 1858. sent in again, when they were passed. One contrac tor was shown a pattern of a pair of boots, which he said he would undertake to furnish at 10s. (hi. a pair. This was a sample of the '20,000 pairs purchased by Mr. Levy at si. 50. a pair. The commission has again adjourned. V tobintial. AT THE LLANGOLLEN EISTEDDFOD, among the prizes offered was one of 301., and a golden tiara, for the best treatise on the " Theology, Discipline, and Usages of the Ancient Bards of Britain." The Arch-Druid, attired in white robes, and wearing the Druidical symbols, read the adjudication, when the prize was awarded to Ab 'the', the Rev. John one of the gr-atest scholars and antiquaries the Welsh nation can boast. The announcement was made amid loud cheers, and the rev. gentleman kneeling, was crowned with the tiara by Miss Owen, of Blaenao, near Dolgelly. THE Rr.v. 0. LLOYD WILLIAMS, curate at Barmouth, saw from his bed-room window on the morning of the 18th a wreck on the bar, with two men in the rigging. He ran down the lifeboat of the National Lifeboat Institution, and the boat was at once manned by Mr. Williams, who is an expert oarsman, and ten men. The sea at the time was very rough, the wind blowing hard from W.N.W. The wreck was soon reached by the liteboat, and the ship's exhausted crew brought on shore. Mr. Williams's family have always been conspicuous for their devotedness in the rescue of shipwrecked crews. THE EARL OF HARRINGTON, while out riding on Saturday afternoon, near Elvaston Castle, was thrown to the ground with great force, in consequence of his horse falling. Fortunately the accident occurred in sight of his lordship's coachman, who hastened to his assistance, but found him quite insensibl e . Aid was immediately procured. and his lordship was car ried to the Castle, and a messenger sent to Derby for Mr. Gisborne, the family surgeon, who was quickly in attendance. The noble eat; remained unconscious for two hours, and the countess and family were in the greatest alarm. His lordship is going on favourably, although quietude is impera tively necessary for a few days. The earl and countess and family had only returned to Elvaston Castle a few hours before the accident. . . THE Burrisu ASSOCIATION, on the conclusion of the sectional meetings, at which papers of great inte rest were read, held its final general meeting at Leeds on Wednesday, which was very numerously attended. General Sabine read the resolutions of the general committee on subjects affecting the 'nterests of scientific investigation, and Lord Mooteagle addressed the members, remarking on the sumess and pleasure that had attended this year's meeting. The president, Professor Owen, expressed the obli gation under which they lay t the town of Leeds for the liberal arrangements entered into for the accom modation of the society. The next meeting of the association is to take place at Aberdeen. THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS appointed to inquire into the Weedon defalcations have been engaged in the examination of stores at that depot. Several matters of an important character hare come out. For instance, one room contained a great number of bales of warm clothing, worth lisl/. each, which had been returned from the Crimea ; another, containing the remains of the 170,(0) pairs of condemned boots ; and in the cavalry store-room were numerous bales of cloaks, rendered useless in consequence of a change of pattern. A Northampton bootmaker, who had supplied Government with boots at the rate of 3,000 pairs a month, stated that at times quantities had been rejected, which he had brushed up, and the 64urt4. THE TEMPLE CHURCH will be reopened to-morrow for Divine service, after having been closed for two month', in accordance with a" custom more honoured in the breach," we should have thought, " than the observance." The plea for shutting up annually this ancient and splendid structure, with its finely appointed choral service, is alleged to be the necessity of thoroughly cleansing a building so ornate, and the absence of so many members of the congregation on the various circuits, and during the long vacation. The organ, which is pronounced to be among the finest in Europe, has recently been thoroughly repaired, and supplied with the latest improvements. From a brief prefix to the Temple Anthem Book we learn some highly interesting particulars respecting the Temple organ. In the year 1681 there was a famous contest between Smith, usually called "Father" Smith, and Harris, for the honour of supplying an organ to the Temple Church. The great composer, Blow, and his greater pupil, Purcell, performed on appointed days on that erect-d in the church by Father Smith, and displayed its excellence, whilst Harris employed B aptist Draghi, organist to Queen Catharine, to " touch his organ." This competition, after lasting with virulence for almost a year, wss terminated by submitting it to—Chief Justice Jeffries ! His choice of Father Smith's organ has been jthtitied by the great renown of the instrument, even to this day. The metal of which the pipes are made is so precious that we understand the benchers positively prohibited any of them, during the recent lengthened repairs, from being removed from the church. The tone of the instru ment is pre eminently characterized by sweetness and richness, and was greatly admired by Itlv.ndels- Bohn, who performed on it several times without those who heard him being aware of the master hand that was eliciting its harmonies. _ _ _ Tile Venerable Archdeacon ABRAHAM and the Rev. E. HOBHOUSE were consecrated bishops of the new dioceses of Nelson and Wellington, in the colony of New Zealand, at St. Mary's, Lambeth, on Wednesday. The ceremony took place in Lambeth Church. The Bishop of Oxford preached the sermon, and the Archbishop of Canterbury performed the act of consecration. THE BISHOP OF NORWICH, who has been suffering from indisposition, has left Norfolk for Tunbridge wells. Strong hopes are entertained that a short period of repose will restore his lordship to health. A MEMORIAL WINDOW is about to be placed in Gloucester Cathedral to the memory of the late Bishop Monk. The new window will add greatly to the beauty of the cathedral. /hint nnb rtilitaril Ll'ntelligenct. NEW CoLovas were presented by Lady Rayleigh, on behalf of the ladies of Essex, to the West Essex Militia, at Chelmsford, on Saturday. A FLOATING DERRICK, said to be the largest and most powerful in the world, and one of several to ue built tor the Patent Derrick Company ;Limited \, was launched on Saturday, from the yard of the Thames Shipbuilding Company, at Blackwell. A "derrick " is a most useful and powerful seagoing crane for raising sunken or stranded ships, and unfortunately unknown here, though the value and importance of its services are so great as to be almost universally recognized abroad. Notwithstanding its important uses, however, and the necessity which unfortu nately exists for the employment of so many in England, the one launched on Saturday last is only the second which has been made here. To the uninitiated spectator everything about this huge ungainly cralt is strange and singular looking in the last degree. It is strange in shape, in make, and in . . purpose—strange even in name. It is called a derrick, after no less a notorious individual than the first great Tyburn hangman. From the peculiar crane like conformation of Derrick's gibbet all similar cranes used on shipboard were called derricks. The whole thing is really a floating crane of gigantic size and power, the hull, its base, being of such a shape as best suits a light draught of water with a counterpoise to the leverage of the crane. It is rhomboidal in shape, flat bottomed, and all of wrought-iron of great strength and thickness. The whole hull, from stem to stern and from deck to keel, is divided into eighty-seven small watertight compartments, each of which is seventeen feet square and fourteen high. Those in the centre and imme diaiely under the derrick or crane will be used for propelling and hoisting ma:hinery and for the cabins of the crew. All the others are intt uded to be filled with water in order to counterbalance the leverage of the crane when employed in raising sunken vessels. The total length of the hull is no less than 257 feet, and its breadth ninety, or twelve feet broader than the Great Eastern. The tonnage is upwards of 5,000. The machine is moved by no less than fifty small paddles, worked by an endless chain. Each of these is only eighteen inches wide and about three feet in diameter, and each only exerts a small amount of force. But, working all in concert, this combined strength will not only enable the derrick to hold its own, but even make more headway against wind and tide. Thus, supposing a vessel to strike upon the Goodwin, the derrick can cross any part of those fatal sands, and, grappling with the wreck, at once prevent it sinking further till all arrangements are complete for lifting it off and towing it ashore. Though the practical application of these denicks, or even the principle on which they work, is, as we have said, little known in this country, yet for many years past they have been employed at the Havannah and in the United States. This machine, of which Mr. Bishop is the patentee, will be retained fur the service of the ports and docks of London and Liverpool, the rivers Thames and Mersey, and the neighbouring coasts. THREE SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN FLOGGED AT CHAT HAM. Shortly after daylight on Wednesday morn. ing the whole of the troops of the line in garrison were marched to the Spur Battery for the purpose of witnessing the infliction of corporal punishment on two privates—Thomas Ward, of the 23rd Royal IVelsh Fusiliers, and Charles Smith, 32nd Light In fantry—in accordance with the sentence of a district court•martial, which recently assembled at Chatham. The crimes of which the two prisoners were found guilty were for highly insubordinate conduct to their superior officers, Ward having knocked down and grossly ill-treated a sergeant of the same regiment, who had a day or two previously reported bim for some misconduct; and Smith for having likewise assaulted two corporals, and also bitten the finger of a comrade. The former, who bore a very bad cha racter, was ordered to receive fifty lashes and to be imprisoned for a year ; the latter also received fifty lashes, and was ordered to be imprisoned for fifty six days. On Thursday a private Sapper named Merilese was punished with fifty lashes for having been found drunk, and also for assaulting a non. commissioned officer. After the punishment had been inflicted the prisoners were all removed to the hospital, and as soon as they are able to leave they will undergo their terms of imprisonment at Fort Clarence, Rochester. sporting. LORD DERBY leas disposed of his celebrated hors• Toxopholite to Lord Glasgow for 3,000 guineas, the reserve price put on the animal at the recent sale of the noble earl's stud, when he was bought in for 2,5001. MR. MERRY, the owner of Saunterer, has taken on lease for four years the stables of Gouvieux, belonging to Mr. T. Hurst, the trainer, and formerly occupied by Count de Prado. M. Mosselman's As Partout has died. The well-known Irish steeplechase horse, The Secret, has been bought by M. P. Caillard. Xlllll aith V dice. I THE COURT OF BANKRUPTCY decided on Monday that contlibutories of the National Deodorizing Manure Company (Limiied) are entitle d to have credit given to them by the official liquidator for pay ments made by them as calls upon shares in the company previously existing, and to set off such payments against the call of 101. per share lately made, and payable on the Bth inst. EDMUND OATLEY, a journeyman carpenter, was brought before Mr. Arnold, at the Westminster Police-court, en Monday, charged with the moo' slaughter of Sampson Stroud, a man following the same occupation. It appears that the deceased made the discovery on Saturday night that his wife had gone off with some man and taken all his furniture with her. He went in search of Oatley, whom h o suspected to be the companion of his wife's flight, and demanded to know where she was, when the prisoner seized hold of him by the waist, and threw him forcibly to the ground. The deceased rose to his feet again, hut, soon after dropped down dead. The accused is remanded. A FRIGHTFUL OCCURRENCE has taken place at a plumbago mill at Battersea. It appear s that one of the labourers, named Thomas Elson, endeavoured to put the strap on the wheels, which were at the t 111213 making seventy revolutions per minute, instead of giving notice to the engineer, as he was ordered, to slacken the speed. The unfortunate man.h doff. tially got the strap on, but it suddenly slip and encircled him at the same time, dashing 11"°