The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-25 00:00:00

Ilistellantotts. THE GREAT EASTERN. THE following are the details of a scheme to be sub mitted to the shareholders at a meeting to he held for the purpose in the course of the next three weeks. A new company is to be formed to be called "The Great Steam Ship Company (Limited)," with a capital of 330,0001., in shares of it. each. This sum, it is calculated, is sufficient to fit the vessel for sea, and it is proposed that she should at present be employed in voyages between this country and America. The projectors propose that 2s. per share of the new capital shall be paid upon application, a further sum of 3s. on the completion of the contract for the purchase of the ship from the Eastern Steam Navi tion Company, and the remainder in three calls of ss. each at intervals of two months. Should, how ever, the promoters of the new company fail to pur chase the ship, Is. 10J. of the deposit is to be re turned. It is further stated that a large portion of the capital has been subscribed by the shareholders of the old company. It is presumed that the vessel when finished will he enabled to make eight voyages within the year to Portland or New York, and that, according to statistics of existing traffic, the earnings of the ship, after deducting insurance, wear and tear, and every possible contingency, will leave a balance from which a dividend can be declared of 15 per cent. The estimate of the ship's earnings, as now submitted, is as follows, presuming that she makes eight voyages out and home within the year :-200 first-class passengers at 211., 4,2001. ; 400 second-class at 151., 2,500 at 71., 27,7001., less dietary, 4,700/. ; homeward, 900 passengers, less ' dietary, 11,500/. • cargo, 3,000 tons out and 2,000 home, at 3/. and 305., 6,000/. ; total, 38,2001. From this there is to be deducted 6,3301. for agency, corn. mission, loading and unloading, making the receipts per voyage 31,8701.; or for eight voyages 254,9601. The estimated expenditure for the eight voyages would be 101,5001., leaving a balance of 153,2001. From this there will remain to be deducted 40,0001. for insurance, 49,5001. for wear and tear and depre ciation at 151. per cent. ; management, 5,000/. ; contingencies, 9,2001., leaving for dividend, at 15 per cent., 49,5001. _ In order to give effect to the arrangement the following options are offered to the shareholders in the old company : either to exchange their shares at the rate of five shares in the new company fully paid up for two of the present shares ; to exchange at the rate of ten shares in the new company, with ss. paid, for one old share, in which 154. per share would re main to be paid ; or to exchange at the rate of five shares in the new company, with 10s. paid, and the liability to pay 10s. more, for one old share. The terms thus offered contemplate giving the old share holders precisely the present market price of their shares. The present price in the market is as near as possible 21. 10s. per share ; and therefore five new shares fully paid up would be equal to the market value of twn old shares. Should the proprietors, on the other hand, elect not to take any new shares at all, the company state they wil! be entitled to their divisible share of the assets, whatever that may be. It is also stated that the new project, the originator of which is Mr. Campbell, one of the directors of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, has received the assent of the majority of the huge shareholders, including the chairman, Mr. Hope, Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., and others. The whole of the new shares are to be offered to the old holders, but should a sufficient number not be taken up, which seems extremely probable, then they are to be offered to the public. Proposals are also to be received from the holders of original shares for shares in the new company in excess of those to which they might be entitled in virtue of their old shares. MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. Tutu statistics, compiled by Mr. A. W. Fon blanque, of the Board of Trade, have just been published in a blue-book, from which we select the following :—There were in 1856 22,08(1,449 persons living in England, Wales and Scotland — viz., 10,802,279 males and 11,278,170 females. England and Wales contained 19,045,187 of these souls, and Scotland 3,035,26 . 2. There were 739,201 births, 448,902 deaths, and 179,824 marriages. There were 614,802 legitimate, and 42,651 illegiti mate births in England and Wales, and in the metropolis 83,787 legitimate a n d 3,640 illegitimate births. The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate was 1 in 14.0 and 1 in 23 O. The proportion of marriages to the population was 1 in 119 in England and Wales, and 1 in 100 in London. In England and Wales at large 129,900 marriages were between bachelors and spinsters, 7,163 between bachelors and widows, 14,462 between widowers and spinsters, THE PRE S S, SEPTEMBER 25, 1858. and 7,752 between widowers and widows. The ages of the males married varied from 15 to 80, and those of the females from 15 to 75. 16 girls were espoused at the age of 15, and 6 old women at the age of 75. By far the greater number of marriages occur between the ages of 20 and 25. The propor tion of deaths to the population is 1 in 49 in Eng land and Wales, and 1 in 46 in London. The metropolis, Leicestershire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire supply the largest number of votaries to Hymen, and the same counties supply the largest number of deaths. The following is a list of the number of deaths from the principal diseases in England and Wales in 1856, viz. :-14,160 from scarlatina, 9,225 from pertussis or whooping-cough, 13,815 from diarrheas, 762 from cholera, 15,398 from typhus, 8,213 from dropsy, 48,950 from phthisis or consumption, 7,299 from hydrocephalus, 8,278 from apoplexy, 8,497 from paralysis, 23,946 from convul sions, 12,803 from cardiac diseases, 21,528 from bronchitis, and 22,653 from pneumonia or inliamma tion of the lungs. The ages at death were 159.067 under 5 years, 16,165 from 5 to 10, 9,143, from 10 to 15, 26,654 from 15 to 25, 26,371 from 25 to 35, 25,861 from 35 to 45, 25,024 from 45 to 55, 29,353 from 55 to 65, 35,085 from 65 to 75, 28,962 from 75 to 85, 8,273 from 85 to 95, and 548 at 95 and upwards. In Great Britain 5,1 7 9 schools were inspected in 1856, accommodating 877,762 children; 571,239 was the average num her in attendance ; 3,455 of these schools belonged to the Church, and the rest to various dissenting sects (including the Romanists) and the kirk of Scotland; 165 primary schools were built, and 6,262 enlarged or improved in England in 1856. The receipts for the purposes of primary education amounted to 915,3721. (423,633/. from Parliamentary grants), and the expenditure to 939,9101. In 1857 there were 1,224,493 registered electors in the United King dom-viz., 896,248 in England, 48,789 in Wales, 100,427 in Scotland, and 178,987 in Ireland; 705,745 were county and 518,748 borough electors. These 1,224,493 electors returned 654 members to form the House of Commons, the two boroughs of Sudbury and St. Alban's (which returned four members having been punished for their disgraceful corrup tion by political extinction or disfranchisement. The number of electors on the registers of the city of Westminster and the six metropclitan boroughs in 1856 was altogether 120,709, out of a population of 2,033,299. Finsbury numbered 20,620 voters ; Greenwich, 7,888; Lambeth, 20,012; St. Dilaryle bone, 20,851; Southwark, 10,170; the Tower Ham lets, 27,980; and Westminster, 13,182. The total number of paupers in the United Kingdom in 1857 was 1,057,133, the percentage to the population being 4-0 in England and Wales, 3-9 in Scotland, and 0 9 in Ireland. The total expenditure on the paupers of the whole of the United Kingdom was 7,153,7421. In England there were, in 1857, 122,845 in-door and 762,165 out-door paupers. The adult ablebodied paupers (exclusive of vagrants or " sturdy beggars") numbered 140,075, of whom 19,660 were maintained in-doors. The total amount expended on the relief of the poor in 1857 was 5,898,7501,, the average rate per individual of the population having been Bs. 51d. for " poor rates received," and 6.3. 111 for "expenditure in relief of poor." 1,088,5581. was the cost of the in-main tenance, and 3,152,278/. that of the out-door relief- The sums actually received for the relief of the prior from the ratepayers in the year 1856-57 was 8,139,003/., besides 301,9871. "in aid of the poor rates." In England and Wales, in 1857, there were 17,192 pauper lunatics, and 10,501 idiots. The average cost to parishes for tha weekly maintenance of these wretched beings in asylums and licensed houses was 6s. Bd. (the general average). 37,302 boys and girls, on the average, attended the work house and district schools of England and Wales in the half year ended Lady day, 1857. The total number of paupers of all classes and ages in Scot land, in 1857, was 115,213, in the ratio of 3-9 per cedt. to the population. The total number of registered poor relieved in all the counties of Scot land, in 1857, was 88,622. The total amount re ceived for the relief and " management " of the poor was 669,853/., and the amount expended, 635,4521. Ireland presents a remarkable improvement as re gards the decline of pauperism. The total number of paupers in 1857 was only 56,010, against 73,525 in 1856, and 89,619 in 1855. The percentage ratio to the population was only 09. The expenditure has fallen off from 849,9511. (1855) to 619,514/. A SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH of about 800 miles is in course of manufacture in Scotland, to connect the colony of Victoria with 'l' asmania. THE yield of wine in Madeira this year will be some 800 pipes, whereas in former years it used to average between 15,000 and 16,000 pipes. A LUDICROUS CRINOLINE INCIDENT occurred at the Liverpool steamer on Wednesday last. One of the passengers, a young lady, made her appearance just 923 as the bell was ringing for the start, and, notwith standing her vast circumference of hoops, made a bold dash at the gangway. She had nut advanced three feet, however, when t he stuck fast, and from her hoops protruding between the rails on either side became hopelessly fixed, and, unable to advance or retreat, became "the cynosure of neighbouring eyes." The boat was about to start and time was precious, so the impatient captain sent two sailors to her rescue. The tars set to work with a will—one vigorously hauled in frunt, while the other shoved behind—and in this undignified manner the young lady was shipped, amid the laughter of all who wit nessed the incident. Art AGED LUNATIC performed an adventurous feat at Southern Hill, Berkshire, on Thursday week. The man, whose name is Luaton, and who is between seventy and eighty years old, managed to rush out of the house, and running some two hundred yards, he came to a high poplar tree, up which he climbed with an agility which nothing but the diseased energy consequent on madness could have enabled him to exhibit. Here at the height of fifty feet he wag perched, screaming and raving so that he could be heard in the London•road, and abusing and defying the neighbours who flocked to his rescue in such a manner that many doubted whether he would not throw himself off and so perish miserably in their sight. However, ropes were obtained, and loops made in them, with which several experienced climbers ascended, and one of them, getting above the old man's retreat, adroitly let down the loop cords, and, fastening them round him, managed with great ditficuly and danger to let him down and re store him to his friends. THE JEWISH NATION, dispersed in almost every part of the globe, without forming everywhere an independent nation, amount in number in 1858 to 4,858,800, not comprising 30,000 Samaritans and 1,200 Ishmaelites, which would make a total of 4,81)0,000 persons. The total number of Jews in Europe is stared at 2,451,179, making the 110th part of tho whole population of Europe at the last census. THE PRINCE OF OUDE is not gone back to India, as stated, but is merely gone in person as far as Alexandria, with the Ladies of the Household of the late King's brother and Queen-mother, in order to see them safely embarked for Calcutta. The Prince intends to return to this country as soon SS this mission is performed. THE LAST WORDS OF SIR HENRY LAWRENCE are reported in the Anglo•lndian Magazine for July. Immediately before death he partook of the Commu nion, and gave directions concerning his burial. He Emit], " Let there he no fuss about me." " Let me be buried with the men." "No nonsense—Here lies Henry Lawrence. who lived to do his duty." All this in disjointed sentences, speaking as it were to himself, and then turning to the chaplain. " I shonid like a text of Scripture." "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have offended against him." "Is it not from Daniel ? It was on my dear wife's tomb." Tut: BATHING AT OSTEND has lately caused con siderable commotion. From time immemorial a por • tion of the beach has been designated by the name of" Le Paradis," where persons have been able to enjoy the recreation of bathing with greater freedom than in other places near the town. The medical men have even recommended certain of their patients to bathe in this spot as being better for their health, and no one has ever dreamt of considering the freedom enjoyed by the bathers as an infringement on the laws of decorum, the place being so completely removed from ordinary resort. A fews days since, however, the commissary of police of the district took it into his head that the practice was in cmtra vention of the enactments of the penal code, and an attack on public decency, and by his orders a party of gendarmes proceeded to the spot, and arrested several persons who were bathing there—among them the Russian Prince G--. They were all marched off through the town to the commissary's office, and since that the parties in gnestion have received sum monses to appear before the Tribunal of Correctional Police to answer for the offence. The whole town has been thrown into commotion by this affair, and petitions have been drawn up, one to the Minister of Justice, protesting against the arrest, and another to the communal administration, calling for a revision of the regulations relative to bathing. At a meeting of the Communal Council, which afterwards took place, the matter was discussed, and a decision was unanimously come to that an official application should be made to the Minister of Justice to prevent the recurrence of such a discreditable scene. It appears from the Brusset papers that the foreigners remaining in Ostend have addressed a petition to the Communal Council, in which they express their regret at these proceedings, and beg that the regu lations as to the baths may be published in the continental journals, so that a second surprise may be averted.