The Press. — London, England, 1856-08-16 00:00:00

AUGUST 16, 1856. five per cen:. of carbon, and that carbon could not exist a white heat in the presence of oxygen without uniting with and producing combustion, such combustion would proceed with a rapidity dependen. on the amount of surface of carbon ex posed; end that the temperature which the metal would scquire would be also dependent on the rapidit' with which the oxygen and carbon were made to combine, and consequently that it was only necessary to bring the oxygen and carbon so together that s vast surface should be exposed to their mutual scum, and a temperature hitherto unattainable in our largest furnaces then produced. Upon experi melt the result proved highly satisfactory, the loss of weight during the process, including the loss of metal during the finishing rolls, being only eighteen per cent., against twenty-eight per cent. by the ordi nary system now in use ; and, continued Mr. Bes semer : The masses of iron thus formed will be perfectly free from any admixture of cinder, oxide, or other extraneous matters, and will he far more pure and in a sounder state of manufacture than a pile formed of ordinary puddle bars. And thus it will be seen that by a single process, requiring no manipulation or particular skill, and with only one workman, from three to five tons of crude iron passes into the condition of several piles of malleable iron in from thirty to thirty-five minutes, with the expenditure of about one third part the blast now used in a fiery furnace with an equal charge of iron, and with the consumption of no other fuel than is contained in the crude iron. One of the most important facts connected with the new system of manutacturing malleable iron is, that all the irrn so produced will be of that quality known as charcoal iron; not that any charcoal is used in its manufacture, but because the whole of the processes following the smelting of it are conducted entirely without contact with or the use of any mineral fuel : the iron resulting there from will in consequence be perfectly free from those injurious properties which that descnption of fuel never fails to impart to iron that is brought under its influence. At the same time this system of manufacturing malleable iron offers extraordinary fertility for making large shafts, cranks, and other heavy masses, for it will be obvious that any weight of metal that can be founded in ordinary cast iron by the means at present at our disposal may also be founded in molten malleable iron, to be wrought into the forms and shapes required, provided that we increase the size and power of our machinery to the extent necessary to deal with such large masses of metal. In conclusion, allow me to observe that the facts which I have had the honour of bringing before the meeting have not been elicited from mere laboratory experiments, but have been the result of working on a scale nearly twice as great as is pursued in our largest iron-works—the ex perimental apparatus doing 7 cwt. in thirty minutes, while the ordinary puddling furnace makes only 41 cwt. in two hours, which is made into six separate balls, while the ingots or blooms are smooth—even prisms, ten inches square by thirty inches in length weighing about equal to ten ordinary puddle balls. With respect to the manufacture of cast steel, Mr. Bessemer observed : At that stage of the process immediately following the boil the whole of the crude iron has passed into the condi tion of cast-steel of ordinary quality; by the continuation of the process the steel so produced gradually loses its small remaining portion of carbon, and passes successively from hard to soft steel, and from soft steel to steely iron, and eventually to very soft iron ; hence at a certain period of the process any quality of metal may be obtained ; there is one in particular, which by way of distinction I call semi steel, being in hardne►s about midway between ordinary cast-steel and soft malleable iron. This metal possesses the advantage of much greater tensile strength than soft iron; it is also more elastic, and does not readily take a permanent set, while it is much harder, and is not worn or indented so easily as soft iron ; at the same time it is not so brittle or hard to work as ordinary cast steel. These qualities render it eminently well adapted to purposes where lightness and strength are specially required, or where there is much wear, as in the case of railway bars, which from their softness and lamellar texture soon be come destroyed. The cost of semi•steel will be a fraction less than irun, because the loss of metal that takes place by oxidation in the converting vessel is about two and a half per cent, less than it is with iron ; but, as it is a little more difficult to roll, its cost per ton may fairly be con sidered to be the same as iron ; but, as its tensile strength is some thirty or forty per cent. greater than bar iron, it follows that for most purposes a much less weight of metal may be used, so that taken in that way the semi-steel will form a much cheaper metal than any that we are at present acquainted with. The usual president's dinner passed off with great eclat on Tuesday. The Earl of Ellemborough and Earl Ducie were among the guests. ART UNION OF LONDON REPORT. THE council of the Art Union of London have pub lished their twentieth annual report, by which we learn that the pressure of the war on the general finances of the country has had less injurious effect upon their subscription-list than could have reason ably been anticipated. The receipts for the year in round numbers amount to 14,0001. The council ex press a belief that this sum m i g h t h ave b een i ncrease d had they thought themselves justified in offering to "ocal agents a larger commission than they now receive, in expending more money on advertisements of various kinds, and schemes to obtain greater pub licity, but they felt that they would not be adhering THE PRESS. to those principles on which the society was estab lished if they added very materially to that propor tionate amount of expenses which the annual account printed for every subscribe: sets forth in detail, or imported into this institution the feelings and machinery of a keen trade competition. It appears that for the ensuing year each subscriber will be entitled to two engravings, " The Piper," engraved by Mr. E. Goodall, from the picture by Mr. Frederick Goodall, A.R.A., and " The Clemency of Comr-de-Lion," engraved by Mr. Shenton, from a picture by Mr. Cross. We learn, also, from the report, that the council of the Art Union have ex tended the power of selecting pictures to the exhibi tions at the Royal Scottish and Royal Hibernian Academies. It says : With reference to the selection of works of art by prize holders in the present and future distributions, your coun cil have to state that, listening to representations made to them from Scotland and Ireland, the exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy have been added to the list of those from which, under stated conditions, works may be taken by prizeholders. Another comparatively new rule is announcdd in the succeeding paragraph : The arrangements made last year that every member who shall have subscribed for ten consecutive years, and shall not have gained a prize of any kind in that period, shall be entitled to one of the porcelain busts of Clytie, appears to have given very general satisfaction, and will be continued in operation ; the result of which, of course, will be that every constant subscriber will obtain a prize, at any rate, once in ten years. The report then enters upon the result of the Paris Exhibition with respect to English art : The English school (it says) extorted admiration at all hands in many important particulars ; its deficiencies, where they exist, were seen to be mainly attributable to a circumstance already briefiy alluded to—the want of oppor tunity for the development of historical art on a large scale. From the trying ordeal to which it was subjected it came out unscathed. Our bronzes, also, though limited in manufacture, are reported as having exhibited much improvement, but the general ignorance of design among our artisans is the subject of some wholesome sugges tions : The Paris Universal Exhibition proved how much our manufacturers are impeded by the want of artistic skill on the part of our artisans, and afforded the strongest reasons, in a commercial point of view, for making a knowledge of art general. In our cabinet work, carpets, paperhangings, in whatever involved design, the indifference that has been shown to the cultivation of the English artisan made itself apparent. If the Manchester manufacturers were to tell us what they expend annually in France for designs, and we we e to learn the statistics of the Paris trade in the branches we have already mentioned, to say nothing of ormolu, lamps, and jewellery, we should see that attention in this respect will pay, even financially. It has been shown in a recent report to the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, that the more elaborate technical pro cesses of fine carving, incrusting in mosaic, marquetry, buhl, etched metal, engraved ivory, elaborate fret-cutting. and many other processes taxing art•labour, are now scarcely attempted in English cabinet work. And, as the reporter says: " When we consider how sadly unmindful we have been for the last three generations of national education, industrial and artistic, how can we wonder that such defects should make themselves apparent, when we publicly enter the lists with other countries whose more parental Governments have opened free schools for work men, free public I.braries, free museums, and other institu tions open to artisans of all kinds, and at times when their habits and means enable them to avail themselves of the opportunities offered for self-improvement?" No means should be neglected to educate the public eye, and it should be remembered, as we have often before urged, that every ugly carpet laid down, every ill-proportioned and un sightly building set up, aids in preventing the acquirement of a pure taste, and is an injury to the community at large. The fine art section of the Universal Exhibition served to show that art was not limited to any clime, and enabled the student to weigh the various merits and defects of the modern schools of painting. The report then alludes briefly to the establish ment of the different schools of art in the metropolis, and concludes : To return more immediately to ourselves, the beneficial effects of the Art Union of London, and other kindred in stitutions, must not be estimated only by what they accom plish at present. Their influence on the future is still more important, and holds out higher encouragement to art and those who labour to advance it. The common mind at home and in our colonies is becoming imbued with a love of art never before felt ; the results of which will be more strikingly apparent in the next generation ; when, not merely a few wealthy individuals or occasional associations will be its patrons, but the gratification of a taste for refined art will be a necessity of the general body of the people. Thus a more elevated class of subjects, and more independence of mind in the treatment of these, will characterise the artists of that day, when sure that their productions will be properly appreciated, and meet their due reward. For though we know that genius will ever struggle on, and even continue to utter the cry " Excelsior " when sinking, overwhelmed by the snows and chilling atmosphere of that higher region where be had hoped to bask in perpetual sunshine, this swelling of the already long list of the `• inheritors of unfulfilled renown " is most likely to be averted by an enlarged and appreciative public. 789 DEATH OF MADAME VESTRIS. MADAME VESTRIS, after a lingering illness and ex treme suffering for many weeks from that terrible disease, cancer, died last Friday, at midnight, at her house, Gore-lodge, Fulham. The daughter of the engraver Bartolozzi, she was born in 1797, and from the first gave evidence of extraordinary abilities as a musician and a linguist. In 1813 she was married to M. Armand Vestris, the principal dancer at and ballet-master of the then King's Theatre, in the Haymarket, and soon after made her debut on the stage as Proserpina in the °pry , of Il Ratto di Proserpina. Having scarcely made the sensation which was expected, she did not remain in London, but accompanied her husband to Paris, where she played for some time in drama and tragedy in the French language. On her return to England in 1819, she accepted an engagement with Mr. Elliston, at Drury Lane, and Mozart's opera of Don Giovanni being at that time at the height of its popularity, she shortly afterwards established her tame in a burlesq'ie of that masterpiece called Giovanni in London, in which she as the hero, at d Harley as Leporello, created an extraordinary sensa tion. From this time her success was complete, and she reigned the favorite of the London public bolt at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, playing what is technically termed "first light comedy," such as Lydia Languish in The Rivals, Letitia Hardy in The Belle's Stratagem, Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, ctc. In the year 1829 she be came lessee of the Olympic Theatre, which she transformed into the most elegant "temple of the drama" in London. There Iv, re first produced those brilliant extravaganzas and revues of Messrs. Planche and Charles Dance, upon which their fame is built. On the 7th of December, 1835, Mr. Charles Mathews, who had been brought up as an architect, made his first appearance on the stage at the Olympic, in a farce called the Old and Young Stager, in which he was admirably supported by Liston, at that time the prop of the establishment. In 1838 Madame Testris, whose husband had died in 1825, married Mr. Charles Mathews, and, leaving the Olympic under the management of Mr. Planche, they immediately started for America. With our Transatlantic neighbours, however, the favorites of the Olympic were a failure, and they returned to England in 1839, in the September of which year they entered upon the lesseeship of Covent Garden. Under their management were produced some of the chefs-d'ceuvre of modern dramatic authorship, among which may he mentioned London Assurance, Time Works Wonders, Old Heads and Young Hearts, and some excellent pantomimes, The Castle of Otranto, the Great Bed of Ware, &c., and some of Mr. Planche's best burlesques. The speculation, how ever, did not answer, and the lessees gave up manage ment in April, 1842. After this they accepted a short temporary engagement at Drury Lane with Mr. ?decreed), and a more lengthened one with Mr. Webster, at the Haymarket. In 1846 Mr. and Mrs. Mathews joined Mr. Maddox's company at the Princess's, and in the autumn of 1847 they opened the English Opera house, in Wellington-street, under the name of the Lyceum. Madame Vestris played two or three important parts , such as the Wonderful Woman and the Pride of the Market, and made a great hit in more pathetic characters, as, for instance, in Mr. Slingsby Lawrence's Chain of Events, and in the translation of Madame de Girardin's play, La Joie fait Peur, under the name of Sunshine through the Clouds. But her strength now began to fail her, and she principally confined herself to the direction of the stage, in which she showed that taste and talent for which we have before described her as being so remarkable. For the occasion of her hus band's benefit, on Wednesday, July 26, 1854, she made her last appearance, in Sunshine through the Clouds, and since that time she has been confined always to the house, and principally to her roma. As an artist who united the character of the vocalist with that of the actress of genteel comedy in parts where song was not required, the reputation of Madame Vestris is, we believe, unique, and to t'iis must be added the fame of being one of the most distinguished managers who ever governed a theatrical property. Riau Mahn ana tit Fainav Erzeirixo. Tns return of the Bank of England for the week end! the 9th inst. shows the following change* compared wi that for the week preceding Te - . Teas e in Circulation .. Z190,052 Increase in Public Deposits Decrease in Other Deposits Decrease in Government Securities Increase in Other Securities Increase in Bullion Increase in Rest Increase in Reserve Bullion iu Both Departments Circulation, including Bank Post _ Bills