The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-16 00:00:00

,aprisoned for periods varying from six weeks three months. The noble lord read extracts m the prism reports of the southern and western districts, bearing out his previous statements, and concluded by suggesting the appointment in all sea port towns of a Government inspector, whose duty it should be to survey every vessel before she left port; that in every case of wreck in the merchant service an inquiry, such as exists in her Majesty's service, should be instituted. He thought the appointment of a committee to consider the question wou►d be de sirable. LJT,I STANLEY of ALDERLEY real the legal opinions obtained by the Government upon the question, showing that seamen cannot legally be treated as deserters if the ship be unseaworthy, and that' re fuse t) go to sea in her; and concluded by stating that he should offer no objection to the appointment of a committee, though he hardly thought any ad ditional information would be obtained. The pro position of the noble earl for the establishment of a survey he thought worthy of consideration. After some further conversation the house shortly. adjourned. THE ADMISSION OF ORPHAN CADETS TO SANDHURST COLLEGE. Mr. FREDERICK PEEL, in reply to Colonel North, said that no steps had been taken by the Government for filling up the ten additional cadetships, as recom mended by the committee of the house last session. The matter was under the consideration of the Go vernment, who thought that some measure might be devised for a system of general education for the orphans of officers and soldiers. STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA. Mr. LABOUCHERE, on Thursday, in reply to Mr. Baxter, stated that arrangements were being made by the Government to establish a monthly commu• nication by a line of steamers between this country and Melbourne and Sydney, with branch steamers to call at Adelaide, Van biemen's Land, and New Zea land, the expense to be divided between this Government and the colonies. lee shore." Mr. L. DAVIES thought that if any circumstance had been wanting to lead him to the conclusion that there ought to be a naval officer at the head of the Admiralty, the speech of the right hon gentleman wluld have supplied that want : his speech betrayed not only a total ignorance of nautical affairs, but a remarkable want of geographical knowledge. After some further dispute, the house divided, — For the motion,44 ; against, 118. Majority against, 74. LETTERS from the camp, up to the 2nd February, have been received. There was no intelligence of any moment. On the night of the 29th ult., be tween nine and ten p.m., a tremendous bombard. ment opened from the north batteries, and was con tinued for an hour. The object of concentrating such a heavy fire upon the south side of the town was incomprehensible, except that it is possible the Russians had become aware of the intention of the French to blow up Fort St. Nicholas, and were re solved to disturo their preliminary operations. The feeling of the camp with respect to peace was favorable on the whole. It was believed that several divisions of the army would remain in the East for a certain period. The health of the army was good, though the weather was changeable and trying. At Kertch everything was quiet. 2,000 additional Turkish troops and two field-batteries had reinforced the Contingent. In Asia Minor nothing of importance had oc curred. Omer Pacha was exerting himself with great energy to put his army upon an effective footing. The following intelligence has been received at Vienna, under date of Constantinople, Feb. 4 : There are hardly any foreign troops here. There are 1.000 French iu camp at Maslak, and two English battalions, with a small cavalry detachment, at Pura and Scutari. Advices from Trebizond of the 28th of January state that the Russians have evacuated part of Turkish Armenia, and retired to Erivan. CAMP OCCURRENCES. The blowing up of the docks, which has hitherto been conducted with so little loss of life, on the 26th ult. was very nearly proving fatal to a number of men, at the time of the blasting of the eastern end of the western dock, at work down a shaft close at hand.— The explosion by the dock•gate had taken place, and some uppers were busy at the bottom of a shaft forty or fifty feet off, when a noxious gas generated by the explo- sion entered the gallery, filtering through the intervening earth. The effect was gradual—one after another the men became giddy, and some of them insensible. With lull nite alacrity and courage non commissioned officers and soluiers descended the shaft, braving a danger which seemed the greater because its extent and nature were un known, to succour their comrades, and as they got down they in turn were overpowered by the offensive gas. Major Nicholson and Lieutenant Graham also went down. and suffered in consequence. The fornier was insensible when, supported by his men, he reached the top of the shaft, and it was some time before he recovered. To sum up the accident : one man perished, and seven or eight were seriously affected, but have since recovered. A man went down into the mine, after the accident, holding in his mouth the extremity of a tube down which air was pumjed to him, and he walked imout with perfect impunity and collected the men's caps and things they had left behind. The man who died ,as a soldier of the 4dth Regiment. Two surgeons were on the spot, and tried every means to recover him, but in vain.—Times cor., Jan. 2titli. The Times correspondent, writing on the 28th, gives the following description of the methods adopted by our engineers and the views they held with regard to the destructi3n of these docks: — Their mode of operating against the docks varied ac cording to circumstances, but seems to have consisted in great measure of regular mines, with shaft and gallery. Two of these shafts, down which [ yesterday looked, are about thirty feet deep. They are situated one on each side of the western dock, and in one of them, which is at about fifty feet from its entrance (between it and the centre dock ), an unfortunate accident occurred on Sato! , day last. The engineers had blown up the eastern pier, or extremity of that side of the dock, to which a gate is at tached—one of the jaws of the dock, as I may say, which are closed by the gates ; and this explosion seems to have been as complete in its effect as any that have taken place. The huge mass was lifted up and dislocated, and the enor mous transverse beams, masses of black timber of incal- culable strength, were torn from their fastenings, snapped in twain, and remained with their splintered ends resting against each other, in the shape of a house-roof. Below the I oiuted arch thus formed is a black chasm, and heaped around are piles of displaced stone and dusty rums. Everything is removed and riven without being scattered and this is the object at which our engineers have C 011" stantly aimed. They have sought all along, and generally with much success, so to proportion the charges of their mines that, while everything should be overturned, rooted out, and thrown into the utmost confusion (literally tops).- turvy ), as little as possible should be thrown out of the crater. And accordingly most of their explosions have not had the appearance which would popularly be ant cipated from the letting off of two, three, or more thousand pounds of powder. There was no diverging gush of stones, hut a scot of rumbling convulsion of the ground ; a few blocks and fragments were east up to a moderate height , but the effect upon the spectator was that of some gigantic sub% III • . 11 - 7 I W IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII- II 1/2 THE PRESS. SATin, DA y , F i S g e e b n r c u e arv o f , vesseji. The noble earl at some length stated considered Milford. Haven and Holyhead harbours T H W A - ...2 varicis cases in point, in which seamen—who, to sufficient for the coast of %Vales. " Besides," con • A . - prey ve their lives, had refused to go to sea in un • eluded the hon. baronet, " any sailor who knew his 2 in n t d ell LETTERS from the camp, up to the 2nd wag s f the 29th ult. be. seas rthy vessels—had been treated as deserters, business, would take care to keep Out of a bay on a th T e h n er ig e h w t sm' mprisoned for periods varying from six weeks lee shore." '.., • three months. The noble lord read extracts Mr. L. DAVIES thought that if any circumstance a h n a y ve m be o e n n ien re t c . received. 4' m the prism reports of the southern and western had been wanting to lead him to the conclusion that tween nine and ten p.m., a tremendous bombard- . districts, bearing out his previous statements, and there ought to be a naval officer at the head of the fr concluded by suggesting the appointment in all sea- Admiralty, the speech of the right lion gentleman port towns of a Government inspector, whose duty it wluld have supplied that want : his speech betrayed ment opened from the north batteries, and was con. s h ou ld be to survey every vessel before she left port; no t on ly a total ignorance of nautical affairs, but a tinued for an hour. The obj ec t o f concentrating that in every case of wreck in the merchant service remarkable want of geographical knowledge. such a heavy fire upon the sou th s id e of the town an inquiry, such as exists in her Majesty's service, After some further dispute, the house divided,— should he instituted. He thought the appointment For the motion,44 ; against, 118. Majority against, 74. was incomprehensible, except th a t i t i s possible the of a committee to consider the question would be de-- Russians had become aware of the intention of the likable. OBSOLETE STATUTES. .• _ ~_ —__ ~._, French to blow un Fort St. Ninhnia. .. ... ~ CONTRACTORS' DISQUALIFICATION. Mr. F. MITCHELL, on Tuesday, moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the Act 22nd George 111., disqualifying contractors from being elected to, or sitting and voting as members in, the House of Commons. He urged various objections to this law, its exceptional character, and the facilities for evading it. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER offered no objection to the motion. The repeal of the act, be observed, would remove all doubts as to the liability of 'owl contractors (the distinction between whom and other contractors he pointed out), and to that extent he approved the molion ; but he reserved his opinion as to the policy of au entire repeal of the act. Mr. J. PHILLIMORE and the SOLICITOR GENERAL questioned the expediency of repealing the act. Upon a division, the motion was carried by forty six to forty-three. DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR A PPOINT MEN'I S. Lord PALMERSTON, on Monday, in answer to Mr. Ewart, stated that be had no objection to lay on the table the correspondence which had taken place on the subject of the examinations to be gone through by candid rtes for employment in the diplomatic and consular services. POLICE (COUNTIES AND BOROUGHS) BILL. Mr. HADFIELD, on Wednesday, moved the postpone ment of the second reading of this bill for a fortnight. He objected to the principle and to some of the details of the bill. Sir G. GREY said, if any good and substantial reasons were alleged for postponing the second reading ' lie should not object ; but he iiad yet heard none. He had no interest in pressing the bill un duly; he was in the hands of the house, and was ready, after the second reading, to fix a law day, for the committee. Dlr. Henley, Sir F. Baring, Mr. Robert Palmer, and Sir J. Walmsley recommended the postponement of the second reading, and the question having been put, the second reading was deferred till the 27th instant. CARDIGAN BAY HARBOUR BILL Mr. L. DAvies, on Tuesday, moved for a select committee to inquire into the advisibility of con structing a harbour of refuge and defence fur Car digan Bay. Detailing the conAiderahle extent of the shipping trade, the hon. member proceeded to enu merate the enormous loss of life and property of late years off that part of the coast, and concluded by suggesting the employment of our convicts upon some such system of remunerative work. Sir CHABLE3 WOOD resisted the motion on the authority of the bydrographer to the Admiralty, who OBSOLETE STATUTES. Mr. L. KINCI, on Thursday, gave notice that on that day fortnight he should move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal statutes, which, in Lord Bacon's words, were sleeping and not of use, but snoring and in force. RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. Mr. Lowe, on Tuesday, in reply to Mr. S. Fitz gerald, stated that it was the intention of the Presi dent of the Board of Trade to introduce a bill (originally proposed last year by Mr. Lowe) for the prevention of railway accidents. ADULTERATION OF FOOD. On the motion of Mr. SCHOLEFIELD, on Tuesday, a select committee was appointed on the adulteration of food, drinks, and drugs. MUNICIPAL REFORM (SCOTLAND). Mr. EWART, on Tuesday, obtained leave to bring in a bill to extend the provisions of the Scottish Municipal Refo►m Act to certain royal burghs ►n Scotland, now excluded from the benefits of that act. NEW MEMBERS. Mr. I►L►rtrir, on Monday, took the oaths and his seat for Rochester. The Right Hon. SPENCER Wki.roLE, for the Uni versity of Cambridge, and Mr. RIDLEY, for Newcastle, took the oaths and their seats on Tuesday. The following arrangements have taken place during the week : The Trial of Offences Bill was read a second time in the House of Lords on Tuesday, and went through committee on Thursday. Mr. CoLviLLE obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws relating to the qualifications of jus tices of the peace. The Charitable Uses Bill was read a second time. The report of the Committee of Supply was brought iw and agreed to. The Joint-stock Banks (Scotland) Bill was read a third time and passed. The House of Commons Office Bill was read a third time and passed. Mr. WILSON obtained leave to bring in a bill to extend the period for which her Majesty may grant letters patent of incorporation of joint-stock banks in Scotland. Mr. L. KING obtained leave to bring in a bill to consolidate and mend the laws relating to the summary jurisdiction of justices of the peace. On the motion of Mr. J. G. PHILLIMORE, the com mittee of last session was revived to inquire respect ing the appointment of public prosecutors. Petitions against the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays were presented on Thursday, by twenty eight hon. members. . _ — Petitions against the abolition of Church rates were presented on Thursday, by nine hon. members. COUNT ALEXIS FEODOROWITSCH ORLOFF, who toge ther with Baron Brunow will represent Russia at the Paris Conferences, is a member of the Council of the Empire and a general of cavalry. He com manded the Russian auxiliary force sent. to assist the Sultan in 1840 against Mehemet Ali, and since that time held a high and confidential post in the Chancellerie about the ,person of the Emperor Nicholas. He is described as a man of quiet manners and moderate views, and to have disapproved Menschikoff's mission and style of execution in the following pithy remark :—" Menschikoff a demande beaucoup pour avoir pen ; j'irai demander peu pour avoir beaucoup." LETTERS FROM ST. PF.TERSBURG speak of the in creasing confidence of the merchants, and the rise in the rate of exchange. Peace is regarded as settled, as every one believes the Czar will so meet the allied powers as to bring the war certainly to a close. Since his return from the Crimea the influence of General Prince Gortschakoff in favour of peace has been marked. The Prince is said to have even converted to his views the Grand Duke Constantine. Mn. MURRAY, our Minister at the Court of Persia, by late letters from Erzeroum, had left Teheran, and was en route for Bagdad. The Shah, it is said, had issued orders for all the Persian authorities to treat Mr. Murray with every possible civility on his routs, but at the same time had written to him in a tone which makes reconciliation at present entirely impossible.