The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-13 00:00:00

TERMS OF Etc Press: Per Annum .. Half-Yearly .. Quarterly .. .. 11 _6 0 .. - 0 13 0 .. 0 6 6 Payable in advance. Subscribers are requested to send their Orders through their News Agent; If direst to the Office, accompanied by s Remit tance. Mosey Orders to be made payable to Mr. ALFRED 'VS, 110, Strand, London. TO CORRESPONDENTS. It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive. Their insertion is often delayed, owing to a press of matter, and when omitted, it is frequently from reasons quite inde pendent of the merits of the communication. We cannot undertake to return communications of which we do not avail ourselves. Ccmmunications should alive,* be legibly written, and on one side of the paper only. If long it increases the difficulty of finding space for them. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the came and address of the writer, not necessarily for publica tion, but as a guarantee of his good faith. Advertisements sent from the country must be accompanied by a remittance or a reference for payment in town. 7. 4 rtgg+ LONDON, SATURDAY. JANUARY 13, 1855. POSTSCRIPT. ADHESION OF SARDINIA TO THE ALLIANCE. The Sardinian Government, it is said, has signed the protocol of April last, and thereby joined the alliance of the Western powers. This important step is taken in virtue of the fifth article of the Convention between her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, signed at London on the 10th of April, 1854. The fifth article runs as follows : Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Emperor of the French will readily admit into their alliance, in order to co-operate for the proposed chject, Finch of the other powers of Europe as may be desirous of becoming parties to it. General Dabormida has resigned, and Count Cavour has accepted the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs. The French army in the East is about to undergo a fresh organisation. It is in future to consist of two corps d' arm4e and a corps of reserve. The two former are to be commanded respectively by Gen. Pelissier and Gen. Bosquet, the whole under the Commander-in-Chief, General Canzobert. Two battalions of the Imperial Guard left Paris on Wednesday night for the Lyons railway, on their way to the Crimea. A number of private communications, according to the Globe, were yesterday received in town from the camp before Sebastopol. Their dates come down to the 2tith ult., and at that time the condition of the army was by no means of that hopeless charac ter which some journals appear to delight in describ ing. The weather was dry and frosty, which, added to the arrival of a number of mules, had greatly accelerated the transit of ammunition and provisions from Balaklava to the camp. It was not expected, however, than any decisive attack would be made before the 10th or 12th of January. The Paris correspondent of the Post writes on Thursday evening : _ _ It is the in'ention of England, France, and Austria to occupy Russian territory for a limited period after peace has been concluded. This they can demand without hesitation, as it was precisely the position of the army of the Czar in the principalities before the announcement of hostilities. There are two points which might be chosen for this purpose—one of the latest Russian annexations, Bessarabia, or the Crimea (at least that most important portion of the Crimea the peninsula of Cherson, with the town of Sebastopol). Another point on which the allies will uncompromisingly insist is that of limiting the number of Russian ships in the Black Sea, with constant presence of a corresponding squadron of the allies. A despatch from l3railow, of the 9th inst., which requires confirmation, states:— " The Russians have crossed the Danube, Invaded the Dobrudscha, and taken both Tultscha and Babadagh. Sadyk Paella defended Tultscha as long as possible." In another despatch received viA Vienna, we find the announcement that a Turkish detachment having crossed the Danube into Bessarabia has been defeated by the Russians. The Russian army of Asia has been recalled from Redout Kale to Erivan. A French patrol has been organised in Constanti nople, on account of the number of assassinations perpetrated on the soldiers of the allied armies. MNlftwil..-_ THE PRESS. A Berlin despatch of the Ilth, states :—The mili tary authorities are in communication with the railway administrations respecting the means available for a speedy concentration of troops, and orders have been given for adapting goods-carriages for the conveyance of soldiers. The ultimate object of these preparations is unknown. An armed neutrality is spoken of, but only as a transitional expedient. The Vienna Frendenblatt says that Prussia will adhere to the treaty of the 2nd December. The ladies of Geneva, who had established several associations with the view of supplying lint and ar ticles of clothing to the allied armies in the East, have recently despatched a quantity of warm under clothing and gloves. The Malta Times states that upwards of 100,000 oranges have been ordered at Malta for the sailors of the English Black Sea fleet. In reply to the numerous applications from nurses desirous of serving in the Scutari Hospital, received by the ladies' committee, it is now stated that no more nurses can be received there. On Wednesday Lord John Russell had a long pri• vate interview with the Emperor Napoleon at the Tuileries. In the evening his lordship dined with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, at which were pre sent the Austrian Minister and other distinguished personages. The Portuguese Cortes were opened on the 2nd of January by the King Regent. The speech contained no allusion to the European war. Its view of internal affairs was cheerful. An Athens letter of the Brd inst., says that Admiral de Tinan and the colonels commanding the French and English troops had been received by their Hellenic Majesties. The Earl of Elgin has brought with him the Ca nada snbscription (20,0001. sterling) to the fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of the soldiers who have been killed in the present war with Russia. This sum was raised in equal proportions from the French and English populations of Canada-10,0001. from each. Every exertion is being made to re-constitute the cavalry force on service, and recruiting for the heavy cavalry has been particularly brisk during the last few weeks. The Newbridge Barracks (cavalry depot) and the Royal Barracks, Dublin, are described as quite full; and Naas, Carlow, and Navan are spoken of as shortly to be occupied by cavalry preparing for the East. The Belfast Mercury makes the strange announce ment that the corporation of Belfast is bankrupt— that it has, in fact, failed, with a debt of 280,000/4 an amount borrowed partly under acts of Parliament, and partly without such authority. " This money," says the local journal, "is repayable, as in the case of railway companies, at stated periods, and it appears that from some cause or other, or perhaps from more causes than one, there have been demands for repay ment which the council cannot meet. The necessary consequence is that which occurs when any merchant cannot meet his engagements—his, in plain terms, a failure !" Still our contemporary enrollees his belief that all the creditors of the town are amply secured, and will be paid a full principal and interest in due time. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. 7'woday, ;armory B. BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED.—CHARLES PARKER and En- WIN PARKER, Northampton, boot manufacturers. BANKRUPTS. —JAMES riEwELL, Brackley, Northampton shire, and Twyford-street, Caledonian-road, timber merchant HENRY SIMONS, Woolwich, linendraper— METER JACOBS, Steward-street, Spitalfields, warehouseman—JuAN OLlvica, Da ventry, Northamptonshire, ironmonger —WILLIAM HALL, Ford ingbridge, Hampshire, butcher—JAmßs WRITING FISHER and JAMES BASEY, Norwich, cabinet-makers—WILLIAM BURRIDOE, Staimeby-road, Limehouse, builder— JESSE !SHAW. Lon nn, Staffordshire, stationer— EDWARD GOLDSMITH, Nottingham, hatter JOSEPH HARRIMAN, Loughborough, Leicestershire, hosier—WILLIAM DAvEy, Wellington, Someimetshire, baker— JOHN Lomax, Liverpool, cooper—JAMES AITKEN, Liverpool, draper JAMES HALL, Manchester, commission-agent—CHARLES Dizow, Gateshead, Durham, draper. Friday, January 12. BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED.— Gaottor. Sticcox YATES BRICNELL, Cheltenham, coach proprietor and accountant. BANKRUPTS.—Icuito UNWIN, Poland-street, Oxford-street, builder—JOHN CASEY, B/MekbIITTI, builder—JOSlAß TILLETT, Colchester, plumber—lLENNY QUARTERMAN, Oxford, carpenter and builder—Jona BLACKNESS, Stratford, Essex, baker— JEREMIAH Cox, Saint George's-square, Pimlico. builder—WlL- LlAM BOND, Drury-lane, licensed victualler—HENßY ELOAR, Ashford, grocer—Jolt N MARNE, Duke-street, Manchester square. butcher and hors* dealer—JAMES TILLING, Edgware• road, Middlesex, farmer and dairyman—FREDERICK Noel's, Southampton, baker—JAMES WRITING FISHER and JAMES BASET, Norwich, cabinet maker* and upholsterers. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS.—ALEXANDER WARE MON DRY, Glasgow, lithographer—Joni ANDERSON, Edinburgh, grocer. Commander Lloyd, promoted from the command of the Triton for his share in the affair with the batteries of Se bastopol, where be was seriously wounded, and Surgeons Evan Baillie and Gooch have arrived at Malta, from the Crimea, in the transport Taktvera b for England. SATITRIUY, FIRES IN THE METROPOLIS. THE annual returns of fires in Loudon, and of the attendance on such catastrophes of ihe corp s engaged by the Society for the Protection of Lir e from Fire during the course of the year 1854, have been presented by Mr. Braidwood and Mr. Sampson Low, the representatives of their respective establish. ments. The following are the chief results comprised in these returns. Mr. Braidwood reports The fires in 1854, as compared with those which took place in 1853 have increased by 53, and are more in num. her by 25 than in any former year. On the average of the last twenty-one years the increase is 242'4. The number of fires in the list of " Totally Destroyed " shows an increase of 12 as compared with 1868; and on the average of the twenty-one years an increase of 67. Of these, 12 were from two to twelve miles distant from the nearest station. Of the remainder, lb were small timber or brick and timber buildings, principally occupied by carpenters and other dangerous trades. Notwithstanding the severe duty they have had, in consequence of the great number of working fires during the past year, the firemen have conducted themselves with the usual zeal and alacrity in the discharge of their duty. The whole of the land engines are in excellent order, they having just undergone the triennial repair and paint ing. The steamfloat still proves a most valuable acquisi tion, and it has been severely tried. On one occasion the steam pressure on engines and hose was 107 i lb. on the square inch, and both stood the test well. I believe the old wooden float will remain serviceable until the new steamfloat is finished. _ _ _ The number of fires from the Ist of January to the 31st of December, 1854, is as follows : Fires at which the premises were totally destroyed and considerably damaged, 339 ; fires at which the premises were slightly damaged, 614 • total fires, 953. Chimney alarms, 91 ; false alarms, 79 2 -making a total of the two of 170. Showing the total calls to have been 1,123. Mr. Low, in making his report to the committee of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, states The foregoing statement does not include chimney alarms known to be so, but only such as were said to be fires. that 351 fires had been attended by the conductors with their respective escapes during the year, exclusive of false alarms and chimneys on fire. These all occurred during the night or within the hours of duty, viz., from 9 p.m, to 6 a.m. in the summer, and from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. in the winter. The lives of not fewer than thirty-eight persons were rescued by the escapes at those fires, including only those who were exposed to imminent danger and must have perished had it not been for the services of the conductors. Two or three of these cases present details of intense in terest, developing persevering courage and real heroismon the part of the escapement. Among the most remaikable of these in the year is the behaviour of conductor Samuel Wood, at a fire in Colchesterstreet, Whitechapel, where at the risk of his own life he rescued five persons. In his last descent down the ladder he bore one person on his back, and held a child in his mouth by its clothing, just as the flooring fell in. Another honourable mention is that of conductor Chapman, who at a fire in Drury-lane on the 17th of December rushed through the flames, and brought three persons down his escape, saving . himself only by sliding down the guide ropes of the escapt • During the last ten years the society has gradually extended its number of fire escape stations front six to forty-two —the number at present maintained—at distances from each other of half a mile; and the committee are con fident that no system could be better adapted for the re quirements of a large city, where only ten more escapes are requisite to complete the provisions for the whole o the metropolis ; and the committee are assured that such a fact need only be made known to secure the requisite increase of public support. One fire i)ecurred dining the year of a most disastrous nature—viz., on the night of February 7, in Soho, where nine human beings were lost from the non-attendance of the Golden•square escape and the parish engine having been prohibited front encoding fires. The escape belonged to the, locality, and, unfortu nately, was not under the society's management. Lord Palmerston took up the matter respecting the parish engine, which was ordered to attend fires in the neighbourhood, and the committee ere making arrangements to establish a new escape in Coventry-street, at the corner of Leicester-square, so that there seems every probability that the neighbour hood will soon be amply provided for against a similar dis tressing catastrophe. An amusing circumstance connected with Lord Elgin's visit to New York, en route, has transpired. His lordship was in want of funds to settle his hotel bills and so forth, and presented at the Bank of Commerce a draft from the Bank of Montreal, ordering the first named institution to pay to the order of the Right Hon. the Earl of Elgin and Kin cardine the sum of 2501., Sc. The teller of the Bank of Commerce demurred to paying the draft on the plea that he could not say whether ho was the person named in itor not The earl replied, " Why I am the person—l will endorse it," and forthwith wrote " Elgin and Kincardine" on the back of the document. The teller was still incredulous. That sort of thing had been done by several confidence•men before, and the Bank of Commerce could not pay this money until the claimant of it had proved his identity by some persons known to the bank officers. Here was a fir. Lord Elgin looked about in vain for some person who could testify that he was really himself. He was finally obliged to depart without the money, there not being sufficient time previous to the sailing of the steamer to allow him to send for a person to identify him.