The Sun. — London, England, 1865-10-24 00:00:00

The Oil Regions of Pen.nsylvanla. (From the Times' Correspondent) BLOOD FARM, CHERRY RUN, Oct 7. Before I venture any further on my account of these extraordinary regions I must give a rough and very brief explanation of the way in which the oil is got to the surface of the earth, without which some terms which I shall have to use would be un intelligible to the majority of readers. When it has been decided to sink a well the first operation is to erect a derrick of rough timber over the spot. This derrick is so called, like every other machine for hoisting things in air, after a very experienced and celebrated hangman, who once flourished here be fore the States were independent. The derrick used at oil wells, however, bears not the slightest re semblance to the form which its name here implies. It is a mere tall pyramid-shaped scaffolding, about 50ft. high, 10ft. square at the base, and some 4ft. at the top—very similar, in fact, to the scaffoldings used in erecting tall chimneys, or like the frame work of a wooden steeple to a little viilage church. At the top of the derrick' is a pulley wheel, over which passes a rope, and to the end of this rope are attached the heavy steel bars and drill for punching a six-inch hole down to whatever depth may be necessary to strike oil—generally 500 ft. or 600 ft. At a short distance from the derrick is a shanty en gine-house, with an eight or ten horse power en gine, which by means of a lathe band drives a large wooden wheel under the derrick, and this wheel is connected by a crank motion with a stout bar of timber about 16 feet long, balanced in the centre like a scale beam. Thus, as the engine makes the wheel revolve, the wheel in turn keeps the walking beam going up and down at each end hie a quick " see-saw," and the walking-beam is so made to raise and lower the rope with the tools that drill the hole till oil is struck, when, if the precious liquid does not flow, the same motion of the beam pumps it up. Of course as the tools are withdrawn an iron tubing lines the hole they have made to keep out the salt water, and its ingress up the tube from the bottom is prevented by a leather bag filled with linseed, the linseed in which swells immensely as the water gets at it, and effectually closes the aperture in that direction. Anything more tough or apparently more efficient than the whole appa ratus it would be difficult to imagine. Everything except the engine is got from the forest around, and the cost of sinking a well seldom exceeds £l,OOO, labour included. When to the derrick has been added a little row of black, greasy. wooden vats as large as small gasometers the whole machinery of an oil well, which may be worth $2,000,000 or $3,000,000, is complete. In this outline I have not ventured on the difficulties of sinking wells, on the utter uncertainty of finding oil, or, when found in its greatest abundance, the utter uncertainty of its continuance for a single week. All those extra ordinary contradictions which make this land and its oil yield a puzzle to geologists—an enigma which baffles alike the most scientific theory and the most extensive practical experience—must be discussed at another time. It was essential, however, to explain what a derrick and drill were—what, in fact, was the machinery of an oil well—to make myself un derstood in what I shall have to say hereafter. The track from Oil City to this place is the great route along which all the products of its own region and those of Tar Farm, Blood Farm, Egbert Farm, and Pithole City incessantly pass. This road, if such it may be called, is almost beyond description. I saw a fair share of mud at Balaklava, but for varying depths, varying tenacities, varying colours, and universally nauseous odour there is nothing to compare with the mud along this path. It is as omnipresent as the derrick or the smell of gas, and more it would be difficult to say in fewer words, ----dark black mud in Oil Creek, dark green, fetid smelling, repulsive mud in the vicinity of flowing wells, yellow mud up Cherry Run, and so on in ever varying tints and depths, but in any case mud everywhere. In some places, - where it is so deep as to be dangerous for horse or cart to venture, huge masses of stone have been rolled from the hills above to fill the gap, though this rough practice is, as might be expected, scarcely an improvement for traffic purposes. For a couple of miles or so above Oil City such a path as I have spoken of winds round the base of the hills, which shut in a narrow valley, once beautifully picturesque, and the solitude of which four years ago was only broken at night by the deer from the hills coming down to drink at the stream. Below on the river great rafts of oil are being floated down, while against the current horses up to their shoulders in water are wearily dragging the scows full of empty barrels. Everywhere areseen teams with their loads floundering through the mud, some hopelessly embedded and stopping scores be hind, some overturned or with horses thrown down among the wreck of stones pitched in to fill the mud gaps. Suddenly at a narrow turn the valley widens, and the track leads down the ford across " OilCrik," as it is called—a wide, shallow, swift mountain stream, or rather river, which in fine weather the horses can easily ford, but which after rain is impas sable. Riding carefully through this you come upon an open flat-bottomed valley, and the like of the scene it presents is not to be witnessed in any other part of the world, save perhaps atPithole City. The forest has been roughly cleared away, and where the trees could not be felled they have been girdled, and are white and dead, and the whole line of the clearing on either side of the creek is simply one continuous mass of derricks for three miles or more. They rise as thick as the masts of our vessels on the Thames; each has its engine house, each its big tanks—all brown, all greasy, all emitting the same repulsive odour. The mud comparatively ceases now, except in deep runs or gullies ; but the road is not less diffi cult, for under beams or over beams one has to wind carefully between the derricks, or cautiously skirt the edge of huge wooden vats, some 12 or more feet deep, sunk in the ground and filled with the ever present oil. Some wells are flowing, and the dirty liquid, like thin molasses, comes gurgling with regu lar pulsations into the vats, giving off a gaslike steam. Some are pumping salt water out of new wells, and pumping it out very hopefully, too ; for the rule is, "no brine, no oil." Some are removing the water from wells that have been drowned out by the flood of last May, of which I shall have more to say by and-bye. Some are drilling now wells, but the great majority stand idle and abandoned. In fact, the first thing which strikes the visitor is the silence which, comparatively speaking, p reva il s t h roug h out a reg i on filled with such unexampled evidences of bold and pushing energy. Partly this desertion is caused by the damage to the wells during the great floods to which I have alluded, partly to the fact that some of the wells are pumped out, and, more than all, to the fact that every one is mad and wild to join the "new rush" at Pithole City, where the wells are teeming with a hitherto almost continuance abund ance. These, at least, are the causes assigned for the comparative desertion of Cherry Bun. Whether they are sufficient to account for the abandonment of what is said to be valuable property I cannot say, though I very much doubt it, and almost incline to the opinion that Cherry Run has for the present been pumped out, or that at least men find more Profitable wells in Pithole. It is, however, very hard to judge on these matters, became the oil ma nia baffles all ordinary rules by which men's con duct be may judged. It is not alone speculation, but is in all ita features the purest gambling that ever was adopted wholesale by any mercantile com munity. If it was done with cards or even on time bargains, nine -tenths of those engaged in it, like the Puritan New Englanders, would draw off ; but, as the venture has to be carried out at a good deal of personal fatigue and some unpleasant priva tion, it is thought legitimate, though the whole thing is " heads or tails," " double or qu i ts, " from first to last. That many along Cherry Run have migrated to Pithole is likely enough. 1 rode between hundreds of yards of silent derricks, where tools., eng i nes, lathes, and all, had bee n left idle as the y stood when the tanks were full of oil as the well had last pumped them, and where the rows of once busy office-doors were shut and padlocked, with a rough chalk notice, without date or hour, of " Gone to Pithole." It was curious to see these streets of greasy wooden towers left alone, to see the idle wells flooding up water by fits and starts as the gas came up with a gurgling hiss, to read the endless directions to such and such wells or such and such companies, all followed by the warning, "No smoking,"— as if one required a warning where the pools and ditches were filled with petroleum, and the gas escaping from the wells and ground poisoned the air and made everything near and far flicker and wave as though seen through the exhalations of a hot stove. Almost a mile of such a road is passed on Cherry Run—oil in tanks, in the water, in the mud ; streets and clumps of greasy silent derricks ; where all is oil, soot, or gas, where the trees are as black and oily as the derricks, and the very grass looks as if it had been grown in a chimney. Then comes a space where everything is busy, where the creak creak of the busy walking beam pumping oil is constant, or only mixed with the dull intermittent rush with which a flowing well alternately gurgles and spurts its stream of gas and oil into its black vats. Here some wells are being deepened, some fresh ones bored. New der ricks, with the characteristic inscription of " The Infernal Regions, oil, or China," show the real, or, as it may chance, assumed, determination of its adventurers to go as far as two out of the three named places ; and close by stands the charred remains of one which has been burnt by a gas explo sion or wrenched away andbroken by a flood. Then, again, an interval of shanty huts, the muddy inha bitants of which may be teamsters or oil princes for all one can tell outwardly. Then come more deserted derricks, mixed with eating saloons and whisky shops ; then a mud-hole, then a ford, and then a dangerous bridge, made of rough trees felled so as to drop across some deeper run than usual ; then a short turn into the cool black forest, the shade of which is grateful beyond expression, now when the mid-day sun strikes down into these close valleys with almost tropical heat ; then a sudden turn, an impracticable bridge, and you are out again into the mud, among towns of derricks, shut up agencies, offices of exploded companies, vats of oil, broken machinery, felled trees, rows of overladen waggons, and groups of muddy horsemen. If your readers can imagine what such a route is, through a still, hot, picturesque, but greasy, black valley, reeking with gas, heavy with soot, the trees cut down to make room for derricks, the derricks toppled over to make room for vats of oil, abandoned and shut-up works and wooden villages alternating with shanty hamlets, where all is in a fever of work and excite ment, and then mix the whole up with constant evi dences of the ravages of flood and fire, and the roughest experiences of backwoodsman life, they will then perhaps have sonic idea, though but a faint one, of the ride from Oil City through Cherry Run. It, in fact, resembles nothing under the sun but itself, Petroleum Centre, Pithole City, and one or two other similar places in these regions. On Cherry Run our party turn aside to visit the Reed Well on Blood Farm. It was one of the best flowing wells in this district, but its flow fell from 500 barrels down to 30, then to 10, then to two, when the floods came and damaged the works, and it was believed to have " gin out," and not worth the trouble of re pair. Fortunately for themselves, its proprietors thought differently. They " reamed" the well— that is to say, enlarged the diameter of its bore from 4in. to Gin., and took it from 500 ft. to GOOft. in depth. The cost was trifling, the return im mensely profitable, for since then the .Reed Well has flowed 200 barrels a day with a steadiness which augurs well for its continuance, if anything can be augured or predicated from the eccentricities of the oil regions. Here it is the rule of contrarieties. On 1 the same half acre where one man makes a colossal fortune ten men lose theirs. The universal experi -1 ence has been that it does not pay to ream out or I deepen wells, yet the formidable exception which may prove the rule is every now and then turning up, and the exceptions are so formidable, in point of profit, as to lead scores to their ruin in trying to restore yields that are really dry. It is just as I said, double or quits with the man who has lost $lO,OOO in bad wells why he should not risk the other $lO,OOO in a venture that maymake him an oil prince l or a teamster. In this strange country either posi ' tion if it came would be accepted as a matter of course, though, naturally, the former is much pre ferred, and more generally aimed at. Many of the wells round here have been thus restored by reaming and deepening, but to a far greater proportion the money spent in deepening or reaming out has brought nothing whatever, though they may some time hence pay all this and give thousands of dollars profit daily by one of those unexpected freaks of nature with regard to oil wells—freaks which upset calculations every day, ruining the best and most hopeful enterprises, and as often making what are meant as the most unblushing swindles to induce 1 strangers to invest prove sources of enormous for t tunes to those who should have been their dupes. In front of the window where I write the " Run" opens rather wide, and the scene beneath in the valley is one of curious activity, for many of the wells here are still, for the time at least, pro fitably busy, and, above all, the great stream of oil traffic down from Pithole is passing in groups of teams. Some in the mud, some, as the least of the two evils, fairly keeping the bed of the stream. Close by is a derrick partly burnt and partly blown up. It still totters over what was once a good well. But the engine one fine day blew up much to the sur prise of those not near it, and possibly not less to the surprise of those who were ; but who, unfortu nately, were leftin a condition which prevented them saying anything about the matter. At all events, the engine burst, knocked down the derrick, lit the well, and after various other mischiefs landed itself in the front garden of a cottage shanty, where it still lies on its back like a dead elephant. There would be nothing so unusual in all this as to deserve recount ing but for the fact that the spot where the perturbed boiler at last found a resting-place is in a little patch of ground before a two-storied shanty, which four years ago was at once the wonder and admiration of this wild district. It was built by the owner of the Tar and Blood Farms. Farms of some 500 acres of half-cleared poor clay land, and the two-storied erection, which cost more than $l,OOO, was four years ago thought " quite a place"—the Chatsworth, Badminton, or Eaton-hall of Pennsylvanian hills. The value of the united farms, including buildings, clearings, and improvements, was then $50,000. When the oil fever arose, and farms were parted with for $l,OOO an acre, the owner of Blood and Tar Farms was not in a hurry to realise, but waited till prices rose. In the proper time he sold the Tar Farm for $780,000, and the Blood Farm for nearly $2,000,000, or about £500,000 in all. Whether this large sum has paid its purchasers or not I cannot say. All I know for a fact is, that the fortunate vendor does not now live in his new built shanty, but prefers renting palaces elsewhere. Close by this farm is that of the Widow NI 'Clintock. Her wretched, half-scratched land was valuable enough for oil. Sh e go t a ver y l arge sum f or it, • which, with th e c h aracter i st i c b us i ness h a bi ts o f a poor old country widow, she would receive in no thing but greenbacks, which were accordingly paid to her in a bundle, as big as a b o l s te r . She hoarded them, still living amid the noise of derricks and the gas of wells in the shingle-hut.in which she had for years been accustomed to dwell, till one night her petroleum lamps exploded, lighting her and her woodenhouse at once, and from th e su dd en fi re neither she nor her greenbacks were saved, nothing, in fact, but some $BO,OOO which she had been per suaded to invest in United States' securities. All Petrolia is full of anecdotes like the Se—some well authenticated as those I have told—some which are equally astonishing, but rather more doubtful. Among the latter let us hope we may class the last dreadful rumour, that refined petroleum is now sought for as an important ingredient in the manu facture of cheap champagne. Happily in these regions we get nothing weaker than whisky. [ADVERTISEMENT.j—EfuIIoway's Ointment and Pills. — Old Sores, Wound; and Ulcers.—lt is surprising how quickly any sore, ulcer, or wound drains away the body's strength and unfits it for the duties of life ; but it is no less wonderful to watch how these topical afflictions improve on the application of Holloway's healing ointment. It has achieved tho surest and most glorious triumphs over bad legs, foul ulcerations, and knotted veins which had con founded the faculty and wellnigh worn' out their victims. It creates sound flesh, and therefore makes its cures com plete. When this ointment is properly applied and assisted by appropriate doses of the pills, the pain, inflammation, and other morbid manifestations soon disappear from th• affected parts, and health and strength return. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 24, IE6 E. be a most economical one, and might be adopted with advantage elsewhere. Clean flannels are issued once a fortnight. There is likewise in each cell a Bible, Prayer-book, and copies of the " Leisure Hour," " Sunday at Home," and some of Cham bers's publications. The first bell is rung at five o'clock. The roll is then called, and the prisoners answer to their names. A warder and two assistants then unlock the doors ; a general sweep up of the cells takes place, which is done by their respective occupants, and two convicts are appointed to carry out and empty the tubs. When this operation is completed each pri soner places outside his door his pot and pint, breakfast is then wheeled in on barrows, the parti culars of which will be found in our description of the dietary ; and when the morning meal has been taken into the cells, these are double locked and the officers go to their breakfast—the time now being 20 minutes to six, and the warders return at 20 minutes past. Prayers are then read in the halls, and the first of these which we visited contained 174 persons. The cells are of corrugated iron and wood, and it is possible for the prisoners to make signals and to talk to each other through them, but this facility of com munication is neutralised by the presence of armed warders in the halls, who can overhear even the slightest whisper. A division goes to chapel once a week to hear a lecture delivered by the chaplain, while at the same time the schoolmaster is similarly employed with another squad in one of the halls. At 10 minutes before seven they are marched to their labours, in detachments, each detachment being fol lowed by warders, and, as we have already stated, armed police mount guard in position, so as to sur round them while engaged in the quarries or in the stone-cutting yards. At these latter many of the men earn 2s. 6d. a day, which must go a consider able way towards their maintenance, and, as far as we could judge during a hasty visit, we saw them working apparently with a will. At half-past eleven o'clock the bell rings for return to prison, when the roll is again called, and dinner is served at twelve. One hour is allowed for this meal. Work is resumed again under the usual vigilant superintendence, and continues till a quarter to six o'clock. The roll is called and the prisoners get their supper. The warders go to their tea at 20 minutes past six and return to their duties at seven o'clock, when they distribute fresh water to every cell. Then any man who wants to see the governor has an opportunity of making his request, which is granted the next day. At eight o'clock all the cells arc double-locked, all lights extinguished, and guards stationed within and without the walls of each hall or subdivision of the prison. The visits of relatives are permitted once in six months. Clean sheets are issued once a month. Blankets are washed when dirty. The clothing is furnished by contract, but all repairs are done by the convicts themselves. They bake their own bread, make soup and cook their meat, and mend their shoes and other wearing apparel, under the superin tendence of free men, who are paid for their services. There were more than 20 shoemakers engaged in the shop when we were there, all possessed of knives and the usual implements of their trade, any one of which might be used in a manner dangerous to life, yet the foreman was armed simply with a sword, and appeared as unconcerned about his own safety as if he had been directing the labours of any num ber of workmen unconvicted of crime. The fact is that discipline subdues the most unruly spirits, and when it is known that terrible punishments await any attempts at insubordination or murder of offi cers, such offences rarely occur. Debilitated men are often put into the tailors' shop ; and the cleaning of door handles and other light work is assigned to others who have good-conduct marks. There are parade grounds where the divisions—east, west, and centre—are mustered, and these are afterwards stationed in the quarries in positions corresponding 'to those which they occupy in the cells. A new hall has lately been erected, the cells of which are of iron, the floor of slate, and the door cases of wood. A beam also of the latter material crosses the roof— an arrangement which must be a great safeguard against fire. The kitchen and bakehouse are on rather an extensive scale. The head cook has £7O a year. The meat is all boiled, excepting for men in the third stage of their servitude, when, for a change, it is baked. The dietary is scarcely so generous as it used to be. For breakfast each man has 12 ounces of bread and three quarters of a pint of cocoa. The dinner, the day we were there, con sisted of a pint of shin soup (the bone taken out) with rice and barley in it, five ounces of bread and one pound of potatoes. No beer or tobacco are allowed. Next day, five ounces of solid meat would be served out, together with the usual quantities of bread and potatoes. On Sundays, four ounces of cheese and 12 ounces of bread form the dinner. On Thursday, there is suet pudding, no meat, and the usual quantity of potatoes. Those employed a t " inside jobs," such as tailoring, baking, and cook ing, are, if reported for misconduct, turned out to do the ordinary out-of-door labour. The chapel is a spacious edifice, the gallery of which is occupied during Divine service on Sundays by the officials and their families. The ground floor is partitioned off into compartments, and into these the convicts are marched in divisions ; and on high stools all round are seated warders to keep order, while an armed guard sits under the gallery, protected by an iron railing, and ready to do their duty if any signs of mutiny should show themselves. The pedestal of the pulpit, of Portland stone, which is a very credit able piece of work, was done by the convicts them selves, from a design furnished to them. On Sun days they are allowed to exercise on the grounds set apart for that purpose. When prisoners arrive they are taken to the reception-room, and thence put into baths of salt water, which is pumped up from the sea by means of a steam engine. i Not long since, in con sequence of an alteration n the dietary, a sort of mutiny occurred in the quarries, when the warders were obliged to fire buck-shot among the insubordi nate; but, aiming low, the discharges struck the legs of the mutineers, and had the effect of instantly restoring order. This outbreak was confined to a division of about 150 men. The whole establish ment is supplied with gas, and for cleanliness and order will compare favourably with any similar esta blishment in the world. The situation is remark ably healthy, for a sea breeze fans the heights when a terrible heat almost suffocates the inhabitants of the mainland, especially during such summers as we have recently had. During the winter months dense fogs envelope the place, but the whole of the British Isles are similarly circumstanced. There is a barque now in the roads preparing to take in a number of convicts, in addition to others now on board received at Chatham and Portsmouth, who are to be conveyed to Western Australia. If the evil disposed classes of the community only had a correct idea of the stern discipline and hard work combined with total loss of liberty, which charac terise the actual life of penal servitude, many of them, we are persuaded, would hesitate before they committed acts which entangle them in the meshes of the law and separate them from relatives, friends, and from the world at largo. ADVERTISEMENT.} -Avoid medicines: they always aggra vate chronic complaints, but Du Barry's Delicious Health- Restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, which yields three times the nourishment of the best meat, saves fifty times its cost in other remedies, and invariably restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, healthy liver, pure blood, re freshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy to the most disordered or enfeebled. We extract a few out of 60,000 Cures :—Cure No. 58,216, or the Marchioness de Brehan, of seven years' liver complaint, wasiin away, debility, nervousness, with a nervous pa'pitation all over, bad diges tion, constant sleeplessness, and the most intolerable nervous agitation.—Cure No. 1,771. Lora Stuart de Decies. Lord Lieutenant of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia.—No. 49,832. "Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and yomiting.—Maria Jolly."—Cnre No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lunge, spitting of blood, liver derange ment, and partial deafness.—Cure No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies. —Cure No. 54,616. The Rey. Jas. T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, "of indigestion and torpi dity of the liver, which had resiste 1 all medical treatment." In tins, 1 lb., 2s. 9d. ; 21b., 4s. 6d ; 51b., lls. ; 121 b., 225. ; 241 b. 40s.—Barry Du Barry and Co., No. 77, Regent-street, London; also Phillips, tea dealers, 9, King William-etreet ; likewi , e at 61, Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 49, Bishopsgate stre,t Within ; 63, 150, and 293, Oxford-street ; 330, Strand ; 54, Upper Baker-street ; iO3, Tottenham-court-road ; 96, Upper-street, Islington, N. ; Harvey, ; Close Brothers, 65, High-street ; and Stubbs, Queen's-terrace, St. John's .wcod, London ; and all respectable grocers and ehe mists.—Beware of spurious imitations. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOITRNALS. TIMES.—It is interesting to observe the specula.. tions of foreigners on the Ministerial " crisis" which the death of Lord Palmerston has produced. Their opinions embrace the whole range of political reflec tions. Some regard the event as terminating a line of Statesmen and extinguishing a school of policy ; others predict that the machine will work exactly as before, and that the loss even of such a man as the late Premier will be supplied by the tra ditions of party and the steady momentum of Go vernment. We need hardly say which of these views is the more correct. We feel, it is true, and are feeling at this moment, the difficulty of replacing the Statesman who is gone; hut the result, be it what it may, will not affect the national policy. In fact, the recent difficulty arose from a conflict of claims and a singular balance of advantages and drawbacks. There were two statesmen who might naturally have aspired to the Premiership, and two others on whom the office might devolve in default of selection, The appointment of Lord Russell, with all its drawbacks, to the vacant post can be so easily defended that it hardly needs excuse ; the choice of Mr. Gladstone for the place might require somewhat more justification, but would be more acceptable when justified. Lord Russell's qualifications were rather negative than positive ; Mr. Gladstone's were very positive indeed, but had to be taken with other drawbacks. The simple objection to Lord Russell was that there was an abler man than he to be had ; the objection to Mr. Gladstone was that, though the ablest man, he was not believed to be the safest. One might do us the least harm, the other might do us the greatest good. If Mr. Gladstone possessed the confidence of the country as completely as he commands its admiration the decision would have been easy, but it is not to be disguised that the occasional vagaries of his genius have inspired many with distrust. His political experience, as far as mere extent goes, has been ample, but it has not taught him circumspec tion. Still, his consummate abilities and his un questioned integrity commend him forcibly to his countrymen, and though he has been passed over on the present occasion, and, we believe, has consented to serve under Lord Russell as leader of the House of Commons, he has but to show himself moderate, dexterous, and conciliatory in the ensuing session, and his day need not be long delayed. The new House of Commons, if anything can be predicted of its character, will be moderate. The Liberals will be stronger in numbers, but not more advanced in opinions, while a powerful Conservative Opposition will answer yet further for the policy of Parliament. According to all probable calculations, no support could be found for extreme views, nor could any Minister in this respect mistake his position. The question on which Mr. Gladstone committed him self by an unguarded declaration concerned the principles of electoral suffrage, but on that ques tion the new Parliament may be expected to keep any Minister from extravagance, and it certainly cannot be said that Lord Russell is less committed in this respect than his colleague. 'We can hardly suppose that Mr. Gladstone, on mature reflection, would maintain such an opinion as he appeared to advance, but there is at any rate no likelihood of his impressing it upon the House. Except, however, for such considerations, nobody could deny the preponderance of Mr. Gladstone's claims. His title is that of excellence. It is of no avail to say that Lord Russell has titles also. There is no doubt of that ; but, whatever they are, and we admit them to be many, they do not include that which is given by the greatest capacity. That re commendation, the first and chief of all, belongs to Mr. Gladstone. Lord Russell is undoubtedly a man who can be made Prime Minister without a word of objection, but there is another man whose capacity for the office is still greater than his, and if he is not preferred the reason why will be naturally asked. In intellect, in grasp, in eloquence, in all that gives power to a statesman, Mr. Gladstone is at the head of his class. His honesty is beyond suspicion, and his very faults are connected with a freedom of speech and absence of reserve uncommon among public men. These may be professional defects, cer , tainly, but they are not mortal sins in the eyes of Englishmen. And, on the other hand, it may be said that Mr. Gladstone combines in an unprece dented degree the sympathies and confidence of two great classes of society. The working men of Ox ford and the working men of Lancashire are his de voted adherents. A large party in the Church and a larger party in the State regard him with constant admiration, and with an attachment far stronger than that generated by the needs of political strife. Lord Russell's party will be in Parliament, Mr. Gladstone's in the country. Mr. Gladstone's only real rival has been Lord Russell, and we remark that if he has consented to serve under a statesman whose only watchword is the somewhat stale cry of Reform, he has already given an earnest of moderation and forbearance which shows that he is not altogether wanting in those qualities. The conj uncture certainly involves some embarrassments, but they are not seri ous. It is something to have a choice, and an alterna tive beyond that. It is something to know that the machine will surely go on, and that sooner or later the man who is needed will found. But the diffi culty, nevertheless, can but quicken our apprehen sion of the services we have lost. Lord Palmerston had all Lord Russell's qualifications with many that Load Russell wants. If he had not Mr. Gladstone's unrivalled eloquence, he had a faculty which stood him in as good stead, and did for him what elo quence sometimes fails to do. Ile had more hold of the House than Mr. Gladstone, with all his ora tory, persuasiveness, and known sincerity. He could lead and guide people without offence, create friendships and disarm enmities. No doubt his quick and accurate estimate of public opinion, his pliant mind, and his judicious management were gifts more practically valuable than Mr. Glad stone's powerful intellect and logical thought. Mr. Gladstone might be apt to work out his ideas from his own brain—Lord Palmerston took the brains of the whole country into council, and availed himself of the aid with few prejudices of his own. Even his foreign policy, in which the individuality of the statesman was most conspicuous, was emphatically the policy of Englishmen, and in later days it re flected the later opinions of the country. Lord Pal merston, who had been called the firebrand of Euro.pe, lived to hear his own Administration stig matised as discreditably pacific. Years ago we should certainly have gone to war for Denmark, but in 1854 we refrained, though Palmerston was Prime Minister. Such gifts are rare, and we shall pro bably have many an opportunity in the next few years of making the reflection ; but Lord Palmer ston's own example is sufficient to show that an able statesman, on acquiring power, may not only display his known capacities, but develope others which he was not supposed to possess. HERALD.—It is no part of our duty to assist the Liberal party in their part for a Prime Minister. We have had frequent occasion to resent their pretensions to dictate to the Conservative Opposi tion in the choice of a leader, and we shall not imitate their example. The nomination of a suc cessor to Lord Palmerston's high office rests with the Queen; the confirmation or rejection of her nominee lies with the colleagues whose assistance he will be compelled to seek. It is for the Liberals, collectively and individually, to say whether they will accept his leadership; the House of Commons will decide how long he shall remain Prime Minister. Her Majesty has already sent for Lord Russell ; we shall not attempt to anticipate the decision of the other parties concerned. Already it is very evident that the removal of Lord Palmer ston has plunged the party which found in him not only a leader, but a bond of union, into serious em barrassments. To every possible arrangement grave objections may, and perhaps will, be raised. No person is indicated by a strong public opinion, or by the force of irresistible circumstances, as the inheri tor of the vacant post, and none of the various clai mants could be compelled against his will to yield his pretensions to a rival. Lord Granville is certainly the weakest of the aspirants, but even Lord Gran ville has advantages. He is much more amiable and much more popular with those who know him than either of his rivals. He never betrayed his colleagues, he never overbore or affronted them. He never got into a serious scrape by mismanagement or bad faith ; he never brought Parliament to the verge of a dan gerous imbroglio by the indulgence of an ungovern able temper. He is said to be liked at Court ; he is certainly liked in Parliament. But Lord Granville could only be Premier by favour of Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone, and he would only be Premier in name. Mr. Gladstone is a strong man, an able man, an ambitious man. He would, probably, like to be Prime Minister • he certainly has all the qualifica tions for the office which mere intellectual gifts can afford ; as certainly he is disqualified for it by de fects of character and temper which have of late years grown more serious and more noticeable. Few men trust him ; fewer still would like to serve under him. No eminent politician is so generally regarded with suspicion and fear ; no man living has made so many and so bitter personal enemies. He might make himself Prime Minister by force, but no one would voluntarily choose him for that office. Lord Russell has claims of a kind which official men rarely likely to overlook. Politically he is senior to Mr. Gladstone ; he is above him in the line of precedence and promotion ; he was nominally the second man in the Cabinet; he has been the leader of the Liberal party ; he belongs to it by birth, while Mr. Gladstone only joined it in 1853, and was thought not wholly unlikely to desert it in 1858. On the whole, we may say that intriguers would prefer Lord Granville; agitators and active Liberals Mr. Gladstone ; while the Palmerstonian and moderate section of the party wouldaccept Lord Russell in preference to his principal rival, and the Whig oligarchy is bent on his restoration. He has committed sins not easily forgiven and errors that will not soon be forgotten; but politicians think more of the present than of the past, and will not remember unfavourable antecedents too bitterly against a man who seems suitable to their immediate exigency. The weakest point in his case is the fact that he sits in the House of Lords. The events of late years have mado it sufficiently evident that it is inconvenient to a Ministry, unless it be very strong in the Lower House, to have its chief in the Upper; and the Liberal Administration is peculiarly weak in the House of Commons. The Foreign Office, the War Office, the Admiralty—that is to say, the three principal departments of State, those which give rise to most questions and most eager debates—are re presented there only by subordinates ; and unless some considerable change should take place, it would be difficult fcr the Ministry to get on without some one authorised in virtue of his position to fight the battles of those departments with more effect than an Under Secretary, and with greater authority than a Minister wholly unconnected with them can exer cise. Nevertheless we should imagine that the choice of the party would probably fall upon Lord Russell, if no circumstances beyond their control should force them to a different selection. It is not for us to say whether this choice is the best; but we may admit that it seems to be in accordance with rule and precedent, with the convenience of Parliament, and the interests of the Administra tion. But an event depends on causes beyond our means of calculation—on the impulses of individual wills and the bias of individual tempers. Mr. Gladstone is virtually master of the situation. If a Liberal Ministry is formed he will be its chief sup port. It could not exist for a month without him ; probably no one would dream of attempting to dis pense with his services. It is in his power to upset all calculations, and overturn all arrangements, by simply saying, " I will not serve under Lord Rus sell." In that case Lord Russell cannot be Premier. It is impossible for us to say beforehand what Mr. Gladstone's feelings may be. He may prefer a nominal Prime Minister to one who will claim the real authority of the position • or he may think it more in accordance with his dignity to serve under a senior of the first rank than under a contemporary of the second. But, at all events, he has a veto on any arrangement that may be attempted. Again, Lord Russell is almost equally indispensable. If he have not the genius or eloquence of Mr. Gladstone, he has a larger personal following and a more thoroughly established position. He may refuse to serve under Lord Granville, and in that case Lord Granville cannot form a Ministry ; he may insist on being Prime Minister, and in that case no other Liberal can be so. The result depends on the ex tent to which the two necessary men are prepared to modify their respective pretensions. If either of them will serve under the other that other will be able to construct a Ministry ; if not, the task must fall into other hands. IVe are inclined to believe that Mr. Gladstone will agree to take the second place, coupled of course with the leadership of the House of Commons. But the difficulties arising from the conflict of personal claims and the combination of political parties will not end with the formation of the Ministry. Lord Russell will not be able to exercise over his lieutenant the authority formerly wielded by Lord Palmer ston. Mr. Gladstone will be without check or control in the House of Commons; he will pro bably insist on having his own way in the Cabi net ; and while in the former place he may commit himself and his colleagues by rash and ill-considered speeches, in the councils of the latter he is not unlikely to come into violent collision with minds equally unprepared to accept his yoke and to resist the ascendancy of his genius. His power for mischief will be nearly as great as if he were Premier ; he will be almost as free to attempt peril ous enterprises, to carry matters in Parliament with that high hand which Parliament will never endure, to quarrel and provoke quarrels, and to give the rein to his irascible temper ; while not possessing the authority of the Premiership, he may not im probably involve himself in contest within the Cabinet as well as without. His prominence will provoke almost as much distrust in one position as in the other ; and Lord Russell's name will not suffice. as Lord Palmerston's did, to allay the irrita tion and countervail the alarm that Mr. Glad stone excites. And were Mr. Gladstone a much cooler and wiser man than he is, his position is full of difficulty. At present he stands alone in the House of Commons. We do not wish to disparage his neighbours on the Treasury Bench. Mr. Cardwell is a sensible and painstaking Colonial Minister ; Mr. Villiers and Mr. Gibson do well the not very important work that falls to them ; Sir G. Grey and Sir C. Wood may possibly be abler than they seem ; Mr. Layard can answer questions promptly, if not always accurately ; and Lord Hart ington is a diligent, clever, and very promising subordinate. But not one of them can• give their leader any help at a pinch. In debate he has no assistance but Sir R. Palmer ; and Sir R. Palmer, though unsurpassed in debates that turn on legal questions, such as frequently arose out of the Ameri can war, is not equally persuasive or powerful on questions of pure politics. It is impossible for Mr. Gladstone to contend singlehanded against the serried ranks of the Opposition leaders—Mr.Disraeli, Sir E. B. Lytton, Lord Stanley, Sir H. Cairns, General Peel, Mr. Whiteside, Mr. Walpole, Sir S. North cote, Lord Cranborne. He must have help, and he must pay for it. There is no lack of ability in the Liberal ranks. On the one hand, there are semi- Conservatives like Mr. Lowe and Mr. Horsman ; on the other, Radicals like Mr. Forster and Mr. Stansfeld, or semi-Radicals like Mr. Goschen. If the Ministry is to stand, these, or some of these, must be brought into it, and room must be made for them. But here another difficulty arises. On the one hand, Mr. Gladstone would hardly consent to turn out Mr. Gibson and Mr. Villiers, and thus totally alienate the Manchester faction ; on the other, Lord Russell will hardly consent to sacrifice those old friends of his own, who are really the weakness and reproach of the Ministry—Sir G. Grey or Sir C. Wood, for example. How, then, is room to be found for the new men without whose aid the Ministry cannot hold its ground in Parliament for more than a few weeks? Abundant difficulties surround the path of the new Premier ; but the worst and most dangerous are those which arise from the divisions of his own party. It is evident, at this moment, that intrigues are going on of which the origin lies in the intrinsic want of cohesion among the Liberals, and of which the object is to further the views of particular sections or the ambi tion of individuals, at some risk of injury to the common interests. The Times indulges in a bitter tirade against the Minister on whom the first choice of the Crown has fallen, with an apparent view to advance the interests of a rival candidate who is certainly not likely to render more effectual service to the cause of Liberalism at large. The motives of an attack of this kind seldom lie within the range of an opponent's conjectures, and we may therefore pass it over, observing only that the hostility of the greatest Liberal organ augurs ill for the supposed successor to the Liberal leadership. The moderate and Radical sections within the Cabinet have their game to play against each other at the expense of the ' common cause. The Radicals and Palmerstonians in the House of Commons have lost the bond which held them together, and will hardly be restrained from a struggle for ascendancy. The former have long looked forward to the occasion as an oppor tunity to insist on the realisation of the pledges so often given to them •, the latter, who remember that the elections were decided in their favour by the abjuration of those pledges, will feel that the coun try is with them as against these importunate claimants, and will be by no means disposed to dis honour their leader's memory by reversing his policy. If the new Premier would keep his party together he must humour both the disputants. He must persuade the Radicals that he is a Radical, and the Moderates that he will rest and be thankful. He must satisfy the one that he is an enthusiast for Reform, and the other that he has no more idea of bringing in a new Reform Bill than had Lord Palmerston. He must convince the first that the Church is on the verge of spoliation, and the last that she is in no danger whatever. He must con ciliate the Radicals without throwing the Palmer stonians into the arms of the Conservatives, and keep the confidence of the Lowes and Horsmans without driving the Brights and Baines into open revolt. No doubt Lord Russell will do his best to fulfil these incompatible requirements of his situa tion ; but the task is an arduous one, and Mr. Gladstone's co-operation will hardly render it easier. We forbear to speculate on the length of time that is likely to elapse before the fatal catastrophe ; how long Mr. Bright will consent to be pacified with fair words and accept vague promises in lieu of solid pudding ; how long men who are Republicans in all but the name, and men who are Liberals in nothing else, will be able to sink their differences for the sole purpose of keeping' in power a Government whose principle of action seems to be to adopt its professions to the demands of the one class and its nolicy to the wishes of the other. CITY PRISON, HOLLOWAY.—On Monday last the Prince de Joinville, the Dec do Montpensier, the Comte de Paris, and the Due do Chartres visited, with other members of the ex-Royal Family of France, the above prison. Mr. Perry, the Government Inspector, accom panied the august party to the prison, whero they were received by the Governor, the Chaplain, and Deputy-Go vernor, and by them conducted over the institution. The entire system of management was explained to them, and they appeared greatly interested in the details. Th e clean liness and general discipline of the prison excited their highest admiration. On leaving they warmly thanked the authorities for the attention they had received. COUNTRY MARKETS. A VISIT TO PORTLAND (Pram a Correspondent of the Morning Post) Portland, besides being a strongly-fortified place, has also a large convict establishment, of which we now proceed to give a brief description. Trans portation to our colonies furnished us at one time with an easy, but rather expensive, mode of getting rid of our convicted criminals. Previous to the gnat struggle which ended in the independence of the United States, felons were sent to the " planta tioxis," and subsequently to Botany Bay, and several other settlements in Australia, where their labour proved useful to the colonists, and who found them selves in the possession of a country abounding in undeveloped resources. Their presence, however, carried with it mortal contamination to the families of the settlers ; and of late years, with the excep tion of one colony—Western Australia—all the others protested against the continuance of the sys tem, and they have further objected even to compa ratively well-conducted criminals being landed in any part of that continent. Their labour was use ful to the inhabitants so long as emigration from Europe was conducted on a small scale ; but when combinations of circumstances of late years caused thousands of persons from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany to push their fortunes in a land pos sessing a virgin soil, genial climate, gold, copper, and other mines, besides boundless pastures, public opinion at the Antipodes underwent a decided change, and the Government and people of this country saw clearly that neither sound policy nor a reasonable regard to the wishes of our countrymen in their new homes could justify us in forcing upon them a class of persons whom they abhorred. It was contemplated at one time to send some of our reformed criminals to the Cape of Good Hope, but they proved to be as unwelcome there as they had been in other places. It then 'became evident that we must deal with our ccnvicts at home, with the exception of such as could be received at the Ber mudas and Gibraltar. So many " Government men" in Australia, after having served their time, subsequently acquired wealth, that transpor tation ceased to have those terrors for evil doers which the stern discipline of Botany Bay at one time inspired. The popular agitation which was got up some 16 years ago against capital punishments, and the facilities granted to convicts of obtaining their liberty long before the expiration of their sentences, all conspired to increase the number of murderers, garroters, and burglars. Par liament, however, recently passed an act which lays down in a very strict manner the conditions under which convicts shall obtain tickets-of-leave. When at large they are still under the surveillance of the police, and flogging, after conviction, has been found to act as a salutary check on ruffians who attempt to strangle and rob unsuspecting way farers when passing along deserted streets or unfre quented roads by night. Dartmoor and the esta blishment at Portland have been designed to pro vide safe custody and employment to prisoners. The construction of the breakwater and of the "verne fort" required an amount of labour which convicts could easily supply, and to this task they were set under vigilant and intelligent supervision. The great ditch which isolates the " verne" from the rest of the island was cut out of the rock by those whose crimes against society had deprived them of their liberty. Paid workers afterwards conveyed the materials so obtained along a tramway in trucks drawn by locomotives to the bed, where, combined with the debris of the quarries, they now form the present breakwater. As this national undertaking may be said to be complete so far as the formation of a harbour of refuge is concerned, the inmates of the prison are at present chiefly en gaged in the quarries in " making stone" (as it is called in the island)—i. e., quarrying and dressing it so as to prepare it for Government use. Warders, thoroughly armed, are stationed by night as well as by day on every eminence, who are always within hail of one another ; and sentinels both within and without the prison walls exercise a vigilance which Jack Sheppard him self could not evade. The establishment is managed by a governor, two deputy-governors, two chaplains, and two medical men ; and these, together with the warders and other officials, constitute a staff of about 200 persons. There are always several com panies of soldiers stationed at the "verne fort," who could at a minute's notice turn out to quell a mutiny. The ferry bridge, which spans a small arm of the sea that extends behind a portion of Chesil Beach in the direction of Abbotsbury, is guarded by a few soldiers, and, as the convict-dress is well-known, there is little chance of escape in that direction. During a stormy night, some years since, a Belgian contrived to elude the vigilance of the warders on Portland and succeeded in getting away—having, it is supposed, crept on all fours over the bridge, and passed the sentry-box while its occupant was asleep. He was never heard of from that day to this. A telegraphic wire connects Weymouth with Portland, and as the barracks of the former place are always occupied by soldiers, in addition to the Royal Engi neers now engaged on the fortifications at the Nothe, it is evident that any attempt at an outbreak would be suppressed almost as soon as made. Some time ago a false alarm caused the Engineers employed on this fort to throw down their tools and hurry off, armed, to suppress a mutiny ; but before they reached their destination (we believe on board a steamer) they found out that their services were not required. A railroad now connects Portland with Weymouth. The prison now contains 1,507 inmates, none of whom were described to us as coming under the designation of notorious offenders, unless Roupell may be so regarded; but he is now looked upon as an old convict, and works in a gang like any of the others. On making our way, by Fortune's Well, up a steep ascent, where you encounter horses drawing, along a tramway, low waggons, strongly con structed, and laden with dressed blocks of the famous Portland stone, some of which weigh several tons, we at length reached elevated ground, com manding views of the mainland, the Roads, and Weymouth Bay; and here the white cliffs visible on the northern shore present a very striking appear ance, especially in the vicinity of Lulworth, where the strata have been evidently tilted up by some great convulsion of nature, while the English Chan nel and West Bay complete a most extensive pano ramic view, which has only to be seen in order to be appreciated. As soon as we reached the grounds belonging to the Government, we were at once made aware, by the presence of warders in uniform and armed with a sword, that our presence was noticed, and we were asked in a civil manner what our business was. After passing a number of neat looking cottages, mostly built of wood, where the warders live, and the governor's house, which is a plain but comfortable-looking residence, with a con siderable extent of garden ground, we found our selves at the principal entrance to the prison. Here we entered our name, residence, and by whom in troduced, in a book kept for that purpose. A gang of convicts, some dressed in yellow clothes, others in blue—the latter indicating that the wearer has served a portion of his time, and in some instances stamped with peculiar marks—passed us with heavy tread, closely followed by several warders. These had been out in the quarries, and were returning to their dinner. In the office at the gate we found a decent-looking middle-aged woman, who had come to see her son previous to his embarkation for Western Australia, whither a vessel was shortly to convey a batch of men. She looked sad ; but the officials spoke to her very kindly, and at the regular hour for such interviews her request would be granted. The criminal classes not only war against society, but in numberless cases also cause terrible anguish to relatives and friends, The chief warder, a most intelligent man, con ducted us over the place, and explained the various details of prison life, which he was most competent to do, having been einployed on the establishment since its formation. The cells, which are six and a half or seven feet long, and four and a half in width, arc well venti lated and kept scrupulously clean. Every man is furnished with a hammock, a hair mattress, two sheets, a blanket, and a rug. He is also provided with a broom, two sorts of combs, a pint basin, spoon, plate, towel, pair of stockings, candlestick, and " save-all"—this last contrivance has proved to NORTHAMPTON—Ocr. 21. Scarcely so much wheat as usual; best sorts were Is. per qr. dearer. New white wheat, 38s to 41s ; new red, 36s to 39s ; old white, 44s to 475; old red, 40s to 46a per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 38s to 44s per qr. ; grinding, 26s to 358 per 30 stone. Oats, old, 28s to 328; new, 22s to 258 per 24 stone. Beans, old, 44e to 48s ; mew, 386 to 40s per 38 stone. Pees„ 34s to 37s per 36 stone. COLCHESTER—OcT. 21. Fair supply of wheat, the trade brisk at the full price■ of last week. Fine barley is per qr. dearer, the common rts a better sale at very full prices. Beans and peas is per qr. dearer. Wheat, white 40a 54s Beans, Illazagan....-33a agi red 36s 48s M►ddle and ama11...35a 40a Barley .. • ?88 40s Peas, white 38s 4 2 * ..20s 25s grey . 10a CHELMSFORD—OcT. 20. Our market to-day was firm, last week's prices being fully maintained, and in some instances for the best wheats and barleys is per qr. snore was obtained. There was little business doing in spring corn of every description, and prices remain the same as last week. Wheat, old white....44s Us Peas, Partridge 37s 39s new -.428 48e White ..308 348 old red 40s 43s Boiling 38s 428 new 36e 405 Dun.... ..... ...31s 355 Barley... Chevalier 26a 13s Boos, Tick, 01d......346 378 8 Grind ng 2 Os . 88 new.... -8 - 5 M a lt 6ls 67s Harrow t icks.3sB — 0 Chevalier 645 68a new....-5 -8 Oats GRANTHAM—OcT. 21. A limited quantity of wheat; best sorts were ls. per qr. dearer; other kinds as before. Peas sold at last week's prices. Old white wheat, 49s to 535; old red, 43s to 48s; new white, 44s to 50s ; new rod, 36s to 43s per 36 stone. Bar ley for malting, 33s to 36s per qr. ; grinding, 27s to 30s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 25s to 28s; new, 20s to 24s per 21 stone. Beans, old, 46s to 495; new, lOs to 43s per 38 stone. Peas, 35s to 39s per 36 stone. ABERDEEN—OcT. 20. There was not a. great amount of business doing in the market to-dap; and supplies of oats, which are 6d up, were not very large. Other articles remain the same as last week. White wheat....... 35s (ki to 4os Od} 621 b ift bushel. Red wheat Potato oats 2os 6d to 21s Od Common oats 2os Od to 20s 6d 401 b VI bushel. Bere 22s 6d to 23s Od} 531 b V bushel. Barley ....22s 6d to 23s Od Oatmeal ...16s 6d to 17s 6d 11 boll of 1401 b. Flour, fine 34s Od to 35s Od ill sack of 280th. KIRK°, kL.DY—Ocr. 21. Fair supplies of all kinds of grain. Sales ready. Wheat and barley Gd to is per qr. 1.:1 ) . Oats is per qr. down. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First 41s 6d I 27s 6d I 23s Od k,econd 43s 6d 28: 6 d i 24s 6d TiAird 4ss Od 3us J 25s Od COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the close of the market. s. d. s• 0. Holywoll Main 2O 6 Kelloo Cowpen Hartley West Hartley Carway and Duffryn Stewart's Malting 24 0 Hastings Hartley 2l 0 Walls End Haswell... 23 6 Pensheir Primrose ,. 22 9 Hetton Lyons 22 6 Tanfiela Moor Butes - 16 6 South Hetton Haillepool East Hartlepool Byass's Bebsido West W.Wy lam l9 6 Hartley 2l 0 Lambm't's W. Hartley 20 9 Heugh Hall South Hartlepool 22 6 Walker Primrose l6 0 Tunstall Caradoc 23 0 Hetton .,. 23 6 Ships at market, 128; sold, 127. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton-- Oct. —. Ditto, via Marseilles Nov. 12. Brazil and Cape Verds. by British packet Nov. 5. Ditto, by French packet Oct. 22. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Nov. 21. China, Penang - , and Singapore, via Sou; hampton— Oct. Ditto, via Marseilles Oct. 27. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.— Oct. Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via Southampton. Oct. 27. . _ _ . Ditto, via Marseilles Oct. 21. Mauritius, via Southampton Ditto, via Marseil,e 3 Nov. 5. Newfoundland Portugal Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... United btates and British North America, by Bri tish packet Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp- ton Ditto, via Cork Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry.. Oct. 20. West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Teneriffe ..Nov. 10. West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico Oct. 30. Bahamas, via New York. Nov. 16 Bermuda, ditto.. Oct. 25. Cuba and Mexico Oct. 30. AMERICAN COTTON MANUFACTURES. —Among the resources of the South which the war developed was the extent of its ability to manufacture domestic geode for home consumption. Being compelled to manufacture its own clothing for its armies and people, new factories were erected ; and although, of course, not so perfect as the Now England establishments, they were still a great improvement upon those that existed before the war. The immense water power existing in nearly all parts of the Southern country has now been pretty well developed/ and it is open to all enterprising capitalists who are seek ing opportunities for investments in manufactures. The fact of having the raw material near at hand is one advan tage the South has over the factories of New England and Europe. It is only the procuring of operatives that makes the question of a rapid and extensive increase in the Ma nufacturing business of the South at all one of conjecture. But this difficulty will no doubt arrange itself as soon a° the strength of foreign and Northern immigration is felt , and the negro population are made to comprehend that they must labour or perish. But while the manufacturing interests of the South present such auspicious indications for the future, it is only necessary for the intelligent ob server to look at the present condition of the New England manufactories to satisfy him also of their wonderful and increasing prosperity. The manufacturing power and resources of the South and the immense and well-deve loped power of the North combined, and the bulk of the cotton fabrics for the use of the world can be manufactured here. Already able to feed the world, the United States, now in a happy state of peace, is amply competent to clothe it. We see the great New England manufacturing establishments beginning to deplete some of the manufac turing districts of Old England by a demand for operatives• Vessels are continually coming over filled with passenger s of this class. Our New England manufacturers, now that the war is over, are not able to fulfil the orders they receiv l from merchants all over the country. The mills are run ning night and day, but. being shorthanded, cannot do full work. One establishment, capable of running 100,0 00 spindles, is only able, for the want of help, to run OYOr 40,000. Operatives labour from 15 to 20 hours out of the 24, in most of the New England factories, receiving extra pay for extra hours' work. The dividends of these new England corporations are enormous, equal to any of the 011 companies in their palmy days. 13 to 18 and 20 per cent• on capitals of from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 are nothing uncommon, leaving a surplus fund of a million or two for running capital. Tho oil wells nowadays are the cotton mills, and more than one extensive operator in the former are now investing largely in Eastern manufactories. T ll° cotton manufacturers calculate upon a continuance of the present high tariff on account of the national war debt, and upon prices keeping up ; and, the supply of cotton promising to bo all they want, they do not hesitate to en large their mills and extend their operations to the utmost extent the supply of physical force will warrant.—NO York Gerald. Birth 3. CREE.—On the 21st inst., at H.M.'s Dockyard, Portsmout h, tho wife of Dr. Cree, R.N., of a son. GASKELL. — On the 22d inst., tho wife of Thomas Gaskellt jun., of Stamford-hill, of a son. HYSLOP.—On the 21st inst., at Liverpool, the wife o - Maxwell Hyslop, E sq ., o f a son. WIGRAM.—On tho 21st inst., at The Chestnuts, St. Ma r garet's, Twickenh am, the Hon. Mrs. W. Knox Wigry'' of a son. Marriages. COOPER—TABOR.—On the 19th inst., at Christ Church' Lancaster-gate, Geo rge Ed war d Cooper, Esq., Queo borough-road, Kensington-gardens, to Lilla, the 0 1( L 0r daughter of the late Charles Wm. Tabor, Esq., of Ill''' . sell-square. WiLsoic—ilomacx.—On the 21st inst., at Saint Luke'' ' Chelsea, H arr i ng t on B ur t on Wil son , o f 19, Beaufor t street, Chelsea, t o M ar i a L ou i sa , on ly c hild o f the la tu Peter Horlick, Esq., of Painswick, Gloucestershire. Deaths. CHILD.—On tho 22d inst., at 2, Maberly-place, Ball's-pon d ' road, Wm. Clark Child, aged 89. DUNCAN.—On the 20th inst., at 33, Norland-square, Not ting-hill, Jonathan Duncan, Esq., the well-known , reucy Reformer, aged G 5. DYER.—On the 21st inst., James Dyer, Esq., late of Mine iug-lano, aged 78. HouNE.—On the 21st inst., at his residence, Hampton' wick, Middlesex, John Horne, Esq., aged 75. JAMES.—On the 21st inst., at Sydenham, Trevenen Jetr a°Bl Esq., aged 72. NicoLLs.—On the 21st inst., at Chichester, Miriam i i s , Nicol's, eldest daughter of the late Gen. Oliver Nic c) " aged 89. - - London : Printed and Published by WIL LIAM ANDB oi No. 112, Strand, Painter, at Tn.:, Susi Office, N O ;; ot Strand, in the Pr ec i nc t o f the S . :Toy, in the Coun t y rdiddleseL—Tureday, Ootober 24, 1805. i s ION 4 RI y cis THE Issu e of 6b are being Th al e lot tii sa e be all( The Su rt, Share! 4 , 4 , 11 e Pat ne Gez' The A Th e Ireh The Regan Brat • Mess Mess rs ittor Sieger Iteser Reiser Thera tho o re , almost dertakir The r that, as a divide of 40 pe name di , year. - Besid, the poss fund of and has the aboi the p a id (S. 9d., The _ 1 10 2 10 2 10 X 7 10 n t th O 0 ger In.etit :- £l, 0 2 10 1 10 2 jo Equ Th u , ort aPPIi( catio t LO. 1 To t]