The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-03 00:00:00

FtnnuAny 3, 1855.

Volitttal anb (Omni.

THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL which has just arrived is
the last that is expected via India and Marseilles
until new arrangements are made, or the old are
resumed.

A CONTRACT has been entered into by Government
for the supply of a large number of cavalry sabres
and cutlasses for the use of the navy ; the last.
mentioned weapons are vastly superior to those at
present in use in the fleet. They are rather lcnger,
with a slight curve, similar to those worn by naval
officers. The formation of the hilt and guard will
also give a much firmer grasp to the person wielding
it. The cutlasses and sabres are to be manufactured
of the best-tempered, mild steel, and Will be severely
tested before they are accepted.
IN order to guard as much as possible against
accidents by the breaking of railway carriage or loco-
motive aaletrees' and so forth, the Berlin Govern-
ment has offered a reward of ten thalers, to be paid
to each or any railway employe who may discover
cracks, fissures, or defects, whereby accidents may
be entailed, and by timely report prevented.
THE FINE ESTATE KNOWN AS WENTWORTH'S, situate
in the picturesque vicinity of Virginia-water, Wind-
sor-park, has recently been purchased as the future
residence of the celebrated Carlist chief, General
Cabrera. The general married Miss Richards, an
English lady, the daughter of a banker residing at
Englefleld green, and the property stands in the
parochial rate-books as belonging to her, under the
Spanish title. It is understood that the purchase-
money was about 22,000 i.

THE COUNCIL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS has an- I
nonnced its intention to open in April next its seventh
exhibition of patented inventions. The want of a
gallery of inventions, showing the various steps which
have been taken to improve all classes of machinery,
has long been felt. In its absence the council of
the society, in 1847, considered that it would be both
interesting and instructive to bring together, tempo-
rarily, as far as possible, models, drawings, and
descriptions, illustrative of the inventions of the year.
Succeeding councils have followed out the idea, and
the result has been that the public has had placed
before it, in a definite form, the mechanical and
scientific arrangements which have been proposed
for effecting improvements in those departments
which have occupied the largest amount of public
attention.
THE last return of the Registrar-General shows that
the high mortality announced in recent reports has
undergone a further increase. In the Amt three
weeks of January the deaths registered in London
were 1,404, 1,466, and 1,549 ; in the last week they
rose to 1,630. In the four weeks that ended
January 27 the mean weekly temperature was 45.5
deg., 39.3 deg., 28.9 deg., and deist week) 29.3 deg.
In the corresponding weeks of Vie years 1845-54 the
average number of deaths was 1,102, which if raised
in proportion to increase of population becomes 1,212.
Hence it appears that there were recorded last week
418 deaths more than the rate of mortality that pre-
vailed in the fourth week of the last ten years would
have produced.
PIRACY IN THE CHINA SEAS.—Despatches from
Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling, commander in-
chief on the East India and China station, have ap-
peared in the Gazette, giving an account of the mea-
sures adopted to repress piracy in the neighbourhood
of Hong-Kong. The operations proved very success-
ful. Lieutenant Fellowes reports that nine piratical
vessels were destroyed, the, stronghold of the pirates
razed to the ground, and from forty to fifty men
killed. Captain O'Callaghan reports the destruction
of nineteen Chinese junks, armed with twenty-five
guns of various calibre. On another occasion thirty-
eight guns were taken and destroyed. In a state-
ment made by Captain O'Callaghan of services per-
formed by the Encounter, Barracouta, Styr, and
other vessels, between the 2nd and 17th of November,
1854, it appears that sixty-seven junks were destroyed,
and 115 pirates taken or killed. In consideration of
the services rendered on these occasions Lieutenant
Charles Fellowes has been promoted to the rank of
commander, and Mr. William Ormonde Butler, mate,

to the rank of lieutenant.
ON the demand of the Mayor of Valenciennes
supported by M. Nienwerkerke, director of the
Imperial Museums, the French Government
has just accorded to the town of Valenciennes
a fine block of Marble for the statue of Froissart.
M. Lemaire, who has been charged with this statue,
has been ordered by the Government to make a
second, which is intended to decorate the external
part of the Louvre.
COLONEL T. GORE BROWNE, who has administered
the affairs of St. Helena for the last three or four
years, has been appointed governor of the important
colony of New Zealand, vacant by the removal of Sir
George Grey to the Cape of Good Hope. Colonel
Browne arrived in England last week, having quitted
St. Helena amidst the regrets of the inhabitants of
the island.