The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-07 00:00:00

eyes, and which will require to be subdued before it can

introduced into 'gene=ral use. the gitat difficulty

bithetto has been in giving pert:date& brilliaiite to the

elEctyit light, and taking away the 'fitfulness occasioned
by - the too rapid consumption of the carbon,
and _ till this be overcome, we can scarcely

hope that the new illuminating power will entirely
supersede the use of gas. Mr. Newlands, our able
borough engineer, has (We happen to know) a
project for improving the present mode of lighting our
streets; and so soon as he has matured his ideas, we

may doubtless elpect a valuable report 'on this really

important subject.
A frightful gas explosion took place-in a public-house
in Islington, London, on Friday night, the consequence
of a thief having unscrewed the gas-fittings and taken
them away. Twelve persons, including the landlord,

were seriously injured, and blown about in all directions.
The thief was not apprehended. The loss is covered by

insurance in the Liverpool and London Fire-office.

One important fact, in reference to the mjsterious
murder at Road, has just transpired. The two pieces

of newspaper which were found stained with blood, and

in which it is supposed that the knife or weapon with
which the murder wag perpetrated was wiped after the
crime had been completed, have been proved to be

portions of the Tines of the 9th of June.

They were

stated at the inquest to be parts of a paper which was
not taken in by Mr. Kent or any other person resident
in the house, and from that circuinstance the possibility
of some person ha:•ing secreted himself on the premiSes
was suggested. As these fragments, however, are,
proved to be portion's of the journal Which Was regu-
larly supplied to Mr. Kent, the theory, which amounts
to almost absolute certaintly, that the murder was corn=
mitted by some inmate of the house is so far additionally
confirmed.

The missionary zeal 'awakened in London on behalf
of those who cannot be induced to attend the regular
ministrations of the church continues as active as ever ;
and, on Saturday evening last, the Bishop of London
preached in the open air to between 1,500 and 1,600
working men and children in one of the most uncivilised
portions of the outskirts of the metropolis. The place
selected for this mission service lies between Shep-
herd's Bush and the Great Western Railway, on
the east of Wormwood Scrubs. The people who
live around and about it are chiefly engaged
in the making of bricks and pottery ware, while
it is dotted here and there with gipsy tents and
the temporary habitations of persons who are not
able to obtain better shelter elsewhere. In one of the
fields immediately behind Clifton-street, in the Latimer-
road, there is a hill, and from it was announced, the
Bishop would, like St. Paul of old on Mars Hill,
preach on Saturday evening. Many of the leading
employers of labour in the neighbourhood, in
compliance with the solicitations of the local
clergy, paid their men early in the evening, and vast
numbers of them not only attended the service, but
took their wives and children with them. The bishop,
who was attended by the Rev. F. Gell, D.D., his cha-
plain, arrived at half-past seven o'clock, and having
selected the spot on which he would stand, retired to a
small tent close by, and there put on his episcopal robes.
The latter part of the bishop's address is said to have
been particularly solemn. Darkness had come on, and
the moon had risen, and all• around the gipsies' tents
were lighted up. Not a sound was heard but the
bishop's voice, and now and then a train on the adjacent
railway. A deep impression appeared to be made on
Many, tinttsed to such scenes, by the solemnity and pecu-
liarity of the scene. -
Some time ago, it may be remembered, Mr. John
Laird threw out a suggestion, that in case of threatened
invasion, the different ferry steamers and tug-boats
might be utilised in the defence of the river, by arming
each with one or two guns of heavy calibre, in propor-
tion to their tonnage. The project has been brought
under the notice of the Admiralty, who have had reports
upon the subject, and the whole of the correspondence
involved was published in the form of a Parliamentary
paper on Saturday. Mr. Laird's idea is, Chat the
ferry and tug-boate• might, for an outlay of about
£2OO or £250 each, be Sufficiently strengthened to
carry heavy guns, from thirty-two to sixty-eight
pounders. The owners might be bound to allow the
Government the use of each boat for three or four days
each year, free of cost, for exercising the guns ; and he
proposes that the.guns and carriages be kept in store
at a wharf on the river side, so that in case of emer-
gency the whole flotilla might be fitted with these guns,
and be ready for active service at a few hours' notice.
Captain Mends, R.N., approves of the scheme. The
steam-tug companies would require, however, a retaining
fee of about £lOO a year for each boat, and about £l5
a day when called out for practice or on actual eervice.
Other reports are also submitted, and, at the close, the
Admiralty, " after maturely considering the proposal,
do not feel justified in incurring the expense of fitting
out these vessels," thus giving the coup de grace to the
scheme,