The Press.
London, England, 1856-09-06 00:00:00

FOREIGN MISCELLANEA.

HOUSE RENT IN PARIS is rising to such a degree
till no person of small income, clerks, porters, or
workmen, can find a suitable residence. The Com-
mission of the United Benefit Societies, at a late
interview with the Emperor, explained that within
the year no fewer than 80,IXX) workmen, no longer
able to find lodgings in Paris, had emigrated extra
,nuros, where they lived as they could. The Em-
peror was much startled by the statement, and ex-
claimed, "But they are building a great deal in
Paris; they are building incesse.ntly." "Yes, sire,"
the president answered, " but unfortunately the
houses now building are only suited to the rich and
middle classes." "I must," said the Emperor, " I
must absolutely find a remedy for this state of
things." It is reported that to carry out the
i nperial promise a project of law is in preparation,
fixing • tariff of house rent, to be based upon the
o bst price of the house, and the money that may have
ben laid out upon it.
THE COURT GOSSIP OF ST. PETERSBURG gives an
amusing anecdote of Count Moray :—On one occa•
sion of Count Morny's appearance in company a
brilliant breast-pin that he wore became the object
of much observation and admiration; at length a
lady of sufficiently high rank to admit of her doing
so made some remark on its beauty, in accordance
with which he drew it from the breast of his a .irt
and handed it to her admiring inspection. Wiien
the admiration was about exhausted, he observed
that what conferred value on the ornament in his
eyes was hid from the view of others in an almost
invisible capsule. On his opening this capsule an
exquisite miniature of the Empress Eugenie became
visible. Ever since that evening all the goldsmiths
and jewellers of St. Petersburg have been overrun
with orders for capsules to be fitted to rings and
breastpins, and if the demands of the female public
went no further the said goldsmiths would, doubt-
less, have shown themselves equal to the crisis; but,
unfortunately, the capsules are only required for the
purpose of containing Eugenie portraits, which the
artists of St. Petersburg are unable to execute.

THE CONNECTION OE- BAGDAD WITH BASSORA by
water transit is about to be carried out by the Go-
vernment of the Porte, and great results, both in a
commercial and agricultural point of view, are
anticipated from this step. Two steamers have been
purchased by the Government, and steps are at
once to be taken to render the navigation of the
Tigris secure from the attacks of the Arabs who
have hitherto robbed or held to ransom most vessels
which passed up. The Journal de Constantinople,
in an article upon the subject, says :
The loss of the Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities
which M. Place, French Consul at Musson!, and the late
M. Fresnel, had calected with so much labour and
expense, is only an episode in a series of adventures
which happen daily. Steam alone can overcome this
difficulty. We shall then have no more need of expensive
towing, a process which is not always possible. There will
be no longer any need of halts every night to give rest to
the towers; no longer shall we sutfur the imposition of
any arbitrary tolls, a species of blackmail, which the Arab
sheiks levy on every boat containing goods, which they
choose to be magnanimous enough not to pillage outright.
Steam, alone, by its strength, against which the Arabs
will struggle in vain, will rush by them, frighten them,
and astonish them. Commerce then, freed from all en•
cumbrances, will recover its ancient elasticity. For the
escort of trading vessels, and carrying them through
dangerous passes, two steamers will not be sufficient.
Thus everything gives us reason to hope that this is only a
commencement, and that very sown the merchants of
Bagdad, enlightened by useful experience, will increase
the number of steamers. The Imperial Government has
taken the initiative. Private industry must follow in the
same direction.

THE FATE OF A FRENCH SPY is told in a letter
from Berlin this week. The subject matter is the
private despatch robbery of last year by Tschen, who,
among his agents with foreign embassies, employed
one Ha,senkrug, who so far wormed himself into the
good graces of the French embassy that he was fur-
nished with the means of going from Berlin to Pans,
with a view to his further services there. He, how-
ever, in an evil hour accepted a retaining fee from
the Russian embassy to spy and report thence to the
Russian embassy at Berlin. The French police soon
discovered that Hassenkru,g had two strings to his
bow, and so far disapproved his tactics that the Go-
vernment quietly shipped him off for Cayenne. His
whereabouts, continues the letter, was for a
long time a matter of doubt and mystery, but a letter
received within the last few days by his wife here,
addressed to her from that place, put that subject
beyond a doubt. It would seem from this that be
had succeeded in getting to the knowledge of certain
matters which it would be unpleasant to that Go-
vernment to have published, and they have conse-
quently provided him with a passage free to Cayenne,
and, further, board and lodging there, rather than
run the chance of his divulging them in Europe.

THE PRESS.

LORD CARDIGAN AT LEEDS.

THE Eanr. OF• CARDIGAN was !presented with •
sword of honour last Saturday, in the Stock Excliaage •
hall at Leeds. The noble and gallant earl was
entertained at a grand banquet, and, after the usual
loyal toasts, the chairman of the committee read a
complimentary address to the gallant earl from the
subscribers :

It is to co'^•^'morate the events of your lordship's mili•
tary life in hat vat., and particularly that great incident
which has ndat Balaklava a pass-word in the soldier's
mouth (of he will ever feel proud), that we now
present your lordship with a sword, and invite your accep-
tance of it in the name of the numerous noblemen gen-
tlemen, merchants, tradesmen, and yeomanry connected
with the county of York, many of them having no other
association with your lordship than that which a brave
soldier performing his duty will ever find in the hearts
of Englishmen.

Lord Cardigan replied at some length, detailing his
reconnaissance of the Dubrudsclia, " Lord
Raglan considered had been well performed."
Taking the opportunity to explain the duties of a
eenerßl of cavalry in leading his brigade into action,
Lord Cardigan observed:—

One would really suppose from what has been said that,
when a charge of cavalry is ordered, the general officer
commanding a brigade has nothing to do but to wave his
sword and gallop off, his men following him, and come into
personal contact with the enemy's troops. Gentlemen, no
such thing is the case. The duties of a cavalry general in
leading a charge are very important. In the first place, it
is his duty to keep his regiments together ; secondly, it is
his duty to lead them at such a regular pace under any
fire to which they may be exposed that, when they come
into contact with the enemy. they may attack them with a
proper and full impetus. Further, it is necessary that,
under whatever fire they may be exposed during the ad
vance, the general officer should keep the alignment of
his regiment. I believe there is no person who was pre•
sent—and (here are many persons present who were spec-
tators (for the hills on all sides were covered with our
own troops and those of our allies)—there was no one so
present who will deny that the leading of the regiments of
the light cavalry brigade into the battery on the day of the
Battle of I3alaklava was a firm, satisfactory, and compact
one, well and gallantly supported by the three other regi-
ments belonging to the brigade, which came on iu succes-
sion under their respective commanding officers. Ladies
and gentlemen, I will leave the troops who have just ar
rived at the battery for one moment, and refer to one or
two other fallacies. It has been also suggested, and the
idea has been entertained, that it is the duty of a general
officer commanding cavalry to fight the enemy, with and
among private soldiers, after coming into contact with
them. No such thing is the case, and I will give you the
greatest authority to the contrary. The greatest authority
we have ever had in this country is that of the late noble
hussar, Lord Anglesea. Under the names of Lord Ux-
bridge and Lord Paget he frequently commanded cavalry,
and distinguished himself in every way, and had the repu-
tation of being the best cavalry general that ever lived in
this country. He has been known to declare that he never
during his career raised his sword or used it against an
enemy, except on one occasion in self-defence.
The noble earl then briefly detailed the famous
°barge :

Tue loss of life, of officers, non-commissioned officers,
and men—those who were put hors de combat either by
death or wounds, or taken prisoners—was 295, and there
were 397 horses put hors de combat, and the whole of that
occurred in the short space of twenty-five minutes ; and
gentlemen, I think I may here state that of those who es-
caped that day it cannot be truly said that any man's life
was saved by any unbecoming conduct ; if their lives were
saved it was by the will of Divine Providence, who decreed
that they sholld be saved, while many died a glorious
death. Gentlemen, after this had taken place I proceeded
to Lord Raglan to report the circumstances of the charge,
and his lordship expressed to me his marked disapprobation
of what had been done, stating that such an attack was
totally contrary to the principles of warfare—that is, the
attacking a battery in front with cavalry. I have only to
say on the subject that there never was a more uncalled-
for attack, inasmuch as we had seen this Russian battery
with a large body of heavy cavalry in its rear at least
twenty minutes; and when this attack was ordered they
were neither advancing nor retreating.

Lord Cardigan then in a few worth expressed his
sense of the high honour conferred upon him by the
presentation of the sword, and resumed his seat
amidst hearty cheers.

THE APPOINTMENT OF AIAitbHAL YELISSIEIt to the
governorship of Algeria is contradicted this week by
the Paris correspondent of the ',dependance Beige.
He writes :

I have often spoken of the probabilities of Marshal
Pelissier being appointed the supreme command in
Algeria. It seemed impossible to refuse this post to the
earnest and frequently expressed wishes of the late com-
mander-in•chief of the army of the Crimea. I learn,
however, very positive to•day that the stoma quo will be
maintained. The Emperor is said to have expressed
himself in the most flattering terms regarding the mar-
shal, but has given it to be understood that the title of Duke
of Malakoff and the pension of 100,000 francs were in-
tended by his Majesty to be in full of all claims for
reward. The Emperor, moreover, has a due sense of
the value of Marshal Hendon's services, being well
whaled that he has n( t to apprehend from him that
attitude of eventual resistance which it seems Marshal
Pelissier assumed in the Etat whenever his insttuctious,
no matter from how high a quarter they emanated, did
not square with his own views.

847

THE GOVERNMENT SMALL ARMS FACTORY

AT ENFIELD.
Tins exhibition of mechanical power as applied to the
manufacture of rifles, the delicate mechanism of
which hay hitherto been performed solely by skilled
artisans, is extremely interesting.

The establishment at Enfield is divided into de-
partments, of which the principal are the smithery,
where there are Oaily forty-five forges at work with
their attendant machinery, and that in which all the
various minute processes connected with the manu-
facture of locks, bayonets, and stocks, are carried
on. It is in this latter building—an extremely large
one and well lighted from the roof—that the greater
part of the machinery in use is in operation ; and
the whole of the mechanism, as well there as in the
smithery, is driven simultaneously by a magnificent
double engine of eighty-horse power. The opera-
tions for rolling and perfecting gun-barrels are per-
formed in an adjacent building, which is being
enlarged and fitted up with an engine of twenty-five
horse power, for conducting that department on •
scale commensui ate with the other parts of the
factory. The barrel-rolling machinery at present in
use, which is not of American invention or manufac-
ture, has been in operation since 1852. In the
smithery the bayonets and all the several parts of
the lock apparatus, including even the small screws
used in its construction, are first forged from bars of
steel, with the greatest rapidity, and with all the aids
of a perfect system of machinery. Thence they ate
transferred to the general building, where they ate
submitted to an almost endless succession of pro-
cesses of the nicest description, performed again by
machinery specially adapted to each operation, until
they attain the requisite degree of accuracy, finish,
and perfection. Besides the rapidity with which
these operations are performed, far exceeding the
capacity of any amount of hand labour, two other re-
sults have been attained of the greatest importance
in a trade so peculiar as this, where a great national
emergency might at any time create on a sudden an
immense demand for the article manufactured. The
one is, that this machinery, guided by young men
and boys taken from the plough-tail, or any other of
the humbler occupations of life, is capable of exe-
cuting work until now performed by skilled opera-
tives specially trained to it, and by necessity with far
more marvellous accuracy than was ever achieved by
hand labour, however superior. Little boys, not
more than fourteen years of age, for example, are to
be seen charged with the management of two, and
sometimes three, different machines performing
simultaneously the same operation. Another resut
on which much stress is laid is, that every conceiv-
able part of a musket, from all the small component
portions of the lock upwards, is manufactured with
such unerring precision that it will fit with sur-
prising exactitude the place destined for it, not in a
single musket alone, but in every other constructed
on the establishment. For instance, from indis-
criminate heaps of each of the several finished parts
of a lock, consisting of the plate, the sear and its
springs, the bridle, tumbler, mainspring, and screws,
an artisan can put together a lock in a few minutes.
It is the same with every other part of the weapon;
all the respective materials are exact counterparts of
each other; every barrel adapts itself to every stock,
every bayonet to every barrel, and so on. By this
complete system of interchange of parts, when any
portion of the arm wears out in service before the
rest, or get% into disorder, it can easily be replaced,
and thus the whole weapon is not disabled by a
casualty of that kind. Touching the quality of the
materials and work, at every single stage of its pro-
gress it uniergoes a rigid examination, by which
any defect is at once detected, and every minute
article is made exactly to correspond with an une
changeable gauge. The very tools used are manu-
factured on the premises, and also by machinery iu
many instances.
The machinery for making gunstocks was specially
fabricated in the manufactory of Mr. Ames, of
Chicopee, Massachusetts, and is of the most inge-
nious and efficient description. This department of
the factory, which is under the direction of Mr.
Oramel Clark, an American, skilled in its manage-
ment, is singularly interesting. It contains twenty-
three machines, which performs sixteen distinet
operations on the stock, and are similar in principle
and construction to those in use in the two Govern-
ment armoury establishments in the United States,
at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Harper's-ferry,
Virginia. A piece of walnut-wood, roughly sawn
into the shape of a gunstock, is submitted to these
manifold processes, which round it, scoop out the
bed for the barrel, do all the intricate manipulations
required for the reception of the mechanism of the
lock and its appendages, and, indeed, every other
imaginable thing towards its completion, with the
most consummate neatness and accuracy. Several
of these machines embody a beautiful automatic ac-
tion for reversing the motion of the tool when it has
penetrated the wood deep enough, by which it dis-
engages itself from the stook on which it is

operating, and literally "backs out." Perhaps the
most interesting and ingenious of the whole
machines in this department is that by which the
entire lock is let into the stock—a work involving
much time and labour when performed by hand.
This beautiful instrument is provided with five
vertical spindles and appropriate cutters, mounted
upon a kind of revolving reel, which are brought
sound in succession, and trace the figure of a guide
or copy which lies alongside the stock beneath the
cutters and guide pins. A small fan-blower is
attached, by which the chips from the tools are
blown away as fast as they are made. The machine
is also furnished with a clever automatic action for
throwing the driving belt on and off the pulleys of
the spindles as they are brought round in succession
to perform a new part of the process. By this
machine a lock can be completely let into the stock
in about three minutes. Indeed, the whole process
of making and perfecting the stock does not occupy
more than half an hour, and the only band labour
employed upon it is that which causes the friction of
a little sandpaper along its surface after its removal
from the last machine. Colonel Dickson and Mr.
Burton say that they are able to make in this way
200 stocks a day, at a cost of little more than Is. a
pine, whereas, an expert workmen, singlehanded,
would not be able to make more than eight or nine
in a week, at a cost of 12s. ed. a piece. In estimating
the price of making a stock at Enfield at Es., no
allowance is made for the original cost of I lent and
tools, or their subsequent deterioration by wear and
tear; but, at the same time, there can be no doubt
that the saving effected by machinery such as this
will, in a short time, repay its whole cos; if, indeed,
it has not already done so long ere this.

The whole establishment is under the immediate
eontrol and supervision of Colonel Dickson, of the
Royal Artillery, assisted by Mr. Gunner, inspector of
small arms ; and the first engineer is Mr. Burton, an
intelligent American gentleman, formerly Master
Armourer of the Government Small arms Factory of
the United States at Harper's-terry, whose services
have been permanently secured by the Government
to superintend the setting up and working of the
machinery. At present about 430 mom and boys are
employed on the different operations, but when the
works are complete the numbers will probably be
doubled. The whole of the plant when fully laid
down and brought into operation, it is contemplated,
will turn out in a perfect state, ready for use, some
50,000 rifles a year, or about 1,0(0 a week ; but this
is, probably, a too sanguine view of its capabilities.
The advantages of producing muskets by machinery
are described by those thoroughly conversant with
the system in the United States as being cheapness
in the manufacture ; an exact similarity in the
several parts, so that they may be readily interchanged
and replaced ; and, above all, the facility of rapidly
producing this important military arm, and of in-
creasing or reducing the supply according to the re •
quirements of the time.

MARSHAL NARVAEZ has late'y been the subject of
rather an unpleasant discus-ion in the Spanish
papers. The Leon Espanol asserted the other day
that he had never enriched himself while he was in
the Queen's service, anti that all his fortune was in
herited from his lather. This statement seems to
have made quite a sensation at Loja, his native town,
for a citizen of that place at once wrote a letter to
La Naeion, in which he denies the statement of El
Leon dowutight, and adds a few odd particulars
about Narvaez himself. The letter affirms that
Narvaez, who is a younger son, never possessed the
smallest real property at Loja until after he had been
appointed the Queen's Minister, when he purchased
immense estates from one of the heirs of the Countess
of Alcudia. Subsequently, in 1852, when, after his
lest retirement from the Ministry he betook himself
to Loja, he bought up everything which was offered for
sale, to such an extent, says this letter, that if he had
remained at Loja gcing on in the same way, he would
have become the sole proprietor of the town. At the
same time, he lived in a style of unheard of luxury
at Lois, making a strange contrast to his earlier life ;
since it is there well known, says the letter, that the
person who is now entitled the Marshal Duke of
Valencia, formerly was a contractor for the collection
of the taxes upon certain articles of conomption—
amongst others upon brandy—which office he re-
tained until his departure to join the army.
CAPTAIN GRAVES, Superintendent of the Port of
Malta, was assassinated last Monday week while
entering a caleche in Strada Beale. The murderer
was a Malte.e boatman, whose licence harl been
taken away for some offence by Captain Graves.
The murder was committed in open day, and in the
brief struggle Captain Graves received two wounds
in the stomach. They were at first considered slight,
but the gallant officer is since reported dead.
MR. WILLIkR BRUNTON, superintending engineer
of the Scinde Rtilway, accompanied by a carefully
selected staff of s►x assistants, left Southampton on
nut sday, for Bombay and Kurrachee, en route for
the Punjaub, to p►osecute the preliminary survey of
the country between Moolten, Lahore, and Unutteer.

THE PRESS.

LORD STANLEY UPON AGRICULTURAL
IMPROVEMENTS.

LORD STANLEY, in the course of his speech at thu
North Lancashire Agricultural Show last week, made
some important remarks upon the requirements of
agriculture in England. Alluding first to the im-
perfect system of drainage and the smallness of the
fields, particularly in Lancashire, he continued :
I would extend what T say to all England, and T venture
confidently to affirm that what has been done throughout
the country in the way of ('raining, is a mere trifle to what
manta doing. I have seen various calculations on that
subject ; they do not precisely agree—estimates seldom
do, but they nearly all agree in this, that there is room in
the matter of drainage alone, for a profitable investment,
within the United Kingdom, of one hundred millions
sterling That seems a large sum, but if you recollect
that statisticans have computed the yearly savings of our
people, the yearly addition to the national capital, at fitly
millions, and if you recollect how, within the last fifty
yearn, a sum of nearly three hundred millions has been
invested in railways, leaving the country, on the whole,
not poorer, but richer than it found i►—if you recollect
those two facts, neither you nor I need trouble ourselves
much in asking where the money is to come from.
But there were other and important points in agri-
cultural science open to improvement :
But, after all, draining is not the only possible branch of
improvement ; there are two others, the one manure, the
other machinery. Now. as to manure, we have a great
problem to solve ; it is very well, no doubt, and it pays
just now, to bring it from the ends of the earth, to send
for it from out•ot be way islands in the Pacific, or else.
where, but that is a resource on which you cannot calculate
for ever. That supply may be, probably must he, ex•
Initiated one day, and then, though pertain not till then,
we shall be driven to the resource to which we ought to
have applied long ago—l mean that saving of the natural
manure which we waste. 1 saw it stated the other day, on
good authority, that the British farmer is paying every
year a million and a half for artificial manures. Now, I
da not say that that is money wasted, for I do not believe
it is. I have no doubt the investment is profitable, but a
great deal might be saved if people w mild only remember
that in nature nothing is destroyed, that there is no such
thing as destruction—that what comes from the earth
returns to it again, and that all that is necessary is to
restore to the soil that which originally comes from the
soil—that which we throw away in the shape of the sewage
of our great towns. I know there are difficulties in the
way of doing that ; there is k difficulty in deodorising that
soil, in rendering it not offensive ; there is a difficulty also
in not concentrating the solid part of it into so small a
bulk as to bear and reward the expense of transp rt. Ido
not duly the existence of these obstacles; I only say that,
serious Is they are, science has surmounted obstacles far
greaser. I have heard a calculation made by competeut
persons that what we waste—the sewage of the Thames
valley alone—in poisoning and polluting that river, is
worth five millions per annum. Ido not pretend to give
any estimate on the subject, but I believe that if the ob-
stacles I have spoken of are once overcome—l will say
rather, when they are overcome, and when it becomes as
much the practice to save those natural manures as it is
now the practice to waste them, you will save a sum which
will equal probably from one half to two thirds of the taxa-
tion of the country.
The noble lord then touched briefly upon the
immense advances made within the last few years in
the employment of machinery for agricultural pur-
poses, and came at once to the question of agricul-
tural statistics :

There is an impression, I know, in some minds that
either the Government or the landlords are anxious to
obtain information as regards the farmer's private concerns,
which there is no fair reason that he should be called upon
to give. My answer is simply, that there is no other occu-
pation in this country with which the State does not
alrealy interfere in an equal degree, to ascertain what is
doing. Every bale of goods that comes into this country,
the age and occupation of every one in this empire, are
minutely registered for the public benefit. I do not, and
never will, ask fur returns that will be vexatious or
inquisitorial. But I believe the farmer would gain
by knowing a little more about the state of the market.
As matters stand, he buys and sells almost in the dark.
He takes the market value of what he sells from the dealer,
and does not know what amount of stores there may be in
the hands of other persons, nor the real wants of the
buyer. He is in the hands of the dealer, who, notwith-
standing the superior information which he obtains, some-
times at a great expense, is not unfrequently himself
misled. It is really a case of the blind leading the blind,
and I only wonder that they don't tumble much oftener
into the ditch. These agricultural returns should, how-
ever, be as simple and slightly troublesome as possible.
Llrd Stanley then briefly but warmly advocated the
principle of agricultural education, and the estab-
;ishment of colleges, such as il.at at Cirencester, in
vhich thonry is taught and tested on the grounds
where the practice of farming is carried on. He
zihiciutieu

Let us all remember that in promoting the progress of
agricultural improvement we are not merely developing the
national resources, lightening the national burdens, adding
.o the strength and power of England, or increasing the
veilth of those who are wealthy already, but we are indi-
ectly engaged in one of the highest and nohlest tasks
,vhich human enterprise can propose to itself. We are en-
gaged in relieving the angering, and in elevating the con-
dition of the labouring classes of this country. (Cheers.)

SATURDAY,

That is a consideration which gives this whole subject of
agricultural progress an interest to my mind which other-
wise it could not possess. The higher your farming
becomes the more machinery you employ, toe less need
will there be of mere brute labour, and the more you will
require skilled intelligence. You will make a less demand
upon your labourers' muscles, and a larger demand upon
their brains.