The Express.
London, England, 1866-07-17 00:00:00

THEE VAXPI&Sg,. kTJEStiIf

• IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS.—MosnAy, JOLT 16.
Their lordship' mei M four o'clock.

United States of America towards this country in refer:
ence to the Fenian proceedings, her Majesty's government
are prepared to submit all matter in dispute between the
two governments to arbitration mutually acceptable.
(fear, hear.)

THE ATLAkTIC TELEGRAPH EXPE-

DITION.

ROYAL ABSENT.
The royal assent was given by commission to the Drain-
age Maintenance (Ireland) M • Burials in Burghs (Boot-
Ld) Bill; Lunacy Act (Scotland) Amendment Bill, and
76 privet* bilk The Lards Commissioners were the Lord
Chancellor, the Duke of Marlborough, and the Earl of
eradford. The sitting was then suspended.
The Loan CHANCILLOB took his seat on the woolsack 4
An o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINEBB.

THE REFORM BILL.
Mr. GLADSTONE moved that the orders of the day
relat• to the bills respecting the representation of the
people be postponed until Thursday, and be gave notice
that be would on that day move their discharge.

NEW WRITS.
On the motion of Colonel TAYLOR the Speaker ems
ordered to zuue writs for the election of members to

represent the following constituencies :—For Peeblesehire,
in the room of Sir G. Montgomery, appointed a Lord of
the Treasury ; for Bridgnorth, in the room of Mr. H.
Whitmore, appointed a Lord of the Treasury ; for East
Suffolk, in the room of Sir F. Kelly, appointed Lord Chief
Baron ; also, for East Suffolk, in the room of Lord Hen-
niker, raised to the House of Lords as Lord Hartismere ;
for PeteraSeld, in the room of Sir W. Jolliffe, raised to the
House of Lords as Lord Hylton; and for Hertfordshire,
in the room of Sir K Bulwer L , raised to the House
of Lords as Lord Lytton of walk.

The following balm were read • third time and passed :
Nast and West Junction Railway (Diversion of Roads)
Bill ; Aberavon Local Board Bill ; Waterford and Limerick
Railway (Arrangements) Bill; Wandsworth and Putney
(ha Ball ; Swansea Vale Railway Bill ; Glasgow Police
Bill ; Aberdare and Central Wales Junction Railway Bill ;
Tema Valley Railway Bill; and Wolverhampton and Wal-
la Railway Bill.

00243BORATION OF CHURCHYARDS.
Lord REDESDALE, in consequence of the objections
made to the bill introduced by him on this subject, with-
drew It, and laid upon the table an amended bill.
The first bill was withdrawn, and the new bill passed the
fist reading.

THE HEALTH OF TOWNS BILL
In eply to Mr. Hester,
Mr. WALPOLE said he pr posed to proceed with this
.

bill on Thursday next. .
THE BANKRUPTCY BILL
Hr. CRAWFORD asked what coarse was proposed to be
be taken with reference to this bill?
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said it was not the intlin.

tionc;f7i;:go;;;;eatolMcceed with this( bill during
es the present 'nation, but er Majesty's government con-
sidered it one of the most praung measures to which the
attention of the house could be called, he hoped to be able
to introduce a bill at the earliest possible moment next
seaaion. (Hear, hear.)
ALLEGED OUTRAGE BY SEAMEN IN JAMAICA.
Mr. T. G. BARING said he wished to offer an explana-
nation in referees, to a question put in the early part of
the present session by the noble lord the member for Had-
dingtonshire with respect to a statement that had appeared
in one of the daily newspapers, containing a charge against
some argon belonging to her Majesty's ship of war
Wolverine. It was there stated that twelve of the crew
of the Wolverine were accused of perpetrating on the per-
son of a female who was a methodist class leader a aeries
of outrages ; but it was stated the witness's mouth wee
sealed. He (Mr. Baring) was unable at that time to
answer the question except by saying that in his belief the
charge was unfounded ; but since then two commr nica-
tons had been received—one from Sir Henry Storks, the
Governor of Jamaica, and another from Sir J. Hope, the
commander on that station—from which it appeared that
there was not the slightest foundation for the charge that
had been made in the columns of the Morning Star.
(Hear, hear.)
DOCKYARD ACCOUNTS.

Sir J. PARDRlTiTiaskeil the bonmember for Lin-
coln (Mr. Seely), on account of the short time the present
Board of Admiralty had been in office, to withdraw the
motion he had put upon the paper in reference to the
financial administration of the &okyarils.
Mr. SEELY consented to postpone his motion.
TENURE AND IMPROVEMENT OF LAND
(IRELAND) BILL
- .

In repl7 to Mr. If. Ossoass:
Lord hkA said it was not the intention of her Ma-

jesty'n government to proceed with this bill during the
present session.

THE PRUSSIAN NEEDLE GUN.

Captain VIVIAN asked, in regard to the augmentation
majority of the 11th Human, why it did not go in the
regiment. He also drew attention to the necessity of
arming our troops with breech-loading rifles.
Sir C. RUSSELL dwelt also on the latter subject ; and
also urged that it would be necessary to simplify the drill of
the British army besides supplying it with efficient arms.
A discussion enaued, in the course of which Mr. J. B.
SMITH stated that he had called the attention of the go-
vernment of the day to the existence of the needle-gun in
the Prussian army so long ago as 1851.
Mr. U. SEYMOUR inquired whether any Mooch-load-
ing arms were in the possession of our troops in India.

be now in dangerous proximity. After some
hours of suspense, and long after thebuoy's flaghad

been transferred to the Great Eastern's stern, the
anxious lookers on discerned a palpable strain, and
soon afterwards the boat guarding it went back.
The good news that the Great Bastern had fairly
got the buoy went from ship to ship, and Captain
Armytage put off from the Racoon alone to congra-
tulate Captain Anderson and Mr. Canning, and to
take charge of the last letters for shore. While he

is on the deck of the Great Eastern the end of the

cable is brought on board. From this time until

five minutes to 3 in the afternoon the operation of

splicing went on. Tenderly carrying the shore end
into a little covered hut on deck, where it met the
end of the coil brought from the tank furthest aft,
busy fingers were soon at work uponboth. The pro-

tecting M =WA twist and galvanised iron wire were
speedily unravelled, until several feet of cable were
bare to the gutta-purcha skin, and of the size and
appearance of a bit of piping. The gutta-percha
itself was next removed, and the fine copper wires
which, twisted together, form the cable's core, were
unwound. Different lengths of these were strongly
twined together from each cable's end, so that no
two joints should be in one place. A light thread-
like wire was bound round each junction, and the
whole carefully soldered so as to form one solid
wire. Then came thin layers of gutta-percha, like
pouf-akin, each layer receiving a coat of the gluti-
nous insulating material called " Chatterton's
Compound." The galvanised outer wires and
the Manilla twist were next plaited over it,
and communication was at once established between
the Great Eastern and the receiving-house at Foil-
hummerhum Bay. Here Mr. Glass, Mr. Varley,
Mr. May, and the rest of the staff, had been waiting
anxiously since early morning. At twenty minutes
before 11 those watching the galvanometer pre-
viously described saw its stationary light move
rapidly across the scale, and the following message
was immediately afterwards read :—" Got the
shore end ; going to make the splice. Everything
is right." A few cheery words were sent in reply,
and one or two other messages were passed between
ship and shore, the signals in each case being won-
derfully rapid and distinct. Then the flickering
speck of light stood stern and motionless, and all in
the hut knew that the real work of splicing had
commenced. The next few hours were spent in
anxiously waiting for another message through.
" Splice all 0. K. ; we are going off," at last glad-
dened the eyes of those watching the galvanometer,
and after " God speed you " had been sent in
reply, the recently spliced cable was cut adrift
from the Great Eastern, and steaming slowly out
by her screw, and subsequently with one paddle-
wheel, she aped on her way to America. The
messages sent and received after the splice was
made went through the entire length of the cable,
the ends from the three tanks being joined toge-
ther, so that every message tests the whole 2,370
miles. Throughout every experiment the words
were given by the beautifully simple dot and dash
code, and were more than usually strong, forcible,
and easy to read.
Immediately after the splice was made the Great
Eastern held an animated conversation with the
ships attending her by means of the collapsing
cone. To the Racoon she simply announced that
all was done, upon which Captain Armytage fired a
gun, and by the time handkerchiefs and caps had
waved farewell, the trimly disciplined men-of-war's
men had unfurled the Nails, and their ship was, by
aid of steam and wind, coming back at the rate of
ten to eleven knots per hour. "We have no doubt
of your success," and " Farewell " were signalled
by flags, as an accompaniment to the salute, and
shortly afterwards the Great Eastern was out of
sight. The meeting of the squadron, and their
rapid changes of position, had reminded one of the
preliminaries to a naval engagement. The Ter-
rible, the Medway, the Albany, and the Great
Eastern, as seen from the Racoon's deck, appeared
to alter their relative situations as frequently as if
they had been dealt out like cards. Now the Ter-
rible was nearly out of sight, while the Medway
bore down upon us as if bent on breaking in the
ship's side. Now the Albany receded into the far
distance, and the Terrible drew near ; while all
along the Great Eastern was the pivot upon which
her four companions turned. Not a sail was
visible but those belonging to the ships named, and
the day continued to be wet and miserable up to
the time we bade the cable-laying squadron fare-
well. Then, indeed, we had a transient gleam of
sunshine, which, from the direction of the rays,
was known to be gleaming fully on the Great
Eastern and her work. Although, owing to the fog
and the greater distance kept by the Queen's vessel
than by the steamer belonging to the company, the
Hawk, talking from ship to ship and shouting con-
gratulations was impossible, a powerful telescope
enabled us to recognise most of the familiar figures.
When the Racoon was nearest the great ship, after
the safety splice was announced, both Mr. Canning
and Mr. Clifford were seen among the aft ma-
chinery as well as the two Mr. Temples. Captain
knderson standing on the bridge, with Mr. Cyrus
Field, Mr. Gooch, and Captain Hamilton on the
nearest paddle-box, were easily made out, and
efforts to show recognition by improvised signals
from pocket handkerchief flags were easily made.
Throughout the day the Racoon's signals were
placed in the charge of Captain Bolton, who was
called up at 4 a.m., and who kept on the ship's
bridge whenever communication was required.
The Racoon got back to Valentin before dusk,
and the latest information from Foilhammerum
yesterday evening was, that nearly 80 miles of
cable were paid out, and all going well. Although
the leading incidents connected with the start of
the expedition are over, the little capital of
Valenta Island, Knightstown is fuller than ever.
Two military men from Killarney, finding it im-
possible to procure beds, have camped out on the
adjacent commonjand in spite of the heavy rain and
humid atmosphere, declare that they fare better
than at an' inn. On Thursday, while the process
of splicing was expected to have been going on, a
religious service, under the auspices of Mr. Bewley
and Mr. Bevan, who are large stakeholders in the
enterprise was held. Many eloquent speeches
were made, and fervent prayers offered up for God's
blessing upon one of the mightiest enterprises ever
attempted by man. Visitors from Dublin, which
is two days journey from here, and from more dis-
tant:parts still, flocked into this ordinarily secluded
region in such shoals that many of them preferred
returning to Killarney, a six hours' journey, to
accepting the only accommodation it was possible
to obtain.
The weather has been stormy and boisterous ever
since the Great Eastern left, and the rain is now
pouring down in torrents, while the wind sighs and
soughs past the hills of the mainland and to the sea
with more of sound and fury than is pleasant. But
the telegram giving the distance paid out up to nine
last evening, reported all to be well with the great
ship. The cable was being paid out slowly and
regularly, and though moving slowly to the sea
she was surprisingly steady. Telegrams of the
distance run, and the amount of cable paid out,
will be sent every how in the twenty-four, and will
be supplemented by bulletins of the weather and
position of the ship until she has passed the deepest
part of the Atlantic. The really critical part of the
voyage will, it is estimated, be over in about a
week from now. Until then we must content our-
selves with repeating that every precaution human
wisdom can devise has been taken • that skill,
thought, and capital have been lavished on bring-
ing all machinery connected with the cable or its
laying to the highest attainable perfe • ; and that
every authority connected with the undertaking,
scientific, nautical, and financial, has the fullest
confidencei in success.