The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-30 00:00:00

---LIVERPOOL, MONDAY.

THE NEW POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH
AUSTRALIA,

Our Australian colonieq have great and just ground of
complaint as to the insufficiency of the postage arrange-
ments. By the last mails it appears that the colnny had
been without any news of the mother country 107 days.
a fact, considering the facilities of steam and the speed
of our English and American clipper vessels, can scarcely
be credited. Fnr the la,t five or sift years the subJect

nas peen constantly pressed upon the Governtnent, but
unt it wit hin t he last few days without any practical result;
and even now there is but too much re ison to believe that
our Australian brethren will haVe yet to, remain as they
are for some considerable tithe longer: It will be remem-
bered; previous to the war a contract was entered into
with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Packet Company,
by which the company contracted, in conjunction with
their steam communication with India, to establish a bi-
monthly mail to Australia by the Po;nt de "Galle, and
round Cape Lluis to Melbourne. This was carried on for
some time, and gave general satisfaction to the colonists.
although they wished that the mails were more frequent
As it was, howeier, Melbourne and
brought within fifty days of each other

London were
But this

ment from the comp ,ny were found to be lon low to be
remunerative, in addition to the increase in the value of
freight for coals, and the price of coals was also greatly
enhanced. .rurther than this, the government required so
many of the company s ships for the transport service,
that the com, ny was compelled to throw up V--"

.at toe pal., a, .Jiliproeu con•
tract, and to pay the penalty which the government
enforced. A contract was then entered into with Baines
and Co., Liverpool line of clipper ships, which have per-
formed the voyage in from 60 to 70 days, but sailing
vessels are liable to the vicissitudes of the elements, and
it appears by the last accounts that the colonists were
more than a hundred days without their usual news and
letters, a delay which, it' of frequent occurrence, would be
almost destructive of the commerce between the colony
and the mother country. At length, the government deter-
mined upon adopting the route permanently by the way of
Suez and Red Sea, the Point de Galle, and Cape Louis.
They issued advertisements for tenders) and had four sent
in. of Which two were from coinpanies who had no ships,
and who required eighteen months to provide them. The
Peninsular and Oriental Company also tendered, but they
were rejected because they required three or four months'
delay until their ships were released from the transport
service, and would not lend themselves to the stipulation
which the Government required, and which the experience
of the last contract taught them they could not keep. The
tender that has been accepted is that of a new Scotch
firm, Messrs. Anderson and Company, who bind them-
selves to despatch the first ship direct by the Cape to
Melnourne, from Southampton, in Aurust, and to opetl up
the regular mails in January, 1857. The time allowed per
voyage, is from Southampton fifty-three days, and they
guarantee to take the mail direct from Sonthanipton,
instead of from Suet, as was originally proposed by the
Government. The amount of their tender was £45,000
more than that of the Peninsul,r and Oriental Company.
The decision of the Government in favour of the new
company, as against the old, has been severely criticised
in the City. Merchants who have long carried their goods
by the old company have the most perfect confidence in
its soundness and capabilities. It has the finest fleet of
ships in the world, and in the best possible condition.
The delay asked by them of the Government was regarded
as but reasonable; the Government, for its own purposes,
had crippled their hands by taking their ships for the
transport service, and therefore it does appear hard that
they should be made to suffer for that which is the fault
of the Government and not their own. ft is further
alleged that the new company cannot possibly be in work-
ing order until January, if then, for they have ships to
build or to purchase; that the Peninsular and Oriental
Company would have been prepared by that time also;
and, therefore, that the rejection of their tender on this
ground was an act of injustice, especially as theirs was
£45,000 lower than that of the Scotch company. How-
ever, be that as it may, the question is nova settled for five
years at least, the period, of the contract. The vessels
are not to be of less than 2,200 tons burthen, and the
penalty per diem for delay is to be accumulative, that is
£5O per day for each day beyond the fifty-three days
allowed for the voyage from port to port. The service is
to be monthly. The bxpense is borne both by the Home
Government and the colony, the latter paying rather
more than one-third.

Although the terms of the contract may not be altogether
satisfactory, still the fact of there being a prospect of a
regular mail between Australia and this country has
afforded much grattfication to those merchants who have
had their operations almost paralysed from want of an
accurate knowledge of what was going on in the colony.
For instance, last advices brought inteligence of a fall in
the price of provisions and necessaries, equal to quite 50
per cent. Not, however, knowing this, valuable cargoes
have been despatched, which will probably only serve to
produce a glut on the market. By the rapidity of com-
munication we can now successfully compete with
America, who, from her great proximity, were rapidly
taking the lead in the commerce of the country. And
further than this, constant and rapid communication will
tend to keep alive the love to the mother country, which
some time since, owing to the admixture of so many
different nations, was considerably declining. This steam
line will will also be gi nerally made use of for the trans-
port of the gold, which is now being produced in larger
quantities than :ever, especially since the application of
steam power to quartz crushing has come into general
use. Supposing, then, the Government have made a wise
choice in the selection of the tender, the additional
•45,000 will not be too much for the increased advantages
of more rapid communication.—Observer.

FEARFUL CASE OF STABBING,

On Saturday night, another instance of the fearful use
of the knife was added to the many with which the crimi=
nal records of our town have already been sufficiently
disgraced. The wounded man and his assailant are both
slilors, had been shipmates, and lodged together
apparently on the most friendly, almost brotherly, terms
at the Pilot boat Tavern, in Denison-street. From the

inquiries made bY our Itepotler, we are enabled to state
that the two men, whose names are, Henry Hanks and
Charles Adams; had been out drinking together an Satur-
dal afternoon; and that Hanks returned to his lodgings

alone. After he had sat about an hour his shipmate,
Adams, came in brandishing a large sheath knife. His
face was bleeding, and he had all the appearance
suffered in a melee. He said to

of having

flanks, " See, what I have got on your account,"
p ointing, at the same time, to the injuries he had received.
Rinks enquired quietly who had done it, when Adams
instantly rushed upon him and stabbed him in the breast.

The poor fellow immediately fell, bleeding profusely.
Toe alarm having been givel, Birch, an active member of
the fire police, stationed at the Prince's dock, was quickly
in attendance, and the assassin was secured and conveyed
to the mai❑ bride Well. The wounded man was removed
to the Northern Hospital, and promptly attended by Mr.

Wall, the house surgeon. On exarnmation, the wound
was found to be of a most serious character, in the
immediate region of the heart. Had it been of a trans-
verse instead of an upright nature, death must have
ensued on the instant. Yesterday morning, Mr. Wall consi-
dered his unfortunate patient to be in so critical a_position
that he deemed it necessary to communicate with the po.
lice, with a view to the depositions of Hanks being formally
taken. Accordingly, the authorities attended at the hos-
pital for that purpose, but, on their arrived, the sufferer
was asleep, and the medical attendants would not permit
him to he disturbed. Consequently, no information has,
as yet, been obtained from him, and the origin of the dis-
pute remains unexplained. Last night the poor fellow
was somewhat better, but the hope of his rallying, are
still of the faintest description. To-day the prisoner
Adams will be brought up for examination before the
magistrate, when, doubless, some further light will be
thrown on the sad transaction.

ATTEMPTED MURDER IN LIVERPOOL.—OR Saturday
afternoon,
shortly after five o'clock, considarable con-
sternation arose in ',h.: Lion-road, from a report that a
sailor had just attempted to Ziurder a comrade, in
Burgess-street, a thoroughfare leading ff pm London-road
pf
into Pinch-street. An immense crowd of rsons had
collected, who followed the police officer on the 1347.'t to
the residence of the injured man, whose name is Michell,
about years old. It appears that Michell, along with
other young men, had been engaged in breaking up some
iron plate, just in front of his dwelling. While thus
occupied, other persons Carne up, including the young
man who subsequently made the attempt. Not succeed-
ing in smashing the iron quickly, the young man twitted
Michell upon his lack of skill and strength ; a good deal
of bantering ensued, and ultimately the parties agreed to
fight. After a blow or two had been exchanged, Michell
was knocked down, and at, once exclaimed, " I'm stabbed."
On raising him, blood issued from his left breast, where
there was a deep wound evidently inflicted by a sharp
instrument, supposed to be a knife ; and had it not for-
tunately struck one of the ram, there is reason to beliiwe
that fatal results would have been the consequence. The
name of the man who used the knife is not known, and he
managed to escape; but a description of his person,
dress, &c., has been given to the police, and no doubt he
will be apprehended.

THE CAMP AT ALDERSHOTT.-ARRIVAL
OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS.

Throughout the week a very general impression pre-
vailed that it was the intention of her Majesty and her
illustrious visitors to witness a grand review of the troops
at Aldershott on Saturday. Accordingly, on Saturday
morning there was an unusual rush upon the trains to
Farnborough, Many were the disappointments caused
by the annoucment at the railway that her Majesty was
not going down at alli and that, as far as could be ascer-
tained, there was to be no field day, or unusual demon-
stration of any sort.

Those who-went down to Aldershott, though deprived
of a grand review, came not away without being present
at a sight of sufficent interest to far more than repay them
for their journey from London—we mean the arrival of
the Coldstream Guards at the camp, after an absence of
two years and four months from the land of their birth.
The villagers were dispersed in numerous groups all along
the dusty road which led from Farnborough station to the
camp. Nor was the manifestation of welcome confined to
the working rural population ; on the contrary, there was
a large attendance of the ladies and gentlemen of the
country, who had driven over to receive, with their
presence and congratulations, those troops whose
great sufferings and greater achievements are now
matters of historical renown. The men of the
Brig ish Foreign Legion, the German Legion, the
Rifle Brigade, Dragoon;, Artillery, and Militia were
assembled in, large numbers near the toll-gate leading to
the North Camp, to see the Guards pass, and indeed, all
along the route. The band of the Rifles awaited the
arrival of the Guards at the station, and beyond these
there were not a dozen at that place. The regiment
arrived in a special train at a few minutes after twelve.
As it slowly halted at the station, the Rifles struck up
" Home, sweet Home." There was a little hurry and
contusion for a moment as the various privates struggled
in the recesses of lurcage vans with impracticable
parcels; but such rectangular obstacles overcome, the
men soon turned out, and formed in the space outside the
station in a very short time. While waiting here,
we inspected the men closely, and, speaking of
them as a body, we may say that we never saw
any corps—even the celebrated Coldstreams who left
here in 1854, and who were different men to those
who yesterday returned to Aldershott—in which all the
men looked more robust, healthy, or in harder working
order. But it would be vain to pretend that these are the
men who left London on the dawn of a March morning,
1854—the Coldstreams who " paraded" on the heights of
Alma—the Coldstreams who were almost annihilated at
Inkerman, who suffered the dreadful winter on the
heights, and who, when they marched down to Balaklava
at the end of February, 1'455, were only 56 strong to
follow the drums. The Coldstreams left England 850
strong. They suffered much at Varna from cholera, where,
with the Grenadiers and Fusileers, they received a dr 4ught
of 150 men each. At Alma their loss was comparatively
slight—at Inkerman the regiment was almost destroyed,
and, as a regiment, completely so in the winter which
followed that victory. Soon after the winter the Cold-
streams were reinforced with 400 men, and again with
300. The battalion now returns (including officers)
1,100 strong, out of which number there are only 112—
officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates—who
left England when the war broke out, and who have
witnessed the whole campaign. When the Coldstreams
quitted the Crimea the heights vt ere remarkably healthy,
so that only sixteen sick out of the whole battalion were
left behind, and none of these were serious cases. Before
the regiment quitted the scene of'" its fame and its glory,"
on the heights, a last tribute of affection and respect was
raid to the remains of those officers who fell at Inkerman.
On the cold sunny day in the Crimea that followed the
victory of the sth of November. two square pits or deep
graves were dug in the rearof the Guard's camp—between
it and the Windmill. Towards evening, the corpses of
fourteen Guards' officers, wrapped in their watchcoats
and blankets, were laid to rot in those pits. At the same
time the bodies of Cathcart, Strangways, Seymour, and
many another gallant soldier, were laid under the turf on
the bleak high mound which overlooked the besieged
town. This mound has since been transformed into a ceme-
tery, replete with monuments, or the yet simpler tokens of
affectionate admiration for the brave who have passed away.
Before the Guards left the Crimea, all the bodies of their
officers were removed to this cemetery, which contains
the ashes of as'rnany heroes as Westminster or S*.
They were exhumed for this purpose, and placed in shells.
It seems most singular, but it is strictly true, that when
the bodies were taken up, after remaining a year in the
ground, they were but little changed. The uniform of
those buried in regimentals were tarnished, and very
mouldy, but this was all, except, of course, that the hair
and beards had grown very long. With those buried in
their blankets, their beards had gone quite through the
woolen coverings which formed their simple shronds. It
is strange that the teeth and hair. the first to decay in
life, should in the grave so long survive the dissolution
of the being from whom they sprung.
The Guards had a remarably fine passage home, and as
we have said, the men are in splendid condition. The
privates wore their new uniform, but many of the officers
had on their old tail coats and epaulettes in which they
quitted E gland. The men's things seism to have been well
taken care of. All were in heavy marching order—heavier
indeed than they ever marched in since quitting their
native land. Some had Turkish dogs or Russian—many
had little Turkish pipes, and some goats from the city of
the Sultan tollowed with the baggage. Our metropolitan
sight-seers will, we imagine, be much surprised to see
many of the men without medals, and still more with only
one clasp. In fact, with the exception of the 112 we have
mentioned, none have been present at the whole campaign.
The veterans can be distinguished at a glance by their
flowing beards and thick moustachios. The rest of the
battalion, with very few exceptions, is composed of mere
growing lads, rather sunburnt, but still most juvenile in
appearance and in gait. As the battalion marched through
the camp, all the troops turned out to watch and cheer
them. The band of the Rifles marched at the head of the
battalion, playing 't Home, sweet home," the whole way.
The Greoadier Guards and Fusiliers, which, it is said,
have arrived at Spithead, are expected in camp by Mon-
day. it is also rumoured that the Queen will visit
Aldershott on Tuesday. The three Battalion of Guards
will make their triumphant entrance into London most
probably on Wednesday or Thursday next. Her
Majesty's choice of the day will only be signified to the
railway authorities the day before, as all the details for
bringing the men to the Nine Elms station have already
been made. They are to arrive at Nine Elms at ten in
the morning, and proceed to Hyde Park, passing en route
through the enclosure in front of Buckingham Palace.
Her Majesty will follow tit,- troops to Hyde Park, and
officially inspect them, after which the three battalions
will return to Nine Elms at three, and from thence pro-
ceed back by train to Aldershott. Tee police arrange-
ments as to the routes by which the troops will go to
and leave the park, have not yet, we believe, been
arranged.
_

It is expected that the three battalions (upwards of
3,000) from the Crimea will make their entry into London
on Wednesday or Thursday.