The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-03 00:00:00

THE PERILS OF A DIVER.

A. New York paper publishes the following extracts •
from a letter, giving an interesting account of au almost
successful attempt to recover the money lost in the
steamer Atlantic on Lake Erie, about three years ago
—" Pt. Dover, Aug. 26, 1855.—Y0u no doubt havete
heard of the many unsuccessful attempts to obtain h
money chest lost with the steamer Atlantic, three yearse
ago, said to contain 60,000 dollars. The statute, I b -
lieve, limits the claim of ownership over property thus.
lost in three years. In this ease the time limited expired
on the 20th inst., and Green, the celebrated submarine
diver, reached here on the 21sti in the canal schooner
Yorktown, Captain Patterson, on his way to the wreck,
25 miles distant. They returned yesterday ; and bein
obtained
well acquainted with Captain Pattejson
following account from him : AboutbeilnOg or'ecaVdcyk,
Green descended oon theby
means
02f4ath,linael,l
(says Captain y
which, having
a grapple on the end, bad become fast to something
below. He was dressed with three pair of flannel
drawers, three shirts, also flannel ; three pair of woollen
pants, three coats, and three pair of woollen stockinEs,
surmounted by his submarine armour ; on his feet ho
had a pair of stogy shoes, with a lead sole half or five-
eighths of an inch thick, and a belt of SOlb. of shot
around his body, to sink him (and the breastplate of the
armour cannot weigh less than 501b5,) Taking hold of
the line he descended, finding it perfectly light, so that
he could see all around him to the depth of 60 feet, when
it grew dark, and for the remainder of his fearful journey
amid the caverns of the deep he was guided solely by the
line until at the depth of 140 feet, when he struck bot-
tom, or something which he soon made out to be the
wheelhouse of the ill-fated boat ; groping along, be slid
on the hurricane deck, from thence to the guards oft' e
boat ; by poking nrouati he discovered the precise posi-
tion of the boat, and found himself not far from the
sought-for offices, and made fast the end of a line which
he had carried down with him to a stauncheon near the
gAngway, and giving the Ogee' he AO eencicd, carrying

. INEWSPATiat
) with him a piece of the wheelhouse w licit lw recureit:Vta,„ $1;;A .',Z.-, (a piece of whiel•., about 8 inches !cur, 4 inches wide azik74:", i,..,, ,: 1z,..i..!;-.!;
1 i inch thick, was sawed off and presentee. to xua -Lir,..14" ' Ail ~.,,.7
the captain of the Yorkt,:wn). He haelgoite dOrn, N,,,:% ~._.:7-;"':-.4-4.!.7%....,e,igr if,::
.._ I
all, 152 feet, and remained just 40 minute?.: After rest- :;7jr--,:q.krtfm:47 'l-
ing he again descended, first having partaken of allearty ,-- - -
meal without removing his dress,-save- the. head-piece.. -.1. .
His excitement was intense at his success--thns far, and
when he descended the second time he was quite hot (the
day nas intensely hot). Descending by 11 Li second line he
was-soon on the deck; feeling his way along he soon
reached the 4 third' window, which being unbroken be
shattered it, and reaching in his baud at last laid it upon
the muchcaveted safe, just in the position in which it
had been described -to aim. Not being able to reach
far enough to make this lino fast, he again ascended
for a hock to hook : through the handles ; reaching
the deck he made known his success b,nd require:.
ment,. and as no hook was ready, sat down until one
could be secured to a line. As they were about ready
he rolled over, saying he was Flick. They - stripped
him and did all in their power for him, but were
finally oLliged to buoy the lines, and make 011 sail for
Vlis plaec fo.• medical attendance. They reached here at
called, who
and two physicians were immediately
who expressed their opinion that he could not
live; however, they laboured faithfully with him, and
at night pronounced him better and this morning, al-
though not out of danger, it is ;bought he will live, and
is in a very fair way for a speedy recovery.' Ho says if
his life is spared he will be the owner of the chest.. He
will no doubt be more cautious in future how he maker
a dive when ho is warm, and on a full stomach. His
first exclamation on his second ascension was, ' I touched
the gold.' "

MONEY MARKET.

It was mentioned last Thursday that the amount of
gold originally arranged by the Bank of France to be
obtained from this country was 1,600,0001., and that
the greater part was believed to have been already sent,
Later despatches, however, from well-informed quarters
indicate that even this extraordinary statement was far
below the truth. The sum originally obtained. is now
Fail' to lave been between 2,500,0001. aed .1,000,000/.,
and subsequently an additional total of 1,000,0001. has
been purchased, the remittance of which is completed,
or ncarly so. Should this prove correct, it will suffi-
ciently account for the movements lately witnessed in
the money-market, and which have excited perplexity
in the mind of every one acquainted with the natural
course of the trading relations of the country. Toe eit-
tire transaction is said to have been going on for more
than six weeks, during which the rate of exchange has
reached a point which with a slight further alteration
would cause gold to flow from Paris to this side. That.
410,9,paratio— o,4as befnquirely artigcini is evidenced by
'ft*TaZt that; if`this country had been indebted to
France to the extent in question, the gold would have
pone hence as a matter of couroe, and the Bank of.
France need not have troubled themselves to offer A
price for it beyond its natural value. In whatever way
the payment fur the supply may thus far have been
effected, it must coneequtntly have been in great,
part of an ()pally artificial character. The money
houses of Paris usually keep considerable quantities
of Bank of England notes and short bills on Lon-
don in their portfolios, but, even if the market has tem:
perarily been cleared of these for the purpose, the ex-
, planation would seem very inadequate for an amount of
such magnitude. Indeed the merchants and bankers of
Paris seem to be contemplating a reaction as inevitable,
and rumour; have been circulated in the Presse and
other newspapers of metho is which are to be devised to
meet it. Atuong other things a decree has been talked
of to render it not compulsory for the Bank of France
to pay in gold, hut they are not at present under such
compulsion. They are at liberty to pay in silver, if
they prefer to return to that course, and, as gold has now
risen to a premium at Paris, they would probably do so
but fcr the insv,equacy of their stock of that metal.
Moreover, if they contemplated refusing gold, or even
suspending specie payments altogether, it is little likely
that they would use great and exceptional efforts to
obtain gold, since the very object of the measure would
he to dispense with the neie3sity for it. An increase of
the capital of the Bank to double its present amount is
another of the plans suggested, but it is impossible to
say with what authority. The prevalence of these re-
ports, at all events, denotes that the position of the
institution is not considered to be such as could occur
in the ordinary course of sound management, and as
some of them arc of a character that might lead to great
mischief, by occasioning a rush for coin, it is to be
hoped they will soon be dissipated, and that the first
step towards this consummation will consist in the ex-
pected advance of the rate of discount to 5 per cent. on
Thursday next. •

Messrs. Tripp and Co., in their monthly circu-
lar on the money market, say:—
"The fall of Sebastopol, the continuous exportation of
gold, the increased demand for money, and the raising of
the rates of interest by the Bank, first to 4 per cent.,
then to 41, and lastly to 5 per cent., are events of them-
selves sufficient to account for the more than usual per-
turbations which characterise the transactions of the
stock and share and money markets of the past month.
The raising of the rates of interest is justified by the
fact, that singe July the bullion in the Bank has de-
creased 5,000,0001., and ''the bills under discount have
increased at the same ratio. But because the rate of in-
terest now charged by the Bank is 5 per cent., or that
the bullion has decreased 5,000,0001., are either, or to-
gether, sufficient to cause the marked decline of price
within the last few days in Consols and the other
.o-
vernment Securities, we do not for one moment adiffit.
When the rate of interest was previously at 5 per cent.,
Consols were and at the corresponding period last
year, what the bullien,ts sittwn in the Bank returns,
105,5201. less than now, Consols were 951. In compar-
ing the prices of this year with those of last, practical
men know that last year the market was oversold fully
0,000,0001., whereas this year there has been a steady
supply of Consols of 1,00,0001. per month, commenc-
ing with May; and as this supply does not end until
18th December next, but has latterly been increased by
the guaranteed Turkish Loan at the rate of 1,000,000/.
per month, there is not a question that the supply of
stock is now much greater than the demand, and as last
year prices were artificially high, from the oversold state
of the market, they are now suffering depression front
an over-abundant k,upply. In 1847, when the loan of
8,009,000/. was contracted at 89. ; on Oct. 15, the day
of payment of the last instalment, Consols were oily
81, and on October 19, had fallen to 79, but these
prices were the result, not only of a supply of stock,
but of a panic-stricken money market ; the gold and
bullion in the Bank were only 7,000,0001., the notes
and coin in reserve were less than 3 millions, and
the bills under discount exceeded 21,000,0001. There-
fore, we contend there is nothing in the present Bank
returns which should excite more than ordinary pru-
dence, though the continuous supply of stock up to De-
cember next will doubtless depress prices. The great
discrepancy between the prices of Consols and the
Turkish 4 per Cents., guaranteed by England and.
France, and the dividends payable at the Bank of Eng-
land, requires notice. If Turkish 4 per Cent. Stock is
at 101, Consols should be 754 ; or, conversely, if Consols
are 88, Turkish 4 per Cents. should be 1171. 6s. Bd.
Allowing 5 per cent. in favour of Consols, inconsequence
of the more popular character of the security, still the
discrepancy can only be explained by the fact, that capi-
talists have no spare capital to purchase Turks, and that
the present holders are too weak to support their mar-
ket—another illustration of the effect on prices which
an excessive supply of stock produces. The exchange
of Consols into Turkish 4 per Cents. at present prices
would, under any circumstance, be attended with profit.
Turkish 6 per Cents. guarartteed by the Egyptian
tribute, after reaching 95,1, fell rapidly to 81, in conse-
quence of large amounts of stock suddenly thrown on
themarket by parties unable to hold. This stock, to be
in proportion with Peruvian 4i per Cents. at 76, should
be 101. Railways, considering the general unsatisfac-
tory last half-yearly accounts, have only declined in pro-
portion to their deserts. Good dividend mines, and two
or three of the favourite progressing mines, have been in
rapidly
demand and have improved in price. Joint stock ckba
are in less request. Canada Land Shares rose
to 1801., but have since receded to 1501. to 185/.

'Pea

THE CZAR PETER'S WAY OF NEGN
TIATING PEACE.

( Front Bancks' "Life of .Peter, Czar of Muscovy:.
Printed in 1740.)
When M. Osterman returned to Aland, in the month
it was less..to_n:gtVatetlian to menace the
sefvyleidpell,for his Czarist. Di- .1 uy having capturect lugs,
&c.) ha'd ordered him to declare, that unless they ac-
cepted in two months' time of the conditions proposed
they must expect a visit from 40,000 plenipotentiaries.
who would force them to it with sword in haul. . . (He
mace a, descent on Sweden.) The account published
at Petersburg, by order of the Czar, "to eternise" the
memory of the work of these plenipotentiaries, is as
follows :—Admiral Apraxin, for his part, had burned or
destroyed 6 good. towns, 11 castles or palaces of brick,
109 of wood, belonging to noblemen, 826 villages and
hamlets, 3 mills, 10 magazines, 2 mines of copper, and
5 mines of iron. Major-General Lesly, on his part,
had reduced to ashes 2 towns, 21 castles or noblemen's
houses, 535 villages and hamlets, 40 mills, 16 magazines,
and 9 mines of iron (for one of which the Swedea hail
offered 300,000 rix dollar to save it from ruin). They
destroyed also the corn and forage, and killed all the
cattle and horses that they could not carry off with them.
They put on board their vessels all the iron they were
able, and the rest, to the number of 80,000 bars, they
threw into the sea.

The design of the Czar, in all those burnings and de-
vastations, was (-ays his eulogist) to bring the Court of
Sweden to accept of such conditions as he was williniz
to impose upon it. To which purpose, he sent Couu-
sellor Osterman thither, charged with a commission to
make the hardest propositions. And he, pgreeably to
the Aland project of peace, demanded nothingless than
the absolute cession of Esthonia, legria, and Careija,
comprising the towns of Bawl. wybourg, Narva, and
liecksho!in, and the cession for forty years of Livonia.
diabolicalPeretdtohinegGresoaf that crafty
t, soon compelled
bar-
barian,Thcsecoamodmootnher called
ly
the Crown of Sweden to submit to be robbed of a large
part of its dominions, so that ho soon came into posses-
sion of extensive shores on the eastern side of tho Baltic -
andof w he er
forsp iseehdily took advantage of it to build many ships
future conquests.

^7, a::1

FORGERIEF.—Letters from Ticino complain of the
prevalence of forgery in that canton. The religious
world is distressed by the audacity which has math :t
the victim of a false papal bull. Members of the corn.
mercial community think that this is a matter not worth
a moment's regret, but complain bitterly that forged
Austrian bank notes have been circulated to a Tory large
atucuut Aracmg gaol. -