The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-02 00:00:00

THE Cl\ TIE WAR IN AMERICA,

(Iron?. the Times. Correspondent.)

CLIFTON-ICc,usE, NIAGARA FALLS, Aug. 18.
The friendly intercourse between the Southern
emissaries and 2 gents and the leading Democratic
politicians of thu North and North. West continues
as active a s ever. Separated for so long a period
from each other by the terrible exigencies of war,
and connected as many of them are by ties of mar.
riage and consanguinity, as well as by those of social
and political companionship, it is not surprising
that they should take advantage of the agreeable pro-
pinquity of Canada to meet together for friendly dis•
cussion on the woes of their once common country,
and the possibilities of piece, if not of reconciliation.
The effect has been to concentrate all men's atten-
tion upon the approaching Convention at Chicago,
and to throw back into the far domain of history the
platform of the Convention of Cleveland which no-
minated General Fremont, and that of the Conven.
tion of Baltimore which nominated Mr Lincoln.
The nominee of Chicago—provided, as Ihave already
stated, the subsequent election be fairly and legally
conducted, without tampering with the ballotboxes
or dictation on the part of the military—will be
the new President of the United States. All pre.
vions " platforms "are but so much waste paper, and
the platform of Chicago, embodying two great and
essential principles—the first an, armistice, and the
second a convention of the States, will be the living
reality, the acceptance of which oil the part of the
statesmen who will secure the support of Chicago ,
will render useless the opposition of Gen. Fremont,
Mr. Lincoln, or any other candidate whatsoever
who shall take his stand on the platform of the
rigorous
prosecution of the war, and the uncondi-
tional surrender of the Southern people,
It is not to be imagined that the war party, whe-
ther composed of War Democrats or of such mem-
bers of the Republican party as have lost in Mr
_Lincoln's ability to bring the war to a successful or
even an honourable issue, accept the idea that the
in dependence of the South will follow as a neces.
stay consequence of an armistice. Oa the contrary
ey cherish the idea of reunion. They will nut
abandon the darling hope that North and South, in
spi to of the bitter memories of the war, will again
shake hands in fraternal loving-kindness, and con.
sent to be one people. They have a blind confidence
that the estrangement of the two is but temporary,
and the innate affection perpetual. They are as
thorough believers in Destiny as the first Napoleon,
a ad that Destiny they insist in the teeth of all ad-
ere rse argument is that there shall be but one great
nee ion on the North American continent, and that
it sleali not only comprise the now belligerent and
estrooged sections of the Federation and the Confe
deracy, but at a later, and possibly not distant, day,
both lle.r.exioo and British America. The peace party,
property so called, has no such ideas, but, as was
shown by the proceedings, at the preliminary Con-
vention of Syracuse, held to-day, and of which the
telegraphic reports are before me, will not interrupt
the harmony of the great Convention at Chicago
by insisting upon abstract principles which the
bulk of their coadjutors are not yet prepared to
recognise. The War Democrats believe that union
will be the result of an armistice ; while the Peace
Democrats believe that the sword once sheathed
will not again be drawn, and that the Northern
people, when they have talked over the matter with
their Southern brethren in peaceable convention
es., ill accept Southern Independence—as George 111.
ace eptedthe independence of the thirteen colonies—
reluctantly, and with a sorrowful heart it may be,
but with the conviction that separation, however
painful, will be the best for both parties ; that if
they cannot be one flesh and blood, like man and
wife, they can be good friends and neighbours and
profitable customers; and that, more than these,
they may enter into such a political alliance as will
secure them far greater influence in the councils of
civilisation than they ever possessed since their dis-
ruption was first predicted as inevitable.
The simple truth of the matter is that an armistice
suits all parties except the men who expect to obtain
contracts from the Government for supplying the
army and navy. It even suits some of these, who
Esee looming up on the verge of the horizon the pros-
ap-'ct of a war with Franca or Great Britain, for the
poesession of Mexico or Canada, as the sure result of
peace between the North and South. It snits the
Lincoln Administration, which is in sore distress for
money as well as for men, which cannot print off
many more hundreds of millions of greenbacks for
fear of sending up the premium on gold to 500 per
cent., and which cannot enforce a conscription for
fear of exciting armed revolt or revolution in the
streets of the great cities. It suits the men of busi-
.nees, whose affairs are getting into what is called a
4-‘ snarl," or entanglement, in consequence of the de-
preciation of the currency, and the great and daily
fluctuating uncertainties attendant upon all domes-
tic as wall as foreign commerce. It suits the pro.
fossional classes, who see their liabilities increase,
while their earnings diminish. It suits the la.
baurers, who see in it a decline of the prices of the
necessaries of life, as well as the abandonment of the
hated conscription. It suits the Democratic party,
because it gives them a chance of power. It suits the
Republican party, because it extricates them from a
difficulty which is otherwise insurmountable—viz.,
the prosecution of the war without sufficient money
or men. It also suits the army, which has lost
confidence in its Generals, and which, moreover,
would be glad of the opportunity to return home on
furlough. It is the first time since the commence-
ment of the war that any considerable body of the
people have been so reasonable and dispassionate,
and although the results expected are as different
as the interests and idioeyncracies of sects, parties,
intrigaes, and doctrines can foreshadow or hope, the
great current of politics runs bat in one direction—
towards a compromise to be effected by negotiation
rather than the sword.

As regards the candidates, Gen. Fremont is, in the
current slang, nowhere ; Mr Dean Richmond makes
no sign ; and if Gen. M'Clellan should accept the
Chicago platform, and be nominated by the conven-
tion on the 29th, the contest will lie between him
and Mr Lincoln. Already the indications are patent
that Mr Lincoln will endeavour to distance him in
the race, or throw him out of the course altogether,
by declaring himself in favour of the armistice and
convention to be proposed at Chicago. His letter
to all whom it may concern is no logical impedi-
ment in his way. He may urge that, as an indivi-
dual, ho could only treat with Southern emissaries
or plenipotentiaries in the way therein described ;
but that if the question is to be taken out of his
hands, and debated by a general convention of the
people, as the constitution provides and describes,
he cannot consistently with duty object to each a
deliberation, or to the preliminary armistice, which
would be absolutely necessary before such a con-
vention could be summoned. Thus the question
stands at present, Mr Lincoln being in posses-
sion has much of the solution in his own hands.
If he really desire re-election, and fear to attempt
a coup-detat and a military revolution, he has a
better chance of effecting his purpose by accept-
ing the proposal of an armistice than by opposing
it. The War Democrats foresee the possibility
of such a movement, and are coneequently more
bitter and personal in their denunciations of
his imbecility, corruption, and usurpation of uncon-
stitutional powers than they have been at any pre-
vious period of his contradictory and inglorious
career. Tne friends of Gen. M•Clellan are particu-
larly rabid, from which it may be inferred that
they have more dread of Mr Lineoln's opposition to
their favourite then they have of that of any other
candidate, present or prospective. It sheuld be
added that the friends of the South are as hostle to
Gen. M'Clellan as the friends of Gen, M'Clellan are
to Mr Lincoln, and that, all things considered, the
South would prefer the arrnis'ice and the convention
under MrLincoln'e auspices than under thhie of any
other President as yet known to have a chance of
election. The names of the ex-Presidents Franklin
Pierce and Millard Filmore are no longer mentioned
in connection with tie [lace. The two Seymours,
the timid one, who is now Governor of New York,
and the bold one, who was formerly Governor of
Connecticut, seem to have dropped wholly out of
the list of available candidates. GeneralGraet has
scarcely a political friend left, and has ceased to be
a " Napoleon," a " Tltan in a blue cam," a e hero ,e
or anything but a failure as great as any whom the
war has produced,

Naval ani

!lligence.

The 3d battalion of the Grenadier Gnarls, under
the command of Col. his Serene Highness Prince
Edward of SaxesWeimar, arrived yesterday after.
noon at the Chelsea Barracks, from month's duty
under canvass. The battalion returned from the
camp by road, bivouacking at Bagshot-heath on
Tuesday night, and on Wednesday night at Holmes
low-heath.
Yesterday Col. H. D. Harness, C. 8., director of
the Royal Engineer establishment, Chatham, coma
menced his half-yearly inspection of the companies
at headquarters and the detachments for colonial
service and surveying duties at Brompton barracks.
In addition to the companies of Royal Engineers
now doing garrison duty, the officers, non-commis-
sioned officers, and sappers composing the detach-
ments for New Zealand, to augment the 6th com-
pany, together with the detachments for St. Helena
and for the companies employed on surveying
duties,were also inspected by Col. Harness, who at
the close of the parade examined the books and
other official documents belonging to each corps and
detachment. The reinforcements of the Royal En-
gineers under orders for embarkation will embark
on the Bth inst., in her Majesty's iron screw ship
Orontes, Capt. 11. W. Hire.
The reinforcements for the Ist battalion of the
12th Regiment and the 43d Light Infantry for the
depot companies of those corps at Chatham garri-
son, together with the detachments for the 2d bats
talion of the 14th Regiment, 2d battalion of the 18th
Royal Irish, 40th Regiment, 50th (Queen's Own),
57th Regiment, 65th Regiment, and 68th Light In-
fantry, have received orders from the Horse Guards
to be held in readiness to embark for New Zealand
in the course of the present month, the Black Ball
clipper ship Light Brigade, 2,500 tons, which has
been chartered by the Government to convey the
reinforcements to New Zealand, being under orders
to embark her troops at Gravesend on the 20th inst.
The trials which have taken place at the Royal
Engineer establishment, Chatham, under the direc-
tion of the committee of officers appointed by the
War-office, for the purpose of testing the merits of
the Belgian and Austrian pontoons, have been
brought to a termination, and have resulted in a
highly favourable report being made on the descrip.
tion of pontoons received from Belgium, which are
considered decidedly superior to those in use in the
Austrian service. An order has since been received
at Chatham for the Austrian pontoons to be re-
turned into store at once.
The Ist company of Royal Engineers has received
orders to undergo a course of fieldwork instruction
and sapping and mining at head quarters, Chatham,
previously to embarking for colonial service. The
Ist company, now stationed at Devonpurt, will be
relieved by the Bth company of Royal Engineers,
now on passage home from China, and shortly ex-
pected to arrive at the Royal Engineer establish.
ment, Chatham.
The troops brought home from Bombay and
Kurrachee in the Salamanca and Louisa, hired
sailing transports, as reported in 711 e Sun of yes-
terday, were disembarked yesterday morning from
those ships at Spithead, under the supervision of
Col. Shadwell, Assist.sQuartermaster-Gen., and
were forwarded to their destinations, the invalids
to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley,
and the time-expired men to their regimental
depots. The ship sailed for the Thames about noon.
The white or St. George's ensign was yesterday
hoisted by her Majesty's ships at Portsmouth, as
the ensign for the future for the Royal Navy. Rear-
Admiral of the Red George Elliot, superintendent
of Portsmouth dockyard, and Acting Commander-
in-Chief Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, at the
Channel Islands, changed their flag from
red at the St. George's Cross, which will
in future be the only flag flown by an
admiral, according to his rank of admiral, vice or
rear, at main, fore, or mizen. The blue ensign is
now given by the Admiralty to ships manned and
officered, or partially so, by the Royal Naval Re-
serve. The red ensign remains the flag of the ordi-
nary mercantile service.
Her Majesty's iron screw steamship Warrior, 40,
Captain the Hon. Arthur A. Cochrane, from Tor-
bay, arrived in Plymouth Sound early yesterday
morning. She afterwards tack in coal, and, being
detached from the Channel Squadron, was appointed
to sail at noon for Gibraltar, where it is probable
she will continue for the remainder of her time. She
was commissioned in August, 1861.
On Saturday last the Royal Sovereign turret ?dip,
Captain Sherard Osborn, C. 8., started from Ports-
mouth for Portland on her first cruise since her con-
version to a turret ship. The dockyard mechanics
were at work on board the ship in Portsmouth
harbour at 1 p.m., but at 6 p.m. the ship was rid of
them and steaming out of the harbour. That night
she anchored in the Solent. Oa Sunday morning
the anchor was weighed, and with three boilers out
of her six, working at the lowest grade of expansion,
the ship steamed through the Needles against a
fresh breezeonaking 5.4 knots. The same day she
anchored in Portland Roads, and remained at anchor
until Tuesday morning, the interval being occupied
in clearing up ship and setting matters straight.
On Tuesday morning steam was got up in two
boilers, the anchor weighed, and the Royal Sove-
reign steamed about the bay between Portland
Roads and Weymouth, her crew being exercised in
bringing the ship to anchor and weighing again
under different circumstances. During Tuesday
night it blew very heavy from about S.W., and
continued to do so throughout the following day.
'On Wednesday morning steam was got up in four
boilers, two-thirds power„and the ship was taken
outside, and off the Race made a good eight knots
against a strong wind and a heavy head sea. Capt.
Osborn then took the ship into the Race, and when
fairly in the midst of the roughest water nut her
broadside to it and let her roll and tumble about as
she pleased in order to test her turrets in as cone
elusive a manner as possible. The ♦essel rolled
quickly 11 deg. to leeward, and 10 deg. to wind.
ward, and under these circumstances the turrets and
guns were manned, and the former revolved and the
latter run in and out as would have been the case
in action with an enemy in the same position and
under the same conditions. It was found that the

I turrets were perfectly manageable, and the guns
could-be handled with the same ease as in smooth
water, excepting, of course, that a little more care
was required from the men in working them. The
ship being still kept in her rolling position the guns
in the turrets were next trained nearly fore and
aft, the winch handles let go and breaks slacked up,
and turrets and guns left to themselves, the ship
rolling in an arc of 21 degrees. As, however, every-
thing remained immovable, and it was found the
men could take hold of the winch handles and set
the turret revolving, or leave them as they pleased,
without leaving any check upon the turret's move-
men t,this wasdeemed both by Captain Osborn and
Captain Coles quite sufficiently conclusive of the
turrets' steadiness and working under as almost un-
favourable conditions as could be met with, except
in a gale of wind. The guns were secured, and the
Sovereign returned to her anchorage in Portland
Roads, where, as she lies at anchor, she has the look
of a monster gunboat, and as a gunboat simply has
she been handled by Captain Osborn since leaving
Portsmouth harbour. In steaming through the Solent on Saturday the Royal Sovereign's steering
gear from the pilot-house forward answered admi-
rably, and the vessel answered every movement of
her rudder as quickly as a wherry could have done.
The Higbflyer, 21, screw corvette, steamed out of
Portsmouth harbour yesterday, and made a pre-
liminary trial of her machinery, which proved quite
satisfactory, preparatory to commission, The High-
flyer has recently undergone a thorough repair to
hull and machinery.

The screw corvette Cadmus, 21, 400 horse power,
in dry deck at Chatham, preparing for the pennant,
has the wholo of her wire standing rigging set up,
and a considerab!e portion of her topmast rigging
in place, She is to be expedited in her fitmeuts, as
she is required for immediate commission, and
additional hands have been placed on her. Since
she has been in dock she has undergone very exten-
sive repair to both hull and machinery, and she is
now in alm,:st as sound a state as when launched.
She has been furnished with a new Griffith's pro-
peller in lieu of the Admiralty screw.
The deaths of
the following chriz:,:r.; have
.beet,

• officially reported at the War-office since the Ist of
August :—Gen. Sir J. H. Reynett, K.C.8., K.C.H.,
colonel of the 48th Regiment; Lieut.-Gen.Sir J. R.
Eustaee, K.H. ; Major-Gen. D. Grant, Royal Artil-
lery ; Cols. J. Heatley, 69th Regiment ; and T.
Prior, sth Fusileers. Capts. L. Maehell, Royal Ar-
tillery ; G. W. F. Snell, 38th Regiment; J. A. Pal-
liser, 76th Regiment ; R. H. Ker ; J. B. Leatham ;
G. Randall ; D. Pratt, 16th Dragoons ; and M. W.
L. Coast, paymaster, Rifle Brigade. Lieuts. H. E.
Yorke, Royal Artillery ; A. M. Rowan, 13th (Prince
Albert's) Light Infantry ; J. Miller, 60th Rifles ; G.
Worsley, 39th Regiment; and J. Barn, 72d High•
landers. Ensigns A. B. Duncan, 57th Regiment ;
B. Alt, 98th Regiment; and J. S. Dixon, 94th
Regiment. Quartermaster W. Evans, 88th Con.
naught Rangers; Assistant• Commissary Gen. W.
H. Dalrymple.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—John. T. Moore, assist..surg.,
additional to the Duncan ; Alex. G. Bain, acting
assist.•surg., additional to the Duncan ; and John
Adams, assist.-engineer, to the Asia, as super•
numerary.

The Works at Blackfriars,

The gigantic operations necessary for the com-
pletion of the London, Chatham, and Dover Rail-
way, and for connecting it both with the city and
with the Metropolitan Railway, are being pushed
forward with great rapidity, and probably
by the spring of next year, if not before, the line
at its northern end will be finished, and in full
working order. The viaduct across the Thames at
Blackfriars, which for months past has been gra-
dually assuming shape and solidity, is now so far
towards completion that the trellis work on either
side, and in the parallel lines in the middle of the
structure, extends from bank to bank of the river,
and the permanent way is in an advanced state.
The bridge at either end meta upon massive abut-
ments of solid masonry, slightly ornamented, and,
as a whole, has an extremely simple and utilitarian
appearance, the Bides, which are of considerable
height, being constructed throug bout of iron in open
trellis work, connected at the top by elliptical arches
of iron at intervals, and having the monotony
broken here and there by ornamental pilasters. It
is sufficiently wide for four lines of rails. From the
northern abutment the lino is being carried on brick
arches, of great width and strength, parallel with
the eastern side of Bridge-street and Farringdon-
street, to a point of junction with the Metropolitan
Railway on the western side of Smithfield. In its
course it crosses Earl-street, Union-street, Ludgate-
hill, and Snow-hill—the three first by viaduets of
wrought-iron, and the last by a tunnel under the
projected Holborn Valley Improvement. Bridge-
street, immediately facing Radley's Hotel, a large
and commodious passenger station is being erected,
harmonising in its general appearance with that on
the southern side of the river at Blackfriars, and
having a frontage of about 150 feet in width, ex-
tending from Union-street northwards. Broad as
Bridge-street is and ought to be, the station stands
well back from the present line of thoroughfare to
admit of convenient approaches to it, and of the
street itself being widened, which it probably
will be at some future time, having regard to
the convenience of the ordinary street traffic be-
tween the two sides of the river by the new bridge
st Blackfriars, and to admit of a suitable junction
with the Thames embankment. The five massive
wrought-iron girders or beams which are to carry
the line over Ludgate-hill are now in position, but
at present they afford no idea of the appearance
which the viaduct there will ultimately present. The
railway company were bound by their Act to con-
struct it after a design which should receive the ap-
proval of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City
of London, who are, in feet, a Board of Works with
powers as extensive above ground as below, and a
plan of the bridge has been sanctioned by them.
According to that there will be a clear headway for
the ordinary street traffic of 18tt from the roadway
to the bottom of the viaduct, and the hill from the
point of intersection by the railway towards Bridge-
street on its southern side will be very considerably
widened. The sides of the viaduct will be 7tt gin in
height, and consist of iron in open trellis work,
after an ornamental design, and decorated at two
points on either side with the arms of the City and
latr.p pillars. The abutments of the bridge facing
the street will be of Portland stone, and harmonise
in ornamentation with the more massive ones of the
viaduct across the Thames. It will carry four lines
of railway and be about 52ft in width from parapet
to parapet. It will et oss Ludgate hill very near to
the foot, or about 25ft from Bridge-street, At pre-
sent, contrary to anticipation, from no part of Fleet-
street, except perhaps at the very foot, and that
slightly, does it intercept the view of St. Paul's
Cathedral. Indeed, as an obstruction in that respect,
it is not for a moment to be compared with the
trumpery, unsightly spire of the church of St. Mare
tin, Ludgate, which provokingly intercepts the view
of the cathedral dome to a great extent of a person
going eastwards from Temple-bar. Simultaneously
with the extensive railway operations in progress,
the old bridge at Biackfriars is being pulled down
to make way for the new one, for the construction of
which large masses of scaffoldingare being erected on
the western side of the condemned structure. It
has already been stripped of the parapets and ma-
sonry down to the tops of the arches, the roadway
has been hewn up and removed, and at present the
bridge presents the appearance of a vast quarry.
Although it has been coming down of its own ac-
cord for the last 20 years and more, it takes a deal
of palling down after all. By a return made by
the Chamberlain of London to the Court of Com-
mon Council in January, 1843, the enormous sum of
£100,960 had been expended up to that time in re-
pairing the structure, under a local Act passed in
the fourth year of the reign of William IV., over
and above the cost of procuring the Act itself,
amounting, with other incidental charges, to about
£BOO ; and according to a subsequent report
of a committee of the corporation £10,520
was spent is tinkering one of the arches between
June, 1850, and January, 1856, of which
£8,260 odd was expended in the 18 months
previous to September, 1851. The subsequent
expenditure in that way down to the end of 1859
was at the rate of £6OO a year. Seeing that in spite
of all that outlay the corporation has still to build
a new bridge, the money may be said to have been
literally thrown into the Thames.;

Terrible Disaster on Lake Erie.

The London Prototype of the 12th August states that on
the previous Wednesday the propeller Racine, one of the
Western Transportation Company's line of lake steamers,
was burned to the water's edge, about 30 miles south of
Port Stanley. Twenty-seven persons were all that escaped
alive out of 40, the number of crew and passengers on board
at the time of the sad occurrence. Racine was at the time of
the disaster bound for Buffalo, with a full cargo of corn, oats,
and high wines, and a few passengers, besides a full crew.
At 2.4,5 on the morning named, the lookout observed a
bright flame burst out about midahips. All hands were called
on deck, the vessel turned to land, and the pumps quickly
manned ; but, despite the efforts of both crew and passen-
gers, who worked with a determination inspired by the
desperate nature of their position, the fire gained rapidly,
and all hopes of staying its ravages ware quickly dispelled
by the fearful alacrity with which it communicated from
One point to the other of the doomed vessel. The lifeboats
were ordered to be lowered, and an attempt made to reach
the shore. The first of these, under command of the second
mate, Mr, J. Monaghan, and occupied by 5 deck hands and
4 passengers—names unknown—was placed in a position to
be lowered, but, unfortunately, one of the ropes was
cut before the other, and the occupants pitched into
the water. The speed at which the vessel was going pre-
vented any effort being made to rescue them, before the
screw propelling the vessel had engulfed crew, boat, and
all in the vortex caused by its revolutions. One of the
poor fellows was afterwards seen in the water, cut
completely in tw,,, but none of tl--elothers were visible.
The captain, thinking that land could be made before they
would be compelled to leave, still stood to his vessel, with
the remainder of the crew and passengers, although their
position was growing every moment more critical. A
number of barrels of high wines which were on deck were
thrown overboard, but some of them were broken in the
effort, and their contents becoming strewn along the deck,
served as fuel to the flame. This reduced the draught of
the vessel from 12ft to Oft Sin. however, and gave new
cause for hope to the almost despairing crew. At this
Lime the tug Avon, cf Montreal, observing the condition
of the Racine, made towards her, and fortunately arrived
in time to save 27 of the crew and passengers, ,