The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-04 00:00:00

Fearful Weather in the Atlantic.

The latest advices received from New York re-
port the prevalence of very heavy weather it the
Atlantic. Several vessels which had left that port
had returned in a disabled state, while the arrivals
from Europe also reported having encountered
fearful weather. The ship Henry, which left New
York for Rotterdam March 19, encountered a suc-
cession of heavy N. and N,E. gales from the time
of her departure ; and on the sth of April,
in lat. 30 18, long. 59 44, daring a gale from
the E.N.E. wt.s struck by a tremendous sea, which
stove in the bow, carried away the bulwarks on.both
sides, swept the decks of everything moveable, stove
the boats, forward hatch, and caused the vessel to
spring a leak. The ship E. C. Scranton, which left
New York on the 19th March, for Liverpool, re•
turned on the 14th April, having, or the 23d and
24th April, in lat. 38, long. 69, experienced a heavy
gale from E.N.E. to E.S.E. While lying to, she
was thrown on her beam end•. On the 24th
she bore up for New York with three feet of
water in the ha:el and pumps choked with grain.
She was obliged to throw a considerable portion of
the cargo overboard to right her. After that she ex-
perienced a succession of heavy E.N.E. gales; was
blown south of the Gulf, but crossed the Gulf again
in lat. 36 30, with loss of sails, &c., the ship
leaking very badly. The barque Baltasaia, which
left New York for Glasgow on the 22d March,
returned on the 18th April, having experienced
the late easterly gales in all their severity.
Captain M'Bride, of the British ship Czar, which
arrived at New York on the 18th ult. from London,
reports hating encountered heavy gales, in one of
which the ship lost all her masts, sails, &o. The
captain adds :—" I was in great danger when I was
fallen in with by the Russian steam frigate Osliaba,
Captain Bontatoff, who, after offering every
assistance, took us in tow, and promised to
stand to us until all his coals were out. At this
time it was blowing a north-east gale, which
circumstance increased the difficulty of taking warps
on board, but Ow exertions of Captain Boutatoff
and his crew were most praiseworthy. At last he
succeeded in getting the warps on board, and it was
not until that parted that he left us. I take this
opportunity of expressing my thanks to Captain
Boutatoff and officers for their kind and generous
conduct."

THE POPE'S ALLOCUTION TO THE EMPEROR OF
MEXICO.—The Unita Cattalica gives the following
as the allocution addressed by the Pope to the Emperor and
Empress of Mexico, in the chapel of the Vatican, before
giving them communion :—" Behold the lamb of God, who
taketh away the sins of the world. It is through him that
kings reign and princes rule. It is through Him that legis-
lators administer justice, and though He sometimes permits
monarchs to be tried, yet it is from him that all power comes
from Him to whom all power in Heaven and earth
has been given. In his name I recommend to you the
prosperity of the Catholic people who have been entrusted
to you. Great are the rights of the people, and they must
be satisfied, but greater and more sacred are the rights of the
Church, the spotless spouse of Jesus Christ, who has re-
deen,:ed us with his blood—that blood which is now to
crimson your lips. You will, therefore, respect the rights
of the peop:e and of the Church, and will thus labour for
the temporal at:d spiritual welfare of your subjects. May
this Jesus whom >-ou are about to receive from the hands
of his vicar deign to g:ve you his grace in the abundance of
his mercy !"
BLACKFRIARS' BRIDO.I.—We are informed that
the real cause of the delay in opening the new temporary
bridge at Blackfriars for traffic is, that although it has been
completed by Messrs. Rennie and Logan in an approved
manner, and the tenders sent in and disposed of for re-
moving the old one, and the securities in the latter case
approved of, still the contract for the due performance of
this part of the work had not up to yesterday evening been
signed, and therefore that until that part of the matter is
accomplished the temporary bridge must necessarily remain
unopened,
THE FEDERAL NAVY.--The Navy' Register fir
1864, which has been issued, is brought down to the
middle of March, at which date there were GO vessels of
all classes in the navy, 432 of them steamers, and 74 iron-
dads and rams. The naval force is divided into nine blued.
rons,—namely, the North Atlantic, under command of
Acting Rear Admiral Lee—the South Atlantic, under
Rear Admiral Dahlgren—the East Gulf, under Acting
Rear Admiral Bailey—the West Gulf, under Rear Admiral
Farragut—the Mississippi, under Rear Admiral Porter—
the Special West India, under Acting Rear Admiral Lard-
ner—the Pacific, under Acting Rear Admiral Bell—the East
India and Mediterranean, and the Potomac Flotilla. The
total number of naval vessels lost, captured, destroyed, or
sold since the beginning of the war is 42. Of these 11 fell
into the hands of the Confederates,—namely, the Clifton,
Diana, Harriet Lane, Indianola, Isaac Smith, Morning
Light, Reliance, Sachem, Satellite, Underwriter, and
Velocity.—American raper.

HEAT AND MOONLIGHT.—Some time ago, a body
of sages had a long discussion, and wrote numerous
treatises, to explain why it was that a lump of metal, if laid
on water, would sink to the bottom, while, if it were beaten
out into a sheet, it would float. The theories were very
plausible, though they were opposed to one another. At last
tt occurred to one of the sages to suggest that it would be
well to ascertain by actual experiment if it were really the
fact that the metal would float under the circumstances
stated. Accordingly, a vessel of water was brought, a sheet
of the metal was laid on it, and it very soon lay at the bot-
tom. An example of the kind is furnished by Toaldo, the
Italian meteorologist, who, to account for the belief current
among wine. growers, that wino, the making of which is
begun in the old moon and finished in the new, is never
clear nor of good quality, attributes it to the circumstances
that the absence of the lunar rays, by lowering the tempera-
ture of the air, checks the fermentation. Now, if it had
occurred to him to expose the delicate thermometer to the
full light of the moon shining Ntith its greatest lustre, he
would have found that the mercury was not elevated a hair's
breadth ; neither would it have been, if he had exposed it in
the focus of her rays, concentrated by the most powerful
lenses. This has been proved by actual experiment.—
Dickens's "All the Year Round," published today.