The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-03 00:00:00

THE SCREW SQUADRON.

PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. I.—The screw squadron, con
sisting of the Arrogant, 46, Captain Robinson; Daunt.
less, 24, Captain Halstead; Encounter, 14,;Captain Gor-
don; and Highflyer, 21, Captain Matson, anchored at
Spithead, on their return from their trial cruise in the
Mediterranean, this morning. The result of this two
months' trial has been most satisfactory, fully proving
that it is compatible for our ships of war to rank at once
among the fleetest of steamers, and most
" crack" of
sailors. This was demonstrated inti a regatta-like trial
in the Mediterranean, where, in
.eet of 13 ships, the
lligbflyer and Encounter (under sail) were second and
third; the Phaeton, a sailing
" fleetest of the fleet," being thewon wonder
aptly termed the
winner, the Highflyer
receiving the compiiymoeun,tlltbherotugh Admiral Dtul!! Es,..
speaking trumpet,
another occasion, in a trial unadetrhestPhmaettohnenerxun
being
from tbetflag-ship round the Trafalgaera(an excellent ship.
by-the-bye, as a winning-post) and back, the Highflyer
rounded first; Fury paddle-wheel steamer secondt_:c"o'n.
the Encounter and Terrible held a " neck and ne°„%wers
tention for the third place—their respective hureeirrottwo
being 250, 515, 360, and Boo—the tonnsged the
oftoguriud,
being almost equal; the return being Ilea though not
Powerful paddle steamers had the advantag
very greati--. ii-- complimentary
areted company
i The screw squadr ; P
from the Mediterranean fleet, n of August, and
thrthrou signal from Admiral Dundas, ouutheesth
ough the strong
left Gibraltar on the 11th, towirn,tne
(merchant vessel);
Arrog:o;
current of " the Gut," and Highflyer, four—
Dauntless, one;
averaging from 200 tofigate,
EneetinieorOtoos each. The Arrogant
of sufficiently serviceable
1 (auxiliary) difficult to imagine so flue a ship
steam capabiialiat;
Itoteibse from the same hand; the latter,
and the Dauntless
r,
formidable, no doubt, in a calm,
a full`P°werjte-eaginuens under water on the very slightest
(full power) is a fleet,
clipping her -e The Encounter
provocation.
i . med corvette. The High flyer (auxiliary), a new
light'r-ls e; wonders, under sail or under
ship'steam—fre-
has .on--
y the victor, though possessing not half the horse-
power
of the Dauntless, and 100 less than the Arrogant
and Encounter, and consuming considerably lees fuel,
ger powers of endurance are also great; in a calm, with
one engine, steaming ;at more than 5 knots, but one ton
of coal was consumed in twenty miles, and her stowage
being 220 tons—at thts rate her own resources would
suffice for a voyage of 4 500 miles. It is matter of re-
gret that this ship had not more beam, or was not built
larger upon a similar model, as her waist-guns cannot be
brought with conveeience. It is questionable also
whether an entire armament of hollow-shot guns be a
judicious one. A bad sailer, with every gunnery con-
venience, or a fleet ship without this, are equally
defective; and if in the ships of a squadron emulation
were extended bey and that of mere j,ckey ism 'to success
in gunnery practice, so much the better.

One thousand persons per annum perish by explo.
'ion in coal mines. The cause of the greater portion of the ac•
cidenta is delectiyo ventilation.--Glasgow Constitutional.

THE GREAT GOLD DUST ROBBERY ON
BOARD THE NELSON.
By the arrival of the ship Vanguard, yesterday, in
the river, from Melbourne, e have been put in pos-
sesioo of the details of the trial of the parties impli-
cated in the extraordinary piratical boarding of the
ship Nelsen, hound to London, and the robbery of
nearly 30,0001. of gold dust, consigned to the Austra-
lian Bank, Austin friars.
'.this
amongstdaring
the
instancegre
great
p
tf
body un doe::
shipownershas excited
seamen
1 Ineh
aeteTermyerhethanar
en
whicht s ,
exposein ci so ndns
oe qwt
ou
ge no conbysequence
the of f g
o nt
wb eha
ot gl r
steeaharl
thereat
mistaken
Australian
s uke sr of f
oa
nilossports. flt appears that the "gang"
the vessel, and that they suspected her when they
boarded her to be the Admiral, which only a few
hours before had sailed with upwards of 150,000/.
worth of gold on board.
The leaders of the " piratical party" were notorious
London thieves, cracksmen, and swell mobsmen, who
had been transported to the colony, and having pro-
cured by some means tickets of leave, were enabled to
go at large and commit this daring robbery. The
principals only were arraigned on the charge. Their
names were John James, alias Johnson, James Mor-
gan, and James Dunces. They were well-dressed men,
but their countenances depicted a life of vice and dissi-
pation of the worst description. They were indicted,
firstly, with having piratically boarded a certain
vessel named the Nelson, belonging to the port of
Glasgow, and stealing therefrom 8,600 ounces of
gold dust; secondly, with having wounded the chief
mate (Henry Draper), with intent to murder him.
The Attorney-General for the colony prosecuted for
the Crown. The trial was a very protracted one, and
the evidence ;adduced was exceediogly voluminous,
but the subjoined narrative will be found to contain
the main facts. The Nelson was a barque, 900 tons
burden, belonging to Messrs. Potter and Co., mer-
chants, of Glasgow. On her arrival at Geelong, the
master, Captain Wright, endeavoured to persuade the
men to remain by the ship, and to assist in discharging
her. His efforts, however, were ft uitless, Fur weeks
and weeks the ship continued deserted, the master
unable to get hands to work at any cost. By great
inducements and high rate of wages he at length got
seven men to join, with whom, and the aid of his
officers, he got the vessel cleared out, and obtained a
freight, amongst which was 8,600 ounces of gold
dust, consigned to the Australian Bank, in Austin-
friars. He sailed from Geelong in the latter end of
March, and brought up in a day or so in Hobson's
Bay, off Melbourne, for the purpose of seeking
hands to complete the number of the ship's com-
pany. It should be observed that she was fifteen
short of her number. The gold dust was in twenty-
three boxes. On its being received on board it was
placed in the after hold of the ship, but was subse-
quently removed, and placed in a locker in the laza-
rette, and well protected by bags of bread and other
articles placed round and over it, so as to conceal it
from view. The piracy was committed on the night
of the 2d of April. The master, Mr. Wright, was
proved to have been ashore at the time, at the ship-
mpienng-teofnjoei% iannd
the town,
th
enedenavuomubrienrg
oft his
hpisersoureawde.
fltilleevemsseetle; I‘'ainr.d Henrybesid Draper,n secondw as
ma'sleft. in
andcharge
esthe
hands, there was a mate of
haaohther, vessel, the Raeovyeoalifl
aGeorge,ad,it
seemed, then lying
beeni no
the
friendly ien dr yoirt,h termson
withboard,
the
fiwhofirst
except
w when,
e him.nt h
eA At
second
mate, and had spent the evening
eleven o'clock all bands turnedin,
bletween
mate, whose watch it was on deck,
twelve and one o'clock, be observed a boat
being rowed off from the shore, but had no of
menp
cion of their intention till it was alongside, swnsbei-
he was " thunderstruck" at their jumping oon
board ; and two of them presenting a pistol
at his bead, with an oath threatened him with
instant death if he dared to raise an alarm. In
another moment he was secured, and lashed hands
and feet. The light, however, enabled him to see the
features of several of the fellows. There were about
ten of them, all exhibiting fire-arms, and some cut-
lasses. They were not a class of men accustomed to
laborious work. They were well dressed, but some
wore disguises, such as crape over their faces, and
wearing large cloaks to conceal their under-dress.
The bands forward were all seized at the same moe
ment, the men levelling their pieces at their heads,
and with horrible threats vowed every soul should be
massacred ,if they dared to thwart them in their pur-
pose. Having lashed the whole of the crew similarly
to the second mate, except the cook, who by some
stratagem escaped their observation, they entered the
cuddy, and the prisoners, addressing Mr. Draper, the
chief mate, said, " We want your gold ; where
is it ? out with it." Mr. Draper bad previously
been seized by one of the fellows. There were
plenty of firearms in the cabin, close to his berth,
but he was unable to arm himself before be was
seized. They then threw the whole of the ship's fire-
arms overboard. Mr. Draper, in reply, told them
they must be mistaken ; there was no gold in the
ship. The prisoners, levelling pistols at him, made
answer, " Gold we must have ; you have it on board,
and have it we must ; therefore come, show us where
it is ; it's noTiise your opposing us." Mr. Draper
still pleaded ignorance. Finding that he would not
yield to their solicitations, they proceeded to violence,
snd compelled him at length to reveal its " where-
abouts." After being subjected to great brutality, he
pointed it out. The locker was instantly torn open,
and the boxes of gold taken out and handed up one
after another to the fellows in the cabin, and by them
to others at the gangway, and in the boats. Clearing
the locker of its contents, they commenced ransacking
other parts of the ship, imagining there was more
booty to be had ; and the mate, ob,erving them break-
ing open the captain's drawers, and tearing up his
papers, attempted to expostulate with them, and said,
" Who is your chief ? It's no use your destroying the
captain's things. He's got no gold." One of them (Mor-
gan) turned round, and levelling a pistol et him, ex-
claimed, " We'll show you who our chief is ; take that,
you —," at the same moment discharging the pistol,
the contents of which passed through the flshy part
of his leg, and lodged in the partition of the cabin.
Satisfying themselves that they had obtained the
whole of the precious metal, and in order to prevent
the crew of the Nelson making any effort to follow
Them, or raise an alarm, they dragged them to the
cabin, lashed as they were, and wish the mate, and
that of the Royal George, forced them into the se-
cret place where the gold had been deposited. The
fellows then closed the trap upoh them, and, after
fastening them down and piling a quantity of heavy
goods on the top, so as to render the escape of the
crew less likely, they fled from the ship. The cook,
who bad secreted himself in the fore part of the
vessel, released his mes. mates. The mate took the
most prompt steps to apprize the authorities at Mel-
bourne of the robbery, and although the coast
was speedily scoured, no clue of the delinquents
thei
could be discovered. At lengih, one morning,
mate of the Royal George who, it will
lected, was on board the Nelson at the
timeth the quay
robbery, happened to be in hia boat alongsidedrawn to a
at Williameton, when his attention
wasand cloak, on
well dressed man carryings carpet-bag be recol-
lected,
hdimthetosbbipe
edre
one of the leaders of the gang wnin'a,r,
the quay side. He instantly r. e c oog_
un les
de
was taken into
—the prisoner Morgan. T_
io and in the carpet-bag
were found in ,his peaseeb" among other articles, the
custody, and some 201. hi.gont,hdeand a draft bill for 50/.
which he bad with i"
the Nelson. About this time the
which some of the men bad on
ee
information of the other prisoners,
iwdehnentictahleydibsgoauridsesd
recently opened an account at
also convicte,
whc't Geelong, and subsequently arrested
the Union Beak a
police had receive
had
them.
Corroborative;it of the prisoners.
evidence was adduced in support of
the gu-i ry after a short deliberation, found them
The '
Guilty, and on the following day they were sentenced
to be transported for the term of their natural lives.
There were five other prisoners to be tried for being
concerned in the act of plunder. The amount of
gold found on the whole of the prisoners did not ex.
teed 7,000/., consequently there as upwards of 20,0001.
'et to be recovered of the stolen treasure.

THE LABOUR MARKET IN AUSTRALIA.--LabOU? IS
scarce, and is rapidly becoming scarcer ; wages are enor-
mously high, and are still on the rise. As regards our chief
city, we can safely say that never within our recollection
was labour so difficult to procure as it is at the present time,
nor, do we believe that wages, taking all classes of operatives
together, were ever so high. Not only do mechanics com-
mand their Bs. or 9s. per day, and common hodmen their
is. and 7a. 6d., but even on these terms they are scarcely to
be had. And even with remunerations like these the work-
ing classes are far from satiiled. There is among them an
independence, a restlessness, a craving after more, which
leaves no doubt that unless something be done, and done
promptly, to redress this evil, it will wax worse and worse.
But what is that something? Is there anything withinPetxhe:
range of possibility whereby we can recruit our nearlyno with
haunted labour market? Recruit it, we mean, not
convicts, with Chinamen, or with savages from
islane,s, but with virtuous men and women of
we want.
and from our own fatherland. This is t 8 In
Is this thing attainable? We think
Government possesses the means
United Kingdom as many immigranbtesern
requires. Measures have already
.€,
golden era, for importing them
the extent which present ex_
Sydney Morning Herald o
DoNCASTER RAcFs.
Company are making
from the railway station
distance of about a mile
transmission to London
different races at the forthcoming We think our
cannibal
wane,
iitmip.crting from the
of
s tbe colony actually
adopted, since the
;:noultr own
0 some extent—but not to
experience shows to be necessary.
of the let of Diay.
The Electric
tension of the Telegraph
telegraph wires
an extension
to the race-course, a
and a half, in order to accelerate the
aand other places of the results of the
forthcoming meeting. The posts and
temporarily, so that they may be
wires will be put P
race° week. Communications will be made
removed alter
'he
nd stand on the course, which has been
direct from the round
tion for the use of the company, to
be corpora
granted by t
h Ofii ces in London and York—consequently it
the telegrap--
ted that the result of the approaching St.
may be expec
Leger well
telegraphed to both those places before it can
in
be known
'
be
Doncaster, notwithstanding its proximity
to the
scene of action. have
been engaged
It may be mentioned that apartments
i for the Earl of Derby and a distinguished party
0f vigtora during the race week.