The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-24 00:00:00

STATE OF TRADE,

MANCHESTER, March 22.—Oar recent reports of
this market have referred to the increasing imports
of cotton, and their probable influence on business
and prices. The arrivals already this week, com-
mencing with Friday, almost reach 60,000 bales-
Yesterday a10ne3,6
takenoobal in conjunction balesreached
eLiverpool,tieewiththe
unfavourable and
these heavy arrivals,
unfavourable commercial advices from Bombay and
Calcutta, have very seriously affected business. Oar
yarn market has been very quiet to-day, with little
or no business in shipping descriptions. Spinners,
however, having been placed well under contract
by the orders obtained during the sudden but
temporary improvement which took place in the
early
part of last week, have shown no disposition
to press sales this morning. The market is
denidedly weaker, and to force sales sellers would
have had to take lower prices than they obtained
last week. In the coarser counts of home trade
descriptions prices are easier. In fine counts there
has been no change, but the market for all kinds is
flit. Ia the cloth market manufacturers say this is
the flattest day they have had for a very long time.
There has been not only an utter absence of busi-
ness, but a stronger apprehension as to the stability
of prices than they have hitherto been willing to
acknowledge. Buyers have not only abstained from
making any offers as to which there wag the least
probability of acceptance. The cloth !lenses are not
quoting lower rates, but these quotations can only be
regarded as nominal. Fortunately, manufacturers
do not hold large stocks, and they are not very
pressing to make sales. Many people say that they
have really heard of no actual transactions to-day,
and that they believe, if their desire to sell was
ever so great, they would be unable to obtain offers
at anything like the prices they would feel disposed
to accept.

THE ORIGINAL SCOIIE OF MOZART'S LOBED*
17.0T1i" 19 Raid 4;01e:3407f FILIO

5.111 E WAR IN DEZTLIARK.

(From the 1 imes ;Special Correspondent with the Danish

Army.)
MIDDLEFAE.T, ISLAND OF FUN EN, March 16.
I have been little more than four-and-twenty-
toun in Fredericia ; but I think I have quite done
with it. The revor-failing kindness of the officers
at headquarters greatly contributed to expedite my
business. They were my indefatigable companions
in my rambles on foot ; they mounted me, and gave
me their assistance, as the best of guides, when I
rode. On the evening of Monday I presented myself

at headquarters, and was most kindly received by
the chief of the Staff, Colonel Reich, who not only
in the name of the Commander-in-Chief gave me

full peroiisaiuu to view the place within and without,
but personally commended me to an Artillery officer
of high rank, who, as I said, put himself and his
horses entirely at my service. I have said all this
simply from a desire to convey to the English peo-

ple an idea of the high regard and benevolence with
which the representatives of their press are treated
by the Danes. The love of this people for England
and the English has outlived all the sad vicissitudes
of 1801 and 1807, and is not to be repulsed by the
" cold shoulder" the English Government, accord-
ing to their views, has turned upon them in this
their hour of trial and sore affliction.

On leaving the Bolding-gate yesterday we soon
came to that " 0 veravommelse," or _ inundation,

which, as I said, answer the purpose of a great out-
ward moat to the western line of bastions, rind op-

poses an impassable barrier to any enemy attacking
the fortress on this side. The great ditch is above
an English mile in length, and its width sometimes
exceeds 1,000 feet. It is too deep for either foot or

horse to attempt to ford it, and as its dammed-up
waters are fed by a perennial stream, rushing with
arrowy swiftness through it, it is not greatly to be
affected by the moat prolonged aummar drought.

Wherever the moat is bridged over for the conve-

nience of the high roads or chaussees, the pass is
guarded by batteries protected by solid trenches.
Barely a short half mile beyond the flooded ground

we left the foremost Danish pickets behind us, and
had nothing between us and the Austro-Prussian
outposts, which were nowhere visible at that mo-
ment, but which, we are assured, are always lurk-
ing in the woods in the vicinity of Stonstrup and
Erritso—but a slender z)ne of debatable ground,
across which rifle balls are frequently exchanged
on either side. Upon leaving the King's or Northern
Gate, almost in contact with the town bastions, you
have the intrenched camp, occupying what was for-
merly the drilling-ground, and extending a trifle
more than an English mile between the City Gate
and the Trmlde Wester Skov. That wood also is in
possession, if not of any enemy's corps, at least of
their patrols, who employ their time in closely
watching the movements and vainly striving to
disturb the works of the Danes. The intrenched
camp of the Danes on this spot may be looked upon
as a kind of second Dannewerk, and it was under-
taken, I believe, after the fall of that great national
bulwark, and the retreat of its defenders to the
narrower fields of action offered to them by Dybbol
trenches and the bastions at Fredericia. The camp
is strengthened on the land side by earthworks or
batteries, provided with moat and palisade, and
armed with cannon of a good large calibre ; a
breastwork for the infantry runs also all along the
live. The five forts or ramparts are so constructed
as to be invulnerable only in front. They are not
only completely open behind, but have been so
placed as to be fully exposed to the fire from the
town bastions ; so that even in the event of the
enemy succeeding in possessing himself of one or
of all of them, he would always be unable to hold
them or lodge himself in them.

and the roads were es hard with frost ae in the hard-
est winter. The morning was unspeakably bright
but perfectly calm, and I spent no less than eight
hours in crossing a branch of the sea hardly as many
miles from shore to shore. The coast of Ata or Alsen
was plainly visible, though dim and dusky, from
the piece of my embarkation. Such wind as we had
was from the east, consequently right against us,
and as we tacked, and rowed, and toiled on our way,
the boom of the cannon was wafted incessantly over
the still waves, and the feathery smoke of gun-
powder, and the wavy track of the shells, rose above
the crest of the low hills forming the outline of the
little island, and told us that the work of destruc-
tion was in progress. For a man who had been
baffled all his life in his desire to witness some im-
portant scene of real warfare, and whose mission,
moreover, was to be present at some such action and
report upon it, my position of a distant spectator
was sufficiently fretting. There was no other remedy
than patience in the case, however, and I sat near
the helm of the tub-like craft that conveyed me
with such resignation as I could command, com-
menting upon the folly that had taken me away
from Sonderborg at the only available opportunity,
after in vain waiting for it more than six weeks,
and mentally thanking the kind friends who had
sent me on a fool's errand all the way to Jutland,
with the vain hope that I should there see some-
thing like that real game of war for an exhibition
of which it was vain to look for an opportunity
about the Dybbol position.
When it pleased Heaven I at last came ashore at
Mummark, but there fame had of course greatly
exaggerated the terrors of the struggle now in pro-
gress; fearful stories were rife of the shells that
showerel like rain at Sonderborg, and neither en-
treaties nor bribes, nor even threats, could procure
me horses or carriage to get me over the eight miles
distance that separated me from the long-coveted
scene of action. Where there is a will there is a
way, however, and in my case the will was so un-
commonly strong that in about half an hour I,Suc-
ceeded in getting on. The thunder of artillery rose
in intensity as the sun sunk in the horizon, and at
every brow of a hill we ascended at Tanslet, Horup,
Vollerup, and Ulkebol, we could both see the flash
and hear the boom, and follow the cloud of every
shot as it lingered hazy and transparent on the
still air of one of the purest skies that ever smiled
in a frosty northern sunset. More dense and omi-
nous, other columns of smoke arose here and there
over the vast landscape, and through these there
gleamed the vivid flames which consumed the homes
of the inoffensive peasantry. War in all the grim-
ness of its awful majesty was displayed before me
as I advanced, and I had hardly alighted when
some of the particulars of its havoc for the last three
days were communicated to me.
The fearful wind that had accompanied me to
Fallen and Jutland had done its work in Alsen and
Sundewitt, and by drying the ground of the Prus-
sian lines had enabled those troops to accomplish
their work, so that on the morning of Tuesday they
were ready to unmask their batteries, and from the
west of the peninsula of Broagerland, and from the
heights of Ragebol, they opened fire on the left and
right of the Danish position. Their main attacks
were directed against the Dybbol bastions, but they
found leisure to direct a score or so of shells upon
the town of Sonderborg, some of which hit the Slot,
or Castle, some fell on the houses and in the streets,
but did, as I am assured, no harm to the inhabitants.
The Prussians fired about 350 shots on Tuesday, 500
yesterday, and probably a larger number to-day.
The bastions on the Dybbol position suffered no ma-
terial harm—no-4e, at least, that could not imme-
diately be repaired. The loss of life was, however,
severe on the part of the Danes; a shell entered one
of the blockhouses the day before yesterday, and
another yesterday. A few men and officers were
killed and wounded by the first; by the second no
less than 40. To-day, together with the cannonade,
a general fight took place, during which the Pi us-
sians advanced upon the position of Dybbol village
and upon the height of Avnbjerg. The readers who
have had the patience to run through the foregoing
letters ought to be sufficiently familiar with the
names of these places. The village of Dybbol lies on
the right of the road, about ha f a mile beyond the
bastions on Dybbol hill. The Prueai ens had at-
tempted to take the vi..ilage on the 221 of lest mouth,
bat had fallen back before the fire of the Danish bat-
teries, and the Dines bad since taken up a position in
its habitations and intrenched themselves in its ele
vated churchyard. The defence was as obstinate as
the attack was violent,and the Dines reconquered lost
ground by three successive charges. They had, ho
ever, to give way before overwhelming forces, and
as the day closed the Prussians remained in posses-
sion. The same occurred on the height of the
Avnbjerg, a bill rising on the left of the road, at
about the same distance from the Danish bastions
as Dybbol village, ie., half an English mile; the
summit was repeatedly taken and retaken on either
side, but remained in tha end in the power of the
Prussians. It would be vain to disguise the Ina
poi tepee of this acquisition; for were they able to
maintain themselves in it in spite of the fire which
will not fail to ba directed against them from the
bastions, had they power to rear batteries on its
brow, they could undoubtedly keep up a tremend-
ous fire against the Danish bastions with terrible
effect. YOU are aware that the weakness of the
position of Dybbol was always the left, which was
from the beginning open to the Prussian fire from
the crest of Broagerland. That crest, however, rises
at a considerable distance, and although the Prus-
sian cannon could from that distant spot reach Bas-
tion No. 7 of the Dines, three miles off, yet no very
serious injury could be done ; no such damage as
may be expected to accrue to the Danish position
from the dangerous proximity of the Avnbj erg.
Night put an end to the conflict of to-day, in spite
of the brightest moonlight, but the struggle cen
be renewed to-morrow at daybreak, and no one can
foresee with what result. The losses of the Danes
have been severe, especially this day. At the time
I telegraphed to you only 70 wounded hal been
brought in ; their number has since risen, as I am
told, to 230, amongst them several officers. Colonel
Streberg, of the 8:13, is among the killed.
Even as I am writing, at 2 o'clock after midnight,
I hear a noise which seems very like the bursting of
a shell within the town. Many of the inhabitants
have fled, and I must have met hundreds of car-
riages loaded with persons and furniture on my way
from Mummark. But by far the greatest number
remain, women and children too. The Danish
soldiers appear to be delighted at the prospect of
the commencement of real war, and they sing,—
"Now will we fight the foe again."

Strong as the present reduced line of Fredericia
is, it is certain that it has been seriously impaired,
owing to the loss, on Tuesday last, of that second
outward line which from Gudso followed a ravine
crossing nearly the whole isthmus as far as Rands-
fiord, or Little Strand. By the occupation of Er-
ritso and Stonstrup, the Austro.Prussians have not
only advanced their patrols on the western aide
within little more than half an English mile from
the city gate, bat have also established themselves
at Snoghoi and Sanddal-house, whence their artil-
lery command the Sound all across to Middlefart
and Strib, and either have, or can at any moment,
put at an end to all traffic and intercourse of the
Dines between the coasts of Funen and Jutland on
this side. Had the Austro-Prussians been able to
do what they did in 18.1)—t e , possess themselves
of the ground now occupied by the Danish in-
trenched camp, Fredericia could have been com-
pletely blockaded by land and sea ; the same hos-
tile batteries which had power to bombard it from
the north and west would also have been able to
sink any vessel making for its harbour, either from
the other side of the Sound or from the open sea.
As it is, although the northern side is safe, and
will be so as long as the Danes hold their intrenclaed
camp, great annoyance may at any moment be
occasioned both to the city and to the places across
the Sound by the occupation by the enemy of
Snoghot and Sanddal-house, on the western coast. I
have told you that a few shells, thrown almost by
way of a first experiment upon Strib and Middlefart,
had the effect of frightening the population of these
two places and determining their fight. Not a few
of them have been to some extent reassured by the
subsequent silence, and have returned to their
desolate homes; but they all live like man placed
at the mercy of a pitiless foe—prepared at any mo-
ment to seek refuge in some place of security to
which the wisest of them have already removed their
families, goods, chattels, and all they care for in
the world.
The Danes, however, are not a people to fear their
enemies because they count them, cr to allow their
arm to be weakened by vague misgiving, or even
by well-grounded apprehensions. They are not
blind to the magnitude of their danger ; they do not
undervalue their enemy. They look cvlein the face.
They do their best as men, well knowing that no
more is expected of them.
I came back to this piece to-day in the afternoon,
desirous once more to see the Sound at its narrowest
Points and to try to catch a glimpse of the Austro-
Prussians, whose patrols, I was told, are daily show-
ing themselves along shore on the other side. I
walked from Middlefart to Kungebro, or King's
Pier, the very spot where the ferry crosses from
Funea let° Jutland when the sea is too rough to
allow the usual traffic by Strib or Middlefart. I
ascended the hill which further contracts the Strait
for a short distance, and the brow of which com-
mands the opposite shore far and wide, and has
lately been armed with well constructed batteries. I
had scarcely set my foot on the hill crest when I saw
a Score of Prussian hussars prancing gaily on the
beach, their sabres glancing bravely in the bright
evening sun, and their light chargers frisking and
Capering in the keen bracing air that betokened a
frosty night. They were escorting some lumbering
eonveyancea which might be heavy artillery or am-
munition.
The Danes looked at them through spy.
glasses behind their trenches, and I asked them, by
way of pleasantry, " whether they did not think
their pieces could kneels over a few of those cava-
liers for our entertainment." But they answered
-with some severity that " they were soldiers and not
enurderers, and left the shooting of pickets and of
outpost sentinels to their uncivilised enemies, who
seem to delight in such work and be proud of it."
I had written thus far, and was preparing to sit
down to supper, when a friendly officer brought the
11'...WS that a brisk cannonade had begun at Dv bbol
,on Tuesday, and had continued this day. Although
I have not slept in bed for two nights at Fredericia,
because no bed was to be had, 1 shall be off in a few
'minutes, hoping to reach Sonderborg in the course
of ;to-morrow, or at the latest at Friday, when a
steamier leaves Assens for the Isle of Alsen.
SONDERBORG, ,1l
Arch 17.
I left Middlefert last evening at 10, and making
the best speed I could with post horses, reached As-
seas at 2 a.m., and continued ray journey as far as
Faaborg, where I arrived at 8, having thus crossed
Funea in all its length in the course of the night.
I was aware that no steamer would leave Assens
till to-morrow, and I hoped to reach Sonderborg
this day by chartering a fishing boat at Faaborg and
crossing the Little Belt at Mummark in Alsen, a
placa only eight miles distant from Sonderborg
across: the little isle. The night was bitterly cold,

TEE btfiv, LONDON, THURSDAY IiVtNING, MARCH 24, 1864.

made a culvert for the pipes. Laying them in a trench is
better, because in my judgment it is a more simple opera-
tion and more secure. In case of accident a culvert would
give rea Her access for repair, but with much greater liability
to accident. I can hardly tell the pressure of water on the
valve when the reservoir is full ; I am not prepared with
the necessary calculations.
Mr. Rawlinson, after a calculation, said the pressure of
water on each valve would be from four to five tons, when
the reservoir was full.

Mr. Leather's examination resumed—When the water is
flowing freely through the pipes they are not likely to sus-
tain much injury. The opening of the valve would not
have a tendency to wrench the joints of the pipes. The
pressure lessens as the valve is opened.
The Coroner—lt took half an hour to..open one of these
valves on the night of the inundation, and there was a
shcking and straining of the pipe during the opening not
felt before or after. That is the reason why I ask the ques-
tion. What I mean is, would there not be a greater pressure
upon the valve when the water was in motion?
M. Leather—No. There would be greater disturbancs
in the way of noise in opening the valve, but the pressure
would diminish as the valve opened. The pipes would
run off 10,000 cubic feet of water per minute. Every inch
that the water lowered would diminit,l, the pressure upon the
embankment. At this rate, 190 hours, or about nine days,
would be required to let off the whole of the water, suppos-
ing there was no addition. I have not hitherto thought it
necessary to have had more complete control over the water.
I did all that I thought necessary to provide against danger.
I know of no means of providing against danger except the
pipes and bye-wash. There is a drain all round the Red-
mires dam, but that is for another purpose altogether.
The Coroner—Ought you not, as a practical engineer, to
minimise the danger as much as possible in making these
large reservoirs ? There has been no attempt to minimise
the danger here, and there is no use in having an engineer
unless he does that. You have had the management of
these dams. You have placed a great embankment there,
and collected an immense body of water behind it. But
even though there was a suspicion that the embankment
might give way, you have taken no means of taking the
water any ether direction, so as to avoid its coming down
in one body upon the people of Sheffield. I ask you is it
not desirable in such cases that some means should be taken
of lessening the danger ?
Mr. Leather—l cannot conceive any other way than that
adopted.
The Coroner—There was not the slightest arrangement
made for doing away with the danger; that is what I com-
plain of. Why, it would have taken eight days to have run
off the water in the dam through the pipes, if there had
been no influx. The influx of water was so enormous that
it would have taken three weeks to run off the water by the
pipes. I saw a large cutting near ; could not that have
been made available, Mr. Leather ?
Mr. Leather—No ; a cutting should be at the bottom of
the embankment of a reservoir to relieve it under such cir-
cumstances, and I know of no means of having such a
cutting.

The Coroner—Could you net have drawn away any water
that reached the puddle without the puddle being injured
—drawn away I rom the outside, I mean ?
Mr. Leather—Yes ; I do nut know that anything of that
sort has been done.

The Coroner—lt was no part of your plan to drain the
puddle trench P--No, except during tha working.
I mean afterwards ?—No; I do not suppose any would
get there afterwards.
lam supposing it has. The puddle trench could not be
so drained as to prevent water getting there F—Any water
that might get there would naturally percolate through the
embankment on the lower side. It would get away with-
out doing any injury,
The Coroner—l am told that water was seen coming
from the bottom of the embankment sometimes; that
might be the reason?—lt might be said that would be the
natural result if any water (Yid get into the embankment.
Would there not be a greater weight upon the escape pipes

in the centre of the embankment than at the edges of it ?
The pressure would be greater. The embankment was 90ft.
high in the centre. If this weight pressed the pipes down

at the centre through the puddle it would not necessarily
disjoint the pipes.
Mr. Rawlinson called the attention of the witness to a re-
port published by the Society of Civil Engineers, in which
it was stated that pipes laid under an entrenchment occa-
sionally broke from the pressure upon them not being equal ;
and mentioning, an instance at Melbourne, where the frac-
ture had to be repaired by inserting a line of boiler plating
inside. The pipes in this case were excellent castings, and
had borne a very severe pressure, both externally and in-
ternally, but by the weight of the embankment were flat-
tened and distorted, more in the centre than at the sides,
because the pressure was unequal. There was, therefore, a
possibility of pipes subjected to an unequal pressure being
injured.

Mr. Leather replied that the pipes in the case cited by Mr.
Rawlinson were laid in the embankment, not in a trough.
Those of the Bradfield reservoir wore, however, laid in a
trench under the embankment. The cases, therefore, were
quite different.

The Coroner—But though the trough was made in the
natural ground, the pipes themselves were laid in an arti-
ficial ground, which might offer more resistance in one part
than another.
Mr. Leather--There were 18in. of puddle round them,

but they would adjust themselves in the puddle.
By the Jury—How do you determine the strength of the
embankment ? It was 10 times that of the pressure against

it. I cAnnot tell how much water would run into the reser-
voir in 21 hours on a wet day. The pipes had not been
examined since the thod. But as there was so leakage
through or about the pipes before the accident, and as there
was a full flow of water through the pipes when the valves
were opened, it is fair to presume there was no leakage. I

have seen the valve work under half the full pressure.

Mr. Leather, examined by Mr. Perronet Thompson-1
have been the consulting engineer of the company in respect
of all their reservoirs. I have not previously had an acci-
dent, though some of the reservoirs are of greater extent
than the Bradfield reservoir. The embankment of the upper
dam at Redmires is much larger. The plans and sections

for this and the reservoirs that have stood for years are pre-
cisely the same in principle, and there is a groat similarity

in situation and materials of some of them. I used all the
means known to me as a practical engineer in tho construc-
tion of these dams for insuring the security of the work. So
far as my observation went, the quality of the work was
good throughout. The fact of the public trench being sunk
to the depth of 60 feet, although the plans required only 10
feet, is an illustration of the care exercised in providing for
the safety of the dam. The specification provided for the
trench being made deeper than 10 feet if nedessary. The
weight of the water is measured by the depth, and not the
quantity of the water on the superficial area. One-fourth
the water might have given quite as great a pressure if the
depth had been the same. I have not an instance in my
experience of pipes carried under the embankment having
given way. It the valves of the pipes had in this instance
been unable to sustain the weight of water, the only result
would have been that the water would have run away ; no
damage would have resulted. I have taken all reasonable
means to provide against danger. The object of an em-
bankment is to confine the water, and the business of an
engineer is to make his embankment sufficient to rosist the
pressure of the water against it, not to provide any other
mean of letting the water off on the supposition that the
embankment is not strong enough. This embankment was
sufficient. Tao puddle wall is the real security of the water.
The only object of the embankment is to support the puddle
wall, not itself to keep out the water. It is not therefore
specially important that the earth of the embankment itself
should be such as will keep out water. This puddle wall
was 60 feet deep. The pressure of water in the pipes at
Sheffield is much greater than in those at Bradfield.
By the Coroner—lf an embankment is to support a pud-
dle wall, and the embankment is sufficiently strong, the
puddle bank will, of course, fall. I have examined the em •
b tnktnent since the flood, and think it was properly made.
Under the lower side there was a footing of stone, to pre-
vent the embankment slipping.
By the Jury—The pipes would ba carried through the
puddle trench if not through the embankment. They
would find that proper precautions had been taken against
any settling there, by which it was not likely that the pipes
would be broken.
By the Coroner really do not know the cause of the
embankment bursting. I have very great difficulty, indeed,
in forming any opinion worth relying upon. I can form
conjectures, and so can any body else, but they are not worth
much. There is a possibility of a landslip under the seat
of the embankment having produced it. Ido not believe
the embankment itself has slipped, bat the wratification
beneath it may have slipped.
Mr. Rawlinson—You mean that you do not think the
embankment was the first to slip P—That is the more cor-
rect way of putting it.
By the Coroner—A fracture of the pipes has been sug-
gested. If the pipes had broken that might have caused
it ; but we have no indication of any such breakage. I
hazard the conjecture that there has been a landslip beneath
the embankment, because we know they do take place; be-
cause a land slip taken place in this valley below the dam.
I am speaking of a slip under the embankment, not under
the puddle bank. I do not ascribe the bursting of the reser-
voir to unsound principles of engineering or to bad work-
manship. _ _

By Mr. Rawlinson—A blow would not cause equal injury
with a crack in the pipe, if such took place. Ido not know
the maximum volume of water, but it has been carefully
recorded. My view of the way in which a landslip might
take place is that the water that naturally percolates into
the strata would get between the face of the rock and the
bed of clay resting upon it, and cause the superincumbent
mass to slip off. The water through the fissures would be
cut off by the pud lie drain. I have not examined the bare
stratification on the by-wash side of the reservoir since the
flood, because I believe if the rock would allow the water to
percolate such water would be cut off by the puddle trench.
The Coronsr—lf the percolating water was not stopped
by the puddle, but went through the rocks at a lower level
than the bottom of the puddle trench, would it not have
had the effect of washing down the embankment on the low
side of the puddlebank ? The probability is that it would
find its way to a spring lower down the vallsy. I have not
seen the embankment of the Rivington Water Works at
Liverpool, lam not aware that the reservoir bottom there