The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-22 00:00:00

ITALY.

A letter from Rome says—" The famous Engard
Gasparoni, who is at present confined in the citadel
of Civita Castellama, will, it is said, shortly be
sent to another prison. He is the man of whom
the illustrious Trappist, Baron Geramb, recounts
such extraordinary exploits. Gasparoni pretends
that he has been shamefully calumniated. It is
alleged,' he says, that I have committed nearly
eighty murders ; but that is an impudent falsehood.
I have only committed thirty-six on my own ac-
count, and I cannot be made answerable for others in
which I may have been engaged.' This brigand is
tall, and of rather venerable appearance. Re is nearly
sixty years of age ; his beard is entiroly white, and he
wears the pointed Calabrian hat. The French soldiers
who guard the fort sometimes converse with him. He
amuses them by his jokes and frightful naiveté.
As he capitulated to the Government, he has not been
brought to trial, neither has his hand. His liberty
has several times been cfLred to him, but he has con-
stantly refused it, unless his family, as he calls his
band, shall also be nileased."

MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS.
NIIMRER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED IN

WEEK ENDI;:iG SATURDAY, SEPT. IS, 1552.
Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious Diseases ...*278
Diseases of Uncertain Seat 39
Tubercular Diseases ... ••• ... 162
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses... ... 74
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels ... 22
Diseases of tho Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration ... 103
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion... ... "**
Diseases of the Kidneys, Bze.
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin,
Malformations...
Premature Birth
Atrophy
Old Ago
Sudden
Violence, Privaion, Cold, awl Intemperance
Causes not 3pccified

... 59

... 10

... 21
... 33
... 56

DEATHS FROM ALL CAuns ...
Population Death' in corre. Deaths
Enumerated, spending 'New,
lesl. or Is's:• in the
West Districts... 376,427 • • 163 Week.
North Districts.. 490,396 .. 206 133
Central Districts 393,256 ... R ••• 188
East Districts ... 485,522 • 2173-4 :1: 14
.8
[South Districts.. 616,635 ... 316 ... ;VI

T0ta15........ 2,362,236
Males ... ...
Females ..„ .••

1O

••• 913
... 470
443

BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

... 718

Mules •••
Females

720

Total 1,438
* In this number are included 67 by SearlatiNa. 36
by Typhus Fever, 106 by Diarrheea, and 8 by Cholera.

NEW STEAM-DOCKS IN THE BRISTOL

CHANNEL.

Somersetshire is divided upon a nautical question.
It is proposed to make new docks for the ocean-
atearners which are now multiplyinc, so rapidly. Al-
ready an Australian Company has obtained a survey
of the coast of the Bristol Channel; the people of the
place are on the alert, and Bristol suddenly awakes to
the fact that if it do not bestir itself in emulation of
Liverpool Glasgow, and Southampton, it may " be
obliterated from the list of important seaports:'
Steam-
ships of immense size, twice the length of the
Great Britain, are in
process of construction ; and
opinion inclines
to anticipate a continuance in the
practice of making
%hips much larger than they have
been. Ports of corresponding size are needed ; and
in a trade so suddenly and rapidly increasing, there is
room for the Severn to take its share without de-
frauding the Thames, the Clyde
, the Mersey, or the
Solent. Various plans are on foot; but two may be
said to divide the field; and
they may also be
described, in general terms, as
,f being
severally sup-
ported by
eCiount Bristol, and by the
the merchantmen
country gentlemen of
57 into a large
and to connecOne plan is, to convert. P.otislle.ad 13 •
harbour, by erecting
t the new
port with the Great
Westernßailway, This
piers ,
port
has the advantage of being near to Bristol. We are
assured that the intended railway is not really, asat
first might be supposed, a revival of the abandoned
project of the Portbury Pier and Harbour line, b
ti
that it offers great improvements on that scheme. TO
avoid expensive tunnelings, it will make a detour by
Pill, Ham Green, and Rownlaam Ferry ; and it is cal-
culated that " the whole cost of the line and piers,
including law-charges," will not exceed 120,0001.
The last statement---" including law-charg,es, '
too . ,
looks astounding; but it is evidently
less tangible in
its data than the other parts of the plan, and therefore
challenges less exact criticima ; and there is no doubt
that the docks and any needful approaches will be
well worth their cost, whatever that may be. We
are told by a local paper friendly to this plan, that it
" cannot fail to be of the greatest benefit to Bristol,"
as the Corporation of Bristol and the Bristol Charity
Trustees are the greatest owners of the land at Por-
tishead, and in enhancing its value they are increasing
the rents of the Councii and the Trustes."
The other plan starts from the suggestion of Lieu-
tenant Denham, who made the Admiralty survey of
the Bristol Channel in 1835. Mr. Denham pointed
to oat place es the hmurei site of a port for Ireland,

THE

SIT N,

for America, Australia, and indeed for the world.
That place is Sand Bay, an indentation of the coast
nearer to the sea than Portishead ; and the advocates
of this plan are not only strong in that unconcerted
authoritative reinforcement, but they point to many
inherent and collateral advantages. One essential of
a great dock should be its ready accessibility ; and
in this respect Sand Bay is somewhat better off than
Portishead, since it lies but a little way off the main
trunk of the Great Western, and between two of its
branches, those to Clevedon and to Weston-super-
Mare. Sand Bay is barely two miles from that
trunk line ; the new railway which would of course
be constructed might, for less money than the Portia-
head branch by Rownham-ferry, be rendered direct,
and more ample ; probably furnished with double
lines. The whole of the section of coast, therefore,
that includes Sand Bay would be provided with its
own direct branch and side branches to what
may be called the suburban wings that would
inevitably extend coastways from the docks.
On the other hand the bay is right opposite
to Cardiff, and within ten miles of that port, and
within fifteen miles of Newport ; so that its supplies
of coal, iron, &c., would be at a peculiarly handy
distance. The Sand Bay plan has the advantage of
larger space within the natural port—space enough
for a navy ; the bottom is a firm soft mud, harmless
to ships, easy to build upon;; and at low-water mark
there is a sudden depth capable of fhating the largest
ship in the world at all tides. These are great posi-
tive advantages ; hut the scheme also claims some
scarcely less important negative advantages. Some
of the dangers darkly illustrious in the traditions. of
the Bristol Channel commence exactly at Sand Poi.nt,
the upper natural pier of Sand Bay, and exten,d, in-
vidiously enough to Portishead : the shoal called. the
English and Welsh grounds " occupies that portion of
the Channel on the Southern coast. San, d Bay is
clear of that peril; it has exactly. the
' westing"
which is prized in the navigation. of
.Channel, and
paproert. It is not
seaward it is obstructed by no difficulties to the voy.
offered, by
age, outward or inward.
l fors., panshltiehesyu
theirsu Such
respectiveare he
friends,tw o p
for us, on the first inspection of the two, to pronounce
which is the better. Obvious mercantile proximity,
and old traditions of Bristol--great. port of coloniza-
tion in olden times, which gave to Barbadoes some of
its earliest settlers—might incline us, with the local
traders, to Portishead. Evident natural advantages,
and the prospect of a certain substantive sufficiency
to itself, might attract us, with the county people, to
Sand Bay. But the right choice ought to be deter-
mined by important facts, which are not yet before
us in their bearing on the two plans ; and it will pro-
bably be for Parliament to decide. The day has per-
haps gone by when corruption could decree its golden
dictates to Select Committees on private bills ; and
this question, which possesses a more than imperial, a
cosmopolitan interest, will be watched too generally
and too keenly to be decided on any other ground
than that of the essential facts.—Spectator.