The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-07 00:00:00

EXPERIMENTS AT SHOEFURYNESS

Yesterday the summer season at this highly scien-
fic place of destruction may be said to have been
commenced by the return of the Iron Plate Commit-
tee, after a rather long absence, to complete their
series of experiments on a target which has attracted
and deserved more attention than any that has ever
been tried at Shoebury—the target of Mr. Chal-
mers. From the fact of the discussions which have
arisen about this target in both Houses of Parliaa
ment, as well as that other important experiments
were to be tried, and that the Armstrong and Whit-
worth competition was still in progress, the experi-
month yesterday drew a large attendance to Shoe-
bury, including most of the members of the three
committees who have work in hand, and a number
of officers of all branches of the service. So much
had been said as to the powers of resistance of the
Chalmers' target, and so serious a difference of
opinion has arisen on this point between the Admi-
ralty, who deny its merits, and the officers and
scientific gentlemen appointed to conduct these
experiments, who uphold them, that it necessary
before referiing to the experiments which were
made yesterday to state brit fly what has already
passed in relation to this invention. It is now little
'more them 12 months since the Chalmers' system of
building ironclads w.a c.-perimont,a on at Stiootiary.
and of all the targets that have yet been tried—and
there have been a large number constructed et th
expense of the nation not worth the value of the
powder expended in shaking them to pieces—not
one has ever been shown to bs so perfectly satis-
factory as that of Mr. Chalmers. All inventors,
when they shake their mechanical theories against
the downright matter-of-fact arguments of the
guns at Shoebury, find that they have some-
thing to learn—most of them that they have
everything; and even Mr. Chalmers, as yet the
most successful of inventors of this kind, was no
exception to the former rule. Before the day's
firing at his target was over last year it was admitted
to be the most successful in its powers of resistance
ever experimented on, though Mr. Chalmers and all
on the ground saw at once that, without any in-
crease in its weight, but merely by a slightly dif-
ferent arrangement of the ironwork used in its
structure, its strength could be increased, perhaps,
30 per cent. —in fact, the target could be rendered
almost periect. At the time that this target was
tried everything but the Warrior had failed in the

most conspicuous and ignominious manner to resist
shot, the worst failures as a rule always being the
targets of our most eminent engineers. Mr. Chal.
mers, however, had made the Admiralty such a
liberal offer that they could not but accept it,
though they then believed that in the principle of
the Warrior target they had obtained perfection.
He offered to make bis target entirely at his own
expense for X 1,650, on the understanding that if its
principle of construction was of public value, and if
it resisted perfectly the artillery ordeal to which the
Admiralty would subject it, the Admiralty were to
pay for it. If, on the contrary, it was defective in
principle or strength Mr. Chalmers was to bear the
loss, and their lordships to hear no more about the
matter. On this agreement the target was tried in
April last at Shoeburyness. The target was 13ft.
long by 10ft. broad, faced externally with hammered
armour plates 31in. thick. Behind these were laid
longitudinal teak beams 10in. wide by about Sin.

deep, a web or flange of wrought iron t in. in thick-
ness passing between each beam, and being rivetted
to a plate lain. in thickness at the back. Behind this
plate, again, came another pad of teak Sin. thick,
which rested against the skin of the ship—the same
thickness as that of all our ironclads, 2 ths of an
inch, and behind this were the usual upright beams,

or iron ribs of the vessel. Thusit will be seen that

though the target was apparently a light one, from
its external plates being only 3•30 n. thick, yet, in
reality, it had, after ad, sin. of iron in it, with 15in.
of teak, exclusive of the longitudinal cellular iron
webbing we have mentioned between the teak

beams, which, though not nominally called upon to
resist the shot, yet, in truth, aided the resistance

enormously, by distributing the force of the con.
cussion and giving great stiffness to the whole
structure. The theory of the target was that its
peculiar arrangement of a cellular webbing be-
tween the teak and iron plate would obviate the

evils that generaily result from a backing com-
posed of wood only, such as buckling and penetra-
tion, and would guard against the equally injuriotv,
effects of vibration, which tell with such buveri ty
upon the fastening bolts. The plan of its con-

struetion had, therefore, been calculated to disperse
over a large area the power or work that existed

in the shot at the moment of impact, so as to give a
very large surface of resistance by the time the con-

cussion reached the inner lining of the ship's frame.
The trial to which this structure was subjected
was precisely similar to that of the Warrior, though,

as that of Mr. Chalmers was one-third smaller, it
W 53 obviously more severe for the smaller target, as

;he fire had to ho more concentrated. It is sufficient

now to say here that the apparently inexhausti.

ble powers of resistance of this small and compara-
tively light target perfectlyastounded everyone then
on the ground. Some three or foar of the rivet-beads
( which it was admitted were made too small) were

uuipcil off, one of the armour bultB luta bettu

placed, and the ribs gave signs of distress where
the great salvoes had been concentrated—but this

was all. At last, as a favour, Mr. Chalmers per.
mitted the 300-pounder, with its formidable steel
shot and 451 b. of powder to be tried against it, and
this went through it, as every one knew it would
do, though doing far less injury to the backing than
such ponderous missilee ordinarily inflict. On the
whole, the target was pronounced the most success-
ful ever tried, though all the officers then present
were of opinion at the close of the day that a slight
alteration wculd improve it, by reducing the thick-
ness of the iron plate between the beam of teak by
three-quarters of an inch, and adding the metal thus
gained to the 22-in. external plate, so as to bring the
latter up to 41in. in thickness. Such a change, i:
was confidently expected, would, without adding at
all to the weight of the target, add nearly 25 or even
30 per cent, to its powers of resistance. At all
events, it was then conclusively established that Mr.
Chalmers's system of backing armour was one which
required to be attentively considered and examined
with a view to the construction of future ironclads.
It was lighter than the iron frigates now building,
it was proved to be stronger, and its inventor
claimed that it was nearly 25 per cent. cheaper. The
lightness and cheapness are, of course, most im-
portant considerations, which when suparadded to
the all-important one of increased strength, spoke
loudly in favour of a careful trial of the new plan.
The Iron Plate Committee have, we believe, re-
ported on the success of Mr. Chalmers's system in
the strongest terms, but from that day to this the
Admiralty have refused to adopt it or allow of its
adoption in any way, or even to permit Mr. Chalmers
to make a fresh target with the improvements which
we have said were suggested by the officers on the
ground. They have since admitted the perfect success
of the target by paying not the £1,650 they agreed
for it—that is, £1,250 for the target, and £4OO to
Mr. Chalteers for his time and labour as an engineer
in constructing it,—but by paying for the cost
of construction, £1,250, and refusing to allow Mr.
Chalmers a single shilling for his time and trouble.
How they can possibly defend the expenditure of
£1,250 on the ground that the target was an im-
portant public benefit that justified the outlay, and
yet maintain that the gentleman who constructed it
deserved so little that they are entitled to break
their agreement with him and refuse him payment
for his time and labour, we are at a loss to conceive.
Such, however, is the fact as the matter now stands.
Mr. Chalmers, however, brings a far graver com-
plaint than this want of payment against the Ad-
miralty. Since his target was tried, another and a
very successful one, called the Bellerophon target,
has been made by Mr. Reed, the chief naval con-
structor. In our notice of the performances of this
at Shoebury last autumn we stated at the very out-
set that its designer had apparently derived some
most valuable hints from having seen that made by
Mr. Chalmers first. Certainly in the tests to which
it was subjected Mr. Reed appeared to be favoured.
The 300-pounder was fired three times at the
Chalmers' target ; twice with 1501 b. round shot
fired with 501 b. of pounder, and once with a 300-
pounder steel shot driven by 451 b. of powder. On
the contrary, the 300-pounder was only allowed
to be fired once at the Bellerophon target, and that
with a reduced charge of 351 b. of powder. In short,
3,6001 b. of shot, with a proportionate mass of
powder, were discharged throughout a long day at
the target of Mr. Chalmers, and only 1,5001 b. of
shot, with a proportionate reduction of charge,
were allowed to be fired against Mr. Reed's. It
was to show how different would have been the re-
sults had the trials been fairly made between
the two that the Chalmers' target was again fired
at yesterday with the maximum charges used
against Mr. Reed's—namely, a 1501 b. shot and 351 b.
of powder. These were spherical cast iron shot,
d from the 300spounder at 200 yards' range.
The first shot almost missed, as it struck just on
the edge of the lowest plate, and passed under it
into the earth. The second struck fairly, and re-
mained, with its larger half imbedded in the plate
to a d-pth of three inches, at the bottom of which
it ha,l made a crack iu the metal about half an inch
wide and four long. It broke two bolts which had
been hastily put iu without elastic washers (for the
whole target had to be roughly rebuilt for the pur-
poses of the experiment), but it did not penetrate
the plate or injure the inner skin. The third shot
struck on the edges of two plates near where they
had been injured before, but, in spite of this, it
failed to penetrate to the backing, and, in fact, its
entire mischief was, when compared with the missile,
slight beyond all expectation. These three shots
were considered so satisfactory to all as to the
strength of the target that further trials were
thought unnecessary, and it only remained to judge
by comparison from this how the positions of the
two targets would have been reversed if Mr. Reed's
had been tested so severely as Mr. Chalmers's, or
vice versa, Mr. Chalmers's had been only tried with
the comparatively light missiles which were chosen
for Mr. Reed's.
After this trial was over experiments were made
with steel shot of various tempers, manufactured
from the Bessemer metal by John Brown and Co.,
against a sk-inch plate, also of John Brown's. It
will be sufficient on this occasion to say that all the
shots were of excellent manufacture as to toughness
and quality of metal, and all gave that enormous
increase of penetration over projectiles made from
any other material which seems to prove conclu-
sively that in warfare against iron we must rely on
soft steel, and soft . steel only, for our missiles.
They at least do some mischief, but wrought or
cast iron in any shape—round, conical, or flat-
headed—are as useless as so much mud. But, good
as were the results effected by these shots, which
always made a serious indent varying from 3kin.
to nin., they were quite eclipsed by the really
wonderful performance of Messrs. Brown and Co.'s
armour plate. This was pronounced yesterday to
be the finest plate yet fired against. It had been
badly battered before the experiments commenced,
and had been penetrated through and through in two
places by the Armstrong 600 pounder. Yet, though,
in addition to these injuries, it received ten more
steel shot yesterday in a space of some six feet by
three, it never gave even the most trifling indica.
Lions of cracking, but to the last was as tough and
firm and uniform throughout as a slab of copper.
Experiments were then tried as to the best
mode of fastening on armour plates—whether
by rivets, by the improved Warrior bolts, or by
a new method proposed by Capt. E. M. Palliser, of
the 7th Hussars, a young officer whose scientific
attainments are well-known in the service. In this
competitive trial Capt. Palliser's plan achieved an
easy and conspicuous victory, as all the engineers
on the ground knew it would from its adherence in
principle to the plainest mechanical truths. All the
iron bolts in armour plates having been showing,
as plain as iron could show, that the reason
of their continually breaking was the diminu-
tion of strength caused by their screw threads
being cut into the substance of the bolt. Cap
tain Palliser has perfectly remedied this defeat
by turning down his bolts so as to leave
their screw thread at the end en profile—that
'Thusl9
to say so much thicker than the bolt itself.
the bolt has a certain thickness, and therefore
strength, plus the screw thread,yienssteteraddayofa,liiiithi/is
ts
the screw thread as hitherto.
bolts held firm, and none snapped their screw heads,
though the 68 pounder was tried against the plates
they fastened again and again. The other three
plans for rivecting or bolting on armour plates
all gave way sooner or later, so that in the
result of this
experiment wo may record another
important step
gained towards tlio complete effi-
ciency of our armour-frigates.
The Armstrong andWhitworth competition is
fast approaching its crisis as regards the real prac•
tical question now at issue—the endurance of the
guns. The details of the last week's trials are,
however, far too important to be dismissed at the
close of a long article, and we must therefore defer
our weekly resume of these experiments to another
occasion,

i f,,5_,
The iron-cased screw steam frigate Cal : ' 4il .
35 guns, was taken front the large bas in in i', -zrze
ncss dockyard on Thursday last for a, fe w mi
run, to . test the working capabilities of the mad
chinery previous to her official trial at tl L$ measured
mile. On Friday the first official trial of the en-
gines took place off the Maplin Sands. under the
immediate superintendence of Captain IN . K. Hall,
C. 8., chief of the Sheerness Steam Resery e ; Messrs.
'William Rumble, inspector of machiner: v afloat at
Sheerness ; George Bloxland, chief engineer of the
Sheerness Dockyard, and F. Martin, sttaior assist-
ant master shipwright, were in ettendan ce to watch
the results of the trial on the part of the Admiralty.
The firm of Messrs. Maudsley, Son, and Field, con-
tractors for the machinery, were repr wented by
Mr. Telford Field, and the engines were, in charg9
of Mr. Henry Warriner.
The Caledonia is a timber framed ves'se l, built at
Woolwich Dockyard, and Eke her ilif ter ships
Prince Consort, Ocean, and Royal Oak, -is cased in
rolled iron armour-plates 41 inches thick,. extending
from stem to stern and gunwale to five : Feet below
water line, the ship's sides being filled and solid and
strengthened with iron to enable them toe arry this
heavy armour, which is secured with throw gh bolts
having largewashers and nuts ou the inside. Ti leepper
deck is constructed of iron beams of the B utterly
type, upon which tin. plates are riveted, which
gives great strength to this part of the ship. The
whole of the work of the ship having been performed
by the artisans employed in a Government I.)ock.
yard, the vessel may be favourably contrasted with
others supplied by private contractors. The Cale.
donia is rigged, having her three lower masts and
bowsprits of iron, and her topmasts, yards, &c.,
being of wood. The standing rigging is of gal-
vanised iron-wire rope.
The machinery is supplied by the firm of Meters.
Maudsley, Son, and Field, of London, and consists
of a pair of horizontal double piste.' iod engines,
which work the screw shaft direct. Each engine
has the aveote of its starting and regulating levers
grouped logettri -wichte.---0021.---..:,t "..0.‘43..-of, thi
engineers. The massive shaft which passes through
the stem tube carries the propeller fixed upon it,
thus doing away with the well and hoisting appa.
ratus, which spoil so many of our noble ships and
cramp their steering apparatus. The propeller,
which has four blades, variable in pitch from 20ft.
to 25ft., and is 20in. long on line of keel, with a.
diameter of 21ft., was invented by the Admiralty,
and has been found very successful in decreasing the
vibration both in the Achilles as well as in this ves-
sel. The screw can be disconnected from the en-
gines when the ship is under sail by withdrawing
the coupling bolts and allowing the after length of
shaft and propeller to turn round. The vessel. is
fitted with two auxiliary engines for feeding the
boilers; there are also two others for extinguishing
fire and pumping out ship. Two steam crabs are
also fixed on deck for the purpose of raising ashes
and for general purposes.

During the trial the Caledonia had a draught of
water forward 22ft 4in, and aft 23ft llin. She had
on board 245 tons of coal, 200 tons of cables, stores,
&c., and about 100 tons of water, crew, &c. Her
guns and ordnance stores have not yet been put on
board. Six runs were made at full boiler-power on
the measured mile with the following results :
First run—time, smin 24 secs; speed, 11.111 knots;
revolutions of engines, 58 ; pressure of steam, 20;
vacuum, 26. Second ran—time, 3min 58sec ; speed,
15.126 knots ; revolutions of engines, 57 ; pressure
of steam, 19; vacuum, 26. Third run—time, smin.
3leec ; speed, 10876 knots; revolutions of engines,
58 ; pressure of steam, 19 ; vacuum, 26. Fourth run
—time, 3min 57sec ; speed, 15.190 knots; revolutions
of engines, 57; pressure of steam, 19; vacuum, 26.
Fifth run—time, smin 40sec ; speed, 10.588 knots ;
revolutions of engines, 56 ; pressure of steam, 16.5 ;
vacuum, 25.5. Sixth run—time, 4min Bsec ; speed,
14.516 knots; revolutions of engines, 56; pressure
of steam, 16.5 ; vacuum, 25.5, giving as a first
mean 13.118, 13.001, 13032, 12.889, and 12.552
knots ; and the second means, 13.059, 13.017, 12.961,
and 12.720 knots, the true means being 12.939 knots
per hour.

Naval and Military Intelligence,
- 40--

THE NAVY.
The screw steamship Bombay, 67, Capt. Colin A.
Campbell, from the eastward, arrived yesterday
mining at Plymouth. Rear-Admiral the Hon.
Charleri G. J. B. Elliot boi.ted his flag on board

during the forenoon, under the customary salutes.
She has been completed with fuel and will embark
supernumeraries, and unless there are any defects

to make good, will proceed at once for the South
Americuu station,

Letters received at Plymouth from the screw
steam-sloop Icarus, 11, state that she left Malta on
the 19th of April, and arrived at Gibraltar on the
28th, when she received orders to proceed home-
wards immediately. Her officers expect to call at
Portsmouth and then go to Sheerness, where the
crew will be paid off.

The paddlewheel sloop Gorgon, condemned to be
broken at Woolwich, was yesterday towed down to
Greenhithe by the Monkey, Master-Commander
Smithers, to act as a receiving hulk for the transfer
of the officers and crew of the Queen's steam-
yacht Osborne, Staff Commander Bower, four cased
of smallpox having made their appearance on board,
The sufferers have been transported to the Naval
Infirmary at Woolwich for treatment. The disease
commenced with the gunner's mate. On mustering
the ship's company for the doctor's inspection, three
others were found to have caught the infection, one
of whom is now very severely attacked. There are
at present 11 cases in the infirmary at Woolwich,
seven of whom are men of the Royal Marines. The
Osborne was brought up to Greenhithe for the
accommodation of the Board of Admiralty in their
inspection of the Channel Fleet.

The Admiralty yacht Vivid, Staff-Commander
Allen, was yesterday ordered to hold in readiness
at Woolwich to sail on Monday for Dover, to be in
attendance on the fleet now in the Downs. A
couple of dockyard lighters, laden with victualling
stores for the ships of the squadron, were yesterday
despatched from Woolwich in charge of a steams
tug.

The Admiralty yacht Black Eagle, Staff-Com-
mander Whillier, has sailed from Woolwich on
special service from Heligoland. It is rumoured
that the object of her mission is to watch the MVO..
ments of the Austrian ships of the line now in those
waters. It is otherwise reported that She is ded
spatched to Heligoland to bring home pilots rat
quired for the service of the Channel Fleet.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. George R. Bell, to the
Royal George; Dr. N. C. Iratherly, surgeon, to the
Assurance ; James Thomson, Burgeon, to the Enters
prise ; Ingham Hanbury• assists-surgeon, to the
Cumberland
formbe therlan
Gd;leJaonbenr
;Taunrnderj
o(Bhub engineer, to the In-
dus
Blight, engineer, to
the Galatea.

THE ARMY,
Major-Gen. Sir Richard Dacres yesterday re-
sumed big final inspection of the garrison at Wool-
wich, preparatory to his final resignation of the
command, by a muster of the Riding-house esta-
blishment, the whole of whom, officers and men,went
through a course of exercises in the upper and lower
schools, and displayed some very clever feats in
mounting and riding past with great effect.

ROYAL AUTOGRAPHS.—The Crown Princess of
Prussia and the King and Queen of Denmark have sent
their autographs to the New York:Sanitary Fair. The
Crown Princess's autograph is as follows :—" Victoria,
Crown Princess of Prussia, Princess Royal of Great Britain,
and Ireland."—New York Times.

THE INTOLERABLE BOTTLER OF CITY PROPERTY.

--At the Auction Mart the other day, during the
sale of some property E tua to in the line of the street lead-
ing from Blackeners Bridge to the Mansion House, the
auctioneer stated that the owner of the property could
seldom get his breakfast in a morning, without being dis-
turbed by some one or other who knew he had City pro-
perty, and wanted to know if any part of it was to be dis-
posed of. He had also been applied to by upwards of sixty
auctioneers and surveyors to negotiate with the improve-
ment commissioners the terms of compensation for the pro-
perty required for the new street, and he found his City
property to he such an "intolerable bother," that he was
detertniaed to get tid of it hitogythtr,—city

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1864.

GARIBALDI himself appeps to have a little more
common sense than his ultra-enthusiastic admirers
in this country ; including amongst them, by the
way, the aged Prime Minister of England. For, it
will be observed that, with a proper respect for
his own dignity, and with some show of care, on
his part at least, for what are conventionally called
the proprieties, the famous Condottiere declines to
receive the pecuniary testimonial recently getting
up for him here in London. This extraordinary and
incomprehensible tribute in the shape of money, it
will be remembered, was set on foot at a meeting
of the General's over-zealous friends at Stafford
House. That meeting was convened during GARI•
BALDrS stay in Loudon. It took place imme-
diately after ho bad removed from the Duke of
SUTHERLAND'S princely mansion to Mr. SEELEY'S
residence out at Kensington-Gore. It is incon-
ceivable how those who took part in it should have
set a movement like this afloat for the raising of sub-
scriptions to create a fund eventually to be handed
over to the Great Italian Adventurer, without
having previously ascertained whether any such
testimotill would be The
acceptable by him.
event would, however, appear to indicate quite
distinctly that such was really the case. That, in
fact, the Duke, Mr. SEELEY, and the rest of them
ac'.ually put their heads together to make a purse
for GARIBALDI, without having had the civility,
firet of all, to learn from GARIBALDI himself
whether the proffering of such a purse, when
filled, would be looked upon by him in the light
of an insult, or of an act of homage. The upshot of
it all comes like a bit of an anti-climax. The
subscriptions paid in will have to be handed back
again to the several contributors. Lord PALMER-
STON will receive his £lOO sterling. The Poet
Laureate, Mr. TENNYSON, will pocket again his
.1:1 one shilling. And so forth. Not much, after
all, had been collected together to swell the
funds of this curious testimonial. About as much,
perhaps, as had been scraped together with exceed■
ing difficulty, by the National Shakspere Com-
mittee—to the ead of raising, at last, if possible, a
fitting monument lo the Great National Poet and
Dramatist, the Greatest Poet the world has ever
seen, here, in this wealthy metropolis ! It

would be difficult to say which of the two move-
ments has proved the more ridiculous failure, the
more flagrant fiasco! The abortive attempt to collect
anything approaching to the amount talked of—
the sum of £30,000 for the SHAKSP ERE monument !
Or the equally abortive attempt to get up in Eng.
land (why in England ?) a grand subscription list
for GARIBALDI, the Italian Adventurer, In each
instance the sums contributed have been collectively
very far short of the mark originally proposed.
GARIBALDI, land of
being happily for him in the
the living, is enabled to say—Much obliged to you;
I thank you very much, but I'd really rather not;
and therefore pray take back your gifts ! You,
Mr. TENNYSON, your munific:nt offering to me of
a guinea! You, Lord PALM ERSTON, the £lOO put
down by you as the Prime Minister of Eng-
land, to me, the Red Shirt of Melazza and Ca-
latafima—nay, for that matter, the Red Shirt no
less of the Heights of Aspromonte !—lt is really
nothing less than a ludicrous anti-climax in either
instance—in the instance of GARIBALDI, the great
Adventurer, and in the instance of SHAKSPERE, the
great Poet and Dramatist. The latter, if he were
still alive, we may be equally well assured, would de-
cline the proffered tribute of the N. S. T, C. quite as
peremptorily as GARIBALDI has declined that offi-
ciously suggested a week or two back at Stafford
House. Pity he can't ! For—unless something
should happily arise to prevent it—we are threat-
ened with having erected to the memory of SHAKS -
PERE, here in London, if any monument at all, one
—judging at least from the smallness of the sum
yet collected together—wholly unworthy either of
London or of SHAKSPERE, either of the Wealthiest
City of the World or of the Greatest Poet.

The quarterly report which the Registrar-Gene-
ral has just issued is in some respects of unusual
interest. In it we learn the actual effects of these
bitter weeks which mowed down age and weakness
with so unsparing a hand. From it we may also
gather some indications of the returning prosperity
now happily perceptible in our northern districts.
It is worth noticing, since the number of marriages
is usually taken as a test of the condition of trade,
that the marriages in the year 1863 were the most
numerous ever recorded, although, having regard
to the increase of population, they did not attain
the highest rate. In the last quarter of the year
more especially their number was unusually large
more so than it has ever been since the registration
began. The most satisfactory part of this intelli-
gence is, that their increase was very largely due to
the seats of the cotton and woollen manufacture,
and also to the coal and iron districts, thus affording
the most convincing testimony that the clouds which
have so long hung over our manufacturing industry
are rapidly breaking, and that hope and courage
are rising in the hearts of the people. Coming to
the current year, of which, of course, we have only
one quarter's returns, the figures seem determined
to keep up the high rate of the marriage returns of
the last twelvemonth. The birth-rate, instead of
the average 3.605 per cent. per annum, is 3'740,
and the increase is everywhere perceptible, ex-
cepting in London and the south-west. But the
other item which exceeds the average at once ar-
rests the attention. We have all knows that the
deaths during the early months of the present year
were unusually frequent, and we were prepared to
find an excess of the average in the quarterly re-
turns, seeing that the severest visits of
King Frost were all paid us after the
year had turned. The revelations of the
Registrar are, however, absolutely startling. There
has seldom, we know, been a more fatal winter;
indeed, the only winters that can compare to it
during a long space of time were the two winters
succeeding the failure of the potato crop, and the
winter of the Crimean war. Such remarkable ex-
ceptions to the ordinary routine would certainly be
quite out of place in a comparison with any ordi-
nary season, bat we may with truth look upon the
early menthe of this year as something unusual.
Upon an average 1,572 persons died every day in
England and Wales, the total number of deaths for
the quarter being 143,030, that is to say, 14,698 in
excess of the average ! Those who talk so much
about bracing air, good seasonable weather, and so
on, may learn for their future guidance that when
the thermometer falls to freezing point the morta-
lity rises all over the country, and that one bitter
night when the mercury fell 17 degrees below freez-
ing point cost 877 lives, In this excessive morta-
lity London suffered most severely, owing partially
from the sensitiveness of its inhabitants to cold,
partially to the large number of its inhabitants
always floating on the verge of starvation, and par-
tially to the absence of that kindly aid which is
more likely to reach the destitute in less populous
places, The latter fact is proved by the mortality
of Lancashire and Cheshire not increasing in the
same proportion as that of the metropolis, notwith-
standing the partial continuance of the distress.
The manner in which the public health has been
preserved through so long continued and severe a
trial affords ample evidence of how much may be
done towards checking excessive mortality by
an efficient and organised system of re-
lief. Could we by any possibility apply to
the distressed districts of the east of London some
of the social machinery which has worked EO hap-
pily in Lancashire during the last two years, we
should hear less of those melancholy cases of deaths
from cold and want which have, during the past
few months, become only too common. Another
thing that tends to increase the number of deaths is
the high price of fuel. Fire, as the Registrar-
General justly observes, is a necessary of life in this
climate, and he expresses his conviction that any-
thing which tends to cheapen coal, such as the abolie
Lion of duties or the laying down of railways, will
preserve many lives in severe seasons. In support
of this view ho tells us to compare the rise in the
rate of mortality in the south-eastern districts with
that in the north, where coal is cheap. In the
former it was 18 per cent. higher than in the two
preceding quarters, in the latter it was only 4 per
cent. This startling difference must certainly have
some cause, since it is evident that the cold would
be, if anything, intenser in the northern counties.
Before good drainage were so universal, and while
many important sanitary measures were yet unre-
garded, the summer months were the most fatal.
Thanks to the energetic labours of late years we
have diminished those dangers, but the peril now
meets us from another quarter, and it would be
well, before the Frost King is among us ;gale,
seriously reflect upon the best means of meeting
it. l
have also to consider how
far the public
re
health is to be regarded as in a satisfactory state,
when so large a portion of the populace is in
80 low a condition as to succumb to the first un-
kindly influence.

At the present juncture it is interesting to notice
1 the article in the Danish newspaper the Daghladet,
touching the Conference at London, and how far it
affects the prospects of Denmark. In this case, as in
many similar ones, there is always a great deal to
be heard on all sides, and everyone can give an
opinion very glibely, but those most intimately con-
cerned are apt to be passed over in the hurry of the
lookers.on, to declare their views and enunciate
their policy. It is wise, then, to turn aside for a
moment from the more exciting topics of debate, and I

the prominent points of discussion, to mark and
learn what is thought of these momentous themes
at a distance from the spot where they are being
entertained by the various Powers. The opinions
expressed in this article seem most straightforward;
and painful as the picture before us is to contem-
plate, none can deny its truth or doubt its accuracy.
What vast meaning there is in the assertion that
the " vital question" of Denmark is taken from
their hands and transferred to the Conference now
sitting in London. Great stress is laid on the im-
portance of an armistice, and too truly have events
that have recently occurred proved the justice of the
remark that this essential requisite should have been
obtained before the commencement of the Confer.
ence. It does indeed appear amazing that such an
idea was not carried oat, and the very lukewarm
manner in which this vital question was taken up
seems to preclude the notion that our Government
was really in earnest in the cause, or that they en-
tertained any more hope of their soi disant expecta-
tioos being fulfilled. It was virtually letting the
case go by default, thus to give up an important
point at the outset, and no one can wonder that the
unhappy sufferers by this negligence feel irritated
and indignant when they reflect upon the manner
in which they have been treated. Who can fail to
coincide with the strictures passed upon our dilatory
and delusive Cabinet for the course they have
adopted, speaking so fair, and acting so coldly to
the brave little nation in distress. They who sum
up after events will ratify the judgment here given
of their actuating spirit which was love of place,
not reverence for justice. " The English Govern-
ment thought of nothing else but keeping power in
its own hands" is truly declared, and all conscien-
' tious observers must lament the circumstance. Had
the Conference met earlier the calamity of Dybbol
might have been avoided, bat delay followed delay,
and one put off was succeeded by another until, as
it is here impressively narrated, " the heart's-blood
of Denmark flowed in streams upon the soil of
Schleswig." When all these sad suggestions are
dwelt upon it is almost impossible to avoid fearing
that the dark side of the picture here presented to
notice may prove the correct one after all, and
nothing really be gained for the interests of Den-
mark in the workings of this tardy Conference in
their protracted deliberations, and few and far be-
tween meetings. It is all very well for cold and
cautious critics to dilate upon the topic, and to de-
clare that, of course, these ideas are exaggerated,
and these opinions in the extreme. The fact is, the
language of those who feel differs widely from that
of those who only think, and they who are concerned
heart and soul in a cause which relates to their
existeece can more readily express themselves with
energy and excitement than those who look at the
issues of life and death, the struggle for freedom or
oppression, with the cynical regard of prejudice or
the callous glance of indifference. If any part of this
protest be true, it is a bitter reflection for us, for
the great country that has suffered the small and
weak ore to fall into the grasp of ruthless invaders
—fox the mighty people who have been bamboozled
by Conferences, treaties, despatches, and missions,
while the brave little population of a gallant nation
have been confused by intimations, misled by pro-
mises, and finally left to cope single-handed with
enemies whose demands increase with their pro-
gress, and the relinquishment of spoils seems only
to whet their desire and enhance their greed for
more. This article in the Dagbladet really puts
the chief circumstances of the case before us in a
striking manner, and recapitulates the leading fea-
tures of a case which has assumed so painful an in-
terest to all who respect the rights of nationality
and the privile'Kes of freemen.