The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4, 1863.

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the fact that the Americans are too
trlahicreagrneeinaidnedasst;rong a nation." For the rest, the cause
of the Union numbered many friends in England
among the members of the Government—the Queen
and the late Prince Consort first and foremost—
many organs of the Press, and a number of worthy
and influential persons, of whom he gave the names
in the midst of the applause of his delighted audi-
ence. Mr. Beecher's style of eloquence is now
familiar to most people in England, and needs no
remark on my part. Only it seems that he last
evening addressed his audience with a kind of home
ifeeling, and that the certainty of success bore him
up so as to render his triumph more brilliant than
any achieved by him on former occasions.

November 21.

General Burnside assures his friends at IWash-
ingto❑ that he is " all right," safe in his " impreg-
nable position" at Knoxville. His communica-
tions, however, are cut off in every direction. De-
spatches of the 19th report that there was fighting
throughout that day all round the closely beset
place. With the exception of Knoxville, all East
Tennessee is lost to the Federals, and it is very ques-
tionable whether a diversion in favour of the shut
up General can be effected either by Grant, who has
to be aware of Bragg, or by Meade, who seems to
seek for Lee everywhere where he is not. Grant,
after Sherman's junction with Thomas, is, numeri-
cally, very strong, but he has to deal with very per-
plexing difficulties of the ground, where his adver-
saries are evidently much more at home than he is.
The Northern newspapers begin to-day to find out
that " the statement that the rebel authorities had
refused permission to convey provisions and cloth-
ing to the Union prisoners in Richmond appears to
have been a mistake." Not only have the authori-
ties there accepted the contributions, but have ap-
pointed a commission of Union officers to distribute
them. The rebel officers only " objected to our agents
accompanying the supplies within their lines." It
is all precisely as I had stated : how foolish ought
those fanatics to feel now who only yesterday en-
deavoured to stir up the wrath of the Northern peo-
ple, and were ready to preach a crusade against the
inhuman monsters at Richmond !" The Lawyer-
General Schenck has achieved another of his great
electoral victories in Delaware. As he had done i❑
Maryland, he beset the polls with strong military
detachments, and put the voters to the ordeal of his
terrific " loyal" oath. The Democrats of the State
conceived that the military had no constitutional
right to impose such an oath, they resented the
misdeed as an indignity, and abstained en masse
from she suffrage. The Republican candidate for
Congress, Mr. Smithers, has been returned almost
unanimously, the dissentient votes hardly amount-
ing to 13. By such means, doubtless, the Admin-
istration is sure of a majority, both in Congress and
in State Senate and Assemblies, on the Bench, and
in all State and municipal bodies.

902,907 inhabitants ; the Duchy of Holstein 153
square miles, with 544,914 inhabitants; the Duchy
of Lauenburg 119 square miles, and 50,147 inhabi-
tants. Thus the duchies contain unitedly 1,804.473
iuhabitants, whilst the kingdom and the accessory
countries only contain 1,724,470. The population
are attached to the Lutheran faith, as only 21,332
people belong to other religions. As regards lan-
guages, in Schleswig 146,500 inhabitants are said to
be in the parts where low German is spoken, 135,000
in those where Danish is the language, 33,000 in
the Friedland district, and about 85,000 in the
parts where the language is mixed. The limit of
language is traced by a line proceeding from Ton-
dern to Flendsbarg. The merchant navy of the
kingdom includes 2,806 vessels of about 70,000 lasts
barthen ; that of Schleswig 1,562 of 31,000 lasts;
and that of Holstein 1,413 of 25,000 lasts."

is a long narrow gauge siding running parallel with the up
main line. Yesterday morning a truck which was standing
on it was, by the force of the wind, blown in the direction
of the points that lead to the up line. By inadvertence the
points appear to have been left in a wrong position ; and as
soon as the truck reached the spot it was turned upon the
main line, where it got off the rAils. In consequence of the
darkness that prevailed no person noticed the obstruction,
and a goods train was allowed to proceed towards the sta-
tion. However, it had not gone far before it came in contact
with the truck, smashing it to atoms. Ae far as we have
been able to ascertain no one sustained any injury ; but the

permanent way was blocked for some time. About the same
time several other trucks on another siding were blown some

distance, and were not stopped until they had run over the
stop-block and done considerable damage. The signals at
different parts of the line have been blown down.
In the Eastern Counties the gale was very high through-
out the whole of yesterday. The trains on the Great Eastern
Railway were slightly delayed, but no serious casualty had
been reported as having taken place on shore. It was re-
potted last night by telegraph from Great Yarmouth that a
sloop, the Peace, otlArundel, had foundered in the roadstead,
and that two of the hands hal been lost. A brig and crew
are also said to have been lost on the Scroby Sands.
At Peterborough, one of the pinnacles of the Cathedral
was blown down into the garden of the Bishop's Palace.
The gable ends of several houses had been blown in, and
entire stacks of corn were strewn about the country. The
railway signal posts in various places near Peterborough
had been blown down. Last night snow was falling, and the
gale had scarcely abated in fury.
In Staffordshire the gale raged with great fury. At

Hanley, in the district of the Potteries, the high wind
was for several hours accompanied with feartul flashes of

lightning, loud thunder, and a heavy fall of hail. The wall
of a factory fell and did serious damage. A shop-front in
Market-square and the end of a house in Broom-street were
blown in, a house in Cannon street was thrown down, and
several roofs were completely stripped. The roof of the
Town-hall was injured. The minor casualties were innu-
merable ; for several hours all street traffic was suspended.
At Burslem a potter's oven was blown down and a man was
buried in the ruins. The roof of the Washington Works at
the same place was partially destroyed.
At Nottingham yesterday the storm raged with great fury
and continued with scarcely abated violence during the
whole day. Houses were unroofed, and walls and chimneys
everywhere blown down. At Lenton, a mile out of the
town, the roof of a barn was blown right over into an ad-

joining field—a distance of many yards. Numbers of per-
sons have been injured but no lives have been lost. The
gale is supposed to he the most severe ever known in Not-

tinghatn.
At Manchester the gale broke out with great fury yester.-
day morning. A Welsh chapel in course of erection in
Upper Medlock-street, and nearly completed, was almost
entirely demolished. A high factory chimney at Pendleton
was blown down, and many house chimneys were destroyed,
carrying in the roofs of houses near them. A new house,
nearly finished, was blown down at Longsight : trees on
Ardwick-green and o her places were broken down or up-
r oted, and though no serious accident attended with loss
of lite had been heard of up to last night, it was said that
no storm for a long time past had done so much mischief.

At Liverpool throughout the whole of Wednesday night
there was a high wind accompanied by heavy rain. Towards
daybreak the rain teased, but the wind rose, and by eight
o'clock it blew with terrific force. Such a storm had not
been known in Liverpool for many years. The anemometer
indicated a pressure of 431 b. to the square inch. The gale
continued to blow with power for a very considerable time,
The shipping in the river, as was to be expected, first
suffered. Soon after 9 o'clock the whole line of wall in
front of the extensive range of docks was studded by large
vessels, which being forced from their anchorage were
driven against or in dangerous proximity to the sea wall,
pier-heads, and landing-stages. Many of these were placed
in imminent danger, and not a few sustained seri ,us damage.
Between 9 and 10 o'clock the screw steamer Albanian, be-
longing to Messrs. Bibby, outward bound, after being in
collision with the Scottish Belle, drove upon the Plucking-
ton Bank, off the Albert pier-head. She was there placed in
a situation of great peril, being exposed to the full fury of
the gale, which, although subjected to occasional lulls,
manifestly increased in intensity as the tide began to flow.
About 3 o'clock three powerful steamtugs were made fast to
this vessel, and endeavoured to avail themselves of the
rising tide to get her off. For a long period the efforts
made to move the vessel were uns,ccessful, and lively fears
were entertained for her ultimate safety, an4l up to the
moment when our despatch had to be made up it was
questionable whether she would be got off or not. The ship
Star, belonging to Mr. S. R. Gravas, was, early in the fore•
noon, driven against St. George's Landing-stage, and was
there moored in comparative ,safety. Shortly before noon
the Liverpool lifeboat was despatched from the Prince's
stage, in tow of a tugboat, to the assistance of a vessel out-
side. At 10 15 a schooner was driven ashore on the Little
'Libre Island, at the mouth of the Dee, and was break-
ing up. The ship Lew Choo, from Bombay, was dragged
ashore close alongside the north end of Prince's-pier.
Two flats were on Pluckington Bank, with their crews
in the rigging; the lifeboat had gone to them. The
Margaret Campbell (brig), of Waterford, was ashore at the
entrance of Brumley-Moore Dock, with signals of distress
flying. A large ship dismasted was ashore off the North
Docks. A flat was sunk about 11 30 off Seacombe Wall,
and all hands on board were supposed to be lost. The ship

Lampedo, inward bound, was drifted a considerable way
down the river, and was aground at Harrington Dock. A
flat went down early in the morning off St. George's Land-
ing-stage. The John Bunysn had drifted against the North
Landing-stage, had to get all her masts cut away; she was
towed off, a wreck. The Jean Francois, a French brig,
sunk off the Waterloo Dock. A collision took place be-
tween a steamer and a ship midway in the river, when the
bowsprit of the latter was carried away. In different parts
of the town the effects of the storm were also very severely
felt.
In Birkenhead the gale was quite as destructive. About
20 minutes before 9, when the wind was strongest, a chim-
ney 40ft. high was blown down at the Albion Oilworks,
Duke-street North, but fortunately no one was injured.
About the same time the large plate-glass windows in front
of Mr. Hinson's, ironmonger, Argyle-street, were blown in
with a terrific smash, and a number of crystal chandeliers
and other valuable property destroyed. The damage to
stock alone is upwards of V.OO. At 10 o'clock the skylight
of Mr. Styan's furniture shop on the opposite side of the
street gave way, and the wind thus gaining entrance blow
out several of the large plate windows at the front and west
side of the shop. In Hamilton-square and many other
localities windows were blown in. Slates and chimney-pots
falling continua:ly made the passage of the streets very

perilous.
At Leeds the storm was severely felt. Damage was done
to the extent of £2OO to the Smithfield Foundry in North -
street. In several instances incompleted buildings were
much injured. In consequence of a heavy tall of rain, the
river Aire was much swollen, but up to yesterday after-
noon there had been no unusual inundation.
At Shields on Wednesday the wind suddenly veered
round from the S.E. to N, W. The harbour and docks in
the Tyne are quite crowded with laden vessels. Although
a storm warning was hoisted in the pore on Tuesday, so
venturesome are many of the shipmasters and seamen that,
though the weather had a mostunpromisingappeatancesotne
laden vessels towed out of the tiers on Wednesday evening,
about 4 o'clock, and proceeded out to sea. On Tuesday after-
noon, as a coble, manned by Charles and William Hood and
William Hastings, pilots, was making, under sail, for the
West Hartlepool harbour, a sea broke over her when about
100 yards from the entrance, and half filled her with water.
The next sea washed the men out of the coble, and capsized
the boat. Several persons witnessed the occurrence, and
the pier was soon lined with spectators, doubtful as to the
probability of the men keeping above water until assistance
arrived, as not another boat was in the bay. There was a
danger attending the attempt of any of the tiny boats at
hand putting off to the rescue of the poor fellows. However,
the crew of a fishing-smack manned their boat, and pro-
ceeded out of the harbour, but they soon found the diffieult3
of pulling against a heavy sea and wind. They had nearly
reached the men, when a sea struck their boat, and sent them
a distance of 20 yards into the back sweep around the pier.
It was impossible for them to regain their lost position, and
as they were in the midst of heavy breakers they then
studied their own safety, and made for the shore. Another
boat, belonging to a Hartlepool pilot, succeeded in rescuing
the men, who were quite exhausted, having been about 25
minutes struggling in the sea. Several times they lost
their hold of the keel of the boat, and were washed a short
distance from it, but the 3 always managed to reach it again.
The smack's boat drifted among the breakers behind the
pier, and the boat filling with water, the men jumped out
and swam to the shore, which was not a great distance.

At Newport, Monmouthshire, on Wednesday afternoon,

a boat wag capsized in the river, and a boy named Pitman
was drowned. The drum has been hoisted at the docks, and
all the vessels in the docks and liver have had to strengthen
their moorings. Chimneys, roofs, &c., have been dismantled
in exposed parts of the town, but fortunately, though pro-
perty has been considerably damaged, no other lives have
been lost.

In Cornwall the storm broke out on Wednesday morn-
ing, and reports from various places show that few, if any,
parts of the county have escaped without injury fr ,m the
violence of the gale. At Truro a chimney-stack was blown
through the house of a Mr. Greenwood, and fell with great
violence on a bed from which a corpse had a few hours be-
fore been removed. The legs of the bedstead were forced
through the flooring. A house was partly blown down near
Holston. Great injury has everywhere been done to
stackyards. Several vessels of the Cornish coast have been
greatly damaged, and it is reported that a French schooner
has been lost with three of her crew. Oa Wednesday the
Friar Tuck, of Liverpool, from China, laden with tea for
London, drove ashore at Scilly. T wo other English vessels
and four French vessels parted anchor and drove ashore.
In the Bristol Channel, on Wednesday, two vessels --one
the Epeney Lass, of Glocester, the other the Swansea
Packet, of Bridgwater—went down, and were entirely lost
at the tail of the Gore, near Burnham. The crew of the
Swansea Packet, consistiug of Captain Watts, the owner,
and two men, were drowned. One of the crew of the Epeney
Lass was also drowned, the others reaching Burnham in a
boat. Tho two yowls WC' it down in sight of each other.