The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-13 00:00:00

COMMUNICATION WITH INDIA.

The following paragraph from our ship news, which
might easily escape the attention of a superficial or heed-
less reader, announces an important fact, viz., that the pro-
ject of steam communication with the Red Sea with India
is already accomplished, and in actual and successful ope-
ration. It announces that the last communication has been
effected in 43 days, allowing for the stoppage at Alexan-
dria. This fact must be highly gratifying to the whole mer-
cantile interest of the country, and replete with happy au-
guries to the advocate of Indian amelioration :
" Ship News, Nov. 29.—The Atalanta left Bombay on the
2d of October, and arrived at Suez on the 16th of October,
with the mail of September, and at Alexandria on the 20th of
October, from whence the mail was dispatched by her Ma-
jesty's ship Volcano, on the 7th of November, and arrived at
Malta on the 11th, and was dispatched from Malta to Gibraltar
by her Majesty's ship Firefly, on the 16th of November, and
was due here on Monday the 4th of December."
While we state that the result here recorded must be
highly gratifying to commercial men, it is in no slight de-
gree gratifying to ourselves, who have from the commence-
ment, with unabated zeal, on every possible occasion that
offered, and in many forms, maintained the advantage and
practibility of accelerating our communications with India,
by employing the Egyptian route. The great result
accomplished may be designated in a few emphatic words.
The " awful dependency," as Mr. Canning termed our
Indian Empire, with its enormous population, its pecu-
liar customs and habits, and its opposing creeds, is
brought practically nearer to this country in point of
time (which is tantamount to distance) by one-half.
Great and startling as this result may be, we are
eqnally convinced that the interval of time thus shor-
tened (as employed in the present communication) may
he greatly diminished. We are aware that there has
bee i some delay in the ariival of one of the Indian
wads to this country, in consequence of one of the
steamers from Bombay to Suez having been obliged
to put back in consequence of an accident, after steaming
rine days, by which a loss of some average dozen days
occurred. • On this occasion there was a prejudicial delay
between Egypt and Malta. The communication, which is
• cemplete between India and Suez, is not yet complete be-
tween Alexandria and this country. But it cannot be
Much longer delayed. As soon- as the contract for the
replier passage of steamers on the European side, which is
now in transitu, shall be completed, no further delay is
likely to occur. The delay of quarantine by passengers
from India through Eg:, pt will also be avoided, as in the
cese of Sir James Maxwell, by the time passed in the
vo:, age. We learn that the Provisional Committee of
steam-navigation to India are at the present moment
crepe :ling to the adequate legislative authorities on
this especial point. On this side the Red Sea the only
c else of delay at present exists ; the communication
between Suez and the East In.lies may be said to be corn-
eite ed. The Directors ot'the India Company anl the In-
Board have ctspateiied orders to the Governer General
(J.:* to place tbc 1-lagjc Linc Lay steam v355e1. between
S•ez Mocha, to carry m ids end pass. nge-s, and the
.Z 1 Tanta and Berenice steamers bety e n Mocha aid Bom-
b •y. Tiny have also e;:aliii,hed Mr. Waz,h;:in in Egypt,
tacit- agent for the es!ab:islenent and effectuation of steam
onmunicerion by way of the Re:il S-a. Our readers are
a,v.tre that we have taken a p 'euil..r view of the subject in
th • -11ornilg Alverliser —namely, the practicability of
farther ascilerazing the present shortened corn-
We looked to teo mesns fur effecting
eurpose—one by en l!, the other by railroad, from
Su-,t to Cairn. On the tir.Jr. 11,..1 I —canal commuoica-
tian—oar view Lai been statt'd • to be, that the
re opeoing of the old canal of the PhAroahs, the Ptolemies,
tbe Persians, and the Caliphs in Egypt might be practi•
e‘dly effected at a very cheap rate. It is the same project
which the French engineers under Napoleon, when in
Egypt in 1701, recommended, and estimated at 700,0001.
lint our opinion is, that the pi eject might lie accomplished
for haS that sum, inastruch as-Ist, the French contem-
plated a northern and a western cenal ; and 2d, inasmuch as
tbe old can, 1 merely wants cleansing, one-third of it being
almost fit far use. There is one curious example, indeed,
since that p7riod of the communication being effected by a
m re ff.); t of nature, conseqaent on a rise of the Nile. The
t•.mal being opened, there would be a water communica-
tion to India the whole way from London, and an additional
savi:tz of five days (as proved by our shipping extract)
ould be practically effected. With regard to the rail-
reed ( ointnusieaton, wideb we consider ought to be con-
teleporaneous, we are trio t happy to say that it is likely
to be carried into eerly and meet beneficial opsration. We
~re the more gratified in recording this circumstance, be-
ca..e the project is supsiatended by an excellent individual
with elms:: name all the friends of Ileerty in every part of
the world are familiar. We meat Mr. Galloway, the
(20:ninon Councilman at.(l engineer. Our readers may,
perhaps, be aware that cue of Mr. Galloway's sons
tins big been resident in Egypt as a functionary of
the Paella ; but has lat,ly come to this coun'ry with
a view to serve the cause of liborty to which the
fereily have been always patriotically devoted. The sub-
ject ie of so much importance to the comme-cial interests,
that we shall reserve it for sotbeexelusive remarks—merely
observing for the present that the examin ition of Mr. A.
Gal;oway before the " S sleet Co.nmittee of Steam Com-
munication with India," illustrated in the Parliamentary
report just published, by a lithographed map of his pro-
jected railroad, is in perfect concurrence with the views we
have always taken of the subject. It is a subject of inap-
preciable importance, whether we look to it with a view to
the commercial interests of the British empire, or to the
improvement, social, moral, and political, of its Indian pos-
sessions.—Mornine Advertiser.

:31:;icaten
tl.i

POSTAGE.-Ftoln the elaborate statements of Lord
Lichfield, as reported by The Sun, it appears, that the re-
venue of the Post- office is 2,9.00,000/., and that of this
amount the sum of 1,500,0001. goes to the revenue, and
700,0001. for the expences of the Post-office. It farther ap-
pears that the number of letters charged by the Post-office is
between forty-two and forty-three million ; from which state.
meet it is to be inferred that the average cost of every letter at
present is one shilling, and that the number of letters charged
is neatly two for each individual in the whole population. If
the rate of postage is established at one penny, for every dis-
tance and in all cases, it is evident that in order to produce the
s.tme amount, the number of letters must be increase to twelve
fur every one now sent, which a measure of increased be-
yond what we are warranted to anticipate, even with that
amount of reduction ; and the defalcation of the revenue seems
to be the grand objection of Lord Lichfield to the adoption
of Mr. Hill's plan. The correspondent (Mr. R. Johnson) of
the Berwick Advertiser, whose ratio of charge was given by
us last Tuesday, retains, with some slight modification, the
principal features of Mr. Hill's plan ; reduced rate—uniform
rate--stamped covers—and payment in advance. Mr. John-
son's suggestion proceeds on the principal of " payment in
proportion to value received or labour performed—an equitable
distance for an equitable price."

THE BALLOT.—A petition, signed in the short
space of a few hours by several hundred inhabitants of the
parish of Marylebone, was on Saturday last presented to the
Vestry by a deputation, headed by Mr. Wall, Secretary to the
Reform Association, for the purpose of getting that influential
and popular body (the Vestry) to call a public meeting upon
the question of the Ballot, &c., and that the inhabitants of St.
Pancras and Paddington might be allowed to join in the pro-
ceedings. Mr. Wall observed, that if they had had sufficient
time from the period at which the project was instituted, they
could have had it signed by three times the number ; but they
had sufficient confidence in the liberality of the Vestry to be-
lieve that this being an important public subject, it would re-
quire nothing further on their (the inhabitants') parts to gain
the Vestry's powerful co-operation. They did not present it
from any factious opposition to the present Ministry, but to
'obtain a measure they anticipated would be conducive to the
üblic good. After some slight discussion the petition was
received, and a Committee appointed to consider the subject,
which appeared to be quite in favour with the Vestry.
One of the steam-boilers at Hopwood-mill, Oldham,
burst on Monday morning last, in consequence of one of the
valves being shut, a valve communicating from one boiler to
the other. The screw for closing this valve is formed in such
a manner that it would require turning twenty times before
,the valve shut, and therefore must have been intentionally
e;osed. The explosion made a violent noise, breaking the
tit,bers of the roof of the boiler-house, and fOrcing the doors
of the engine-house, a distance of two yards, where they were
thrown down. The engineer, Joshua Taylor, was shockingly
scalded by the escape of hot water ; he was taken home in a
dreadful state, and expired about half-past five o'clock the
same evening. The affair was investigated on Tuesday last
before a coroner. The two principal witnesses, James Harri-
son and Daniel Lees, stated that the deceased had told them,
more than once, that he never shut the valve, a,,d had said,
Somebody has done my job—somebody has intentionally
shut the valve." The unfortunate man appears to have been
.on good terms with all the hands at the mill; but the body of
engineers are said to have conducted themselves in an unfeindly
manner towards him, he net being a member of the union, and
not looked on as a regularly-acknowledged engineer. A
witness examined at the inquest observed that a person with a
false key might have obtained admittance to the bei'er-house
unobserved by the watchman. The jury being unable to
agree to a decision in the present circumstances of the affair,
the inquest was adjonrned to Tuesday next.—Manchester
Guardian. _ _

The ex-royal family of France has been at Goritz
ine the 24th of November. The town was desirous of giving
zr grand fete to their Royal Highnesses on their return • but
the Duke of Angouleme opposed hi.nself to the project. The
Duke of 13,:rdeaux is cornolete!y di,figured by his being so ex-
tremely stout : at a little distance he would betaken for a man
o' thYrty, rather than a youth of seventeen. The whole family
leads L very retired life : since their return they have been seen.
l:ut once together in public. at the Church of the Francis-
cans, up In the celebration of the anniversary of the death of
Charles .X.
SINGILTLA It TURNIP.—Last week a turnip, of the
nd, with all the fingers, was got in a
ties Jacques, farmer, Parksidc, Mid-
:er Guardian.

shape of left han
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