The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-03 00:00:00

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—July has been all that could be desired for agri-
cultural purposes. The hay crop has been secured in better
condition than has been known for many years. The corn
harvest has commenced, the wheat reported almost every-
where to look well, with promise of abundance.
We have in this month experienced temperature equal to
the average of our summers, bat on the other hand we
have had greater cold than has been hitherto known in
July.

Our average mean temperature of July is 61 deg,, in 1852
it was 63 deg., in 1857 63 deg, and in 1859, 64 deg.
This year it was only 591 deg. The day registers ex-
ceeded 80 deg. on four occasions, culminating at 83 deg. on
the 10th; the appreciable summer readings in the day time
were, however, followed by rapid decline of heat.

The nights were very cold . 14 registered under 45 deg.
On the 19th the register receded to 36.3 deg., being the
lowest for July here on record. In some parts the cold was
much greater, declining to 30 deg., or 2 deg. below freezing
point, in the neighbourhood of Reading. (Times, July 21.)
For the reasons reiterated in my letter June 27 the mean
temperature of July was, like June, below the average of
former years.
The month just closed was the finest of any July on
record in this locality. Twenty-six days had complete im-
munity from rain, and the total quantity collected did not
amount to an inch.

My prediction, however, pointed to mean temperature
only, and the reasons were stipulated in my letters of
June 17 and 27.—1 am, sir, your obedient servant,

THOMAS L. PLANT,
Member of the British Meteorological Society.
Camp. hill, Birmingham, July 31, 1863.

Destruction of the Jersey Theatre by Fire.

JERSEY, Friday.

The Theatre Royal, Crescent, was totally destroyed by a
fire which was discovered about 4 o'clock this morning.
From information obtained through the best channels, it
appears that the theatre was closed on Friday night last, on
the completion of an engagement which Miss Emma Stan-
ley had entered into with Mr. Charles Harrison, the lessee
and manager, whose company was performing in Guern-
sey ; but as it was to be re-opened by Mr. Harrison on
Monday next, with Mr. G. V. Brooke and Miss A. Jones,
the necessary preparations were on the eve of being made.
Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, with the members of their com-
pany, returned to Jersey yesterday, and it was arranged
that the whole of the luggage of the company should be
removed from the packet to the theatre, where the com-
pany were to go for it in the evening. Many did so, and
had it carried off to their own apartments. The whole of
what Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had, however (including even
their private wardrobes), was allowed to remain, with the
intention of removing it this morning.
About 4 o'clock this morning the theatre was discovered
to be on fire. Two engines were speedily on the spot, and
two others from the garrison, manned by a heavy escort of
the Royal Artillery, accompanied by detachments of the
61st Regiment, who kept back the crowd, which by this
time had become immense. A messenger had communicated
the sad tidings to Mr. Harrison at his private residence,
and that gentleman, who was accompanied by Mrs. Harri-
son, was also on the spot. Colonel de Rinzy, the Deputy
Lieut.-Governor, Colonel Redmond, and most of the other
officers in garrison, arrived early and greatly exerted them-
selves. Extraordinary exertions were made to subdue the
flames, but to little purpose, as the only supply of water
was obtained from the adjoining houses. The adjacent
property was with difficulty rendered secure, and by nine
o'clock the fire had literally burnt itself out, all' hopes of
saving anything but the outside walls having been given up
at least a couple of hours before. The ruins continued
smouldering up to this evening. The origin of the fire is a
mystery.
The theatre belonged to a company, who built it at a cost
of about £5,000. It was a fine building, of the Doric style
of architecture, and was insured for £l,OOO only, a sum far
short of repairing one half of the damage done.
Mr. Harrison, the lessee and manager, is a loser to a
truly lamentable extent, for although the value of the sta-
tionary property is partially covered by an insurance of
£2OO, his loss will amount to between £6OO and £7OO,
Much sympathy has already been expressed for Mr. and
Mrs. Harrison, and there can bo little doubt it will take a
practical form.

THE PARKS AND THE SUNDAY BANDS.—Music,
flowers, and the sculptor's art have added yearly
to the attractions of the public parks, converting them from
the mere grass plots of our ancestors' time into pleasure-
gardens of no mean order; nor is Government the sole
agent in effecting this beneficial change. Miss Burdett
Coutts' munificent gift of the large fountain in Victoria-
park has been followed by a public-spirited gardener in
the north-west of London, transferring that portion of the
Regent's-park facing the Colosseum, and on the west aide
of the Broad-walk, into a garden of the highest style of
Italian art. This he has done at his own expense, and in
consequence of the approbation bestowed on it by the public,
he has obtained permission to lay out the east side of the
Broad-walk to correspond. The conductors of the Sunday
bands movement claim also to be regarded as public bene-
factors, for though but working men themselves, quitting
their avocations on the Saturday, they may be seen every
Sunday ut the band season devoting their energies to tho
self imposed and unrewarded labour which they believe to
elevationbefobrrothueghttoits ordinary
of thei r own
terminationorder. The eighth season
was
yesterday evening,
with fine weather and large audiences; the programme wag
extended until darkness was stealing over the scene. An
extra performance is announced for Sunday next, when the
bands will give their services in aid of the fund for the or"
mencement of the season 1864,