The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-04 00:00:00

HAY MARKETS.

SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, £4 4s to £5 10s; clover'
£5 10s to £6 lOs ; and straw, £1 8s to £1 14s per load.
A moderate demand.

CumnEßTAND.—Meadow hay, £4 4s to £5 lOs ; clover,
£5 lOs to lOs ; and straw, £1 8s to £1 15s per load.
An active inquiry.

WHITEcHAPEL.—/ileadow hay, £4 4s to £5 10s ; clover,
£5 lOs to £6 lOs Od ; and straw, £1 8.9 to £1 14s per load.
Trade steady.

The late Surrey Theatre,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—On reading your article in the Times of to-
day on the above calamity, in which you suggest
the necessity of closing the stage by an " iron wall,"
as a curtain, we are desirous of informing you we
have recently fitted up the New Theatre Royal,
Glasgow (which was previously destroyed by fire),
with our Steel Fireproof Revolving Shutters to the
proscenium, carpenter's shops and property rooms,
and at the present time we are negotiating with
other provincial managers for these Fireproof Cur-
tains, which so effectually shut off the audience from
the stage.—We are, sir, yours obediently,

CLARK & CO.
Patent Revolving Shutter Works, Gate-street,
Lincoln's-inn-fields, Feb. 2, 1865.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This day.

LONDON, Feb. 4.—Wind this day at noon—North-
Easterly; moderate breeze and fine weather, but rather

cloudy.

PORTSMOUTH, Feb. 3.—Wind N.E.—Arrived—England's
Queen, from Valparaiso for Havre ; she experienced heavy
weather.

DOVER, Feb. 2.—Wind S.E.—Arrived—Georges, from
Granton for Bilboa, leaky, and with damage to bulwarks,
and other injury.
PLYMOUTH, Feb. 2.—Wind S.W.—Put back—Sussex,
for Melbourne.

At the Central Criminal Court yesterday Sera-
fino Polioni was tried for the alleged murder of Michael
Harrington in a broil on Saffron-hill. After a long tria
the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the prisoner wasi
sentenced to death.

NARROW ESCAPE OF LORD GOUGII.—We regret

to be called on to record the complete destruction
by fire of Lentran House, the property of Mr. Henry White,
of Monar, and situated at a few minutes' walk from Lentran
station, on the Ross-shire Railway. The occurrence took
place on Sunday morning. For some time past the house
had been tenanted by General Sir Patrick Grant and his
family, including his son, Captain Grant, and his relative,
the veteran Lord Gough, all of whom have been spending
the winter in the Highlands. The origin of the fire is as

yet quite a mystery ; all that is known being that about
three o'clock on Sunday morning one of the upper servants
awoke nearly suffocated by smoke proceeding from an
apartment above the drawing-room. She immediately
gave the alarm, but before any steps could be taken to
ascertain the cause the flames had broken forth, and
had gained complete control over the building. All
that the inmates were able to do was to save themselves,
and to carry off the silver plate and some of the paintings,
everything else in the house being left a prey to the flames.
Lord Gough had a narrow escape with his life. He was
carried out of his bed to a place of safety at a time when
five minutes' delay longer would have insured his distruc-
tion. Gen. Grant was not in the house at the time of the
occurrence. By 6 o'clock, after burning nearly 3 hours,
the whole premises were an entire wreck, with the excep-
tion of a small addition recently made to the house, which
was saved. Amid much that is valuable which has been
destroyed, the friends of Gen. Grant will deeply regret to
hear that he has experienced the irreparable loss of all his
Indian journals, preserved with so much care for many
years. The house was, we understand, insured for £1,500,
a sum which cannot represent more than one-half its
value.—lnverness Advertiser.

A NEW BED OF IRON ORE.—The discovery of a
large bed of iron ore, combining, as it does, a re-
markable geological formation, having attracted the inte-
rest and attention of some of the most eminent scientific
men, as well as those connected with the iron manufacture,
not only of this country, but of foreigners, a description of
it will, no doubt, be interesting, particularly at a period
when iron of a good quality is so indispensable for war ma-
terials and other purposes for which a superior article is so
much in request. The bed in question lies between Kettering
and Thrapston, and is on the property of Gen. Arbuthnot,
contiguous to which aline, leased to the Midland Company,
is in course of construction, and rapidly advancing to comple-
tion. It is on a slope facing the north-west, the extreme point
lying due west, and running east, and extends rather more
than a mile in length. The width of the bed has not
been accurately ascertained, but it is known to be con-
siderable. At the base of the slope the iron crops out, in-
creasing rapidly in depth as the ground rises, the highest
point yet reached, the rock of iron, being from 27ft. to
30ft., and it is the opinion of those who have visited the
places that the rock increases in depth as well as strength.
The formation differs very materially from anything found
in any locality. At about 6ft. from the surface above the
rock in question is a bed of fire clay, immediately below
which is a layer of freshwater shells. Underneath is a bed
of alumina, a very pure milk white clay, which has been
tested by Messrs. Minton of Stoke-on-Trent, and other emi-
nent men, and found to resist any degree of heat. Then ap-
pears a bed of very fine white sand, resting on a thick bed of
various coloured sands, resembling what is found in Alum-
bay in the Isle of Wight, under which a variety of
fossil plants are found, among others equisetum, a speci-
men of which is in the Royal Geological Museum in
Jermyn-street. • But what most interests the spectator
is the iron. It is an iron rock. Many of the
blocks are of immense size, and an eminent assayer
calculates there are six or seven varieties, all differing in
appearance, but all pure and rich. To test the quality
in the furnace a sufficient quantity was sent, to Stafford-
shire, where a trial was made to ascertain its value. The
result has been most satisfactory, the report being that the
produce resembles steel more than iron, and is well. adapted
to those purposes for which steel is now so request,muclieadn.
with every probability of an increase for itsm demand.
There
There is much to interest the naturalist, nautilus and many
varieties of sea shells being found in the iron rock.