The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-09 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC LELEGRAPH.

Renewed attempts are just now being made to provid e
telegraphic communication between England and America.
The Atlantic Telegraph Company, which has continued its
corporate existence despite the failure of the line which they
laid in 1859, has kept the question before the public, and
has not failed to note every fact and discovery calculated to
give encouragement to those who still venture to believe in
the possibility of completing this great work. They believe
that the time has now arrived when the attempt may be
renewed with every prospect of success. For this purpose
• they have issued proposals for raising the necessary capital,
and have entered into provisional arrangements which at-
test the confidence of the directors themselves, and of the
contractors, who are prepared to assist in the undertaking:.
Messrs. Glass and Elliot express their per feet confidence
that a good and durable submarine cable can be laid direct
from Ireland to Newfoundland, and as a practical proof of
their confidence are prepared to manufacture and lay the
lcoasbsl cable
n
uponthe
event
terms
ewfh w 1 l
while
eil upontheir
pthreetinitssemlviens
haehceoanvy-
tingent upon success. What they propose is, that the com-
pany shall pay them each week the amount of their actual
which
failure,
disbursements for labour and material for the manufacture
and laying of the cable, the weekly pay lists and vouch( rs
to be submitted to and examined by the company,
the contractors subscribing, in cash, a sum of
£25,010 towards the capital of the company. A subscription
to this large amount, and the payment of actual expenses,
are all that is required on the part of Messrs. Glass and
Elliot. When the cable is laid and at work, they are, how-
ever, to receive twenty per cent. on the outlay for their
time, services, use of manufactory and machinery, and profit.
This twenty per cent, however, is to be paid only in the
shares of the company, and they are to be delivered by
twelve monthly instalments, 89 that the full amount of 20
per cent, paid in the shares of the company will not be re-
zeived by the contractors until the line has been actually
in work for twelve months. All the risk and responsibility
of the manufacture of the cable will devolve upon the con-
tractors, and the company will have nothing to do with the
rivalries or the selection of engineers. So far, therefore, as
the contractors are concerned, they would appear to possess
the fullest confidence in their ability to carry out the weak.
And that they have had some practical experience in such
matters is shown by the faet that Messrs. Glass and Elliot
have already laid about 4,000 miles of submarine cable, and
of all this distance but one short line--that of the Liverpool
and Holyhead, which was broken by an anchor—is at the
present moment actually at work.
Assuming the line to be successfully laid, the question
arises how far it is practicable to submit messages along
such a length of wire at the estimated rate. Upon this
point the directors have the strongest assurances of Mr.
Varley, who states that ho would be able "to telegraph
through an Atlantic cable direct from Ireland or Newfound-
land at the rate of certainly 12 or, more probably, 16 words
per minute, the copper conductor not being less than scwt,
to the nautical mile." This estimate of Mr. Varley is
founded upon experiments under conditions as nearly as
possible the same as those which would exist in the Atlantic
telegraph. There aro two cables laid between England and
Holland, each containing four copper conducting wires ;
the ends of these conductors were attached to each other,
and thus a continuous line of eight times the length of the
cable was formed, through which the electric fluid was suc-
cessfully transmitted, and the result proved that the rate of
working stated by Mr. Varley could be relied upon with
almost absolute certainty. This would seem effectually to
dispose of the doubts which have been raised as to the pos-
sibility of obtaining this rate of speed through the unbroken
length of cable between the two countries.
Among the objections which have been urged against the
attempts to lay a line between Ireland and Newfoundland
is an alleged oceanic precipice some few miles distant front
the western coast of Ireland, over itte vast depths of which
the cable would swing, and, net having sufficient support,
would part, and be thus rendered useless. This bugbear
has now, we are informed, been removed. Capt. tloskyn,
who commanded the surveying ship Porcupine during the
surveys made a short time since by order of the Admiralty
reports, " There can be no reasonable doubt tut that the
descent from the Irish bank to the bed of the ocean is all
that we can desire for the laying of the cable. So far from
being a precipice, a locomotive engine might run up some
of the inclines, and many turnpike roads have steeper as-
cents." The dip at the least descent is Eft, in 100, and at
the greatest is not more than 19ft. in 100. "The face of
this slope," he adds, "and, indeed, the bed of the ocean
everywhere, when below the depth of 500 or 600 fathoms,
is covered with the soft, clayey substance called by seamen
" ouze." This deposit, in the opinion of Professor King and
other naturalists, is going on so copiously and unceasingly,
that a cable once laid would, in the course of a few years be
covered up, and so for ever sealed against the action of all
external agencies.

Since the Atlantic telegraph was first laid, many improve-
ments have been made in the construction of submarine
cables, and much additional experience has been obtained
in their manufacture. The cable between Malta and Alex-
andria, laid by the Government, is 1,535 miles in length,
and has continued to work satisfactorily since its first sub-
mergence, while the lines connecting England and the
Continent are now worked by the Submarine Telegraph
Company with as much regularity and facility as the over-
land lines of the country. The modes of preparing gutta
percha, indiarubber, and other insulating materials, have
been much improved during the last few years, and a per-
fection of insulation bas been obtained which, but a short
time since, would have been considered absolutely impossi-
ble. The instruments for testing the conducting power and
insulation of wires have been made much more perfect than. they were when the Atlantic cable was manufactured, and
when the electrician had but few facts and little experience
to guide him. We have this fact, that at the present time
there are nearly 6,000 miles of submarine cable in actual
working condition—that the Atlantic has been actually
crossed by, and numerous messages trt.nsmitted along, the
telegraph. These are facts which are not without their
bearing upon the important question now under considera-
tion, and justify the hope that the time is not far distant
when the telegraphic communication will be successfully
established between the United Kingdom and America.

King Maximilian of Bavaria paid another long
visit the other day to the ex-Queen of Naples, at Augsburg.
DIOCESE OF LONDON.—The Bishop of London
has appended to his charge, which he has just published,
an elaborate statement in reference to the parochial dis-
tricts under his episcopal jurisdiction, with the number of
clergy to each. He divides them into four classes. In all the
parishes of class A, each containing more than3o,ooo people,
thereis a population of 100,000 persons, with 11 clergymen,
Or one to every 9,100 persons. In this class there are only
three parishes...namely, St. Peter's Walworth ; St. Dun..
stan's, Stepney; and St. Mary's, Haggerstone. In all the
parishes of class B, containing between 20,000 and 30,000
people, there is a population of 309,955, with 53 clergy, or
one to every 5,850 persons. In class C, containing parishes
having between 15,000 and 20,000 people, there is a popula-
tion of 224,000, with 39 clergy, or one to every 5,760 per-
sons. In class D, containing parishes with between 10,000
and 15,000 people, there is a population of 710,582, with
198 clergy, or one to every 3,590 persons. These are exclu-
sive of four country parishes (Perivale, Littleton, Cowley,
and Ickenham), having a population under 400, and of 31
city parishes, with populations under 600.
THE MANCHESTER BANK FRAUDS.--On Satur-
day the unfortunate shareholders or subscribers to the
" classes" in connection with the City Bank of Mr. Jonah
Andrew, held a meeting at Manchester to deliberate on
their position. The meeeting was numerously attended,
and, as might be expected, the revelations by the deposi-
tors were most pitiable. It is reported that the feeling of
the meeting was in favour of quietly winding up the aflaira
of the " classes." At the South Lancashire assizes yester-
day, the grand jury returned a true bill on that part of the
indictment which charged Andrews with appropriating the
moneys of the bank proprietary to his own use.
NEW YORK CUSTOM-HOUSE FRAUDS.—SOMO Of
the boldest fraudulent transactions that have come to light
for a long time have just been discovered in the New
York Custom-house, involving a number of clerks in the
employ of the Government and some importers. The
means employed were the entry of goods far below their
was
Erffku nlaei
Tyr a,ervntihob
clerksiaud tnae,b, lmae )1
mentions,
oeepn
casalr,letrrai
ekcsausdl
ya r balesbeen s u
spi
et
nh d
ead
.certain The
wine
value, and the selection for examination (where examina-
mtioanrk.
fl‘o'rew theiroa inin
vsoolmveed sionrt
this
so
who
nhtni
Ineg.
sale fraud, covering a gum amounting to between 700,000
dole. and 800,000 dole.,
are old Democratic employee,
whom Collector Barney has retained in the Customhouse."
VOLUNTEERS AND REGULARS.—An old army
officer gives the reason why the regulars endure more fa-
tigue than volunteers. When marching, if the regular
even cuts his fingar he falls into the r. ar and applies a ban-
dage. The moment he halts for the night, after he eats his
rations, his cheek is upon his knapsack, and himself in the
'land of dreams. The volunteer does very differently. If
he hurts himself he extemporises some inadequate sort of
dressing and keeps along. When night comes the chances
are ten to one that instead of taking repose at once he
wearies himself still further by leap-frog with his compa-
nions or by playing " old sledge" for pints of whisky, The
regular carries with him nothing that he can help. Not
an ounce more will he bear than regulation weight. The
volunteer is apt to leave nothing behind him that he can
carry. Every daguerrotype even adds to the weight of a
knapsack in a manner that none but those who carry them
can adequately understand. In Mexico soldiers threw away,,c
n
money because it chafed their pockets.—AsWenttflo "
riean.

•
ICELAND PONIES.—The Iceland ponies are very
wonderful animals, They carry ono over smooth bare
tracks of volcanic sand,
rocks, over great blocks of lava, up places steeper than a
stair but with footing not half so good ; through mud-
they stick at nothing. They aro
puddles, water or bogs; over
through coppices, up hill;
down hill, or across rivers. Pa
gtiuenidtedaubdy
thesurefoo-footed,
a
much as by the bridle ; a gentle touch
theswtianthd.Some riders,
heel being the Icelandic they are trained to under-
we saw, kept up a constant drumming
on the poor beast's sides. After their day's work is done,
they receive no manner of grooming or stabling—saddle
and bridle taken off, they are then left to shift for them-
selves,—ken 4ild Pencil 'Sketches of Faroe and Iceland,