The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-15 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 15, 186 a

MARKETS—This Day.

Particulars.

Stock this day__
['rice of Y.C. 11
Delivery lastweek'
Ditto from June 1
Arrivals last week
Ditto from June 1
?rice of Town

The attendance of home and continental buyers has been
large ; nevertheless, owing to the large supply in the
market, prices of nearly all descriptions of produce •halro
given way, Port Philip, as compared with last sales, show-
ing a reduction in value of ld. to lid. ; greasy, Adelaide,
d. to ld. ; New Zealand ; ld. ; and greasy, Cape, id. to
ld. per lb. In the value of good and fine Sydney and
Cape wool very little change has taken place. The pri-
Tate contract market for English wool has been somewhat
quieter. Nevertheless, prices of all descriptions have ruled
firm.

Current prices of English wool per lb.
sd s d
FlecOes - South Down hog,gets ..1 8 1 9
Half-bred do.. 1 8 1 8}
Kent fleeces .. i 8 1 9
outh Down ewes and wethersl 6 1 7
Leicester do 1 8 1 9
Sorts Clothing 1 6 111
• Combing 1 5 2 0

1851.

66.067
58,30.1 :o
--s Od
1,315
17,331.

674
117,201
566 61

186:

35.480
Irs6l so
- s Od

1,198
116,367
1,643
95,110
4e 81

1863. 1864.
39.541 49.554
43531 to 40s3d Su
sod —sod
1,291 1,13 i
77,230 72,368

220 638
73,492 13 .399
44$ 3d 41$ 6d

POLICE INTELLIGENCE,—This Day.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

ROBBERY AT THE EAST INDIA UNITED SERVICE CLUB.—
Joseph Bliss, a young man in the employ of Mr. William
Andrews, master sweep, ...Angel,-court, King-street, St.
James's, was charged before Mr. Mansfield with stealing
at the East India United Service Club two meerschaum
pipes, the property of Major Thomas Keernan, a member
of the club.

Mr. Wm. Stretch, steward of the club, said—On Friday
fortnight the prisoner came to the clubhouse, 14, St. James's-
square to sweep a chimney. Having finished his job, in-
stead of leaving he wont up to the smoking-room, telling
one of the servants who Met him on the stairs that he had
business there. Shortly after, two merschaum pipes, the
property of Major Keernan, a member of the club, were
missed, and I subsequently received them from prisoner's
master.

Tyrrell, 590 A—l apprehended prisoner yesterday, and
on telling him he was charged with stealing two pipes from
the East India United Service Club, he replied, " Oh, that's
all settled."

Mr. William Andrews, master sweep, of Angel-court,
King-street, St. James's—The prisoner was in my employ
on the night the pipes were missed. I spoke to the pri-
soner, and he admitted taking them, and handed them to

Mr. Mansfield—Why was there such delay in giving the
prisoner into custody ?
Witness—lt was not decided what course should be taken
till Major Keernan was seen.
Inspector Draper—The boy was discharged by Mr. An-
drews and could not be found.
Prisoner—l am guilty. I have worked hard all my life.
Mr. Mansfield—What did you mean by saying it was
settled ?
Prisoner—l understood that, if I gave the property up,
the gentleman would not prosecute.
Mr. Andrews—l told him I did not know what course
would
be pursued till they heard from Major Keernan. I
always believed the prisoner to be honest.
Mr. Mansfield—l cannot help thinking the prisoner re-
turned the property under some impression that if be did so
he would not be prosecuted.
Remanded.

Anglo-French Peace Jubilee,

The Fiftieth Anniversary of Peace between Great
Britain and France is to be celebrated by an Anglo-
French Working-class Exhibition, to be held at the
Crystal Palace, Sydenham, commencing on Satur-
day, July 29, and texthinating in the month of
October. The productions of the English and
French workmen will be exhibited in their own
names, and their employers in addition to their own
must state the names of the men who have made
the articles shown. Clever workmen will thus have
an opportunity of obtaining public recognition of
their skill. Prizes will be awarded for excellence
of workmanship, and a very highly-finished
bronze commemorative medal will be presented to
every exhibitor as a souvenir of the peace jubilee.
A deputation from the London committee was re-
ceived with great enthusiasm in Paris; and, at a
meeting of delegates from the various trade and co-
operative associations, held at the offices Qf the
Society of Credit au Travail, a committee was
formed who will receive goods from all parts of
France and forward them to the Crystal Palace.
Space 'will be granted free, but all goods intended
for exhibition must be delivered at the Crystal
Palace no later than July 22.
The following letter from M. Michel Chevalier
has just been received by M. Edmond Potonie, the
Secretary of the French Committee :

" Paris, May 4, 1865.
"Dear Sir,—l wish to thank not only your father but
yourself for the kind reception which you have given upon
my recommendation to the English workmen delegates,
from London. I doubt not, knowing your cordiality, that
they have taken away with them very kind remembrances,
thus sowing in the two countries the seeds of a reciprocal
esteem and mutual sympathy which will be the source of
great good, not only to England and Prance, which in
itself would be very precious, but even to the world. For
when France and England extend hands, then war, that
bane of the human race, ceases to ravage the universe, or
at least its ravages have limits. When you have received
news of the English delegates, it will oblige me if you will
communicate the same. Ai you have obligingly offered to
call upon me, you will be sure to find me at home at 12.
"Accept my most distinguished consideration, and be-
lieve me to be your affectionat3

" MICHEL CHEVALIER."

THE STRANDING OF THE LOUISIANA

OFFICIAL REPORT.
To the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council for Trade.
_

My Lords,--I have held an official investigation into the
circumstances attending the stranding of the steamship
Louisiana, which took place on the evening of the 12th of
April last, during a fog, upon the Old Head of Kinsale. I
have been assisted in this inquiry by Captains Harris and
Baker as Assessors, and I now beg to forward my report.
The Louisiana was an iron screw steamer, built at Jarrow
in the year 1862, and was registered at Liverpool in 1864 of
the gross tonnage of 2,166 tons. She was owned by the
National Steam Shipping Company (Limited), and was
commanded by Mr. Abraham Asplet, who holdi a certifi-
cate of competency as master dated in 1855. The Louisiana
sailed from Liverpool on the 9th April, with a general cargo,
touching at Queenstown to embark passengers, &c. She ar-
rived at Queenstown on the 12th, and sailed from thence the
same afternoon at 4 o'clock, bound for New York, with
a crew of 81 hands, and 500 passengers, chiefly emigrants.
At 4.30 p.m. the pilot left the ship just outside of Roche's
Point, and at 6.35 p.m. the vessel was stranded inside the
Bream Rock, to the northward and eastward of the Old
Head of Kinsale. From the evidence it would appear
that the weather was tolerably clear for a short time after
the pilot left, but gradually increased in thickness till
six p.m., when the fog became very dense. The engines
were then eased to dead slow, and the course, which
had been previously S.W. by S., was altered to west,
directly towards the land. At half-past 6a f shing-boat
was discovered close under the bows, and the helm was
ported to avoid running over her. The man in the boat
hailed the ship, but in the confusion the intimation given,
whatever it might have been, was not heard. Having cleared
the boat, the helm was starboarded to regain her course,
and in a very few minutes afterwards the Louisiana struck
upon the Old Head of Kinsale. The ship was subse-
quently backed off, and returned to Queenstown the fol-
lowing morning after the fog had cleared off. As she had
sustained material damsge, the passengers and cargo were
transferred to another steamer, and the Louisiana proceeded
to Liverpool to be repaired. In commenting upon this
casualty, which took place within the short period of two
hours after leaving port, one is struck with the want of
common prudence in the Master persisting in hauling the
ship to the westward, towards danger, when the fog came
on. He had the whole Irish Channel open to him, and
having left port so recently there was no reason whatever
for approaching the land. He appears to have been aware
that the flood tido was against him, but for that ho made
no allowance in the courses ho shaped after the pilot left.
Thus the ship, with her head to the westward, was rapidly
horsed towards the land, and although the fog was very
dense, and the position of the ship was uncertain, the pre-
caution of using the lead was neglected. The vessel struck
at about three quarter flood. Under these circumstances I
must hold the master responsible for the stranding of his
ship ; and, taking into consideration the number of lives
which by his rashness were jeopardised, I have felt com-
pelled to suspend Mr. Asplet's certificate for the space of
six calendar months from this date, in which sentence my
assessors have fully concurred.

I have the honour to be, my lord; your most obedient
servant, T. S. RAFFLES, Police Magistrate.
Wo concur in this report.

Hy. ILIRRIS' 1 Nautical Assessors.
R. B. BAKER,

THE BELLEROPHON.—In a lecture delivered a
few days ago on " The Properties of Iron considered
as a material for the construction of Ships of War," at the
School of Naval Architecture, South Kensington, Mr.
Fairbairn, the distinguished engineer, made the following
observations on the ironclad frigate Bellerophon, a length-
ened description of which was given in The Sun of Mon-
day last :—" I am bold enough to assert," said Mr. Fair-
bairn. "that the cellular form is not only the strongest but
the cheapest mode of construction that can, in the present
state of our knowledge, be adopted for every descrp'jon of
vessel that exceeds 1,000 tons burden ; and I am gratified to
find that the present Constructor of the Navy, convinced
of its advantages, has successfully adopted the principle in
the construction of the Bellerophon, which, in my opinion,
is one of the finest and strongest vessels for her tonnage
in her Majesty's service. As this vessel appears to combine
economy in the distribution of the material with greatly
increased strength, I have considered it insti active to ex-
hibit her section at midships without going into detail.
Along the bottom there are nine longitudinal keelsons, four
on each side of a central. These beams or keelsons vary
from 4f t. 8i n. to 3ft. 4in. in depth, and extend the whole length
o: the ship, or to the point of intersection at the bows and
stern. At °vol.', four feet the transverse frames or ribs are
secured by rivets, and extend from the upper deck all round
the sides and bottom, forming the whole, when plated in-
side and out, into a series of open cells of 6ft. wide by
nearly Oft. deep. At every 20ft. the cells are closed by
plate 3 rivetted watertight between the outer skin and the
inner skin, thus rendering the ship much more secu-o in case
of accident to the bottom, and perfectly independent of the
open spaces between the principal watertight bulkheads.
From the lower edge of the armour-plates, and from some
distance below, inter mediate frames are introduced between
the principal ribs for the support of the back,ng of the ar-
mour-plates, and these, again, being securely fastened to
the sides, render the construction, as a whole, a solid and
compact mass, admirably adapted to the resistance of pro-
jecticles at high velocities. The upper deck, it will be ob-
served, is covered with sheet-iron plates, superimposedand
riveted to the deck beams under the plank:ng. I have been
the more particular in this description as I consider the
Bellerophon a model ship. From the preceding outline of
her construction it will be interesting to consider howsuch
a vessel w:ll behave when pitching in a heavy sea, or,
under more hying circumstances, if stranded on a lee shore.
In the first of these cases we have perfect security, to say
nothing of her speecl, form, and other conditions as a sea-
going ve•-mel ; and in the latter case we assuredly have the
means of escape, and the chance of tho vessel holding
together,. with .her double bottom and the , enormous
strength impel ted into her by the cellular system of con-
struction. On these points, in regard to strain, a very few
remarks will be necessary to show the reciprocating motion
of the vessel and the resistances that are called into action
when exposed to a hurricane in a tempestuous sea. In the
previous statement I have chiefly treated of the material
and its distribution ; let us now consider the ship, such as
the Bellerophon, and taking her sectional dimensions with
an area of 1,200 inches in the bottom, and assuming that
she is duly proportioned on the upper deck, we have, ac-
cording to formula, 8,640 tons as the breaking weight in
the middle, or 17,280 tons equally distributed, which is
more than double the weight of the ship, or its displace-
ment on a draught of water of 24 feet. Hence follows the
immense strength and great tenacity of this important ves-
sel. In this investigation I have assumed that the Belle-
rophon is a class of vessel admirably adapted for the pur-
poses of war. She will carry guns of large calibre, and of
sufficient power to penetrate armour-plates—and she will
also, from her compact form and size, have the advantage
over larger vessels of manoeuvring with greater celerity
either in attack or defence."

THE GREAT SEAL.—Letters patent have been
issued appointing the Right Hon. Francis Blackburne, the
Right Hon. T. B. C. Smith, the Right Hon. John Hatch°ll,
and Mr. Edward Litton, Master in Chancery, to be Com-
missioners of the Groat Seal during the absence of the Lord
Chancellor from. Ireland.—Dublin Evening Mail.
ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN-ROAD.—The
number of patients relieved at this hospital, during the
week ending 13th May, was 8,905, of which 955 were now
cases.