The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-20 00:00:00

EXT.RAORDEVARY ME7EOR.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SEN.
SIR,—A most astounding meteor, the sizo and brilliancy
of which far exceeded that of the full moo'a, appeared this
evening at 10h. 13m. Greenwich mean time. Its position
at the commencement, as taken by my large refractor, was
2h. 30m. right ascension, and the place where it gradually
vanished was about 7h. 50m. right ascension, the declina-
tion 48 deg. 20 min. north.
The train at the spot where it disappeared was distinctly
visible for 11 minutes, and when examined through the
telescope very much resembled the cluster of stars in Lyra.
This remarkable meteor burst about midway in the path
stated, leaving a long cemetery train of scintillating points.
The northern head, if I may use the expression, was a
brilliant red, and gave out numberless coloured sparks;
the other extremity was decidedly blue. I had several
scientific gentlemen here who witnessed this wonderful ob-
ject, including Messrs. J. Townsend and T. enui:4l,
3:i'
who fully corroborate these observations, which
I think
will prove of great value both to meteorologists and the
the public.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
R
T. SLATER, F*--A'S.
Observatory, Euston-road, Sept. 19.

A letter from a musician and co
the success of
Disposer of Euro-
pean fame, written from Prague, describes
season. The
the Italian Opera, directed by Merell,4 ,r the chief praises
company generally was very good, b"u•ustly bestowed upon
of the public were," says the letter,
: no ofj the best contraltos
an American lady, Mdlle.FilipP',2-_,. forts seems to be in
that has ever visited this city. 11'
passages is wonderfully fine.
expression, which in pathetic
beautiful air ' In si Barbara
produced here by any
Hence in Arsace she gives the
Sciagura,' with an effect never
them all. You will hear
other singer, and we havme
not mistaken."
of this young lady i"EaAs
, ITRE IN THE WRECK OP THE
THE SUNKEN TA—g,,,Tbe underwriters es
GOLDEN GATE ST
vice
from San Francisco, dated treasure, upwardsof Aug.-
were in receipt of a
a quarter of a
sunken treasure,
wreck of the Golden Gate steam
9, regarding th:
'destroyed by fire, and attended with a great
million sterliß.
ship, which w
. as
while on a voyage from San Francisco to
sacrifice of
, I,:flea'rge amount of the Specie being insured in
New York,
1
Golden Gate had on board 1,400,747 dollars
London.
_273,100 dols. were consigned to England, 13,000 dols. to
Panama, and the remainder, 1,114,647 dols., to New York.
On the news of the catastrophe reaching San Francisco,
Lloyd's agents communicated with the representatives of
the Pacific mail steam packet as to the measures to be
adopted with the view of recovering the specie, and it was
arranged that the steam ship Active, which was lately in
the service of the government as a surveying -vessel, should
be chartered and sent down to the wreck in charge of Capt.
Waterman, and supplied with diving apparatus, surf boats,
&o. Capt. Pearson, the commander of the Goffien Gate,
returns to the wreck in the Active, and he states that the
treasure was stowed in the after r art of the ship in an iron
safe under the orlop deck. The safe was not a strong one,
and it is thought that it has been destroyed by the surf. It
is however conjectured that the best plates of the steamer
May still hold together, and that the treasure may be re-
covered, provided the weather keeps moderate. Her Ma-
jesty's steamer Mutine, Comma-ader Graham, which was
under repair at San Francisco, having been on a reef, but
would be ready for sea in a few days, was to call off the
wreck of the Golden Gate, and to render what assistance
ea mill towards recouriug the treasure.