The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-02 00:00:00

THE WEST INDIA MAIL CONTRACT

Great excitement prevails in the West India colonies,
specting the new West India mail contract. In a desPe'c
from the Duke of Newcastle, dated in July last, and seet,
to
all the West India colonial governments, his grace e``„ti-t
stating that the present West India mail contract is ah°o
to terminate, says :—" I shall be much obliged to Yeti.,,j;
at your earliest convenience, you will favour me with 11
observations as you may wish to be considered by her
jesty's Government in connection with the tenders w'to
they are received ; and in furnishing them I wish 904,
bear in mird the probability that her Majesty's Gele-t;
ment will require that the loss attendant on this service `a
on the postal services of other colonies) should be slit're
between the imperial and colonial treasuries,
The Duke also transmits an extract from a letter el
ici;
dressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury bit
Postmaster-General, relative to the new mail schemes b 9
up to public tender. These schemes are thus describe.o
the Postmaster-General :—" By the scheme prepared
the direct route to the West Indies, it is proposed to °P",,
Porto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserri!):o
leaving to the respective governments of those places the
duty of providing means for the conveyance of their 01;
from Antigua. In the scheme, making use of the existifol
mail packets as far as New York with a branch to the r;
Indies, it is proposed to serve Jamaica, New Granada)
Pacific, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America fron2 Ndtfi
York, and to serve the Windward and Leeward Isles
and British Guiana, by branch steamers from Martiniclecil
fitted to the arrival and departure of the new line of Frel'io
mail packets running between Sr. Nazaire and MartinicV
and maintain an intercolonial communication once a anon
by means of a packet between Jamaica and Antigua." t to
The working of the two routes from England diree'd
the West Indies, and from England to the "West Indiet/inj,
New York, is described in the West India papers se
viz.:—lows,
A NO
" From England to Antigua, Jacmel, Jamaica, o'4g
by the same course to England, fortnightly ; bran" to
from Antigua to Trinidad fortnightly; from Jaroeicild
Colon fortnightly; and from Jamaica to Hondurse
100
Mexico monthly. From New York to Jamaica and
fortnightly, returning by the same course to New 3'°Bo-
with branches from Jamaica to the Gulf of Mode° st,
Honduras, also to Jacmel, Porto Rico, St. Thorne* to
Kitts, and Antigua monthly ; through from Antiglv
Demerara, via Barbadoes, Trinidad, &c., the line v701;40
fortnightly ; so that the latter ports, and the interniewo
places, would receive and send only one mail monthly
New York, and the communication during the other' "."(i.l
night would have to be through the French packet°
Martinique. The time for a letter out or home bets
England and Demerara via New York would be 013°-
month."

f.g
THE CONVICTED POISONER, CATHERINE WIP-° 3
—The newly-appointed sheriffs for the City of London :04,
the county of Middlesex, Mr. Alderman Lawranc° Id
Sheriff Jones, commenced their official duties yesterd9lo
communicating to the wretched woman, who was coulticty
at the late sessions of the Central Criminal Court
crime of murder by poisoning, the day appointed for CPO
ing out the sentence of the law. The sheriffs have aPP°II3I.9
next Monday fortnight, the 20th inst., for that pure e‘ bf
the discharge of this duty, the sheriffs were accompaa'ift,
the Under-Sheriffs Mackrell and Farrar, the Re/'
Davis (the ordinary), and the Governor of Newgate. 41f
culprit (who since her conviction has been coust,rie
watched by one female warder during the day ands
during the night) received the announcement witl,ool
same coolness and self-possession which she c%ll"tor
throughout the examination before the magistrate o'ol
long trial. It appears that, after the trial, she prelellote
not to be aware of the result, alleging that she didll°t,
derstand the purport of what the judge said to her in F
ing sentence. It was anticipated, from the fact of the Pe or
soner having been committed to take her trial from °oo
the Surrey police-courts, that the execution would 'iocl
place at the Surrey county gaol, Horsemonger-laver oot
this would doubtless have been the case had the priOvitls
been convicted on the indictment which charged 1ae1.,,0110'
the murder of Mrs. Ai kiuson, that crime having bee11,,1)16
mitted in the county of Surrey. It is somewhat regtar:i-oof
that the late sheriffs, Messrs. Cockerell and TweiltiP"- 01#
almost commenced theizofficial duties by a painful Pr;-i,.51.4'
ing similar to that which devolves upon the present °Divot;
viz., that of superintending the execution of Wica• C°
for the murder of his wife in Holborn. afld
Accidents in menageries are becoming more ,eta

more frequent in Germany. M. Menz, an animal oeo
was a few days ago in the cage of a panther at 13refilia
engaged in breaking it in, when the animal, beee-roag
frightened by some noise on the outside, suddenly :Poor
on one of the keepers, who was standing near, tall-alti
tally wounded him. It was with the greatest di'cicAsVe
that the body of the man could be released from th°
of the infuriated animal.
hay beef
IVGRY CARVING IN DIEPPE.—This trade •
the source of money-making to Dieppe for generation;ioo
deed the hardy fishermen of th s flowery little harbour oe,
the honeur'of being the first to introduce ivory into -'1:1,111,'
The story goes that, in 1364, a company of Dieppois fOr
ped a couple of barques, of only 100 tons burden eeccecl A
the purpose of exploring the coast of Africa. It Pr% the
lucky expedition, stamping the signs of its progress floe
names it gave to its various stopping places, which rod
seen to this day on any map ; for instance, Cape Ver care
of France, and Petit Dieppe, near Sestos. The retail The
of these frail craft was African spices, fruits, and iv°l.,,,ittl°
former soon found its way into the interior, but much sad
ivory, whose uses were less familiar, remained, 0° w lode
easily suppose, as trophies of their adventures, in tifgoger!t
of the sailors and their families, until the ingenioti'fip,pe'fi
of Frenchmen cut—roughly at first no doubt—this %welt'
but easily wrought substance into such domestic °l,,r/aadh3e'
as might at that time be in use ; sword and other 'oioni"
combs, and the like. Such, then, is said to be the 17)001
of the Dieppe carving of ivory. Little seems to !doll tlis,
about its progress after this first step until 1830, tahre
Duchess de Berri visited Dieppe, and she hsc,',llodttoill;
great interest in the ateliers, has the credit of in-400/'"
the Italian taste for finely and deeply out wreaths°
cupids, and scrollwork,—Once a Week.