The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-23 00:00:00

A POLISH SALT MINE.

We came suddenly upon one group of workmen, under a
shelving ledge, who were occupied in detaching masses of
crystallised salt from a cleft in which they worked. They
were naked to the middle, having nothing on but coarse
trousers and boots, and wrought with their crowbars and
picks by the light of a few grease lamps held by grimy little
boys, with shaggy heads—members, no doubt, of the same
subterranean family. Some of the men were lying on their
backs punching away with tremendous toil at the rugged
masses of salt overhead—theirleads,faces,and bodies glitter-
ing with the showers of salt grit that fell upon them; while
sthers stood up to their armpits in dark holes delving into
the lower crevices. Seeing our lights they stopped to gaze
at us. Was it possible they were human beings, these
bearded, shaggy, grimy-looking monsters ? Surely, if so,
they well represent the infernal character of the place.
Never upon earth (the surface of it I mean) had I seen such
a monstrous group ; shocks of hair all powdered with salt ;
glaring eyeballs overhung by whitelashes flashing in the fit-
ful blaze of lamps; brawny forms glittering with crystal
powder, and marked by dark currents of sweat I No wonder
I stared at them with something akin to distrust. They
might be monsters in reality, and take a sudden notion to
hurl me into one of their infernal pits by way of nastime,in
which case the only consolation would be that, where there
was such au abundance ef salt, there would be no difficulty
about the preservation of my remains. After all, there was
something sad in the condition of these poor wretches—shut
out from the glorious daylight, immured in deep dark pits
hundreds of feet under ground, rooting, as it were, for life,
in the bowels of the earth. Surely the salt with which other
men flavour their food is gathered with infinite toil and
mingled with bitter sweat I—Harper' s Monthly Magazine.

ACCIDENT TO A RIVER STEAMER.—This morning
an accident happened to one of the Iron Steam Boat Com-
pany's vessels Citizen H, which at one time appeared rather
alarming. The boat had scarcely proceeded 100 yards from
Waterloo-bridge pier when she struck upon something
lying at the bottom of the river, which made a hole in her
side. The water instantly cleared the cabin of its passen-
gers, some of whom were very much frightened. Another
vessel belonging to the same company came to their assist-
ance, and all were taken off the injured boat without acci-
dent. The captain ran the vessel ashore ; but as the tide
was running up, the afterpart of the boat and engine-room
were, at one o'clock, entirely under water. Efforts are
being made to move her further inshore.

A POLICEMAN SENTENCED TO PENAL 'SERITI-
TUDE.—An ex-police officer, named Joseph Scott, has been
sentenced to three years' penal servitude, at the South Lan-
cashire Assizes for forgery. In connexion with the police
force, of which the prisoner was a member, a sick and
burial society had been established, and having been ap-
pointed its secretary, he broke his trust and forged various
certificates of death in order to obtain sums of money be-
longing to the proprietary.
The Dublin Freeman states that Mr. Edward
Levinge, of the Irish bar, who has- been appointed one of
the new Indian judges with a salary of £5,000 per annum,
and a retiring salary of £1,200, is well known by his pro-
fession as the author of the "Irish Justice of the Peace,"
a work of considerable merit. Tho learned gentleman was
called to the bar in 1848, and is much respected. He is a
younger brother of Sir Richard Levinge, Bart., M.P., for
Westmeath, of Knockdrin Castle.

The Constitutionnel of yesterday contains a para-
graph signed by M. Boniface, stating that it is authorised
to give a complete denial to the news published by th•
Opinione, alleging that in a conversation between M. de
Sartiges and Signor Parini, the latter declined to resume
any negotiations on the Roman question because they were
not likely to lead to any result. The Constitutionnel also
denies that the Chevalier di Nigra, Italian ambassador at
Paris, had held similar language to M. Drouyn de Lhuys,
as was likewise asserted by the Opinione.

METROPOLITAN POLICE.—The following orders
from the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police were for.
warded to the various stations last evening All the
men of the X division of police have returned from the
International Exhibition to rejoin the several divisions to
which they were formerly attached, with the exception of
one sergeant and five constables, who will remain at the
building."—" The Commissioners are pleased to state that a
communication has been received from the directors of the
General Omnibus Company, acknowledging the very efficient
manner in which the Metropolitan Police at the Exhibition
performed their duties, which was proved by the fact that
no accident or injury occurred in the delivery and return or
the millions of visitors."
REIGATE ELECTION.—Amongst the probable
candidates for this borough, Mr. Hinde Palmer, Q.C., has
been mentioned. He has long taken an active part on the
Liberal aide in East Surrey, having nominated Mr. Locke
on two successive occasions, and acted as the chairman of
two Liberal candidates. He has recently received from the
Liberal party at Lincoln a costly and handsome testimonial
for the manner in which he has promoted their cause as a
candidate for that city.

NEW MODE OF BREAD MAKlNG._Experiments
are now being tried, says the Paris Constitutionnel, at the
central baking establishment of the Administration of Pub-
lic Assistance of a now system of panification, in which the
leaven is replaced by carbonic acid and gas. This gas,
which is introduced into the dough, gives it all the neces-
sary lightness without exposing the component parts to that
decomposition which it undergoes in the ordinary fermen-
tation. The bread thus made is said to be agreeable both
to the taste and smell, and it only remains to be seen
whether the acidity produced by the yeast of the ordinary
bread is, as some savant: affirm, indispensable for its di-
gestion.

AN ENGLISHMAN IN RUSSIA.—An article in a
French paper, published at St. Petersburg, says :—" Died
at St. Petersburg, on the 26th November, 1862, Mr. Thos.
Budd Shaw, M.A., of Cambridge, Professor of English
Literature in the Imperial Lyceum, and Lecturer upon
the same subject in our University. Mr. Shaw was only
49 years of age ; he died of an aneurism. This distin-
guished man was one of the most worthy representatives of
the British nation that we have ever had among us, and
leaves behind him the unanimous 'egrets of the large circle
of persons who had the advantage of knowing him, His
happy and amiable temper, and the firmness of his charac-
ter, acquired for him the attachment of those who were ad-
mittted to his intimacy, whilst his vast erudition, the origi-
nality and vivacity of his great intelligence, his talent as a
writer, and his high moral qualities, to which was added a
a re modesty, scour ed for him universal respect,"