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

THE ATLANTIC I ELEGRAPH.

Renewed attempts are just now being made to provide
telegraphic communication between England and America.
The Atlantic Telegraph Company, which has continued its
corporate existsnee 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 Wired 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 perfect 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
cable upon terms which will entail upon themselves a heavy
loss in the event of failure, while their profits will be con-
tingent upon success. What they propose is, that the com-
pany shall pay them each week the amount of their actual
disbursements for labour and material for the manufacture
and laying of the cable, the weekly pay lists and vouchers
to be submitted to and examined by the company,
the contractors subscribing, in cash, a sum of
£25,000 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 aaranufactory 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, se that the full amount of 20

per cent. paid in the shares of the company will not be re:

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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 work.
And that they have had some practical experience in such
matters is shown by the fast 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
Upon thia
point the directors have the strongest assurances of Mr.
Varley, who states that he would be able "to telegraph
through an Atlantic cable direct from Ireland or Newfound-
land at the rate of certainly 12 or, more probably, lO words
per minute, the copper conductor not being less than sewt.
to the nautical mile." This estimate of Mr. Varley
qg
founded upon experiments under conditions as nearly as
possible the same as those which would exist in the Atlantic
telegraph. There are 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 lino of eight times the length of the
cable was farmed, 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 pore-
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 from
the western coast of Ireland, over the vast depths of which
the cable would swing, and, not having sufficient support,
would part, and be thus rendered useless. This bugbear
has now, we are informed, been removed. Capt. lloskyn,
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 Oft, 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 GOO fathoms,
is covered with the soft, clayey substance called by seamen
66 ouzo." 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
:n 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 has been obtained which, but a short
time sinee, 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 transmitted 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.—Tho 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,
there is 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 tinder 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 meeting; 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 ariairs
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.--SOme 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
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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 finger he falls into the rear 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 t.) 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 throwaway
money because it chafed their pockets.—ScientOfe -411
rican.

wolnCdeErLfuAlli DaniPmoalilsl.
EST—herryh carrylceland
rocks, over great blocks of lava, up places steeper than a
stair but with footing not half ao good; through mud-
ono
over p on Ise:
o areot h veryba
bar©
puddles, water or bogs; over tracks of volcanic sand,
th
at nothing, through coppices, up hill, down hill, or across rivers. Pa-
tient and sure-footed, they stick They are
guided by the feet as much as by the bridle ;
a gentle touch
with the heel being the Icelandic they are trained to under-
stand. Some riders, we saw, kept up a constant drumming
on the poor beasts 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-
Wyo.—Ten and Pencil Sketches of Faroe and lcolanol,