The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-09 00:00:00

THE GREAT EAST 'E.R.Y.

The following testimonials were pres ented o,'l the last
homeward voyage of the Great Eastern :-
" We, the undersigned, passengers on boar tl the steam-.
ship Great Eastern, on her July voyage from New York
to Liverpool, subscribe the sums attached to our several
names to be presented to Captain Walter Paton, with the
request that he will purchase therewith some souvenir,
suitably inscribed, of us his then passengers. We trust
that Captain Paton will not regard this testimonial for its
intrinsic worth, but as a mark of our appreciation of his
ability and urbanity as the commander of 'what, in our opi-
nion, is the finest and safest specimen of zuwal architecture
afloat. We sincerely wish Captain Paton continued suc-
cess, and specially recommend the Great Eastern to all
those who wish to enjoy true comfort at sea.
" Steamship Great Eastern, at sea,
Lat. 50 12, long. 28 40, August 2, 1862."
Here follow the names of the subscribers, with the amount
given by each, The total sum subscribed is £59 2s.

" We, the undersigned (steerage passengers), proceeding
to Liverpool, England, by the Great Eastern steamship,
avail ourselves of the pleasure in testifying to the kindness,
courtesy, and attention received by us from the captain and
officer, of the above-named ship, in her passage from New
York to Liverpool, and likewise our feeling of satisfaction.
' with the manner in which the stewards in this department
i
have performed their duty, and our appreciation of the
arrangements in the steerage with regard to sleeping
accommodation and the good quality of the food supplied to
us by the ship's company.
" August 5, 1862."
The following is the cargo of the Great Eastern, amount-
ing to 6,500 tons—which she has broug ht on her present
trip from New York to this port :-11,715 bags of wheat to
order, 7,149 ditto consigned to Marrow snd Co., 12,363
ditto consigned to Rathbone Brothers, 2,414 ditto to
Richardson, Spence, and Co., 2,198 ditto t. Mr. Lowe and
Sons; total bags, 35,839. Besides the wh, eat in bags she
brings 16,160 bushels to order, and 10,06 t consigned to
Rathbone Brothers; total bushels, 26,224. In addition to
the above the Great Eastern has on board 149 boxes of
cheese consigned to J. E. Corderoy and a 0., 148 to Mr.
Haughton and Sons, 100 to E. Ecombe, 160 to E. Davies,
408 to E. Robinson, and 2,225 to order. SI re also brings
962 firkins and packages of butter, 2,884 barrels of flour
consigned to Rathbone Brothers, and 7,797 to order; 5S
bales of cotton consigned to B. Labert and Co. ; besides
which she has 96 boxes salted shoulders, 242 boxes bacon
and jowls, 40 hogsheads 85 tierces and 83 bar rels tallow, 6
firkins of lard, and 251 boxes of bacon, 228 of which are to
order.—Liverpool Mercury.

MALIGNAN7 DISEASE AMONG SHEEP,

It is impossible by words to describe fully the excitement
I which has for the last few days prevailed in Wiltshire and
the upper parts of Hampshire, in the agricultural classes,
in consequence of the breaking out of a malignant disease
in one of the largest breeding flocks in the West of England,
—in a flock, too, that has, for the la st 50 yea rs,been regarded
as one of the most healthy flocks upon the Beckingham
Downs. For a few days there watt some secrecy in the
matter; but so completely impregyiated is the whole
flack that for the sake of flockmasters LTenerally it is desi-
rable that a notice of the attack, and the means which are
being taken to subdue it, should be gen, wally circulated.
The facts in brief are these :—lt is now abc mt a month ago
that Mr. Joseph Parry, of Allington, was i iding alongside
one of his folds, containing about 303 two-:year-old ewes,
when he observed one of the ewes lying by the hurdles.
The animal looked in a pitiable condition, soon breathed its
last, and was put out of the way, and far the time nothing
more was thought of the occurrence. But, in a day or two
after, other sheep in the same flock showed symptoms of
illness, exhibiting great internal suffering, low of Appetite,
heaviness and indisposition to move, and general prostra-
tion. The two-year-old ewes had, up to this time, been
kept with their lambs, but, thinking it better to separate
them, the latter were now removed and put with other lambs
upon the farm, the former being turned among the general
breeding flock,making altogether 1,000 ewes and '4'oo lambs.
The nature of the attack upon the two-year-old ewes sur-
passed all comprehension. That it was eminently conta-
gious was certain. In the course of a fortnight the same
symptoms began to show themselves among the older ewes
and among the lambs, and for days in succession as many
as 20 or 30 of the ewes died in the most loathsome state of
disease, their bodies covered with pustules and a viscous
matter running from the nose and from the eyes, rendering
the sheep completely blind, and emitting the most foul
stench that can be conceived.
All local remedies were entirely unavailing. The malady
was a mystery, and it became necessary that the best pos-
sible advice should be had, and that, too, without delay
Mr. Joseph Parry went to London last Monday week to
consult professor Simonds, the well-known lecturer at the
Royal Veterinary College. After hearing Mr. Parry's ex-
planation of the symptoms, Professor Simonds came imme-
diately to the conclusion that the disease from which the
sheep were suffering was smallpox ; but as smallpox has
never been known to make its appearance except through
infection--as, wherever it has appeared, its origin and pro-
pagation have always been traceable—its introduction into
Mr. Parry's flock was perfectly unaccountable., Every sug-
gestion which the Professor could offer was at once met by
Mr. Parry. There had been no change on the female side
of the flock for at least half a century. New male blood
was only introduced once in two years ; and it wao now two
years since Mr. Parry had purchased or hired rains from
another flock. Neither could it have been imported by the
shearers, as all the flocks which the same shearers had shorn
this year, before and after Mr. Parry's, were known, and in
neither was there the slightest symptom of disease. Ito fact,
there was no traceable means of accounting for the visita-
tion. A " chill" could not possibly produce it, as a com-
mon cause of illness would not produce a special disease of
this description. Its spontaneous appearance, therefore, is
a thing unheard of. Moreover, it is a disease unknown
among English flocks; the only occasion of its appearance
here having been in 1847, when some merino sheep that
had just been imported were sold with the smallpox upon
them at Smithfield market. This was the first known ap-
pearance of the disease among sheep in England ; and al-
though it was then unfortunately communicated to two
flocks belonging to Mr. Statham, a farmer at Datchett, near
Windsor, and Mr. Neale, of Pinner, and for a time found
its way into Norfolk and Hampshire, it was ultimately era-
dicated, and from that time to the present there has been no
known instance of smallpox in sheep in this country.
To account for it in the present case, therefore, seemed
impossible, inasmuch as Mr. Parry's had always been a
notoriously healthy flock—well tended, carefully fed, and
with all the advantages of fine down air. Still, from the
symptoms, Professor Simonds had no doubt about the fact,
and his visit to Allington on Friday last fully confirmed his
previous persuasion. On examining the sheep he found them
suffering in almost every stage of the disease. Some in
which the pox had first shown itself exhibited a staggering
gait, with slight fever, and swelled eyelids; in others, when
it had become more fully developed, red spots (easily dis-
cernible upon the bare parts en the inner surface of the
leg-) were found thickly studded over the body, while in
those where the complaint had still further advanced, pus-
tules (in form like the heads of ordinary smallpox) and
! malignant ulcers, emitting a thin stinking matter, were the
distinguishing features of the malady. A more loathsome
sight than the sheep exhibit in this advanced
stage can
hardly be imagined. The contagious nature of the disease
is truly astonishing. An instance is related (when it was
introduced into England by the Spaniards in 1847 of its
having broken out in a flock penned som • )
same
infection,fi el
was
as while
carried ed i ni
ng
theoff rape,
eeirodmistaonnee3
flock off, butto
clearly showing
theithnatt'-
another. Great danger has in the same way arisen on the
continent (where the disease is
driving of a healthy flock on th well known), from the
down which had previously b e same road or on the same
een travelled over by diseased
sheep, or by the immediate
transit of a sheep dog or a shep-
herd from one fold to another. But while it is so highly
infectious to sheep, it •is by no means as to other animals or
to human beings,
gs. Cases are recorded in which children of
all ages
have been inoculated over and over again without
any specific disease resulting; and the like experiment upon
the cowand
, even upon the goat, have been equally un-
availing.
-pon examining the flock on Saturday and Monday and
again on Tuesday, Professor Simonds found that a great
number of the sheep had already passed through the most
trying part of the malady, while some (as many as 170)
were declared by him to be perfectly convalescent. This
being the case, it is impossible to say how long the disease
has actually impregnated the flock; but to reduce its conti-
nuance to a certainty, and as the most effectual means of
preserving those that have not already been attacked, Pro-
fessor Simonds suggested that the whole of the sheep should
at once be inoculated ; and, having placed the case entirely
in the hands of the Professor, Mr. Parry assented to this
proposition, and the whole flock of 1,700 sheep and lambs
(exclusive of those which have died and those which have
rocovered) are accordingly at this moment either in an in-
cipient or a malignant state of smallpox.
Adding misfortune to misfortune, the old shepherd who
had tended the flock for the last 30 years dropped down
dead among his sheep last Thursday evening. Proud of his
flock, which had always borne a high character, and re-
flected credit upon his management, the poor man seemed
L ^1 the visitation most acutely; and there is no doubt
to re... labouring for
Qty under which he had been
that the anx— disevsed heart, tended to
- ' acting upon a
the previous month, - - - end. He was endeavouring to
bring about his melanchory_hura;
j:_ly
ozwing, when he fell
catch one of the shreeP onl
almost ina,,,ntly expired.
with the animal under him, and

officers and gentlemen connected with the Bnitia
RIFLE CONTEST.—A competition for prizCs pre-
h
open to all members of
,volunteer corps In thAst
zinutseedurnby,
establishment, was shot for at Willesden on the 4th inst.
The conditions were :—Distances, 150, 200, 300, and 400
yards, five shots each ; hits and points to count; no prize
to be taken in money, and winners of former prizes to allow
the first shot at each range
by Private D. Dolamore, 37tThheMfiidrsdtlepserxiz,e,w117°.::::dew-41
dploeinsetxs,;
wthheosemcoandde,
and the
Saunders,
37th Middlesex, who made 39 points ;
4416/pohiyntsCo.rporai Gattield, 3r th Mid-
fourth, £3, by Sergeant Hayes, 37ththe ighiirciddle4s4e2x,bywheorgmeaandet
36 Points,