The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-20 00:00:00

THE PANAMA ROUTE TO AVM

PER

The papers re.-eived yesterday from A7pinezai---li'--j-
~..,,.,!.., the West India mad, contain I.i'eliiiiti,Wi . ' \ P.n
.--40
ticuJars of the passage of the America Cstjaisitit •„- e;),,1",;) Age from Sydney to Panama. Her asi4feril pit
sent have been three in number—naniely- &atilt N 4... "
York to Liverpool, Liverpool to Sydney, Ail Syckady c,
to Panama, and on each occasion, although- irot put at 4
her full speed, she has made the finest trip on record,
since,' although the distance from New York has, in
a few instances, been performed in less time, these
cases were none of them first passages with new
Although,meda however,
llthearg achieve-
mentutmheeupresteeeuntleugeu
mdeaacviioiunheraerysa.tcoonbfierenforced on the Government, that the
communication between England and the gold colonies,
may, by adopting the Panama route, be brought to oc-
cupy only a little more than 50 days, there is slight pro-
spect of Australia deriving any immediate advantage
from the discovery. Neither the outward nor home-
ward trip has been remunerative, the Post-office, when
she left England, having refused to pay her for taking a
mail, unless upon the same terms as a sailing ship, and
not only, therefore, has she no inducement to repeat the
'experiment, but her non-success will operate to deter
such
attempts
thoi this, the
epear a neutral
rts
of other
flag, companies.
cou l d haveIf
a been steamerin-
duced
sent circumstances, would have been invaluable; but
the colonial as well as the home, Government having
withheld the necessary encouragement, there must be
no more complaints on either side at the hardship of
being restricted to slow intercourse. According to a
'statement in the Aspinwall Courier, it was reported that
the vessel had already been sold at Panama to the
Pacific Mail Steam Company, to be put on their line
between that pldee and San Francisco, where her capa-
city for carrying 1,2.0.0-passengers will_ prove especially
valuable :
" The steamship Golden Age, D. D. Porter, U.S.N.,
left Sydney May 11, and reached Tahiti on the 24th, re-
mained in that port six days, taking on board 1,200 tons
of coal,.and sailed thence for Panama on the 31st, making
the voyage from Sydney, including stoppages, in 38 days.
The first'part of the voyage she had regular head winds,
and for the entire passage to Panama she has had a current
against her equal to 768 miles. From Tahiti, so smooth
was the sea, and so mild the passage, that a canoe might
have come the entire distance in safety. The Golden Age
brings 118 cabin passengers, and 60 in the steerage, and
would have been filled but for numerous misrepresented
tions of difficulties in crossing the Isthmus.
"The following is a memorandum of the run of the
Golden Age since leaving New York, using but 12 of her
16 furnaces :

New York to Liverpool Miles. Days. Iln.
. .. .. _ 3,000 11 9
Liverpool to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope to King George's
Sound, Australia
King George's Sound to Melbourne 1,270
Melbourne to Sydney
Sydney to Tahiti
Tahiti to Panama 4,532

47 12
4 20
0 20
13 12
18 12

Total 24,172 91
Making for the whole distance an average of 256 nautical
or 297 English miles per day. The Golden Age has never
stopped her engine at sea since leaving New York, and has
neither in hull nor machinery met with the slightest Red.
dent during this voyage around the world. She has never
been idle since arriving on the coast of Australia, having
been constantly employed running on that coast while her
coals were being shipped to Tahiti.
" At Tahiti every facility was offered by Governor Pap
and the French authorities for her quick despatch."

SOUTHAMPTON, Tuesday, July 18.—We have been fa-
voured by Mr. E. H. Hargraves (a passenger by the
steam-ship Golden Age, from Sydney to Panama) with
an abstract of the log of -that ship; and, as her voyage
is the first ever made across the Pacific by a merchant
steam-ship, the details are of great interest. The Golden
Age is an American paddlewheel steamer, of 3,000 tons
burden, ant 700 nominal horse power. Her run out
from Liverpool to Australia was the quickest ever made,
and the owners have placed her upon the Sydney and
Panama route, with a view of testing its capability to
support a line of powerful steamers. The Golden Age
left Hobson's-bay at 1 p.m. on the sth of May, and
anchored at Sydney-heads on the Bth, at nightfall, the
vessel being heavily laden with coals. She took her
departure from Sydney on the 12th of May, and at 11
a.tn. on the 24th entered Papetie Harbour, the distance,
3,411 miles, having been run in 14 days, the winds pre-
vailing being S. by W. for the first nine days, and E.
the remainder. The lowest run in 24 hours was 220
miles, .and the highest 272 miles. The ship was burning
New South Wales coal Wool Newcastle) the average
consumption being 70 tons per diem. The stay at Pa-
petie occupied five days, during which 1,200 tons of coal
were taken on board from three vessels lying in a safe
and good harbour without rollers, the coal being placed
on board by natives. On the 30th of May, at 10 a.m.,
the Golden Age left Papetie, having on board 1,400
tons of coal, the ship being very deep, the engines
making only 9 revolutions, and the current being 1i
knot adverse. The run to Panama was made in 19 days,
at a speed averaging 200 to 270 miles a day, the actual
distance traversed being 4,451 miles ; wind calm and
light from the eastward during the majority of the pas-
sage. The course steered was a strait one to Tahiti and
thence to Panama, and the ship had to contend with 768
miles of current. About 2,600 tons of coal were consumed
in ail, the average cost of which, at 41. per ton, was
10,4001. With a consumption of 70 tons of New South
Wales coal the engines made only 13 revolutions per
minute, whereas with 50 tons of Welsh coals the revo-
lutions attained have been 18. The mails have been
delivered in Southampton in 66 days from Sydney, all
detentions included f' but,'taklng 6 days for coaling at
Papetie, 4 days detention at Panama, and 2 days at St.
Thomas's, the actual steaming time has been 54 days
from Sydney to England. The freight and passage-
money earned by the Golden Age was 10,5001., and tlis
voyage will, it is said, show a loss of from 7,0001. to
10,0001., owing to the enormous cost of fuel. Screw.
steamers, if used on this route, would probably coal in
Cook's Straits, New Zealand, and, as they would have
more wind in their favour and less current against them,
would easily make the run from Sydney to Panama in
40 to 45 days, at an expenditure of coal less than one-
third of that occasioned by the employment of the Golden
Age. Without a mail contract of 10s. per mile, it is
doubtful if screw-steamers would pay their expenses on
the line ; and it is from this cause that the English com-
pany (the Australasian Pacific) has withdrawn their fine
steamers, built specially for the purpose. The experi-
ence derived from the voyage of the Golden Age is pretty
conclusive as to the fact of the Panama route to Aus-
tralia being the shortest and most direct, and (conside-
rations of expense left out of the question) the most de-
sirable for the transmission of mails. When coals can
be provided for steamers at New Zealand at moderate
expense, it seems to be likely that the line will be per-
manently occupied by screw-steamers, bat till such
favourable circumstances are in operation, the Panama
route to our South Australian possessions must ne-
cessarily be sealed to the mercantile world.

THE JASON STEAMSHIP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—lmagining that some of your readers may be inte-
rested in the present arrangements for the transport of
troops, and the facility with which it is conducted, show-
ing, as it does, of what importance steam has become in
this particular service, I call your attention to the pro-
ceedings of one of the General Screw Company's ships—the
Jason. She left the river Thumps on the morning of the
29d of May, with 300 officers, non-commissioned officers,
and men, and 227 officers, together with the guns, car-
riages, and waggons, all of the Royal Artillery. She car-
ried also about 170 tons of gunpowder. After experiencing
strong south-westerly gales, she made Gibraltar on Sunday,
' and long.
gthe9n92El' shedays
nnlay
tzrn2uBn;inoanteJduv,n,eithl,
tihnelact.a3ll7odse2nNtr.
out.
She made Malta on the morning of June 3, leaving the
same evening,
having taken oonfrbeo aarptel 3:oa
ttaopnasn,
of
shec° coal
com-
municated and
100 tons of water.
On thamwoirtahi,aganodf jtouoakeisn, tow the transport ship Nor-
thumberland with troops on board, and at noon of the 7th,
having towed the above ship through the Archipelago and
Dardanelles, a distance of 500 miles, she cast her off, a
favourable breeze having sprung up, The
no samertehce hmnt;
neveningmorning
she lost her first and only horse, and on the following
o f
.rmorningshenes sh e arrivedreceve
received
torConstantinople.ders f
rom
eo nnaod
On
discharge the horses at a small wharf up the Bosp
eeettl,iaatuelaydiv,s'eehigahrgeded
all tphreocheeerdseetel
theto tßahlehhep°dlnis-aa7
aPSUhdientiL(lee guns, carriages, waggons, troops, ammunition,
&c.,
no
Sunday,
athh,e,
ay, following h
1
l t o d ayf. June, the shi proceeded to Scu-
tari. On the 12th she proceeded
up the Bosphorus, and at
noon commenced receiving the packhorses of the Light
Division ; and, en June 13, at 4 p.m., started for Warns,
having on board 300 horses :1,11(1200 men, together w ithCo
missariat stores and provisions for 6,000 men for a week;ll
also having in tow the transport Pyrenees. She arrived at
Varna
at noon on the following day, June 14, and imme-
diately commenced assisting with her ship's company in
the disembarkation of troops from the ship's that had
arrived before her. The following' day, June 15, she die-
embarked all the Commissariat stores, troops, &c., and at
one p.m. on the 16th of June commenced discharging
horses. Having discharged all the horses, 300 in number,
in five hours, at seven p.m. she returned to Constanti-
nople, at which place she Arrived the following day at
noon, June 17.
Ou the 18th of June she again proceeded up the Bor.
phorus, and commenced taking in the horses of the cavalry
staff.
On the 19th of June, by six p.m., she had received on
board 250 horses, 300 non-commissioned officers and men,
with the Earl of Lucan and staff; and on the following
morning, at five a.m., weighed anchor
St
d Proceeded.
Vincent and
having in tow her Majesty's transports
June 20, and landed 51 horses t
semeand troops and re-
the 22d of June finished landing horsesn tow
her
er Majesty's
Rubicon. She arrived in Varna Bay on tel followingl3
a n day,
turned to Constantinople, having i
transport Rubicon.
She arrived at Constantinopleimmediately commenced dis
the same time, dan on tbe
Government stores, coaling t
left C t ons an inople ftr
evening of Monday, unea26 ,
char gio4thame
m23udniPtfion June,
and a
alld
ti
J
Gibraltar.
nGtibinralqtauraroanntthlnienttilofetihghetsteheloefeJkutlhye,
and
commenced coalingwatering, and left Gibraltar
imme-
diatelyfollowing morning. On receiving pratique she
for England a noon on the 7th of July, arriving at Ports-
mouth on the afternoon of the 13th of July, in an effective
condition, and ready to start at an hour's notice, thus per-
forming a service that would have taken about six sailing
transports of 500 tons 100 days to accomplish.—l am, sir,
your obedient servant,
J. W. LANE, Commander of the Jason.
Southampton, July 17.

OPENING OF THE NEW ISLINGTON CEMETERY.—The
Burial Board of St. Mary, Islington, have informed the
parishioners that the new cemetery of that parish at
Finchley will be opened for interments on the 28th
instant,