The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-26 00:00:00

PROMOTIONS IN THE ARMY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—l beg to call your attention to the promotion
of non-commissioned officers in the army to commis-
sioned officers. Since Lord Hardinge has ueen in power
there has been very few indeed, taking the same time he
has held office, and the same time the Duke held it. The
Duke's promotions were 6 to 1 to what they are now.
This is not much encouragement to clever sergeants and
sergeant-majors.—Yours truly,

FRANK LOWTHER.
Manchester, Jan. 24.

MANNING THE MERCANTILE MARINE.—LIVERPOOL,
WEDNESDAY.—Owing to the difficulty of procuring sea-
men, the screw steam-ship Olinda, Captain Harem, was
unable to sail yesterday morning, as advertised. She
will take her departure for the Brazils and River Plate
by to-night's tide, with a large cargo, a rair comple-
ment of passengers_ ....a a small quantity of jewellery
on board. The United States mail steam-ship Pacific,
Captain Ezra Nye, will also sail by this evening's tide
for New York, with the usual mails for the western
continent, 65 passengers, and a full cargo of merchan-
dise on freight.
:.LONDON HOSPITAL.—A special general court of the
governors of this valuable institution was held yesterday
in the board-room 0. Dr. Cobb, who has resigned on
account of ill health, after having held the office for a
number of years, when Dr. Herbert Davies, late assist-
ant-physician to the institution, was elected to the va-
cant post. By his election the office of assistant-physi-
cian has become vacant.
STRASBURG RAILWAY.—An imperial decree approves
of the modifications lately introduced into the statutes
of the Strasburg Railway Company, in consequence of
its annexing to its network of lines, those from Paris to
Mulhausen' Nancy to Gray, and Paris to St. Vincennes
and to St. Etienne.
REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS IN PIEDMONT.—On the
20th, the Piedmontese Chamber of Deputies finally
passed the bill for repealing the import duties on corn.
LETTERS TO SCHAUMBURG LIPPE.—GENERAL Posr
OFFICE, JAN.—The postage upon letters addressed to
the principality of Schaumburg Lippe, when sent in the
mail to Prussia via Belgium, will in future be reduced.
to :-Bd. for a single letter not exceeding half an ounce
in weight ; is. 4d. for a letter exceeding half an ounce
and not exceeding one ounce ; and so on, according to
the scale for charging letters in the United Kingdom.
This postage includes both the British and foreign rates
upon letters for Schamburg Lippe, and it may be paid
in advance, or the letters may be forwarded unpaid, at
the option of the sender.
BAR SILVER.—The bar silver brought by the last
West India packet, and by her Majesty's ship Thetis,
was disposed of yesterday at 610. per ounce, being an
advance of 'u d. Dollars continue to realise 59id. per
ounce, and both descriptions of silver are being exported
to the Continent to some extent.
UNITED MEXICAN MINING ASSOCIATION.—At a meet-
ing of this association, held yeterday, it was agreed to
raise 21,5001., in the shape of an advance of lOs. per
share, the amount subscribed to bear interest at the
rate of 5 per cent., payable out of the assets previously
to the declaration of a dividend, with other preferential
contingencies. This capital is to be applied to the de-
velopment of the Jesu Maria and La Trinidad Mines,
the progress of which will, it is believed, lead to satis-
factory results, the thread of ore in the former having,
according to the latest advices, considerably increased.
With regard to the general position of the undertaking's
it appears that the produce from Rayas, in which the
shareholders are beneficially interested in consequence of
the debt due from,the mine, has'augmented, and promises
further improvement. At Aldana the drainage has been
completed, but the works for the present suspended.
The Zacatecas claims are in course of liquidation, and
some time will elapse before they can be finally dis-
charged. The price of quicksilver at the date of the
report was $7O per quintal, and the stock on hand was
16,1701 b. The available assets in Mexico on the 26th
of November were $2,073. The assets in London
amounted to 10,1281., and the liabilities (including an
acceptance for 3:0001.) to 8,944/., leaving a balance of
1,1841. Instructions have been forwarded to the supe-
rintendent, giving him authority to draw up the com-
pany in anticipation for a small proportion of the new
capital, but it is thought he will not now require imme-
payment having been made on
diate assistance, another
the Zacatecas claims, and the returns from Rayas indi-
cating favourable results.
GUATEMALA BONDHOLDERS.—A meeting of Guatemala
bondholders took place yesterday to receive information
from the committee relative to the position of that
debt. The chairman (Mr. Sharp) stated that since the
previous meeting
in 1851, when resolutions were adopted
requesting
a slight increase in the terms proposed by
the Government through Mr. Chatfield, various com-
munications had passed, but nothing definite could
he arrived at. A long correspondence with the
Finance Minister was read, which showed that the
authorities were not prepared to offer more liberal
proposals ; and, although Captain W ke, the sue'
cessor of Mr. Chatfield, had endeavoured to urge a set-
tlement, his latest plan involved the negotiation of a new
loan equal in amount to that upon which it was proposed
to adjust the outstanding debt. The serious embarrass-
ment occasioned by the failure of the cochineal crop and
the late hostilities with Honduras would, it was inti-
mated, prevent the Government of Guatemala from taking
immediate steps to arrange with her foreign creditors-
Nothing had transpired with respect to the three other
States—viz., Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras'
whose proportion of the general obligation remained un-
satisfied (Costa Rica alone having discharged her share) ;
but it was mentioned that a private individual had en-
deavoured to arrange for that of San Salvador, although
the negotiation had not been brought to any conclusion'
The entire debt of Central America was originalli,
163,0001., and, looking at the situation and resources 0!
the country, it was considered that, although a
period
of nearly 25 years had elapsed, during which arrears of
interest had accrued, the changes now taking place
In
that quarter of the globe must eventually be productive
of benefit. The re-organization of the committee,
several of whom, after long connection with it, bad
(re-
tired
from ill-health and age, was therefore recommended'
but it was suggested that would be better, seeing tat
the debt is a small one, to transfer the management Of,
future negotiations to the Spanish American Bondholders
e
Committee. A vote of thanks having been passed to the
old committee for lengthened services, a resolution in
ac-
cordance with this proposal was put and carried.