The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

PREFERENCE SHARES.

Aberdeen ..... .... I
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Dundee Pcrth&Aber-
deen Junction

7 iiii

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c., 1852.
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6i - 61
4 - 44
52 - 6
4 - 1 p

-- lap
lk -- lap
131 -- 14

20 - 21

2i -

126 - 12.2

109 - 110
P

8 - 81

100
100
100
6
100

64
101 103
95 100
98 100
id par
143 145

2i - 3

Londonderry& Coler.
Londy. do Ennis. A Sh
Manch. ,Shef.,d; Lin.,
Shares, No. 1......
Do. New,
Do., £6 ..........
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Do. 4A per cent. ..... .j

iii = ii

7 - 8
91 - 104
P

all
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100
100

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141 143
i id

106 - 110
112 - 116

... -

2i' - ii

102 - 104
4 - ip

Scot. Cen., New Pref.
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Shrewsby. & Chester
(Nor.W.Min),B p. c.
Do. 5 per cent
South Devon
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9,1 10/
15/ 16
0;4 101
,13 15
d

S. Eastern (Reading
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Waterfd. &Kilk. 6p. c.
York Newcastle and
Berwick, 4 p.c.Pref.

Do
York& N. Midland H
k S. Purch

23 24
17 19
1 id

95 - 98
3 - 44

id

THE LOSS OF THE STEAMER EV.4.

The Freeman's Journal gives the following ac-
count of the facts connected with the loss of the
steamer Eva, from Glasgow, and 11 persons on
board, in the Channel on Wednesday evening :

" The ill-fated vessel, since her construction, about nine
months ago, had been plying on the river Clyde until very
recently, when her owners determined upon sending her to
Australia, with the view of employing her there in the
coasting trade. She was to some extent converted into a
sailing-vessel for the purpose of the voyage to Melbourne ;
her paddles were unshipped and stowed away in the hold,
while her boilers and machinery were left untouched, so
that when she arrived at her destination she might be re-
stored to her former character as a paddle-steamer. She
left Greenock on Tuesday morning, with a crew number-
ing 14 men, together with the captain, Mr. Fisher, his wife,
his sister-in-law, Miss Herd, and the steward, John
)):Kenzie—making a total of 17 souls. She proceeded ou
her course satisfactorily until Tuesday night, when she en-
countered the dreadful gale that raged in the Channel all
that night and the following morning, during which time
she strained and laboured to an extent that caused consi-
derable alarm among the crew. This straining was attri-
butable in some measure to her great length—a circum-
stance that excited the surprise of the captain and crew of
the Prince steamer when they first observed her—and also
to the weight of a cargo of coals which she carried, and all
her steam machinery, which was lying amidships. Between
7 and S o'clock on the mornin e of Wednes lay she was sti uek
by a heavy sea, whereupon all on board were alarmed by
a loud report, which, on investigation, was found to have
been caus34l by the breaking of the keel right, in the cen-
tre; the vessel, in fact—to. use the language of one of
tie rescued sailors in narrating the occurrence—` hav-
ing broken her hack.' The entire framework and body of
the ship immediately began to giv ; way, and the water
pJured in so quickly that in a short time the hold and
the cabin were filled. The captain, upon discovering the
irreparable nature of the injury done, directed signals
of distress to be made, and the lifeboat to be lowered.
His orders were promptly obeyed. The signal flag which
attracted the attention of those on board the Prince
steamer and the trawler, was run up to the wizen peak,
and •the lifeboat was safely lowered ; but in the hurry
i
and excitement of the moment, three of the na
into her incautiously, and she was, unfortunaalvjuumppeset,
and before any effort could be made to recover her
she drifted away. The mate and the steward then
dropped a second boat, into which they succeeded in
getting safely, but had scarcely done so when a third sea-
man leaped into her, and she was also upset. The unfor-
tunate man, whose want of presence of mind led to the
overturning of this second boat, sank, and was not seen
again, while the mate and steward, after great exertion,
were enabled to get upon the upturned keel, to which they
clung with desperate tenacity. Those who remained on
the deck, including the captain and the two ladies before-
mentioned, seeing that there was no hope from the boats
and finding that the ship was rapidly breaking up and
sinking, lashed themselves to spars and loose planks,
and shortly before she went down committod themselves
to the waves, in tha hope of being soon picked up by
ehe Prince steamer, which they had previousls discovered
bearing down upon them. The Prince, belonging to the
City of Dublin Steampacket Company, Captain Doarl,
left Liverpool, at twelve o'clock on Monday night for
Dublin. While proceeding on her course on Wednesday
morning, after nine o'clock, some of the passengers and
crew on deck discerned at a distance of about 18 miles
west by north from the Bailey Lighthouse, and about three
miles south of themselves, what appeared to be an unusually
long, strange-looking ship. Although the glasses were put
in requisition, it was found impossible to arrive at a posi-
tive conclusion as to whether the stranger was a screw-
steamer, which her length and the distance between two of
her masts suggested, or a sailing vessel of large size. The
topmasts and all the yards, except the foretopgallantyard,
which hung loose, were gone. The mate, while examin-
ing her through his telescope, discovered that she had
a signal of distress flying,—a circumstance which he in-
stantly communicated to the captain, who quickly came
on deck, and at once gave orders to put the steamer
about and bear down to her relief at full speed. At
this time no one on board the Prince entertained the
slightest suspicion that the object of their anxiety was in so
shattered and helpless a condition, and when, after steam-
ing towards her for five minutes, he was seen to go down,
a feeling of horror, considerably increased by the calamity
being altogether unanticipated, pervaded the minds of all
who witnessed the catastrophe. In the course of 10 minutes
the Prince arrived at the scene of the wreck, and there was
presented the sad and miserable sight of 15 or 1.6 human
beings, including two women, clinging to spars and shriek-
ing for aid, while they were being tossed about at tbe mercy
of waves, which were rolling fearfully. Captain Dearl,
in his statement published in the Freeman, of yesterday,
and in his evidence at the inquest, alleges that he made
_very possible exertion to render effective assistance to the
wretched people perishing before his eyes ; but that, owing
to the heavy sea which was running at the time, and the
great difficulties invariably experienced under such cir-
cumstances in lowering boats from a steamer constructed
as the Prince is, the boats could not be successfully
launched, and that be was thus, to his great mortiffcation
and sorrow, compelled to witness the destruction of so
many lives without being able to afford any relief. One
of his boats was broken up and carried off, and another
was so severely dashed against the ship's side that the
plank ends started from the sternpost. To the noble and
gallant conduct of the fishing trawler Emerald Isle
is clue the honour of rescuing, from almost certain
death, six fellow-creatures, under difficulties and
circumstances that would have appalled less intre-
pid hearts, and which defeated all the efforts of an
experienced captain, with a numerous and efficient crew,
five boats, and all the resources' of a powerful steamer
at his command. The names of those four poor, humble,
hut chivalrous and devoted men ara—John Dunne, master,
his son, Edward Dunne, "\l'illiam Carroll, and Peter Col-
lins. The trawler, which, is the property of Mr. Good, of
this city, left Ringsend on Tuesday, morning for the pur-
pose of fishing in the Channel. About half-past 7 o'clock
on We.lnestlay morning the men on board saw the distress

signal made by the Eva. They pulled in their nets, and
proceeded as quickly as possible towards the vessel. They
arrived close by her at about a quarter past 9 o'clock, and
just in time to see her break right across, and go duwn
in the centre, the stem and stern being the last to disap-
pear. They ran their smack in among the floating sp .re,
to which the people were clinging, and in a few minutes
got out their frail little boat, scarcely 14 feet in length.
Carroll and Collins got into this miserable shallop,
the escape of which, into so furious a sea, has been declared
by r ome who were present to be almost miraculous ; ant!,
while Carroll skulled about from spar to spar, Collins was
engaged in dragging in the men that could be reached. This
was a most difficult work, in consequence of the men being
lashed to large pieces of timber, and fromtheir being unable
to assist themselves, having been rendered quite numb by
their long immersion in the water, which was bitterly cold.
In one instance Collins was holding a man for more than
half-an-hour, quite bewildered as to how he could get him
into the boat, the man being lashed to twolarge forms, and
quite insensible. Several attempts were made to loosen the
lashings, but in vain. The poor fellow was at last got in ',37
Carroll, who had been busily engaged steering, in order to
avoid shipping any of the seas that were rolling, seizing a
favourable opportunityto give his brave comrade a hand, when
by their united strength they succeeded in getting on board
forms, man, and all. They were engaged searching about
for upwards of two hours, until they were satisfied that
no others were near to whom they could render any aid.
Then, and not till then, they returned to the smack, which
under Dunne's charge, kept close to them although hav-
ing, at great personal risk, and extraordinary persever-
ance and exertions, saved six men. They conveyed the
survivors to their little cabin, and, having set all to
rights, they were making for Kingston, when they
descried dark speck upon the crest of a wave, at
a distance of a mile and a half or two miles. No-
thing wearied by their humane labours, and only anxi-
ous to ascertain if their was one more whom they could
preserve, they tacked ,and proceeded towards the dark
object, which gradually became more and more distinct till
at length they saw the young man holding firmly on by the
keel of an upturned boat. On seeing his deliverers
approach, he gave a faint cheer, or rather cry, of wel-
come, and in a few minutes more he was safe on the deck
of the trawler. He proved to be the steward, who, it
will be recollected, got with the mate and a third man
who was drowned, into the second boat that upset. He
stated that the mate held on by the keel for more than
an hour, but having been repeatedly swept off by the
waves, and becoming exhausted by his efforts to reo• •
his hold, he at length let go, struggled violently foain
few minutes, and then, dropping his arms by his sides rhae
gave a look of anguish at the steward, and disappeared.
He also states that he saw the steamer and the trawler
hovering about the place of the wreck ; he watched them
with a beating heart and an anxious eye, and when be saw
them leaving without noticing him he end's loured to resign
and prepare himself to the fate he now deemed inevitable.
He was several times washed off the drifting boat, but al-
ways successfully endeavoured to regain his Pl"'
on the
keel, to which he had climbed for the eighth or ninth time
when he was taken off, having been in the water for 3J
hours, The labours of the crew of the trawler were not yet
at an end, for during their passage home they en-
gaged, as frequently as the management of the smack
would permit, in attending to the poor sufferers in the
cabin, and supplying such warmth and refreshment as they
could command. in order to restore them to animation. All
their efforts in this respect were unavailing as so worn
reference
to
John Carmichael, the engineer of the Eva, who w
out by exhaustion and long exposure the cold that he
died in the course of a coupleof
at Ringsend at sin the eveniug,llaahnom The smack arrived
deu when the news of the
othin could exceed
calamity spread through the vi
poor people,
p reseedg forward with
the zeal with which the
blankets and restorativ
es for the half-perished survivors.
Their wants were f
ministered to by the fishermen's wives,
who tended them care-
and well. They were subse-
quently removed to the Sailors' Home, where every possible
.t
attention that human.' .
could suggest was paid them. Mr.
Institution, supplied them yesterday with
Marshall, of the instance of Mr. Good, the owner of
warm clothing, who undertook to be accountable for the
the Emerald
the event of its not being otherwise paid. The poor
cost, in
fellows are profuse in their expressions of gratitude towards
their gallant deliverers and the good people of Etingsend,
who, they say, consoled them by their sympathy, and re-
lieved them, out of their limited means, with a generosity
that would have reflected honour upon the wealthiest iu
the laud. We regret to state that the captain, with his
wife and her sister, are among those who were lost. When
leaving the vessel, they attached themselves to a small raft,
and, when last seen from the trawler, the captain was hold-
ing his wife's head above the water, although she, together
with her sister, appeared to be dead. Before the boat could
reach them, they were swept away by a sea which broke
over them. We give the names of the drowned, with the
exception of one man, whose name none of the survivors
can recollect :—Captain Robert Fisher, his wife, and sister-
in-law ; Fritson. chief mato ; Robert Douglas, second.
mate : James Kanapl, seaman ; William Beaton;seamau ;
John Bohey, seaman ; and Neil Douglas, seaman.

" The names of those saved are —Alexander Grimmond,
seaman ; John M'Kinsey, steward ; Win. A. Gordon,
seaman ; Walter Scott (a negro), cook ; Eliza Solveli,
seaman (Portuguese); and a sixth, whose name we could
not ascertain."

Mr. Davis, one of the county coroners, held an
inquest on Thursday on the body of John Car-
michael, the engineer of the Eva, who had been
picked up in an exhausted state, and died shortly
afterwards on board the trawler. A. number of
witnesses having been examined, the jury, after a
short consultation, returned the following ver-
dict :

" We find that the deceased came by his death by the
ship Eva, on board of which he was engineer, foundering
at sea on the morning of the 28th inst."
The following well-earned expression of praise
was attached to the finding :
" The jury cannot separate without bringing under the
notice of the public and the authorities the gallant and

humane conduct of Mr. John Dunne, skipper of the Eme•
raid Isle trawling-boat, and of Robert Collins and William
Carroll, and the boy Dunne, who formed the crew of the
trawler, who, by very great exertions, and at the risk of
their own lives, succeeded in saving six persons fromlthe
wreck."

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL.

DISMISSAL OF DR. GAY.

Yesterday a numerous meeting of the governors of
the Royal Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-lane, was held in
the board-room of the hospital "to consider, with a view
to confirmation, a resolution of the committee of manage-
ment, unanimously passed at their meeting, held on
Wednesday, Dec. 14," the said resolution having re-
ference to the dismissal of Dr. Gay, one of the surgeons
to the hospital.

It was proposed and seconded that Mr. Pritchard,
High Bailiff of Southwark, and a member of the com-
mittee of management, should take the chair.
It was also proposed and seconded that Mr. Garrard,
of Hyde-park gardens, should preside, on the ground
that it was unfair to Mr. Gay that a member of the com-
mittee of management should preside at the meeting.
On a show of hands Mr. Pritchard was chosen by a
majority of 79 to 32.
The CHAIRMAN called on the secretary to read the
minutes of the Board of Management, which would put
the meeting in possession of the facts of the case. It
appeared from these minutes that on the 30th of March
last a biographical sketch of Mr. Gay appeared in the
Medical Circular. Amongst other things contained in
this sketch was the following remark :
"It is not too much to say, that the position this
hospital has assumed is almost solely owing to the exer-
tions of Mr. Gay. But for the repute which this gen_
tleman'has gained by his surgical -successes this institu-
tion would have been unknown. Unlike many other
surgeons, he is not indebted to the hospital for his cele-
brity ; on the contrary, the hospital owes everything as
a surgical arena to his skill and enterprise."
• No notice was taken of this paragraph till the 13th
of July, when Mr. Halswell brought it under the notice
of the Committee of Management. In consequence of
their resolution the Secretary wrote on July 15 to Mr.
Gay and asked'for answers to the following questions :
"1. 'Was the manuscript or proof of your biography,
published in a medical paper of the date of March last,
seen by you previously to its publication ? 2. Did you
supply any part of that biography? If that biography
was published without your knowledge or sanction,
have you written to the publisher to complain of any
statements or allegations it contained ?"—Mr. Gay
replied on the 19th, and gave the following answer
to the interrogatories put to him :—" I supplied the
editor of that journal with the simple facts of the places
of my birth and education, and with such references
to my own writings and other works as were required
for the compilation of that Biography. I am not in
any way responsible for the personal or general observa-
tions which it contains. I did not either supply or sug-
gest them ; I did not see them in manuscript or proof -
nor was I aware of their nature prior to their publica-
tion. I have not complained to the editor of any state-
ments or allegations contained in that biography." On
the 27th of July the committee considered the letter of
Mr. Gay, and came to a resolution, after requesting Mr.
Gay to withdraw, that Mr. Gay be called on to correct
without delay, in the same publication, the statements
complained of. Mr. Gay accordingly wrote the following-
letter to the editor of the Medical Circular ;—"My at-
tention having been drawn to some statements in a
memoir of myself, published in the March number
of your journal, I beg you will do me the favour to cor-
rect them in the ensuing number. lam not, as therein
stated, the principal surgeon' of the Royal Free Hos-
pital, there being two other full surgeons connected
with it beside myself, Dr. Marsden being the senior.
In attributing the position (professional I presume),
which the hospital has attained principally to my
services, I feel most sincerely that you have overrated
them, and, at the same time, overlooked those of the
founder and the other medical officers with whom I
have had the honour of co-operating during the period of
my connection with it. I hope you will do me the justice,
moreover, to admit that I am not in any way responsib!o
for the opinions contained in that Biography, either in
reference to myself personally, or to my relation with
the Free Hospital, and that I was not, is the slightest
degree, made aware of their nature prior to their pub-
lication." On the 3d August the board of management
again met, and Dr. Gay attended with a letter from the
editor, stating that Mr. Gay was in no way responsible
for the opinions expressed in the memoir, and that they
were not written in consequence of any suggestions or
information from him. The committee thereupon came
to the unanimous resolution that the explanation of Mr.
Gay was not satisfactory, and on the 10th of August
they agreed to the further resolution, "That Dr. Gay had
forfeited the confidence of the committee." This resolu-
tion was come to by eight ins mbers of the committee,
which consists of thirty. The next meeting of the com-
mittee did not take place till the 14th of Deceuiber,
1853, previously to which Mr. Gay wrote a letter to the
committee, in which he expressed his regret that his
disavowal (for some reasons unknown to him) had not
satisfied them, and added, as a proof of his sincerity,
that "in the event of a republication of the memoir ho

would use his best efforts to obtain the omission from

its details of anything that might he deemed offensive
either to the committee or Its colleagues." The
committee on that occasion came to the following reso-
lution :—" That this committee, referring to its former
resolution of the 10th of Ati4tist, records its conviction

Hilt neither .Mr. Gay's letter, read this day, nor any
other act of his: since thot perirnl, has in any way tended
to alter the opinion of hi• condnet then expressed, and,
therefore, it is further resohed that Mr. Gay be, and he
is hereby dismissed from his office as one of the surgeons
of the hospital."

Mr. HALSWELL moved that the resolution of dismissal
be confirmed by the meeting. .

Mr. WATSON seconded the motion.
Mr. GARRARD moved "That in the opinion of the
meeting Mr. Gay was wholly unconnected with the ar-
ticle which appeared in the Medical Circular, further
than having supplied the editor with the simple facts of
the places of his birth and education, together with such
references to his own writings and other works as were
required for the compilation of that article, and that in
the opinion of the meeting the resolution of the com-
mittee was, therefore, unfoundec."
Mr.. BIGGS seconded the motion.

After considerable discussion, in answer to Mr. SHER,
The CHAIRMAN said that the medical men received no
salaries. At the end of the year they received some
gratuity, if the funds permitted it.
A show of hands was then taken on the amendment,
which was lost by 87 to 36.
Mr. BARNARD then moved another amendment for
referring the matter back to the committee.
This amendment was lost by 67 to 41.
The original motion was then put and declared to be
carried.

A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro-
ceedings, which appeared to create great interest amongst.
the subscribers.

BED-HOT SHOT.

The following letter has been addressed to the editor
of the Morning .Advertiser in answer to what appeared
yesterday :
SIR,—Seeing a letter in your paper of this morning,
signed "D. Hammond," stating that furnaces for heat-
ing shot were being made in the Commercial-road with
all despatch for the Russian Government, in reply, I
have no doubt lam the person alluded to, and beg to
say, that your correspondent is in error, inasmuch as
the furnaces in question are for our own Government,
and not for Russia, as described.
You will, therefore, do me the favour by placing be-
fore the public this corrected statement.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
JOHN FRASER.
10, Commercial-road East, Dec. 30.

THE ROAD AT HYDE-PARK-CORNER.—The road front
Knightsbridge to Hyde-park-corner seems to us a dis-
grace to the practical science of the day. On the first
occurrence of frost it is absolutely impassable without
danger. It has been an unenviable notoriety in this
respect for years, and still no remedy is attempted. On
Monday night last, foil example, we saw at one moment
five horses on their sides, and all the others passing were
compelled to walk with care to avoid taking the same
position.—Builder.
IMPROVEMENTS IN BROMPTON.—In the preliminary
notices for acts of Parliament for improvements in the
metropolis the neighbourhood of Brompton stands pro-
minently forth. The Royal Commissioners promise
several new and extensive public roads. Mr. Farlar.
the original proprietor of a great part of Brompton-
square, has also given notice to make a new road from
the end of Brompton-square into the road leading to
Princes-gate, Knightsbridge, and so to the Kensington-
road, an alteration that has long been desired. If we
understand rightly the Kensington improvement com-
missioners had also taken up this proposition, concern-
ing which we shall have something more to say. The
Kensington improvement commissioners have also re-
cently removed an obstruction in the shape of iron bars
at the end of Brompton-creseent, next to Fulham-road
—a great improvement.—The Builder.
BRITISH AUSTRALIAN GOLD COMPANY.—A meeting
of shareholders in this company was held yesterday, Mr.
W. Henderson presiding, when a statement was sub-
mitted relative to the proceedings of the committee ap-
pointed to protect their interests. It appeared that
several endeavours had been made to obtain information
from the directors respecting the position of the under-
taking and the funds remaining in hand, but that nothing
satisfactory could be elicited, and that consequently,
after a fortnight's labour, little or no progress had been
effected. The constitution of the company, it was con-
tended, was illegal, and hence a conviction was expressed
that if the shareholders were to appeal to the law, a
restitution of the subscribed capital could be enforced.
To proceed regularly in bringing the question under con-
sideration, it was proposed to pass a resolution declaring
a want of confidence in the board. At this stage several
large shareholders suggested the propriety of first for-
warding a requisition to the directors, signed by all
parties present, for a meeting, it being intimated that
they would probably comply if this course were adopted.
A good deal of discussion on the point took place, and
it was eventually agreed that such a requisition should
be prepared, and that, if the directors failed to convene
a meeting within the space of three weeks, further
measures should be proposed to compel them to render
accounts,

( From the Times.)

We have every reason to look with the greatest
suspicion upon the improvements introduced into
our system of travelling in connexion with the
Post-office. The letter and the passenger travel
at rates which stand in inverse ratio to each other.
Distance goes for nothing in the matter. A letter,
written from a part of Australia at no great dis-
tance from Sydney was received in London yester-
day, though written in the beginning of August.
So much for the antipodes. Now for the suburbs.
A letter was posted in London the day before yes-
terday before three o'clock • it was not delivered
five or six miles down the Windsor line until the
next morning, although six trains had shot by the
very spot in the course of the afternoon. Nor must
it be supposed that we are speaking merely of iso-
lated instances. The Australian post-office is a dis-
grace to the British name, and the arrangements at
our doors nearly as bad as they can well bo. Im-
provements have been made in mechanical contri-
vances which should have accelerated the despatch
of letters to an indefinite extent, but the Post-office,
in some way or another, contrives to neutralise the
advantages which the public should have gained
from these discoveries. It may be that the people
at the Post-office have more on their hands than
they cau accomplish ; but, if the point be estab-
lished in the affirmative, and the Post-office autho-
rities be so far exonerated, it would constitute no
excuse for the manifold acts of mal-administration
which are brought every day under our notice by
one correspondent or another. Letters might at
least be despatched at proper intervals, and under
suitable arrangements, over the country, and more
especially round the suburbs, even if the commer-
cial men of the metropolis are to be put to much
inconvenience by irregularities of delivery. The
Post-office, as at present managed, seems to be a
mere nuisance to the London merchant. Many gen-
tlemen who have addressed us upon the subject, and
whose letters have appeared in the columns of the
Times, attribute this vexation and disappointment
in great measure to the deficiency in the number of
letter-carriers. " A sufferer," writing to us last
week from Adelaide-chambers, Gracechurch-street,
says, "It is most disgraceful to say no remedy
can be found, when I tell you that the morning
and afternoon deliveries, sometimes including three
or four foreign mails, devolve upon one postman,
who groans under his burden, and this in one of
the most populated streets in the city of London."
Ryde, Curteis, and Whitworth, of 83, Upper
Thames-street, have told us in their letter to this
journal, that letters sent by what should be the
mid-day mails are frequently not delivered until
so late in the afternoon "as to make their contents
valueless, being too late for dock or Customs, and
almost for banking or any other business." We
need not, however, multiply quotations—three or
four letters to the same effect from commercial
men have appeared almost daily in our columns for
some time past.
It is high time that some explanations were
given as to the palpable deficiencies and short-
.
comings of the postal arrangements, so that we
might refer effects to causes. We are told in a
letter from Lord Kinnaird to Viscount Canning,
which we published in the course of this month,
that the total amount of chargeable letters had
increased from 77,000,000—the number for the
year preceding that one iu which the penny
postage came into operation—to 379,000,000,
the number for the year 1852. Thus, no doubt,
a vast amount of additional labour has been en-
tailed upon the postal authorities • and, although
it is now somewhat late in the day for explanations,
we should be glad to hear what they have to say
in self-defence. It is really the res angustee which
necessitate these irregularities ? We doubt it as
far as the bulk of the grievances is concerned ; but
if it should be so, at least let us know the truth.
The people of this empire have not fallen so com-
pletely into " reduced circumstances" that they
are not prepared to pay whatever sum may be ne-
cessary for the punctual and speedy delivery of
their letters. There can be no question of altering
the penny stain') ; but, no doubt, if the Post-office
be bankrupt, means will be found of extricating it
from its difficulties. The present state of things is
quite intolerable, and must become the subject of
inquiry before a Parliamentary committee, unless
some reform be effected. Our own strong belief is
that a great portion of the irregularity arises from
downright mismanagement, and from a desire to
make profit from the establishment. For example,
if we are told that the duties cast upon the Post-
office by the increase of the postal traffic are so
great that they cannot be discharged by the
present staff, how can we reconcile this with the
fact that the establishment is daily laying itself
out for more business ? No doubt, it is of great
convenience to the public that we should be able
to despatch small parcels, books, ac., through the
Post-office ; but we had much rather be without
this facility, if the regular delivery of our letters
is thereby imperilled. We entreat Viscount Can-
ning, as head of the department, to remember that
the speedy and regular delivery of the penny letter
is the great desideratum in the operations of the
department over which he presides. If other
advantages can be obtained, so much the better—
but that is the sine rind non.
It would, however, be but an imperfect com-
ment upon postal grievances which did not contain
some allusion to the scandalous condition of the
Australian Post-office and snore especially of the
establishment at Melbourne. Whether the fault
rests at head-quarters, or with Governor Latrobe,
or whether, until six or seven .months ago, the
evil was attributable entisely to the disorganization
of society iu those colonies, we will not attempt
to determine ; but at least the time for the
latter excuse is gone by. A postal establishment
fit for the service of the colony, and adapted
to the necessities of its communication with the
mother country, might be organised now even at
Melbourne. We wi 1 venture to say that the pub-
lic would consent to pay any price that might be-
necessary to secure the object in view. We are
not now speaking of the lamentable failures of
communication between shore and shore, but of the
mere abominations of the piggery which is called
a " Post-office." As for writing from this country
to Melbourne through the Post-office, you might
as well write to Lake Tshad, and drop your letter
into the Fleet Ditch. Let us end as we began, by
saying that the irregularities of the Post-office are
as noticeable between St. Martin's-le-Grand and the
suburbs of London as between England and her
antipodean colonies. A man in a red cart is daily
sent three or four times to skate down to the vari-
ous villages and towns on the Windsor line, al-
though the district is traversed by a railroad, along
which trains are run sonic 14 or 16 times a-day.
Richmond, Hampton, Mortlake, Barnes, Putney,
and Wandsworth are pretty much in the same pes_
tal position as they were 20 or 30 years ago, and
rather worse off than Birmingham, Manchester, or
Liverpool at the present day.

NOTTINGHAM TRADE.—The lace trade is this week
unusually quiet; what with the Christmas holidays and
what with the preparations for taking stock, when, of
course, it saves trouble as Well as the interest of money
to have the stocks as low as possible. Many houses
have literally seen none of their customers, have not
entered a line, and have taken advantage of the holi-
days to close their warehouses early in the afternoon. Ma-
chine finished goods have experienced a decided check,
and there is much less of them making, in consequence
of the dear rates of provisions, there being this week
another rise of 2s. occasioned by the backward state of
home sown grain and the disasters in the Black Sea, and
the relative high price of labour, together with the great
cost of materials. The large houses in London at this
season seem to turn their attention rather to the dis-
counting of paper at 6 per cent., as the more beneficial
means of turning over their capital, and hence there is no
speculative feeling towards the lace trade amongst them.
Materials, especially silk, continue very firm, and there
is now no prospect of this last being cheaper ; although.
about ten days ago, on the arrival of the Challenger and
some other vessels from China, and before the bales
were unpacked, the importers submitted to a fall, which
lasted only two days, and was certainly a good thing
for those who were fortunate enough to purchase, as
rates have since been resumed, and Italians are very
high. The hosiery tradehas this week experienced a re-
vival of inquiries, and we are happy to say that even the
roundabouts, so long neglected, have come into demand.
We desire not to be misunderstood in making this an-
nouncement. It is a fact that the home trade has ex-
perienced an improvement, though perhaps nothing to
boast of, several buyers having appeared and placed their
orders last week, so that there is altogether a comfortable
feelingfor Prlng- With regard to the round
goods, some of the houses have again set on all the
frames they possessed ; but it is to the further im-
provement of machinery, and its adaptation to the
production of the superior classes of goods that many
ingenious minds aro at this moment bent. We are
able to compete with the Germans in the produc-
tion of ordinary goods, we can heat them in cheap pro-
duction, both in quantity and in price, but where the
element of labour is largely concerned in the cost of pro-
duction as it is in the superior description of goods, the
subdued looking half-starved continentalists, or, their
black bread, can still effectually compete with us. Hence
the anxiety with which the next development of the
capabilities of the stocking-frame is watched amongst us.
ottingh.a2nshire Guardian.
HANWELL COUNTY PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM.--The
Committee of Visitors of this asylum have passed a re-
solution declaring that from the Ist of January, ISSI,
the weekly suns to be paid for each person confined in
the asylum chargeable to the county, or to any parish
therein, for the purpose of defraying the whole expense
.of the lodging, maintenance and care, medicine and
clothing, and other expenses requisite for each person,
and to pay the salaries of the officers and attendants,
shall be fixed at the sum of 10s. 6d., instead of Bs. Pd.
as at present, being an increase of is. 9d. per week,