The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-29 00:00:00

CANAL BETWEEN PACIFIC AND

ATLANTIC.
TC4 THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEWS.
Sir,—Observing in the various journals considerable
discussion on the subject of a railway or canal communi-
cation between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and know-
ing something of the intervening countries, I propose to
make a few remarks which may assist those who are in-
clined to invest their capital in such a speculation.
First. Geographical position. Any one who looks at
the map of the world must decide in favour of the Isth-
mus of Panama. It is the natural centre of North and
South America—the distance between the two oceans, in
a direct line, is not 40 miles; and the mountains running
through its length are of less elevation than in any other
of the three proposed routes.
Second. Political frontiers. From a considerable ex-
perience of and residence in Spanish republics, I con •
cider that capital embarked in a national undertaking in
any of them, would not be secure, unless the parties ad-
vancing the means held the sovereignty of the territory
through which the canal or railway passes; and in event
of a revolution in the country (a thing of every day oc-
currence in Spanish America), or a general war, it would
be much more easy to protect, and keep open, a way
through the Isthmus of Panama, than the route through
Nicaragua or Tehuantepec.
Third. Commercial advantage. With a ship canal
across the Isthmus of Panama, we should be in the
most advantageous position to command the trade of
Peru and Chili, central America, Mexico, California,
and Oregon, the islands of the Pacific, and to compete
with the Americans in the whale fishery. We should
open up a now route to China, Australia, and New
Zealand. No calculation can estimate the advantage to
our trade and shipping from the facilities afforded by
this route. And, in the event of war, the possession of
a passage for largo ships and steamers would be of the
utmost importance.
I believe it will be granted by every one who Ls©
studied the subject, that such great works as national
roads, canals, or railways, are not likely to be success-
fully undertaken in countries so constantly involved in
civil war as the states of central America or Mexico.
Such works are the consequences of civilzationand peace,
or of despotic government, and these are all wanting in
the countries referred to. The roads in central America
are of the most primitive kind. Sometimes a mule
track on a mountain ridge ; at others through what, in
the wet season, is the bed of a torrent, now a path
through the forest, and anon over a sandy stony desert.
It is true, you have in almost every part of the country
the riches of nature spread abroad with the most boun-
teous profusion ; bat the element necessary to make all
these available to the world—man—is woefully deficient
in all the qualities necessary for this object. And
Englishmen have never done any good with agricultural
or mining establishments in countries where they were
subject to foreign laws and constant revolutions.
To give you some idea of the disadvantages of the Ni-
caragua route, I may mention that I have before me a
letter from a young gentleman who landed at San Juan
the latter part of December, on his way to Costa Rica.
lie says:—" The river San Juan was flooded when I
went up, but I think it will take a long time, and cost a
good deal of money, to make it navigable for anything
but canoes up to the Muella, to which place they
intend bringing the road"—that is the road from
San Jose in Costa Rica. And if the river be in
such a state in time of flood, in the lower part
of its course, it is natural to suppose that as we
ascend to the Lake of Nicaragua we shall meet with sand-
• bars, rocks, and rapids. Again, he says —" At all
events, no one should leave England without engaging
mules, Etc., to be brought to him by the packet betore-
hand, unless he wishes to spend three weeks in the bush,
as we have done." He had the greatest difficulty in ob-
taining mules and provisions, in the very country de-
scribed in to-day's Times as abounding in such necessary
articles.

I believe we secure all the advantages of countries
which do not belong to us, by establishing ourselves in
their ports, and leaving their natives to improve or make
roads, &e., at their own expense.
If ever a ship canal be made across the Isthmus of
Panama (and I think such a canal far preferable to the
American plan of a railroad), I consider the most
proper proceeding would be, to purchase from the Go-
vernment of New Grenada a belt of land 30 miles wide
over the proposed route from sea to sea—not only the
fee-simple, but the sovi reignty. Taking advantage of
the vallies, the canal might be about fifty miles long; and
probably the New Grenada Government might dispose
of this for 500,000 L-50,0001. per mile, or 2,500,000/.
in all might be required to make a ship canal, from sea
to sea, with only ono lock of the largest size at each end.
The lands on both sides would he valuable for rearing
all tropical productions, and would soon be settled; as,
although the climate of the Isthmus is not at present
very healthy, it is invariably found that clearing away
t 5 bush, introducing cultivetion and population, improve
the climate.
-I,git ooncludo, for the prosuut, with what --
Slick" calls" cypii.ring up":—
Cost of a belt of territory 50 miles long by

30 wide ... £500,000
Cost of 50 miles of canal and works, suitable

for the passago of the largest vessels

... 2,500,000

Total ... ... ... 3,000,000
ESTIMATED RETURNS.

Toll on 500,000 tons of shipping per annum,
at 20s. £500,000
Ground-rents for houses and mercantile esta-
blishments at both ends ...
Rents of country seats in the mountains for

the merchants ...
Rents of lands let for sugar, coffee, and pro-
vision plantations ... .. ...
I am aware the above is an imperfect sketch, but it
may serve to awaken the attention of others to what I
cannot conceive to bo other than a very important sub-
ject both to our merchants and the Government.
I am, &c.,
ROBERT BOWDEN.
10, Wardrobe-place, Doctors' Commons, March 16.

PROGRESS OF STEAM NAVIGATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir,—ln a notice contained in yesterday's impression
of the Morning Herald, of the launch of the Jupiter, for
the Star Steam Packet Company, the name of Mr. Laing
is mentioned as having designed the Comet for the same
company.

This is an inaccuracy, and it is due to truth, not less
than to the fame and memory of a man who during his
lifetime contributed by his ingenuity, perseverance, and
enterprise in a very important manner to the progress of
steam navigation, to correct it.
The Comet was built I think in 1833-34, by Mr. Win.
Evans, of Rotherhithe, and designed by him, and was a
remarkable vessel, inasmuch as she was the first steam-
vessel built upon the Thames in which lightness of con-
struction formed a prominent feature. Her frame, in-
stead of being formed in the way then usual of " grain
cut " timber, was constructed of plank steamed and
bent to its form, and was, while possessing great
strength, considerably lighter than if made in the usual
manner.

In proposing this plan Mr. Evans met with much
opposition, but the good sense of some of the leading
members of the Star Company ultimately prevailed in
favour of his views, and the vessol was built, and fur-
nished with machinery by Barnes and Miller, and
achieved such remarkable success that she became a
type for many others on the Continent ; and ulti-
mately Mr. Evans went to Genova, under the au-
spices of Miller, Ravenhill, and Co., to build L'Aigle,
for the Lake of Geneva, on the same plan, after which he
removed to La Seyne, near Toulon—still in connexion
with Miller, Ravenhill, and Co.—and having there built
covornl vaaacis fur tho Mcditci auettu, wally for the na-
vigation of the Rhone and Saone in France, ultimately
died at La Seyne, and with his brother, Henry Evans,
who went out to assist him, lies buried in the same grave
in that remote village in France.—l am, Sir, yours
obediently, JOSEPH Mii.LER,
Monastery Cottage, March 27.
P.S. Among the first sea-going steam-vessels built by
Mr. Evans wore the two first Post-office packets on the
Holyhead and Dublin station—the Lightning and the
Meteor, and the Arrow at Dover; the former in 1820-21,
and the latter in 1821-22.

THE CASE OF STABBING AT LEEDS.---OH Mon-
day evening an inquest was held at Leeds on the body
of William Proctor, who was stabbed by his brother,
Thomas Proctor, as appeared in The Sun of yesterday.
Thomas Proctor is a farm labourer, aged eighteen years,
of diminutive stature and mild expression of coun-
tenance. The only persons in the house when the
quarrel between the brothers already described took
place were the father and sister of the prisoner. The
father was in bed in the room in which the young men
dweesrcer
igettingthe
theirdeceased
b e
asreeda kt foa sbtes .
of Ba obtand t he t
emfaptehrre, a ann
dd
stated sister
that he used abusive language, and struck the prisoner
two or three times before he made auy resistance. The
prisoner had his pocket-knife in his hand, cutting some
bread and rariat, he threw out his hand to resist a blova
when the knife entered the hollow part of the left ear of the
deceased, aid inflicted a wound on the jugular vein and the
carotid artery which produced death in about 38 hourf.
As soon as. the prisoner found he had stabbed his brother,
he ran for: a surgeon, and manifested great concern. The
evidence of the witnesses was in accordance with the
confession of the prisoner. He and his brother had
agreed to get up early in the morning ; the deceased
got up first, and finished his breakfast before the
prisoner finished his ; ho urged the prisoner to be
quick, and when the latter said he was as
sharp as ho could be, he struck him two or
three times. The deceased then lit his pipe, and
more words arose between them. Deceased was
about to strike the prisoner again, when he put out his
hand with his knife in it to stop him; a short scuffle
ensued; the prisoner saw his brother was bleeding, and
said, " ;Oh, father, I believe he has got cut with the
knife." He pulled a handkerchief off his neck to stop
the bleei ling, put his smock frock to his head, and ran
for ado ctor. The Coroner having summed up, the jury,
after deliberating about a quarter of an hour, returned a
verdict of Manslaughter against the prisoner, who was
committed to York Castle, and will take his trial at the
next a 4 sizes.

_AfiISSARY OF THE FRENCH
REPUBLIC.
(From Galianani's Messenger of the 26th of March.)
TRIAL OF RIANCOURT.
2ers will remember that great sensation was
some time ago by the arrest, on the charge of
,assination, of a man named Riancourt, sub-commis-
sary of the Provisional Government. The prisoner has
just been tried before the Court of Assizes of the
Seine-Inferieure. The indictment set forth that
at about about midday on the 16th of April
last, the dead body of a man named Fouqui was
found lying near a wood on the road from Lillebonne to
St. Remain. The deceased had been wounded in the
side and the lungs by a pistol ball, and as this did not
cause immediate death, ho had been stabbed with a
poniard or knife in not fewer than 40 places. The
murdered man had been dead about 12 hours, and it
appeared that a person who was iu the vicinity on the
previous evening at about half-past eleven, heard the
report of a pistol, followed by some cries. Fouqui
had recently arrived at Lillebonne in the quality of
agent to the special sub-commissary Riancourt. As he
was entirely without resources, and ulmost without
clothing, it was evident that he could not have been
murdered for the sake of robbery; neither was it
likely that the crime had been committed from personal
vengeance, as he had not been in the town long
enough to create enemies. To explain how Riancourt
came to be suspected of the murder, the indictment gave
a detailed history of his career. It appeared that his
real name is Joseph Calixte Martin; that ho had been
a professor of mathematics, but that having taken to
evil courses, he was condemned, in October, 1843, to 13
months' imprisonment, in the Maison de Detention of
Gaillon, for robbery. There he became acquainted
with Fouqu4, who was also undergoing imprisonment.
Subsequently Martin, alias Riancourt, was again con-
demned for robbery, and after his release he went to
Bordeaux, where he became professor of mathematics in
a school; but after being there for some time, he ran
away with a considerable sum of money, consisting of
payments made by the parents of the pupils which he had
received for his employer. For this he was condemned
by default. On leaving Bordeaux he was accom-
panied by a girl of the town named Ursule Gach6.
He remained some months at Paris with this girl, who
maintained herself and him by prostitution. In 1847 he
obtained the place of usher in a school at Rouen, and he
took the girl Ursule to that city, where she carried on
her infamous trade. He kept up his connexion with
her, notwithstanding he pretended to be in communica-
tion with, and under the patronage of, no less a person-
, age than the arentesnop or atouen. In November,lB47,
he loft the school, and from that period up to
February, 1848, lived with the girl and on her prosti-
tution. On the 24th of February they came together
to Paris, and witnessed the commencement of the revo-
lution. Having been separated in a crowd which had
fled on a discharge of musketry, Riancourt went on alone
until he found himself near the Place du Palais
National. Whilst witnessing the conflict which was
raging between the insurgents and the troops, ho was
struck by a ball on the cheek. Before his wound be-
came healed, he resolved on turning it to account;
he went to M. Buchez, who was then charged
to distribute assistance to the wounded, and obtained
relief from him. M. Buchez, struck by the intelligence
he displayed, and believing from a certificate he pre-
sented from the schoolmaster with whom he had been
at Rouen that he was of good character, and that he
had really been a combatant of February (though
it has since been clearly proved that he did not
fight at all), gave him subsequently a recom-
mendation to the Commissary-General of the de-
partment of the Seine-Inferieure. The prisoner
immediately went down to Rouen, where he displayed
great Republican zeal. He there fell in with Fouqui, who
was in a state of profound misery, and who, seeing that
fortune was smiling on Riancourt, pressed him to dosome-
thing for him. Shortly after this, Riancourt was sent as
Commissary of Police to Havre, and was afterwards nomi-
nated Special Commissary for the cantons of Bolbec and
Lillebonne, where disturbances had broken out. Fouqui
rejoined him at Lillebonne, and solicited a place; but Rian-
court received him badly, and said—" How can I place
a sign of authority on a blouse?" Fouqui returned
to Rouen, and a correspondence took place between
him and Riancourt, in which it appears Fouquil
threatened the latter to expose him if he did not do
something for him. "I have written him two letters
in good ink," was Fouquf's expression to a friend. On
the receipt of these letters, Riancourt no doubt resolved
to get rid of Fouqu6, in order not to be exposed to his
threats, or to run the risk of his indiscretion. He
cordingly wrote to him to come to Lillebone, where he
said he would give him a place of police agent. Fouquil
left Rouen for Lillebouno on the 14th of April, and
before setting out expressed to some friends his fears
that he should be assassinated by the hands of Rian-
court. There was no direct evidence to prove that
Riancourt had committed the deed; but the following
circumstances, said the indictment, could leave no moral
doubt of his guilt :—ln the evening of the 15th of
April, Fouque sent to Riancourt, who was in a cafe
with some friends, to desire him to come and speak to
him. Fouqu4 had an umbrella, and appeared about to
set out on a journey. Riancourt went and remained
in conversation with him some time. Ho then re-
turned to the cafe, and pressed a person, named
Delavoirie, with whom he lodged, to return home. It
was then about elevenLo'clock, and Delavoirie was sur-
prised at the request, as Riancourt generally stayed
much later at the cafe. They, however, went home,
and each retired to his chamber. Riancourt pretended
that he could not subsequently have left the house
---•- Limb iielaVOlTlo e•
( med. It was accordingly alleged that Riancourt,
after entering his room, quietly left the house, com-
mitted the murder, and then returned; he having taken
the precaution of being seen by Delavoirie late at night
and early in the morning, in the hope of being able to
establish an alihi. When the body of the murdered
man was discovered great sensation was created in
the town, and Riancourt, as sub-commissary of the
Government, felt that he was called on to act officially.
He accordingly went, with the mayor and deputy-
mayor, to the hospital where the deceased was.
On being shown the body of his friend covered with
wounds, be manifested no sensation, though the other
persons were greatly affected, and his attitude was so
cold and calm, and the expression of his face so pecu-
liar, that the deputy-mayor and the matron of the
hospital immediately conceived the suspicion that
he was the murderer. Some days after Riancourt
asked the deputy-mayor who he thought was the mur-
derer. That person replied, " I have such a horrible
idea that I dare not communicate it to you;" on which
Riancourt turned pale, and changed the subject
of conversation. From that time, whenever the
subject was referred to, he made false statements,
sometimes stating that the assassins had been
arrested; at others, that they were known, and would
be arrested, Stc. In his official capacity be did nothing
towards causing the murderers to be discovered. To one
person, who spoke to him of the murder, he observed,
" What can I do? Ho is buried, and lam not the mur-
derer!" and at the same time he trembled violently. By
this time people began to whisper their suspicions of
Riancourt, and his friend Delavoirie, believing them
unfounded, wrote to the Prefect about them. When
Delavoirie told Riancourt what ho had done, the
latter displayed intense anxiety, Ho then asked
if ho had also told the girl, Ursule Gachti,
and when Delavoirie answered is the affirmative, he
appeared utterly overwhelmed. Delavoirie pressed him
to clear himself of the suspicions which weighed on
him, but, instead of that, he took to flight with the
girl Ursule. In addition to the murder, it appeared
that the prisoner had, in 1647, committed several
robberies at Rouen and Havre. In answer to the inter-
rogatories of the President, the prisoner, though appa-
rently with great reluctance, admitted that he had com-
mitted robberies and been in prison. He, however,
loudly complained that such questions should be put,
as they were, he said, moral torture. He indignantly
denied having committed the murder, and said thero was
an abyss between robbery and assassination. He ac-
cused the President of partiality, and in answer to
some observation of the judge, cried, "I see you want
to make me appear guilty, with extenuating cir-
cumstances ; but I will not have such a verdict—l am
innocent or guilty, and will have no pit)." To another
remark he answered, " You argue that because Rian •
court has been a thief he is an assassin, but that is
very illogical. Assassination is the last step on the
moral ladder, and I have not yet reached it." Ho
denied that he had lived on the prostitution of the
girl Gach4. " The charge is infamous," he ex-
claimed. "It is an insult, and I will not further
answer it." He admitted that he was afraid ,of
Fouqui, lest he should reveal his past life, and GO com-
promise his, political position. He, however, denied that
Fouqui had written him anythreatening letters. He
also endeavoured to explain away, or denied, the other
circumstances set forth in the indictment. The
witnesses who were called throw no new light on
the affair. Great interest was excited by the appear-
ance of the girl Ursule Gachl, who fainted on coming
forward, as did also the prisoner. Her evidence, how-
ever, was not of striking importance. After the plead-
ings the jury returned a verdict of " Guilty, with extenu-
ating circumstances;" and the Court condemned the
prisoner to hard labour at the hulks for life. On hearing
the sentence the prisoner burst into a flood of tears, and
exclaimed that he was innocent. During the trial his
conduct was not becoming; he contradicted the wit-
nesses, and applied insulting observations to the Presi-
dent. His system of defence and his remarks, generally
speaking, displayed considerable talent.

THE LATE HOUR SYSTEIL—STARTLING FACTS
CONNECTED THEREWITH.—There are records kept at
Somerset-house to which we may apply for figures with
regard to the destructive influence of any particular
occupation upon the health of men and women, residing
in this metropolis. I find that there is in this metropolis
a sacrifice of a thousand lives annually through the prac-
tice of keeping in shops for a longer period of the day
than the human constitution
.. can bear. a thousand lives
annually were sacrificed on our railways, we should all
be in terror and alarm, and should scarcely' venture on
these dangerous lines. But it is not so. Tho mortality
arising from railways accidents is infinitely less than
this. But who is there that does not feel tremblingly
alive to their danger? How much more ought we to be
alive to this constant sacrifice of life, which is going on
through our present shopping system! But this is not
all—where a thousand persons die from this cause, there
are at least eight thousand whose health suffers from it.
—Dr. E. Lankester.
DISCOVERY OF A NEW SEAM OF BLACKBAND
IRON-STONE IN AYRSIIIRE.-011 Thursday a seam of
blackband ironstone, of a fine quality, was discovered in
the lands of Captain Blair, of
Blair, near Dairy. The
borers had gone twelve inches into it. In the afternoon
numerous flags were hoisted, and other testimonies of
rejoicing, in celebration of the auspicious discovery.
This will add, we are glad to learn, many thousand
pounds to the .value of the Ayrshire Iron Company's
leases.—Ayr Aducraser.