The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-30 00:00:00

THE PROVISION-LAWS.

It cannot be too often impressed on the mind of the
couutry, that, although the Corn-law is the giant-evil of
our presegt monopoly system, it is not the only one. By
the statute of the 7th and Bth Geo. IV., cap. 56, salted
beef must pay, on importation into this country, a duty
of 12s. per cwt. or about lid. per pound. Salted pork,
not being hams or bacon, pays a like duty ; hams, a
duty of 28s. per cwt.; and by the 6th Geo IV., cap. 107,
sec. 52, lamb and mutton are prohibited to be im-
ported on pain of forfeiture. We yesterday tasted a
mutton-ham -just brought from Buenos Ayres, and
which, cured in that climate, and after a long voyage,
was of very fine flavour, somewhat resembling that of a
cured tongue. Though called a ham, it was, in fact, a •
shoulder of mutton, of a fine bright red colour, yet not
over salted; its weight, after being cooked, 4-44 b. The .
sheep of which this was a shoulder, was a fat wether,
of a cross breed, between the Merino or Saxon, and
the original country breed, and, of course, more valu-
able than the common sheep, for the skin. This sheep
was bought for 12$ currency, the current rate of ex-
change at the time being- tid.'per current (or paper) dol-
lar ; so that the price of a fat, middling-sized, cross-
bred wether, alive, wonld be two shillings and ninepence.
From this should be dedudted the market value of
the unwashed skin, which is 4d. or 53. ; reducing
the price of a fat sheep, at Buenos Ayres, sold as
mutton, to 2s. 43. or.2s. 53. It is therefore clear,That
if mutton might be imported duty frpe,7, thiS .cured
mutton might be laid down at Liverpool tor leSs than
2d. a pound. The last- wholesale prices or wether mutton
10 our market were' frOm- 61-d. to 7d. per pound ; so that
the man who can afford to buy meat (and this is more
than many of the poor can do) pays for his mutton 4id.
to 53. a pound more than he would pay if the importa-
tion of butcher's meat were free.
The gentleman from whose statements we have
obtained the above facts adds, that, until within
the last eight or ten years, no care whatever was
taken of sheep in the province of Buenos Ayres; but
now, as the wool is in demand, every attention is paid
to them; and, as the quality of the wool improves, the
number of sheep bred is augmented. In this article
alone we might maintain a large trade with Buenos
Ayres, sending our cotton goods for their mutton hams,
but for the selfish monopoly of our landed interests.
And so with beef, which, in Buenos Ayres is sold after
the rate of 9d. per 251b5., and could be imported and sold
in this country at 2d. a pound, if the duty of 12s. per
cwt. were repealed.—Manchester Guardian.

THE QUEEN DOWAGER.
We regret to say there was some ground for the ru-
moured indisposition of her Majesty Queen Adelaide.
Our readers, however, will be delighted to find from
the accompanying medical certificate that her Majesty is
now better:—

" Sudbury Hall, Oct. 27, 1841.
„Ter Majesty the Queen Dowager has been suffering
,ur the last few days from catarrhal affection, which is
now gradually giving way, and her Majesty is better this
morning. • "D. DAVIES, M.D."

•
BRIGHTON RAlLWAY.—lnquiries having
been made respecting the course taken by the Board of
Directors of the London and Brighton Railway Com-
pany, consequently upon the conviction of Beadle, one
of the guards of the Company, by the Croydon Magis-
trates, we are authorised to state that at the first
meeting of the Directors after the conviction, he was dis-
missed the service of the Company.
LEITH.—CAPTUIiE OF SHARKS.---00 Sa-
turday, the crew of one of the Newhaven fishing-boats,
while hauling their skate nets between Inchkeith and
Kinghorn-ness, enclosed two enormous sharks. How
such slender materials should have confined these vora-
cious monsters is perfectly inexplicable. The fishermen
say, that they had been fairly " drowned" after becoming
entangled in the net. They measure, as near as we could
guess, about seven feet in length, and about three or four
in girth.—Edinburgh Paper.
A respectable working female, apparently about
40 years of age when crossing from the Mansion-house
towarvis.Cornhill, last evening, was knocked down by a
cab coming at a rapid pace from the direction of London-
bridge. She was immediately taken up and removed
to Bartholomew Hospital, where it was found that her
right thigh was fractured, and that she had sustained
severe internal injuries. She stated her name to be

Thorpe.
BEGINNING THE WORLD BETIMES.—A lo'
cal Contemporary has the following notice in its obituary
—" Oct. 18, at Sherborne, Mr. Rutherford, aged 75, who
for the last 75 years was head gardener of the Earl of
Digby."—Bath Chronicle.
Boars PROOF.—In relieving pickets in the
trenches many of our men, instead aping quietly through
the trenches or parallels in front of the walls of the town,
used to show their contempt of danger by jumping out
of them and running across in the face of the enemy's
fire. In executing this feat one day, with some others, a
cannon-shot, fired by the French, struck the ground first,
and then hit Palmer on the back, and ho fell, as we
thought, killed upon the spot. To our surprise, however,
in a moment he jumped up unhurt, the ball having
glanced off his knapsack. In commemoration of this
event he was afterwards known by the appellation of
" the bomb-proof man."—Costello's Adventures of a
Suldier.
WOOLWICH, OCT. 27.—1 t is -not generally
known that a museum has been originated by the Royal
Sappers and Miners, at head-quarters, at Woolwich. It
has now, however, become of considerable importance,
and continues gradually to rise in interest and respecta-
bility, and during the past quarter especially, many very
excellent and important articles have been presented to
it, among which may be particularised a finely-executed
model, on a very neat scale, by Colour-Sergeant H.
Munro, of-an elevated battery for three guns and four
Temnmortars,oahiltnleuoenatural
atailliosni
museumpslovtsoifoti3hi
3c9,
ip,o,
:ta
niarnwonasniadv:erse and a field powder-magazine.
hyays
nheaidtenvl
medals,
:isrtt
,esiadnebntaoiiydrinwsdf:as
acfo,nor‘canvngynetat ,dalanmihpinoocabst
nvehrai
number of
ravgmloesafbrpoi
very tolerable
l wc:elestab-
lishedrroeneaosslbdi
colts
eosi
from the Royal George
illustrate the manners and customs of heathen countries
From this epitomical statement it is evident the non-
commissioned officers have ample materials at their dis-
posal to aid them in the acquirement of useful and scien-
tific information. A very excellent batch of recruits, 28
in all, arrived at head-quarters on the 19th inst., from
Edinburgh and Glasgow. The recruiting for this corps
has recently been carried on with great spirit and zeal,
and the success which has followed the labours of the
parties employed has been greater lately than has been
known for years previously. The several service cony-
poies are now nearly completed to their fa estAblishment.