The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-04 00:00:00

LONDON,

FRIDAY

population are exposed to privation and injuries of va-
rious kinds. Now, in parts of Surrey and Devonshire
about three or four in 10 children under five years of
age die annually; in Lewisham, the healthiest district of
London, the annual mortality is four and five in 10 an-
nually; in nearly every district in London the mortality
of children is double the mortality in the country; in
many districts the mortality is triple the mortality which
some persona may consider natural to mankind. Ot
1,000 men between the ages of 45 and 55 living in a
healthy district of England, about 12 die annually; in
nine districts of London the annual deaths among the
same number of men at the same ago varies from 30
to 33.
____

IRISH AMELIORATION SOCIET
A meeting of the friends and promoters of the above
society was held on Wednesday, in the Hanover.square
Rooms. The origin and objects of this society are
thus touched upon in the preface to a small pamphlet
which was distributed at the meeting. After alluding
to the great distress at present existing in the sister
country, it goes on to say—" It is manifest to every one
who may give even a slight consideration to the sub-
ject, that for any relief to be permanent, it must be
directed to the amelioration of the moral and social, as
well as physical, condition of the people; and on arriving
at this conviction, the inquirer, however benevolent, is
staggered by the apparent impossibility of achieving
so gigantic an undertaking as effectually to relieve
the present distress, and produce that amelioration in
the condition of millions of beings reduced to the
extreme of- misery. * * * * Moved
by these sentiments, several gentlemen have formed
themselves into a society, having the sanction and best
wishes of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, as well as of
his two immediate predecessors, and several leading
members of the British Government, for the purpose of
attempting the accomplishment of this great end, by at-
tacking,oc(hwfwhicha,
sihr,tihitcmeehrtu,,ch: i i
uetlacist t
chief
i consists
shesame
Irish
ifebse
txoapsdtpouieoilrc3nre. t
ea time,
tdorh ,fee
wnowi
exertion,
thel i
employmentt s
operation
bi
anpenek
dtri
incorporated anttghi
sinking—namely,
ngwnor
want
nmaf
tt e t
eholtey: evils
peoplehe ea
it societyunw sno adyf
onieanrrtl
moral and social improvement."
the preparation of peat fuel and charcoal, and by re-
moving the same, to effect the full reclamation of the
bog lands in Ireland. The means of effecting this
object are proposed to be procured by the formation of
a company subscribing a capital of 500,0001., in shares
of 101. each. The compilation before alluded to further
says :—" The promoters, whose names are a suffi-
cient guarantee for their sincerity, earnestly appeal to
the wellwishers of Ireland and the empire at large, to
make themselves acquainted with the objects they
contemplate, and to assist in effecting them. They do
do not ask alms for the idle—they only ask that those
who can well afford such aid should take one or more
shares of 101. in this undertaking, and thus enable
the society gradually to establish 200 stations
in different parts of Ireland, each of which will
form a nucleus for an industrious, improving, and happy
community. They are sanguine of success in their
efforts, if duly supported by the public; and they pledge
themselves to spare no exertion to place the society on
such a footing as to make that success certain. The
wealth to be derived from the peat bog is incalculable,
and cannot fail to be of great national benefit, inasmuch
as it is impossible to realise it without at the same time
effecting the more important views of the ' Irish Ame-
lioratiou Society'—that of permanently improving the
moral and social condition of the poor of Ireland."
The room in which the assemblage took place was
hung.. round •with maps, drawings,- plans, sections, and
diagrams of lands, models, machinery, &c., illustrative
of the projects of the society. There was a large pro-
portion of ladies in attendance amongst the audience.
At about half-past two the chair was taken by
Lord DE MAULEY, who said it afforded him great
satisfaction to take the chair at a meeting which pro-
posed to submit for consideration a plan whose main
object was to benefit the moral and social condition
'of the people of Ireland. He regretted that the
state of the public business was such at the pre-
sent moment as to withdraw from attendance on that
occasion many Irish Members of Parliament and
others who would have been present at their meeting.
It might seem a hopeless project for a society of private
gentlemen to undertake so important a task as that
which was contemplated, when the difficulties of the case
were consideed, and it was remembered that last year
Purliatnent had attempted and had failed to effect.
an object of that kind ; but the condition of the
people of Ireland was such that private enterprise
would be more likely to succeed in a matter of that
sort than where it was carried out under Govern-
ment machinery, and he thought the plan proposed
would hold out to the capitalists of this country the
prosperity of a successful investment of their money, at
the same time that employment would be afforded to a
large number of the labouring population of Ireland.—
(Hear, hear.) It was by means of the peat bogs of
Ireland that that object was to be accomplished. The
details of the plan would be submitted to the meeting by
one in every way competent to explain them—he meant
Mr. Rogers, the eminent engineer—and; therefore, it
was unnecessary fur him to enter upon those details.
A vast field was opened in Ireland for the employ-
ment of the people in productive labour, and he felt
satisfied that that was the most effectual means of re-
moving many of the evils under which they laboured,
and of improving and raising the tone of the mind of
the lower classes in that country —(Hear, hear.) Hav-
ing been, he regretted, recently called upon to support
the Government in the passing of measures for the re.
preesion of di,turbance in Ireland, he_rejoiced that go
early an opportunity was afforded to him of joining in a
project which would, he believed, help to rescue them
from that condition which was 3 stigma and a stain on
our national character.—(hear.)
Mr. ROGERS, civil engineer, then came forward, and
read the following sketch of the plan and objects of the
proposed excite y :
" The report made to the Relief Commissioners of
Ireland upon the preparation of the peat of that country,
and its conversion into charcoal, shows from the experi-
ence of eminent practical authorities, that it possesses
most desirable qualities for agricultural, manufacturing',
household, and general purposes.
" Peat fuel, prepared as
proposed by patent process,
produces proportionately considerably more steam than
coal, in consequence of the diffusive property of its beat.
Its economy has been fully proved by the steamer"'
plying on the Shannon, and many engines worked iiiother parts of Ireland; and boilers fired by it have been
found to last nearly double the usual time.
"For distillation, brewing, soap-boiling, sugarre-
fining, and all similar operations, it is particularly suit-
able ; and for family use, its speedy ignition, and general
beat, strongly reeommend it.
" Peat charcoal, as a fuel for the smelting and manufac-
ture of all metals, is of the utmost value, equalling, if not
surpassing the beet wood charcoal, at a much lower price.
" ThisTatent fuel may be made superior in density, yet
its cost will be about one-fourth of that of wood charcoal;
thus enabling the ironmaster to substitute it with con-
siderable advantage for that material ; and still more ad-
vantageously for coal, coke, &c., making the iron twice
or thrice its present value, and the country entirely in-
dependent of foreign supplies.
" Iron of the finest description is produced from it at
Ichoux, in the department of the Landes, France; at
Wadenhammer and Wachter.Neuahammer, Germany;
at Itansko, Bohemia; at Konigsbrunn, Bavaria, &c. And
the French commissioners, authors of the' Voyage Me •
tallurgique en Angleterre,' state that ' peat is generally
used on the Continent for the manufacture of iron; and
that turf charcoal is fully equal, if not superior, to wood
charcoal for all purposes of iron manufacture.
" The untiring efforts of Lord Willoughby de Eresby
have accomplished the preparation of an admirable fuel,
even from the very inferior peat of Scotland and Wales;
and razors, surgical instruments, and the finest works in
steel made by it, have been found to be of the most
superior kind—this fact alone demonstrating its great
value.
" Smiths, iron-ship builders, engineers, millwrights,
boiler makers, gunsmiths, &c., will derive both benefit
and profit from its use in their smithies, as it imparts
superior strength and malleability to iron in the forging;
and its cost, when the calorific effect is calculated, will
not exceed that of the usual smith's coal.
" The produce from lead and other ores smelted by it
is greatly increased in quantity and purity ; and copper,
brass, zinc, tin, &c., will be rendered more ductile, and
otherwise much improved by its use.
" For kiln purposes, in drying grain, malt, hops,
pease, beans, &c., and in -every instance where a pure
and powerful heat is desirable, it will be found peculiarly
economical.
of England have
" As a fertiliser, or manure, its valuable qualities have
been fully pointed out in the published report above re-
ferred to.
its use and ad-
vantages. Baron Liebig, M. Lucas, and Professor
Lindley, Agricultural Gazette, Farmers'
Gazette, the Mark-lane Express,i u 3
since Tahwe
aRr
docyda la Agriculturalprize
for
an Societyessay on
all concur
Gazette, Far-
mers' Journal, Farmers' Magazine, Gardeners' Chronicle,
instantaneous and
Literary
iu its great value as a manure.
" For sanitary purposes, prepared peat charcoal has
been recently proved to be the best disinfecter, absorber,
andco and 1 •
" Drainage-files of a superior lasting description
have been made of peat. A recent communication from
ntidnetoloduosr.iser known, its effect being
James Russell, Esq., Dunlowey, Donegal (an English
gentleman, possessing large property in Ireland), states
' the east to be about 45. per 1,000:
"The peat bogs of Ireland extend over 3,000,000 acres.
It is the object of the society to
prepare from
these, by means of the overplus labour of the
notlntry, an article which must command almost un-
limited sale, while general employment will be given
to the inhabitants, and the land reclaimed for
profitable cultivation. li.
__ The_ drainage of the bogs is
difficult nor expensive, by the ro-
ports of shown to be neither . i.
e 'the Commissioners appointed to inquire into
and the practicability of draining and cultivating them;'
have already agreed with the Marquis
the natere and extent of the several bogs in Ireland,
and the society
large tracts of bog
situated in the counties of Mayo and
land, admirably
n communication with
Roscommon, and arelanded pro-
otheri counties on the subject.
prietora in several
that the plan of •
operation shall be
" It is intended
wn tuske
laid do report to the relief
upon the principle 1 b ,
Y work' and ' money
commissioners—name Y,
of Sir and Lord. de
payments.' -
the country, stations for the final
tions throughout
of peat and itsconversion into
drying and preparation
" The society purpose establishing, in desirable posi
each one confidential. officer, to. he
charcoal, having at
berof 1 b •
a ourtng assistants, paying
a given sum per measure for all peat
aided by a sufficient number
their piling it
brought in o
at once in money
in the drying-houses.
promote the objects And with the view more fully to
• of the society, it is proposed to rent
or purchase bog la
paid, .
employed, to be l3
nd on which the peasantry shall be
likethe • - manner, society pro-
rnesyale by the peasantry, on