The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-13 00:00:00

N kV AL INTELLIGENCE.

CHATHAM, APRIL 10.—The 11alei;.,h, 50 puns, Cap-
tain Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.8., has this week received
on beard ni arly all her sea stores; she will be put ow
of duck on Monday next; she will then drop down to
Folly Point, off Gilli. glum, to take in her guns, powder
and shot,.and to be completed in her painting previously
to her proceeding to tea. Twenty-seven seamen riggers
have been draft d from this duck yard for her.
The Southampton, 50 guns, will be taken into dock on
Monday, vacated by the Raleii.,h, to make good defect:-
and to b r fitted for !,ea.

The Cockatrice schooner, fitted for a vitlttaling ves-
sel for the coast of Ireland, is compleud. She is taking
in part of the frame of the Nankin, 50 guns, ordered to
be built at Woolwich, after th•wharging hi.r cargo.
She will be given to the victualling establishment at
Deptford. . _ _

The Cressy, 80 guns. Shipwrights have commenced
laying the blocks to receive the keel of this vessel, or-
dered to be built on the Ist slip, from p :Ans proposed b)
Messrs. Cruise, Reed, and Chatfield, the late committee
of naval architecture.

The following workmen have been superanuatei this
week from this yard, viz., W. }lnnis. leading min of
.hipwrights, et 34/. per annum; Robert Hail, shipwright,
201. per annum; John Nlirton, caulker, 24/ ; Juhn
Bower, 22/ ; Charles Friday, 20/.; and Thomas Bever-
stuk, ropemuker, at 241. per annum.

LICENCING MEETlNG.—Saturday a special session was
held at Guildhall for the transferring licences to inns, ale-
houses, &c., and it was also the first transfer of billiard and
bagatelle licences ander the new Act of Parliament. No
applicatianswere made in either case, but on tl►eCourt tit ting
to hear appeals, an application was made by Mr. G. E.
Ilealey, for a licence to a house in Old Change, winch had
been refused on the adjourned licencing meeting. It was
now shown that the refusal had been found,,d on the state-
ment of the applicant, that he had taken a lease of the house
cot►ditonally on obtaining a licence. It appeared that he
had mistaken the question, and now produced the deed.
The house had been shut up for two years by the former pro-
prietor,.and the applicant had laid out a large bum of money.

The licence was granted.
ALARMING STEAM BOAT ACCIDENT.—On Friday the
Laurel, a Richmond steamer, while proceeding on her first
passage for the season, with upwards of 150 passengers on
board, ran foul of Battersea-bridge, in attempting to pass
through one of the arches. Considerable damage was done
to the vessel, and her stern and one of her paddle-boxes
much shattered. Several passengers were thrown down and
injured, and the consternation among the crowd on board
was dreadful. The steamer put back, in a crippled state, to
the Yorkshire Grey, at Chelsea, where the passengers were
landed, and subsequently proceeded in another steamer to
Richmond. The old bridge at Battersea is a very danger

sus one at all times for steamers to pass under, and numerous
accidents have occurred there. It has been frequently com-
plained of by the civic authorities, coroners' juries, and by
the lightermen and bargemen, and ought to be demolished,
and a new bridge erected.
T. JOHN'S GATE —The owners of this ancient struc-
ture have relinquished the ides of eompoing thegate,and have
determined to re-ease it with stoic where defective. The
ornamental portions, such as embattlements, labels, &c., are
it,oiiAtbteecrieiintN(d)Tre2llTrb.o);vtiliiil.Rputtocbriliffiiici,tAhuLnatAricehruiTttlecine,ttt.Rli:TeertEios,n ofs, etl.,teccootiln:
causixo GAS.—The reduction lately made in the price of
gas from 9s. to 75., is a mere farce, as the daily complaints
of numerous respectable tradesmen that their gas expenses
f
per annum (with the same number of lights)tebuohtacbifhicter‘:ie.efoiktoenhecuif.eits.;:a:nlaß•
nauoeuandrr:
cdstetihsuii
xelltigtt sritlitaoett
Aarsbb:ti,etnairofgnka
seoinsridfctuteiuhecgmcleosmieuesi caerl:toiort
aupensnd ptiaasel
hd.rlttii;aentyt
fshuatdiceelbiyertoboru:acvl.
into,
4tt.
aot:iiect‘bitn.
ireoets'
counterbalance
this?
otnl The reason
nrll:y3oc:le, 0:6t:, 0 ot:
3:0 0
01:
were
is
obs
reduction.
y
e
e
deteriorated,
eSt
eyr
inoor
antieed,a n s,s as,o
w pro-
portion
theill burners require a larger quantity to sustain the same degree
of light, and to this cause may be attributed the great heat,
and deleterious effects experienced where gas is used. These
facts have been proved by engineers and chemists before com-
mittees of both Houses of Parliament, and cannot be con-
troverted, and the only matter of surprise is, that the con-
sumers tff gas in London have so long suffered such a dis-
graceful system to exist, as the remedy is with themselves,
and they ought by this time to be fully aware that the com-
parties will do nothing except by compulsion. Why not take the
c
matter into their o w ntbelulripieleit
lighting,
business
etisias,m:l:agsan,tnidiv
‘ide:fia,
profits
paving,
iiitgamb manufacture
e 4 districtptrtie rfeegrtaai
er7wlteinut t
get
a,tlsh
se'
cp'atliTlaiensiejta,koeru(p";hhta.
,tBa(n)fdthoetghaers esrattaebslisairel.
ailsicinnt,Mtahnectistc'elrA7gh,
paid, and this too when the price of gas was only ss. per
1,000 cubic feet, and it was from the same source that the
funds were provided necessary for building their splendid
town hall.— Cori espondent of the Builder.
ACCIDENT AT A SHOOTING MATCH.—On Friday fore-
noon an accident, attended with very distressing circum-
stances, took place at the shooting ground adjoining the
Dartmouth Arms 'Tavern, Sydenham. It appears that a geo-
tleman nam d James Andrews, aged 28 years, resiking in the
Southwark Bridge-road, and several others, assembled at the
shave tavern, for the purpose of shooting a ma' ch. at pigeons.
The gentleman above named was in the act of taking his aim
at a bird, when the gun burst, shattering his left arm in a
fearful manner, and severely injurieg several persons who
were standing near. Ile was promptly removed to a sur-
geon's, where the injuries were ft aind to be so extensive, that
it was deemed necessary to convey him to Guy's Hospital,
where he was put under the care of the house-surgeon. From
the serious nature of the injuri. s he has sustained, it is feared
that amputation of the limb will be necessary.
DEVONSHIRE CREAM —This far-fame.l luxury, the
choicest production of the dairy, is now to be had in Liver-
pool, and from its being conveyed from Exeter, a distance
of 300 miles. in nine hours, an ives there in a high state of
perfection.
have been told by some
s eiesmsetdi
efirAferefl3l.l3B'ol:l7l7l
unfit ot• use.
practical
potatoes.--Waterford
Waterford
ac time
Chronicle.
gi:l(u.'is:llilinEgii.ilq)urOTTylAteTiS:lllli4Stk7°lll.ll:7ftiVtoge:d:
et I:leo‘P;)(tiatitf:it)lt°b!l black and

COMPRESSED MR LOCOMOTIVE

(From the Manchester Courier.)

A competitor for the supremacy which steam has so
long and justly held in this country, as the means o
expeditious travelling, and for most manufacturing pur-
poses, was, during last week, introduced to. the notict,
of the Manchester public, among whom, it is scarce!)
needful to add, are many men fully competent to inves
tigate and give judgment upon the merits of the new
candidate for popular favour and support. The con.
ception of condensed air as a motive power recommencL
itself at once to the judgment of the merest tyro
science ; but though the conception has always teen
Palpably correct, a practical development of it has
never until the present time been produced which Ives
competent to the end th© theorist hoped to attain. A
Mr. Arthur Parsey, whose name, though but littleknown
to fame as yet perhaps, must soon, if his adaptation
the pneumatic principle be found efficient, take rani(
with that of Watt, and others of our giants in science.
has produced a machine in which the diffiaulty of ap-
plying the power economically and with regularity h.o
been overcome, and that in the most simple manner.

Mr, Parsey ha; p dented his engine, and a colnrany
lorm d for the purpose of obtaining from him the benefi.
of the patent right of his invention in Great
and its colonies by tneans of licenses tor its use.
Under the auspices of this company a working model
was sent down to Manchester, and exhibited in the Ex-
change ante-room, Mr. Parsey and his son attending t.
give all necessary information respecting it. We sac
the model, and were much pleased with it and its ie
ventor, ahc displayed an anxiety to give the fulles'
details respecting the working, without thrusting th.
interest of the company, with which of course his own it,
bound up, upon the notice of his visitors.
When we entered the room the engine was traversing
a miniature railroad with a rent and noiseless speed. Th.
simple carriage does not differ from that of the common
locomotive in form, so that the engine can work on any
established line; unlike the atmospheric mode of pro
pulsion, which requires an expensive line of tube in ad
dition to the ordinary rails. At each end of this carriage
an egg-shaped receiver, for holding the condensed ail
power, is placed. From these reservoirs the air is eon
ducted into a large cylinder, called a receiver, and iron
it into two smaller cylinders, where it works two pistons,
which act by means of cranks upon the driving wheels in
the ordinary manner. The regulating of the power i:
effected by a simple expedient: a piston is let into th.
large receiver, and supported upon it is a spiral spring
which is connected with a nicely-regulated valve in tht
pipe, which admits the air into the receiver. This spring
is adjusted to the admission cf a certain power, and no
sooner does the air in the receiver exceed that powl
than the spring closes the valve, and, of course, shuts up
or diminishes the passage for air, returning to its original
place as the power is expanded.
After the examination of the machine comes the ques.

tion, in what particular is it superior to the steam loco
motive ? The great expenses of steam-engines may bt
comprised under the general heads—cost of construc-
tion, cost of maintenance in proper working order,
3nd the production of propelling power. On all thew
Mr. Paraey claims a great superiority. The engines
can be built at a decreased cost, say one-fourth of tin
whole. The wear and tear will not be anything ii.
onmparison with that of a steam engine. Oae gre..
destroying agent in the steam engine is the heat neces-
sary to generate the power, and the heat of that power
when generated ; in the air-engine there is no action
beyond that upon the pistons of a body nearly of tht
same temperature as the atmosphere, while the ma-
chinery is certainly not wore complex than in the com-
mon locomotive. The stoker and his coke and fire will
he dispensed with altogether, and with him will dis-
appear all the annoyances of heat, smoke, dirty tender,
black chimney, specks of coke, and the hundred huh
things which teach railway travellers how to make a
virtue of necessity. The condensation of air will be
carried on at stations on the line, certainly not melt
numerous than at present required for coke and
water. Eight pounds of coal in a stationary en-
gine, at 9s. a ton, will produce, it' is asserted, the Sallee
amount of power as 601bs. of coke, at 20s. a ton, in a
steam locomotive. The air, when condensed, can be
kept ready " bottled for use," and " warranted not to
deteriorate in quality by age." Then as to the facility
for moving upon a line. Tee engine will be lighter than
the locomotive by a ton or two perhaps, the advantage
gained by the removal of boilers, fire boxes, chimneys,
&c., being lest in the weight of metal fur the receivers ;
the tender also will be absent. But as the engine will
require to be made up to the same weight as the loco.
motive in order that the wheels may bite on the rails, it
Is proposed to carry the requisite weight in goods, or in
reserve bottles of air, over the receivers, thus rendering
that weight pecuniarily valuable. A train can be started
with greater facility. For a locomotive to get up steam
requires a long time; an air engine can be charged and
e ely for starting in a few minutes ; when the steam is
up in the locombtive it must be blown off and wasted
it the train be not ready for starting—in the air-engine
the communication has only to be shut off from tilt
reservoirs, and the power remains ready in undininished
volume, for use when wanted. The risk of explosions
of boilers is avoided, for the reservoirs only con-
taining air of a low temperature are not exposed to
the expansive power which weakens steam generators
after they attain a certain temperature. This is shown
by the circumstance, that the small portable gas re-
ceivers in which Mr. Parsey ket ps the air fur the supply

,if his model engine have been subjected to the weight
f 1,2001b5. to the square inch, and are capable of sus-
taining a pressure of 2,000, while with steatu they would
not sustain more than 400. Besides this, the power is
gradually and equally diminishing with each stroke of
the pistons. The rate of travelling, it is said, will In.•
,qual to anything yet attained by steam, and with as
great a load. Thirty miles an hour is fixed, with u
common load. The facilities for stoppinA at road sta-
tions are as great as with the locomotive. These are
some of the advantages claimed for Mr. Parsey's inveu-
ion, when uset on a railway, over the steam-engine.

Of bourse the stationary engine participates in all the
advantages, so far as p. cultar to that class of engines,
with this addition, that where water or wind power cal.
be applied for ihe condeniation of air, there will be an
entire saving of fuel for steam.
Withoutgiving an opinion upon the comparative merit,
of the two methods of propubion, we can only say that
there is in this new engine something really deserving 01
the candid inquiry of all who are interested in the pro-
gress of the arts and sciences, and the well being of the
country generally.