The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-31 00:00:00

STRAND THEATRE.

This little theatre was opened last night under the
auspices of Mr. Hooper, who has collected a tolerable
working company for the performance of pieces of a
similar stamp to those produced under the present
Olympic management. The opening piece, which
was rather an ambitious selection, considering the
resources of the company, was the revived musical
romance of Henri Quatre ; or Paris in the Olden
Time. The old playgoers will remember how suc-
cessful in its day was this production, in which the
celebrated duet "My pretty page" occurs, which
Miss Stephens and blaster Broadhurst, as Florence
St. Leon and the Page, made so popular. The pieces
which followed were Haynes Bayly's interlude,
The British Legion, and Deaf as a Pest, in which
Mr. Henry Webb, the low comedian of the company,
and an actor of considerable humour, contributed 'the
main share of amusement. The performances went
off pretty well for a first night, and were favourably
received by a tolerably full house. It is to be
hoped that Mr. .Hooper will succeed in his under-
taking.

Musrc.—Mr. George Barker, of the Theatre Royal
Covent-garden, gave his new ballad entertainment on
Friday last, at the Town-hall, Wimborue, in Dorset-
shire, to a large and fashionable audience. He was
encored in his new songs of " Reuben Rayne,"
" Llewellyn's Bride," and " The Lament for the Irish
Chieftain." The evening's entertainment passed off with
great eclat. Mr. Barker intends giving it, in a few days,
at Heading, Southampton, and Winchester, where ho has
been invited for the purpose.
WINTER SESSION OF THE UNIVERSITY.--It is
said that in some quarters it has been rumoured that the
commencement of the winter session of the University
of Edinburgh is to be postponed. There is not the
slightest foundation for such a report, but the session, as
formerly announced, will be opened to-morrow, the 31st,
at two o'clock, in the usual form. This absurd surmise
may, perhaps, have originated from exaggerated accounts
of tho prevalence of cholera. It is very well known
here tl at this disease has been confined almost entirely
to a few unhealthy localities, and that it has attacked
scarcely any but persons previously debilitated by other
disorders, or by impruient habits, and it has not been
nearly so fatal as typhus and influenza have been fur
some years past.—Caledonian Mercury.
WATERSPOUTS IN THE BRISTOL CLIANNEL.—Our
Milford correspondent writes, " We have derived the
particulars of the following interesting meteorological
phenomenon from Mr.-Johnson, commander of her Ma-
jesty's revenue cruiser Skylark, who, together with his
crew, were eye-witnesses of it. The occurrence took
place on Thursday morning week, the position of the
cutter being thirty-five miles to the westward of the
Lundy. The morning had been fine, with a light varia-
ble wind, principally from the southward. Between the
hours of ten and eleven, dark clouds were perceived
gathering in the N.W., and assuming the form of an
arch, the rest of the heavens being beautifully clear. In
a very short time two waterspouts began to form, and, in
the course of ten minutes one of them dropped, and
began to suck up the water, and in another ten minutes
the second spout did so likewise. By this time two-
thirds of the sky were darkened, and in half an hour
afterwards no less than nine other perfect spouts de-
scended. Three or four were playing around the cutter
at about the distance of half a mile; the remainder ap-
peared to be some two miles off. The water was first
drawn in a heap and became greatly agitated, like a boil•
ing pot, or a cloud of spray of a whitish grey colour. It
was then distinctly seen to ascend in a column, present-
ing the appearance of light smoke passing up through a
glass tube. They continued their operations for two
hours, when they vanished, and the wind fell suddenly
calm, which continued until six P.M., when a breeze
sprung up from the north-east. During the phenomenon,
which was most grand and imposing, the cutter was
taken aback, the wind light and veering all round the
compass."—Cambrian
WOOLWICH, OCT. 30.—Three new cases of cholera
have been reported on board the Unite hospital ship
from twelve o'clock yesterday to twelve o'clock to-day,
and two have been reported as discharged. There have
been no deaths, and the new cases arc now stated to have
assumed a milder form than hitherto prevailed. Almost
all the cases of deaths, and even attacks amongst the
convicts, have occurred amongst those who have been
subjected to punishments or confinements in the bbck
hole, or whose constitutions have been greatly injured
by their previous course of life.
EXPLOSION: or GAS.—On Thursday morning, an
accident from explosion of gas, which might have
been attended with serious consequences, took place in
a house at the corner of Walnut street and Chatham-
street. It appears that the workmen in the employ of
the gas companies, wishing to detect an escape of gas,
placed a match to one of the pipes, when an explosion
took place which displaced several of the flags on the
footwulk, shattered the area wall of the adjoining house
occupied by Mr. Forbes, and shook the house itself to
its foundation. Fortunately no one was injured. See-
ing the injurious, and, perhaps, fatal consequences that
might have resulted from the occurrence, it seems de-
sirable that, in future, some safer method cf detecting
gas escapements should be adopted.—Liverpool Mercury.

P OLYTECHIN IC INSTITUTION.
On Saturday Dr. Ryan delivered a lecture in the
theatre of this institution on the peculiar conditions
of the atmosphere which render cholera and (Aber
epidemic diseases fatal. Notwithstanding the very
unfavourable state of the weather the attendance was
considerable. The Learned Gentleman, in the com-
mencement of his address, expressed his disapprobation
of those foolish alarmists who brought the name of
cholera before the public in a manner calculated to
produce a morbid excitement, and stir up unduly
the fears of the timid. His object was to impress
upon the minds of his auditory some important
natural laws by which the disease might be
averted, or at least rendered less fatal in its
effects. There was a time when cholera
was considered unmanageable, and beyond the
reach of medical aid. That opinion was found by
experience to be erroneous, and was now altogether
exploded. The disease, like any other, was known to
be the subject of proper and successful treatment.
Its chief predisposing causes were intemperance, in-
sufficiency of food, ill drainage, and imperfect venti-
lation. By an avoidance of these, the victims of
cholera, as well as of fever, might be diminished in
number. The atmosphere in which we lived was con-
tinually undergoing changes, in consequence ofcombus-
tion and decomposition, and, in our artificial state of ex-
istence especially, the most dangerous mutations were
occasioned by our candles, and fires, and the exhala-
tions of our crowded streets. The most poisonous
ingredients imparted to the atmosphere arose from
respiration and combustion, and the decomposition of
vegetable matter. He did not assert that these pro-
duced cholera, but they were powerfully predisposing
causes. The Learned Gentleman then explained the
constituents of atmospheric air, and illustrated by a
variety of ingenious and interesting experiments, the
dangerous character of an atmosphere possessing an
undue proportion of carbonic acid, and impressed on
the attention of his hearers the necessity of currents
of air to remove it from our streets and houses. He
next adverted to the deodorising process lately re-
commended, and observed that there were three kinds
of gases with which we had to deal ; namely, the
dangerous but inodorous, the odorous but slightly
offensive, and the most offensive. Under the first
head he classed remittent miasma and typhoid, the
presence of-which 'philosophers were unable to detect;
the second was the product of ammonia and carbonated
hydrogen ; and the most offensive arose from sulphu-
retted hydrogen, phosphorated hydrogen, or hydro-
sulphate of ammonia. Having noticed a recent case
on shipboard, where those in one part of the vessel
became affected with cholera, while those occupying
the other extreme were free from it, the lecturer called
attention to the fact that the portion of the vessel
where the disease prevailed was in contact with a
common sewer, from whence the sulphuretted hy-
drogen emanated. Nitrate of lead was -considered'
useful in decomposing sulphate of hydrogen ; but he
warned the public against relying on deodorisers or
perfumes of any kind. Some parties placed great
reliance on camphor, but medical philosophers were
so far from considering it of any use, that they re-
garded it as positively dangerous, and were of opinion
that it often served as the vehicle by which the poi-
sonous atmosphere was conveyed. The lecturer con-
cluded by enforcing the necessity of efficient drainage
and ventilation as the best preventatives of the disease.
The Learned Gentleman was loudly applauded at the
close of his discourse.

Several new attractions have been recently added
to this popular and interesting institution, among
which we may notice some splendid disolving views
(from Robert's views in Palestine) and other diorarnic
effects, which of themselves will amply repay a visit
to the establishment.