The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-23 00:00:00

MESSAGES FROM THE SEA.

The yacht Cambria, now on her way across the ocean,
is to cast overboard at intervals what are called Sea
Messengers, for the purpose of testing their practical
utility. The sea messenger is an invention of Mr. Julius
Vandenbergh's, and it is hoped that it will successfully
accomplish what the wonderful contrivance of the hero
in Mr. Charles Reade's " Foul Play," was meant to do ;
that is, communicate to the world the fate of those by
whom it is cast upon the waters. There would certainly
be a satisfaction, even if a melancholy one, in knowing
what really happened to missing ships, like
the ill-starred City of Boston, and, as the
intelligence could be written down for transmission,
in a few seconds, there is hardly any case conceivable,
even the extreme one of collision with an iceberg, when
the facts could not be made known to the world. The
difficulty, however, has been to devise a vessel capable of
carrying the message, and having those needful qualities
of tightness, indestructibility, and conspicuousness which
alone could give it value. This difficulty the new inven-
tion is intended to overcome. It is made of tough sheet
copper, is water-tight and storm-proof, and externally is
said closely to resemble the palm fruit. An internal cavity
provides for the safe reception of documents to the
weight of sixty pounds, so that important papers
can be preserved besides the one recording the condition
of the senders. Strong rope loops for hooking on to or
hauling in by, a secure flag-staff, and a small metallic flag,
brightly painted red, white, and blue, complete the visible
gear of the machine, which, it is supposed, either at sea
or cast on a reef or beach, must inevitably sooner or later
attract attention and fulfil its mission. It is sad to think
of the numerous instances in which bottles or other fragile
receptacles have been used by mariners in imminent peril
of shipwreck. They have hoped at least to communicate
the dismal tidings of the manner of their destruction
t') their friends, but their frail messengers have met a fate
as black and traceless as their own. There have probably
been very few cases of maritime disaster in which an
attempt of this sort has not been made, and conse-
quently the number of ships that have sailed from port
and never been heard of, afford a miserable list of
efforts and failures to transmit the story of their end. Of
course, in the hurry and agony of catastrophe, whether
the danger be from water or fire, many pas
sengers lose their presence of mind ; but sailors
who are accustomed to carry their lives in their
hands are not so likely to be agitated, and it would seldom
happen that among the ship's officers there would he
none to retain presence of mind enough to prepare and set
afloat a short record of an accident. This might be made
the special duty of the officer of the deck in the event of
sudden disaster' whether the peril seemed extreme or not.
We are glad to know that the present ocean yacht race
has been made the occasion for trying so useful an experi-
ment, and hope that neither the Cambria nor her gallant
adversary, the Dauntless, will ever be overtaken by a
calamity, such as may render Mr. Vandenbergh's inven-
tion the instrument for conveying evil tidings. —New York
Times.

THREATENING LETTERS. A farmer named
Willis, acting as a gamekeeper at the Glen, Florence
Court, on the estate of the Earl of Enniskillen, at Fer-
managh, has received a threatening letter, stating that a
demand for his life has been made, and cautioning him to
desist from impounding cattle found on the Glen moun-
tains. Another man similarly engaged ha,s also received
a threatening letter.