The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-22 00:00:00

DOWNING-STREET, MARcH 21.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint John Sebastian
Helmcken and William Weir Carrell, Esqrs., to be Members
of the Executive Council, and Francis John Barnard and
Amor de Cosmos, Esqrs., to be Members of the Legislative
Council of the Colony of British Columbia; and Bruce
Lockhart Burnside, Abraham Turton Holmes, and Samuel
Otis Johnson, Esqrs., to be Members of the Legislative
Council of the Bahama Islands.

Her Majesty has also been pleased to appoint Joseph
Needham, Esq., to be Chief Justice of the Island of Trinidad,
and Henry Pering Pellew Crease, Esq., to be a Puisne Judge
for the Colony of British Columbia.
Her Majesty has further been pleased to appoint Giovanni
Batista Trapani, Esq., LL.D., to be Collector of Land Re-
venue, and Ferdinaudo Viucenza Inglott, Esq., C.11.G., to
be Collector of Customs for the Island of Malta.
WAR-OFFICE, Manmt 22.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Major-General
Daniel Lysons, C. 8., and Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel
Henry C. Fletcher, Scots Fusilier Guards, to be members of
the Royal Commissio❑ on Military Education, in the room
of the Very Reverend William Charles Lake, D.D., Dean of
Durham, and Major-General Edmund Haythorne, resigned.

MURDER OE TWO ENGLISHMEN AT

BUENOS AYRES.

Particulars have been received by the mail just arrived
Df the death of Mr, Robert Bald, 8.A., Cambridge, second
son of Mr. John Bald, Wells, Roxburghshire. The
deceased was murdered at his estancia, about twelve
miles from Rosario, Santa F 4, Buenos Ayres
One evening two native 3 arrived, and purchased 150
cheep when it was arranged that they should remain
Over the night and remove the sheep next day.
On the following day Mr. Bald was found murdered in his
louse, his body pierced with many wounds. Henry Tait,
boy of 14, who was in his service, sharedthe same fate,
_laving been asleep in an adjoining room. It is believed
chat the crime was perpetrated between nine and eleven
o'clock, and that Mr. Ball was treacherously stabbed
while sitting at his table, on which a book
was found lying open. He appears to have sprung
up in order to defend himself, as the room gave all the
indications of a violent struggle, and there were
numerous wounds in his arms. Two boxes were ransacked,
and several articles, including Mr. Bald's watch and
/evolver, were stolen. The crime has caused a most
painful sensation throughout the province. The Pre-
sident of the Argentine Republic immediately offered a
reward of $5,000 (21,000) for the capture of the
murderers. One has been taken, and has confessed his
guilt, but refuses to give any information as to his accom-
plice. Mr. Edward Bald, a younger brother of the
deceased, who had only been a couple of months
In the country, was at Rosario on the day of
the murder. He has since travelled over a great
part of the country in search of the other assassin, who
has hitherto escaped detection. The lamentable event has
been reported to the Earl of Clarendon, who immediately
forwarded instructions to her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires
at Buenos Ayres to afford every assistance io his power in
bringing the murderers to justice. Mr. Bald was a young
man of high principle, frank and genial nature, and ac-
complished mind.

THE INQUIRY INTO THE LOSS OF TH:

ONEIDA.

The Overland China Mail, of February Bth, gives a full
account of the inquiry into the Oneida disaster, which was
commenced at Her British Majesty's Consulate, at
Kavaganna, on the 27th of January. The first witness
examined was Captain Eyre of the Bombay, who said he
was in command on January 24, at Cri par., in sight of the
lighthouse. He saw two side lights on the port bow, and
kept porting the helm. Immediately after he observed the
coming vessel crossing his bow with full sails and steam.
1 stopped my engines, said Captain Eyre, when she came
3.early ahead of me, I put my helm hard-a-starboard to
clear her, immediately after striking her behind the mizen
ear, our starboard bow striking her on the starboard
~carter—the shock not being more than a graze. I turned
round to see what damage was done. 1 had sent the
eaief officer down to see if we were making water. I
&aid to the pilot " I don't think much harm is
cone, if there is we shall soon see signal rockets."
Ay engines were stopped about ten minutes.
The chief officer came and reported the ship making water
lerward. I then said, " I see no signals of distress ;go
ahead." Nor did I hear anything • and as the ship W 3.4
making water, I made speed for Yokohama. While look-
ing at the vessel astern I asked my pilot. " Supposing that
ship hurt or I should require it, where could we go for
irdety ?" The answer was, "Not the slightest fear, the
Spit is near, you cannot get down." Even after I came
to Yokohama I thought little of the collision. I had
not the slightest idea of the harm done. I did
'tot know what ship it was. I said when it passed me
" That is an auxiliary crew." . . . . I did not hail
the ship. I was too busy at the time to avoid the collision.
The concussion was very light. On my bow were hanging
afterwards the other ship's gaff and a boom. I was not at
all entangled in the ship. The Bombay is an old iron
ship, her plates a quarter of an inch thick. A spar from
the other ship has perforated both sides of my ship and is
sticking in broken off. It is below water mark. The spar
has gone right through, in the stem Sup-
posing I had turned round after the collision I don't think
I should have reached her in less than half an hour, be
cause the other ship was flying off before the wind, Mali
the other ship remained stationary after the collision, 1.
would have taken me some ten minutes to swing back ts,
the place of collision. When two ships come in collision
during a dark night, I am not aware that it is customary
for the one to ascertain if the other has suffered damage.
Perhaps in the open sea, not in close proximity of land.
I cannot say that it is a recognised practice
that ships do not communicate after a collision, unless the
7ne sends up rockets or fires a gun. My instructions as
captain of a mail steamer are to stop for nothing but to
save life. It was at that time my firm opinion that there
was no danger. The pilot said the Spit is close to if
there is any danger. It did not occur to me, being so close
to my anchorage, and seeing no signals, to stop until I had
communicated with the Oneida. . . . . This is

the first accident I ever have had. When two ships
collide, I do not consider it usual to communicate or stay
by each other, unless you think the other seriously
damaged. I did not think the other seriously damaged.
I did not think the other ship was harmed. I asked the
pilot if he thought so, and he said, " no, there is the Spit."
11fr.Leggin, chief officer of Bombay, corroborated the
Captain's statement. In answer to Mr. Barnard who
watched the case on behalf of Captain Eyre,
he said :—The other vessel came right against
us, her steering caused her to come across us.
It was the Captain who ordered the helm a port,
not the pilot. It was more than an hour
after the collision that I found out the spar had gono
through our ship. I, did not know the other ship's
quality or nationality. Our speed was eight knots ; our
course was due north. The other ship's speed I suppose
was about eleven knots. I saw no measures taken on
board the other ship to avoid the collision. I heard no
sound or voices from the other ship, nor saw or heard any
signal from her. Until I went below to sound our ship
I should have seen or heard such signals if there had been
any.
Durine,crthe-second day's proceedings a stormy discussion
arbse. Mr. De Long, the American Minister, who is a
lawyer by profession, had been permitted by the court to
cross,exaunne the witnesses on behalf of the sur-
vivors the day before, and in so doing shewed
some asperity towards Captain Eyre, Mr. Barnard,
therefore, protested against any American gentleman
cross-examining in a British court. If the American
Minister would swear allegiance to the British Queen, ho
would not object to hif appearing in this inquiry.
Mr. Lowder, H.B.M. Consul, who presided over the
court, here interrupted Mr. Barnard, and told him that if
ha persisted in saying that this was no competent court,
he would have to treat him as guilty of contempt of court,
and make him leave the room. There was no appeal from
this court.

Mr. Barnard wanted it recorded that he protested
Against the jurisdiction of this court in its present forni
because there had been no complaint made by any one in-
terested in the Bombay, and because the interest of the
owners of the ship or the cargo did not require it.
Mr. De Long stated that if he there occupied a false
position, it was not solely his own fault, as he had con-
ferred with the British Consul, with whose consent he
Itad done what he had hitherto done. He had not stated
yesterday in court that he would prosecute Captain
Eyre for murder, he had said that he would prosecut him
for what crime the evidence of this court of inquiry should
bear out.

- This matter was subsequently arranged, and the evi
dente was continued.

Mr. Loggin, the chief mate, said: When we passed the light
ship we made our mail signal, and fired a gun, two rockets
and a blue light. I saw no response given from the light
ship. It did not occur to me that the Oneida's injury
might be serious. I did not make any suggestion to the
captain that it might be better to stop and see. In addi-
tion to finding our cutwater taken away, I also found a
spar gone right through our bow. The spar is about two
feet in length and eight inches in diameter. It has passed
through two iron plates, each a quarter of an inch thick.
Richard Connor, the pilot of the Bombay, an American
was not licensed, but had piloted some 30 vessels. After
describing the collision almost exactly as Captain Eyre
and his mate had done, he said—" If I had thought there
was any danger of lives being lost in the other ship, I
should have desired the captain of the Bombay to stop.
If I had been in the position of Captain Eyre I should
have gone on as he did. I do not think the captain had
any idea of the other ship being seriously hurt. . . . I
thought of the Bombay's safety, I knew it was a mail and
passenger boat. I saw no signal of distress from the
other vessel, and I judged it best to go on with all speed
to Yokohama. Had I known that the Bombay was in
compartments my opinion might have been different. I
heard no hail from the Oneida ' lie by us, you have cut us
down !' I heard no word of command on board the
Oneida—heard no one speak. I heard a jar and crash of
heavy timber cracking. I noticed the Oneida was a
smaller vessel than ours, and I thought her deeply laden."
The report in the Chinese papers goes no further, but
the result has been made known by. telegraph. The
captain's certificate was suspended for six months.

A startling example of the Dutch penal code is
recorded. A girl, four and a half years, has been sentenced
to five years' imprisonment, because she kept watch while
another girl was stealing something of trifling value.
- - -

Madame Adelina Patti has had a narrow escape
from being burnt to death in a railway_ carrriage on her
way from St. Petersburg to Berlin. The stove set fire to
the furniture of the compartment, and had the train not
stopped at a station just as the fire was discovered, the
great singer would have been lost to the world. She is
going to sing at Liege on Monday, in " Les Huvienots,"
being the first time she will have appeared in Europe as
Valentia.

BULL FIGHT EXTRAORDINARY.—The other morn.
ing one of the bullocks brought from South America to
Falmouth strayed on the line of rail between Penryn and
Perranporte, and charged a gang of the permanent-way
staff, driviving them up the embankment. A few
moments afterwards it charged in gallant style an
engine, but was knocked down and run over. The
vanquished men then killed the unfortunate stranger with
a pick.

A MODEL nrnY.—We regret to say that at the
tnal of a Chinaman for murder, on the 17th
instant, the jury, who were locked up from an
early hour in consequence of a difference of opinion
a 3 to whether the verdict should be one of murder
or manslaughter, behaved most disgracefully. A mock
court was instituted, shouts of laughter disturbed the pro-
ceedings of the court, where another trial was going on in
the interval, filthy expressions were used, and altogether
the conduct of the great majority of the jurors was such as
to draw down a sharp rebuke from the judge, and a casti-
gation from the press of the colony. As no agreement
had been come to by nine o'clock p.m., the jurors were
discharged, but it would have been well had they been
locked up till next morning, if oulyl2 sober them clew-,
vrgeowri 6_*qte. Fe/7. .I`4 ''t""-""z'

THE COLLISION IN THE CHANNEL.

Vessels were despatched to the scene of the collision
between the Normandy and the Mary immediately the
sews of the disaster was made known at Southampton.
Dne ship, the Ccesara, quitted the Southampton Docks at
iix o'clock—only two hours after the first intimation of
;he collision was received—with orders to proceed over
the ground and keep a strict look-out. At ten
)'clock the same evening the Dumfries, another of the
;ompany's steamers, was sent out, her captain also receiv-
:us, orders to cruise over the scene of the accident, to and
'ro, in the Channel, and if any one was found, to remain
about the spot even one or two days, but if there was no
lign of any one, to return on the following day. The cap-
;ain of a third vessel, which left for the Channel Islands,
vas instructed to keep a look-out as he passed the spot.
But, of course, very little hope was entertained of any of
;hese precautions. Some further particulars as to tie
lisaster itself are given. The Normandy had not
lad thick weather up to within a minute or
awe of . the collision, and immediately there was
to indication of fog, the chief mate, Mr. Ockleford,
who was in charge of the steamer, sent a man to call
captain Harvey, who, as soon as he put his foot on deck,
Beard the mate ask the man at the wheel if it was hard a
starboard, and the man replied, " Yes, sir." The captain
;old the man to keep it so, and within another minute the
tccident is stated to have occurred. The Mary was
sighted two points to the starboard bow of the Nor-
nandy, and the chief officer of the latter vessel acted
,with good judgment in starboarding and hard-a-starboard-
:rig his vessel, to clear, if possible, the Mary ; and, al-
:hough that was [not done, some of ithe survivors think that
the effects of the collision were thereby rendered less
iisastrous. The Hampshire Independent says that the
mast-head light of the Mary was not up at the moment
the was first sighted by the Normandy, as it was down on
the deck for the purpose of cleaning. " Had the light
peen up doubtless the crew of the Normandy would have
teen the vessel much more quickly, and hu-
manly - speaking, would have passed well and
;Ileared her." From the account of the Mary,
It appears that the whole time of sightin,..e, the
vessel and the time of the collision taking place did not
)ccupy more than one minute. Had it not been for the
turbulent sea running at the time it might have been ex-
pected that the Normandy would have floated, but the
water getting into her after-compartment to so great
An extent, the sea rushed in with such violence as to break
a board, and the stream of water was supposed to
have entered the engine-room from the top, thus causing
the fires to be put out, and the ship to fill quicker,
At the spot where the Normandy sunk there is about 25
fathoms depth of water, and there is no probability of
reaching either cargo or mails. The list of crew lost- has
already been given. They are 16 in number,. The follow-
ing is the tale of lost passsengers so far as can be
ascertained :—General Grantham Mr. Westaway, and
Mr. Kinloch, first class ; Mrs. Lucas and three other
female and four male passengers, whese names have not
yet transpired, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Cluett, second-
class ; and on deck two labourers, two soldiers, one naval
seaman, and one merchant seaman, whose names also are
not yet known. The Hampshire Independent observes
that since the loss of the Amazon by fire some sixteen or
seventeen years ago, such a calamity has not been known
in connection with Southampton.

The _Record understands, on good authority, that
the Bishop of Winchester denies the report that he is
seeking a suffragan. _

-- - -
BILLIARD MATCH.—At the. Corn Exchange, Pres-
ton, Cook, jun., and Roberts, jun., played a game of bil-
liards, a thousand up even. The game began at 8 and
anished at 10.45, when Roberts had scored 614 only.

The Bolton Master Cotton Spinners' Association
have refused the demand of the operatives for an increase
of five per cent. fn their wages. The result will probably
be a strike, which will throw 10,000 men out of employ-
ment.

Some Plymouth builders have complained to the
Plymouth board otguardians of having received threaten-
ing letters biddinrhem prepare for death for employing
men from the workhouses, although, as they allege,
they are being paid the value of their work. The re-
Jieving officer had also been threatened, and the guar-
dians resolved to offer a reward of £5 for the discovery of
the writer of the letter. The police are also investigating
the matter.

SMALL-GAUGE RAILWAYS.—When tho advocateS
for the narrow gauge so vehemently opposed the adoption
of the seven-feet track, it is certain that they never
dreamed of their own hobby ever being regarded with the
same feelings with which they viewed that of their oppo-
nents. Yet such is now the fact. Not only ourselves, but
other people, French, Russians, Prussians, and most of the
continental nations, are awakening to the reality tlaa.;.
even the narrow gauge is in excess of the demand that
are frequently made upon it. With ourselves, in England
Sootland, and Ireland, this truth is notorious. We dk,
not mean to assert that the narrow gauge is too large
for our great routes of national intercommunication,
such as that between Manchester and the metropolis,
or London and Liverpool ; but that adherence to
that gauge has led it to be adopted where it
was not required. There is probably not a shareholder
in the kingdom who is not aware of this fact. Some
excuse may be found for the construction of railways
upon this gauge in districts and localities where there is
not traffic enough to pay an omnibus, in the circumstance
that it is illegal to carry passengers over one of smaller
dimensions. But it may be fairly supposed that an ap-
plication to Parliament to have the Act rescinded would
have been attended with success, if not to all lines in
general proposed to be made on a smaller gauge, at lea.st
so that one in particular seeking for the proposed pa*eis.

—The Mechanics' Magazine - - -
The Secretary of two building societies in Dur-
aam has absconded, leaving defalcations in the books
of £7OO.

A surveyor at Brackley, who sued the Highway
Board in the Banbury County Court to-day, for wrongful
iismissal on account of drunkenness, was non-suited, the
judge decreeing that the Board had power to dismiss,.
OFFICIAL RETURNS.—Official returns have been
published on " Poor Rates and Pauperism," "East India
Mails," .` Pilot Authorities," and " Civil Services and
Revenue Department."

Lord Gifford has issued an interdict prohibiting
the Caledonian Company from running any train on the
line between Greenhill and Larbert during a certain time
in the afternoon. The North British Company applied
for the interdict in order to stop the Caledonian Company
from running a train to the north, advertised to start from
Glasgow at the same time as the North British train, and
to go over the same line.

The confirmation of the election of the new
Bishop of Manchester (Dr. Fraser) is to take place at
St. James's Church, Piccadilly, on Wednesday next, in
the afternoon, at three o'clock ; the consecration will take
place in the cathedral at Manchester on Friday. The
consecration of the Bishop Suffragan of Dover for the pre-
sent Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Parry), will take
place at Lambeth Place Chapel on the 25th inst.

ROYALTY AND GENlUS.—Apropos of the reet.it
reception of Mr. Dickens by the Qneen, it may be re-
marked that her Majesty, like George the Fourth, has a
penchant for the society of men of genius,_ especially if
they do not appear to be the dull dogs that men of
genius generally are when you take them out of
their study and ask them to talk instead of writing
and, like most authors, is fond of exchanging autographed
books, plumes herself upon having personally known most
of the authors of her reign, from Wordsworth to Tennyson;
and the three most frequent visitors at Cowes and at
Windsor are all three men of letters—Dean Stanley, Mr.
Arthur Helps, and Mr. Theodore Martin. George the
Fourth's three favourite men of letters were Sheridan,
Scott, and Moore.—Court Circular.
BREACHES OF PEOILISE.—Baron Martin has ex-.
pressed a very strong opinion as to the inexpediency of the
recent change in the law admitting the parties in cases of
breach of •promise of marriage as witnesses, and he added
a hope that its manifest. mischief would lead to the
abolition of. this form of action. A legal journal
comments strongly on a recent case at the Stafford As-
sizes, where a jury gave a girl £2OO damages for asserting
on her unsupported oath that a farmer's son in the house
where she lived as domestic servant, had promised to marry
her when his father died. She was a pretty domestic, and she
admitted that other men about the place had kissed her often,
and that she had once consulted an attorney about brin_o-ing
an action against one of these amorous young men. Yet
the jury gave the girl heavy damages. She had the ad-
vantage of the new and inconsiderate law which provides
the facility for fraud and falsehood. Though in this case no
falsehood may have been committed, yet it will be -ad-
mitted how very easy it is to add to the fact of a kiss the
fiction of a promise to marry.

HYDRAULIC PRESSES.— The hydraulic, or, as
some persons erroneously term it, the hydrostatic, press,
was patented by Bramah, in 1796. It has, therefore,
been shewn to the world for 74 years, and is now applied
in a multitude of operations which absolutely could not
be performed at all without it. Presses exerting a force
of 500 tons, and having ranges of 10 ft. 12ft., or even 15
ft., and being capable of exerting ft.,
force we have
named at an art of the stroke, are by no means un-
common. We do not stretch a single point 'when
we say that no arrangement of screws or levers
would supply us with a press of equal range, power, and
speed. It is not that an arrangement of levers could not
be planned quite able to exert the strain of which we
speak ' • but such an arrangement would lack all
the characteristics which are essential to a mechanical
device intended to serve the purposes of manufacturers.
For example, had the work done in raising the
tubes of the Britannia Bridge been performed by
a simple lever, one arm must have been 448,000 ft. longer
than the other, and to enable a pound to raise the load
through 100 ft., the pound must have passed through
space for a distance of 83,522 miles. In simplicity, in
cheapness, and in efficiency, the hydraulic press stands
totally without a rivaL Whether assuming the form of
the gigantic apparatus employed in bending armour
plates, or that of a little 30 cwt. jack, it is equally com-
met. inexpensive, and elegant. —The Engineer.
111 E DANUBE AT V lENNA .—AII important work
—the canalization of the Danube—will shortly be ccm-
menced at that part of the river which is nearest to
Vienna. Though broader than the Rhine, the Danube
has hitherto presented great difficulties to navigation,
owing to the shiftiness of its bed and its frequent inunda-
tions. The new works will, it is expected, entirely obviate
these evils, and also reclaim some valuable ground on the
banks of the river, for Wilding pwposes.

The South _bnulon, Press announces an alarming
prospect in the baking trade. In consequence of the
police prosecutions, the journey/nen bakers of London are
ac;:tating for a strike all over England, in the event of the
Government refusing to strike out the word ." baker"from
the smoke nuisance measure. As the masters will pro.
bably support the men, the result, should the strike be
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