The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-11 00:00:00

NEWS OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN

AND THE ARCTIC VOYAGERS.

It is a week since only that we afforded our
readers the last probable glimpse of the exploring
party who have gone out in search of a solution of the
mystery that hangs over the fate of Sir John
Franklin, previously to their issuing again from the
mysterious ground on which that solution is to be
sought; and now, for the first time since the missing
adventurers were lost sight of, at the threshold
of that same ground, an indication of their where-
abouts has suddenly turned up. A letter, just re-
ceived by the Admiralty from Chief Factor Mac-
pherson, dated March 1, 1848, says :—" There is a
report from Peel's River that the Esquitnaux saw two
large boats (query ships ?) to the east of the Macken-
zie River, full of white men ; and they (the
Esquimaux) showed knives, files, Ike., to the Peel's
River Indians which they had received from these
white men. Could these have been Franklin or
Rae ?"
Mr. Hargrave, of York Factory, to whom Mr.
Macpherson's letter is addressed, says, in communi-
cating this intelligence to the Admiralty, " It could
not have been Rae in his last expedition, as his boats
did not go beyond Committee Bay." Mr. Hargrave
adds, that " But little credence can be given to Es-
quimaux reports."
We do not see, however, any good reason for re-
jecting a rumour so welcome, and we gladly give it
publicity. Presutning that the boats or ships were
those of Franklin's expedition, their position,
even east of the Mackenzie, is good as regards
success, and better still as respects safety,
since they must have been very near the coast.
It has been ascertained that open water exists
during the summer season from the Mac-
kenzie River to Behring's Straits ; and we therefore
dare venture to hope that the expedition may have
effected the long desired N.V. passage this summer,
and that the gallant party may be even at this mo-
ment approaching our shores. The anxiety respecting
the lost party had grown finally to be very great, and
the public will cling eagerly to the hope so suddenly
presented. A very short time must test its value.

Official and other authentic particulars respecting
the cholera, with the best mode of treatment, as recom-
mended by the " General Board of Health," appeared in
the Observer of Sunday lasti (Oct. 8), to the extent of
two of the Observer folio columns. The extensive pub-
lication of the Observer commences at six o'clock on
Sunday morning. Monday's edition, best for the coun-
try and abroad, is published at four o'clock Monday
afternoon.

THE SPITALFIELDS SCHOOL OF DESlGN.—Yester-
day the committee of the Spitalfields School of Design,
which consists of an equal number of some of the most
extensive manufacturers of silk and of the most skilled
silk weavers in the metropolis, met at the institution to
receive tenders for an improved loom, which wilt be con-
structed to manufacture silk fabrics on a scale much
larger than can be done in the common loom, and which
will be able to exhibit the design of the silk in a much
more perfect form. The committee has been able to
effect this improvement, with several others, for the ad-
vantage of the pupils, in consequence of the munificent
contribution received from the late ball. The school
opened on the 4th of September last, after the summer
vacation, and there have been since added to the number
of scholars fifty one boys and eleven young women,
making the aggregate to be 205 of the former and 41 of
the latter. Several of them attend the lectures at So-
merset-house, on the History, the Principles, and the
Practice of Ornamental Art. The new loom will be i❑
operation at the institution when the patronesses, &c.,
of the ball will be enabled to see the effect of their
exertions.
James Mathison, Esq., M.P., has been elected a
director of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Naviga-
tion Company, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
death of the late Patrick Maxwell Stewart, M.P., formerly
a director and chairman of that company. _

'
MYSTERIOUS DEATll.—ORlnutly morning the
body of a young woman unknown was found dead in a
dyke near Stroud fair marsh, although at the time there
were only a few inches of water in it. The deceased was
apparently about twenty-five years of age, but exhibited
no marks of violence on the body, which has not been
recognised,—Maidstone Journal,