The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-02 00:00:00

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EXPORTS.

Gold.--Port Philip, peiOi,iifgs Ga to 3/ 19s 61; Ovens,
ditto, 3/ 19a 3d to ZI 19s 6d ; Northern, ditto, 3/ 13s to
3/ 14s 6d; New South Wales, ditto, 3/ 153 to 3/ 17a 6d.
_ _

scoured, per ib, is 5d to is 9d ; finevclean
samples, ditto, is 4d to is 7d ; fair to middling, is 3d to
Is 5d ; low to middling, ditto, is id to is 3d; greasy, ditto,
61 to 9d ; sheepskins, ditto, 5d to 7d ; ditto washed, ditto,
8d to 9d.

Tallow.—Mutton, per cwt, 21 to 21 33 ; beef, ditto,
1116 s 6il to 11 18s 6d ; staticn, ditto, 11 lOs to 11 15i.
Hides.—Cured, heavy, each, 13s to 14s 6d ; bones, per
ton, 11 to 11 5s ; shanks and hoofs, ditto, 61; horns, per
100, 11 lOs to 1115 s.
Oil.—Sporm crude, per tun, 951 to 061; whale, ditto,
501 to 521; Polar, ditto, 511 to 51/ cocoa nut, ditto, 341.
Blue gum, in log, por foot, 4s; Kaurie Gum, p©r too,
181 to 201; Pine, por load, 11/ to 121; Pearl shell, per ton,
231 to 261,

LAUNCH OF THE CHILI, ONE OF THE NEW LINE OF
LONDON AND VALPARAISO STEAMERS.—The first ship
of the new line of auxiliary screw clipper packets
about to be established by Messrs. Seymour, Peacock,
and Co., between London and Valparaiso, was launched
yesterday afternoon from the yard of Mr. Langley, Ho-
therhitbe. The ship is of iron construction, with the
usual bulkhead compartments, of 1,000 tons burthee,
and is classed in the highest rate under the now classifi-
cation of Lloyds. Htr keel has been laid down on a
new principle, so as to lessen the rolling of the 'camel,
and other improvements have been introduced for the
advantage of the ship and passengers. Her decks are
roomy and airy. Her dimensions are :—Length of keel,
160 feet ; between perpendiculars, 168 feet ; length ofl
quarter deck, 85 feet ; length of forecastle, 64 feet ;
length over all, 191 feet ; beam, 28 feet ; depth of hold
na main deck, 17 feet ; depth ( f quarterdeck, 21 feet 6
inches. 0 ving to the fineness of the day a large concourse
of persona was as,embled to witness the launch. The ship
sae profusely decorated with flags, as were the nume-
rous craft that were lying near. At three o'cloak (high-
water)
Miss Peacock, daughter of one of the owners,
named the ship "Chili," with the usual ceremony. The
dog shores were then knocked away, and the vessel glided
into the river amidst general cheering. It is expected
that she will be able to take up her station on the line at
the latter end of next month.

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DUBLIN, 11folipi• aSa '''''-
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H IRVEST PROSPECTS.
•
The result (S an annual autumnal tour thronA
the north-western counties is thus stated by Mr.
John L3i111•, the Quaker correspondent of do
Belfast Whig : -
"There i, lic, (twilit filet eu: e.eintry is rapidly i.n-
eroveng. T: e pe,ple are hetes, ei.i.d:.!id, br-tter fed. The
0,),1141r. i- w".•]. !‘-'ter etl'i,.tt,-3,1 ...1:,!: 1: 4 .e- a il.xsu
~,go, A s. ~,-..,.., are ileany eelpty-, auo the poorhouses
not half filled ; some of the masters oom')lain that they
cannot muster as much jhealthy labour as will cultivate
the gardens and grounds round the workhouses. The
towns are better paved, swept, and lighted, and many
an old, unsightly thatched house has been pulled down
to make room for a respectable slated one ; yet there is
elenndance of room for further improvement in all there
respects. Few towns in Ireland have improved so much
in appearance during the last ten years as Sligo. The
morning I started was the first time this season I oh.
served any serious decided symptoms of the notate
disease ; and every day since the leaves and stalks seem
to get worse. The disease is quite universal over the
wle!e of my route; POMO fields are much worse than
others. As yet there does not appear to be any great
injury done to the tubers, except stopping further
growth, which is a very serious loss, as the late kinds are
not near maturity. The oat crop is likely to be very
much better than last year, and many farmers expect it
will be equal to, and some ray better than that of 1854,
which was the best oat crop remembered in Ireland for
20 years. My own impression is tt:at generally it will
set be quite equal to that of 1854. Some odd fields are
thin and short, particu'arly on the dry hilts in the mid- •
land counties. About Sligo and Ballyshannon the
crop seemed to be extremely heavy. The wheat crop
is also likely to be a very good one ; it is thicker
on the ground than last year, but some farmers tell
'De it is not as well headed. Several persons who
were reaping have told me that they do not observe
much, if any, rust or mildew on their crop, so far.
The late rains have greatly improved all kinds of
green crops. The barley is generally thick on the
ground, but the straw is f,hort, and it struck me to be
mostly small in the head. The hue and cry raised
against weeds by the roe-Nide is beginning to take effect
already. I have observed the roadmen at work in seve.
ral counties. I hope it may extend to the gentlemen
farmers, and from them to the small farmers in all parts
of Ireland. If farming societies would give premiums
for the farms that had least weeds, it, would be of 'Volk- _
,_, . ,
._ _ . _ _ - ._.
advantage."
ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION WITH AMERICA.
The following interesting statement is extracted
from the Cork Constitution, of Saturday :

"Lying at anchor off Queenstown for the last few
days may have been observed a small, unsightly, ill-
painted, rusty bottomed screw steamer, without one
point of attraction about her, except the stars and stripes
fluttering in the breeze. Yet that boat and some o f
the officers she contains have been the world's wonder
for a season, and have just now concluded a task which
is the forerunner of an event more dreadful still. The
Arctic was the ve,sel that wa< sent to rescue Dr. Kane,
who had previously been sent to reicne Franklin. She
was successful, and brought home Dr. Kane and his
crew, who had been obliged to abandon his ship and
search. She was then a light ship on the American
coast. She is now the bearer of Lieutenant Strain, of
Darien notoriety, and Captain Bsrriman, who has before,
and now again, crossed from Newfoundland to take sound-
ings of the whole Atlanticfrorn St. John's to Valencia, with
the view to ascertain the probable success with which a
telegraphic cable may be laid between these points. The
result is satisfactory. For some 50 or 60 miles from St.
John's, and again on this side, is a bank vary;ng from 25 to
20 fathoms. Between these there is a plateau nearly
level, the bottom soft, composed of shells so fine that
only the microscope can discover them, each shell per-
fect in its minute beauty, proving the absence of currents
at the bottom, and, with due deference to Stephenson
and others, the want of that vast pressure, which was
to be so dreaded, and exhibiting at every point not only
a cauacity, but the most perfect capacity, for the very
use for which it is required. The whole apparatus for
arriving at these facts is most perfect. Steam-power,
separate from that of the ship, works the axle from
which the sounding line is paid out.' Soundings have
been taken to the depth of 27,000 fathoms. By a neat
contrivance each sounding knows Lot only the depth,
but the nature of the bottom, which is brought up in
five quills, and the temperature of the water, the latter
being given by the expanf ion or contraction of metallic
spiral ribands placed round a centre pin, hooked at the
top, and attached at bottom to a needle and indicator,
the latter remaining fixed after the first has ceased to
act, showing the exact variation between the surface
and the bottom. Most careful drawings have been
made by Mr. Van Den Berg (to whom has beea assigned
the special post of draughtsman) of the soundings, show-
ing a profile of the bottom of the sea with the great-
est accuracy. There can be no doubt that tele-
graphic communications between Ireland and St.
John's, a distance of 1,640 geographical miles, may
be regarded as a certainty. It is in the hands.of a
small American company, but, though small, if its mem-
bers possess but a tithe of the energy of their repres
sent& ive, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, who is also here making
every inquiry, it will be enough to overcome every diffi-
culty. Captain Berriman laughs at laying' the cable.
He asiss but. a ship large enough, and he wilt under`ake
to do it at 10 miles an hour right across. The company
have already obtained the sole grant for erecting tele-
graphs through the whole of Newfoundland, and have
already some 1,700 miles at work, or will have in a few
days, which is in connection with the American lines.
The difficulties and trials of temper in taking these
soundings have been tremendous. Itep'atedly after
pay iug out' tens of thou ands of fathoms of line, and
getting all up within some GO or 80, it was snapped, and
al! had to he dome again. S z and eight hours have been
occupied in getting one sounding only, and these have
been made nearly every half degree the whole way
across. From the capta'n to the cabin boy, each has
given his willing aid. No trouble was thought too
much—no time too long ; each appeared to fe-1 the
honour of his nation at stake, and proud in every way
to advance the object in view. They have done their
work well. Nature has granted all we could ask ; art
will snob do its part, while nature, science and art,
worked out by man's hand, will produce one great
whole to benefit mankind."

THE LATE RAILWAY FORGERIES.
Sir Edward M‘Donnell, as chairman of the Great
Southern and Western Railway, at the meeting
held on Saturday, alluded to the forgeries of
Knighting, the late confidential clerk of the corn.
patty and now undergoing the penalty of his
rogueries. Of the actual extent of his frauds no
clear estimate has yet been made, but Sir Edward
thinks that the sum of 25,0001. will fully cover all
deficiencies.

NE IV LIGHTHOUSE FOB THE
B

-~

An engineering work of consilerahle magnitule and
some novelty in its mode of construction has lately been
completed, under a contract w;th the Admiralty, by
Messrs. Grissell, at their ironwoiks on the Regent's
Canal, Horton, in the shape of a lighthouse, built wholly
of cast iron, and intended to be erected on a dangerous
rock situated near one of the Bahama group of islands
in the \Veit Indies. The heignt of the tower, exclusive
of a lege revolving lantern, 15 feet high, which surmounts
it, is 124 feet ; its diameter is 25 feet at the base and 14
fret at the top; the total weight of metal used in its
construction is about 300 tons, and the cost of the whole
work is estimated at from 7,0001. to 8,0001: This is ex-
clusive of the expen-e of conveying it t its destination
and of its erection there. It was begun in June, 1855,
and finished towards the end of January last, with the
exception of the interior fittings, which have since been
completed. It has been erected with the same care and
solidity on a spot on the wharf of the contractors as if
that were its ultimate destination, and it were intended
to last for ages, and it now towers up fur a time among
the adjacent church spires, an additional metropolitan
landmark. The whole building is divided into seven
fijors or cornp:rtments eace 16 feet in height. naafi/fat,
which is about 21 feet from the basement, az.d reached
by an exterior iron stair of the same height from the
ground, is fitted up as a kitch,m ; the second, including
also a series of commodious fixtures, will be used as a
sitting room ; the third as a bedroom, and the remaining
storeys upwards are to be devoted to purposes connected
with the mitt object of the structure—as a beacon to
mariners navigating a perilous gulf in the Atlantic. A
huge metal shaft, two feet in diameter, runs up the cen-
tre of the building, from its foundation to its summit,
and from this, at intervals of 16 feet, strong iron girders
radiate to the circumference, and, resting on the frame.
work there equally ponderous and durable, serve to sup-
port the floors of each of the different chambers, and to
knit together the exterior portions of the edifice with its
centre throughout its whole height. The interior of
nost of the apartments is lined with corrugated iron to
diminish the beat of a tropical climate, and the whole
building is pierced all round at short intervals with
small glszoi loopholes, for the purposea of light
immense
cvnesn;
t lation. The lantern at the top encloses en
n g2l burners,
revolving light, 15 feet in height,
is red, and
a.n
t
aelalchoofwtihnegmwslitirtoenglilgyhtisn,teenxscifia
thickly coated with
concave reflectors, made of copper,
Pe
intensified one,cb
°y at3‘. seriesvi h.icontaining
.
silvCr. The framework of the lantern
oisscbole nstrnctedof
gunmetal,, with a view to the
vgreatest
fie eighths of an inch durability,thick.psi
and glazed with plate glass ,
g o machineryls oornlt6h
he principleour s a t
Tofhaetirooevrodlivnearryieccivoecuk7elauniby
d,
, ,„
stretch.
whole of the lighting apparatus has been
c instructed
Thl
t7y Wilkins, of Long acre, who has had great
experience in this branch of machinery, and the rest of
?the work at Messrs. Grissell's has been executed under
the mime
• dive superintendence of ,Mr. Sheaves, the
of engineers there. Thl exterior of the tower
of 155 cast iron plates, each weighing from two
tons to n l5 cat., and made to fit each other with the
greatest nicety. The lighthouse will eventually be fixed
on the Great Isaac'd Rock, un ti.e Bahama Bank,—a
dangerous shoal, situated iu the Straits of Florida, be.
tween the Island of Bermuda and the Ha vannal.. It is
described as a desolate ,spot, wholly uninhabited, about
two !Liles long and half a mile in breadth, with scarcely
any vegetation, destitute cf.:fresh water, at certain Bea-
eons wholly covered by the ,sea, and for about three
months of the year altogether unapproachable by ships,
by which means alone provisions can be conveyed to the
seven or eighty men who will be employed to keep the
light burning in this lonely tower.

The letters from Hamburg describe an increase=
snroity of money, the rate of discount haying advanced
to 7 per cent.