The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-03 00:00:00

THE DETAINER DETAINED.

A few days ago a mechanic in one of the dis-
tricts of Ayrshire, who was rich in ingenuity, pre-
paring to emigrate, found a little obstacle in the revi-
val of an ancient dispute about the division of some
trash. However, having got his machinery in motion
he commenced " sitting on a rail" as far as Greenock,
when to his annoyance he found the vessel did not
sail for a couple of days, and on the second he got
a post haste advice, that if be did not sail instantly be
might probably be persuadA not to sail at all, by reit-
of the de,ermination of his friend, who, with a war-
rant, inteuthd to see whether he might not be disposed to
come ashore again and reason the matter. Cnests arid
family en board and passage paid, this was a serious
and sudden slap at him in the hour of his extremity.
Howevi r, as hu bad always depended more upon his
head than his he-ls heretofore, be stuck to the seat of
the reasoning powers to the last; and stepping into
the Grey eoek police-office next morning, he told a sen-
sible, honest-like tale of how he had come down the coun-
try aid intended to cross to Helensburgb, but before he
could return, same night, a weak triend, whom he de-
scribed, and whom he intend-41 to place in sate keeping.
might arrive,and that be would take it a great favour that
tne officers would take chai ge of bun till be should return
from Helensburgh. He told them the train be would
probably arrive by, arid that be always carried what
he believed to be a warrant, having for years been
under the hallucivatieu that somebody owed him
201. The bait took ; our emigrant dropped down
the river, and sailed for the land of liberty the same
afternoon, while his out-witted creditor, detected
at once on stepping out of the train, was the
more decidedly believed to be all he had been re•
presented the more indignantly he repelled the insinua-
tions of the police, and the more loudly he vowed ven-
geance. When the last steamer arrived from Helens-
burgh that night without a claimant for the capttve, the
scales fell from the eyes of the police ; but ere this the
anchor had been weighed, and the "smart" man had
placed twenty knots of a different kind between himself
and his friend. Ayr Advertiser.

NOVEL EXPERIMENT.-EXPLOSION AT
THIRTY MILES' RANGE.

Yesterday a series of extraordinary experiments were
performed at the Gutta Percha Company's works,
Wharf-road, City-road, calculated to show the immense
distance or long range at which explosion can be pro-
duced by the galvanic battery, by which the electric
spark is propelled along copper wires, insulated by a
covering of gutta percha, of a similar construction to
that used for the sub-marine telegraph. Much to the
surprise of the spectators, the instantaneous ignition and
explosion of several charges of gunpowder was produced
through a length of no:less than thirty miles of wire; the
respective coils formieg this length being from 500 to
700 yards each, were immersed in the water of the
Regent's Canal, and attached to a barge moored off the
company's premises. The wire used for this purpose
was what is called No. 16 gauge, entirely enveloped in
gutta percha, and the only parts not entirely under
water were the small portions necessary for connecting
the coils; the perfection of the whole arrangement, and
the insulating properties of gutta percha being rendered
apparent by the magical rapidity of the explosions, and
the facility with which the connexion could be severed.
The discovery of this novel long range is attributable to
Mr. Statham, the managing director, while experiment-
ing upon heating platina wire for mining purposes, and
the experiments of yesterday show that not only can
this novel mode of blasting be applied to mining but also
to warlike purposes, and that distance is no object, as it
could bo equally effected with any length of wire, pro-
vided it were perfectly insulated. The experiments, it
is understood, will shortly be repeated in the presence of
high military authorities and scientific gentlemen.