The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 7, 1356.

filled his instructions. The Lieut.-Colonel was,
it appears, in an official capacity at the camp of
OMER PACHA. at the very moment when the latter
wrote, saying that if the garrison stood firm only
twenty days he would relieve them ; but not a
single word of encouragement or advice was for-
warded from the Lieut.-Colonel of Engineers to his
brother Commissioner. Notwithstanding the
promise of OMER PACHA, nothing was done
to redeem his voluntary pledge. The
faithful and devoted band stood out
to tho last, until exhausted by fatigue
and reduced by famine they were rendered in-
capable of effecting their escape. And for this
betrayal of his trust, General WILLIAMS declares,
that "as long as a soldier of that garrison sur-
vives, the names of those two men (OMER PACHA
and &LIM PACHA) will be execrated."
This is certainly lifting the gage flung down by
Lieut.-Colonel SLamoNs. The matter cannot ter-
minate where it is, and in the controversy that
ensues the public may hope to gain some new light
as to the causes that led to that deplorable calamity
which Russia affected to regard as an adequate
set-off against the fall of Sebastopol and the other
reverses sustained by her armies during the pro-
gress of the war. If Lieutenant-Colonel SIMMONS
persevere, we are convinced that General WIL-
LIAMS will be ready and willing to answer him,
when and so often as occasion may require.

purities discharged into the Thames. All they
have been enabled to gather on this head tends to
show it is immense. It is riot merely the quan-
tity from the metropolis, but from the crowded
populations scattered from the river's source
downward. To a removal of this evil, and also to
the necessity for ,4 constant supply of water to
hoitseholders, in order to prevent contamination of
the water, attention is, very properly directed.
fa the latter case the contamination of the water,
by remaining in leaden cisterns, is certainly ob-
vious to the senses, for those who know the taste
of pure water will readily detect it. These, un-
fortunately, however, are but few in number—we
mean in London. The utility of a constant supply
of water to provide against fires will at once be
admitted. In brief,' the results arrived at by the
authors of the second report are—satisfaction with
what has been done by the companies in compli-
ance with the Act, and a recognition of the in-
creasing pollution of the Thames, accompanied by
a recommendation that early attention be directed
to the towns draining into the Thames and its
tributaries, and into the Lea and Ravensbourne,
above the present source of supply, so that mea-
sures may be adopted with regard to the drp,'inage
of these places, which will permanently I,reserve the
supply of water to the metror:-,,jis in its utmost
practicable state of purity. We leave off with a
profounder sense than dyer of the incumbent duty
of putting our sanitary knowledge to better
account than has hitherto been done.

Between the fate of TANTALUS and that of the
householder, shut out from access to a supply of
good water, the disparity may seem considerable.
It is not so great, however, in reality, as to ren-
der comparison idle, or to divest the question of
what sort of water we are supplied with of vital
importance. In point of fact, the quality of the
water we drink is deserving of about equal consi-
deration with the quality of the food we eat, and
the air we inhale. Unfortunately, this proposi-
tion is not so generally admitted as it ought to
bs) ; nevertheless, it meets with sufficient accept-
ance to render a cursory notice of the Blue Book
lying before us likely to be at once interesting
and useful.

The work to which we refer embraces two re- 1
ports to the General Board of Health. The first
relates to the chemical quality of the supply of
water to the metropolis, and is the production of
A. W. HOFFMAN, F.R.S., (isc., and LINDSEY
BLYTH, Esq. The second relates to the works of
the Metropolitan Water Companies, and is the
production of the superintending inspectors of the
Board. The metropolitan reader will be aware
obedience to certain requirements was made im-
perative on the various water companies by the
Mb tropolis Water Act of 1852, and at the outset
it is satisfactory to find a laudable promptitude
has been shown by the respective companies to
fulfil them, the proof of which is they have not
waited for the expiration of the period allowed by
the Act for the various improvements, but have
anticipated it. The chemical analyses have been
confined to the determination of the hardness of
the waters before and after boiling, and the amount
of solid and of organic matter contained in them.
To say the result is satisfactory would be incor-
rect ; there is, however, real cause for congratu-
lation. On the whole we find an improvement
on the result of the analysis made in 1851. The
hardness of the waters in 1856, for instance, is,
with one exception, somewhat less than in 1851,
though not much, save in the case of two or three
companies—to wit the Kent, East London, and
Hampstead. A very considerable diminution,
however, is observed in the amount of organic mat-
tar. This is more especially the case with 4-.'ne
waters of the Great Junction, the West Mid:thee;
the New River, and the East London
rdompanies
ev.ousi
(the diminution in the latter pr ; 1y most
charged with organic matter be;Ag
of about three-
fourths). This is certainly agreeable informa-
tion, the salubrity of water depending, it
is believed, more on the absence of organic
matter than on any other condition, and the
more agreeable 'oecause the result is shown
not to be accidental, but to be traced to special
causes, and raainly to the improvement which has
taken plant in the collection (including change of
localitv;), filtration, and general management of the
surply of water to the metropolis. The improve-
Ment may therefore be regarded as of a permanent
nature, and is calculated to inspire us with the
belief that further purification may reasonably
,be
looked for.

In connection with this subject we have I
some curious information, calculated to cloud
any vivid expectation, and which 'Leads us
again to express regret that of the ten existing
water companies, five, to wit, the Chelsea, the
Grand Junction, the Scnithwark and Vauxhall,
the Lambeth and 'the West Middlesex, derive
their supply of water, from the Thames. From a
table pres':;nted in the second report, as extracted
from t:ne Report of the Committee for Scientific
Liquiries, in relation to the Cholera Epidemic of
1854, it is shown that while the organic matter
in both the Chelsea and Battersea water is, as
might be expected, considerably in excess
of the Lambeth Company's supply, from
Thames Ditto; the Battersea water has
it not so much in excess •of the Thames
Ditton supply as the Chelsea has it in excess of
the Battersea—while the water from Kew (the
Grand Junction) within the tidal influence, and
receiving t he drainage of a very large population
from immediately above, approaches much more
nearly to the quality of the Thames Ditton
supply. Add to this the facts that the South-
w-ark and Vauxhall water, which was csondenanel
as the worst supply, and the Thames Ditton
water, the new source of supply, at that time
certainly the best, were the only two waters
then furnished to the metropolis in which any
trace of ammonia was found ; and the inference,
it is justly remarked, will naturally be drawn
that chemical analysis does not At present convey
' an exact understanding of the danger to health
which a particular water may occasion. " In-
deed," it is added, "we understand it to be an
admitted fact that it is a most difficult thing to
discover by any chemical process hitherto adopted
the precise amount of the poisonous ingredients
which may produce such injury to the system,
while on the other hand it is impossible to say
how small a quantity of such matter might not,
under certain circumstances, be injurious.
Neither can such ingredients be usually detected
by the senses. It is true we found the filtered
waters of the Companies in every case bright to
the eye and pleasant to the taste, but neither eye
nor palate will discover even a dangerous amount
of impurity in a water when that water is in a
fresh and cool state." We call the attention of
Londoners to what follows. " The waters from
the shallow wells of London, perfectly bright
as they are, frequently present, under exa-
minaiion, evidence of impurities derived front
the innumerable cesspools and sewers with whit)
the metropolis is riddled and traversed, but then e
impurities may not be detected by the sense 3.
The water always comes cold and sparkling fr m
the Pump, and, in ignorance of such danger cis
impregnations, it has been almost universally ;re-
analyses and the evidence of the senses.
Serred for drinking." So much, or rather so li tee?
for
The

MUSIC.

inquiry of the authors of the second report has,
of course, extended to the, extent of the im- 1
Fair Annie. Ballad. Written by Henry P.
Novra. Composed by Frank B. Tussaud. F.
Moutrie.
Another song from the same hand to which we
were indebted only the other day for the charming
ballad of " The Little Gipsy Girl "—a ballad re-
cently and, let us add, favourably noticed by our•
selves. " Fair Annie " we confidently commend
as an advance upon its predecessor—both in regard
to its sweat and tender melody, and in reference
to its eminently graceful accompaniment. There
is one thing, however, in the song before us, it is
absolutely impossible not to wish better—we mean
the " words"—" poetry " it would be simply ridi-
culous to call Mr. Novra's ballad. As to the ori-
ginality of the thing—don't we very well remem-
ber poor Haynes Bayly's once popular ditty, " She
wore a Wreath of Roses," one verse of which runs
thus—

" Her footsteps had the lightness,
Her voice the joyous tone—
The tokens of a youthful heart,
Where sorrow is unknown."
Repeated here—with such a rhyme !
" Her footstep has the lightness
Of the young and graceful fawn,
And though of lowly station,
She a palace would—ado.m!"
A cockney twang impossible not to wince under !
Apart from which, however, apart from the words
by Mr. Novra—" Fair Annie" possesses, as a simple
ballad, a charm few will fail to recognise. A charm
creditable to the ear, taste, and fancy of the youth-
ful composer, Mr. Frank Tussand—the grandson,
it appears, not the son, of the late Madame Tus-
saud, of the Wax-work Walhalla celebrity !

VISIT OP LORD PALMERSTON TO LIVERPOOL

LIVERPOOL, Nov. 6.
In answer to a letter from the Mayor of Liverpool (Mr.
J. Stewart) expressing a wish that Lord Palmerston, before
1,0,,i”c this district would pay a visit to this town and port,
Sir Thomas Birch has replied that his lordship will be in
Liverpool by half-past 12 o'clock to•morrow (Friday). The
Premier will be met at the railway station by the Mayor and
some of the prominent members of the corporation. After
being introduced on 'Change he will be taken to the Town-
hall, where lie will probably receive a deputation from some
of the principal associations, which met to-day at the Cham
ber of Commerce and agreed to a resolution, to the effect that
they should congratulate his lordship on his first visit to this
great seaport, at the same time regretting that his brief stay
and the short notice they had received of his visit had pre-
cluded them from offering a more formal congratulation. The
noble lord will then, it in believed, after lunching at the
Town-ball, ride through some of the principal thoroughfares,
inspect St. George's-hall and other places of interest, and
perhaps take a sail on the river, returning in the afternoon
to the residence of Sir Benjamin Heywood, at Mauhester.

FATAL EFFECTS OF TESTING STRENGTII.—On Satur
day a fatal occurrence took place in Liverpool, at the
Liine-street station of the London and North-Western
Railway Company. It appears that several of the por-
ters were amusing themselves with teats of strength, in
lifting bundles of steel bars, when one of them, name•
James Butler, while in the act of rising, with one of th
bundles on his sh ulder, which he had stem ed t ,
dipped his foot and fell. The bundle of steel liar; struck
on the neck, close to the base of the skull. crushing
him so severely as to cause a great flow of blo iron,
his month and nose, and from both his ears. He died in
less than twenty minutes from the time of r, caiving the
injury. The decessed, who was about fusty years of
age, was married, anct had one child.
THE LAND FOR THE•LADIES.—In the King of Swe
den's speech on the recent opening of the Swedish Diet,
the following remarkable passage occurs :—" A just ap
preciatiou of the rights of woman being a sure guaran-
tee of her fidelity in the fulfilment of her duties and ot
her mission in the family, it is my intention to propose
to you that unmarried women shall be considered of
age at 25, which is recognised in nearly all the States of
Europe." Sweden is clearly the land for the ladies.
There, it appears, that up to what is here considered the
tolerably ripe age of 25, a girl is supposed to be in het
minority, ca nonage ; in short, as we say, of no age a:
all. At 30, we apprehend, she is still looked upon as
quite " a young thing;" and, at about 50, as being "i'
the prime of life." " Fat, fair, and sixty," is probably
the formula which, in Sweden, is expressive of fensal,
maturity ; at 70 a damsel begins to be a little passee,
and at 80 is c xnsiderei to have attained to " a certain
age."—Punch.
THE VINTAGE IN THE VENETIAN KINGDO3L—TiIe
Courrier Franco Italica says :—" The vintage in the
Lombardo Venetian kingdom, as well as throughout the
whole of Northern Italy, has begun this year to com-
pensate the vine growers for the losses which they had
suffered from 1852 to 1855. The grapes are this year
abundant, their state of maturity perfect, and the fruit
heavier than usual. The agricultural superficies of the
Lombardo Venetian kingdom is 3,967,376 hectares. In
Lombardy or c-third, and in Venetia one-half is covered
with vineyards. The average production of each year
previously to 1852, when the eidium first made its ap-
pearance, was in the Lombardo Venetian kingdom
4,000,000 hectolitres, representing a value of 100 millions
of francs. Venetia every year exported 200,000 hecto-
litres into Lombardy ; and after consuming a great
quantity, also exported a considerable amount to foreign
countries. In Venetia wine constitutes one-third of the
agricultural production of the country. Verona, Padua,
Vicenza, and Udina produced 1,800,000 hectolitres of
wine. In 1847 the vineyards of Venetia produce()
2,413,500 hectolitres, but in 1854 only 342,500. The
produce of 1856, if high prices continue, will therefore
make up for some part of the losses of the proprietors,
and two other good years will entirely remunerate them."

ROBBERY BY A BANDITTI.—The Presse d'Orient of
Constantinople gives an account of a horrible crime,
similar to those of the chauffeurs which caused such ter-
ror in France in 1793 :—" Four bandits wearing masks
entered on the 17th ult. the home of M. Nonna, of the
village of St. George's, near Sulina, and seizing his wife,
who was alone in the house at the time, summoned her
to say where her husband, who was supposed to be rich,
kept his money concealed. The poor woman solemnly
declared that he had no money secreted, but they, not
believing her, bound her hand and foot, and committed
great atrocities on her, amongst othings cutting and
hacking her back and tho fleshy parts of her person, and
applying a lighted candle to her bosom. Whilst they
were thus treating the woman, M. Norma came in, and
he was served in the same atrocious manner. At
length, finding that their victims could not reveal the
existence of any treasure, the fact being that they were
by no means so wea thy as had been imagined, the ban-
dits went away, taking a small sum of money which
happened to be lying in a drawer. The neighbours hav-
ing come in found the man and his wife in a deplorable
plight, hut medical as-istance having been promptly pro-
cured it was hoped they would recover. Two mon sus-
pected of having formed part of the band were subs—
quently arrested ; one of them is a man of some property
in the neighbourhood of Sulina."
MURDER IN FRANCE.—A young workman, living on
with
his Boulevard do la Butte Chaumont, in a quarrel
his father two days back, stabbed him with, a knife,
afterwar,ls gave himself into custody. The wounded
man, named Maillard, was conveyed to the hospital,n but
the knife, it appeared, had touched a vital part, and he
,
died very shortly after his arrival. The deceased was a
maker of list slippers, and for some time conducted him-
self so badly as to occasion violent quarrels between
is
family and himself. On the day in question he, without
any sufficient reason, beat his younger son, a boy of 14,
with great violence ; the elder son, a young man of 19,
toele hfs brother's part, and this so exasperated the father
that he turned him (the elder) out of doors, at the :Arne
time forbidding him ever to return. After wandering
about the streets for some hours, the young man, thinking
that his father would have become calm, returned home,
but the man on seeing him peremptorily ordered him to
leave the house, and as he did not obey, .seized him by
the shoulders to push him out. This led to the conflict
in which the fatal stab was given. The young man, who
manifests the most profound sorrow at what has hap-
pened, has been sent to the Prefecture to await his trial.
THE DOUBLE MURDER AT ALDEBNEY.—The Guernsey
Star contains the following additional particulars of this
barbarous tragedy :—"At a late hour on the night of
Saturday last two Frenchmen, named Jean Langlois, a
publican, 60, and Louis Thiesse, a labourer, ware bar-
barously murJered by two Irish workmen, named Timo-
thy Kelly an,:. Nugent Loughran, aged respectively 17
and 21. Acce_ding to the accounts which have reached
us, Langlois, who resided at New Town Brays, was in
his house at about 11 .'clock, and ttat Thiesse and Esk-
other Frenchman were with him, together with his family.
The two Irishmen, on arriving, knocked at the door
and demanded admittance, for the purpose of obtaining
drink, but there being a sick child iu the house tho in-
mates were unwilling to let them in at that ;ate hour,
and Langlois and Thiesse went out to speak to them,
and persuade them to go away, but the two Frenchmen
had no sooner issued from the door than they were at-
tacked by the Irishmen, one of them stabbed Thiesse in
the heart, causing immediate death, and then stabbed
Langlois; in the groin or lower part of the abdomen, and
in a few minutes he was a corpse from the effect of
hanorrhage. A third man, who was a witness of this
midden and fatal attack, and ran off to obtain medical
assistance, was pursued by the murderers, knife in hand,
but he fortunately effected his escape and gave informa-
tion of what had happened, the Irishmen in the mean-
time quietly returning to their lodgings and going to
bed, where they were apprehended at four o'clock on
Sunday morning, and from whence they were taken
to prison. At a rubeequent lour of the same day the
Court went to the spot where the murder was committed
to collect evidence, and when this has been completed
the prisoners will be brought to Gueresey for trial. It
is
stated that previous to the tragic ceents above nar-
rated there had been some bas feeling between the Irish-
men and Langlois, but not of a nature to cause any
apprehension of serious results."
ARISTOCRATIC FEELING IN ENGLAND.—SO exaggerated
, is the influence of the aristocracy in England, or rather
so se: vile is the spirit of the middle classes, that a noble-
man in the vicinity of his country seat, as compared with
the same in his London club, is as the magnified flea in
the plates of a treatise upon entomology compared with
;the same insect in its natural condition. The "Lord
Anything " of an obscure country neighbourhood is
talked of by all its squires as if there were something
' specific in the very hoofs of his coach horses.. To them be
is te regal persona;e. They know the names and number
of his servanti—the arrangements of his household. On
all occasions they quote his sayings ; and when he says
nothing, they wonder what he thinks, till reasonable be-
ings visiting in the neighbourhood become sick of his
very name.—The Reffecto.

LATEST NEWS.

CONDEMNATION OF THE " CONSTI-
TUTIONNEL" BY THE " MONITEUR."

PARIS, FRIDAY MORNING.
The Moniteur of this morning contains the
following highly important article :
"The Constitutionnel of the sth inst. contains,
m a disputed point of foreign affairs, an article
vhich we should be very sorry to allow to be
thought to emanate from the Government. To
‘nvenom a discussion is not the means to bring
tbout a solution.

" England and France, who made the war and
,he peace together, and who aro agreed on all
he great questions of the day in Europe, find
hemsQlves divided on one of a somewhat small
lassez faible) interest.

" Will the difference be settled by a previous
understanding, or by the Conference? That is
he only thing to ho decided. But in any case
we have the firm conviction that the difficulty
will soon be dissipated without falling into the
double error of weakening the English alliance,
And of failing to fulfil contracted engagements."

MARSEILLES, Nov. 5.
Accounts have been received by sea from
Naples to the 3d.

The King came to the capital on the 30Lh ult.,
and held a Council of Ministers. An envoy had
left for Rome, charged with a mission. He was
expected to return to Gaeta on the Bth.

The French steam frigate Duchayla and an
English steamer were cruising off Naples, and had
exchanged salutes with the forts.
Some of the officers landed and walked about
the city. It is said that those vessels are to re-
main in observation, and are to be successively
relieved by others.
There was a report of the intended publication
of different decrees relative to administrative mat-
ers and to public works.

A letter from St. Petersburg, in the Presse of
Brussels, says :—" The question of the settlement
of the frontiers of Bessarabia is not considered
here as of a nature to give rise to serious misun-
derstandings. The question of ceding or of hold-
ing Bolgrad is really not important enough to
give rise to the breaking up of alliances ; it is,
however, a favourable opportunity for exciting a
schism between France and England. Our Govern-
ment, I repeat, is decided on executing the con-
ditions imposed by the treaty of Paris, which
are, in fact, neither onerous nor humiliating ;
only, in the accomplishment of its duty, it
displays the slowness which has become pro-
verbial."

A letter from Vienna, in the New Wurtzburg
Gazette, says :—" It is not believed here that
the Congress of Paris will meet on the 15th
November, as was stated some time back. It is
certain that neither Austria, England, nor the
Porte considers the actual moment as opportune.
It is assured that the understanding of France
and Russia on certain points of the question of
the Principalities, such as their future organisa-
tion, the settlement of their frontier, and the
Austrian occupation, was come to some weeks
ago ; and it is added that these States agree per-
fectly on various other political questions."

the politicAl atmosphere. The visitors at Corn-
peigno who are now enjoying the Imperial hospi-
tality will disperse on the Bth, and the Court
will reach Paris on the evening of the 9th ;
meanwhile the affairs of State aro carried on pre-
cisely as if the Emperor were at the Tuileries ;
Lord CJwley and M. Brunow being at the palace
of Compiegne, each, no doubt, thoroughly aware
of the intentions of their respective Govern-
ments."

The Augsburg Gazette has the following from
Cracow of the 2d :—" The prolongation of the
occupation of the Danubian Principalities and of
the Black Sea by the English has the conse-
quence of causing numerous corps of Russian
troops to stay in Southern Russia, in Podolia,
and Volhynia. Up to the present time not one
of the corps which left the Crimea has appeared
in the interior of Russia or in Poland. The two
divisions of Grenadiers which left the Crimea in
the spring, and which were to have gone to
Moscow for the Coronation, did not arrive there,
but have remained in the south. Political reasons
can alone explain the retention of these large
bodies of troops in the southern provinces."

The Paris correspondent of the Times (second
edition), in a letter dated yesterday, says :
" For some days past rumours wore current of
an approaching modification Of the French Cabi-
net ; and the return of M. Billault to Paris was
said to be awaited for that purpose. The discontent
existing in the faubourgs, the destitution among
the working classes—not so much from want of
employment as from the high price of all the ne-
cessaries of life—the dissatisfaction among the
manufacturing people, the financial or monetary
crisis, the frequent discovery of seditious placards,
and the aspect of affairs generally at home and
abroad, were all sufficiently legitimate motives of
alarm. The reports of the Prefect of Police, con-
fidentially and directly addressed to the Emperor,
showed that the condition of the people was any-
thing but satisfactory, and that their murmurs were
not unfounded. M. Billault returned to Paris on
Monday evening, and immediately resumed his
functions. A Cabinet Council met yesterday at
Compiegne, and then various questions wore brought
before it in the presence of the Emperor, and fully
discussed. One member of the Council spoke at con •
siderable length, and ho proved that the sufferings,
and consequent discontent of the Parisian popu-
lation, were to a great extent owing to the finan-
cial measures of the Government ; and that the
discontent of the manufacturers was attributable
to their fear of radical changes in the tariff. The
Council sat for some time, and questions of
foreign interest were also discussed ; but whether
any or what solution of the present difficulty
was to come to I do not know, bat the rumours
of partial changes in the Ministry continue to
circulate."

The Path correspondent of the Morning Post
(second edition) says :

"If the language of the French Ministerial
press were to be taken as the view of the Ent_
peror, and the majority of his Cabinet, we should
come to the conclusion that the treaty of .Paris is
not worth more than waste paper. No doubt all
this will have an injurious influence on the decisions
of Russia, as regards the execution of certain arti-
cles of the peace contracts which that Power en-
tered into. I still believe, however, that the
Parisian Ministerial press does not convey the
fereiqn policy of the Broperor at this critical rno-
„lent. I have observed cn various Cd37Sic.MS that
until Itrperial displeasure 121:z; been exprescl raise
views, on more than one sn'ejeet have been pub-
lished in language which did not in any way prove
the policy the French Government intended
to adopt. This was the case as regarded the
affairs of Italy and Greece ; and I believe the tone
of certain French newspapers on the disputed
articles of the peace treaty is equally opposed to
the views of the Emperor. At all events his
Majesty, I presume, must have learned the exact
views of the British Cabinet from the Ambassador
at tho Court of St. James', who is still at Corn-
peigue. I have little doubt events will occur
which will disperse the clouds now hovering in