The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-25 00:00:00

LO:'; DON, MOI\DAY EVENING, AUGUST 25, 1834.

restriction of any kind, but you merely receive letters as a ves-
sel going from one place to another, and receive a payment
upon those letters?—Ye,, and forward them as quick as we can.
Are the letters you carry very numerous ?—Yes, I suppose
2,000 letters at a time.; we very frequently receive 1001. and
odd for them.
Have you carried them every voyage ?—Every voyage.
You went every week through the winter ?—No, but we
certainly should.
What months did you go ?—We generally leave off in No-
vember and begin again in March,,to Hamburgh ; to Ostend
all the winter, and to Calais all through the winter.
Why do you leave off going to Hamburgh ; on account of
the want of passengers ?—From the want of passengers.
You are going to Hamburgh now ?—Yes.
Suppose a general agreement were made with you for the
purpose of delivering letters at all the points where they are
delivered on the opposite coast, could you bind yourselves
then, or would you undertake to bind yourselves, to sail regu-
larly through all periods of the year?—Surely we would;
you know packets cannot sail when there is a gale of wind,
but we should be bound under the same restrictions as the
others.

Taking Hamburgh for instance, upon what terms would it
answer for you to enter into such an agreement with respect to
Hamburgh, so as to force yourselves to sail twice a week ?-11
would want a little calculation.
Suppose you were to go as often as the Hamhurgh mail
goes ?—lt would be impossible to sit down and tell that ; I
am not prepared to answer the question.
Are you prepared to state what is the amount you have re-
ceived monthly or annually for letters, sine you have carried
the, maiL to Harnburgh ?—No ; I was not :•.zre 4.1 a, or I
might have made myself master of it.
Now you carry letters also to Rotterdam?—Yes.
Could you slate what is the amount you have received for
carrying letters to Rotterdam ?—No, I could not state that.
How far do the mail-packets that sail from Harwich to Hel-
voeisluys affect you in going to Rotterdam ?—ln point of pas-
sengers ?
In every way ?—I rather think they do not take so many
passengers as they used.
You get all the passengers ?—We get a great share of the
passengers.
You go to Rotterdam in 27 hours from London 2—Yes.
They do not go from Harwich to Hamburgh ?—No, to Cux-
haven.
What is the distance from Cuxhaven to Hamburgh ?—Fifty
miles.
What number of hours does it take, five or six ?—lt takes
about six hours ; it all depends upon the tide ; about six or
seven hours.
Have you any idea of the average of your voyages to Ham-
burgh ?—I think it averages from 52 to 54 ; I went from there
myself in 50 hours ; one of our vessels did it in 46, the
William Jolliffe.
What is your number of hours ?—I average it from 52 to
54 hours ; we have made one voyage in 46 hours.
You have no vessels that go to Gottenburgh ?—No, we have
not. The Company would undertake to take the whole of the
mails in all directions from London.
What number of vessels have you ?—Seventeen.
What is the largest, and what is the smallest size you have?
—The smallest size, I think, is about 130 tons, and the largest
is 400 tons.
How are they distributed ; what are the services in which
they are engaged ?—One goes to Newcastle ; we have two to
Hamburgh, and one to Rotterdam ; two to Ostend ; two to
Calais ; two from Brighton to Dieppe.
How often do your vessels go to Calais ?—Three times
a week..
Does the malgo every day to Calais ?—No, twice a week ;
we shall run fol. the next two months.every day. Of the re-
mainder of our vessels, there is one goes to Boulogne, two to
Margate, two to Ramsgate, and we have onto gone out to Por-
tugal, and we have one down the river, which we have not
stationed at present.
You do not happen to know if the letters are intended
for the whole of Holland, to Amsterdam, and all other
parts, which you take to Hamburgh ?-1 shouldthink so, being
a merchant upon 'Change myself.
If Government wish to have an engagement for this pur-
pose, you would have no difficulty in accepting it ?—None
at all.

Now, with respect t.) the other side of the island, have you
any communication with Ireland?--No, we have none; but I
think we should have no objection in taking the whole contract
for running to the other side.
Would you be equal to that ?--There is no question of it.
Have you any connexion with any of the Irish companies ?

We have not.
Is there any other steam-packet company in. London b,9..
sides you ?—Yes, the Margate Company. They have no sea_
going vessels; they go up and down the RiderßiderThames.—(By
Mr. Attwood.)—There is another Company, the .Rotterdam
Steam Packet Company conducted by Messrs. Wig..
ram's, with Bolton and Watt's engines. They have two to
Rotterdam . They sail regularly. They go alternately with
us to Rotterdam.
That is, you go one week and they go another ?—Yes ; they
go to Scotland, I think. I think there is a gentleman in
London connected with the vessels going between Dublin and
Liverpool ; it is Mr. Williams, he was in town a few days
ago. (By Mr. Brockelbank)—l think also the company I
am engaged with would have no objection to take the vessels
belonging to Government off their hands, and buy them ; it
would be a great relief to Government. I have been forty
years on the river myself, and I see no difficulty in navigating
the river by night, as a practical man ; a great many of the
Government captains are too idle to navigate in the night. I
would sooner go down with these vessels on a good clear
night, than I would attempt it in the day, for there are very
few people whose vessels break loose of a night, and you have
got the whole of the thing to yourself, and you are not im_
peded by boats at all. (By Mr. Attwood)—l take the navi-
gation of the river Thames and its entrance to be one that
requires much practice, and a very intimate and peculiar know .
ledge. I understand that the captains employed by the gene-
ral Steam Navigation Company are men who have been
brought up in the coasting trade—fishing; or perhaps smug-
-gling, on the Sussex and Kent Coast ; they must be men
who are accustomed to the shoals on those coasts from
their childhood. All their captains are of that description,
and with this sort of captains the navigation is perfectly secure.
It would be dangerous to a person merely of nautical skill, but
who had not been long accustomed to these shoals.
(To Mr. Brockelbank.)--Should you have power to secure
efficient discipline among the crew ?—We take care to give
the authority entirely to the captain; we do not say take this
man and the other; we look to the captain, and make him
responsible for every body's acts on board.—(By Mr. Att-
wood. )—The Company would experience difficulty from
smuggling, if they did not preserve discipline. Their vessels
would be detained upon their voyages, and would be stopped
for bringing tobacco and all sorts of things over. A perfect
discipline is established.
You have never had stoppages ?—No ; things have been
taken from the men at times, chiefly from the engineers.
That has been an act of your own displeasure ?—Yes.
You have not been stopped by the revenue vessels ?—The
Company, keeping upon the best understanding with the Com-
missioners of Customs, endeavour to convince them that they
are anxious to adopt every sort of regulation to prevent smug-
gling being carried on, and that has made them very conside-
rate with regard 'to the Company's vessels. When they have
found a bundle of tobacco under the coals, they might stop the
vessel, but they give what facility and accommodation they
can : but this imposes the necessity of using a great deal of
care in the sort of men employed.
You have found, in point of fact, that your captains have
been able to enforce these regulations ?—Yes • the captains
are a respectable set of men ; it is very essential they should
be so ; for' passengers are unwilling to sail, unless they see in
the captain a steady, capable, and judicious person ; they put
confidence in the captain ; and the captains of these vessels are
a kind of men much to be depended upon.
(To Mr. Brockelbank.) In speaking of the discipline and
the precautions that are taken with respect to smuggling, does
any search take place on the part of your captain or any of
your officers ?—lnvariably ; and also by the Custom House.
We have found sometimes little things suspected, and we have
desired them to come on board and see ; invariably so.
In passing to Rotterdam or Hamburgh with the ship-letters,
do you happen to know if any number of letters are clandes-
tinely conveyed by the crew ?—No ; not by the crew ; I have
every reason to believe that they are sent in parcels, but I am
not able to say from my own knowledge.
Would it be possible to have a precaution against that ?
We do take parcels, and if we suspect them we take and tear
them open ; we have found letters and sent them to the post-
office. We carry a great number of parcels.
In a parcel of goods, where there is a letter sent explana-
tory of what it contains, it would be wrong to throw impedi-
ments, but when for the purpose of fraud, it is done expressly
by collecting a certain number of letters, putting them into one
parcel and paying for a single parcel, and so escaping the
payment for letters generally, how would you prevent that ?
We have found them so in some instances, and we have, taken
them to the post-office. We lose the money. In or two instances
we have found it so; if even a letter is sent, we carry it to the
post-office directly.
Then it is thrown into the bag and goes with yours ?—lf we
find it coming in any parcel we send it.
When was your Company established as a Company ?—We
began in 1824.
Are you incorporated ?—( By Mr. Attwood.) We are not
incorporated.
(To Mr. Attwood.) You are a joint-stock Company?—Yes.
Of how many do yott consist ?—I should judge it to be 400
or 500 ; I have not the number in my mind.
It consists of a great number?—Yes.
Are they chiefly persons residing in London ?_Almost all
of them.

Are there any incorporated steam companies ?—I do not
know.

Will you tell the Commissioners, taking each vessel from
250 to 300 tons which you employ, what have you them gene-
rally built for per ton ?—(By Mr. Brockelbank.) We built the

Harlequin and the Columbine, which, without exception, are
the two finest vessels in the kingdom. They stood the Com-
pany in 471. per ton.
That is exclusive of the machinery ?—Yes ; the Attwood
stood us in 191. per ton.
Was she larger ?—Not so large.
What occasioned that difference ?—The Company built the
two themselves ; the other was built by another party, con-
tracted for.
Do you build your own vessels now ?—We have built four.
Of the seventeen, four have been built by yourselves ?
Yes, in your own yard.
Has there prevailed that difference between the comparative
cost of vessels built by you and built in the yards ?—.We have
built seven vessels.
You have yourselves ?—Yes ; we have built three by con-
tract, and four in our own yard.
You have stated that those you built by yourselves cost T 7/.
per ton, and those you built by contract cost 191. per ton ; was
there any reason for that which you could mention ?—We got
the builder's profit, and we got better vessels for less money.
I say the Government have not such vessels built.
The others you purchased ?—Yes.
Is it not essentially necessary that a vessel which goes by
steam should be built expressly for that purpose ; that is, you
cannot apply it advantageously to another ?—I should certainly
say it could not.
Have all these vessels you have purchased been built ex-
pressly for the purpose?—Expressly.
In what state did you buy them, new ?—There are about four
or five of them.
You purchased them at a very early period of their existence,
probably ?—Yes ; they were almost all new.
What service have they hew; built ff-e?—Some,afAhern that
- -
we have went to Ireland.
(By Mr. Attwood. )—The two Calais vessels, the Lord
Melville and the Lord Liverpool, we purchased from Joliffe
and Bankes ; they employed them previously upon that sta-
tion. The two Ramsgate vessels had been employed on the
Ramsgate station ; these four were built for these stations.
(To Mr. Attwood.)—Did you purchase any for Govern-
ment ?—No.
What is the difference in the price per tonnage, of those you
have built or contracted for, between the largest and the
smallest ?—The Brockelbank is the smallest • it would cost as
much per ton as the larger vessel.—( By Mr. Brockelbank.)
If you are building a large vessel and a small one in your own
yard, the small vessel might not cost you more, because the
parts that came out of the large vessel would go to build the
small vessel ; but if you were to go to build a small vessel by
herself, she would not cost as much per ton as the large vessel
would. I have superintended the building of seven steam-
boats under my directions.
Have they differed much in size?—Yes, the Brockelbank
is about 172 tons.
What is the largest ?
What did she cost ?.
cost 19/.per ton.
How large is she ?—Seven hundred tons.
Did you build that ?--No ; we built her, but by contract.
Who built her ?—A man of the name of Wallace, in the
river.—(By Mr. Attwood.) The George the Fourth and the
Duke of York were sold to Jolliffe and Bankes : they go to
Lisbon and Petersburg.
- You have no vessels of your own that go to Petersburg ?
None.

'—Three hundred and fifty.
'-171. per ton ; the George the Fourth

(To Mr. Brockelbank.)—Were those vessels that you super-
intended lined ?—Yes.
Do you include that, when you estimate the amount at 171.
per ton ?—What we call futling ; that is, a skinning inside.
Were they fastened diagonally?—Yes, they were ; I would
rather they had not been so.
Which is most expensive ?—The diagonal mode is the most
expensive ; but it is not the best adapted, for it soon gets loose;
for this very reason—the wood shrinks up, and then you may
shove your fingers in between the diagonal wood, and then all
the fastenings are gone; I do not believe the diagonal system
is any way so good to a vessel, and I will tell you why—l do
not find that any of the first-rate builders attempt to do it :
they certainly could do it cheaper than what they could do it
the other way; for this very reason,—they must have long
timber to make long planks, and they must have short timber
to make short planks, and long timber is of more value. I find
neither Barnard nor the first-rate builders do it in steam-
boats ; it is quite wrong entirely : the engine-room soon gets
dried up, it loses all its hold ; I believe the Liverpool is built
in that way: I could pull out the diagonal pieces with my
fingers. _ _

What is the power of the boats that go to Ostend and Ham.
burgh ?—The one to Hamburgh has two 40-horse engines ; the
William Jolliffe has two 40-horse engines; the Attivcod, two
40-horse engines, to Rotterdam ; the Liverpool has two
40-horse engines, to Ostend.

Are they not very small powers?—lt depends entirely how
the vessel is built ; a great deal depends as to the vessel ; there
is a wrong notion in steam-boats by giving too much hold of
the water. The Harlequin and Columbine, belonging to Go-
vernment, were built by Wigram's people; they have only
two 40-horse engines in each of them.
Should you hav • $ objection to give an account of the
steam-vessels tha have ; the service in which they are
employed ; their tonnage and their powers ?—Certainly not.
Whose engines do you use 7—We have the Butterfly Corn-
pany's engines, of Derby.
What are the names of the persons ?—Wright and Jessop ;
they are considered equal to Bolton and Watt ; we do more
execution with our forty-horse engines, than some do with
their fifty.
(To Mr. Brockelbank)—Are you able to say which have
stood best ? I contracted for the engines in the Royal Sove-
reign myself, and also the City of London ; and their engines
are equally good as when they were first put in, about six or
eight years ago.
You have engineers regularly appointed to each vessel 7—Yes.
Is it the same as to Government vessels ?—Yes, an engineer
and two firemen ; if we are going on a foreign station, we must
make it different; they are obliged to take watch and watch.
What number of persons have you on board ; what is the
establishment for each steam-vessel ?—There is the captain,
the mate, the second mate ; it is in a vessel of forty-horse
engines ; the captain, the mate, the carpenter, and four men
and a boy ; the engineer arid firemen are distinct altogether ;
that is, going to Hamburgh ; if going a shorter voyage, we
should have two men less.

MATTHIAS ATTWOOD.
THOMAS BROCKELBANK.

THE ARMY.

(From the Limerick Chronicle.)
Lieut.-General Sir Hussey Vivian, commanding the forces
in Ireland, will arrive in this garrison next Saturday, and
inspect the troops on Monday. Report names Sir Hussey
Vivian for a command in India, after the Lieut.-General's
term expires in this country.
The principal Barrack districts in Ireland to be enlarged
under the coming arrangements of the Master-General of the
Ordnance, are, it is understood, Naas, Templemore, Limerick,
Fermoy, Galway, and Cork.
Three private soldiers in this garrison have been sentenced
by Courtmartial, for breach of military discipline, to solitary
confinement for six weeks, three weeks, and a fortnight, re-
spectively, according to the magnitude of the offence.
The following number of Lieutenants of 1816, on full pay,
will benefit by the intended Brevet promotion—viz. Dragoons
and Infantry, 129 ; Artillery and Engineers, 32.
The entire 93d regiment are stationed at Canterbury.
Great competition prevails among General Officers for the
vacant command of the 87th, or Royal Irish Fusileers.
Lieut.-Colonel Fuller, C. 8., retires from the command of
the 59th regiment, and will be succeeded by his relative, the
junior Major of the 59th.
The veteran General, Lord Lynecloch, Colonel of the 14th
regiment, stationed at Athlone, has arrived in Dublin, and will
inspect the 14th before returning to the sister country.
The depot companies of the 23d, or Royal Welsh Fusileers,
at Fermoy, are under orders to embark for Portsmouth to join
the service companies of the regiment shortly expected home
from the Mediterranean.
Captain Mayes, of the 95th, who recently returned from the
service companies of his regiment at Cephalonia, has joined
the depot at Templemore.
Lieut. Blake, of the 47th has been appointed acting Ad-
jutant, and Lieut. M'Nally, Acting Paymaster, to the depot
companies of that regiment.
Major Lord Charles Wellesley, of the sth Foot, has joined
the depot companies at Templemore, and assumed the com-
mand in the room of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Tovey, who
is under orders to join the service companies at Gibraltar.
The old gosling-green facings of the regiment are to be
changed to grass-green.

IRISH CHURCH COMMISSION.—The new and in-
creased commission has issued, and we lay the list before our
readers :--Lord Brougham, Viscount Duncannon, Rgiht
E. J. Littleton, Sergeant D'Oyley, Thomas Henry
iln.
Lister,o William Henry Curran, George Barrett Lennard,
Edward Carlton Tuffnell, Daniel Maude, George Cornwall
Lewis, William Tighe Hamilton, Acheson Lyle, William
Newport, Denis George Lube, John Fox Strangways, Neill
O'Donnell Browne, Rowley Lascelles, Thomas P. Luscombe,
John Gibson, Anthony Austin, William M'Dermott, James
Moody, William Gibson Craig, and Anthony Wills, Esqrs. ;
Matthew Barrington, secretary.
SHOCKING DEATH OF A CHILD.—On Friday an
inquest was held at the sign of the Comet, in Christian-street,
St. George's in the East, on the body of George Forsyth, an
infant aged 12 months. It appeared that the child was taken
ill a few days ago, and the mother therefore determined to
bathe it. She, however, put it into such scalding hot water
that the skin of one of the legs, from the ankle downwards
rolled off, and floated on the surface of the water like a place
of leather. The other leg and foot were also dreadfully
scalded, from about four inches above the ankle downwards.
The child died after a few days, suffering much. The Jury,
after hearing a number of witnesses as to the facts of the case,
returned a verdict of " Manslaughter " against the mother, and
she was taken on the Coroner's warrant to Newgate, to await
her trial.