The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-02 00:00:00

THE FRENCH ATLANTIC CABLE.

No further news is expected from the Great Eastern for
a few days. It has been remarked that since the discovery
of the fault on the 25th June, the telegrams have never
resumed a perfectly confident tone. For the first three
days "Electric condition perfect," was the regular
formula ; then came the " fault ;" then, on the 25th, a
stoppage of three hours while another fault was cut
out close to the ship ; and " satisfactory " and "good"
have been respectively given as the cable's condi-
tion for the last two days. Another slight defect was
reported at the commencement of the laying, and thus,
singular to say, a cable which throughout the entire pro•
cess of manufacture, and during its transfer from the
works at Greenwich to the Medway, and its shipment on
board the Great Eastern, was electrically faultless, has
had three faults discovered in it in four times as many
days. Yet the tests of the electricians have been con-
stant ever since the malting of the cable commenced ;
and as Lord William Hay, when speaking as a
director of the Anglo-French Company, publicly de-
clared, the cable was perfect in ev:ry way when received
on board the Great Eastern. The cause of the present
delay is therefore one of two things. Either the fault
which developed itself on the 25th has seemed of sufficient
importance for the Great Eastern to put back for the
purposes of picking up, cutting out, and re splicing ; or
some further hitch has occurred on board. An accident
to the machinery, or a foul flake in the cable, which may
have come to light during paying out, would either of
them be sufficient to account for the buoying ; and those
to whom the last telegram has appeared vague may
be reminded that this is an old characteristic of
the messages received from the people engaged in
cable-laying. The work in hand is too absorbing for
there to be much thought as to what may be understood
from the telegrams sent ; and the resemblance between the
conditions of the cable expedition of 1865 and that of 1869
is strengthened by the uncertainty as to the precise causes
preceding the interruption of communication. It is clear,
if the Great Eastern determined on the 30th of June to
return to the fault in a part of the cable which
was laid on the 25th, and to pick up and repair,
that several days must elapse before she can again
communicate with England ; while if she has simply
buoyed over the 1,600 fathom shoal while she repairs
something wrong on board, that news may be received in
the course of forty-eight hours. Meanwhile so little
anxiety is felt, that a well-known underwriter, who was
largely interested in insuring the cables of 1865 and 1866,
as well as this of 1869, has offered to increase his interest
in the enterprise, and to guarantee on the same terms as
when the ship started that the French Atlantic Cable
will be successfully laid.

THE ABERDEEN VOLUNTEER SAPINSCHAW.—
The chief and coveted prize of the Aberdeen Wapinschaw,
a valuable cup presented by her Majesty the Queen, has
gone up Deeside. It was on Thursday won by Ensign
Niven, of Torphin's Rifle Company. The cup rehiring
the absolute property of the winner, who is the miller of
his parish. A member of the same company, Privats
Morrice, in the contest for the Counties Brooch, the con-
ditions being seven shots at 500 yards, Hythe position,
with the Enfield rifle, carried the prize with the extra-
ordinary score of 28 points, every shot being a bull's-eye.
EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE. —A day Or two
since Jane Warburton, a servant at Mill-hill, received per-
mission to go to town for a holyday. She went, travelling
by the Midland Railway, and was expected to return in the
evening. She did not do so, but was found lying in an in-
sensible condition on the rails near Cricklowood. A letter
in her possession enabled the company's officers to learn
who she was. She was taken to St. Mary's Hospital,
Paddington, but has not recovered sufficiently to give any
account of herself. The notion entertained is that she
had been annoyed in the train, and had either been
pushed out or jumped out. The door of a second-class
carriage in a train was found open when the train arrived
at Hendon.
MARRIAGE OF COMMODORE NUTT AND MINNIE
WARREN.—The New Haven Palladium publishes some
particulars of the marriage of these dwarfs :—" On Wed-
nesday Mr. Lewis Dinger (Commodore Nutt) and Miss
Ella F. Anthony (Minnie Warren) were united as man
and wife in the Episcopal Church in Birmingham, the
Rev. Dr. Fuller officiating. The fair bride was attired in
a tasty grey-coloured dress, with hat, gloves, and bootees
to match. Among 'those present at the church, in full
dress, were General Thomas Thumb and wife, Mr. and
Mrs. Royal N. Bassett, Mr. and Mrs. O. B. Gray, of
New York, and Misses Bassett and Smith, of this city.
After the impressive services at the church, the party
returned to the residence of Mr. R. N. Bassett, where a
very elegant spread of refreshments was served by Mrs.
Bassett."

SINGULAR PURCHASE OF A lIORSE.—A curious
case has just been tried at St. Petersburg, which proves
that it is sometimes well to look the purchased, if not the
gift, horse in the mouth. A Russian colonel recently sold
one of his horses to a merchant at a very high price, inti-
mating at the same time that he was very loathe to pact
with it, the animal being so capable and intelligent as
" only to want a tongue in order to be perfect." The
merchant's delight at his bargain, however, was somewhat
dashed by the news brought him next day by his groove
that the horse was incapable of drinking properly, having
only half a tongue. At this fatal revelation of the
colonel's real meaning, his victim at once laid the case
before a magistrate ; but the defendant maintained, amid
the uproarious laughter of the entire court (including
even the presiding judge himself) that he had given his
customer fair warning of the defect, his words being that
the horse "only wanted a tongue to make him perfect,"
and he appealed to the plaintiff himself for a confirmation
of this statement, which the latter, with extreme reluc.
tanee and numerous unprintable comments, eventually
gave. he magistrate pronounced that nothing could
bo 4one, an 4 ITlNnuntactud thiti_tho a aid ahoulci by c9rA.,
m00d..,