The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-16 00:00:00

Tart SIN, .E4OI4IJON, TIIMISDAY P,VENINO-, SEPTEMI3ER 16, 1569.

sing the dead, one of them a dca'd woman (a wife,
and a mother, of unsullied reputation) would have
been pronounced infamous. Seeing that the accu-
sation—an accusation in itself so atrocious, and almost
unutterable—has been;:thrust upqn_public view in
the new and-the" old world simultaneously in Eng-
,
land and in America, not by a man, but by a
woman—we have no word sufficiently strong
by which conduct so unwomanly can be
adequately oharacteriied. Language is beg-
gared in the attempt at its definition. Accord-
ing to Holy Writ, there are crimes that should
not be spoken of, that, if possible, should not be
thought of, that certainly should never be written
of —" let them not be so much as named amongst
you," are the words of the Apostle. The slander
directed against England's greatest poet but one, and
against his half-sister, by this indiscreet American
traducer of the Dead, ia precisely of the number of
these nameless offences. Yet, instead of shrinking
from the mention of the Jideous alp?, of which Mrs.
STOWE accuses a man of resplendent genius like,Lord
BruoN, and a woman of blameless life like the lion.
Mrs. LElGH—the sensational novelist and magazine
writer who one would hardly thinksould ever have
bad a mother herself (her, own conduct in this matter
is so un womanly)—this unhappy Mrs. STowE, who can
hardly have been born like another mortal, but must
have " growed," like her own TOM, actually thrusts
herself conspicuously upon the notice of the world,
while she expatiates upon the enormity of this, in
point of fact, wholly supposititious -Crime, and touches
her description up here, and., there, with
artistic effect, so as to bring— out in more
lurid light, and in blacker shadow its peculiar abomi-
nation. Everything has gone more and more clearly
to demonstrite the utter untruth of the whole of this
so called "True Story" since the unhappy day when
it first appeared in the pages of Macmillan. Mrs.
STOWE is shown to be out in her dates, and to be out
in her names. She speaks of the married life of
Lord and Lady BYRON as extending over a period of
two years, whereas it continued for barely a single
twelvemonth. She speaks of Lady BYRON'S maiden
name as MILLBANK, whereas it was, as even those
who were not taken into Lady BYRON'S confidence
like this Yankee blab, knew perfectly well, MIL-
LINER. She speaks of there being a child born of
the unnatural union—whereas Lord BTRON'S natural
daughter, ALLEGRA, was born at Geneva more than
a year after Lord BYRON last quitted England.
She knows so little about that amiable and beloved
half-sister of Lord BYRON, that she (Mrs. STowx),
while .traducing her thus infamously, evidences an
absolute ignorance of the fact that the lion.
Mrs. LEIGH was (at the very time her ca-
lumniator is referring to) the cherished wife of
a fond and devoted husband, Colonel LEIGH, that
she was already then the mother of seven children,
that she was several years older than Lord Butozq
(who was then in his jeunesse doree) that she was any-
thing but attractive in her personal appearance, bein
what has been called by one of her personal friends,
still happily surviving to tell us as much, a " dowdy-
goody"—But, paugh Lot us have done with the
filthy imputation, leaving the mud of Mrs. STOWE,
providing to be dandled and pitted into pellets
handy for throwing—mud, however, that somehow
will stick to the hands vainly bent upon throwing it
—mud seemingly scraped up front the ooze of the
Styx or of Phlegethon, but that we would fain now
see sunk for ever and ever to the bottom of
Lethe..

Tux results of the French Atlantic Cable are dis-
appointing. Unless the income becomes at least
double what:it is now there must be a heavy loss to
the eliiarehOlaera.-. There are now three telegraph
lines between' Europe and America, and neither of
them are doing one-tenth of the work which they
could perform. Neither is it likely that they will be
fully employed ; a tariff of 3s. par word is main-
tained, which; for all general purposes, is prohibitory.
With this charge the two continents are not united
in thought and feeling as they ought to be. The
cost of transmitting a message to or from the
United States should not exceed half-a-crown, and
with that tariff commercial, political, and domestic
intelligence would flow freely between the two conti-
nents.

To accomplish this object it will be necessary to lay
down cables at much less outlay than has been ex-
pended upon those which are now in existence.
Before we are many years older we shall probably
be able to lay a cable with half-a-dozen wires at less
expenditure than has been made upon each of the
single wires which now span the Atlantic. To sup-
pose that the actual requirements of the two
conti-
nents •can be met by laying down only three wires,
and working them three or four hours out of the
twenty-four, is to take a very limited view of the
case—and limited views are ♦ery rarely profitable to
any of the parties concerned. The problem of Atlantic
telegraphy must not be regarded as solved until a
handsome profit can be shewn on the transmission
of messages at half-a-crown each. This end will
probably be attained by increasing the efficiency of
existing wires, by improved modes of telegraph,
and by laying down wires under more efficient and
economical arrangements. We may have as much
to hope from the present commercial failure Of the
French Cable as from its success ; for if it had
succeeded, the number of those would have been
increased who oppose their vested interests to the
progress of public improvement; but, as it stands,
the directors, finding a 30s. tariff unprofitable,, may
go in for a rate sufficiently low to bring about a
revolution in cable telegraphy-. A communication
recently published by Mr. l'Artracy shows that tke
failures of the diarlier attempts to lay deep-sea cables
were owing ,to the grossest carelessness. For
instance, the Red Sea Cable was not put under
water to test its insulation until it was laid down,
and then it was laid in shallow water and stretched
tightly over, a rocky bottom. When a sufficient
length of :cable icused- to allow the line to adjust
itself to the inequalities of the ocean bed, there is
but little danger of its being disturbed, and in proof
of the stillness of the water at a moderate depth, Mr.
VABLZY mentions the fact of the diver engaged on the
Royal George having left his spectacles on the wreck
off Spithead. A violent storm prevented him from
resuming operations for several days, and on again
descending he found his spectacles where hi left
them.'. We now know that the laying of deep-sea
cables is a comparatively certain and easy matter,
and we have good reason to expect that the light
cables now projected will answer better than the
costly iron-clad cables which have hitherto been laid
down.• It remains only to introduce several wires
into one cable and we shall have the elements of
cheap and profitable telegraphy between the most
distant nations of the earth.

ANYONE going to sea knows that he runs the risk,
more or less remote, of being drowned. It is hardly
fair to add to this a tolerably certain chance of being
burnt. Yet this is the case, if the manner
in which the Lady Wodehouse, a steamer
plying between London and D'iblin, was loaded
on Saturday last, is not exceptional. The
vessel in question, with her cabins full of pas-
sengers, had her forecastle stowed with petroleum,
and that nothing might be wanting to conduce to a
conflagration, the casks of oil were closely surrounded
with large chests of lucif ere and vesuvian
matches. This statement on the first blush would
appear almost 'incredible, but its accuracy is vouched
for by a passenger, as well as by the disaster which
befell the ship just after she had passed Beachy Head.
Saturday; as numerous wrecks too well attest, was
a day of terrific storm. Till Dover was reached,
however, all. went well with the Lady Wodehouse.
Then the gale arose and increased to such an-extent

that the energies of the passengers were utterly pro-
strated by sickness, not a few of them being com-
pelled to keep their berths. In the midst of the con-
fusion that prevailed, and when all the efforts of the crew
were imperatively denianded for the proper manage-
ment of the ship, the most fearful of all alarms at
sea—the alarm of fire—was given. The lashings
of the petroleum casks had broken, and coming
into contact with the lucifer chests, the in-
flammable oil had immediately ignited. Rapdily
rolling towards the centre of the vessel, the burn-
ing casks set fire to one side of the saloon,
burnt down the glass roof of the gentlemen's
sleeping berths, and fired two of the lifeboats. As
the flames rose with fearful " velocity 'to a great
height above the deck, all gave themselves up for
lost. By dint of great exertion, the flames
were subdued and the alarm, but not the
discomfort of the passengers, who had from
the confusion produced in the saloon to seek
repose upon the floor, subsided, only, however,
to be renewed-by a second conflagration. This arose
from the cheats of lucifer matches spontaneously
igniting. Not until the whole of these and the casks
of oil which had not been consumed were thrown
overboard did the passengers feel themselves safe
from fear of a conflagration, and able to bear up
against the inconvenience of the storm, which
eventually sent the Lady Wodehouse back to Dunge-
ness. The • facts which we have stated are in all
conscience bad enough. The precise number of
human beings on board the steamer is not given to
us, nor does it matter. Petroleum oil and lucifer
matches must, like all other commodities of com-
merce, be shipped from port to port, but we have
surely a right to ask that they shall be carried only
in such vessels as are not devoted to passengers,
and that they shall be in all ships so carefully
stowed that the risk to the crews shall be reduced to
a minimum. The excuse will, of course, be made
that the breaking loose of the petroleum casks was
the result of an unexpected storm. This may be so,
but the storm had nothing to dowith the matches being
near the casks, and it was these that fired the oil.
From such an accident, so purely the issue, not of
thoughtlessness, but of recklessness, excuse is en-
tirely divorced. The terrible disaster at Abergele,
and a number of minor calamities of a kindred kind,
added to what has long been known of the nature of
petroleum, ought to have been sufficient to impress
all concerned in packing or transporting a substance
so dangerous with a due sense of caution. To place
cask upon cask in close proximity to huge chests of
readily-igniting matches on the forecastle of a pas-
senger steamship seems little leas than madness.

rev , 44_ IV
" Cilitillat
.d.:::

HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL CASTLE, Sept. 13.
Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Louise,
went out.
Prince Christian went out deer-stalking.

LATEST INTELL EGENCE

(REUTER'S TELEGR.A.US.)

AMERICA.
(Per French Atlantic Cable.)

NEW YORT, Sept. 15.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
CLOSING PRICES.

Gold closed at 136 ; the highest quotation dur-
ing the day was 136 f ; the lowest, 135 f.
Sterling Exchange on London
5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1882 l22+.

1885 l2l
18G7 l2oi.
11
Illinois l3Bl.
Erie 4Ol.
Cotton--Mid. upland...
Petroleum —Standard White
Flour, extra state, $6.20e. to $6.80e. Corn, old
mixed, $1.14c.

10-40

PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday.

A San Francisco telegram states that a document
was found on the 30th of August last, on the coast
of California, at San Buenaventura, relating to Sir
John Franklin. The document had been evidently
cast into the water at lat. 70, long. 98. It says
that a party, numbering 105, under the command
of F. Crozier, deserted the ships Erebus and Terror,
and wintered at Beechy Island in the year 1846-7 ;
that Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June,
1847 ; and that the party succeeded in reaching
the above latitude, where the relics of Sir John
;Ross were discovered. Other incidents are told.

OVEREND, GURNEY, & CO.

At the Mansion House, on Wednesday, Mr. Richard B.
Barrow, of Sydnope Hall, Matlock, county of Derby, and
53, Hans-place, Sloane-street, London, appeared to answer
summonses taken out by Dr. Adam Thom and Mr.
Oswald Howell, charging him with writing,
printing, and publishing a false and defamatory
libel concerning them. The alleged libel was contained in
the following advertisement published in the papers of the
the 11th September :—" Overend, Gurney, and Co.
(Limited).—Notice is hereby given that Oswald
Howell, late partner in the firm of Messrs.
Walker, Redden, Mix, and Howell, of 39, King-street,
Cheapside, London, and now a bankrupt, was (by a resolu-
tion framed at a properly constituted meeting of the
committee of the Shareholders Association :for taking
common law proceedings against the directors, Mr. Worm
and Mr. O'Reilly, and which resolution was subsequently
duly confirmed) discharged any longer from such
committee, in consequence of his having with-
drawn 'from the Bank of England, in coujuction with
Adam Thom, several large sums of money, belonging to,
and without the consent of such committee ; that the
said Oswald Howell had no authority since his discharge
to issue circulars, or to do any other act by or on behalf of
the said commitee.—Signed, RICHARD B. BARROW, Chair.
man." Dr. Adam Thom appeared and conducted his own case;
Mr. Selby Campbell, barrister, appeared for Mr. Howell;
and Mr. Serjeant Parry and Mr. Montague Williams
were counsel for the defendant.

It was arranged to take Dr. Thom's case first. Dr.
Thom then made a brief opening statement, and said
the advertisement which was the subject of the libel was
a reply to a pamphlet issued by Mr. Howell respecting a
controversy between him (Dr. Thom) and Mr. Barrow.
He said he should chew the animus with which the
advertisement was published, and he declared the allega-
tions contained in it to be utterly false and malicious.
Dr. Thom then went into the witueas•boz, and having
been sworn, deposed that the statements in the &dyer
Clement were not tine.

In cross-examination by Serjeant Parry, Dr. Thom
said Mr. Barrow hold 200 shares in Overend, Gurney,
and Co. There was a committee of shareholders, of
which Mr. Barrow, Mr. Howell, Mr. O'Reilly, and witness
were members. Mr. Barrow and himself acted amicably
for some time. The committee was formed in conse-
quence of a circular issued by witness, and about £2,350
were raised by subscriptions of 3s. per share,
the object being to institute common law pro.
ceedings, but these proceedings were not taken.
He (witness) had not attempted to put any of these
monies into his pocket, but others had attempted to do so.
He (Dr. Thom) had not paid anything to the fund, but
he had given his time. Mr. Barrow had contributed 3s,
'per share on his 200 shares. Mr. Linklater, the attorney,
advised that the sum collected was not sufficient
to take common law proceedings. A cheque for
£2OO was paid to Mr. Linklater. He (Dr. Thom) had no
recollection of trying to get that money back. Out of
the £2,350 a sum of £5OO was paid to his (witness's)
attorneys, Messrs. Lewis and Lewis, on the crimi.
nal proceedings, for expenses in getting up the
evidence. Witness had no personal recollection
of the payment ; £2OO was also paid to Mr.
Howell's firm. He could not say that Mr. Barrow left
the room and said he would not sanction the payment of
the £5OO from the fund. He bad been told since that Mr.
Barrow expressed his dissent. Out of his own
pocket witness had not paid anything for the
criminal prosecution. He did not know per-
sonally that a sum of £221 was paid for the depositions
in'the case. An application was made for £5B for sta-
tionery connected with the case. Mr. Howell bad told
him that Mr. Barrow bad objected to that. The
money subscribed was placed in the Bank in
the names of Mr. Howell, Mr. O'Reilly, and
himself (Dr. Thom). ,Witness and Mr. Howell drew
out £9OO to pay the expenses of Mr. Oakes in a suit in
Chancery. This was on the 30th July. Mr. O'Reilly
refused to sign the cheque. lie had no authority
from the committee, as a committee, to draw the
cheque. Mr. O'Reilly did. not say it was
A misappropriation of the funds. Witness after.
wards received a letter, stating that' if the
g9OO was nut repaid into the bank legal proceedings
would be taken. 'The money waa repaid by Mr. Thomas
Clark, but not in consequence of the letter. Witness
rather opposed the repayment of the money, because he
wished Mr. Barrow to proceed legally and have the mat.
ter thoroughly investigated.

At this stage Serjeant Parrysaid he bad been instructed
to state that Mr. Barrow never intended for a moment
to impute personal fraud against Dr. Thom and
Mr. Howell, and he regretted any ambiguity of
language there might be in the advertisement. As to
Mr. Howell's being secretary, there was a meeting
at which a resolution was passed discharging him ; but it
might be said, on the one haul, that that meeting wa
informal, and, on the other hand, that it was formal. 1f
repeated that there was no charge to impute persoria:
misappropriation of the money, and it had been intimated
to him that after this statement there would be an end o!
the ease.

Mr. Campbell, on the part of Mr. Howell, then
withdrew his summons against Mr. Barrow, am!
said that these proceedings were taken by Mr. Howell for
the vindication of his character. He had been engaged
for three years and a half in investigating the affairs of
Overend, Gurney, and Co., and all that he had received
for Lis services timing that time was £204.
Dr. Thom also expressed his satisfaction at this
termination of the case, and the proceedings then
terminated, the Lord Mayor remarking that the
general impression left on the minds of all was
that, however injudicious might have been the one
act or the other, yet to none of these acts could the
words "improper motive" be applied.

The number of passengers from England to
.France during 1868 was as follow's:— Via Calais, 140,9'23
Boulougne, 109,325 ; Dieppe, 35,577 ; Havre, 19,207 ;
Dunkerque, 2,765; total, 307,798.

The Harvard. crew were entertained at a banquet
at the famous Delmonico's, in New York, on Tuesday
evening ; and the same day the Germans in the United
States celebrated the centenary of Humboldt's birth with
much enthusiasm.

Advices front Corsica state that agricultural
produce is recovering from a crisis of many years failure,
the current harvest being unquestionably better. • The
olive crop gives everywhere promise of success. On the
other hand, the culture of the silk-worm has beenattended
with disastrous results.

A New York correspondent, in order to bo
thoroughly accurate in describing the University boat
race, says :—" The boats started abreast of the
umpire's steamer. Blaikie gave the word ' Go' at exactly
five hours fourteen minutes forty-ono seconds and two-
fifths."

The vault of an American bank was lately
entered by burglars who were unable, however, to get
into the safe, u the lock withstood their efforts. This is
not much satisfaction to the managers of the bank, as the
thieves have reduced the lock to such a state that they
cannot open it themselves.

A quicksilver mine, which was discovered near
the town of Sarawak (Borneo) in 1867, promises to prove
one of the richest in the world. A trial shipment of
native ore has been found by analysis to contain 70 to SO
per cent. A very promising coal field has been discovered
in the Linga district, but no arrangement has yet been
made for working it.

A CABLE TRANSFER.—A Man who owes a bill in
London can now pay it in four hours by simply going to
Wall-street and purchasing a document known as a
" cable transfer," a device born of the great Atlantic tele-
graph enterprise, whereby the equivalent of the money
which he gives in New York will be immediately deli-
vered to his creditor in London.—American Paper.
THE CASE OF MANSLAUGHTER BY Boys.—An
adjourned inquest has been held at Carlisle upon the body
of the old man John Martin, who was killed in the streets
of that city on the 4th instant, by a blow from a stone
thrown by a little boy whom he was pursuing: Evi-
dence was given that the old man had been complaining
of some boys stealing articles from his stall in the streets,
and he was seen to seize one of them by the collar, but
the boy getting off, he ran after him down thastreet. This
lad was joined by two others, and the three pelted the old
man as he ran after them. Presently one of the boys
smiled Nutt picked up a stone and threw it at the de-
ceased, who almost immediately fell down dead. Medical
evidence went to 'hew that he had died from concussion
of the brain, and the jury returned a verdict of " Man-
s!aughter against two of the boys, John Hall and Kober'
Nutt."

A LIGHT YOH TUE--~ti'hynot 1 There
is nothing like utility, and we have to describe an inven-
tion of amazing value. It is a patent registered by a
wockby batter of the good old town of Yvetok
136 ranger has a famous poem in praise of the King
of Yvetot, and this ingenious hatter, if he should
succeed in his scheme will render. the town of his birth
if possible still more immortal. Thhanger may be said
to have crowned the King of Yvetot with a cotton
nightcap. The inventive batter has imagined for man•
kind a crown of fire. Ile has patented a hat in which a
lantern is to be fixed. The wearer of it will be saved
from the risk of being run over at night ; he will enjoy
the advantage of having a light to his footsteps ; and,
finally, he may save the public some expense in the light-
jug of streets. Our great thoroughfares traversed by
,crowds carrying the new hat will seem si if lit by glow.
worms and firedieseDoilm New:.