The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-20 00:00:00

iNTL'RESTING OPERATiOIVA

One of the large plates which Sir John Brown And Cc.'
of Sheffield, have made it their special business to I:
duce was manufactured only a day or two back At
4:
famous Sheffield mifnufactory. Under any system "3,
ever lines of joints between the armour-plates are
tedly lines of weakness, and it was in view of this teir
known fact that the late Iron-plate Committee, i° .
examination of practical men, appeared to keep s° Prc°, of
neat the important point of whether the entire At'iro
the shield or casemate could be constructed of °ye 'nu;
Plate ;in fact, with an unbroken front. The oninell,t;e'el
who replied hesitated on this subject, and es.eil
principal practical men of this great Sheffield firinge
an absolute denial to the practicability of produclo
perfect plate 12 feet by 8 feet in superficial area and slO
five or six inches in thickness. The fact is now more "to
accomplished. The immense slab was produced t t
wise. From eight o'clock on Thursday evening 'lntl Ptincg
noon on the following day the huge pile of iron, Ori7 Del
of five slabs superposed, each 7 feet by 6 feet and3i'llol
thick, or a mass of GO cubic feet, weighing 14 tensf
gradually heating during the 16 hours to welding Vi/33ca
the glowing furnace. At 25 minutes past 12 the fu do
door was opened, and the faint outlines of the pile °°lPas
indistinctly seen through the white rolling flames; thet°
were fixed on,and the rolling mill began winding at the Ile.;(1
chain to pull the glowing mass on to the trolly; I‘;.cirarlia
of workmen stood by, and the pile, dripping wit'iets.
steams of moltenmetal, was quicklyunder the huge r(4-0
Then came.the dull rumble of the mill, and the gloviO4
pile was seized in the iron jaws and passed raPidll,ol
easily through. Then followed the clatter of the re'"of,
of the mill, and again the rollers grip the yel-I°W, .41%47
and bring it back to view. Busy hands broom aneoo
its surface, clean off scales ; and backwards and for, ,„
it passes some four times, until a length equal b",}lo
future width is attained. The traveller overhead Po'
brings up the crane, the dogs are attached, and the illthe
lifted and swung half round. Now, again, througho
mill the glowing mass of iron passes and repasse°' "ttli
now and then a conflagration of brooms, and ft 1:001
watering, to assist the scaling, and now and then 4),
manoeuvring of the place to secure its proper
Little
by
little
the
at ten minutes ' 'nd the thi°s
diminishes, until to one d-,1
exactly twenty-five minutes from the cornmeece,4ol!
of the operation, the orange-coloured plate is rer-or
finished, whole and perfect, upon the trolly on Oleo
side of the rolls, slowly to cool and straighten, hem,();
it is thrown on the floor and weighted for final e°°:.;
The size of the shield-plate rolled in its finished o°"rille
16 feet long, 8 feet 6 inches wide, and 5 inches thick' e;
result of Friday speaks highly of the continued sd°terf
English establishments so constantly make to meet e„.o6'
coming requirement. A year ago a plate of such suro!
cial dimensions was deemed and asserted to be itiloe
ticable. The wish of an important public body is i°3ll- $ll
and quickly is realised. To-day in Sheffield ego
prepared not only to make plates of the size desoll of
12 feet by 8 feet ; but to go beyond, and make Plitte°
8 feet wide by 20 feet in length.

ELECTION PETITIONS.

The Daily News thus sums up the election petiti°llo4l,
the week :—" No member of either party has been aIseATIO
The resalts on the Liberal side have been as followe:
petitions against the return of Mr. Loch for the
Burghs, Messrs. Price and Monk for Gloucester Citi'veo
Lord G. H. Cavendish for North Derbyshire, 115'reogie
withdrawn, while at Greenock Mr. Grieve, and rtxl
worth Sir It. Peel and Sir 11. Bulwer have been deciAcor
duly elected. Of the petitions presented against the at
servative members, the case against Mr. Jaekss„l)lP
Hartlepool, was withdrawn ; while at Staleybridg've:s
Sidebotham, and in Westminster Mr. Smith, have re'
declared duly elected. Up to this time 49 petitions' ,
rented against 31 Liberals and 18 Conservatives, hitireotk
disposed of. Only three Liberals have lost their s
against four Conservatives.

ted• Ifl

The defence at Coventry is still being condgcL , oos
some cases it is a matter of credibility of witnesses,
side positively stating that money was paid for ce-600
illegal purposes, the other denying the alleged transtoll
in toto. Mr. Seymour, solicitor, and the sole profes;"
agent of the sitting members, declared that he did n'ttlo
tion nor had he any knowledge of corrupt practices ; ti' 003
gave special instructions that they should be avoideu',,tero
that it was a special direction that the Leicester /1/clot
should not be paid anything either in money or in kit
for conveyance. He did not authorise the parnecapel
expenses to the two London out-voters by a man 11:00
Moore. Witness explained that the fact of certainl
in election expenses being unvouched was owing to e°
illness of the person who was acting as the clerk

agent for election expenses.
In Ireland three petitions are being held. At
Mr. Heron for the petitioner, charged Mr. I' e°'
with profligate expenditure, bribery, and treat"' 0.4
alleged that the election cost £7,000, of which £4,suv'oiiillegal s
expenditure. Mr. Weguelin's bill at the Dev°l)
Arms Hotel was 21,200, and he had sixteen public-10
besides. Large sums were paid to voters f°ttets
hire of rooms and on other pretexts. Sixteen c'id
pledged to vote for Mr. M'Kenna, and six who Prclijj4
not to vote were brought over by corrupt lliesiie
The petition against the return of Major Knox f°r
borough is being heard before Justice Keogh, at Cl'fbeell
on-Shannon. Evidence was given of voters havi4iroter,
paid to leave Sligo during the election. Mr. Shiel, as a
proved he was paid to go to Dublin, where he lived tyl,
an alleged employe of Major Knox. It was pr3veclordet
the Mayor of Sligo paid the debt of a prisoner 113 f tIO
to release him to vote for Major Knox. The °f
Cashel petition has not concluded.

LAW AND POLICE.

04
A CITY CASE.--In the Court of Common 13,1°tce
Friday, a case was heard before the Lord Chid .16"
between the Lord Mayor and Corporation vt,
the one hand, and Mr. Cowdery, a 9
on the other. The action was brought on moil
for £l,OOO, given by Mr. Cowdery on his atir:tior*
as broker to secure his obedience to the City regaii7 on
These, it was alleged, he had infringed, and averw-tier
a technical breach was agreed to, which involved 13°' 04,
tion of impropriety. The verdict was accordinglY e-tete'
for £l,OOO, with nominal damages for is. The ease cresi
great excitement among the City brokers.
A BENEFIT SOCIETY CASE.—At Westminster, Stet)/
Hibbert, the secretary of a branch of the Nationeirl
ciation of Operative Plasterers, was sunn°lle-paa'
neglecting to pay £lO on the death of a member. A 140
named White, paid up his arrears on the 016
of last November, and died four days nfter.(loo4'
when his parents claimed the mone and were re'eca°
'lfo,
The defendant and Mr. Williams, seyCretary of the e
abr.-
tive departMent of the association at Birlm aet
both explained that the claim was bad, as °flys?",
the rules six weeks must elapse after the oal
meat of arrears before the friends of a member aSeJ
participate e
in the benefits of the soci t If the dee' ye
had lived the required six weeks, the claimy could lic)tlieligs4
been disputed. Mr. Selfe held that there was rl°
claim, but a strong moral one. The society's credit' 01
be
promoted by liberality, and the claim ought to be lo
°lt'
with a regard to honesty and fair dealing. ; to
WilliamsV refused to accept the magistrate's sugge!t^rtli
allow the dispute to be settled by a disinterested P-to
but said he would endeavour to get a few pounds for
complainant.

CITY OF LONDON ELECTION.-011 Frid3Y„l;
official communication was received by the retur'-tho
eoffiecoer, from the City Conservative Association; t'°
t that, so far as they were concerned, no Part :Bois
effect
be taken in the election on Monday, and no (Ws'
raised.
A dO3i
PRESCRIBING IN CHEAP PERIODICALS.
gerous practice prevails of publishing in some of the cl3eo
papers various receipts for the cure of minor 01704
l'he writer is often deficient in all real knowledge enif,„ fol'
cine, and is assisted by the errors of the printer. no
lowing prescription for instance :—" Syr. of POPtir °Ol
ounce and a half ; syr. of squills, half-an-ounce ; - 131 s
of digitalis, thirty drops ; a teaspoonful to be givellhabi
child frequently." We can quite imagine a fractious
ch
being dosed into the effectual quietness of death by stl
a mixture.— The Lancet.
ili
jail/
AN AMERICAN DAIRY.--The second largest
in America is located about four miles from St' :ci°clec/
There are 800 cows in the stable. They are all at'e-ore,
by Swiss cow-milkers. The chief food used is grc'und c,rl:°
mixed with malt and oil-meal, cooked by steani. 400
average amount of material consumed per daY,l~eldof
bushels of malt, 6,000 pounds of cut hay, GO viet
cornmeal, 15 sacks of bran and oil-meal. The se7 01•
pasturage embraces an area of over 1,000 acres of .:sOO
The average daily yield of milk at the present time I
gallons, with 80 gallons of cream.
rs°.:
REPORTED CURE OF CATARACT WITHOUT 0.7
TION.—Dr. Tavignor has communicated to the Aea
of Medicine a method by which cataract nlaY bete a°
without an operation. It consists in applYil4
era-toes
diseased eye a phosphuretted collyrium, which eP.,,vioe
gradually restoring the transparency of the ells' th°
lens, from the circumference to the centre, whichi 5 16ifee
last to yield. The formula is as follows :—Oil o"
almonds, 30 gms. ; phosphorus, 10 centigrs. ; diill sg°lve-"oeh
bath at 80 deg. Centigrade, 'in a closed and /)41
Three or four times a day 4 gms. of this solution 8110° 00
instilled between the eyelids of the diseased °SA!'
liming to .do AO for fitteralmonthserGaiionani-