The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-19 00:00:00

Tin, SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19, 1869.

water being everywhere amply sufficient. Indeed
we learn from to-day's telegrams that upwards of
forty seagoing ships were in the harbour
on the 18th, the largest being a Russian
frigate, drawing 17 feet 2 inches of water. So far as
the experiment has yet been tried, therefore, the great
apprehensions felt on the score of insufficient depth
are not realised ; and Ni. DE LESSEPS may safely re-
joice that his theories have been put to the test of
practice, and borne that test. What man has done,
man may do ; and the undertaking which has even
temporarily succeeded shows what is possible for the
future. The first Atlantic Cable served but to
convey a fleeting message or two when its service
was interrupted, and so brief had been the
time during which it worked, that the cynics and
sceptics doubted if telegraphic communication had
ever passed at all under the depth of the broad
Atlantic. Nevertheless the electricians knew better.
Question and answer, salutation and greeting, had
once passed between the British QUEEN and the
American PRESIDENT, and that fact afforded abund-
ant proof that the time might come when transat-
lantic telegraphy would be as little thought of as
penny postage. In the same way, what-
ever reverses or disappointments may he
in store for the enterprising projector of the
narrow water line uniting the Mediterranean and
the Red Sea, the recollection of the first day's
triumph will serve to convince him and the world
that the Suez Canal is no longer the scheme of a
visionary, or the dream of an enthusiast.
But, in truth, M. DE LESSEPS needs no such con-
solations. He is thoroughly convinced of the prac-
ticability of his great undertaking, and the in-
domitable energy he has shown in carrying it
out in the face of difficulties and disap-
pointments, deserves the fame and success which
it has won. Princes and Nobles, Ministers
and Plenipotentiaries now throng the gay receptions
and hold high festival at Suez; while at their head
the modern Queen of Fashion lends the strange and
varied scene on the African sands the grace and the
spirituelle vivacity of Parisian salons. But this is the
end of the work, and M. DE LESSEPS, at least, can
remember days when the world looked very differently
upon him ; when Monarchs and Ministers turned
coldly away, when capitalists held back their
funds, and the press of the several countries
which are :now rivalling each other in doing homage
to his perseverance, cavilled, criticised, and con-
demned. Nevertheless he kept on his way un•
daunted by disappointment, uninfluenced by ridicule,
undisheartened by failure. He was resolved to win,
and he won. He had a great work to accom-
plish, and he knew it could be done, so
he put every other consideration on one
side, and lo ! the work is accomplished. M.
de LEssEPs has given us another illustration of the
truth of the old proverb by showing us that " where
there is a will there is also a way," even though it
be through the Egyptian sands from Port Said to
Suez.

The St. Pancras Workhouse Infirmary has sud-
denly acquired fame of a most unenviable kind, and
the public are alternately shocked and indignant as
they peruse the details of its horrors. It is true
that isolated cases of suffering and premature death,
arising from insufficient care, have occurred before
now in the Workhouses and Unions, but it seems as
if all these solitary and distinct evils were brought
together and united in the wretched affair before us.
On Wednesday, Dr. LANKESTER, Coroner for Cen-
tral Middlesex, empannelled a jury on the bodies of
eight deceased persons, six of whom had died in
either the St. Pancras Workhouse or Infirmary. These
cases were entirely distinct from those which were
opened last week, and stand adjourned. Prior to the
jury viewing the bodies the Coroner briefly addressed
them, and stated that he entertained an opinion that
inquests ought to be held upon every pauper dying
in a workhouse, as well as in prisons and lunatic
asylums, and recent events bad justified him in com-
ing to that conclusion. Well might Dr. LANKESTER
make these observations, for there is no doubt that
if his suggestions had been carried out at an earlier
period much that is now amiss would long ago have
been remedied. There is no surer way of redressing
an evil than by calling public attention to it, and
when those errors which follow from ignorance and
inattention are subjected to criticism and inves-
tigation, we have reason to hope that a change
for the better will ensue. Three inquests were
held on the occasion referred to, and the jury
expressed their opinion on each case in very strong
terms. It was, indeed, impossible that they should
do otherwise under the circumstances of the affair, but
it must be a satisfaction to those who are interested
in the sad events to know that a protest has gone
forth against the mismanagement which was the
primary cause of the fatal result. It would have been
quite out of character to expect that strong persons in
health could remain in such places as those described
in the evidence before the jury and not feel any
serious effects from the want of air and the impure
atmosphere which prevailed. How inconsistent, then,
to immure in the dreary locality those unfortunate
beings who were suffering from those diseases which
seemed especially to call for air, and freedom from
those ills which there abounded. had these unfor-
tunate persons died in their respective homes it would
have been sad to reflect upon their sufferings, but a
different feeling is experienced when we recollect that
their last days were spent in an establishment that
is supposed to be erected for the advantage of the
sick poor, and where it is an agreeable illusion to
imagine that they can receive those comforts which
grinding poverty cannot compass in their own abodes.
JANE HARvr.v was admitted to the Infirmary suffer-
ing from pleurisy and inflammation of the lungs.
She was placed in a small ward, about half the size
of a good-sized parlour. " The amount of atmo-
spheric space is by no means sufficient for the patients,
and there is in that ward always a foul atmosphere
and stench." It would be difficult to imagine a more
unsuitable spot in which to place a patient suffering
from the disease under which JANE HARVEY laboured.
Dr. Ews, the medical officer of St. Pancras Work-
house Infirmary, stated that he had made a post mortem
examination, and found that the cause of death was
from inflammation of the lungs and pleura, "no
doubt accelerated by the foul air, the steneb, and
want of ventilation." At this stage of the proceed-
ings Dr. ELLIS read a report which he had made to
the Board of Guardians. It was dated the 13th of
November, and in alluding to the foul air which pre-
vailed, he says that he referred to his weekly report-
book, and found that on the 18th of September be
reported the existence of had smells of a sewage-like
nature in 2t ward, but no steps were taken to remedy
the evil until that week. Thus we see that a period
of nearly two months had elapsed, during which time
the unfortunate inmates of the affected ward must
have been enduring a martyrdom. In February of
this year erysipelas prevailed, and this was believed
to be owing to the crowded state of the wards. There
was certainly no excuse for the indifference that was
shown in the matter, and it seems almost unaccount-
able that no decisive steps were taken to remedy
the evils, when we learn from the Report that in-
quests were held on fever cas, s, and the jury returned
verdicts that death was accelerated by the bad state
of the atmosphere of the wards. Li answer to the
jury, Dr. Ews said that nothing had been done
until last week to remedy the state of the ward. A
patient in 25 ward said that JANE HARVEY com-
plained very much of the smell and closeness of the
ward on the night she came in, Mr. ROBERTSON,
the medical superintendent of the Sussex County
Hospital, said he was well acquainted with wards

of hospitals and public institutions. He visited St.
Pancras Workhouse last Sunday, and found the whole
of the wards frightfully overcrowded, with a most
unpleasant smell, in spite of the large amount of
window and door opening which existed, a proceed-
ing which he considered most improper at this season
of the year on account of the draughts. He added
that he should think it impossible to obtain medical
success with patients in such wards. " Indeed, he
looked upon it as absolutely consigning people to
their graves thus to crowd them together. Should
say that any attempt to improve such a place could
neither be beneficial to the ratepayers nor to the sick
poor." The jury returned a verdict to the effect that
JANE HARVEY died from inflammation of the lungs,
accelerated by the want of sufficient sanatory pre-
cautions; and appended the request that the Coroner
should communicate with the Poor-law Board on the
subject of the antagonistic feeling that existed be-
tween the Board of Guardians and their medical
officers, and their repeated inattention to their re-
ports. The second inquest was on Jo lIN WATTS,
who was found dead in bed on the morning of the
Bth inst. He died from congestive apoplexy, acce-
lerated by the impure air of the ward in which he
was placed. The third case was that of an infant,
seven months old, who was reported to have been in
good health till the 6th inst., when the drains were
opened. This made several of the children ill, and
caused the deceased's death. These three cases speak
volumes as to the want of care which prevails in St.
Pancras Workhouse Infirmary ; the young, the old,
the middle-aged all follow in the same dreary track
and meet the same sad end. It is not too much to say
that such a state of things is a disgrace to our social
condition and a scandal to the richest city in the world.
Far better would it be to have no Infirmaries at
all than those which are fashioned after this style, and
conducted on these principles. There is some com-
pensation for every evil, and the consoling thought
in this gloomy story is that these unfortunate per-
sons have not died in vain ; they have, so to speak,
put the limits to the enduranc3 of workhouse in-
mates, and from this time a new state of things must
arise. The Poor-Law Board must be aroused to a
sense of the emergency that is before it, and if the
powers that are intrusted to it are not sufficient to
remedy the evil, let it apply to Parliament for
assistance. It has been lamented for some time past
that the attention of the Legislature has been so much
diverted from the consideration of social questions,
and here is a case in point. The whole conduct and
management of workhouses must undergo a thorough
revision, and the sooner and more effectually it can
be done the better. Of course, there will be a mul-
titude of different opinions, and a whole array of
indignant time-servers and lovers of precedent. The
public have no concern with the one or the other,
no interest in the preservation of old routine, no de-
sire for the propagation of novel methods, but they
have the righttodemand that a change shall be made.
There is no want of proof as to the existence of the
evil, and the claims of the poor and suffering, the re-
proach of the sick and dying, the fast-filling graves of
infirmary patients, alike urge upon us the one thing
needful—to set ourselves to the ta,k that is before
us, and to effect a wholesale Reform in a spirit that
will not fail, and that stops short at nothing but
success.

TIIE FUNEI?AL OF VISCOUNT CANIER-
BUItY.—(7his Day.)

This morning the mortal remains of this noble-
man were removed from his town residence, No. 13,
Chesterfield-street, May Fair, to the catacombs of
Brompton Cemetery. The funeral arrangements
were carried out by Messrs. T. and W. Banting, of
St. James's-street, as precisely as possible accord-
ing to the wish of the late viscount. The coffin
was covered with rich silk crimson Genoa velvet,
silver gilt handles, nails, and inscription plate,
beatiug the following :—" Manners Sutton, 2d
Viscount Canterbury, born 17 April, 1812, aka
13 Nov., 1869.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INIELLIGENCE.

The troopship Orontes, Captain Phelps, from
Port: mouth, arrived in Plymouth Sound at 10
o'clock on Wednesday night, with the 23d (Welsh
Fusiliers), who were landed yesterday morning at
Devonport, where the ship will be docked.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have
directed the sale of another batch of war vessels,
lying at Portsmouth, Sheerness, and Devonport.
The list includes her Majesty's screw frigate Eme-
rald, 2,913 tons, built at Deptford in 1856 ; the
screw sloop Miranda, 1,039 tons, built at Sheerness
in 1851
; theti 5 w
thesloopWasp, 974 tons, built at
Deptford screw sloop Sharpshooter,
503 tons, built at Blackwall in 1846 ; the screw
IsBcroe ;
sloop Niger, 1,002 tons, built at Woolwich in 1846 ;
the paddlewheel steam vessel 'Thais, 302 tons, built
at Messrs. Laird's yard, Birkenhead, in 1856 ; and
the hulls of the steamers Coronation and Plym.
The sale, which will be the third of war vessels since
the recess, will be held at Lloyd's Captains' room,
Royal Exchange, in the early part of the ensuing
month. The Wasp and Sharpshooter are now lying
at Portsmouth, the Emerald, Miranda, and Niger
at Sheerness, and the Thais, Coronation, and Plym
at Awonport.

Since the announcement made by the Govern-
ment of the determination to dispose of the free-
hold of Woolwich Dockyard, the representatives of
several wealthy firms have visited the yard for the
purpose of ascertainir.g its capabilities for engineer-
ing and other purposes. It is stated that the yard
will be disposed of early in the spring, and the
amount of its sale (estimated at from three-quarters
of a million to a million sterling) be carried to the
credit of the Navy Estimates of 1870-1.
Yesterday an officer of Royal Marines, Lieut.
George Frederick Henry Rule, was put on his trial
before a general court-martial in the officers' mess-
room at the Marine Barracks, at Chatham. The
charge against Lieutenant Rule was that of having
fraudulently appropriated to his own use the sum of
£75, which had been entrusted to him on the 21st
of July by Private Francis Rousell, 43d Company
of Marines, to be deposited in the post-office
savings-bank until the vessel on board which
they were serving—the Octavia, 35, screw
frigate, Captain J. H. L. Alexander, C.B.
—was paid off, the accused having been in
command of the detachment of Marines on board
that ship. The prisoner pleaded "Not Guilty."
At the commencement of the proceedings the Pre-
sident put the usual prohibition on the publica-
tion of the evidence until the trial was concluded.
Private Francis Russell gave evidence, and was
then cross-examined by the prisoner. Captain
Morris, R.M.,
commanding the company to which
Roussel belonged, also gave evidence. At four
o'clock in the Afternoon the trial was adjourned
until to-day.

A BALLOON VIEW OF THE FOG.

On Wednesday afternoon, when London and_the suburbs
were :enveloped in a dense fog, Mr. Coxwell made a
balloon ascent from the Hornscy Gas Works. The
ascent took place at 2.40, when the atmosphere was clear.
Soon after three o'clock the fog extended exactly in
the direction the balloon was travelling, and presented
a strongly-defined line of vapour stretching for miles
in an easterly direction. The formation of this
fog, as witnessed by Mr. Coxwell from his balloon car,
was, we hear one of the most interesting occurrences in
the adventurous life of the experienced aeronaut, and
will no doubt be fully described. Over the Forest, near
Woodford, Mr. Coxwell and his companion were unable to
see the earth at the height of only fifty feet, and it was
only by the aid of a rope trailing on the ground that a
level course could be regulated so as to select an open
spot on which to alight. Whilst holding conver-
sation with some men who were following the balloon,
and could only hear the rustling of a rope among
the bushes and trees, the nronauts were supposed to be
poachers. Keerors, who were in close pursuit, rushed
upon the strangers when Mr. Coxwell cast his grapnel in
a hedge, and great was their surprise when they discovered
what kind of net and cordage it was trailing over the
park. So dense was the fog that the balloon could not be
seen, and the voyagers were supposed to be running along
the ground, although Mr. Coxwell proclaimed his balloon,
but this was thought to be a ruse to draw off the keepers'
attention. Notwithstanding the difficult position Mr.
Coxwell was placed in as to landing, still a safe descent
was made near Woodford at 5.30.