The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-30 00:00:00

THE WESTMINSTER BELL.—At a recent meeting

of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. S. A. Varley ex
hibited a cracked bell, the metallic contiguity of which had
been restored by soldering the crack with tin, so that the
bell rang as perfectly as before it was injured. It was ex-
plained that tin had the property, when heated above its
melting point, to nearly a red-heat, of rapidly dissolving
copper. If, therefore, the cracked bell, after being soldered,
was kept at a dull red heat, or nearly so, for a little time, it
was suggested that the crack would become filled up with an
alloy of tin and copper, of nearly the same kind of compo-
sition as the bell itself, and in absolute metallic union with
it, and quite as sonorous as the other portions of the bell.—
Journal of the Society of Arts.
ANOTHER MORTAItA CASE.—There is quite a sen-
sation existing at the present time in Dublin in consequence
of the kidnapping of seven Protestant children named Sher-
wood, by some persons named O'Connor, connected with a
Roman Catholic Dormitory Institution in that city. The
mother and her friends have placed the matter before the
magistrates, but as yet the children have not been given up.
An attachment has also been issued against a Miss Aylward,
the matroness of another religious establishment in Dublin,
for an insufficient answer made to a writ of habeas corpus
to deliver up the body of a child named Mary Mathews.
The latter child was taken from its nurse in June last. The
lady attended the Court on Friday last, but said she would
not give up the child, and was prepared to abide the conse-
quences. Miss Aylward had entered into sureties to attend
when the interrogatories are to be administered.
SUPPOSED FATAL Loss OF FOUR SHIPS, WITH
ALL HANDS.—Among the many casualties that have been
reported durin the last two or three days at Lloyd's were
four ships missing, and there appeal s, we regret to say, very
little doubt but they have foundered, and all hands belong-
ing to them lost. The facts are briefly told. The barque
Isabella Kerr, Captain Hugh Murray master, left Demerara
for Liverpool on the 23d of last December, and nothing has
since been heard of her. The underwriters have paid the
insurance effected on the_ship and cargo, having no doubt in
their minds that she is gone. She was 413 tons register, and
classed A 1 for nine years. Her crew numbered 13 hands,
most of whom belonged to the north of England. The se-
cond ship was the Lord Delaval, of North Shields. She
sailed from Constantinople for Glasgow on the 10th of last
November, and nothing has been heard of her since. She
was commanded by Captain John Hedley, whose family are
residents of London. The crew numbered 10 in all. The
third case is that of the Whim, Captain Johnston, which
sailed for Dublin on the 9th of March with a cargo of 2,460
cases of brandy ; and the fourth missing ship is the Robert
Kelly, a liner, trading between Liverpool and New York,
neither of which has been heard of since they sailed.
FRENCH. NAVY Lis r.—Let any one with ordinary
reasoning faculties glance over the French navy list, re-
marking particularly the recent dates of the construction of
most of them, no less than theh4 formidable dimensions and
armaments--keeping in view, meanwhile, the mere require-
ments of the country, the limited extent of her colonies and
of her commerce—and then ask himself for what purpose
such a gigantic marine has been called into being. The
millionstt
iho e
nmaintenancesc teneed
s be
ef
the
revenue of Franco is not so vast that millions upon
votedo many 0 s
vwo
th ei
.stißli;yh toys ri ready
oandi: alacrity either for
Busk.
OFFICIAL of d estruc-
OFFICIAL PREJUDICE.—So it is, and so it has ever
been, "not once or twice" only, in our old " island story."
The highest interests of the country have been sacrificed
over and over again to the prejudice, fatuity, or imbecility
of those in whom the public confidence has been so lament-
ably misplaced. So far from any injury having accrued from
external interference, it has happened in numerous instances
that the introduction of great improvements has been sug-
gested by civilians, and, however unquestionable the merit
of the proposal, its rejection has been over and again occa-
sioned by official indolence, ignorance, or petty professional
jealousy."—lbid,