The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-28 00:00:00

THE SUTHERLAND GOLDFIELDS.

The Kildonan diggings are likely to assume a new phase,
permission having been granted to Mr. Gilchrist to sink
shafts on the level ground bordering the Helmsdale river.
Mr. Gilchrist purposes selecting the narrowest part of
the valley as the scene of operations, and intends sinking
on the north side of the river until the rock is reached, when
a drive or tunnel will be worked under the bed of the stream,
where a lode of gold is expected to be met with on the
rocky bottom. This mode of operating is based on the
idea that a stream of gold in a molten state must at some
remote period have flowed from the quartz ranges in the
neighbourhood, and that of necessity it must have found its
way along the surface of the rock to the low levels of the
bottom of the valley. Should this be the true theory, the
chances are that the search will be successful ; hut, if not,
failure will be the result, which will sound the death-knell
of the diggings. Shaft-sinking is attended with consider-
able expense, and we can only hope in the meantime that
the venture may be attended with success. Operations
will be commenced in the course of a few days, and we
understand some seven or eight miners will be engaged in
the work. Amateur and experienced diggers continue to
arrive at Kildonan, but not in such numbers as last
Month. To this date 240 licenses have been issued
for the month, and it is now feared the number for last
month will not be reached. We believe the majority
of the colonial diggers by hard work still manage to keep
up the average find of gold, but many of the less expe-
rienced hands don't snake much more than labourers'
wages. Many are getting very tired of the surface work-
ings now that no nuggets are being found, and the fine gold
only yielding average wages. All are hopeful that Mr. Gil-
christ's enterprise will turn out well, and should this be the
case, underground mining will become the leading feature
of the Kildonan diggings. The best order continues to pre-
vail at the diggings, and the duties of the police are quite a
sinecure. Most of the counties of Scotland have sent their
complement of diggers to Kildonan, and England has also
contributed her share ; but the sister isle does not appear
to have heard of the gold discovery yet. Highland and
Lowland men mix together in the greatest friendship, and
this agreeable state of matters is 'attributed in a great
degree to there being no intoxicating liquors sold at the
diggings.—Northern Ensign.

PROPOSED NEW PRISON FOR MIDDLESEX. -At

a meeting of the Middlesex magistrates, on Thursday, a
special report of the visiting justices was read, embodying
a presentment to the effect that Coldbath-fields Prison
being insufficient for the reception of all the male con-
victed prisoners of the county, it is necessary that a new
prison for the reception of male convicted prisoners should
be built, and they recommended that the necessary steps
be taken for the purpose. The report was agreed to,
and a committee was appointed to consider the causes of
the increase of crime in the county of Middlesex.
JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF CHANCERY
OVER FOREIGN G OVERNMENTS.—A really important point
was deeided by the Master of the Rolls on Thursday. In
the matter " Smith v. \V eguehn," which came before him,
a motion was made for an injunction to restrain the Peru-
vian Government from dealing with the bonds of the Peru-
vian Loan of 1862 in this country. The plaintiff laid down
the doctrine that the Court of Chancery had jurisdictionto
deal with a foreign Government in respect to loans or other
obligations it might contract in this country. Some cele-
brated cases were cited, including that of an action
against the King of Hanover, in which the court made
an order in favour of a claim against his Majesty. His
lordship said that it arose simply from the feeling that
he had a local status in this country, and therefore
was amenable to its legal jurisdiction. Had it been
endeavoured to enforce the claim against him withoutsuch
status it might have failed. By this motion Lord Romilly
declared the court was called upon to place itself in the
ridiculous position of making an order which it would be
impossible to enforce; and if the attempt were made to
enforce it, it might lead to an interruption of peaceful
relations between this country and a foreign Government.
He must dismiss the bill with costs.

METEORIC STONE SnowEns.—At the conclusion
of the thunderstorm at Wolverhampton on Tuesday,
several persons noticed a large number of small dark
stones lying upon the streets and roads, the drive
of the London and North-Western Railway Station,
Queen - street, Queen's - square, and Waterloo - road
being especially strewed with them. From the
peculiar character of the stones, bearing resemblance
to nothing with which the roads are paved, or any stones
found in the district, it was concluded that they were
meteoric stones, and must have fallen in a shower during
the heaviest and most alarming period of the storm.
A considerable number was gathered that night, and
more the next morning. Our correspondent has some in
his possession, and has shewed them to several gentlemen,
one of whom saw the last shower of meteoric stones
that fell at Birmingham in June last, and stated that
those that have fallen in Wolverhampton were precisely
of the same character. They appear, however, to have
been a little larger, for the record states that those

which fell in Firmingham were from one-eighth of an
inch to three eighths of an inch, and about half those
dimensions in thickness, while some of those picked up in
Wolverhampton were three-quarters of an inch in length
and five-eighths of an inch in thickness. A chemist in the
:,,wn, judging from mere surface examination, found that.
they resembled iron pyrites. The matter is exciting a
.very- general attention, and there are a great many
searchers gathering up the remains of this strange]
shower.