The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-03 00:00:00

STEAM POSTAL COMMUNICATION
WITH AUSTRALIA.

powners. as announced
In addition to the renewal of the clipper contract for
Labouchere,
ionn
tehyeepa roswt-iot
fah
ctleten Lo :iv:err)
foosl
it is understood, is about actively to inaugurate his ashtui rday, Mr.
pre-
sidency of the colonial department by at last causing the
issue of a definitive and bona fide advertisement for ten-
ders for direct steam postal communication with A.us-
tralia, the want of which has so long been a source of
well-founded exasperation in the colonies and of reproach
to the home Government. The advertisement for these
tenders may be expected every day. The only London
companies that can really compete for this important
service are two. First, the Royal West India Mail,
whosea
llwhence,nowboats in t a with
connection
cheal the h
t distance,
ePanama
namely to Aspin-
wall, Railway,
they carry on a constantly increasing commerce with
the whole of the west coast of South America, and
incidentally also with Australia, with which there is
considerable intercourse by way of Valparaiso, Callao,
Coquimbo, Guayaquil, and other Chilian and Peruvian
ports, as well as San Francisco. Secondly, the Penin-
sular and Oriental, whose boats also run a great part of
the way, but nearly in a precisely opposite direction.
Both t'tese associations have immense resources, and no
company of inferior magnitude, or in possession of less
ma in the shape of mu-
advantages as to occupation of portion of the route, oan
virtually dispute the ground with them. If they are wise
they will not dispute it with each other, There is plenty
tout
arloionmj
nfroiorubsortihv,alwryi t. hTohuits anything
thein cause whythere
has been no steam service with Australia for se long a
time back, and why, when it was attempted, the service
was so inadequately performed, with such trumpery
boats, and under such wretched management, that the
system broke down, and recourse was again bad,
per force, to clippers, greatly to the disgust of the colo-
nists, who were and are most willing and anxious
to pay liberally for what they have every right to
expect from the advanced state of steam navigation in
this country.
If Mr. Labouchere will act in a manner worthy of his
commercial antecedents, and with a full sense of the re-
sponsibility now placed upon him in this respect, he
may, by means of these companies alone, secure a re-
gular fortnightly despatch and receipt of Australian let-
ters, irrespective of the advantages offered by the Liver-
pool Steam Line of Messrs. Gibbs and Bright, owners of
the Great Britain and the Royal Charter. We under-
stand that a Liverpool firm have purchased the charter
of the lately dissolved Direct Australian Steam Naviga-
tion Company, of London, who, had they got theli ca-
pital, intended yenning their vessels to Aspinwall, in
connection with the Panama Railway, the direct route ;
but failing to obtain funds, and the patience of the share-
holders being exhausted by the incertitude attaching to
the proceedings of the Government, the undertaking has
merely gone to swell the wreck of Australian steam en-
terprise. To what purpose the Liverpool firm mean to
thin the charter they have purchased we are unable to
say ; but, for the present, at all events, they are not,
nor for a long time can they be, in a condition to tender
for the contract now about to be opened.

We have explained, on a former occasion, that the
public can alone be efficiently served, let, by allowing
the Peninsular and Oriental to take mails, every alter-
nate fortnight, by their long
.proposed route, originally
advocated by Waghorn via Singapore and Sydney,
which not only would not disturb, but Would greatly
enhance, existing Anglo.lndian-Austral interest, ; and,
201 y, by allowing the West India Company to take the
mails overy fortnight via Panama, a route not only much
the shortest and speediest, but the only one which would
afford direct communication with New Zoalaad, it being
one of the features of this plan to have a blanch steamer at
Auckland, to proceed immediately toMelbourne orSydnay,
as the case might he, on the arrival of the steamer from
Panama, ot route for Sydney or Melbourne. The public,
at all events, are in a far better condition than they
were since the question was last bandied about from
the Admiralty to the Treasury, and from the Treasury
to the Colonial-office ; and when no one functionary
amongst them had the least idea of the nature of the
transit across the isthmus. Even the late Sir W. Moles-
worth, who was supposed to have made all colonial, and
especially all Australian, matters a peculiar study, be-
came aware only a short time, before his death, that the
,
railway was much more than projected," as he seemed
to think. Were he alive new, h e would, doubtless, esti-
mate the full significance to which it might be converted
by us in our relations with Central America, and the
purpose to which it is being converted by the United
State&
The Pacific Mail Steam-ship Company have just
made arrangements with the Government of the United
States to convey 850 troops to San Francisco, for
which purpose a steamer left New York on the 11th
for Old Point Comfort, where the men were taken on
board the following day. They were to be conveyed
to Aspinwall, and thence over the Isthmus of Panama,
the railway company receiving 20,000 dollars for
this portion of the service. This is the first time
the railway has been used for military purposes
it ,
and the rapidity with which enables the American
Government to land troop' on any part of the west coast,
contrasted with the long and tedious passage round the
Horn, renders it as important in apolitical as in a
commercial point of view. In the latter respect, the
progress of the company appears to be retarded only
by the difficulty experienced at present in sending ship.
meets to their destination in the Pacific. Several pro-
jects are now in contemplation to remedy this difficulty.
One of them is immediately to be entered upon. A
screw steamer, of about 400 tons, capacity for merchandise,
now lying in the Bay of Panama, has been taken up for
the coasting trade, and will on her first trip northward
on the 4th of January, touch at the ports between
Panama and Nicaragua. An agent will go in her for
purpose of disseminatinginformation among the mer-
chants and others along the coast. On the return voyage
she will touch et the game
ports again, and will pro-
bably convey to Panama a full cargo of the produce of
the country. She will make a !ecend trip up the
coast, and, if the enterprise meets with encouragement,
she will he kept in that trade. A project is also in
non.
templetion to run a steamer on the south-west coast, in
connection with the railway ;. and these additional
freighting facilities in the Pacific will, it is expected,
lead to an enormous increase in the business of the line.
The passenger tragic continues satisfactory, every
steamer running between New York and Aspinwall be•
ing crowded ; but a temporary falling off may be ex-
pected in this branch of revenue, as a consequence of the
recent reduction of fares by the Nicaragua, route, which,
however, will be closely followed by the mail line via
Panama. The Nicaragua Company has been receiving
300,000 dole, per annum from the other, on the sole con-
dition that the fares by both should be the same, and
such subsidy gave them 25 per cent. on the value of their
stock ; but this arrangement they have now terminated,
in the hope, it would seem, of increasing their share of
the traffic, nine-tenths of which has hitherto been en-
joyed by the mail train, owing to the greater celerity
and safety afforded by the railway portion of the Panama
route.--Liverpool Albion.

TUE LATE DUKE DE SoTolinYoß.—The demise, under
painful Circumstances, of the Due de Sotomayor, revives
in our mind some recollections of English history. It
appears that he had long been suffering from an attack
of gout, and his end was unfortunately the result of
suicide. The Due de Sctomayfn was the individual
who, as Foreign Minister of Spai sent away our Am-
bassador at twenty-four hours
.notice. The Due de
Sotomayor was the intimate friend of Narvaez, ex-Prime
Minister of Spain. lie was for many years Ambassador
in London and Paris, and was a man of great diploma-
tic knowledge. We have certainly bad transactions
with some Spanish Ministers of celebrity—Narvaez,
Sotomayor, and Isturitz, the author of the Spanish
Marriage, one of the great abortions of Louis Philippe.

The following ships and vessels have been added to
the fleet (or are in course of building for that purpose)
since the first of January, 1855 :
STEAM LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIPS.
Gun?. Horse
power. Guns,
Donegal lOl 800 Victor Emmanuel.... 90
.STEAM FRIGATES AND CORVETTES.
Guns. Horse Guns.
power.
Bacchante
A riadne 3l 300 Pcaorus
Diadem 3O 80Q1
STEAM iIIJN-VESSELS.
Guns, horse I
power.
200
350
350
350
160
160
2(10
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
60
60
60
60
GO
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60

Lapwing , 6
Nimrod . 6
Roebuok., ...... 6
ViQtor .......... 6
Weser ....6
Recruit,,,,. 6
Alacrity ...... 4
A ssurance .1 4
Cormorant 4
Coromandel 4
Osprey 4
Renard
niugalove
p.arrowltwk- 4
Surprise
Vigilant..... 4
Wanderer
Albacone 2
Amelia
Azov
Banterer
Beacon
Beaver
Blazer
13ouneer 2
Brave ........ 2
Brazen . 2
Buffalo ......... 2
.
Bullfinch
Bullfrog 2
Bustard 2
Camel 2 60 I
Carnation 2 60 Spey
Caroline
Cabin 2
Codohaffer 2
Confounder . 2
Crocus .
Delight 2
Dove 2
Earnest
Erne
Escort
Fervent 2
F1y........, 2
Foam 2
Forrester
Forward
Goldfinch
Griper . 2
Growler 2
Hasty 2
Haughty . 2
Havoc
Herring 2
Highlander.,... 2
Hyaena
Insolent 2
Julia
Kertch
Leveret 2
Lively 2
Louisa
Mackerel
The Abundance, screw a,
The Bruiser, iron screw al
The Bustler, paddle-whee
power.
The Chaaseur, screw steam smithy.
The Gulnare, surveying tender.
The Hearty, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel, 100-horse
power.
The Helen Faucit, paddle-wheel steam-vessel.
The }Jasper, screw steam store-ship, 120-horse power.
The Indian, surveying vessel.
The Landrail, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel.
The Mullet, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel.
The Nimble, paddle-wheel steam tag-vessel.
The Pera, iron screw steam lighter.
The Redpole, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel.
The Steady, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel.
The Sultana, paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel.
The Wallace, iron paddle-wheel steam tug-vessel, 100-
horse power.

GO
GO
GO
GO

Prompt
rrorojorrampe
jorpsio. :see ..
22:
Quail 2
Rainbow . 2
Raven 2
Redbreuat 2
Ripple . 2
Rocket
now 2
Sandfly • ':•••••• 2
Savage ... . . ..„ .2
Seagull
Sepoy 2
Shamrock 2
Sh ldrake
Skipjack •
Spanker
Spey
Spider 2

Staunch
Surly
Swan
Thrasher

Tickler
Tilbury
Violet
Wave
Whiting
Wolf
Angler
Ant ......

Blossom :

Cheerful
Chub ....
Daisy ...
Decoy....
Dwarf ..
Fidget ~

Gadfly ..
Garland .

Gnat
Midge,
g

Nettle
Onyx
Pert

Pet
Rambler
Tiny

:am-vessel (flour-mill).

GO
GO
60
60

eam-vessel (flour mill).
1 steam tug-vessel, 100-horse

The Wye, screw steam tank-vessel, 100-horse power.
The above are only such as have been put upon the
Nary List during the past year ; but we believe there
are as many more in hand and about to be added during
the present. The list here given displays a few novelties
—32-gun frigates with the power of 131-gun three-
deckers ! Surely there must be an awful waste of power
in such an apportionment.

All gun-I;eits from the Ist of January instant are to
be independent commands and commissioned as such,
not as tenders to other ships, as laet year ; each will
have a crew of 86 men and officers. This will create
much more emulation than the old system, and more
desire to do valuable service. All ships having more
than four lieutenants are to be reduced one, as there
is a deficiency of actual officers of that grade. All
50-gun frigates are to have commanders added to their
staff.

Vice-Admiral of the Red Sir G. Seymour, 1C.C.8.,
G.C.H., commenced his duties as Commander-in-Chief
at Portsmouth yesterday. He went on board his flag-
ship, the V ictory, and was received with the usual
honours by Captain Gordon and officers ; he afterwards
embarked on the steam-tender Fire Queen, and steamed
round the fleet at Spithead, whence he steamed into
harbsur and made a similar cursory inspection.
The steam-transport Indiana, No. 147, embarked at
Portsmouth dockyard on Tuesday a large quantity of
stores for various draughts of regiments which she was
embarking yesterday, and will complete to-day, for ser-
vice in the East.

After the 31st of December last all naval officers' pay-
bills are ordered to be drawn "seven days after sight,"
instead of " three days," as heretofore—a change which
will be both an inconvenience and a loss to the officer, as
the merchants charge discount now, which we are in-
formed they did not do before.
The officers of the Pearl, Devastation, and Intrepid,
lying in Woolwich basin, have joined in large numbers,
but, in consequence of the increased demand to man the
numerous gun-boats and other vessels now fitting out
there, a great difficulty is experienced in raising the
necessary crews. The gun-boat service is progressing
rapidly, all the labourers in that department being em-
ployed extra hours.
The following appointments were made yesterday at
the Admiralty :—G-. F. Parker, Naval Instructor to
the Conqueror • Ebenezer Waymouth, Acting-Clerk to
the Impregnable ' • Arthur Hughes, Assistant-Clerk to
the Seahorse ; Godfrey Foster, Assistant-Clerk to the
Devastation; Charles H. Stone, Assistant-Clerk to the
Victory ; Edward Tindall, Assistant• Clerk to the Water-
loo ; Albert Oiler, Assistant-Clerk to the Fisgard ; and
George B. Westcott, Assistant-Clerk to the Impreg-
nable.
The recruiting for the Army in Glasgow and the out-
stations (exclusive of Edinburgh) has been unprecedent-
edly successful in the year 1855, just closed. During
the year the following numbers of men have been medi-
cally inspected by the staff surgeon resident in that city,
viz :—Jan. 675 ; Feb., 654 ; March, 979 ; April, 653 ;
May, 698 ; June, 445 ; July, 554; Aug. 307; Sept., 261;
Oct., 363 ; Nov., 569; Dec., 514. Total, 6,672. These
include the recruits from the Hon. East India Com-
pany. Of this large number, as near as may be, 5,000
were passed, and sent at once to join the ranks of the
British army. The above does not include the enlist-
ments for the militia.

The 21st compa❑y of Royal Sappers and Miners, at
Woolwich, is under orders to proceed to Aldershott,
where they will be employed under Lieut.-General Sir
Frederick Smith, K.C.8., G.C.H. SO non-commissioned
officers and privates of the same corps will leave Wool-
wich on Friday for Chatham. Other draughts are like-
wise preparing for removal to the same place. The head-
quarters of the Sappers and Millers will most probably
be transferred from Woolwich to Chatham in a short
tune, but nothing has been officially received on the sub-
ject up to the present moment at Woolwich.
The non-commissioned officers of the Royal Sappers
and Miners of Woolwich and Chatham assembled on
Monday last at Woolwich, and presented to Serjeant-
Major Bradford, on obtaining his commission as Quar-
termaster on the augmentation of the corps, a handsome
silver vase, or large double-handed cup.
A further augmentation is ordered to be made in the
Royal Regiment of Artillery—namely, 1 serjeant, 1
bombardier, and 14 gunners to each company, making a
total of 1,792 men.
A company of Royal Sappers and Miners left Bromp-
ton on Tuesday by the 9 o'clock p.m. train, en roz.te for
the Crimea. The men appeared in high spirits.

THE ADMIRALTY AND COLLISIONS AT
SEA.

During the past two months—the most dangerous in
the year to shipping upon the north-east coast—there
has been an alarming increase of collisions between ves-
sels at sea, and a considerable loss of property and life.
The lights ordered by the Admiralty to be hoisted by
vessels at sea are not deemed satisfactory by medical
men, and the following memorial to the beard is in
course of signature by the shipmasters of the Tyne :

"To THE HON. THE COMMISSIONERS FOR EiECUTING
THE OFFICE OF LORD HIGH ADMIRAL OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
"The humble metncrial of the undersigned master ma-
riners of, and trading at, the port of Shields,
" Showeth,—That your memorialists, in their capacity
of master mariners, have constantly entrusted to their
skill and management ships and cargoes of considerable
value, and also to their care the lives of a great number
of seamen.
" That, as the law at present exists, your memorialists
are compelled in navigating their ships to abide by cer-
tain regulations framed by your hon. board, that be.
tween sunset and sunrise all sailing vessels, when under
sail or being towed, shall show a bright light to any
vessel they may approach, or which may be approach•