The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-10 00:00:00

A COLONIAL SOCIETY.

A new association has lately been formed having
for its object the furtherance of Indian and colonial
interests. It " inaugurates " its formation to-morrow
in the usual British mode, a public dinner. Viscount
Bury, M.P., will preside. The committee con-
tains some distinguished names : The Duke of Marl-
borough, the Marquis of Normanby, Viscount Monck,
Mr. Baillie Cochrane, Sir W. Denison, Mr. Chiches-
ter kororifftes, and some other 31.P,'s and colonial cele-
cue, M.P., Sir Willoughby Jones, Sir 11.
D. .vl
brities.

THE (i BOCK " AND THE CC RECORD."

The Rock and the Record have attained an
eminence in theological journalism which has not
yet been reached by other journals of the class. The
not only fallen foul of their
in its admiration for Lord Shaftes-
otwppoe opponents, but of each other. It appears that
have
appeared "at the head of the list
his family, stated that Lord
Ashley's
thhner y Reacno
drd, a
ii
To this the Rock replies that
effirefeinaassmmeen.
the Oxford class-lists are alphabetically arranged,
so that Lord Ashley's position was due b accident
rather than to merit. Thereupon the Record is very
pettiness, and says that it was not
wrath with its cheap contemporary and rival,
the readers of the Record the infor-
riveth
rebukesneeessaryittofog
Rock very aptly replies that its con-
haetrioenupewnhiche Rock supplies to its readers.
T the
con-
temporary either did know or did not know that the
considerable ignorance, the first wilful
list was alphabetically arranged. The second suppo-
dsieteeionptiimnnp. Iliest
is a very pretty quarrel.

THE TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH.

The temperature of February was another gift to
the meteorologists. Mr. Allnatt, writing to the Times
lythleettteerm,.psairast:ure of the past month
" From the Ist to
thishe 2ulssuta,linnihclounsit‘,e
was daily in excess of the average of 50 years, some-
times by abnormal amounts, On the Ist it registered
11.8 deg. above the mean; on the 4th, 11 deg.; on the
sth, 12 deg.; 9th, °deg. ; andon the 11th, 13.4 deg. This
consecutive run of high atmospherical temperature for
February is quite unprecedented. It then began
somewhat to decline, but still maintained an excess
until the 17th, when it again rose to 10 deg. above
the average, On the 22nd the wind, which had been
almost invariably tropical, suddenly backed, and
brought a Polar current into contact with the equa-
torial. Immediate condensation ensued, tempera-
tures declined, and snow fell to the depth of nearly
four inches. On the 28th the temperature was
below the mean, and snow again fell." Another
point noticed by Mr. Allnatt is important.
Some very alarming accounts have come from some
districts of wheat seed rotting in the ground, on
account of the excessive rain. Mr. Allnatt, noticing
the excess, says that on the 12th and 13th the com-
bined gauge was nearly an inch and a quarter. The
aggregate fall of the month was 3.90 inches, which is
in excess of the mean by 1'75 inch.

The Daily Telegraph spins a
PROM LONDON TO PARIS.
yarn two columns
about the
Journey from London to Paris. Briefly told,
long
i
the following are the
sug-
gested for abolishing that maul:ars hour and. a half
which has now to be endured by Britons on
Boyd's scheme
continental touring bent. First, there was Mr.
plans which. have been a
vast tubular
bridge across the Channel, which was perfectly
practicable from an engineering point of view, but
inasmuch as its cost was £35,000,000, was financially.
for erecting
impossible. Then there was M. Boutet's gigantic
suspension bridge,
attached to huge piers, erected in
mid-channel, and having ten spans, each fastened to a
pier 860 ft. above the sea. The piers, which, since
M. Boutet started his scheme, have increased
from nine to twenty-nine, are "in dimensions
something like
St. Paul's Cathedral." For
this scheme the inventor wants £8,000,000, and he
boasts that he
Napoleon and of Earl Granville. Some persons, at
has the patronage of the Emperor
all events, have faith in the scheme, for they have
subscribed ;e4,000 towards the expense of a model
which is now being constructed at Calais. Mr.
Fowler, the eminent engineer of the Metropolitan
Railways, proposes a seZferrv. Suitable docks w:11
bbe
eo
constructed on both sides of the Channel,st
and they will shelter vessels 450 feet in length,
67 feet beam, and 12 feet draught, driven
by four independent oscillating engines. The
vessels, it is supposed, will ensure steadiness and
prevent sea-sickness, and will make the voyage in an
hour. They
.will receive a train bodily, so that a
passenger taking his seat at either terminus need
not alight between London and Paris. A bill to
raise 600,000 for carrying out this project was
deposited last November, but in all probability the
sc. krm;l will require a much larger sum. Over the
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