The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-12 00:00:00

GIBRALTAR OR CEUTA ?

-4,

The discussion as to wheeher we shall give up Gibraltar
to Spain has become a question of whether Ceuta is better
for us than the Rock. Vice-Admiral Sir Edward
Belcher--the well-known Arctic explorer—writes to the
Times on the subject, and throws the whole of
his influence in favour of the Rock. Gibraltar possesses
good anchorage and shelter, with a reasonable depth.
Ceuta, on the contrary, has an insecure anchorage.
If we tried to mend matters we should only
be throwing money away, as in the case of
Alderney. If we give up Gibraltar too, Sir Edward is
afraid that, in these days of sales, it will be sold again to
the highest bidder. Aa to the propriety of maintaining it—
the argument as to justice—the same objection applies to
Ceuta. We won Gibraltar by conquest. So did the
Spaniards Ceuta from the Moors. Ceuta is not, moreover,
worth ouracceptance. Better withdraw the Red Cross from
Gibraltar entirely than sink millions of treasure andwaste
valuable British lives on a spot only to be compared to
transportation, where every necessary of life would have
to be conveyed at enormous prices, and where any strong
measures to repress the inroads of the true proprietors
would be deemed murder.

THE WRECK OF THE HIBERNIA.

SUPPOSED SAFETY OF TIIE MISSING BOAT.

Gieeat interest is felt in the question whether the ship-
wrecked passengers picked up by the American steamer
really belonged to the ill-fated Hibernia or no. There
seems to be no doubt that the Bremen barque America
really has on board thirty-nine survivors of a wreck in the
Atlantic, but the uncertainty arises fro►n the apprehension
that they may belong to another ship. There are, or were,
two Hibernias, one the unfortunate screw steamer, the
other a sailing vessel. The latter was bound from
Quebec to Dublin, and it is quite possible that she
may have been wrecked in some of the disastrous gales
which swept the Atlantic at the time of the loss of the
steamer Hibernia. The argument against this presump-
tion is that the crew of the sailing ship would scarcely
be so numerous as thirty-nine, and some of those on hoard
the Hannibal noticed several officers in uniform on the
deck of the American vessel, which is variously described
as the America and as the Ocean Spray. Captain
Gyles, of the Hannibal, thinks that the signals spoke of
a sailing ship, while his mate asserts that they spoke
of the steamer Hibernia. Captain Gyles, owing to short-
ness of provisions and want of accommodation, could not
take more than fourteen of the castaways on board, and
they preferred to remain together. The weather was so
bad at the time that it was very difficult to maintain any
communication between the two ships, and this accounts for
the uncertainty of the information respecting the rescued
passengers. The only boat unaccounted for in the loss of the
steamer was the third officer's boat, with twenty-onepersons,
whlch Captain Munro, of the Hibernia., was confident
must have been picked up by an outward-bound vessel.
At all events it is probable that some of those rescued by
the American ship belonged to the steamer, but great
anxiety and interest are everywhere felt respecting the
story, which will not be fully satisfied until we hearfurther
accounts from Madeira or from the United States.

The Washington correspondent of the New York
Times says that General Grant has received a letter earnestly
advising him as a meauro of pence, harmony, and concilia-
tion, to appoint Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War. It ia
tut4oretood the correspondent rather unnecessarily Aul

THE LOSS OF THE HIBERNIA.

The Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Hiber-
nia gave judgment on Monday. The Court was
of opinion that Captain Munro could not be held
responsible for the loss of the ship, the acci-
dent having occurred in the engine department.
It had no reason to doubt that the Hibernia was
a strong and faithfully-built ship, that her struc-
ture and the machinery of her engine department
were sufficient, and that the diameter of the
shaft was in proportion to size of the engines.
The Court went on to refer to the drawing
of the shaft, and said there would have been no
danger in this operation, even when it was disco-
vered that the shaft was broken, if the stuffing-box
on the bulkhead had been intact. The evidence
went to show that the water-tight bulkhead had
been interfered with, and that one man-hole door
had not been properly secured. Further, the Court
had great reason to doubt that there was any da-
mage sustained by the stern plates of the vessel.
While any hope remained of the engineers being
saved the Court deferred pronouncing judgment on
any alleged errors of commission or omission, and
were of opinion that the inquiry :..heuld be deemed
to be open. The Court, would, therefore make an
wi interim report. to the Board of Tr tde.

31IL17ARY AND iNrA VAL INTELLIGENCE

The unarmoured screw frigate Arethusa, 35
guns, 3,141 tons, 500-horse power, Captain Robert
Coote, was paid off, and struck her flag at Sheer-
ness on Thursday. All through her period of service
the Arethusa was what is termed in sailor phrase°.
logy a " happy ship," and one remarkable feature
was the establishment by the crew of a saving
bank, the money invested in which amounted to
£1,250. The amount paid to the crew, in addi-
tion to their savings, was about £7,000, and it is
gratifying to know that the payment of this
large sum was not followed by the drunkenness and
dissipation which in former days too frequently ac-
companied the paying off of a ship's crew after a
long commission. The Mediterranean is generally
considered to be a healthy station, but the Are-
thusa lost a considerable proportion of her original
officers and crew by invaliding and death. Only
six of the ward-room officers who went out in her
were on her books when she was paid off. Her
engines (Penn's) are said to be in excellent order,
and very free from wear. It is not thought likely
that the Arethusa will ever again be commissioned
as a sea-going ship ; indeed, there is a rumour that
some of her timbers are so rotten that the cost of
repairing her would be too great to incur, when
measured by the results that would accrue.
Mr. John Grant, paymaster, R.N., who has
been since the 13th of May, 1851, agent and
steward of the Royal Naval Hospital at Plymouth,
is about to retire on account of advanced age. He
is between 70 and 88. It is reported that the Ad-
miralty will not fill the vacancy, but have the duty
performed by one of the senior clerks belonging to
the establishment.

By the promotion of Captain E. Heathcote to
the rank of rear-admiral a captain's good service
pension is placed at the disposal of the Right Hon.
C. E. Childers, M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty.
Two vacancies occur in the appointment of naval
aide-de-camp to the Queen by the promotion of
Captain W. R. Mends, C. 8., Director of Trans-
ports, and Captain G. T. P. Hornby to flag rank.
In consequence of the want of additional factory
room for carrying on the work connected with the
construction of the iron vessels now building at
Chatham dockyard, it has been found necessary to
convert the whole of the space between the sixth
and seventh building slips into a large workshop,
workmen being now employed in enclosing the
space and fitting it up for the purpose of a factory.
Several powerful machines for boring, cutting,
planing, and otherwise preparing the iron for the
vessels building, have already been fitted up.
The screw steam sloop Brisk, 16, Capt. C. W.
Hope, from the A ustralian station, arrived in Ply-
mouth Sound on Wednesday morning. She left
Sydney Sept. 3, arrived at Wellington, New Zea-
land, on the 15,.h, and left on the 19th, and rounded
Cape Horn Oct. 23. Two icebergs were seen on
that day, two on the 24th, and three on the 25th.
The weather was so fine that stud ling-sails were set.
The B; isk arrived a t Port Stanley, Falkland Islands,
on the 26th, and left on the 31st. She reached
Ascension November 29, and s dial again on the
3d ult., arrived at Fayal on the 28th, and sailed
December 29, since which strong north-west and
south-west winds have been experienced. The
Brisk left at Ascension her Majesty's ships Flora,
Investigator, and Pioneer, and spoke December 20,
lat 26 19N.,10ng. 33 44 W., the American schooner
Irving, of New Bedford ; and on the 25th, lat.
the French bark Vile de
32 45 N., long. 34 3 W.,
Lille. The Brisk brings as passengers the Rev.
Thomas Bri-lges, a missionary, and Mr. Lempriere,
late private secretary to the Governor of New Zea-
land ; also 15 invalids from the Australian station,
and 13 of the crew of the hark Malvern, of Liver-
pool, which was burnt at sea, off the Falkland
Islands, on the 29th of October, when on passage to
the East Indies. Ifer master was landed at Monte-
video. On the Bth of September Mr. John Syder,
engineer, died at sea of inflammation of the lungs.
The crew of the Brisk will probably be paid off at
Devonport.
In accordance with orders received from the Ad-
miralty, an official trial of Lowe's patent marine
propeller, which has been further improved by his
daughter, Mrs. Vansittart, was made on Wednes-
day off the Maplin Sands. The propeller was fitted
to the Cadmus, screw corvette, 21 guns, 1,466
tons, 400-horse power, under the personal superin-
tendence of Mrs. Vansittart. The principal features
of the propeller are-1, less slip, giving an increased
speed of vessel, with fewer revolutions of engine
and full backing power ; 2d, greater steadiness, or
absence of vibration ; and (consequent upon these),
3d, a less consumption of fuel, a saving of stokers'
wages, and a reduction of the wear and tear of
ship and machinery. The propeller, when viewed
endwise, instead of forming portions of the thread
of a screw, presents a curved line, curving in oppo-
site directions from the centre to the edges of the
blade. The report of the experimental trial made
some time ago gave the Admiralty every satisfac-
tion, and if the report of the present trial be as
favourable there is nothing left to be done in this
direction by future experimentalists. The trial on
Wednesday was undoubtedly successful, the ship
being quite free from vibration. It was a bold
course on the part of the adaptress to risk the re-
putation cf the invention by attaching the blades
to a boss to which they had never been adapted
before ; but the result has enabled, Mrs. Vansittart
to fit the Griffiths' boss with the certainty of ob-
taining a very marked advance over all known
screw propellers.