The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON D ON, MONDAY EVENING, J OLY 5, 1858,

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHS TO INDIA AND
ELSEWHERE.

Whatever may be the late of the Atlantic cable,
with which the greatest experiment of the age is
now being performed, all doubt is dispelled respect-
ing two facts : first, that for intercommunication
between this sea-girt island and its colonies sub-
marine are far preferable to overland cables ; and,
'secondly, that for submarine cables of great length
light ropes only should be employed. The first of
these facts needs no remark, arising as it does from
principles of economy, and from the manifest ad-
vantage of a kingdom like ours having no portion
of its means of communication unnecessarily sub-
ject to the control of foreign powers. On the
second point we desire to add a word or two.
During the last few months a great change has
taken place in the opinions of professional men and
of the public generally in reference to, the desir-
ability of using weighty and cumbrous cables for
submarine telegraphic purposes. For short dis-
tances such cables are all that could be desired, as
experience has shown ; and, deciding with too little
discrimination, our telegraphic engineer proceeded
to apply similar cables for deep-sea purposes. It
is true that the Atlantic Company, before under-
taking their gigantic operations, so far suspected
their applicability to these purposes as to devise
and-adopt a much lighter rope than was usual ;
but they still retained some of the worst features
of the old ropes, although in a modifir,d form.
Now for years past Mr. Allan has urged the
adoption of the direct contrary of the heavy cables ;
and it is only due to ourselves to say, that we have
uniformly supported him in his efforts. It is to
his foresight that the public are indebted even for
the first extensions of submarine telegraphy. When
others rested satisfied with 25 miles of cable
between Dover and Calais, and thought a 50-mile
cable impossible, he showed the feasibility of a
70-mile cable to Belgium, and subsequently of a
120-mile lentrth to Holland, for which, so far back
as 1852, he procured the concession. In the very
early stages of the system he clearly set
forth the self-destructive character of the
heavy cables, should attempts be made to
submerge them in waters of great depth ;
and, to obviate the evil, in the spring of 1853 he
took out a patent for a rope, the mechanical con-
struction of which was the reverse of those in use,
having as its main feature an inextensible core.
Later in the same year he patented another, main-
taining the same principle of construction, but of
such an arrangement of parts as to produce a rope,
not only light per mile, but of such low specific
gravity that it might be laid with facility across the
Atlantic, without risk of injuring itself by the
tension resulting from its own weight. With
these improvements, and others comprising
the production of electricity in a manner suit
able for the purpose, Mr. Allan enunciated, as was
stated in the Times, Oct., 1853, the project of an
Atlantic telegraph. He was suffered, however, to
stand alone, and even from the scientific press re-
ceived no other support than that afforded by our-
selves.

In March, 1856, undaunted by previous discou-
ragemeuts, Mr. Allan addressed a letter to the Rt.
Hon. H. Labouchere, Secretary of S tate for the Colo-
nies, in which not only was the Atlantic telegraph
proposition revived, but the idea of the Great In-
dian Submarine Telegraph Company, now about,
we trust, to be carried out, was put forth in these
words :—" It is feasible to lay lines from this
country (say Plymouth) to Gibraltar and Malta,
and so on up the Mediterranean, en route to
India. Such a line would be conducive to
British governmental and mercantile interests,
and more independent under many circum-
stances than transmitting through the pre-
sent foreign systems across Europe ; and which,
besides, would create a large tax or tollage on the
cost of a message to India and Australia."
The present Atlantic Company was shortly
afterwards started, and for a time monopolises that
particular field. In carrying out their plans, how-
ever, they have so far approximated towards Mr.
Allan's electrical systems as to induce him to apply
for an injunction to restrain them from infringing
upon his patent rights, the application being now
pending.
Before the telegraph squadron sailed last year
with the Atlantic cable, Mr. Allan stood almost
atone in predicting the failure which occurred, and
the scientific grounds for his prediction were made
public. These grounds were indeed clearly set
forth by him in a letter addressed to ourselves so
long ago as the 24th of December, 1855. After
last year's failure, men grew suddenly enlightened ;
and, after the able papers of Captain Blakely at
Dublin, and Messrs. Longridge and Brooks at the
Institution of Civil Engineers, the merits of light
ropes and the utter unfitness of heavy ropes for
deep-sea purpo,es became universally acknowledged.
Our readers will not be surprised to find that we
are indisposed to allow the man who has fought
the battle and won this victory to have his name
suppressed by the many advocates of light cables
who are now springing up into public prominence,
and adroitly seeking to carry off the spoils of war.
Mr. Allan, and Mr. Allan alone, has the great merit
ofiutroducing the light-rope system, which will now
become univetsal ; and they who have helped,
either early, as in our own case, or later, as in the
case of some others, to aid him in the undertaking,
are indebted to him for the first correct knowledge
possessed upon the subject. No man ever gained a
more complete or certain triumph in the field of
practical science than he has achieved in this
matter.

For the future, heavy cables will be used in shal-
low waters oaly. For all deep waters the light
cable will be adopted ; and we very much doubt
whether any company whatever will be able to
construct these properly without license from Mr.
Allan, under his patents of 1853, which virtually
give him the monopoly of what, up to the present
time, are the only practical means known of mas-
tering the difficulties attandant upon the construc-
tion, submergence, and working of ocean tele-
graphs.
_ _

We shall not enter into the rival schemes for tele-
graphs to India. The objections to the Red Sea
Telegraph Company's plan and to the Euphrates
Valley line have been amply discussed in the news-
papers, and are now prety well understood by the
public. It only remains for us to say that, while
these are fragmentary and uncertain, the new com-
pany's plan—the Great Indian Submarine Tele-
graph Company's—is complete and reliable, both
m construction and working. It is also essentially
national, giving us a direct communication with
India, independently of all foreign aid ; and, as the
number of its stations will be necessarily few, its
working cost, and therefore the cost of transmit-
ting messages by it, will be 50 per cent. less than
that of the compe-ing lines.—Mechanics' Magazine.

ROYAL FREE ii OSPITAL, GRAY'S INN-ROAD. -The
number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending July 3, was 2,357, of whioh 896 were new

engep

Tii INDIAN MUTINIES.—Perbaps the most sing u'ar
feature in the rebellion of 1857 (and there are mail)
is, that while the whole of this side of India has been
for ten or twelve months past one vast scene of anarchy
and confusion, with the country overrun and plunderd
by bands of men a thousand times more brutal and
rapacious than our Sepoys (bad enough in all co con-
science), with town fighting againgst town, tribe against
tribe, property a users matter of might, and with
human life counting as next to nought;—notwith-
standing all this, the poor riot of India has gone on
scratching and sowing his fields just as he did, good
man, in 185556. Turn off the grand trunk road,
where there are too many proofs of 1857, get away
from the blackened walls of police stations, houses,
Ite., and you will find it hard indeed, in a country
so magnificently cultivated as that we have passed
through since we first left Delhi, to believe yourself
sti,l in the midst of revolted India. Blackwood's
, Magazine.
[AnvEßTisgmENTJ—Bilious affections induced by un-
u-ual atmospheric beat, or too liberal diet, if not early
Ichecked, are often attended with serious consequences.
When any one finds his ideas less clear than usual, his
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head will be clear again, his spirits elevated, and all his
energies restored.—Sold by all medicine vendors through-
out the world, and at Professor Holloway's Establish-
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[AnvEarisclizzr.]-one of the most valuable discoveries for
the benefit of mankind is shcwn by the numerous extraordi-
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distressing symptoms of dropsy, dyspepsia, and constipation
of long standing have been removed, and a feeling of restored
health induced. Having witnessed the beneficial effects in
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it, and shall have much pleasure in doing so whenever an op.
portunity offers, &c. James Shorland, late Surgeon, 96th
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Supported by testimonials from the following celebrated Pro.
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Dr. Campbell ; Dr. Gattiker ; Dr. Wurzer ; Dr. Ingram ;
Lord Stuart de Decies; the Dowager Countess of Castlestuart;
Major Gen. Thomas King, and many other respectable per-
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121 b. 225. The 121 b canisters are sent carriage free on re
ceipt of Post-office order. Barry Du Barry, and 77
Regent-street, London. Important Caution against the Co,,fear
fal dangers of spurious imitations.—The Vice-Chancellor Sir
William Page Wood granted an Injunction OR the 10th March, "
1854, against Alfred Hooper Nevill for imitating "Du
Barry's Revalenta Arabica Focd."

THE DREADFUL BOILER EXPLOSION
AT MANCHESTER.

Owing to the confusion and excitement that pre-
vailed on Friday among the officials at the works
where this dreadful catastrophe occurred, we were
unable to ascertain the whole of the names of those
killed and injured. We now, supply the list com-
plete and corrected.
KILLED.

Mr. Thos. Forsyth, manager and engineer-in-
chief, aged 39. Leaves a widow and seven children
to lament his loss.

Mr. Thos. Grinsell Nichol, gentleman appren-
tice, age 22, son of Mr. W. Nichol, of 2, Gloucester-
crescent, Regent's Park, London, sculptor to St.
John's Hall.

Mr. Wm. Dawson, the foremanboiler-maker, has
left a widow and family.
Mr. Edward Stocks, gentleman apprentice, son
of Mr. Stocks, surgeon, Dublin.
James Carmichael, rivetter, has left a widow
and family.
Thomas Adamson, boiler-maker.
William Conduit, rivet carrier, a youth.
INTVRED.

Gus'av John, 21, native of Germany, severely
scalded—not likely to recover. ,
John Gajeweski, 35, inspecting-eggincer to the
French Credit obilier Company, and principal
inspector of the railways being constructed by that
company in Russia, badly scalded—may recover.
Michael Kelly, 27, boiler maker, suffering frOm
concussion of the brain, having been struck, by a
piece of the boiler plate. Likely to recover. Not
scalded. _ _

William Sands, 18, apprentice, boiler-maker,
slightly scalded, and is suffering from concussion of
the brain. Likely to recover.
Jas. Mawson, 36, engineer, slightly scalded.
Likely to recover.
Mr. Forsyth, it appears, exactly thirty years
ago, had the misfortune when a boy to lose his
left leg by the first railway locomotive that
ever ran in this country, which was on the
line between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr.
Forsyth commenced his career as a stoker, and
from that position very meritoriously rose to the
post of inspecting engineer to the London and
North-Western Railway Company for the Wolver-
hampton district. From there he went to manage
the extensive business of Messrs. Sharp, Stewart,
and Co., about seven years ago.
THE INQUEST.

On Saturday afternoon last, an inquest was opened
upon the bodies of the unfortunate men before Mr.
E. Herford, city coroner, and a most respectable
jury.
The evidence gone into was mainly for the identi-
fication of those bodies that were not so mutilated
and torn as to render identification impossible.
Two or three could not be identified from their
remaining fragments.
From the evidence of John Mess, boiler-maker,
who was present during the testing of the boiler,
it appears that the boiler was leaking, and that by
the request of his foreman, he went to fetch a
caulking-tool to stop the leakage. The tool, owing
to its being soft, was not used. Witness, in a
moment from fetching the tool, turned away, and
then the explosion took place. Before this occurred,
the steam was blowing off very rapidly from both
the valves. The steam pressure, he believed, five
minutes before the explosion took place, was about
from 1161 b. to 1181 b.
This witness and others then described the posi-
tion in which they found the bodies, remains,
limbs, &c., of the deceased.
After the Coroner had briefly addressed the jury
as to their duties, and had informed them that Mr.
W. Fairbairn, and other eminent engineers ap-
pointed by the firm, would examine the boiler, and
give evidence before them as to th cause of the
lamentable accident, the inquiry was adjourned till
Friday next, when it will be resumed at the
Coroner's Court, in Ridgefield.
Mr. John Robinson, one of the firm, who was
present, said the proprietors were most anxious that
the fullest particulars should be given and inquired
into, by the jury. Mr. Wm. Fairbairn, who was,
in Aberdeen, had been telegraphed for, and it was
expected he would commence his examination of
the boiler on Monday or Tuesday.
The Coroner and jury then proceeded to the
Atlas Works to inspect the boiler and the place
where the catastrophe occurred. They were
ac-
companied by Mr. J. C. Forsyth, Res.-Engineer
and General Manager of the North Staffordshire
Railway, who was present on the part of his de-
ceased brother. Mr. Chas. Stewart, of the firm,
was also present • Mr. John Hick, of Bolton,
engineer Mr. John Ramsbottom, of the London
and North-Western Railway Company, inspecting
engineer, Crewe.
On examining portions of the boiler plate which
was blown off, Mr. J. C. Forsyth called the atten-
tion of the jury to the edges of the pieces of the
plate. In some parts they were discoloured, while
in others they were white and the colour of iron
recently broken. He wished the jury to bear that
fact in mind, and that the pieces of plate should be
in the care of some one.

The jury were then bound over to attend on
Friday next.
On inquiry at the infirmary on Sunday our
correspondent was informed that all the injured
were alive, but that Cohn was a little worse, and
not likely to recover.

AA OTHER TERRIBLE AND FATAL
BOILER EXPLOSION.

FOUR MEN KILLED AND SEVERAL MAIMED.
The mining village of -Victoria, South Wales, has
been the scene of a terrific boiler explosion, which
• almost equals, in the fatality of its consequences,
that which we had occasion to record on Saturday,
as having taken place at Manchester. Between five
and six o'clock in the morning the inhabitants
• were much alarmed by a sound resembling the
discharge of artillery, and it at once occur-
i ring to the majority of them that an accident
• had happened, there was a general rush out
1 of doors. It was soon perceived, from the
cloud of steam and ashes which were flying about,
that an explosion had taken place at what is called
" the puddling forge" of the Victoria Iron Works,
and on approaching the spot the terrible eore,e-
quences which had resulted, not only to the works
themselves but to human life and limb, were ren-
dered painfully apparent, dead and maimed bodies
lying scattered amongst the masses of fallen ma-
sonry and ironwork. Incredible as the Clot would
seem, were it not the case that similar instances are
constantly recurring, the accident, was entirely
owing to the gross and reckless conduct of MOW of
the men, one of whom actually sat upon the lever
of the safety valve to prevent its yielding to the
surplus pressure of the steam. The boiler in which
the explosion took place was 40 feet long and 7
feet in diameter, and was one of a series of three,
which were connected together and served by a
stack 80 or 90 feet high ; and it appears from the
evidence that a few minutes before the explosion
took place, James Coombs, a fitter at the Victoria
Works, and Benjamin Morgan, who is also in the
service of the Victoria Iron Works Company, saw
Thomas Price, the engineer ; Thomas Rees, a
youth ; and the fireman or stoker, David Nunnery,
on the top of the boiler. One of them was observed
to put his hand upon the ball of the safety valve
lever and press it down, and in a minute or so
Price, the engine driver, got on to the top of the
safety valve and sat upon it. The motive which
led him to commit so reckless an act can only be
conjectured ; but it is thought that, as the steam
from two only of the boilers could reach the engine,
he found some deficiency of power, and got on the
valve for the purpose of preventing its blowing off
steam. Whatever might have been his object, the
consequences to himself and all within reach were
most disastrous. He had not been sitting on the
top of the valve more than half a minute
when the explosion took place, blowing
the boiler, the large stack, a puddling stack,
contiguous, and all the surrounding masonry
to atoms. The boiler was torn into three large
Pines, the solid plates being rent asunder as if
they were paper, the large stack, being struck at its
base by the heaviest of the three fragments of the
boiler, was seen to quiver and fall, while the other
stonework was scattered in all directions. Hap-
pily, the stack fell in a direction from, instead of
towards, the sheds. Had it fallen across the sheds,
the loss of life must have been very great ; as it
was, four unfortunate men were killed and several
dangerously maimed. The fireman, David Nun-
nery, and the Tang man, .Thomas Rees, were
blown into the air with such force that their bodies
were not recovered for some time afterwards, when
amongst the debris some 60 yards off.
they were found sadly maimed awl scalded, and
quite dead,
The corpse of Thomas Price, the
engine-driver,
t
was found nearer to the stack, and Jonathan Wood-
ford, who died soon after being discovered, a no
great distance from him.
Amongst the men most severely injured were the
following :—Lewis Edwards, severe scalds and
fractured arm ; Wm. Young, labourer, severe con-
tusicms and compound fracture of leg; John Powell,
labourer, badly scalded and bruised ; Robert Saw,
ditto.
The scene at the works when the catastrophe he-
eeme known in the village was of the most heart-
rending description. The place was crowded wish
the relatives and friends of the dead and wounded
men, and the shrieks of the women and children
rent the air.
The damage done to the works has been variously
estimated at from 2,5001. to 4,0001. and a sad conse-

quence of the accident is that during the repairs
some 200 men will be thrown out of work.

`At an inquest held upon the bodies, before W.
Brewer, Esq., coroner, it was proved that Pike,
who is a steady man, was at the time quite sober,
and that he was generally very careful in the ma-
nagement of the engine. The jury returned a ver-
dict in each case of "accidental death."

DIRECT TRADE OF THE GREAT LAKES
AND GREAT WEST WITH EUROPE.

In the years 1853 and 1854 we published
Chicago circulars, calling the attention of the corn
trade to this, comparing it with that of the Black
Sea ; but we could never induce our friends to
send cut orders, as they looked on it as a thing
impossible that a ship should come through au in-
land navigation of 1,600 miles of lakes, rivers, and
canals, and then cross the Atlantic, " Europe di-
rect" being considered a myth.
In 1856, the Dean Richmond arrived in Liver-
pool from Chicago in 61 days, out of which she lay
seven at Quebec, proving the practicability of the
trade. The Times, foreseeing what a vast business
would be done direct with the Great West, gave
the ship's log, devoting a leader to it. This season
the three-masted schooners D. C. Pierce (called
after Captain Pierce, of the Dean Richmond; the
pioneer of the tradei.b.D. B. Sexton, Corrrespon-
dent, Black Hawk, ieftain, L. H.. Carman, Col.
Cook, E. S. Adams. C. J. Kershaw, avertiging
400 tons register, have sailed from American lake
ports for Liverpool, with cargoes of wheat, flour,
black walnut, and staves. Others were to follow ;
and from Canadian ports the Alliance and Indian
Queen, with many more loading, so that the trade
may be considered fairly established. As the
canals do not admit vessels of more than 10 feet
water, few British-built ships can engage in the
trade ; but should our owners think of doing so,
iron vessels 146 feet overhead, 26 beam, and 13 feet
hold, or deeper, if they could carry full cargoes on
10 feet draught, would be suitable. These are the
dimensions of the.vessela navigating the Welland
Canal. Fre:ghts from Chicago being ateut 10s. to
lls. per qr., or 50s. per ton, with return cargoes
of railroad iron and manufactured goods at the
same rate, the voyage ought to be aproatable one.
The vessels could convey passengers out.
The whole charges of the Dean Richmond, 388
tons register, fur steam-tugs, canal dues, acd
pilotage, on ship and cargo, were 621. Since then
the canal dues have been reduced to 3td. per ton
on ships ; 2s. Bd. on salt, iron, or coal ; 3s. 9d. on
pork, cern, oats, and barley ; 4s. 9d. on be6f,
wheat, flour, or butter, all in currency. It. is the
custom for the shipping to pay all dues which are
included in the freight. If the vessels were pro-
vided with a ten or twenty-horse power propeller,
they could steam through the Straits of Belle Isle,
St. Lawrence, canals, and River Detroit, saving
time and towing. At the present prices of grain iu
Chicago, corn could be shipped at 365. ; spring
wheat, 325. ; red winter, 275. ; and white, 425.
per 4801 b., cost and freight, for the United King-
dom, which are several shillings per qr. under those
from the Black Sea. Goods are carried by rail in the
States at twelve miles an hour, by steamboat at
eight, and by canal at two, the cost of freight by
canal being three times that of steam, and rail five
times, so that the advantages in time and cost can
be seen in shipping direct without transhipment.
The average cost per ton from New York to Chicago,
and vice versa, is 48s. between lake and canal,
being almost as great as the freight direct to
England.—Belfast Mercantile Journal,

THE NAVY.

(From the Times.)

A. story is told of the famous French financier
Ouvrard, when he had fallen into disgrace with
Napoleon on the failure of his great Spanish opera-
tion. The Emperor, who had a very masterly method
of conducting an argument, wound up the dispute
by committing his antagonist to solitary confine-
ment at Vincennes. Ouvrard was not ,afraid but
that in due course he would recover his liberty as
soon as the Imperial finances fell into confusion ;
the point was, not to go mad in the interval. The
change from the fierce excitement of his ordinazy
life to the unbroken monotony of a prison-room
was more than man's intellect could bear and yet
remain in a sane condition. Ouvrard managed to
procure for himself a packet of pins ; he counted
them carefully, so that he should be sure of- his
reckoning, and then tossed them up to the ceiling,
that they might be scattered as confusedly as pos-
sible over the floor of his cell. He then steadily
went to work to pick up the pins, and never rested
until the tale was complete. Again and again,
and day after day, the operation was repeated, un-
iil Ouvrard regained his liberty. Now for the appli-
cation of this little story. It would be profane to
speculate upon the hopes and fears of the Lords of
the Admiralty as to their future intellectual sanity,
but they have been handling the British fleet ex-
actly as Ouvrard handled his packet of pins. They
carefully count over the number of ships in com-
mission, and they do not exactly toss them up in
the air, for that would be difficult, but they paythem
off. When they are paid off they re-commission
them, and so on. On one point the analogy between
the two cases breaks down, for Ouvrard's idea was
an economical one ; it entailed no expense either
upon himself or anybody else. The practice of the
British Admiralty is, however, one of which the cost
is frightful, and still worse remains behind. When
you have altogether exhausted the chapter of cost,
it must further be considered that by a repetition
Of this ingenious process one ship's company after
another is broken up, and cannot again be re-or-
ganised without infinite trouble, and after great
loss of time.. If these painstaking gentlemen—for
they do take great pains in the wrong direction—
would but consider what a complicated machine a
ship-of-war is when, by the energy of her com-
mander and the exertions of her officers, her crew
has been brought into a perfect state of discipline,
they would not be so ready to resolve this compli-
cated
piece of workmanship into its component ele-
ments. The human machinery is far more difficult
to fix than the cranks, and cogs, and levers, and
piston-rods with which the engineer's room is fur-
nished. To make 'evtry man know his fellow, to
make each rely upon all, to make each man do his
best iu the post for which he is best fitted, is not so
simple an operation at it would appear at first sight
to-be.
A return to nn, order of the House of Commons
has just reached IP, which gives us the cost of re-
fitting and re-commissioning in 1858 the follow-
ing ships, which were paid off in 1857. In this
estimate is included the value of the stores re-
turned as no longer serviceable when the ships
were paid off, and also of those which were sup-
plied in their place ,

Expense of re-fitting on
Name. re-commission In 1858.
Duke of Wellington ............ £17,650
Arrogant 19,913
Cressy
Nile
E ary alus
Exmouth 11,912
That is to say, in the aggregate, this series of
operations has cost the country no less a sum
than 81,388/., and all to what end I It can scarcely
be said, that b. cause the time of service bad expired
therefore it was impossible to keep the crews
together. Sailors, when they are well treated, are
glad enough to remain in a ship which has become to
them a home, and with messmates to whom they
have been long accustomed. Beyond doubt, Jack
will take a run ashore, in order to convince himself
by personal experience of the exceeding discomfort
of absolute liberty ; but a very few days, in ninety-
nine cases out of a huncla ed, will see the end of his
run. In the case of a comfortable ship, well com-
manded—that is to say, where steady, not worrying
discipline, is enforced—the great bulk of the men
would be willing to engage themselves again before
going down her side, upon no harder condition than
that of leavefor a few weeks' run on shore. Regular
men-of-war's men will come back as it is ; but then,
under the present system, a good ship's crew gets
scattered about areong half-a dozen ships, in plat©
of being kept together, which is the.desirable point.
We are well aware that the red-tapists, or let us
say the blue-tapiste, of the Admiralty, will be ready
to point to endless regulations of their own devising
which would render such a measure as keeping our
trained crews together next to impracticable ; but
they should consider that the regulations are for the
benefit of the service, not the service for the benefit
of the regulations. It is certain that the thing
could be done, if the gentlemen at head-quarters
would but set to work about it. Even if the cap-
tain must be changed in order to give other captains
a chance of employment, it does not follow that the
ship's company should be broken up. Surely any
officer who succeeded to the command of any one
of the ships which we have named would have been
too glad to find a well-trained crew ready to his
hand.

This question is one of the most important
which can be brought unthr the consideration.
of the Admiralty. Now that we have given up
impressment it is, confessedly, a very difficult
matier to procure a sufficient number of seamen for
the isaval service of the country. The inducements
held out in our own raercantde marine are very
great, and many a wandering tar is induced by fair
promises of higher pay to ship in the service of a
&reign flag. This tendency could, of emrse, be
corrected by raising the scale of wages to a point
which would render the position of a seaman in
our navy better than any which he could hope to
attain elsewhere. But this is a policy to which we
have not yet had recourse either for the navy or the
army. It is, indeed, possible, .by entering into

certain calculations, by taking one scrap of advan-
tage here and another there, to prove that a well-
conducted seaman who adheres to the royal
service is, in reality, better off than one in the
mercantile marine. The mere rate of wages at any
given time is far from being an accurate test of a
seaman's position. But how can we expect that
ignorant and impulsive men should consider this
question in a spirit of cool calculation and fore-
thought ? The position of a seaman in the British
navy is not at the first glance so superior to that
of a merchant sailor that we can hope to convince
seafaring men of their advantage in taking service
Under the Government. We can, however, do
much by consulting, within legitimate limits, the
feelings and interests of the men. Any sailor would
in the first instance prefer the service of the coun-
try. He lives, in far greater comfort on board a
Queen's ship than in a merchant vessel. He does
not dislike order, discipline, regularity ; convince
him that he has not necessarily resigned his liberty
for too long a term, but that it depends upon him-
self to renew his service, and he will be ready to
dose, if he likes his messmates and his ship. We
now break up the crew almost as soon as it is well
formed. The Admiralty seem to think that as soon
as a, body of seamen have been trained to act to-
gether and to know each other well, the best thing
that can •be done is to scatter them again about
the world. Any naval officer would tell his supe-
riors, if he were not tongue-tied, the difference
between a ship's company which has been afloat for
a couple of years and a company taken out of port
for the first time. Such a fleet as that under Lord
St Vincent, towards the end of his Mediterranean
command, we shall not readily see again ; but if
the late Baltic Fleet could have been held together
we should not have heard much discussion as to
the best method of manning the British Navy.