The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-26 00:00:00

THE POTATO DISEASE IN IRELAND.

The Northern Whig, which is an authority on agricul-
tural_known blacknesst t:
a tregarded
matters, has the following observations on tic state a
the potato crop. At the present period the information thus
afforded is of great importance :—The progress of the potato
-disease is now a question of the deepest importance, not
only to the agricultural interest, but to the general popula-
tion of the country. The accounts which we have received
during the past week from various parts of theboecfoenutnhtgeieesnnpeo:f
Down and Antrim mention that the potato stalks in a great
many instances bear unmistakeabtluebeervsidheanveee
pearance of the disease, but the
rally found to be in a sound and healthy condition. In
highly
lsye thesio:tui
ssafvaeol
tdloriil
the Ards the farming interest look upon the condition
atlins
oof f i thee av e
sc raonpd,
stalks, notwithstandingas
ha
ui
dis-
trict the tubers are well matured, and
as a safeguard against
consequences arising
from the blight. From the neighbourhood of Saint-
field, our correspondent, writing er e t d y s ay, states :-
4, The blight is universal over the potato fields here ;
but the roots, with very few exceptions, remain round.
There will be a yield of this crop much greater than during
any season for the last seven years.' Our Randalstown
correspondent, writing yesterday, observes that he is sorry
to say
. the crop, in low and marshy situations, presents
unmistakeable symptoms of blight,. in milder
form
but a much
form than during past years.. As yet the tubers are per-
fectly ‘
s6und ; and he entertains a belief that, sheuld the
present fine weather continue, the crop may altogether
escape from any serious consequence arising from the
disease. In the counties of Louth and Armagh, the early
potato crop, on the whole, has turned out well. In some
few fields diseased tubers have been di.cerned, but even
there they bear an insignificant proportion to the general
crop. In size, firmness, and flavour, the crop in these
counties bears comparison with the esculent grown revi-
ous to the famine years. It is also a remarkable peculiarity
in the tubers this season that ' flounders' and ' white
rocks' are of an exceedingly large size, and that those lately
planted promise et most abundant yield. In the county of
Monaghan a severe blight has fallen on the crop, but
all our accounts agree in stating that its ravages have been
averted in the stale, and that the tubers, generally, appear
to be untouched by the disease. From the south and west of
Ireland our accounts are equally satisfactory. In King's
County the crop continues to promise admirably ; and, in
some instances in which the stalks looked withered, the
tubers, we understand, are found to he sound and healthy.
In fact, in that county, the potato seems to have recovered
the sweetness and firmness of its best periods. Everywhere
in the county of Sligo the crop is abundant, and general'y it
is healthy ; but in two or three districts the blight has be-
gun to manifest itself. Its traces there, however, aye not
as yet extensive. From the county of Wexford
we learn
that there will be a luxuriant and excellent produce of
potators .To be sure, the disease has unmistakeably 'shown
itself on both stalks and tubers, near the sea, nut the
abundance of the produce renders the loss by disease com-
paratively small i and even at the present busy season for
farmers, the market of that town is well supplied with the

best quality at sd. per stone. Indeed, all the accounts which
have reached us from the south and west, as well ay the
north of Ireland, agree in stating that although the blight
ha; reappeared the utmost confidence is felt as to the general
safety of the crop."

THE DUBLIN POLICE BILL.
On this subject the Dublin Evening Post says The
member of the Irish government, with the approval of
Lord Eglinton, have applied for and obtained the sanction
of the Government to prepare for the reproduction of the
Dublin Police Bill of last session, and to obtain all returns
and statistics that may be considered necessary by the pro-
moters of the bill for the destruction of the police force, on
the pretence that it contains too large a proportion of
Catholics. The bill is to be brought forward again at the
opening of the next session ; and the whole strength and
power of the Government will be put in requisition to carry
it through."

HISTORY of the ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

(From the .Liverpool Albion.)

At the present time, when messages are beginning to
pass between Ireland and Newfoundland, it may be inte—
resting to advert to the origin and development of this
grand undertaking, which has so recently taken the world
by surprise, in consequence of the scarcely to be expected
success of Mr. Bright and those who assisted him in the

energetic prosecution cf this wonderful project. The first
conception of the possibility of a telegraph across the Atlan-
tic can scarcely be attributed to any individual, for it natu-
rally would--and did—follow upon the first insulation
of an underground wire, which was the original form
assumed by telegraphic conductors. Unless viewed in
this light, the merit of the in troductioa of steam as
an agent might with equal justice be ascribed to the
vague speculations of the Marquis of Worcester, or the more
shapely designs of Papin, instead of to Watt, who brought
into its present practical shape the steam-engine. The idea
of an Atlantic telegraph had been suggested for many years,
though scarcely believed in by the propounders tizem3eives,
until those connected with the present line provided the
necessary basis. For several years the feasibility of such an
extension had been asserted in our town (whose commerce
is chiefly interested in the success that has been achieved),
by Mr. Bright, who demonstrated the practicability of a

direct line between America and the south-west coast of

Ireland, where lie hal extended the wires of the Magnetic
Telegraph Complrry, of which be was the engineer;
and with this view he carried out numerous mechanical
and electrical experiments: In 1R55, Mr. Cyrus Field,
vice-president of the Telegraph Company between
New York and Newfoundland, cairn to England,
and became acquainted with Mr. Bright, as one
of the must prominent engineers in the advancement of
telegraphic science, finding that he was at work on this
subject. The Newfoundland Company, which Mr. Field
represented, bad in view an extension of their telegraphs
from Newfoundland to Europe, but were not prepared
with the practical knowledge to furnish prof, or with

the capital necessary for carrying it out. Mr. Field asso-
ciated himself with Mr. Bright, as well as with Mr. Brett,
who was well known in this country as a promoter of
other submarine lines, and with Mr. Whitehouse, who,
although not previously connected with telegraphs, had
recently devoted himself to some important electrical en-
quiries. In the middle of 1856 a series of experiments re-
sulted in the elimination of apparatus capable of exciting au
electrical sensation through 2,000 miles of the subterranean
and submarine wires of the Magnetic Company, and a
full statement of this telegraphic feat was communicated to
the world by Professor Morse, why, was a spectator of the
final experiments and proof. Some valuable privileges
having been secured by arrangement with the Newfound-
land, Nova Scotian, and other American Telegraph Com-
panies., and a promise of the aid of ships, together with a
subsidy of £28,000 a year, from the British and United
States Government, the Atlantic Telegraph Company was
formed in this country under the Joint-stock Act conferring
limited liability. A form of cable having been provided
that was calculated fur submersion in the depths of the
Atlantic (which had been previously sounded throughout
the route proposed for the cable), the project was intro-
duced here, and warmly taken up by those of our towns-
men under whose consideration it was brought, and by
this means the requisite capital was in a great mea-
sure raised, only a very small proportion appearing
to have been taken in the United States. Mr. W.
Brown, M.P., on account of his extensive business rela-

lions with the United States,was the first chairman appointed,
although we believe the connection of that gentleman with
the company was of a very recent character; indeed, it is
understood that he did not take any part in bringing it before
the public, but rather drew back at first from joining the
undertaking. By the middle of the following year 1857,
the cable manufacturers, Messrs. Glass and Elliott, and
Messrs. Newell and Cu., had completed their task, by
spinning "2,500-miles of cable, and Mr. Bright, the com-
pany's engineer, had designed and censtructed a variety
of apparatus, with the view of regulating the speed of
delivery, and giving safety to the operatic:re of paying cut
,he ceb:e from the ships. In fulfilment of their promise,
the Brilsh Government placed the Agamemnon, Leopard,
and Cyclops at Ills disposal of the company, and the
Unitee States Government 'sent over their steam-frigates
Niagara and Susquehanna. The necessary arrangements
being completed for coiling away the cable, and the immense
mass having been placed on board the Agamemnon and
Niagara, the squadron, after meeting at Queenstown to in-
terchange signals throughout the en !ire length, proceeded
to Valentia, where the landing of the cable end was inau-
gurated by his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant in person,
on the sth August. With the issue of that expedition
all our readers are acquainted. After success had attended
the Niagara in paying out nearly 400 miles between Fri-
day and the Tuesday following an error in judgment on the
part of the breaksman fractured the cable. In this
attempt it may be noted that a considerably greater length
was submerged successfully prior to the mishap than any
cable laid up to that period. In June of the present year,
after a series of experiments in the Bay of Biscay, the
squadron—consisting of the Agamemnon, Valorous, Gorgon,
Porcupine, and the United States frigate Niagara, Capt.
Hudson, proceeded to mid-ocean, where they met at the
rendegous, after encountering a fearful gale on the way oat,
in which the ships and theircrews, especially I heAgarnemnos,
suffered severely. Two inure attempts were then made, after
which (apparently by some misunderstanding) the Niagara
preceeeed to Queenstown, instead of retuning to the ren-
dezvous in the middle of the Atlantic, where Capt. Preedy
and Mr. Bright waited nearly a week in the Agamemnon,
expect hie the Niagara to rejoin. On the Agamemnon getting
beck to Queenstown another alert was determined upon,
which has het to the glorious result of telegraphic commu-
nication between the two centinents—both the Niagara and
Agamemnon striving at their opposite destinations at the
same time, Mr. Might landing the end of the cable at
Valentia (by a curious coincidence) on the same day this
year (August 5) that the Lord Lieutenant last year assisted
to draw it on shore prior to their departure. Tue details of
the last two expeditions will be fresh in the minds of our
readers. Since the s!li inst int ample opportunity has been
afforded of negat ivi nue in the most practical and undeniable
manner, the siany statements made beforehand as to the
impracticability of working through the cable when laid
and the results, as regards even the speed ee ihe first
sig.
nallieg front stn re to shore ef the Iwo continents, must
prove very reassuring. to the shareholders. The rate first
attained, of about one hundred words per hour, should ro-
duce rcceip!s yielding '25 per cent. per annum to the pro-
prietors; and, as we learn that at present upwards of f ray
currents can be passed with ease per minute, there
is no doubt that, by mere improvements in the form
of alphabet, or by the use of codes, a far greater
speed of communication will shortly be arrived at. We
believe Professor Thomson, who accompanied the expe-
dition, is now, with other scientific gentlemen, engaged on
this suhjict. It was surmised by tnany ells& the.signals
miehtbe affected by curreets of terrestrial magnetism passing
between the two continents, such as areexperienced in con-
nection with the Jand lines of telegraph in this country and
in America, but none such tippeer to exist in the cable, the
uniformly low temperature of the ocean depths not only pre-
cluding,in all probaGility, any disturbance of this kind,
the same time, actually improving the insulating
charactert of the guts percha coatings which which the con-
ductinglitu wire is enveloped. Great part of the cable has now
been down nearly a month, and, as nothing can well be con-
ceived to interfere with it, except, perhaps, in the shallows,
near the shore, where it can (as experience has provedwitlt
ether cables) be easily repaired, there appears no rca'on
why the original predictionifof the promoters should not be
verified by the cable continuing to be a most useful agent to
the human race for ages to come.

GREAT CHESS MEETING IN BIRMINGHAM.—YeSter-
day a chess congress was held in Birmingham, under the
auspices of the British Chess Association, of which Lord
Lyttelton is president, and Lord Cremorne and Sir John
B!unden vice-presidents. The list of members includes most
of the eminent players of Europe. Mr. Morphy, the young
dier tiatie g
ke to le
npresent, but at the last mo-
ment eridceacn
grand tournament, on the ground
that the time it would require was more than he could afford.
American, had
undertaken
join
He has, however, promised to he present on Thursday. As
his name had been given in he was drawn for the tourna-
ment, and will be considered a loser by default. The chief
feature of the meeting is the tournament for two prizes, the
first of 60 and the second of 20 guineas. There are 16 com-
petitors, and on the ballot being taken yesterday the follow-
ing gentlemen were matched against each other :—Staunton
and Hughes; Lowenthal and Ripping; St. Arrant and
Beetlestone ; Brien and Bird; Owen and Hampton; Zabo
and Salmon ; Faulkner and lugleby ; Morphy and Smith.
Some of the games were immediately begun. The ei.gelin win-
ners will then play together, then the four, andth two-
The congress will last three more days, and various matches
between clubs will be played in addiiion to thetourn uncut.
At half-past four o'clock the fillowing gam_cs had_ been
Salmon, 2;
wonn
—Staunton, 1; St. Amant, 1 ; Lowenthal, 1; Salmon,
Faulkner, 1; Owen, 1.
The Empress Eugenie, says
the Pattie, in one of
her drives )n the Bois de Vincennes before 1856, several
times remarked a statue of the Virgin fixed in a wall near
the site now occupied by the military hospital. Her Ma-
jesty, at the moment she became pregnant, mule a vow
that if Providence blessed her with a son she would erect
a chapel on the spot.. This vow has been religiously kept,
and on the 15th, the fde of the Assumption; the building
was inaugurated with great solemnity. The statue which
was the origin of the vow has been placed in the chapel,
and under it is the following in; iption :—" The Einpress
Eugenie, in a promenade in the Bo!s de Vincennes, hav-
ing passed before 811 image of the Virgin, made a vow
that if God blessed her with a son she would erect a chapel
in His honour. This chapel was terminated in 1858.
AN ELECTRIC Q,EINTET.--1--A Hungarian, M. ganan, A . ,eon
Humar, has, according to the Emancipation of Brusell,
made a new and curious application of electricity. In a
public concert at the National Theatre lie played, by means
of electric wires, on Eve different planes at the same time.
The electric battery which worked the wires was in an adi a-
cent room.