The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-14 00:00:00

PRICF 4d.
STAMPED sd.

pay for all this they may find that the ship-building
firm to wbom they owe the misfortune were guilty
of a crime, instead of a laudable act. We hare no
sympathy for fools who have to pay for their folly,
but the great untie rd mass of this nation felt very
differently, and it is a hardship that they should. be
caught in such a trap. If these cruisers—the St.
Alban raiders—and the Fenian bands—lea'd to the
passing of more stringent neutrality laws by both
nations, some good will be extracted from so much
evil, and we most cordially echo her MAJESTY'S
hope, that the propositions of Great Britain may
be met in-the broadest spirit of conciliation, by the
Government of the United Statest— A nglo-Anzerican
Time&

Aitifieal Illumfnation.

Last evening the subject of artificial illumination
and all the questions connected with the lighting of
large towns were brought before the Society of Arts
in a paper by Mr. D. N. Defries, the well-known
gas engineer. Before the audience various inte-
resting models of light-producing machinery were
placed, and among 'others was one invented by Mr.
E. Welch for producing a gas from volatile oils, an
invention which attracted no little attention, not
only for its extreme usefulness, but inasmuch as its
application to a town-or city remote from coal-pro-
duseing districts will give the inhabitants all the ad.
vantages derived from coal gas. Mr. I.Yifries com-
menced his paper by giving the history of the gra-
dual development of different sorts of lamp-burners,
and having touched upon the introduction of vola-
tile oils and coal gas as means of illumination, he
proceeded to show the value of different burners.
the ' Hi tail," the " bat's-wing," the " cockspur,"
and, the best of all, the " sun burner"—namely, the
lighting from the roof. " This burner," Mr. Defries
said, " is so constructed that the products of com-
bustion are carried out of the room by, means of a
ventilating funnel and tubs placed directly over it.
In most cases the sun burner consists of seven clus-
ters of nine fish-tails each. The burners are sup-
plied with gas from a descending pipe, which
branches to each cluster, andsurroundiug the whole
iu a sheet-iron cone, with a tube attached to the
top, for carrying off the products of combustion.
In this tube there is placed a butterfly valve, for the
purpose of regulating the current of air, so that the
draughts may not be too great, and the lights may
burn in a horizontal direction. Around the cone
are placed other iron cases, which not only serve
for ventilation, but also insulate the inner cone,
and, by their cooling effect, prevent the intense
heat of the latter from being communicated to
the woodwork of the ceiling. These cylinders
are nut connected with each other or the cone,
and therefore distinct currents of air pees be-
tween each of them. Such is the cooling effect
of these currents, that while the cone is hot the two
outside cases are of the same temperature as the
atmosphere of the room. On the upper part of the
cylinders there is au inverted cone, with a pipe pass-
ing through the ceiling -and roof, protected on the
outside by a guard, which allows the hot air and
products of combustion to escape." With respect to
the processes for carburetting—that is, the supplying
to the gas before it is burnt, the vapours of some
volatile hydro-carbon, so as to increase the illumi-
nating power of the gas—he said many inventions
had been proposed for increasing the brilliancy of
coal gas, and .at the same time for rendering it more
economical and innocuous. One was to pass the gas
through an apparatus where a large surface of a
liquid rich in carbon was exposed. This acted very
well for a short time, the gas taking up large quan-
tities of hydro-carbon vapour ; but the more vola-
tile portion of this being consumed first, and only
the heavier and less volatile liquid being left behind,
it necessarily yielded less and less vapour, and the
gas became poorer until it ceased to be in any de-
gree improved. Besides this, the tarry and watery
vapours were condensed in the interior of the appa-
ratus, and rendered it after some time useless. 3lany
forms of carburettors had been devised for getting
Irid of these difficulties, with more or less success.
The latest is one invented and patented by Mr.
Welch, wherein the reservoir was placedat the upper
part, from which, by a simple arrangement, the
liquid descended only as required to maintain the
pi oper supply of vapour. This was brought about by
the pressure of the gas itself, all floats being dis-
pensed with. To prevent the apparatus from being
obstructed by tarry and watery vapours, a chamber
was placed at the bottom in which these are con-
densed, and they can be drawn off through a
plug placed atathe bottom for that purpose. The
carburettor" required no a ttention beyond re-
filling periodically, the diminution of the inten-
sity of the light showing when that operation
is necessary. lie showed gas burning with and
without the carburettor of Mr. IVelch, and the
illustration at once proved the value of the invention,
for the illuminating power of the gas was in a mo-
ment increased to a dazzling degree. Magneto-
electric light was touched upon, and a lamp for
burning magnesium wire was exhibited. The last
invention of light-producers described was the model
of Mr. E. Welch. This produced what was termed
the Augasma light, by causing atmospheric air to
take up a large quantity of a very volatile hydro-
carbon by means of a carburettor especially con-
structed for the purpose. " This," Mr. Defries said,
" has been often attempted, but without any prac-
tical success till now, owing to the defective arrange-
ment of the apparatus. In Mr. E. Welch's machine
the air is pumped by clock-work. As soon as the re-
ceiver is full, the lever is lifted, and stops the de-
scending pump in its course by turning off a very
well ground-iu valve, thus arresting the movement
of the clock-work. The air from these two pumps
passes through into the receiver or governor, as it is
sometimes called. The receiver is so weighted as
to give the requisite pressure to the air for driving
it through the pipes. From the air-holder the air
passes through the carburettor, where it takes up
the hydro-carbon vapour. The construction of the
carburettor is very complete and effective, and serves
either for air or gas; but those for gas have much
less surface than those for air. The hydro-carbon,
though highly volatile and inflammable, is not ex-
plosive. The hydro-carbon cad be extracted from
most of the commercial hydro-carbon oils, such as
petroleum, &c., but its manufacture is only known
to the inventor and a few others." Mr. Defries ex-
hibited an improved street lamp which will throw
the light down, instead of allowing its rays to be
lost, as in the present lamps. A discussion followed
the reading of the paper, and it was generally
al-
lowed that the London streets were very ill-lighted.
The vestries were blamed for this by some of the
speakers, and were defended by others who said
they were vestrymen, and they threw the blame
upon the gas companies. The chairman, Mr. Hawes,
replied, and a vote of thanks having been passed to
Mr. Defries, the proceedings terminated.

THE SCUTTLING OF THE SEVERN.--Thanks to the
vigilance of Lloyd's Salvage Association, the most ample
publicity has been given to the facts of this atrocious case.
In the interest of humanity, not less than of commerce, it
was thought dssirablo to possess a more minute record
not a mere shorthand writer's transcript—of the proceed-
ings of the late trial than the London daily newspapers
could by possibility find room for; and, accordingly, a corps
of available Parliamentary reporters, selected from the
staffs of the Times, Standard, Daily News, and Star, and
superintended by Mr. Mould, the manager of the Parlia-
mentary corps of the Standard, were engaged to furnish a
report of the proceedings in extenso, with a view to publi-
cation in a separate form. By all the morning mails dur-
ing the five days' trial an admirably printed report of the
proceedings, amounting to between 17 and 18 columns a
day, was despatched to the outports fur the information
of the mercantile ccpmmunity throughout the king-
dom. Tho highest compliment that could be paid
to the accuracy and intelligent rendering of
these daily reports was that counsel constantly
referred to them by way of brief, and thanked the associa-
tion for lightening their labours. The Salvage As-
sociation intend reprinting the report in an octavo
volume, for circulation amongst all the chambers of com-
merce, marine insurance offices and clubs, and sailors'
libraries in Great Britain. This is a wise step, because
familiarity with the details of the detestable scheme just
brought to light will place the insuring and seafaring
world on its guard against similar plotting for the future.