The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-25 00:00:00

CLOSING OF THE LYCEUM

This theatre closed on Saturday evening after a
brief but very brilliant season of nine weeks, the
great success of which was owing to the comedy of
" Extremes." Mr. Falconer at the close of the play
—which was on the occasion of his benefit—came
forward amidst the warmest demonstrations and
delivered an address, of which the following are the
most interesting portions

" I will not attempt to dilate upon so purely
personal a matter as the motive which induced me
to risk the responsibilities of management further
than to say that I had some faith in my work—
much in the talents of the company I was fortunate
enough to obtain for its exposition ; but that I had
far more, and that in opposition to a cant, in the
sympathy of the public with any earnest attempt
to give in legitimate form a dramatic entertainment
with some smack of nationality—an efficient pre-
sentation of an original play, tolerably true to
English, or rather let me say to British principles ;
for, I suppose, ladies and gentlemen, there needs
no ghost from the grave to tell you' that I happen
to be an Irishman. Out of my success—l suppose
I may assume success, as the comedy has been
played fifty times during a season of fifty-one
nights, and the treasurer has never had occasion to
suggest a change of performance—out of this
success, no greater feeling of gratification has
accrued to me than came from the verification
of my faith in the existence of that sym-
pathy upon the part of the public, and of
its readiness to assert its existence with any
reasonable excuse. Ladies and gentlemen, I have
the greatest disinclination to assume the character
of Mr. Puff, but as we are likely to meet again it
is mere courtesy as well as business to inform you
that I have taken the theatre for a longer term,
commencing on Boxing night • and it is a mere
matter of fact to state that nearly all the present
members of my company will at that time give me
their aid ; that I shall also have the assistance of
Mr. and Mrs. Keeley and Miss Louise Keeley; and,
at the conclusion of their present engagement, of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young, of Miss Rosina
Wright, and several other artists of professisnal
reputation ; that Mr. Robert B. Brough has under-
taken to write the new Lyceum burlesque, the
scenery for which is already in the process of being
painted by Mr. William Calcott, late of the Hay-
market Theatre; and that the Harlequinade of the
comic Pantomime will be sustained by the Lauri
Family. I will not make you extravagent pro-
mises of unusual wonders, but I have reasonable
hope to present you with that legitimate and
worthy-of-being-seen entertainment which the
union of such skilled artists as I have named is
almost certain to produce. In conclusion, ladies
and gentlemen, to my thanks, let me add my sin-
cere wishes, that you may all of you realise those
blessings of health, prosperity, and content which
are so necessary to the full enjoyment of the more
imaginative pleasures which poets, painters, and
actors in grand conjunction are labouring -to create
for your entertainment at Christmas, and which are
almost essential at that holiday time to insure a
good night's rest to the juniors who dine on roast
beef and plumb pudding."

FATAL COLLISION AT SEA.

SHIELDS, FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

The melancholy intelligence has been received
here that the brig Wingrave, belonging to Mr.
Hewison, of North Shields, has been rim down as
she was proceeding on her voyage to London, and
that her crew of 13 hands have perished with her.
The particulars that have been received here are,
that a screw steamer, the Kangaroo, trading between
London and Inverness, has put into Lowestoft with
her bows carried away. The captain (the agent to
our Tyne Clubs' reports) seemed disinclined to say
much about the cause of his damage ; but it has
been ascertained from the crew that on the previous
night the steamer came in contact with a laden
brig and sunk her. The agent reports that the men
say they put out the boats and pulled to where they
heard the cries of the seamen in the water, but were
unable to save any of them. A boat and the stern
of a long boat were picked up next morning among
some wreck in the neighbourhood of where the col-
lision occurred, with the name of the Wingrave
painted upon them, so that little doubt exists but
that that was the unfortunate vessel. By one of
those strange fatalities that so often occur in sea-
port towns, the master in command of the Win-
grave, Mr. Hodgson, was called upon to take charge
of her very shortly before she proceeded to sea on
her last and fatal voyage. The old master, Mr.
Hart, who had had command of her many years,
being taken unwell, was obliged to give up charge
of the vessel to him.

Fears are entertained that another fatal disaster
has occurred. The Margaretha, which has arrived
in the Tyne from Altona, reports that within 20
miles of Tynemouth Castle she fell in with a great
quantity of wreck and timber and deals floating
about in the sea. The nights have been dark wid
foggy during the week, and several minor colli-
sions, such as carrying away yards and masts, are
reported.

FIRE-ENGINE FOR THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT.

On Friday morning, at 7 o'clock, this new ma-
abine was worked at the Grand Surrey Canal,
Camberwell, in the presence of Mr. Braidwood, the
superintendent of the London fire brigade, Mr.
Brown, of the Westminster Fire-office, Mr. Ap-
pold, inventor of the centrifugal pump, Messrs.
Shand and Mason, the makers, and other gentle-
men. The engine was only completed on Thurs-
day, and on account of the close of the St. Peters-
burg shipping season was during the afternoon put
on board a steamer for that port. In 10 minutes
from lighting the fire sufficient steam was obtained
to throw a 5-8 jet of water to a considerable eleva-
tion. This was changed for larger one 4 up to one
inch in diameter, the height from the latter being
equal to that from a brigade engine when worked
at its greatest speed Two jets, one being 7-Bths
of an inch, and the other a 16th smaller, were used
at one time, and projected the water to the same
height. This arrangement will prove of great
value at a fire. All present expressed themselves
much gratified at the performance, and were
astonished that so much power should be got out
of such a small machine. The space occupied is
the same as by one ordinary brigade engine ; but it
is equal to three in power, as worked in the usual
manner by 28 men, so that an equivalent to the
labour of 84 men is obtained. It is also worked
with great steadiness, very little noise or vibration
being perceptible. The engine is fitted. with springs
and high wheels for quick travelling, and at the close
of the experiments was drawn rapidly by a pair of
horses to the factory in the Blackfriars-road, six of
the spectators being on it besides the driver. The
boiler, which is fitted with perpendicular brass
tubes, is placed in the centre of the hind axle, the
steam and fire-engines being placed over the front
axle, The hose and suction pipes, with the imple-
ments, have their places in or about the engine, so
that all are carried with it. Messrs. Shand and
Mason intend making at once one or two of their
patent steam fire-engines with various improve-
ments—this being the first land steam fire-engine
they have constructed ; so that it is hoped that
London will not be behind St. Petersburg in this
matter, and that steam fire-engines will soon super-
sede the ordinary hand-engines worked in our
streets.

SINGULAR AND FATAL ACCIDENT.--On Wednes-
day night an inquest was held, at the Grand Turk Inn, on
the body of a young man, 30 years--of age-, named Williairr
Bestall, a bone-button turner, living in lodgings in Wood-
cock-street. The evidence went to show that on the last
fair Saturday night the deceased returned from the
"pleasures" of the holiday in a state of intoxication.
Managing to get to his lodgings, the woman who kept the
house being also the worse for liquor and gone to bed,
Bestall sat down stairs by himself, and, as is inferred, went
to sleep. "Whether he had been using lucifer-matches or
whether he had gone to light a pipe too near to the fire, is
not positively known. However, the next that was heard of
him was that, awaking, he found a portion of his garments
on fire, and running up stairs endeavoured to throw himself
on the bed in which his landlady was. She was so much
frightened that she got up and jumped out of the window,
and deceased followed her example. Singular to say, no
bones were broken, as to either of these parties, and after
some time the fire of the clothes of deceased was extin-
guished, and he was taken to the General Hospital. Here,
of course, every care was taken of the case, and for some
time strong hopes were entertained that Bestall would re-
cover. But a few days since a change for the worse came
on, and he died from the effects of the accident on Sunday
last. The Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental Death."
The parents of the unfortunate young man lived at Sheffield.
—Birmingham Post.
GOUT.-11Q Abeille Medicale contains an article
on the use of the oil extracted from the horse-chestnut as
a sedative in gout. In order to extract this oil, the horse-
chesnuts are first ground to powder ; the latter is then
treated with sulphuric ether, which dissolves the oil,
resin, and sapontine contained in the mass ; the oil is then
obtained - pure by evaporating the ether. Tcn kilo-
grammes of horse chestnuts yield ten grammes of oil. To
use it, it must be applied with a fine hair-brush on the part
affected : if the pain is very intense, the unction should be
applied circularly so as to arrive gradually at the centre.
When the first application is absorbed, a second one is
applied after the lapse of a few minutes, and then a third
and fourth if necessary. The oiled part is then covered
with blotting-paper, cotton, or flannel, and then with oi!-
skin ; the patient must be kept in perfect repose. In some
cases the application of oil causes an increase of pain for
the first half-hour, after which the sedative action com-
mences ; but generally the pain gradually, disappears
without any aggravation.

The apple pounding is now going on briskly,
and the yield of cider is more abundant than had been anti-
cipated. Several cargoes of apples from the Gbatinel
Islands are also • expected. The price of cider will• not ex-
ceed £1 per hogshead.—.Plymouth Journal.