The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-17 00:00:00

ST. ANDREW'S.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Monday at St. Andrew's ; Mr. W. Smith
in the chair.

The report, an abstract of which appeared in The
Sun, was taken as read.

The CHAIRmAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said it was so satisfactory that he had no
doubt all the shareholders would be pleased with it.
The increase of income in the past half-year was
£92, as compared with the corresponding half of
last year. The directors were enabled to pay a
dividend at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on
the capital stock of the company for the half-year
ending the 31st of July last, and to carry over a
balance to the reserve fund.

The report was unani►nously adopted, and the
dividend declared payable less inco►ne tax.

FIREWORKS A 7 7HE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Yesterday the last of what may be called the
autumn outdoor amuseinants took place on the
grounds of the Crystal Palace, in the shape of a
grand exhibition of fireworks. Though, as may be
conjectured, the pyrotechnic display constituted the
prominent attraction of the occasion, the entertain-
ments given in the earlier part of the day formed
sufficient inducement to visitors to make their way
down to Sydenham, for not only did the orchestral
band of the company play a choice selection of music,
including some of the most celebrated morceaux
from the works of Beethoven and lal,yerheer, but
the band of the Coldstream Guards also discoursed
sweet harmony, and a pianoforte recital, which
comprised a grand fantasia on airs from " Norma,"
and the two " Lieder ohne Worte" (Mendelssohn)
was given by Mr. Oscar Beringer. During the day
a large number of visitors inspected the small
schooner rigged boat the Juhn T. Foal which re-
cently made such a fatal voyage across the Atlantic.
This little craft, which is scarcely 2/ tons burden,
left Baltimore some time ago for Havre, in order to
be exhibited at the French Exhibition. On reach-
ing within 50 or 60 miles of Cork she capsized, in
consequence of the ballast shifting, and the crew of
four hands were, of course, thrown overboard, and
clung to the bottom for several days, undergoing,
as may be expected, the most dreadful suffering
Three of the crew perished, and the only survivor,
Andrew Armstrong, was picked up by a passing
vessel when on the very point of death. A few
days afterwards the boat was cast on the coast of
Wexford, and, what is wonderful to state, her com-
pass and barometer were fouwd to be very little in-
jured, as also her papers and some letters which
her captain had been commissioned to forward
from her Majesty's ship the Royal Alfred, at Hali-
fax. Armstrong, the survivor, was in attendance
yesterday, and it may be added that the little ship is
exhibited for the benefit of the widows and orphans
of those who perished in the dangerous and reckless
expedition. After the last selection of music marked
on the programme had been performed, the visitors

dispersed through the several courts of the building-,
and a large number of them tested the excellence of
Messrs. Bertram and Roberts' shilling tea, which

has now become an institution in its way on occasion s
when the Palace is open to a late hour in the even-
ing. At 7 o'clock the visitors were summoned to the

balconies and grounds by the salute of ariel maroons,
by which the commencement of these pyrotechnic
fetes is always announced. To the regular habitues
of the Crystal Palace it must be a source of asto-
nishment that a peculiar novelty attaches to every
succeeding display of fireworks; and this, it may be
added, is obtained, not by any material change in
the materials of the exhibition, but simply by the
ingenious diversity of arrangement. Last night, how-
ever, a new feature of attraction was introduced by
an interesting competition between M. Ruggieri, of
Paris, and Messrs. Brock and Co., the regular pyro-
technists to the Palace, who sent up two di,tinet
salvoes of coloured shells, one from the right, the
other from the left of the centre walk. Without de-
tailing the particulars of the contest, wo may give it
as our opinion without prejudice that the English
artists won with ease, for their shells were superior
to those of their competitor, both in profusion of
effulgence and brilliancy of colour. The grand flight
of saucissons also constituted a special element of
attraction, for they not only whirled through the air
with an almost dazzling motion, but also resounded
with the irregular rattle of a volley of musketry.
The set piece in honour of the Prince of Wales was
then fired off, the comets rushed down from the water
towers, and the balloons were sent up to exhibit
again the peculiarly intense luminosity of the mag-
nesium light. Then followed the illumination of the
fountains, over which innumerable coloured stars
glided hither and thither. Indeed, one might have
fancied during this portion of the display that some
Briareus was throwing little globes of fire from ono
to another of his hundred hands. At 8 o'clock the
Beni-zoug-zoug Arabs gave their entertainment on
the stage, and soon after the visitors began to make
their way to their respective termini. The fete last
night went a long way to prove that the monopoly
of artistic pyrotechny no longer belongs to the Con-
tinent. One shilling day, 'Wednesday—Admissions
on payment, 8,791 ; do. by season tickets, 4,531
total visitors, 13,322.