The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-21 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
yesterday at Derby—Mr. W. E. Hutchinson 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 that the receipts during the half year
showed a considerable increase in all descriptions of
traffic ; the total was rather more than £60,000.
That amount was much greater than they had been
led to expect from what took place in the first three
months of the year, for, in consequence of the de-
pression in trade and other causes, the amount taken
at the end of March was £l,OOO less than in the cor-
responding period of 1866. The gross amount of the
traffic receipts in the past half-year amounted to
£1,365,000, to which they had added £75,000 taken
from their reserves. In the corresponding half of
1866 they had taken £26,000 from the reserve to
assist revenue in consequence of the large amount of
unproductive capital. The same course had been
pursued, and for the same reason, as to the last half
year. Of the £75,000 to which he had referred,
1,60,000 had been taken from the amount received
under Mr. Phipson's award. That fund was exhausted
now, but they had still a sum of £82,000 in reserve
on account of the Scotch traffic fund, the same to be
distributed as occasion might require in future half-
years. (Hear.) He regretted that the expenditure
in the last half-year had teen unusually heavy.
That arose partly out of the great increase which had
taken place in salaries and wages. There had also
been a considerable advance in the price of materials,
so that the increase in the expenditure had been
unavoidable. He hoped that a period of " rest "
was in store at no distant day for the Midland Com-
pany. They would not be asked to aid in the pro-
motion of any new lines next Session, but they
would be compelled to apply to Parliament for per-
mission to raise new capital to provide for the excess
of expenditure on the estimates and the construction
of the Bedford and Loudon extension line. In con-
nection with that undertaking it had been thought
advisable to purchase land sufficient for laying down
four lines of way, which would have to be done at
once on the first eight or nine miles out of London ;
and had they delayed purchasing the remainder of
the land until the railway was opened they would
have to pay double price for it. In reference to the
cost of constructing the Bedford and London Ex-
tension, it would far outstrip the estimates made
four or five years ago by the most competent per-
sons. Situate, then, as they were in that particular,
they thought it would be a wise course to apply to
Parliament for power to raise additional capital. It
was impossible at present to say what the amount
would be. The interest paid on debenture stock and
" calls in advance" last half-year was £31,000 more
than in the corresponding half of 1866. For the
money raised in the course of the past half-year the
average rate of interest paid was £4 9s. 6d. per cent.
They had now reverted to the old rate on their de-
bentures of 4 per cent. Their expenditure on new
lines and works in the last half-year amounted to
nearly a million and a half, of which £120,000
had been on the old lines to enable them to
carry on the increased traffic. The amount of
unproductive capital expended up to June 30 was
£5,000,000, but it was thought better to expedite
works as rapidly as possible i❑ order that the
earnings might be speedily increased. As to the
Bedford and London line, on which £3,000,000 had
been expended, it would be opened for mineral and
merchandise traffic next month. Several other of the
new branches would be opened as speedily as pos-
sible ; that connecting the Great Northern and
Midland line at Newark at the end of the year. The
loss of the bill for amalgamation with the Glasgow
and South Western line was a subject of much re-
gret to the board ; but under all the circumstances
it was not intended to renew the application for it
next session. (Applause.) All that had passed, how-
ever, on the subject had only served to confirm the
opinion held by the direction of both companies,
that there was a measure the utility and advantage
of which would be very great to both companies. He
regretted that the dividend they had to offer was not
greater, but when the large amount of dormant capi-
tal became productive the dividends would be in-
creased in proportion, and on this occasion they had
not felt justified in taking a larger amount from the
reserve. It was his individual opinion that the pre-
sent dividend was the lowest the Midland share-
holders would receive.
Mr. PRICE, M.P., seconded the motion for the
adoption of the report.
Dr. O'BRIEN complained of the excessive law
charges—more than £lB,OOO in the half year. Ile
moved that a solicitor be appointed at a salary ; he
to provide clerks. and pay other expenses. This was
the plan adopted by the London and North Western
and other companies, and a great saving was the
result. He denounced the scheme for amalgamation
with the Glasgow and South Western line. The
gross amount of traffic from it that would come south
was a little over £90,000 a year. Let them abandon
the construction of the Settle and Carlisle line, which
the officials of the company were urging the board
to proceed with.
Mr. PEARSON seconded the amendment that a
paid solicitor be appointed ; in two half years, he
said, they had had to pay more than £40,000 for law
charges.
Mr. SIIEPHEP.D defended himself from some impu-
tations which had been cast upon him in reference
to the recent Wharncliffe meeting.
Mr. ALLPORT, the company's manager, made a
statement exculpatory of Mr. Shepherd from all the
imputations reflecting upon him.
Mr. HADLEY said the fatal mistake of this com-
pany was the number of new and unproductive lines
being made. He urged retrenchment in the number
of trains run on the branch lines, and in some other
departments.
Mr. GAINSFORD was in favour of the appointment
of a salaried solicitor.

The CIIAIRMAN replied that Mr. Carter, their
present solicitor, was second to none in professional
eminence; more than a year ago that gentleman.
conveyed a wish to retire, and it was at his earnest
entreaty that Mr. Carter withdrew a letter of re-
signation which he had written to the Board. Under
those circumstances, it must be quite evident that
if they wished to appoint a solicitor on the terms
suggested, Mr. Carter was not the man to stand in
the way. (Hear, hear.) The Board would not
accept the amendment, but would carefully consider
all the circumstances, and state their views at the
next half-yearly meeting. He suggested that the
amendment be withdrawn.

Dr. O'BRIEN assented, and the motion, for the
adoption of the report was carried unanimously.
The various dividends were declared as recom-
mended, and resolutions passed for the conversion
of certain shares into stock.

Other special business was transacted, and the
proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks
to the chairman.

RHYMNEY.

The half-yearly generatmeeting of this company
was held yesterday at Wood's Hotel, Furnival'a-
inn ; Mr. J. Boyle in the chair.
The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said it
was so full that it did not require many remarks
from him. He thought this an important period in
the history of the company. They had now obtained
all the powers necessary to complete the undertak-
ing as a railway system. When they completed the
tunnel line from the junction at Caerphilly into
Cardiff they would have a line in competition with
the Taff Vale line into Cardiff, over which they
now ran trains and paid toll. When their extension
into Cardiff was completed they could call upon the
Great Western Railway Company to double their
line into the Aberdare district. There was another
reason for completing the line into Cardiff as soon
as possible—they had made an arrangement .with
the London and North Western for making a short
line jointly with that company to convey the pro-
duce of some of the principal works in Monmouth-
shire. The company could not have to find all the
capital for the extension lines, but only for portions
of them. When the tunnel line between Caerphilly
and Cardiff was completed, they would no longer
have to pay a heavy toll for running over the" Taff

Vale Company's six miles of line to go into Cardiff ;
and therefore those tolls, about £lO,OOO a year,
would be applicable to pay interest on the cost of
the tunnel line, so that the capital of their new line
would be a perfectly safe investment, and would be
found well worth the amount of toll now paid by the
company for that accommodation. They proposed
to cancel certain 5 per cent. shares, and to reissue
them as 6 per cent. preference stock to provide the
requisite capital to complete the lineto Cardiff, and
to make the northern junction line to the London
and North-Western railway, by which a large goods
traffic would be brought over their line north of
Rhymney, instead of, as at present, from Ilengoed.
The London and North-Western Company were
pressing them to make the northern junction line,
and they were anxious to do so. The directors had
made an arrangement with Lor 1 Bute, by which
£2,500 would be saved to the company, and also
some rates that would increase with the increase
of traffic to the docks. The arrangement would
be mutually beneficial, and he trusted they would
approve the arrangement.
Mr. AUSTIN seconded the motion for the adoption
of the report.
Mr. E. J. lIERAPATII objected to the charge of
£721 to capital for interest on unproductive works.
He would like to know if the company had power
to charge interest on unproductive works to capital.
As there was only a balance of £383, it was clear
that if they had not charged the• £721 to capital
they could not pay, as proposed, a dividend at the
rate of 3 per cent. per annum for the past half-

year,
Mr. E. WRIGHT said he intended to object to the
same item ; in fact, he objected to it on the ground
that, if the Brighton and other companies had
charged interest on unproductive capital against
revenue as the Midland and London and North-
Western Companies had done, many serious errors
of extending shareholders' money on worthless lines
would have been prevented.
Mr. ROY, the solicitor, had no doubt they bad
ample power to allow interest on calls paid in ad-
vance, and to sanction the course adopted by the
directors.
Mr. AUSTIN, a director, said the matter was to a
certain extent open to the approval or disapproval
of the shareholders. The duty of the directors was
to do what they could to protect the five classes of
shareholders in the company. Under the circum-
stances they had adopted a course which they be-
lieved would be just to the ordinary shareholders
and tend to uphold the credit of the company. The
extensions were not like ordinary extensions ; they
would be valuable feeders to the main line. The
extension line to Cardiff had been forced upon them
by Mr. Savin, and no doubt the tolls alone would
make it a paying concern.
After other observations, the CHAIRMAN explained
that the Caerphilly line was no speculation, and that
the other lines would not only be productive, but
complete the company's system of lines. The direc-
tors proposed to send a circular to the shareholders,
with a map and explanation of the company's lines
and district, which he trusted would be satisfactory
and induce them to take up the new capital.
Mr. E. J. Herapath and Mr. E. Wright appeared
satisfied with the explanations, and the report was
unanimously adopted ; the dividend at the rate of 3
per cent. per annum was declared for the past half-
year on the ordinary stock of the company.
Mr. Stephenson and Mr. G. W. Horne were
elected auditors, at 25 guineas per annum each.
A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the
proceedings.

Messrs. Bellot des Minieres Brothers and Co., of
Gresham House, London, the well-known Public
Works contractors, have succeeded in raising
£1,600,000 towards the construction of the Ame-
rican Central Railway. This, besides other finan-
cial arrangements in regard to the share and bond
capital of the line, secures, beyond doubt, the com-
pletion of the road through the States of Indiana,
Illinois, and lowa. In the face of difficulties almost
insurmountable this great contracting house may be
congratulated on the success attending their efforts.
The greatest energy and perseverance, and a high com-

mercial namo would of themselves have been insuffi

cient under the present ucparalleled distrust. The
Times says in a leader yesterday on the judgment of

. _
the Lords in the Overend-Gurney case—" There is
no poverty like the poverty of the rich man who
has riches but cannot use them, and this poverty has
been made general by the blows which they and
such as they have given to credit." But the Messrs.
Bellot des Minieres were effectually aided by the un-
equalled advantages of the railway in whose in-
terest they were engaged. They were also materially
assisted by the intelligence of those on the other
side with whom they had to deal. It is not every
man who could understand the financial situation
of London at this moment. Never within the
memory of living financiers has there lain idle so
vast an accumulation of capital paralysed by the
annihilation of credit. The llon. John S. Thomp-
son, president of the line, has known how to esti-
mate these difficulties, though few could realise or
make allowances for a state of things they had
never experienced. To carry through these nego-
ciations successfully at such a period is proof of an
extraordinary degree of power, energy, and credit
—and when the circumstances are better under-
stood in America these gentlemen will obtain a

high meed of praise.
The Old Colony railroad earned $1,360,863 last
year, and expended $883,089, leaving a balance of
income of $309,286. The gross income last year
exceeded that of the year previous by $65,219, and
the gross expenses were $163,480 larger. The real
cost of the road, together with improvements, in-
cluding the new depot at Boston, which cost
$158,000 will amount to about $7,961,055 ; of
this amount $4,848,320, is now represented by
capital stock, leaving a balance of $3,115,735 as
liabilities.
Ground was broken, on Monday, July '22, on the
Lebanon Springs Railroad, and by June of next
year it will be completed. The Troy and Benning-
ton Road from lloosiac Junction to the Vermont
line, on which no trains have been run for several
months, has been permanently abandoned.
A horse railroad from Northampton to Hadley is
talked of. Offers have been made to build and
equip the road for $40,000, an i to guarantee one-
half the stock.
Since November six miles of the Troy and Green-
field Railroad has been built, and the track is being
laid down at the rate of one-third of a mile a day.
To accomplish this six miles 170,000 cubic yards of
earth and 5,000 yards of rock had to be removed,
and 4,500 cubic yards of masonry constructed, and
613 feet of bridging and 2,000 feet of trestle work
built. There are four bridges between Greenfield
and Shelburne Falls, 472, 470, 170, and 110 feet
long respectively.

The Oriental Bank of New York City will pay
a semi-annual dividend of 5 per cent., free of tax.
The Bank of the Manhattan Company will pay on
August 10th, a semi-annual dividend of five
per cent., free of tax ; the Leather Manufacturers'
National Bank, six per cent. ; the St. Nicholas
National Bank, Five per Cent. ; the National Bank
of the Republic, five per cent. ; and an extra divi-
dend of five per cent., the Long Island Bank, six
per cent. ; the Brooklyn Bank, five per cent., and
the Morris Canal and Banking Company, Jersey
City, five per cent. on the preferred stock.
I he Jersey City Insurance Campany will pay on
demand, free of tax, 5 per eeut., being their
twentieth semi-annual dividend. The Washington
Insurance Company will pay the same, being their
thirty-second dividend.

Gebliard Fire Insurance Company will also
pay on demand a semi-annual dividend of 5 per
cent.

'The New York Central Railroad Company will
pay, on August 20th next, a semi-annual dividend
of 3 per cent., free of Government tax, dividend in
New York ; will be paid at the office of Duncan,
Sherman, and Company, and in Albany, at the
Albany City National Bank.
The Clinton Oil Company give notice that the
sixth dividend of one per cent. will be paid on
and after August Ist, at the office, 115, Liberty-
street, New York.

AUGUST COUPONS PAYABLE.

M. K. Jesup and Co. will pay the coupons of the

Wilmington and Manchester Railroad Company of
N. C. Third Preferred First Mortgage Bonds, less
Government tax; also the coupons of the First
Mortgage Bonds of the Toledo, Logansport, and
BPslington Railroad Company, guaranteed by the
Columbus and Indianopolis Central Railroad Com-
pany.
The Farmers' Loan and Trust Company will pay
the coupon of the Evansville and Crawfordsville
Railroad ; Dabney, Morgan, and Co., the coupons,
in gold, of the Union Pacific Railroad Company,
Eastern Division ; the Importers' and Traders'
National Bank, N. Y., the coupons of the Mort-
gage Bonds of the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail-
road Company ; the American National Bank,
the coupons of the Marietta and Cincinnati Rill-
road ; the National Bank of Commerce, the coupons
of the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation
Company ; IL Messenger and Co., the coupons of

the North Shore Railroad ; A. L. Pritchar,l, trea-
surer of the Chicago and North-Western Railroad
Company, the coupons of the Preferred Sinking
Fund Bonds, of the Consolidated Sinking Fund
Bonds, of the General First Mortage Bonds, of the
Appleton Extension Bonds, of the Green Bay
Bonds, and of the Galena and Chicago Union
Railroad 'Company's First Mortgage Bonds ; the
coupons of the Central Park, North and East River
Railroad Company, by the treasurer ; and the
coupons of the Crawford Coal Company by the
treasurer pro tens.—Wall-street Journal.

7HE GUNPOWDER PLOT AT MON7E

VIDEO.

The following narrative of a plot which has
created a profound sensation in the River Plate is
drawn up from official sources and the personal
knowledge of the writer :
On the 30th June a German, named Wilhelm
Haustoffer, called upon M. Honore, the manager of
the Foreign Club in Monte Video, and informed him
that he had been asked by a countryman named Paul
Neumayer to assist him in driving a mine in con-
nexion with an engineering experiment, and offered
X2OO (about £10) for one night's work, adding that
he would be glad to earn the money, but was afraid,
from the mystery and caution of Neumayer in
pledging him to secrecy, and yet not fully commu-
nicating the object of the work, that there was
something wrong about the matter. The work was
to be executed in a house in course of demolition for
rebuilding, situated at the back of the Government
House, commonly called the Fort. By M.
llonore's advice this communication was repeated
to the political chief (Col. Bustamente), who imme-
diately took measures to ascertain what was going
on. In consequence of the information he received
the chief ordered a sufficient force to be placed
in the neighbourhood of the Fort, and, having Neu-
mayer pointed out to him in the theatre, he remained
there till the latter left, which he did at the time he
was to meet Haustoffer. Neumayer went direct to
the place of appointment, followed by Colonel
Bustamente, disguised with an old poncho and a
straw hat. On the chief giving a signal precon-
certed with the police, Neumayer made an at-
tempt at fight, but was immediately surrounded,
captured, and taken to the Cabildo. The police
then entered the house indicated by Haustoffer,
where in a small cellar, newly constructed, they
found two barrels of gunpowder, three sacks, and a
Rumford's electric multiplier, in working order, and
capable, according to Mr. Oldham, of theTelegraph-
office, of igniting gunpowder at a distance of six
miles. These articles were taken to the head police-
office, and guards were placed in the house for the
night. Neumayer refused to give any information,
alleging that he had bought the house, and had the
right to use it for any experiments he liked.
Next morning the Government ordered an in-
spection of the house and cellar by the Director-
General of Public Works, assisted by an eminent
builder. These gentlemen reported that there
existed sufficient proof of an intention to drive a
mine in one direction, and that a hole had been
broken through the wall of the cellar in another
direction, probably for the same purpose. The
" mine" bad by this time become the topic of every
conversation, and some English naval officers, who
had heard an exaggerated version of the story, had
their curiosity excited, and Mr. Havers, who for
the last two years has been Director of the Scien-
tific Inspection of Public Works, offered to ascer-
tain if there were any foundation for the alarm-
ing rumours in circulation. From a report sub-
quently drawn up by this gentleman, it appears
that he examined the cellar, and, being made
acquainted with the circumstances already narrated,
came to the conclusion that there must be other
operators, and that such persons must still be con-
cealed in the drains. Returning through the Fort,
Mr. Havers communicated his opinion to the Minis-
terThtaoinisgt
dehoe
refttelofslirueVofml amtt raow, whokcateohs
ltea.
hi
3pasatutityceaci
tdnsnii
Provisional
investigation.
Floresel
sttt. teraet
requestedpi oena Governor,. t
necessary h i
osGAureleanrar..
Guards
Haverso nl
or feeor s
assistance,re.
at a
nt the e
aml l o
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ft h
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enl
Isaerweearr,
etf huel l
ys t reexeats.
The objects found proved that the operators
placedcleared,
iwere
ei
nleed.
n
olt'ordinary labourers, and the hole in the
wall was found to lead into the apparent drain of
the house. Conceiving that the conspirators were
either in the drain or the main sewer, Mr. Havers
ordered a countermine to be sunk at the calculated
junctionn
eodf t
htahte n
otwo,
one an
wasd ,
ig.noitnligatdsoewctnionhironfsetlhfe
main sewer, so far as it could be seen with a dark
lantern. He then entered the house drain, which
could only be done creeping on accaunt of its
small dimensions ; and here he found a man, who
retreated through the hole in the wall into the
cellar, followed by Mr. Havers. The cellar being
guarded the man was at once captured, having been
already sixteen hours in the drains. Further inves-
tigations followed, after which the openings were
closed up, guards set, and the search suspended.
The prisoner, who was in his shirt sleeves, and
evidently much exhausted, gave the name of Louis
Neumayer, but refused to make any statement until
he learned that Paul Neumayer (no relation) was
in custody, when he commenced a confession.
Paul Neumayer also lost all his effrontery on
learning that his co-labourer was in custody,
and denounced as his principal employer
Captain Don Eduardo Bertran, an officer who
accompanied General Flores during the revo-
lution, indicating as accomplices several friends of
Bertran, and declaring, by way of extenuation, that
they only intended to destroy General Flores him-
self. An immediate search was made for Bertran,
but he had already fled. His house and the office
at which he managed the commissariat business of
the Brazilian hospital were searched, but nothing
was found which threw any light on the conspiracy.
A timber merchant in Monte Video stated that
he met him eaily on the morning of the Ist in
the suburbs, and that he asked the deponent not
to divulge having seen him. It was soon ascer-
tained, by means of the submarine telegraph, that
Bertran had gone to Buenos Ayres, and thence,
under an assumed name, to Rosario, en route for
Santa F 6. It also transpired that, although the
house had been bought in Neuina) cr's name, Ber-
tran was surety for the payment of the purchase
money. Independent, therefore, of the confessions
of the prisoners, the strongest suspicion rests on
Bertran. General Suarez, Commandantes Man-
cini and Bergara, and Senores Torres and Marquez,
were arrested in the course of the evening of the
Ist, and placed in separate confinement.
On the 2d Mr. Havers resumed his investigation.
The pavement was taken up, the main sewer opened,
footsteps discovered in it., ascert allied to be tho.a- of
Louis Neumayer, and 130 feet from the cellar an
opening was found towards the windows of the
saloon in which the Couuci!s of State are held.
From this hole a mine had been driven to within
six feet of the wall of this saloon, and in it were
found the tools used by the operator. It appears
from the report made by Mr. Havers to the Govern-
ment that, in six or seven hours, with the aid of
the other person expected to join in the work,
the mine could have been extended under the floor
and charged for the explosion. It was also proved
that the cellar was constructed expressly for the Fur-
, pose of concealing these operations, and that the
works carried ou in the house were merely a blind to

cover the proceedings of the conspirators. From in-
quiries made at the foreign consulates, it appears that
the nrisoner Paul Neumayer was formerly a sub-

lieutenant in the Wurtemburg army, was
cashiered and handed over to the civil tribunals,
convicted of forgery, and condemned to five years'
penal servitude. He offered his services to both sides
during the revolution in various projects for mining,
and for making Orsini bombs and detonating com-
pounds for the destruction of human life. Louis
Neumayer is said to have been mate of a slaver.
Nothing having transpired to show that the other
persons arrested had any hand in the iniquitous
project they have been set at liberty. The extra-
dition of Bertran was demanded of the Argentine
Government and immediately conceded ; but
nothing further bad been heard of him, and he is
supposed to have fled into Chili.

ON SHEILII.I.vS TRACK.

By John 11. Kennaway, M.A. Seeley, Jackson,
and Halliday, Fleet-street, London. 1867.
The author has wisely avoided any long introduc-
tory accounts and descriptions of travel so often
before handled, that his pen could scarcely be suc-
cessful in imparting to them any fresh interest. Like
Hepworth Dixon, be makes his starting point a cen-
tral town in the United States, indeed the central
town which one day will be the seat of Government
—St. Louis. The travelling party consisted of two
Oxford and two Cambridge men, our author (of the
former two) from Baliol College, Oxford. From St.
Louis, which they reached through Canada round
by Chicago, they were about to return east by the
populous cities, when unexpectedly they met Gene-
ral Sherman, who suggested the route through the
Southern States, celebrated as the scene of his own
destructive march. The English party had no idea
that the way was practicable, the railways being
destroyed ; but they acted on the hint, and started
for Chattanooga, through Nashville, the capi' a;, of
Tennessee. As they passed over this great Ste, to
they crossed many a celebrated battle-field, rear: ing
at nightfall Chattanooga, one of the most fiercefy
contested positions, and Look-Out Mountain, the
scene of a great Confederate disaster. Chattanooga
may be taken as the spot where Sherman com-
menced his celebrated march. It was from that
town, with an overwhelming force, and with the
cautious and wary Johnston in his front, in the
spring of 1864, that he began the movement that
annihilated the Confederacy, and will always rank
among the most renowned military exploits. The
distance to Atlanta is 138 miles. Sherman's army
numbered 100,000 of the veteran soldiers of the
Union, and under Johnson the Confederate troops
did not exceed 40,000. The country was difficult;
the Confederate Commander an officer of consum-
mate tact. It was not therefore till the middle of
July that the Union army reached Atlanta. The
South, impatient at the steady advance of the
Federal force—at the successive abandonment of
position after position -- at the fatal moment
when the Northern General had the key of the
Confederacy in his front, removed Johnston and
placed Hood in command. The day of great
Southern victories had passed. There were no more
Bull's Runs to be achieved against veterans like
those commanded by Sherman and troops so skil-
fully handled, and it was vain to look for any
crushing defeats. Hood, though a good divisional
leader, was headstrong and rash. lie took the
offensive—to discover his mistake by an experience
the Confederacy could ill afford. He detached his
cavalry to operate in Sherman's rear, and that
officer seizing the opportunity captured Atlanta.
With the fall of the great Southern arsenal fell the
last hope of the South of successfully resisting
Northern invasion. The Gate City being in his
possession, opened for Sherman on the one hand,
the way to the Gulf, and on the other to Charleston.
The control of the Southern railroads passed to him,
and he intercepted the supplies of Lee's army. The
shot, shell, and pistol manufactories, the railroad
machine shops, were all lost to the Confederate
cause. It was a worse blow than would have been
the fall of Richmond ; indeed it broke the Con-
federacy. Lee, on hearing the intelligence,
wrote to Davis that all hope of ultimate success
was at an end. Then arose the question—Ought
not the war to have terminated on the fall
of Atlanta, and the clearly-expressed opinion of
the General-in-Chief that the contest was hopeless.
\Ve feel certain that history will not exonerate Mr.
Davis from blame; but we are not so sure that the
cause of future peace has not been benefited by
administering to. the South the terrible lesson that
followed when the walls of their Jericho began to
fall before the loud blasts of the North. In esti-
mating this question, we must not forget that the
future is mere conjecture—the past a horrible
reality. Sherman cut the Confederacy in two, and
spread a devastation over the fair counties of
Georgia and South Carolina, which will be long re-
membered with the bitterest anguish as among the
vilest works of war. Thousands afterwards fell
before Richmond, and lives and property continued
to be recklessly sacrificed throughout the States
before the South was smitten into the dust, with a
prostration so great that it took months even
for them to realise their helplessness, which
became more apparent both to themselves and
the world the better the circumstances were
known. What would have been the case had a
treaty been effected on the fall of Atlanta ? Al-
though
manol suspected, none then fully knew the
the South. Supposing the rebel States
exhaustion
had succumbed on condition of re-entering the
Union with all their rights unimpaired, and the
abolition of elavery accepted through a gradual pro-
cess, the world would have remained under the im-
pres3ion that, though the South might be deso-
late.l by the North, it could not be conquered.
Richmond would have opened its "gates, and Lee's
army retired, the heroes of the war. Charleston
would have proudly raised its uneonquered head,
and the chivalry of North Carolina would have
loudly boasted that they were the first to raise the
Palmetto flag, the last to furl it, while it had waved
defiantly over their city in spite of all the hostile
fleets the North could send. Who can say what
elements of future war would lie in such facts? The
cup that Sherman held to Southern lips was the
most bitter draught that men could swallow. It
entailed on the present generation terrible miseries,
but he honestly believed, and we hold truly, that it
was the most merciful course in the end.
" Sherman entered Atlanta on the 2d of September—
within a week ho issued an order that all citizens must
leave the place, making their choice between being trans-
ported North, or' to a place within the Rebel lines. His
subsequent destruction of Atlanta must be his justifica-
tion for an exorcise of power apparently so cruel. He
was revolving the scheme of tho great march, and to
that everything had to be subordinate. Re feared that
Atlanta might again become formidable in the hands of
the enemy, and he resolved to
it incapable, when he turned his back upon it, for any
further mischief." wipe it out, and to render
Four months had elapsed since Sherman left Chat-
tanooga before Atlanta fell, and there he remained
during the heated term till the 15th November.
The season then opened for the grand expedition
on which he had secretly determined. Hood, who
had been manoeuvring before Atlanta, suddenly
made a detour, throwing himself on the lino of
Sherman's communications. This was a move-
ment not unlike that practised by Napoleon when
the Allies were marching on Paris, and it met with
no better fate. Indeed it was exactly what
Sherman wanted. Ile telegraphed—" Hood has
crossed the
Tennessee. 'Thomas will take care of
him and Nashville ; Georgia and South Carolina
are at my mercy, and I shall strike." The better
t 0 deceive, he followed Hood, as if in pnrsuit ; then
turning suddenly lie rapidly retraced his steps to
Atlanta, which city he gave to the flatne.s, and
launched his whole force into the wilds of Georgia.
For three weeks that great army was lost to the
world ; and if Europe and Northern America held
its breath in anxiety to know the result, what must
have been the agony of the Confederacy when
behind the smoke of the burning city it disappeared
from sight. On a broad track, extending sixty
miles, the destroying army trailed along. Be-
fore them the land VMS rich and prosperous—
behind, it was a charred or smoking desert. "The
foraging parties scattered over the country without
any order or discipline" (thus writes the correspon-
dent of the New York Herald), " pounced like

harpies on the unfortunate inhabitants, stripping
them of provisions, jewels, and valuables. Boxes
were burst open, clothes dragged about. The finest
silks carried off to adorn negro wenches ; pictures,
books, and furniture tossed about or torn in pieces.
In most instances they burned down houses to cover
depredations, and in some cases took the lives of
their victims, as they would not reveal concealed
treasure." Sherman himself estimates that they
carried off 10,000 horses and mules, and countless
numbers of slaves, besides the consumption of
corn, fodder, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry. " I
estimate," says that General, " the damage done to
the State of Georgia and its military resources at
$100,000,000 ; at least 20 millions of this was ruin
to our advantage, and the rest, simple waste and
destruction." It was not till the 15th September,
1861, that the leading columns of the destroying
army began to emerge from the interior and mass
their forces before the city of Savannah. There the
Confederates had retreatel, flooding the surround-
ing rice fields, leaving the only approaches by five'
narrow causeways, commanded by heavy ordnance.
One of Sherman's finest qualities as a general was
the care he took of the lives of his soldiers. He
never needlessly sacrificed them, and as Admiral
Dahlgren arrived almost immediately, he got into
communication with the fleet, waiting for this
co-operation, instead of recklessly attacking with
his troops. In conjunction, everything was
prepared by the 17th for the assault, when a
demand was made and declined for the sur-
render. But General Hardee knew that he could
not hold Savannah against the overwhelming force
both by sea and land now brought against it, and
on the night of the 20th December, leaving his fires
brightly burning, and while his artillery played on
the right, he pushed his troops through swamps
supposed to be impracticable by a pathway, aban-
doning the city to the enemy with 200 guns, maga-
zines, locomotives, steamboats, and 35,000 bales of
cotton. The energy of the North may be seen by
the promptitude with which Sherman's base of
operations was changed. Scarcely was he in Savan-
nah before a fleet was discharging vast stores of all
kinds, the obstacles having been removed which im-
peded the channel of the river ; and again Southern
cotton left Southern ports in vessels flying the
Stars and Stripes. After remaining a month in
Savannah, Sherman recommenced his destroying
march. He was now in South Carolina, the State
of all others the object of Northern vengeance, and
if his soldiers, as our author says, carried whips in
their march through Georgia—in their march
through the Carolinas they were armed with scor-
pions. Trailing along on an average breadth of 40
miles, they traversed the country from Savannah to
Goldsborough, consuming everything. " History,"
says one of the staff, " will be searched in vain for a
parallel to this scathing and destructive march."
Sherman reports, " the public enemy instead of
drawing supplies from that region to feed his armies
will be compelled to send provisions from other
quarters to feed the inhabitants." Mr. Kennaway
says :
"The advance was not an easy one. The floods of the
Savannah, the swamps of the Combalee and Edisto, the
high hills and rocks of the Santee, the quagmires of the
Pedee and Cape Fear Rivers had all to be passed in
mid-winter in the face of an accumulating enemy. Johnson
too was before long replaced in command, and Sherman
knew well that as long as ho was in front. of him any slip
would be fatal. Columbia was the first point made. The
beautiful capital of the Palmetta State, rich in mansions
and in public buildings, fell a prey to the flames, the kind-
ling of which is alike repudiated by both armies, each of
them seeking to lay the blame on the other. Perhaps the
conflagration may have been accidental ; it certainly was
most destructive, and produced an amount of suffering
frightful to contemplate."
Sherman struck inland, leaving Charleston and
Wilmington to his right, to destroy the lines of
road from which Lee derived a portion of his
supplies. He knew that with the back country
gone, the seaport towns would be helpless, and when
his force was gathered in rear of Charleston, Wil-
mington, and Richmond, he was an arrow in the
flank of the Confederacy ; indeed he had searched
out and laid bare the weakness of his enemy. The
Confederacy had been pierced through and through,
and after a few more convulsive sobs and struggles,
the stricken nation fell helplessly at the conqueror's
feet. Sherman's march was arrested by the intel-
ligence of Lee's surrender on the 9th of April, when
General Johnston sought an interview with the
Northern commander, and a capitulation was
agreed on, which ended for ever the last hopes of
the Confederacy.
We have followed our author " On Sherman's
Track," the chief and most interesting subject
in his work, and in this we have reached our
limits. But Mr. Kennaway does not confine himself
to this subject alone. He writes copiously on the
social position, the feelings, and the prospects of
the negro in the South. He carries his readers to
Richmond and Washington. He discusses the pri-
sons of the South, and who is to blame for the suf-
ferings of Northern soldiers, and as a lawyer he
argues the case in a fair and dispassionate manner.
This subject will shortly be elucidated by a lengthy
report of a commission lately appointed by Con-
gress. When that report is before us we will be
able fully to discuss Mr. Keunaway's argument.
He writes fairly and without bias, and his book can
be read with pleasure by both Northerners and
Southerners. 'We looked for a more detailed ac-
count of Sherman's expedition, and the work would
have been of greater value had it been confined to
this subject-, and more pains been taken, to follow
and describe more fully the whole line of country.
But the author travelled for his own instruction and
amusement, and the public have to thank him for a
well-written volume, descriptive of scenes which
but a short time since, absorbed the attention of the
world.—Anylo-ilmerican Times.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

(Front the Registrar-Genera's Return.)
In the week that ended on Saturday, August 17,
the births registered in London and 12 other large
towns of the United Kingdom were 4,144 ; the
deaths registered, 2,862. The annual rate of mor-
tality was 20 per 1,000 persons living.
In London the births of 1,017 boys and 980
girls, in all 1,997 children, were registered in the
week. In the corresponding weeks of the ten years
1857-66 the average number, corrected for increase
of population, is 1,954.
The deaths registered in London during the week
were 1,391. It was the 33d week of the year, and
the average number of deaths for that week is, with
a correction for increase of population, 1,337. The
deaths in the present return exceed by 54 the esti-
mated number.

The great and almost tropical heat which pre-
vailedin the early part of last week has not as yet
increased the mortality of the metropolis to any
Large extent. It is of the utmost importance now
that there should be a plentiful supply of pure
water in every house, and that the streets, courts,
and alleys of this great city should be kept perfectly.
clean. Some of the towns of Europe are suffering terri-
bly from the ravages of cholera, and it is only by con-
stant and unremitting attention to the purity of the
water supply, by the early treatment of diarrhea
and by sanitary measures, that a recurrence of the
calamity in this country can be avoided.
The deaths of 181 children and 19 adults from
diarrhoea were registered last week. Twenty-nine
cases occurred in the west, 37 in the north, 27 in

the central, 56 in the east, and 51 in the south dis-
tricts. Eleven children and four adults died from
cholera or choleraic diarrhoea. Thirty-five deaths
occurred from scarlatina, 16 from typhus, 37 from
apoplexy, and 57 from disemes of the heart.
In the corresponding week of last year (1866) the
deaths from diatTliceA were 191, and from cholera -155.
The wife of a bricklayer, aged 56 years, died on
Aug ist 6, at St. Mary's Hospital, of congestion of
lungs, accelerated by the suffocative atmosphere of
the Underground Railway. Post modem. (In-
Quest.) Proper steps should be taken for opening
and ventilating the tunnels, which are necessarily
charged with noxious gases.
Kensington ; Brompton.—At 15, Wallgrave-
road, on August 10, the son of a labourer, aged 11
months, infantine cholera (30 hours). Westmin-
ster ; St. John.—At 116, Ilorseferry-road, on
August 15, the daughter of a hosier, aged two years,
choleraic diarrhoea (14 hours). St. Martin-in-the-
Fields ; Charing-cross.--At 25, Whitomb-street,