The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-15 00:00:00

THE GREAT EASTERN STEAMSHIP,

With reference to an advertisement which was
published this morning, purporting to emanate
from the promoters of a project entitled the "Eng-
lish and American Great Steam-ship Company,
Limited," we have received the following commu-
nication from the Eastern Steam Navigation Com-
pany: _ _

The Eastern Steam Navigation Company,
13, Gresham-street, London.
Sir,—An advertisement having appeared in this day's
newspapers of a company stated to have been formed for
the purpose of " Finishing and Working the Great East-
er lam desired to inform you that my directors have no
knowledge of any such company ; but a well-considered
scheme, combining the interests of the present shareholders,
with ample inducement for the contribution of fresh capital,
has received the assent of a majority of their body, and of
several of the largest shareholders, and will shortly be sub-
mitted to the proprietors.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
Sept. 14. J. H. YATES, Secretary.
The Manchester Guardian has a paragraph from
Liverpool to the following effect :—" Arrangements
are on foot here for the purpose of calling a general
meeting of the leading inhabitants, in order to
decide what steps should be taken for the purpose
of completing and employing the Great Eastern.
The meeting will, we understand, be presided, over
by the Mayor."

RUMOURED DEATH OF J. P. SOMERS, ESQ.—
' A paragraph from The Sligo Independent has been
quoted in several journals respecting the death of
Mr. Somers. We are happy, to say that it .is not
only without foundation, but that the hon. gentle-
man was never in better health, or more earnestly
resolved on seeking the "suffrages of Sligo consti-
tuency on the next vacancy, or with better hopes of
success. "The wish" was mrnifestly " father of
the thought" with some who would fain obtain the
position which he so long occupied.
SUSSEX HALL LITERARY INSTITUTION.—For some
time past the executive of this Institution -have contemplated
the closing of its doors, consequent on the meagre support it
continual°. receive from the public. The members of the
Institution, however, are opposed to this step, which they,
think premature, and on Sunday evening last met in delibe-
ration to devise means still to uphold this, the only literary

institute among the Jews. -
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT WITH GUNPOWDER.--
Yesterday morning a frightful accident occurred to Ovimond
Cornin, aged 17 years, and Edwin Conlin, aged 10 years,
residing at Portland-place, Clapham, under the following
circumstances :—lt appears from the statement of one of
ghe sufferers- that they placed a large quhntity of damp gun-
powder on the hob to dry, when, standing over it with a
lighted candle, a spark fell from it on the gunpowder, when
it exploded, frightfully injuring both brothers. Without
loss of time they were conveyed to Guy's Hospital, where
every assistance was rendered, but they remain in a very
precarious state.
CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.—On Thursday next, the
21st instant, being St. Matthew's Day, the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen. and Sheriffs, together. with the governors of the
several Royal Hospitals, will attend divine service at Christ's
Church, Newgate-street, at 11 o'clock precisely, when a
sermon will be preached by the Rev. George Edwin Pat-
tenden, Head Master of Boston Grammar- school, Lincoln-
shire ; after which they will repair to the Great Hall in
Christ's Hospital, where three orations will be delivered by
three of the senior scholars on the Benefits of the Royal
Hospitals, preceded by a Latin Prologue in the place of the
French Oration, which will be omitted owing to the indis-
position of Monsieur C. J. Dellille, by Theophilus Mitchell,
Senior Grecian. The Greek Oration will be delivered by
Albert Biden Rogers ; the English, by Francis Alfred
Hanbury, Mathematical Medallist, 1858 ; the' Latin, by
Alfred Tucker Classical Medallist, 1858. Three trans-
lations will also be recited by other Senior Scholars.
A translation from Shakspeare's " Macbeth" into Greek
lambics, by Henry Charles Bowker, Mathematical
Medalist, 1857, Pitt Club Scholar, 1858 ; a trans-
lation from Campbell's " Hohenlinden " into Greek
Sapphics by Mortimer Sloper Howell ; a translation from
Macaulay's " Prophecy of Capys" into Latin Alcaics, by
Albert Henry Poulton. There will also be recited two on-
ginal poems—one, in Latin hexameters, "being the
Richards Prize poem" on the Pilgrimage to Mecca, by
Mortimer Sloper Howell ; and the other in English, on the
Siege of Lucknow,_ by Albert Henry Poulton.
A WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH IN BED.-011
Saturday night, between nine and ten o'clock, a woman
named Mary Howard, the wife of a cork cutter, lodging
at a house in Hardman-street, Deansgate, occupied by an
old man named Alexander Mitchell, was taken to bed in a
a nbte:l
fwitthheher. house About
per-
ceived t
state of insensibility from intoxication, and her child, about
weeplaced
the
in
nocctuhpe
ht f monthsan.
heold,
ur afterwards
a smell of fire, and on proceeding to the room where
Howard slept they found the bedclothes in a blaze. The
assistance of the police and some of the neighbours was
quickly obtained, and information sent to the fire brigade ;
but when a body of firemen arrived they found that the fire
had been partially extinguished with buckets of water, and
the child rescued, with little injury ; but the woman was
still lying on one end of the bed seriously burnt. As quickly
as possible she was removed from the bed, and conveyed
On a board to the Royal Infirmary. she-was much burned
about the breast, arms, and sides. There were no hopes of
saving her life, and she died at two o'clock yesterday morn-
ing. The origin of the fire cannot be definitely ascertained,
but it is supposed, from the fact of the woman's pipe being
afterwards found in bed, that she luid lighted and smoked
her pipe in bed, and accidentally ignited the clothes. The
candle was found extinguished, and in its usual place,
which favours this supposition. An inquest was held upon
the body by Mr. Herford, City coroner, yesterday, when a
verdict of " Accidental death" was returned.—Manchester
Guardian.

THE REFORM MOVEMENT IN THE NORTIL—An
active agitation in favour of Parliamentary Reform has, for
the last eight months, been conducted in the two counties
of Durham and Northumberland, by the Northern Reform
Union. From a report submitted last week to the members
of the Newcastle branch of the union, by the treasurer, Mr.
Jos. Cowen, jun., we learn "that upwards of 30 public
meetings in connection with the union have been held in
the northern district, commencing with Newcastle, and
comprising North Shields, South Shields, Hexham,
Hartlepool, Darlington, Middlesborough, and nearly all the
large colliery and manufacturing villages between the Tyne
and the Tees. All the meetings have been numerously
attended, and at none has the least opposition been offered to
the resolutions of the union, or a single hand been held up
against them." The council are preparing to extend and
complete their organisation, and they declare "that in
every centre of population in the northern counties there
shall be, before Parliament re-assembles, a local branch of
the Reform Union." A great gathering of reformers is to
be held in Newcastle in the course of a few weeks, at which
the winter campaign is to be formally commenced. P.
A. Taylor, Esq. of London, the gentleman that the sup-
porters of the Union have pledged themselves to con-
test the representation of Newcastle at the next
election, and other well-known reformers of the ad-
' vanced school, are expected to be present. The council"
issue a monthly journal, The Northern Reform Record,
which is devoted to reportiug the proceedings of the Union,
and a vigorous but temperat statement of the principles on
which it is based. The council declare their object to be
"to disseminate useful political information, and to urge
the middle and working classes to increased interest in
political affairs, but free from the personal and class -decla-
mations of the Chartist times." ' The success they have
met with they declare to have been " gratifying and encou-
raging," and they write of their future efforts in a hopeful
spirit.

- THIRD ATTEMPTED SALE OF BRANKSEA CASTLE
AND ISLAND.—Tho celebrated property of Branksea Castle
and Island, the transient stately hall and domain of the
fugitive Colonel Waugh, was offered for sale yesterday, for
the third time, at the Auction Mart, by Mr. H. C. Driver.
Particulars descriptive of the estate were handed round the
room, announcing that it was "for absolute sale," and that
the " upset price" was " fixed for auction at £50,000." On
the occasion of the first attempted sale of the property it
was bought in at £119,000, and on that of the second at-
tempt it was purchased in at 64,000. It is understood that
there are two mortgages upon the castle and island, one
for £37,000, and another for about £BO,OOO. The first-mort-
gage bears with it interest at 5 per cent. per annum since
1855. There was a goodly attendance in the room, but
none of the visitors seemed inclined to become possessed of
this much-talked-ofproperty. After occupying nearly an
hour in describing the estate, and expatiating on its mine-
ral resources, Mr. Driver informed his auditory that to the
highest bidding beyond the upset price the property would
be knocked down. A pause ensued, when he observed that
he should not-procrastinate the biddings ; he woUld merely
offer the estate once, twice, and thrice. Another slight
pause followed, but there was no bidding. Mr. Driver then
thanked the company for coming to listen to him, and
added that, as there were no biddings, the property was
bought in by the London and Eastern Banking Corpora-
tion for £50,000, the upset price.
THE ORLEANS FAMILY.—The ex-Royal Family-
of France visited Cheltenham on Thursday last, arriving
fi om Malvern, where they have been staying for some weeks
past. The party included the ex-Queen Marie Amelie, the
Count de Paris, the Duke de Chartres, the Prince and Prin-
cess de Joinville, the Princesses Blanche and Frangoise,
the Prince of Ponthieu, the Prince of Wurtemburg, and
suite, consisting of the Count and Countess de Chabannes,
and six or seven other attendants. After resting a short
time and partaking of luncheon, which was in waiting
on their arrival, the party proceeded in three open car-
riages, first, to Cambray-house, the ex-Queen having a
desire to visit once again the dwelling in which she resided
when 45 years ago, she was staying in Cheltenham with the
exiled Louis XVIII. Having inspected the house and
garden, the carriages were next ordered to drive to the
Royal Old Wells, where the party alighting, walked
through the pump-room and grounds, admiring especially
their route, drove to Lord Northwick's residence, in the
the noble avenue of centenarian elms ; and then'Vesummg
Bath-road, for the purpose Of inspecting the paintings and
other objects of high art there treasured by their noble
owner. The intention of the party to visit the galleries of
Thirlestane-house, though intended to be kept secret,
would seem to have transpired, for on their arrival,
shortly after 2 p.m., there must have been in the various
rooms some 60 or 70 visitors, .who at onco recognized
the illustrious personages just introduced. Wtth many
of the paintings in this beautiful collection the
ex-Queen and others of the Royal party, as they passed
through the several galleries, expressed themselves highly
gratified ; and the interest they took in the collection may,
in part, at least, be estimated by the circumstance of their
dedicating an hour and a-half to their review. On leaving
Thirlestane-house the party retraced their steps to the
Plough, and thence, after resting a short time, set off on
their return to Malvern. The visit, though occupying only
four or five hours, is said to have produced a very favourable
theth inducede
impression upon the mind of the ex-Queen and the Royal
language
term t 1f
expectationi
hern whichsojourn
eua thisnt
Malverni
personages by whom she was accompanied ; so'much so that
anotherm impression
andson
shalla wl
oashnagyeenor
expired
e,
whenaass
it will do a fortnight Cm three weeks hence,—CheUrnmon
Zwkor-vn,