The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-30 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid journals of the 25th contain adver-
tisements of the great public meeting which the
Government had permitted the Progressist party to
hold ; they are signed by Mfr Olozaga, as president
of the Progressista election committee, and by M.
Asensio, as secretary of the same. The latter is
editor of the Iberia, which is now in opposition to
the Cabinet. The committee had petitioned for
the use of the Royal Theatre. The Government,
unwilling, perhaps, to evoke the recollections of
the tumultuous scenes and ultra-revolutionary
speeches of 1854, refused to grant leave, al-
leging that the Theatre Royal was the property
of the State, and not made for electioneering meet-
ings. It being expected that the elections would
attract a swarm of suitors to the Ministerial offices
at Madrid, the Minister of the Interior had issued
a circular directing the civil governors of the pro-
vinces not to grant leave of absence to any of
their employes, and to recall those who had already
received leave ; at the same time to inform the
latter that they will forfeit their situations if they
are absent beyond the time strictly necessary for
their return to their duties. From the number
of advertisements for contracts in the Gazette
it appears that no small activity is prevailing in
the department of Public Works. The scarcity of
specie in the northern provinces, which has been
much-complained of, has ceased ; it was, it appears,
occasioned by speculators having exported large
quantities of coin. A letter from a Ministerial
source says :—" The journals still continue to deal
forth two or three daily columns of remarks on the
circular of the Minister of the Interior to the go-
vernors of the provinces, and which, as it is a sort
of programme of the Ministerial policy,will be long
before it is exhausted. This document is attacked
by one or two liberal prints, whose directors have
been disappointed at not, like the editor of the
Clamor, having obtained some Ministerial favour
commensurate with their ambition. The absolutist
journals, which have in their vituperation of the
Ministry generally made an exception in favour of
the Premier, have been unsparing in their animad-
versions since the publication of the circular has
proved to them, without any doubt, that the mar-
shal has determined upon working out his long-
cherished idea of governing the nation with the
best men he can find without reference to party
politics. It is amusing to read the pompous and
wordy declamations in which these journals pro-
phesy the downfall of a Cabinet under the auspices
of which the funds rise, work is abundant, and
public confidence strong, notwithstanding the
difficulties and disorganisation created by their
predecessors. It is not, however, to discussions
that public interest is at present directed, but to
the elections, which are everywhere the topic of
conversation."

A letter from Rome states that the demands of
the Government of Baden relative to the concordat,
and the concessions made by the Holy See being
widely at variance on certain points, Cardinal
Reisach has broken off the negotiations. An ulti-
matum has been since sent by Cardinal Antonelli
to the Baron de Berkheim, the Baden Minister,
who has referred it to Carlsruhe for consideration.

A Vienna letter of the 25th says :—" Count de
Kisseleff, the Russian Plenipotentiary at the Con-
ference of Paris, has arrived here, and yesterday
had an interview with the Minister of Foreign
Affairs. He will proceed from this city to Warsaw.
The motives which have led to his visit to this
capital are not known, but it is conjectured that
they are connected with the treaty of the naviga-
tion of the Danube."

The election of the new Regents of the little
Republic of San Marino lately took place. They
are—Philip Beluzzi and Pasquale Marucci, both
lawyers. Their names were drawn by lot.

Advices from Vienna confirm previous reports
touching the projects of Austria for the increase of
her maritime power and cite the fact that the
young Archduke Louis Victor has entered the
naval service as lieutenant of a frigate.

TIIE SHERIFFS' PROCESSION TO WESTMINSTER-
IIALL.—The cavalcade formed at Guildhall this morning
shortly before one o'clock, and proceeded along King-street,
Cheapside, through Paternoster-row and Ave Maria-lane,
to Ludgate-hill—in consequence of the breaking up of the
carriage way in St. Paul's churchyard—along Fleet-street,
through Temple-bar, by the Strand to Charing-cross, via
Parliament-street, to Westminster-hall. Baron Watson
received the Sheriffs about two o'clock, and in the evening
the Judges will dine with the Sheriffs, the Lord Mayor, and
the Lord Mayor Elect, and a distinguished party, at the
inauguration banquet at Tallow Chandlers'-hall, Dowgate-
hill.

The Duke of Rutland has arrived at Belvoir
Castle, from Longshawe Lodge, Derbyshire.

The Marquis and Marchioness Villamedina and
family have left the Clarendon for Madrid.
Lorg, and Lady Willoughby de Eresby are passing
the season at Drummond Castle, Perthshire.

Lord and Lady Foley are staying on a visit with
Sir William and Lady Middleton, at Shrubland Park,
Suffolk.

-----
The Lady Harriet Ashley was safely delivered of
a daughter, on Tuesday last, at the residence of the Marquis
of Donegall, in Grosvenor-square.
Lady Peel and the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Francis
Stonor arrived in London, yesterday, from Paris.

Mr. and Lady Augusta Milbanke have recently
been entertaining, at their hill residence in the north of
Yorkshire, the Duke of Cleveland, the Earl of Suffolk, the
Earl of Zetland, Mr. Tufnell, and Mr. Henry Milbanke.

We regret to learn of the death, at Taunton, on
Monday, of Lady Bowring, wife of Sir John Bowring, her
Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China. The deceased lady
was in her 64th year..

Among the company now at Brighton are the
Dowager Duchess of Argyll, Viscount Clifden, Earl of
Lincoln, Lady Bridgman, Lady Fortescue, Lady Compton,
Sir Lovel Lovel, Lady Bar nwell, Lord and Lady Trim-
leston, Sir John Campbell, Sir Henry and Lady Mont-
gomery, Sir Edward Marwood Elton and Captain Elton,
Sir John Croft, Lady and the Misses Croft, Lady Mac-
donald, and Lord Adolphus Vane Tempest, M.P.
GALWAY.—The steamship Propeller has arrived
from Boston and St. John's, Newfoundland, having made
the passage from the latter port in six days.

THE EMPRESS EUGENIE.—The correspondent of
the Manchester Examiner writes :—" It may be worth
mentioning for just what it is worth, that I was told the
other day by a friend who has just returned from the south
of France, that it is whispered at Biarritz that the Empress
Eugenie is again in a condition to afford hopes that the Im-
perial dynasty of France may cease in due course to hang
on the single life of the young prince. There is no doubt
that the birth of another prince is the object of the Empe-
ror's most ardent desires."

BRIGHTON.--The town continues to fill with
visitors, and there has been no cessation in the tide of
fashion for the last three weeks. The marine drives and
promenades present daily a scene of fashion and gaiety not
to be witnessed in any other tawn in England, and we may
safely assert not in any town in the habitable globe, as a
maritime resort.

AN ARAB TRAGEDY.—An Arab, named Djelloul
ben Mohamed, of Bou. Noua, a few miles from Algiers, was
last week tried by the Court of Assizes of that city on the
charge of cutting and wounding. Tile circumstances of
this case were almost incredible :—He lived, it appeared,
in the same gourbi as his brother and his brother's
wife, and he conceived a violent animosity against the
woman. On the 2d of July last, during his brother's
absence, he lighted a fire and made a sickle red hot.
He then seized his sister-in-law, bound her hand and
foot, and fastened her with her head downwards to the
pole which supported the roof of the gourbi ; then,
stripping off her clothes he passed and re-passed
the red-hot sickle over her person, inflicting dreadful
burns ; he next took a stick and beat, her in a savage man-
ner, after which he unbound her and made her give the
breast to her infant. At this moment his brother came in,
and he, seeing his wife in such a deplorable plight, rushed
on Djelloul. A fierce struggle took place between them;
but some persons who were attracted by the noise coming
in separated them, and Djelloul was taken into custody.
He at once related what ho had done, and said first that his
reason was that he had caught his sister-in-law in the very
act of adultery with one Bel Kassem ; but afterwards varied
his statement, and declared that he had long suspected her
of having a criminal connection with that man, and had had
his suspicion confirmed by seeing him leave the gourbi. He
was not, however, believed, as the woman was known to be
strictly virtuous. The victim of his cruelty said that the
man's reason was that she had indignantly repelled me
proper advances which he had made her. The injuries re-
ceived by the woman were of the gravest character, and she
is still confined to her bed. The Court condemned the pri-
soner to 15 years' hard labour.
NEW MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD
OF WORKS.—At a meeting of the members of the Ber-
mondsey district Board of Works, on Tuesday evening,
Mr. Churchwarden Peacock in the chair, Mr. Cyrus Legg
was unanimously elected to represent the district at the
Metropolitan Board of Works, vacant by the resisatjm of
Dirt Pcnjoada, Dm, tin former ropreaqtAtite,

_....:~

THE ATLAN27C TELEGRAPH.

The Atlantic Telegraph, and all that relates to
it, the best kind of rope to be used, the best means
of getting it down, and the best way to work it
when it is down,—the whole scheme, in fact, seems
to be slowly drifting back again into those realms
of theory and speculation from which it has only
so recently emerged. Already there are many
competitors and projectors in the field, some to
work the old rope, some to make a new. It is not
cheering to find that public attention is almost in-
stinctively directed to the consideration of the
latter project, and that to the hopes and expec-
tations of the majority, the present wire—laid at
such a cost, and with such risks—is already regarded
as virtually lost and useless. Among those who
have come forward with remedies for overcoming
the difficulties of the Atlantic, in case a new
rope is required, is Mr. Rowett, who, that there
may be no mistake about the matter, ex-
presses himself as willing to contract to lay the
rope from Valentia to Newfoundland—everything
included—for as small a sum as £182,000, or some
£200,000 less than the capital expended by the
Atlantic Company. Such an offer has naturally
directed some attention to Mr. Rowett's plan,
which is simply that of a rope-covered electric
wire instead of the old mode of proceeding by a
wire-covered rope. Mr. Rowett's idea is to have
the conductor well and safely insulated with gutta-
percha, and then simply enclosed without further
preparation in the strands of a common hemp
cable about an inch in diameter. A piece has
already been made—not with a view of displaying
what would be necessary for the Atlantic depths,
but to illustrate the peculiar advantages which
such a mode of construction gives over the wire
cable. This specimen is certainly as light, as
flexible, and as strong as could be desired, and
these three qualities must be the very sine qua non
with all future Atlantic telegraphs. The cost of
such a cable would be only, as Mr. Rowett alleges,
£B6 per mile, its weight about 9 cwt., and its
breaking strain 4 tons, or nearly twice as much as
could ever come upon it while being submerged.—
no matter what the state of the weather, or how
the vessel
,might be plunging. To this particular
rope, as we have said, a certain amount of atten-
tion has lately been directed, owing, no doubt,
to Mr. Rowett's offer to take it in working order
across the ocean to America for a regillar con-
tract price per mile. But, beyond the feeling
due to an offer of such magnitude, and made
with such confidence of success, neither the
proposal nor the rope deserve the notice they
have attracted. Mr. Rowett's idea of a rope-
covered wire is by no means a new one,
and, what is more to the purpose, the cable is
altnost without exception far inferior in most im-
portant requisites to others that were designed some
time before this was thought of. It is light, strong,
and flexible, but so are all such ropes, and so even
is the present Atlantic cable (if we may still call it
so) in a very high degree. The difference between
Mr. Rowett's rope and others of the same kind is,
that in the former no adequate protection is given
to the gutta-percha, and never can be given by his
method_ of stranding the hemp, whereas with all
others this important point is carefully considered
and provided for. For these and for other reasons
which show the cable to have been designed and
constructed by a person unacquainted with what a
submarine telegraph requires, it is of its kind an
inferior cable, though it has dettainLy_done good
service in directing attention to the general question
of rope-covered wires for the purpose 'of deep sea
telegraphy. All the experiments in very deep seas
tend to show that the principle of a rope-covered
wire is the right one after all. For any depth under
1,000 fathoms a wire rope is the best and cheapest ;
for great depths, 2,000 and 3,000 fathoms, it be-
comes the dearest, because the worst and most diffi-
cult to submerge. No man who has ever seen a
deep sea wire laid but must have been convinced
that covering the rope with wire was only making
a difficulty which required all the costly apparatus
of paying-out machines, breaks, and check tackle to
contend against, and which in but too many in-
stances it has been impossible totally to overcome.
Any one, also, who has crossed the Atlantic would
engage to pay out a piece of common whip-cord,
without breaking it, from Ireland to Ameriea,because
in such a case there would be no strain on it, and
it could run out as fast as it chose. This ought to
be the principle on which all very deep sea ropes
should be laid down everywhere. A rope-covered
wire, light enough to be very cheap, and because
light therefore strong,—with such a coil running
from a steamer going 10 miles or so an hour, a
dozen cables might be laid across the Atlantic in a
twelvemonth if no other difficulties exist. It has
been urged that such ropes, if moved by currents at
the bottom of the sea, would chafe through at once ;
but, besides that this objection applies equally to
wire, there exists proof positive that in the greater
depths of the ocean the water is as motionless at the
bottom as the rocks on which it rests. During the
soundings taken by the Gorgon shells of the most
delicate texture, and so small that it was impossi-
ble to perceive them without the aid of magnifying
power, were brought up. Yet these shells, even to
their finest ridges, were uninjured, and had evi-
dently lain without movement in those tremendous
depths for ages. Another proof is that whenever
the strain upon the sounding-line prevented bot-
tom being at once discovered, and some 100
or 120 fathoms more line were payed out after the
lead had touched, it was always known to the foot
what surplus had gone over, as the line invariably
sunk on the spot where the lead had grounded,
and came up in a tangled mass like a ball of cord.
Such results could never have been obtained had
there been any motion far below the surface. But
a question arises with regard to rope-covered wire,
'and, indeed, sub-marine cables of all kinds if laid at
very great depths, and that is how far the pressure
or weight of the superincumbent mass of water
affects the gutta percha insulator. We may doubt
the question whether water increases in density or
whether it is compressible, but none can deny that
it has weight at least, and that this weight comes
upon the bottom of the ocean and whatever rests
there. The very minute and perfect shells being
found at the bottom does no more to disprove such
a supposition than an empty egg-shell shows that
there can be no such thing as an atmospheric pres-
sure of 151 b. to the square inch. In both cases the
pressure of air and water is equal inside and out.
But in the case of the gutta percha insulator it is
not so, and the water pressing with immense exter-
nal force would penetrate in many places where
the guard hemp was at all injured, and so gradually
permeate the substance of the gutta percha as to
reach the copper wire and seriously weaken its con-
ducting powers. We do not say that such an ac-
tion does take place, but if it is even possible it
would at once do away with the feasibility of such
rope-covered wires as Mr. Rowett proposat. In any
case his plan of constructing his rope is, as we have
said, inferior to many others of the same kind.—
Times.

ISTHMUS OF SUEZ CANAL.—The Constitutionnel
gives the following details showing the progress M.
de Lesseps has made in gaining adherents to his plan
for cutting a canal from Suez to the Mediterranean :
" We announced some days since that already more than
30 presidents or members of chambers of commerce and
consulting chambers of arts and manufactures had accepted
the mission of representing the Isthmus of Suez Company.
Since then new adhesions have arrived from the follow-
ing towns :—Avignon, Bar-le-Due, Carcassonne, Dieppe,
Dijon, Gray, Honfleur, La Rochelle, Lorient, Mul-
house, Sables-d'Olonne, Epinal, Laigle, Auch, Calais, An-
gers, Montereau, Rockfort, Lille. The movement of opinion
in favour of this enterprise is consequently more and
more evident. After having given to those who have ob-
tained the grant of the canal the most constant encourage-
ment and moral support during four years of trial, the pub
lie in France is ready, as it is throughout the continent, to
associate itself financially with the undertaking. M. de Les-
seps is preparing to respond to these manifestations of sym-
pathy by incessantly prosecuting the organisation of the uni-
versal company. He informs us, that as soon as agents shall
be appointed in all the departments of Franthcee, d
Council
foreign countries, and before the meeting of
of Administration, which is to assemble on 15th Nov.nex
he will open a public subscription in a legal form, of which
the conditions will be advertised in the public) papers. lion r
The first portion of the capital has been s,
randathird,
Theand
these who spontaneously and dirgnasyrfoaerddsriaeesresesd,yantoothhun'er
during the last four years app.lica
subscription..
tphoertmionesftoirmtpheertpaurint
undertaking will thus preserve character it ought to
7cippealrtibeannZig;ul_tiu.
have. M. de Lesseps could not fail to collect together, for
the accomplishment of his work, all those who so long sup-
ported him with their good wishes, and whose assistance so
powerfully contributed to enable him to attain the end which
he is about to accomplish."
Two MEN SUFFOCATED IN A WELL.--A fatal
occurrence happened at Chatham yesterday, by which two
men, named James Whitelock and James Gage, lost their
lives. The occurrence took place at Exmouth-terrace,
Gillingham, where was an old well which required some re-
pairs. The owner of the well had agreed with an ex-
perienced man to undertake the necessary works, but on
the latter examining the well he found that the noxious
gases had accumulated to such an extent that he refused to
go down. One of the deceased men, James Gage, however,
expressed his intention to go down, at the same time attri-
buting the refusal of the others to do so to cowardice.
Although his fellow-workmen did all in their power to dis-
suade him from his purpose he persisted in his intention,
and was lowered to the bottom. He complained that the
air was very bad and tried to light his pipe with some
matches, but could not ignite them. The men above
warned him that he had better come up, but he
refused to do so, and made preparations- for sending up the
bucket. After a few minutes, those above heard him
struggling in the water. A warrant officer, who happened
to be passing, volunteered to go down, but on reaching
the bottom was overpowered with the foul air. The
other deceased, Whitelock, then went down, but by this
time Gage was dead and the warrant officer apparently
dying. They were instantly drawn to the surface, White-
lock remaining in the well until the rope was again lowered
for him. Unfortunately, however, ho was overpowered be-
fore this could be done, and, although a workman immedi-
ately descended with a rope tied round him, he did not suc-
ceed in getting him out before he was dead, the man him.
fia filiffaws merely Iwl the clect§ v the s%