The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-24 00:00:00

for the murder of the widow Martens, and even
afterwards, persisted in her innocence, now confesses
her guilt. This woman, so imperturbable and so
insolent, who related such marvellous stories about
the Englishman 'Williams and a certain Count Les,
an alleged lover of the deceased, persists now in her
irony and satirical remarks. After the expiration
of the time allowed for appeal against the sentence
of which she said she would not avail herself, she
requested the Frocurenr Imperial of Melilla to pay
her a visit in person. When the magistrate came,
prisoner remarked that the jury had declared her
guilty of causing the death of Madame Martens,
by violent pressure upon her neck and chest. She
said the jury had been led into error by the doctors.
" I did not," she added, " use any violence either
on the neck or chest of Madame Mertens." Then
assuming that ironical expression of countenance
which had been remarked by everybody, she said,
" What you don't know, and ghat the doctors
could not discover, is the fact that I poisoned the
woman with prussic acid." It would be difficult to
describe the astonishment of the Magistrate at this
declaration. It appears that at the commencement
of the preliminary investigation a yoint was ne-
glected which might have led to the trace of poison.
Near the dead body a small white empty phial was
found. This phial was taken to an apothecary at
Fontainebleau, who, after inspecting it, said there
was nothing suspicious about it. This declaration
appeared sufficient to the persons who conducted the
inquiry, and the phial was thrown away. It will
be recollected that the surgeons who made the
post mortem examination said that they did not
discover any evidence of poison. The prisoner has
declared that she is four months advanced in preg-
nancy, and this statement is found to be correct.
An excellent idea of the progress made in naval
constructions and accessories in France may be
formed from an inspection of the models of ships
and machines sent from the iron foundries and ship-
yards of the Mediterranean. There are three curious
models of gunboats built for the Turkish Govern-
ment. They are about 31 metres long by about 10
metres in breadth, and are destined for river navi-
gation. Their artillery is composed of two rifle-
bored guns of 30. The sides are iron and the upper
deck is protected from balk by a peculiar system of
iron-casing. The guns are marked by iron. These
boats have a speed of from 7 to 8 knots an hour.
A screw packet boat, the Masr, constructed for the
Viceroy of Egypt, is 107 metres long, 12 metres
wide, and has a speed of 14 knots and a half an
hour. This boat, the largest of all the screw boats
constructed in France, is fitted .up very luxu-
riously. The cabins can accommodate 126 first
class passengers and fifty-four second class.
There is a distilling apparatus, which produces
abundance of fresh water. The engine has two
cylinders, of 600 nominal horse power. There are
nine iron screw transports, destined to convey iron
and minerals from Algeria to France. There are
several vessels to be employed on the Suez Canal.
A. model of a screw gunboat is furnished with a
machine adapted to 60 gunboats of the Imperial
navy. The Viceroy-of Egypt has also purchased a
peculiar steamer for the navigation of the Nile. It
only draws three feet of water, but may yet be laden
with a sufficient quantity of coal for five or sixdays.
This vessel, which is 70 metres long, made the pas-
sage from Marseilles to Alexandria without being
towed, and realised all that was expected. The
engine has a nominal power of 120 horses.
On Tuesday, which is considered an off-day, as it
is called, there were nearly 44,000 persons at the
Exhibition. To-day the number of visitors was
more numerous.

There has been a meeting of exhibitors at the
International Club, who adopted a petition to the
Government, having for object to induce it to allow
the Exhibition to remain open beyond the time
fixed by the Imperial Commission for its close (the
31st of October). I have reason to believe that this
arrangement will be persisted in ; so I will hint to
your readers who think of coming that " delays are
dangerous."
The Emperor and Empress will, I believe, return
to Paris from Salzburg to-morrow afternoon.
The weather has been like that of yesterday, not
disagreeably hot, but exhibiting indications of more
storms.

STATE OF TRADE.

MANCHESTER, Aug. 23.—We have again to report
a very irregular and unsatisfactory market in ship-
ping yarns to-day. There is an absence of business
for all markets, and to effect sales spinners and
agents would have to make a concession of id. per
The market has
week. So long as
lbbe.e
no ni
nt
tirvaet easn
do of
elparsets
sFerdi dalaly.
the.
the Liverpool cotton market continued sellers of
raw material seems
prices, and they have
ydaiffirnesulsty7cbeuetdetdheindeemlinaienitnainthine g their rates with
In home trade
tgoivheanvewparyecinipuitnaetexdpetchteedfalrlaopfidity.
yarns we have also had a very flat market to-day at
id. per pound decline, and the're is nearly a total
absence of business. The cloth market has been
extraordinarily dull since Tuesday, and not only has
business been inactive, but prices have shown fur-
ther weakness. Buyers have been very cautious and
s' especially for goods
sruesittreidetetdointhteheir
marketsoperation
f India. To-day we
have a market quite as dull and inactive as any
we have had during the week. To some ex-
tent, perhaps, the cloth market is a little firmer
than for yarn. Manufacturers have made no
change in their selling quotations since Tues-
day, and though with some of them easier
terms might be made under special circumstances,
and for large quantities they are unwilling to make
an alteration so considerable as that quoted in yarn.
The disappearance from Manchester of two Levan-
tine Jews, who have been operating here as D.
Rodetti and Co., and L. Galipoliti and Co. has
precipitated some unpleasant disclosures. These
parties had purchased goods in Manchester, Brad-
ford, Leeds, Halifax, and Nottingham in cotton
cloth, linen, woollen, and lace to large amounts, and
are supposed to have left debts owing to the amount
of something like £BO,OOO in these variaus centres
of manufacturing industry. Fro:n two houses in
the cotton trade here they obtaine I goals to th e
amount of £.5,000 each. Oue of them, mannfae,
turers and commission agents, requested the parties
to show that they had means before they trusted
them, and by way of meeting
the request they pro-
fessed to telegraph to Paris, producing soon of ter
ted to be a telegram
what Ferrer from a highly re-
spectable banking house in Paris,W bleb vouched for
their high respectability, and said they were autho-
rised to make purchases on behalf of the French
Government, They have obtained goods, it is said,
in Manchester alone to the amount of £30,000 or
£lO,OOO. The letters and statements by which they
obtained credit are reported to have been exceed-
ingly plausible.
LEICESTER, 23d,—The bright and cheerful wea-
ther of the past week has tended to improve one or
two departments of the staple trade, and with the
prospect of a successful ingathering of the harvest,
manufacturers are hopeful of a still better fall busi-
ness. The trade done now is steady---th e orders,
although not being of such large character as In for-
mer years, making up a fair whole; but some houses
complain of ascarcity of orders. The fancy yarn trade
continues dull, and yarns arc unchanged. In conse-
quence of the late successive falls in the price of the
raw material, the demand for cotton goods is vet y
inanimate. There is rather more doing in worsted
winter goods than for the past few weeks, brought
about by the fine weather
giving greater confidence.
The elastic webbing trade is not of such an en-
couraziag character, orders coming in slowly, which
compels manufacturers to resort to short time for
the present. The autumn boot arid shoe trade is
nearly over, and this branch is expected to be slack
for a little time. Materials are still increasing
Tice.

-
TIIE THUNDERSTORM IN SCOTLAND. —The thunder-
storm which burst with such violenco over Edinburgh on
Tuesday extended over a remarkably wide area. As re-
gards Scotland our correspondence shows that thunder and
lightning, along with very heavy rain, prevailed very ex-
tensively. Though the catalogue of accidents is pretty
,long, thereis A-singular 'absence, of, the usual serious ac-
companiments of a great thunderstorm, and the damageto the crops is
- alnlost the only thillz, to be deplored.—
Scotsman.