The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-01 00:00:00

CUBA.

The cool season had set in in the Gulf. Havana
was healty. A terrific explosion occurred in the
latter place on the 29th September ; a magazine
about a mile and a half out of the town having
blown up, it is not known by what means. There
was about 100,000 lb. of powder, besides shell. The
loss of life is estimated at 350 to 400 persons. Some
of the buildings in the city were injured, and the
gas cut off.

DISCOVERY OF ROCK SALT IN
PRUSSIA.

STETTIN, Oet. 28.—A discovery of the utmost
importance for the trade of Prussia and the coun-
tries on the Baltic generally has lately been made
at a place called Stassfurt, near this city, consisting
in an inexhaustible bed of pure rock salt. It is now
some months since vague and uncertain reports of
the discovery were circulated amongst our mer-
chants here ; but they were at first discredited, on
the ground that the general geological features of
Pomerania, being of alluvial and diluvial formation,
were not of a nature to cover a large deposit of salt,
although it was well known that there are in many
parts of the province saline springs which are used
by the Government for the artificial manufacture
of salt.

The fact of the discovery is, however, now so well
authenticated as to convince the most sceptical.
A small cargo has been sent this summer to Scot-
land, to be used in salting herrings, and the result
of the experiment has proved in every way satisfac-
tory, the quality being considered even superior to
the Liverpool rook salt. As these salt beds are
of very considerable extent, and from their
proximity to the sea the produce can be raised
and shipped at a very low figure, the discovery is
likely to bring about a perfect revolution in
the salt trade, which in Prussia is a Government
monopoly; and I may mention in proof of
this assumption, and as the first-fruits of a practical
result, that the Minister of Commerce has, in con-
sequence of the discovery, ordered the saline works
at Coberg and Coven to be discontinued, it being
found impossible to oompete profitably by any arti-
ficial means with this prolific natural store. Govern-
ment has fixed the price for the present at six
board
abaotutll
s.
silbergroschen per centner
(equal
to
sterling per ton), delivered free
on bar
Stass-
furt, which is about the shipping price at Liverpool.
It is, however, highly probable that a great reduc-
tion will take place, as the actual cost of production
one-fourth of the above figure.
only amounts to
Under these circumstances the large importa-
tions of salt annually received from England will
of course altogether cease, and the Stassfurt rock
salt will be able, from the extreme cheapness of its
production, to compete successfully with Liver-
pool for supplying Russia and the other Baltic
States with this necessary article, thus creating a
new and lucrative branch of commerce for
the merchants of Prussia. An unlimited sup-
ply of cheap salt will also have a corre-
sponding favourable effect on the development
and increase of many chemical articles manu-
factured in Prussia, in which salt is the prin-
cipal ingredient. The falling off in our imports of
salt, soda, &c., will, however, be more than com-
pensated by the increase in the exports of
this town which cannot fail to take place,
and thus tend to restore the just !:equilibrium
between our imports and exports, the for-
mer having for several years past considerably
predominated—so much so that a large part of the
vessels bringing goods to Stettin are unable to find
return freights, and are therefore compelled to sail
in ballast, which tends to materally raise the inward
frieghts on cargoes bound for this port.