The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 13, 1867.

11 lIE CITY OFFICES COMPANY
(Lisnit, (1).

NuTTCE IS HEREBY GlVrlv, that at a Meeting cf the
hoard a CALL of 4:5 per share It :8 been made lid day on
the shares of th!s Company. payable on the 20.11.1une next,
at the London and County l;au, 0.21, Loinbard•street,
London. _ _

By order, •
0. W. BESWELL, Secretary.
Palmerston-buildings, Old Broad-street,
London, May 9, 1867.

111ANK OF BRITISH- NORTH AMERICA.
aocorporated by Royal Charter).
The DireetorQ ot the Rank of Briitsli No: th Amo lea DO
11 L' iilltY INTi NOTIC that the Y 0•A. It LI" N i.
31 041 fING ot l'ioprietors will b., hell pars❑a.,r to the Deed
of Settlement, oil TUA42BDA Y. ti 4th June next, at the
London 'raver'', Righopsg•ate-strtiet, at One o precisely,
when the El, etion ot Three D,reet.ds in the roam of those
going out by the provisions of the Deed will take place.
• By order of the Court.
C. MilsTAB, 'Secretary.
124, Bishopsgate-street Within, London,
May 13, 1867.

CLERICAL, MEDICAL, AND GENERAL
LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY.

BONUS MEETING, 1867.

The Report presented at a Meeting held on the 3d
January last, for the declaration of the EIGHTH Bows,
showed,

1. As TO THE PROGRESS OP THE SOCIETY,
that, during the quinquonnial p3riod which terminated on
the 30th Juno, 1866,

NEW ASSURANCES for a total sum of £1,518,181,
and yielding £50,497 in Annual Premiums' had been
effected, of which sums the former exceeded by £31,811,
and the latter by £2,332, the correspondino- items of any
previous period ; that ..
THE INCOME had increased from £195,400 to £215,327
per annum ; and that
THE ASSURANCE FUND, after payment of £85,303
on account of Bonus at the last Division, had risen from
£1,422,191 to £1,619,539.

2. As TO THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE SOCIETY.
That the Assets on June 30, 1866, were £1,619,539 14 8
And tho Liabilities on the same date ... 1,343,708 19 2

Leaving a surplus of £275,830 15 6

and that, after setting aside £50,000 as a special Reserve
Fund,

THE AVAILABLE PROFIT was £225,830 15s. 6d.,
of which sum £225,000 was recommended for division.

3. As TO THE RESULTS OF THE DIVISION.
That the portion of this sum of £225,000—viz., five-sixths,
or £lB7,soo—which fell to the Assured, would yield a
REVERSIONARY ADDITION TO THE POLICIES
of £272,682, averaging 45 per Cent., or varying, with the
different ages, from 32 to 85 per Cent. on the premiums
paid since the last division; and that the
CASH BONUS, which is the exact equivalent of such
Reversionary Bonus, would average 26 per Cent. of the
like premiums.
The Report explained at length the nature of the In-
vestments and the bases of the Calculations, the results of
which, as above shown, are eminently favourable.

The next DIVISION OF PROFITS will take place in
January, 1872, and Persons who effect NEW POLICIES
BEFORE THE END OF JUNE NEXT will be entitled
at that Division to one year's additional share of Profits
over later Assurers.

Prospectuses, Forms of Proposal, the Report above men-
tioned, and a detailed account of the proceedings of the
Bonus Meeting, can be obtained from any of the Society's
Agents; or of

GEORGE OUTOLIFFE, Actuary and Secretary,
13, St. James's-square, London, S.W.

A ESKELL, SURGEON-DENTIST, author of
"Dental Surgery,' " Pare DYndstry.'' " Dental
Aruesthesta," dm. may be CONSUL 1'F.13 DAILY as hitherto
from 10 to 4 o'clock, at his ONLY reidenze, 8, Grosvenor-
street, Bond-street.

ARTIFICIAL TEETH !—For price uhequalled.
For use, comfort, and appcaran c un:urpassed.
PAINLESSLY Isuppled (in a few hours when required) by
Mr. DAY, DENTIST,
291, Regent-street (3 doors from the Polytechnic),
Late principal assistant to Mr. ESKELL, of 8, Grosvenor-

street, W.

DEA FNESS.—The ORGANIC VI B RATO R.—
It fits into the ear, not perei ptible, removes mityzing
noi.es in the head, and enable` deaf pe•eons to hear at public
assemb lea. Every other kind of iiearimi instrument. Nume-
rous jestimon'als for Inspection -S. and .'. SOLOM.uNS,
Albemarle-street, Piccadilly.

PEA IS CHEAPER THAN EVER.
6 1., 25., 2s 6 1. per lb. are the prices at which
PUILLi I'S and CO ,
Tea Merchants, 8, King William-street. City, Llndon, E.C..
rare sel:ing good and fine
BL kCK TFA.
A. price current post tree. 40s worth cars-laze free to any
Railway tion ot• Mark-t Torn in the tinted Kingdom.
All goods carriage Tree to all p trt3 of London.
Observe— Prirwrs and Co. have no Agents.
sugars are supplied at market prices.

GEOLOG Y.-ELEMENTARY COLLEC-
TION 4, to illustrate the New Edition of "Lyon's
Elements of Geology" and facilitat the important study of
Mineralogy and aentogy, can be had at 2,5, 10, 20, 50 to 503
guineas ; also single Specimens of 31merals, }folks, Fossils,
and ite:ent Shells, Geologfml Hammers. xis the recent
Publ.:la:ions, No., of J. TENNANT. Mineralogist to Her
Majesty, IW, Strand, Lon•ion.
Private Instruction is given in Mineralog/ and Geology by
Mr. TENNANT, F.G.S., HD, Strand. W.C.

DR. SCOW'S LIVER AND BILIOUS
PILLS.—A NEVER FAILING- REsll4:DY.—Pre-
tared without any mercurial ingredient, from the recipe of Dt.
;colt., of Bromley, Kent, will be found Invaluable to all who
offer from bilious and liver complaints, lnligestcri, wind,
,palms, giddiness, Muinet,a of the eyes, &a For habitual
ostiveness, as a family aperient medicine, and as a purifier
the blood, they are truly excellent; mild in their opera-
tion and g-rntetul to •tbe stomach, they create appe ite, pro-
note digestion, and strengthen the whole nervous system.
Prepared only and s sld by W. Lambert., Chemist, f, King
William-street, Charing-cross. London, and by most drug-
gists, in boxea,ls. itd., and three times the quantity in one,
Ls. 9d. Be sure to ask for Dr. Scott's Bilious and Liver Pills.
rhe genuine are a square erects outage. with " William
Lambert." enzraved ,n the stamp.

THE Fathers of St. Peter's Italian Church have
kindly given the use of the ROOM, Back-hill,
Hatton-garden, in which the meetings of St.. Peter's Ca-
tholic Total Abstinence Society are held, for the purpose
of a READING by Mr. SOMERVILLE on the Evening
of May 17 —Subject: Mr. Charles Dickens' " PICKWICK
PAPERS"—in AID of a FUND for the WIDOW and
FAMILY of the late T. E. BRADLEY, Founder of " The
Lamp."
Tickets, Fourpence each, to be had of Mr. W. D. Scott,
at the Presbytery, Our Lady and St. Joseph's, 170, Culford-
road, Kingsland, and of Mr. James Duffy, publisher, 22,
Paternoster-row. Also of Mr. Charles M`Carthy and other
members of St. Peter's Catholic Total Abstinence Society.
Doors opened at half-past 8, to commence at a quarter
before 9 precisely. Entrance in Back-hill.

PAINLESS SYSTEM OF DENTISTRY.
Just published, price 3d. Post free four stamps.
TOTAL ABOLITION OF PAIN
IN DENTISTRY.
By Messrs. GA.BRIEL, the old established DENTISTS,
64, LUDGATE- FULL, CI Ty, • 56, li A ttL EY-sT tti.; Iv., London.
131, DUICE-STREE T, I. IVI4.:ItPUOL.

A convention of shipbuilders and shipowners was
held at Portland on Tuesday, April 16, to consider the
action taken by Congress for their relief. A comparison
between the provinces and this country, in regard to ship-
building, showed that here the builder is hampered by
everything in the shape of duties, while in the provinces
he is fostered by favourable legislation and aided in pro-
curing every article for his use at the lowest rate. A re-
solution was passed asking Congress to permit the ship-
builders of the country to go to the cheapest market for
the purchase of their materials, and for a steamer to be ad-
mitted free of duty and all Government taxation.

Hartford is probably the richest city of its size in
America. A list of over four hundred citizens is published
who are taxed on over $20,000 of property, and as we all
know the amount for which a rich man is taxed usually
only approximates to what he is really worth. Tho
heaviest tax-payer is James Goodwin, who is taxed on
$676,801. Mrs. E. H. Colt is taxed on $480,480 ; A. S.
Beckwith's estate on $406,000 ; the Colt arms company on
$430,000 ; E. A. Bulkley on $308,000 ; H. and W. Keeney
on $306,000 ; Mary A. Warburton on $308,000 ; Hunger-
ford and Cone on $261,000 ; I'. M. Allyn on $252,000 ;
Charles H. Brainard on $248,000 ; Sharp's rifle company
on $226,000; and there are forty others who pay a tax on
over $lOO,OOO.

The Springfield Republican says:—" Our State
Superior Court, as just reconstructed by vacancies and new
appointments, is composed as follows : - Seth Amos, of
Cambridge, chief justice ; associate justices—Julius Rock-
well, of Pittsfield ; Odis P. Lord, of Salem ; Marcus Mor-
ton, of Andover; Ezra Wilkinson, of Dedham ; Henry
Yore, of Boston; John P. Putnam, of Boston; Lincoln F.
Brigham, of New Bedford; Charles Devons, jun., of Wor-
cester; Chester I. Reed, of Taunton. The salary of the
chief justice is $3,700, arid of the associate justices $3,500;
but a bill is now going through the Legislature raising
those salaries to $4,500 and $4,200 respectively.
The Lowell papers say that many young, enter-
prising men, owners of real estate in that city, are leaving
for the West. From other places in New England, we
learn, a great many are following a similar course.
GAS FRO3I PEAT.—At the Glenn's Falls Gas-
works in Troy, New York, the experiment of substituting
peat for coal in the manufacture of gas has been tried with
considerable success. The Troy Times says that 150
pounds of dried peat, taken from a bed not more than three
feet below the surface yielded 784 feet of gas, or five and
eighty one-hundredths of gas to the pound, while from the
best coal used at the works the yield of gas does not ex-
ceed four feet and forty one-hundredths to the pound.
The cost of peat is much less per ton than that of the coal
usually employed in the manufacture of gas.

SPIRIT OP TUE PUBL !C JOURNALS.

41:0-
TII E " SATURDAY RKVIEW" ON THE MONEY-MAR-
KET.—A year has just passed since the fall of
Overend, Gurney, and Co. continence:l the worst
finaimial panic which our times have produced, and,
notwithstanding an apparent abundance of capital,
the effects of the crisis are very far from having
been worked off. Those economists who take into
recount nothing whatever but the law of demand
and supply must 1)e somewhat troubled to explain
the distrust which has lingered so long after the
markets have recovered more than ordinarily favour-
able conditions. Money is to be had at three per
cent. or less, the Bank has more bullion thati it
knows how to employ, the great majority of rotten
companies and tottering firms - must have been
weeded out • and yet securities of the highest cha-
racter fail to command their ordinary price, and
some which were once thought scarcely inferior to
Consols are now looked upon with a suspicion which
a year ago would not have been applied to the scrip
of the most utterly worthless association. At the
same time, ordinary trade is dull beyond all prece-
dent when the prevailing rate of discount is consi-
dered, and indeed is less vigorous than it was even
in the midst of last year's crisis. There has been
enough of mismanagement, and sometimes of
worse than mismanagement, in railway matters
to account for some of the depreciation of ordi-
nary stocks, but only the continuance of ex-
cessive alarm could have involved many
thoroughly
sound companies in the difficulties which
_have. been brought about by the disinclination of
the public to renew the debentures which were once
the favourite security of the market. That even
with money as plentiful as the current rates would
seem to show, it should be impossible for the
soundest scheme of joint-stock enterprise to be
brought out with success, is perhaps intelligible
enough, in the face of the mass of commercial cor-
ruption disclosed by the proceedings of hundreds of
companies now happily in course of winding-up.
But the caution that now prevails is as fatal to com-
mercial progress as the reckless spirit which preceded
the crisis, and it almost seems as if the true mean
between foolish credulity and helpless timidity could
never be preserved. It seems as if we were always
either manufacturing the next crisis, or slowly re-
covering tone after the prostration of the last; and
it would probably be quite as easy to judge of the
state of commercial and monetary affairs from no
other data than the severity of the last disturbance,
and the time that has since elapsed, as it is to arrive
at any safe conclusion from a mere know-
ledge of the relative demand and supply of money.
The one happy circumstance of the present time
is the fact that every month places us further
from the influence which originated all the evils
complained of, while all experience justifies the
hope that a considerable interval of years must
pass before we need fear the recurrence of the
periodical malady of trade. And of late there have
been some indications of a decided improvement in
the languid tone of commercial affairs. Exports,
indeed, may be less than they were when our
troubles were at their height, but this is a matter
in which effects follow their causes slowly ; and
there is no need to donbt that the present revival
in the money-market, by the restoration of capital,
will in due time produce its full measure of foreign
trade. Whether joint-stock enterprise will ever
recover any vitality until the commencement of a
new epoch of wild speculation is much more doubt-
ful. There are times when no one will touch a share
in a new company, and there are times when any
sort of company, however absurd, can place its
Capital without the smallest difficulty ; but it is
very rarely, and only for brief intervals, that the
public has at once the sense to eschew bubble spe-
culations and the courage to embark in legitimate
undertakings. It is one of the most lamentable
features of the game of speculation that there is
so little discrimination between good and bad ad-
venturers. Two or three years of extravag tnt
gambling lead to a crisis, and are followed by two
or three years of sluggish abstention from a form
of investment which, however discredited by its
abuse, is the backbone of all the great enterprises
of modern times. If anything great is done, it is a
company that does it. The world is covered with
railways en tirely by associated capital, except where
Governments have taken the business of road-mak-
rhg and traffic into their own hands. The audacious
enterprise of uniting England and America by a
telegraphic cable has succeeded through the per-
s.stency of a company, or rather a-series of com-
panies, and it is well even now, when shares of all
kinds are despised and depreciated, to remember
that no substitute for joint-stock enterprise has
yet been discovered, and the alarm which is the
reaction from the follies of past years is itself
preparing the way for an inevitable reaction
iajuture. Still it may be long before the waters
that have ebbed can resume their natural level,
and it must be expected that, of all the forms
of property which have suffered from the crisis,
share-property will be the last to recover the
blow. This is not very material to proprietors who
can wait, with something like certainty that no
sound investment can fail, in a few years, to com-
mand its market value, and hi a few years more to
be again inflated to some extravagant price, in com-
pany with a host of spurious imitations which will
equally serve the purpose of the next great gambling
crisis. The panic about railway debentures, as it
is for the most part without foundation, ought to
be especially short-lived. The worst of the railway
companies will probably have their affairs adjusted
upon such terms as plundered creditors and deluded
shareholders may find it expedient to agree upon.
Improved financial machinery will avert in future
the pressure which even good companies have
felt when called upon to pay debentures, the
power of renewing
tpyu
limit
i tn t
ie anwhich at will had ways
been 'calculated on ; and as trade revives
atti
grows, and the lesson taught by
bition of Railway Boards, a
period of gradually increasing traffic, and of peace
and goodwillamong neighbouring companies, ought
adversity erps
to last until the universal recovery shall once more
stimulate the spirit of encroachment and specula-
tion. Whether the recovery may in any case be
rapid or slow, it is tolerably certain that, in the
absence of such misfortunes as bad harvests and
foreign wars, trade must improve, railways prosper,
and miscellaneous companies be once more recog-
nised as occasionally within the pale of legitimate
investment. And ther,, is some reason to think
that this improvement will henceforth be less tardy
than it has hitherto seemed. Though in ordinary
times political difficulties at home, and foreign wars
in which we are not engaged, have a comparatively
slight effect on commercial affairs, the dread of
them is a powerful influence at a time when people
are in a state of mind, and look rather at the
gloomy threatenings than the brighter prospects of
the future ; and it has seemed as of late as if the
markets, struggling to recover from their long de-
pression, were kept down from day to day by the
rumours of war abroad, and by agitation at home,
which have been so 'rife during the present year.
All at once war promises to make way for peace ;
even Mr. Walpole's blunders, however pregnant
with future mischief, have failed to produce do-
mestic disturbance; the probability of getting the
awkward Reform business finished this year is
visibly increasing ; and a burst of glorious weather,
just when it was most wanted, encourages the hope
of a more than usually good harvest. Thus all
the secondary influences of the market are for the
moment working iu a favourable direction ; and
if this cheerful prospect should continue, it
cannot fail to hasten the recovery from that state of
uneasy stagnation which has survived the symptoms
that originally justified it. It is not to be supposed
that a shock so exceptionally severe as that of last
year can fail to leave its mark upon the country for
some time yet to come; but if we cannot look for
unheard of expansion in trade, with all the apparent
wealth that accompanies a period of inflation,
everything points to steady, if not rapid improve-
ment, and to the res'oration of credit upon a basis
a good deal sounder, if somewhat less magnficent,
than that which preceded the year of collapse.

A DOMESTIC ROMANCE.-011 Monday last an in-
quest was held at Sheffield on the body of Samuel Platts,
whose death took place under the following singular cir-
cumstances. About 17 years ago he deserted his wife and
family, and went to America. A few years afterwards his
wife was told that he had died, and as no tidings wore re-
ceived from him it was supposed that this statement was
true. Nothing more was heard of him till last Thursday
week, when he came to Sheffield from America, and made
himself known to his wife, who was still living, and to his
two children. Since his return he seems to have suffered
a good deal of remorse for having left his wife and family,
and he frequently told his wife that the day for amend-
ment was past. Tho night after his return home he was
taken ill, and gradually got worse till the following morn-
ing, when he died. The result of a post mortein examina-
tion showed that he had died from taking a large quantity
of powdered opium. The jury returned a verdict that the
deceased died from poison administered by himself whilst
in a state of unsound mind.

Mr. Cartier, Attorney-General of Lower Canada,
had an interview with Lord Stanley at the Foreign Oltiee
on Tuesday last.

OCEAN CABLES.

The scientific journals of America are occupied
in discussing an invention of Mr. Thomas Silver
I;',anigl 1 istloi appeNewifro
Itleon
dblea isafinedd Naviiltphartehneticyloubbtliet
for p,ying out with perfect security ocean cables.
line
nd
little attention is given on this side to increasing
the telegraph communication with America. it is
not so, however, on the other side. Besides the
Florida and Cuba and the Florida and Lisbon cables,
a charter has just been granted by the New York
Legislature to a company who propose laying a
cable from New York to Brest.' 'i'he American
brain is busy devising schemes for laying new lines
to connect New York with Europe. It is there
thought that a cable of less diameter, cheaper in
construction, capable of being laid by a smaller
vessel than the Great Eastern, and therefore far
less costly, could be carried across the Atlantic. In
paying out such a cable two great difficulties would
have to be overcome. In the first place, the thinner
cable, which could be taken by a much smaller ves-
sel, woull be weaker, and more liable to part under
the strain of a sudden jerk. In the second place,
a smaller vessel would be less steady than the Great
Eastern, arid more quickly acted on by the huge
waves of the ocean. The attention, therefore, of
scientific men has been drawn to -devise some
mechanical contrivance by which the pressure will
be carefully regulated to the strength of the line.
Captain S. Samuels, of New York, has patented an
invention by which the cable will pass through an
opening in the bottom of the vessel, midway between
stem and stern, where there is least motion. A slant-
ing tube runs from this hole to the deck, on which the
paying out machinery is placed, and serves both
to exclude the water and prevent the bend of the
cable in passing out from assuming too abrupt an
angle. Mr. Silver's plan is given both by the
Scientific American and the American Artisan at
considerable length, and is well worth the space
accorded to it. The latter journal states—" The
machinery used from the first attempts to lay the
cable of 1857 to the consummation in 1866 was partly
subject to serious certain objections, and well calcu-
lated, in the opinion of many, to destroy the cable.
The heavy weight of some hundreds of pounds used
as a dynamometer that stretched the cable taut
between two pulleys, restrained on the one hand by
the break and on the other by the weight of the
portion overboard, was an unfit load upon it at any
time; but when the toss of a ship on a high sea
drew upon the great length of it clinched by the
water against prompt relief, the cable, of necessity,
contended with counter restraint in this weight, and
when an apparent dancing' would have been seen
had a spring-balancebeen substitutedfor the weight,
the latter served so arbitrarily to regulate the move-
ment of the cable that one unfamiliar with mecha-
nical cause and effect would as little appreciate the
frequent severity of strains imposed upon the rope
as the variable forces of an engine that drives the
fly-wheel imparting, from same principles, evenness
of motion. Various proposed plans for avoiding
the evil effect of a rough sea upon the cable have
been the subjects of English and American patents."
The Scient?fic American says :—" Should a fisher-
man, whose float is some distance from the end of

his rod jerk up suddenly a portion of his line that

may have sunk between himself and the float, the
resistance of the water to the movement of the
slender line will bend his pole, and the writer has
in his experience broken his fishing tackle without
gaining a fish. The generality of ships are liable
to pitch and tumble at sea, and even the Great
Eastern can perform a " grand swing." These
moverneuls, which are irresistible, or even a Violent
cross sea, -af6 severe on a cable of any ordinary
thickness, which, on the other hand, is subjected in
its movements frequently to some miles of friction
in the water, and much of it at great depth. Being
liable to the strains and tension of these contending
mechanical and elementary forces and resistances,
a cable needs to be paid out from some contrivance
that will yield readily and neutralise their effect."
The details of the new invention are thus given :
—Mr. Thomas Silver, of New York, exhibits a
working model, which is a modification of one plan
of his marine engine governors, that demonstrates
the paying-out of a cable automatically without re-
ference to the speed of a ship, in quantity adaptable
to the various depths of the sea, and registers the
weight hanging upon the ship at all times, and can
be arranged for drawing a profile of the bottom;
by the same apparatus, also, drawing in for the
purpose of repairing can be accomplished without a
possible overstrain upon the cable ; in short, as it
is not within human control to select to any cer-
tainty suitable weather for the purpose, the appa-
ratus is prepared for all probable or even possible
contingencies in the laying submarine cables.
The paying-out is performed from a drum of suit-
able diameter, around which the cable is wound a
sufficient number of times to prevent slipping, but
instead of the periphery of the drum being flat, and
using as heretofore a so-called knife to force the
coils of the cable laterally to prevent its overriding
itself, or a duplicate drum to control its direction,
the drum in the present case has a crescent or semi-
circular groove, on to one side of which the cable is
guided, from where it naturally creeps to the lower
part of the crescent and prevents the possibility of
overriding itself. The shaft on which this drum is
keyed is geared by means of a system of differen-
tial gearing acting through coiled springs, with a
friction-clutch or break that may be made to limit
the degree of resistance considered prudent to re-
strain the cable ; and a dial is moved with the ac-
tion of the springs to indicate exactly the weight of
cable suspended overboard. When paying-out, the
drum is allowed to turn only in the paying-out di-
rection ; any slack of cable that may accrue from
the sudden lifting and fall of the stern of the ship,

or lateral blow of a sea, will be absorbed by the for-
ward movement of the vessel.

At the stern of the vessel the cable passes over a
shieve and through a tube widened horizontally at
the bottom end, the tube being attached to a rock-

shaft which serves as the axle of the shieve, and its

position being controlled by the varying angle at
which the cable may be running out. The oppo-
site end of the shaft, which is rocked by the motion
of the above tube, moves a pointer that indicates to
the engineer in charge of an adjustable governor
that limits the egress whether the cable is running
out too slack or too taut, so that he may adjust
the governor accordingly, and this avoids the ne-
cessity of any consideration as to the speed of the

ship.
In case of hauling in cable, steam or other power
is applied to a shaft carrying a pinion that gears into
the differential arrangement, and, while it turns

the drum and winds inward, the latter may, never-

theless, cease its motion when the cable reaches its
limited strain, or will even allow it to run out again

rather than it shall be injured, reassuming its in-
ward motion again as soon as the cable is relieved,
the engines or driving power working on in the
meantime irrespective of the action of the drum.
It was the want of an equivalent device to this
for hauling in, that the cable of 1865 was lost, but
it is of the first importance that means be employed
in -paying out that will avoid the damage that
causes the necessity for battling in.
It is to be hoped that the different submarine
cable companies now organising may appreciate the
danger of a fatal moment to their undertakings, and
will employ the best appliances of any kind to
secure success. Although it is prudent to select
the most favourable season of the year for the

---....,
work, it _is quite clear that the dangers of stormy
weather may be greatly diminished, and also the
necessity for the use of a Great Eastern, may be

obviated.

The New York Senate has passed the eight-hour
law by a vote of 22 to 5 The Assembly has passed a bill
giving to all new railroads 20 miles in length built, in the
State $5,000 per mile.

PRICE. ad
STAMPED sd.

Her Majesty's Ship Minotaur.

On the Nth of September of last year the Mb ,o-
taur made her light-draught trial of speed, draw dr;
23 ft. tin. of water forward, and 24ft. lin. af.:.
With an indicated power of her engines of 6,31.;
she then realised a mean speed of 14.779 knots, th,
mean of the engines' revolutions being 57.583 per
minute. Reduced from full to half boiler power,
the mean speed of the ship was 12.387 knots, with
an indicated horse-power of 3,5,11, and mean revo-
lution of the engines of 47-375. On that occasion
we fully described the engines of the ship, it is there-
fore only necessary to repeat here that they are by
John Penn and Son, on the welt-known and hori-
zontal two-cylindar principle of the firm, of 1,350-
horse power, nominal. The ship is the first vessel
of her class that has yet been placed in commission,
and is also the largest ironclad in commission afloat.
She stands on the Navy List, with her sisters, the
Agincourt and the Northumberland, as a ship of
6,621 tons, and her length is 400 ft. between per-
pendiculars. Her rig is five masted, which may
either be described ai bow, fore, main, mizen, and
jigger masts, or fore, main, mizen, forward jigger
and after jigger masts. Four of her masts carry
each a lower yard, double topsail yards, and a top-
gallant yard. The fifth, or after jigger, carries fore
and aft sails. The hull is ylncased with
armour, and finished off externally in as bare and
fighting a condition as may be possible. The arma-
ment of the ship consists of four l 2i ton and 18 Gi
ton muzzle-loading rifled wrought iron guns,
mounted on the main deck on wrought iron car-
riages and slides, and four other 6A--ton guns on the
upper deck as chase guns. The carriages and slides
for the 121-ton guns weigh 75 cwt. The 12k-ton.
gun throws a solid shot of 2501 b., with a battering
charge of 431 b. of powder. The 61-ton guns
throw a solid shot of 1151 b., with a battering charge
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largest guns, and there are but two or perhaps three
of the heaviest plated of the American turret-ships
that could resist the same kind of shot from her 61-
ton guns.

The Minotaur was docked on Tuesday last, and
the pitch of her four-bladed screw altered to its
finest set. On the following clay she was undocked,
and on the Thursday she steamed out of harbour to
Spithead in readiness for her trials on Friday, tak-
ing a preliminary two hours' steaming off the east
end of the Isle of Wight before anchoring at Spit-
head, and working her engines up to 60 revolutions.
On Friday she weighed her anchor from Spithead
shortly after noon and entered upon her trials,
which lasted until past sunset, the results proving
very successful, as will be seen by a reference to
mile figures. The draught of water was 25ft. Bin.
forward, and 26ft. 11. in. aft. Her four-bladed
screw was set at a pitch of 22ft. 2in., the length of
the blades being at the periphery lft. 7in., and at
the root 2ft. 3in. The depth from the under part
of the ship's keel to the upper edge of the screw
was 2411. llin. The coal in bunkers and the coal
on deck fer the trial (Steam Navigation Coal) was
as nearly as possible 700 tons. Wind on the mile,
light from the south-east. Water perfectly smooth.
In making the circles, after the conclusion of the
runs over the mile, off the east end of the island,
the wind freshened to a force of from 3 to 4, and
there was sufficient swell to give the great ship quite
a lively motion. The subjoined figures give the
main results of the trials with full and half boiler
power on the measured mile, and in making circles.
The ship was timed throughout by a Benson chro-
nograph, and the greatest possible care was taken
in making the observations :
MEASURED MILE.—FULL BOILER POWER.

First Run.—'Time, 4 min. 6 sec. ; speed of the
ship, 14.631 knots ; revolutions of engines, 61-5.
Second Run.—Time, 4 min. 18 sec. ; speed of
ship, 13.953 knots; revolutions of engines, 61-5.
Third Ran.—Time, 3 min. 58 sec. ; speed of
ship, 15.126 knots ; revolutions of engines, 62-5.
Fourth Run.—lime, 4 min. 30 sec. ; speed of
ship, 13.333 knots ; revolutions of engines, 61-5.
Fifth Run.—Time, 3 min. 53 sec. ; speed of
ship, 15.450 knots ; revolutions of engines, 62.
Sixth Run.—Time, 4 min. 36 sec. ; speed of
ship, 13.043 knots ; revolutions of engines, 61-5.
Steam pressure, 251 b. ; vacuum, mean, 25in. ;
mean speed of the ship with full-boiler power,

14.357 knots ; indicated horse-power of the en-
gines, 6,956.

HALF BOILER POWER.

First Run.—Time, 4 min. 20 sec. ; speed of ship,
13.846 knots; revolutions of engines, 49.5.
Second Run.—Time, 6 min. 8 sec. ; speed of
ship, 9.783 knots ; revolutions of engines, 50.
Third Run.—Time, 4 min. 19 sec. ; speed of ship,
13.900 knots; revolutions of engines, 49-5.
Fourth Run.—Time, 6 min. 14 sec. ; speed of
ship, 9.890 knots; revolutions of engines, 50.
Mean speed of the ship with hal boiler-power,
11.897 knots.

As soon as the ship had m vie her last run with
half-plwer over the mile she was steamed out from
Spithead until outside the Nab Light, and with
Dunnese-head broad on her Waal, when she was
put through her circling experiments, there not
being sufficient space for the purpose between the
shoals inside the island. Two circles were first
taken with full-boiler power :

Helm aport.—Relieving tackles on the tiller with
60 men, 30 on each side. Men at wheel, 18. Helm
up in 1 min. 7 sec., 3I turns of wheel ; angle of
rudder, 40 deg. Half-circle made in 3 min. 21 sec.
Full circle, 7 min. 19 sec. Revolutions of engines
on circle, 55.

Helm to starboard.—Without the aid of relieving
tackles.—Men at wheel, 18. Helm up in 2 min.
20 sec., 21 turns of wheel. Angle of rudder, 23
deg. Half-circle made in 3 min. 50 sec. ; full circle
in 7 min. 38 sec. Revolutions of engines on

circle, 55.
Hydraulic steering Apparatus.—Three men at
the; upper deck lever. Helm up in 31 sec., three
turns of wheel. Angle of the rudder, 33 deg. to 37
deg. Half-circle made in 3 min. 39 sec. ; full circle
in 7 min. 4 sec. ; revolutions of the engines on the
circle, 55. With half-boiler power the half-circle,
helm to port, was made in 3 min. 21 sec., and the
full in 6 min. 41 sec. With helm to starboard
the time was, half-circle, 3 min. 52 sec. ; full,
7 min. 38 sec. The last experiment made was
in testing the action of the engines in answer to
any sudden and unexpected order. They were
stopped from full speed ahead iu 13 seconds,
started ahead to full speed in 19 seconds,
and reversed to full speed astern in 11 seconds.
This concluded the day's trials. The magnificent
machinery of the ship acted perfectly from •first to
last, and in a manner that must be highly gratify-
ing both to the contractors and the Admiralty. The
temperature was very high below, the f ire stokehole
thermometer recording from 135 deg. to their maxi-
mum point, 142 deg. The after stokehole was 120
deg. to 135 deg., and the engine-room reached 108
deg.
The ship was under the command of Capt. Jnmcs
G. Goodenough, flag captain to Rear-Admiral F.
Warden, C. 8., but the trials were made under the
superintendence of the Captain of the Steam Re-
serve of the port. Mr. J. Harding, Trinity and
Queen's pilot, piloted the ship. Mr. Mathews and
Mr. Anderson, of the firm of John Penn and Son,
the makers of the ship's machinery, had charge of
the engines during the trials. Mr. E. J. Reed, the
Chief Constructor of the Navy, was on board dur7
ing the full-boiler power trials over the measured
mile. The Minotaur. anchored at Spithead after
her trials had been concluded for the night, but on
Saturday morning, soon after daylight, she steamed
into Portsmouth harbour again to complete some
fittings by the shipwright department, &c., prepara_
tort' to entering actively upon her duties as the flag-
ship of the British Channel squadron for 1867.

GUN CLUB.
i The members of the Gun Club met in grealloraffk
1 ;Saturday las; on their shooting ground in Shepherd's_
;bush, and a fine afternoon's sport took place. The betting,
-sas usual, ruled at 7 to 4 on the "guns," and even money
!-. "vas offered that certain gentlemen did not kill their next
-two birds.
First Sweepstakes—Six gentlemen contended in this
sweep, which, after five ties between Mr. Norris, 27k,
Captain Talbot, 26, Captain Fredericks (the Niinner of the
! great Aristocratic Ifarrlicap at ere:nor:le first season), 28,
. Captain A. Burnawl, 26, ant 13,-,rkl?y Luey, 271, resulted
in a division botwcon Captain Talbot awl Captain A -
•. Barna n,/.

s;:eitt,,i Sweepstakes -No less than 19 contested in this
Nwe and out of the 5) birds that wero shot at 42 wez,e
dll,l, proving that :the majority of the shooters are in lino
form" this season. Captain Taitytt, 27, Captain Fteki-
-3'.7.c.P5, 28, Sir C. Logard, Lord :Rot-moat, 28, and J.
I wumft, ALP., 2a, each kilfed their three birds ; and in
t-• hooting off J. Lamont missed his second bird, Captain
'Palbot his fourth, Captain Fredericks his fifth ; Sir Chas,
Legard and Lord Stormont etch killed six, so they
divided.

Third Sweepstakes—There were three tics in the fl
rst
instance, and in shooting off J. Lamont, M.P., 26, missed
his second bird; Mr. Norris, 27, and Berkley Lucy, 27k,
killed twe, and they agreed to divide.
Fourth Sweepstakes—A score of competitors contested
for this sweep ; four gentlemen killed tlrree each, and in
shooting off the ties Captain A. Burnand, 26, killed his
bird before it had left the ground, and after a short con_
saltation between the secretary, president, and other
gentlemen of the committee, it was decided that it should
be. a lost bird; Mr. Rudd, 28, failed to bring down his se-
cond ; Berkley Lucy, 27j, and Mr. Davis, 26, ultimately
divided.

Fifth Sweepstakes—Mr. Norris, 27, and Major Longley,
26wi•. killed three each and divided ; Lord Stormont 28,
Mr. Davies, 27, and Mr. Robertson, 26, missed their last

TIIE SINGER,
New Noiseless Lock-Stitch
FAMILY SEWING MACHINES.
Chief Office in the United Kingdom-147, Cheapside,
London.