The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

ITALY.

A letter from Rome of the 14th says :—" It is
thought possible that there may be two cardinals
nominated at the consistory of the 20th, one for
Rome and the other for America. If that should
be the case, it will be the first time that America
will have had a cardinal. The persons generally
mentioned are the Auditor of the Chamber and the
Archbishop of Baltimore. The Pope has ordered
prayers to be offered up for the success of the French
and Spanish armies in Cochin China. The Giornale
di Roma in its official part speaks of the expedition
in terms very flattering to France."

GREAT SALE OF SERMONS.—NearIy eight thou-
sand copies of the Rev. Dr. Guthrie's new volume of ser-
mons were sold to the trade on the day of publication.
WRECK OF A PORTUGUESE SCHOONER AT 'VAR-
MOUTH.—THURSDAY.—Late last night the Portuguese
schooner Proilta, from Leith to Lisbon with coals, was ob-
served on the Scroby Sands. The Caistor life-boat, which
belongs to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, having
been manned and launched, gallantly put off to her assist-
ance, and soon succeeded in reaching the wreck, and in
taking offits exhausted crew of eleven men, who, in the
absence of the lifeboat's timely help would all probably
have met with a watery grave on this dangerous sandbank.
As it was, one poor fellow, a black man, died from his long
exposure soon after he had been landed. The lifeboat's
crew were engaged in their good work from ten o'clock at
night until two the next morning, and the service is con-
sidered to be one of the most spirited ever performed by the
Caistor lifeboat.

A POLICEMAN SHOT.—A policeman has been
shot at Swalwell, under peculiar circumstances. It appears
that on Wednesday morning two policemen proceeded with
a warrant to the house of a young man, named Norval,
who resides with his father at Swalwell, for the purpose of
apprehending him for being in arrears of payment under
an affiliation order. At the time when the policenien came
up, Norval and his brother were in the same room, and
Norval, who is known as a sportsman, said—in a kind of
joke it is to be hoped—he would shoot the officer with his
gun if he attempted to take him. He immediately, how-
ever, laid down the gun, and his brother took it up, and
by some means or other, in the confusion incident on the
arrest, it wentloff, and shot one of the policemen in the leg.
Both men were immediately arrested,. -and having been
taken before the magistrate on the charge *ere committed.
SHOCKING DEATH THROUGH STEALING Rif:L—
A-seaman, named George Johns, met his death- the other
evening, at Gloucester, through his clothes catching fire
while stealing rum. The deceased was one of the crew of
the Shamrock schooner, lying in the Gloucester Docks,
alongside another schooner named the Eliza, which had a
cargo of rum. He took a tea-kettle and a gimlet, and with
the latter he bored a hole in one of the rum puncheons, but
as the liquor did not run out sufficiently fast, ho bored a
vent hole.in the top of the cask, and endeavoured to catch
it in the kettle. It, however, spirted over him, saturating
his clothes? and as he had a light with him speedily became
enveloped in flames. He rushed frantically on deck, and
endeavoured to escape to his ship, a part of which he set
on fire. The captain, who was below, was aroused by the
noise, and the flames were exting-uished, but the man was
found to be insensible, and shockingly burnt. He lingered
in great agony until the next evening, when he expired.
FRIGNVITUL ACCIDENT IN THE VICTORIA
DOCKS.—This morning, at half-past 10, a frightful acci-
dent, which it is feared will terminate fatally, occurred at
the above extensive docks. A label rar, named Roberts,
who is a remarkably active and powerful man, was em-
ployed in unloading a vessel, now discharging her cargo.
The cargo was very nearly out, and of course there was a
considerable depth in the hold, it being nearly empty. The
injured man caught his foot against a spar lying on the
deck, and before he could -raise himself he fell headlong
down th
y4O feet. Being a heavy
man,
he descended
hold,
desee a depth of n
n dedwithfeaerfaLl
velocity, and reached the
bottom frightfully crushed and mutilated. He was
speedily brought out and conveyed to a neighbouring
surgeon's, but no hopes are entertained of his recovery.
HORRIBLE DEATII IN TUE FOG.—During the
dense fog which prevailed on Tuesday evening last, an ac-
cident of a shocking nature occurred to an old man at Hill
Top, in South Staffordshire. The deceased, whose name
was John Lawrence, and who was aged 74, was employed
as watchman at the colliery of fir, Hartland. At 5 o'clock
going his rounds, and
basis master's pits, when, in
lo%n,asthneeearvetnointhgeitan
oquuthestioofno,nheeor
consequence of the thick mist which surrounded the spot,
ho failed to recognise the open shaft, and fell into the pit.
l'hdeand the body in its fall bounded
n
depth,tle sides of the shaft, until upon
a reboundedshaf t isof greatagainst
reaching the bottom life was quite extinct and the corpse
dreadfully, mutilated. At the time of the accident the de-
ceasedgrandson working in the it, and it
Ras
mangled corpse fell. Manchester
as at
theirhad a f sonee
thant atd hais
Guardian

THE SHIFTING SANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
—M. Marcel de Serres, a learned geologist of Montpelier,
has just communicated to the Academy of Sciences some
curious facts concerning the "dunes," or shifting sands
existing on the French Mediterranean coasts. These
sands, it must be understood, are first thrown upon the
shore by the sea ; when dry, they are carried inland by the
winds, to the distance of seteral kilometres, covering fields
and vineyards to the depth of two or three feet, suffocating
vegetation, and transferral the richest cultivation into a
desert waste. The only e ctual means of counteracting
this evil is to plant tamaiisko along the coast so as to form
a barrier; but instances are frequent where neither
plantations nor walls have been sufficient to prevent
the sands from etrteritt• -roads and fields.-- Last
August,. two houses, several stories high, about' a mile
from Agde (Herault), weia completely buried under the
sands. The houses happened to be uninhabited at the time,
so that no lives were lost : and, fortunately, a north wind
succeeded to the opposite one which had brought the sands,
and blew them away again: M. Marcel de Serres, in study-
ing this phenomenon, has discovered that these shifting
sands form two distinct zones; the first, consisting of very
fine sand, contains very few shells or other organic matter ;
the second, on the contrary, contains a large proportion of
shells, round shingles, and fragments of rock. This second
zone remains near the coast ; the former one, on the con-
trary, is carried inland as before stated. Notwithstanding
their disastrous effect, these sands- when mixed with rich
mould make an excellent soil for growing the vine.
MINES.—The mining share market, notwith-
standing a heavy settling during the week, has continued
in a very buoyant state, and, apart from a few fluctuations
in prices, business transactions may be regarded as of a
satisfactory character. bast Basset through reports cir-
culated early in the week of failures in
s the 80 fm. level, re-
ceded to 150, sellers, but afterwards rose to 1571 1621, and
in demand ; the latest report we have seen values
the 80 west at £lOO per fm ; the 80 east, £BO per fm. ; the
wine below the 60, £6O per fm. ; the stopes in the bottom
of the 60, £6O per fin. West Stray Park shares have risen
to 5,5 t ; the silver lode of North Dolcoath having, it is
said, been met with in the north part of the sett. East
Rosewarne, after receding to 0, rose suddenly to
and left off at 1, 1. Bryntail, 101 to ' and good
business doing ; the lode has improved to £l2O
per fm. ; in our last an error occurred—instead of "mine
rather improved," which, as a correspondent says, is not
Irving much, we wrote "mine further improved." West
Caradon shares have been in request, at 130 to 135; South
Caradon, 405 to 410; South Caradon Wheal Hooper, / to / ;
Ludcott, 2/ to 2j; Gonamena, 8 to 8f; Craddock Moor,
28 to 30.—Mining Journal of this day.
The Times, in a recent " leader," very properly
compares Regent-street to a constant and perpetually re-
curring exposition of all that is grand in the manufactures
of Europe. Wealth, directed by good taste, brings to its
windows and its salons the finest and rarest products of the
world. Amongst the most recent of such novelties are the
exquisite cabinets, ink-stands, and ornaments for the writ-
ing-table, fabricated in Thraya-wood, from Algeria the
exclusive supply of which has been secured by Mr. T. A.
Simpson and Co., to give an additional grace and attraction
to their vast collection of beautiful objects of art, at the
corner of Beak-street. The boudoir of the Empress of the
French is entirely fitted with this wood. Strange, indeed,
is the reflection that, perhaps, a noble of the last regime,
felled and rough-hewed the very tree that is destined to
receive its polish from the hands of an humble, but free,
English artizan I—Vnited Service,