The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-31 00:00:00


In the annual report of the Director of the Mint
a complimentary reference is made to certain im-
portant improvements in the mode of parting gold
and silver, made and introduced by Andrew Mason,
Esq., Molter and Refiner in the New York Assay
Office. The improvements are to be introduced
into all the Branch Mints. These are of general
interest to refining establishments, and consist,
first, in so adjusting the melts for granulating that
the pure gold, instead of gold bullion, shall consti-
tute one-third of the mixed metal ; and, secondly,
in burning the gold in strong sulphuric acid after
one treatment in nitric acid. The first charge of
nitric acid is to be made larger than the first in the
old process, but twenty per cent. less than the
amount in both, while the consumption of fuel is
greatly reduced and much disagreeable labour re-
moved. It is estimated that the saving in one year's
business would amount to $10,000, rating the cost
of refining, at fifty per cent. greater than in New
York.

Arrangements have been made by United States
Marshal Gooding, for the reception of John II. Sur-
ratt, who will be brought direct to Washington,
and not landed at Fortress Monroe. The time of
his trial will depend upon the arrival of witnesses to
whom he has confessed his guilt. The United
States District Court, before which he will be tried,
consists of Chief Justice Carter, of Ohio ; Judge
Olin, of New York ; Judge Fisher, of Delaware ;
Judge Wiley, of the District of Columbia ; lIon.
E. C. Carrington, United States District Attorney;
and Hon. Nathaniel Wilson, Assistant District At-
torney—all thoroughly loyal and able men. The
jury will be impannelled from the residents of the
District of Columbia and its vicinity, who may
perhaps also supply him with counsel. It is not
probable that he will make any confession unless
convicted and sentenced to be hung.
No hostility has yet been manifested in the Senate,
against the bill which passed the house by a party
vote, providing for the assembling of Congress on
March 4th.

A Chicago journal says that the total amount ex.
pended on buildings during the past year, as near
as can be ascertained, is $6,750,000, which has been
distributed as follows :—
Leading architects ... 53,000,000
Other carpenters, &c. 1,900,000
Without architects 1,850,000

Total ... ... ... ... ... $6,750,000
The following figures will show the approximate
values of the structures :—

Building worth $200,000 $1
Worth $100,000 and upwards ... ... 5
Worth $30,000, and less than $100,000 ... 30
Worth $10,000, and less than $30,000 ... 60
Worth from $5,000 to $10,000 ... ... 300
Worth $1,000 to $5,000 ... ... ... 900
Small cottages, &,c. ... ... ... ... 6,500

Total $7,850
Twenty-two large sea-going steamers enter and sail
from the ports of Aspinwall and Panama monthly.
When the line to China is opened the Isthmus will
be in direct communication with almost every por-
tion of the globe.
No decision has yet been rendered by the Supreme
Court upon the question of the legality of the law
prescribing the test oath for attorneys.
The Inland Revenue receipts are now about one
million a day.

Captain John Britton, the United States Consul
at Southampton, received a letter from the Lords
of the Admiralty, before the arrival of the
yachts, of which the following is a copy, to-
gether with the captain's reply : —" Admiralty,
Dec. 20. Sir,-1 am commanded by my Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you
that they have directed Admiral Sir T. Pasley, on
the arrival of the three American yachts, which left
New York on the 11th inst., to race to Cowes, Isle
of Wight, that he is to communicate with their cap-
tains or owners, and, in case of need, offer them the
assistance of the dockyard.—I am, sir, your obedient
servant, HENRY G. LENNOX.—John Britton, Esq.,
American Consulate, Southampton." " United
States Consulate, Southampton, Dec. 21.—Sir,-1
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 20th inst., and in reply I beg to state
that I shall have great pleasure to inform the cap-
tains and owners of the American yachts now on
their way to Cowes of the offer of assistance ex-
tended to them by the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty. I have the honour to be, &c., JoHN
Burrros, United States Consul. To the lion. Secre-
tary of the Admiralty." Preparations were made
at Cowes to give the yachts and. the gentlemen on
board a suitAble reception on their arrival, and it
has been decided to invite the American visitors to
a grand banquet, to which the authorities of neigh-
bouring towns are also to be invited.
It is reported that the Americans resident in
Paris, anticipating a great influx of their country-
men, have just made an application to the police
authorities for permission to set up an American

The President has directed the various Cabinet
officers to prepare answers to the Hon. Leonard
Myers' resolution calling for a list of all removals
and appointments, &c., made during the recess.
These lists were to be sent in in a few days, and will
be much larger than is generally supposed.

The House Committee on the Judiciary have as
yet taken no action on Judge Kelley's bill for the
reorganisation of the Internal Revenue Depart-
ment.

The Managers of the Soldiers' National Asylum
have agreed to establish three homes, one in Maine,
at Augusta, which is now open ; one in Wisconsin,
for which ground has been bought near Milwaukee,
and one in Ohio, which will probably be near Day-

ton. It would have been placed in the western part
of Pennsylvania had any inducements been held out
to the managers to do so.
The profits of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New
York, for the month of October were $60,000. The
average number of guests daily were six hundred,
and the, estimated profit on each was $3 per day.
Mr. S. It. FISK, who is one of the guests on the
racing yachts, intends to remain for some months in
Europe, where he will collect matter for publica-
tion on his return.
The returns received at the Land Office from the
local office at Ionia, Michigan, show that 12,855
acres of the public lands were disposed of during
October, 6,453 acres of which were taken for actual
settlement under the Homestead law. The sales
amounted to $13,195. Under date of Nov. 19th,
1865, the Governor of Wisconsin certified to the
Secretary of the Interior that 20 miles of the mili-
tary waggon road from Fort Wilkins, Copper Har-
bour, Michigan, to Fort Howard, Green Bay, Wis-
consin, for which a grant of lands was made to
these States by the Act of March 3, 1863, to aid in
its construction, has been completed, as required by
law.

Two Spanish frigates have left Cuba to compel
Honduras to observe neutrality in the Chilian
question, and also for the purpose of protecting
Spanish commerce in the Central American waters.
Secretary M'Culloch has prepared a new Tariff
Bill, which will soon be presented to Congress. It
is anti-protective in character. The Secretary pro-
poses a reciprocity scheme for the government of
our trade with Canada, in some particulars re-
sembling that repealed at the last session of Con-
gress.

The following tests of the strength of differen
kinds of rail to resist the blow of a hammer have
been made. The rails were placed under the steam
hammer separately, resting on blocks of iron placed
14 inches apart. Each piece of rail was about three
feet long, and each received the same drop of ham-
mer weighing 700 lb. :—

No. blows
lbs. to yd. rec'd from Bent. Dented.
steam hammer.
Cast-steel rail 60 85 3.4in. 1.16in.
Steel-headed rail 68 42 3.4in. 1.8 in.
Eng. rail, 2 samples 56 ea. 24 ea. 3.4in. 1.8 in.
English rail 56 13 broke
Our Common rail 56 13 3.4in. 3.16 in.
There was no fracture in any of the above rails ex-
cept the English rail marked " broke."
Mr. Bessemer recently stated, at a meeting of
the British Association, that American iron—so far
as he had seen it—was peculiarly adapted to the
manufacture of steel by his process. The presence
of sulphur and phosphorus in Staffordshire and
other prominent English irons has been thought to
limit the value of the process to but few kinds of
irons ; but by a recent invention of Mr. George
Parry, of Ebbw Vale, which has been purchased
and improved by Mr. Bessemer, this difficulty has
in a great measure been done away. The new im-
provement is simply a preliminary puddling process
by which impurities are removed. The iron, after
being thus treated, is to be remelted and partially
recarburised, and then acted upon in the converters
n the regular way. Engineering illustrates the
mechanical puddling furnace invented by Mr. Bes-
semer to enable the process to be carried out on a
large scale. By these improvements an immense
field will be open to the Bessemer process, by
enabling it to be applied to irons not previously
available, and will no doubt tend to reduce the cost
of Bessemer steel throughout the world.
The gross earnings of sixteen of the principal
railways, whose stocks are dealt in on the New York
Stock Exchange, were $53,177,425 during the first
nine months of this year, against $54,338,917 in
the same time last year ; a decrease of little more
than 2 per cent. ; while the nett earnings of all the
roads, owing to the reduction in the cost of
material, and to some extent of labour, were larger
than 1865.

The copper districts of the United States, east of
the Rocky Mountains, to which attention has
been attracted, other than those of Lake Superior,
are as follows :--Virginia, upon the Blue Ridge
range, in Carroll, Floyd, and Grayson counties ;
North Carolina, Guilford county, &e. ; Tennessee,
Polk county ; Georgia, along the line of Gilmer
county; New Jersey, Schuyler mine of Belleville;
Connecticut, Bristol mine. Most of these mines
have been abandoned ; those of Virginia, Tennessee,
Georgia, and Connecticut were at one time
vigorously worked ; the Lureka and other com-
panies, of Georgia and Tennessee, have at times
yielded a profit to their owners.
In the United States Senate, on the 12th instant
Mr. Morgan introduced the following joint resolu-
tion of thanks to Mr. Cyrus W. Field, which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations :—
" Resolved,—That the thanks of Congress be, and
hereby are, presented to Cyrus W. Field, of New
York, for his foresight, courage, and determination
in establishing telegraphic communication by means
of the Atlantic cable, traversing through mid-ocean,
between the Old World and the New, and that the
President of the United States he requested to cause
a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems,
devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Mr.
Field. Resolved,—That when the medal shall have
been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this
joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and
shall transmit the same, together with the medal, to
Mr. Field,lo be presented to him in the name of the
people of the United States of America. Resolved,
—That a sufficient sum of money to carry this re-
solution into effect is hereby appropriated out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro-
priated." Cyrus W. Field was at Washington, ar-
ranging.with the Government about matters con-
nected with the Atlantic cable.

It has been definitely settled that a large delega-
tion from the North-west tribes of Indians are to be
sent as a contribution from the United States to the
Exposition. The Indian Bureau, and Colonel Row-
land, the Commissioner of the North-western States
and Territories, have given every facility in their
collection. Mr. Henry C. Jarrett will take the
management of the party. They will carry with
them their various costumes, wigwams, war and
agricultural implements, and will form the only con-
tribution from the United States to the tenth group
within the limits of the Exposition. They will
leave New York about the 10th of March. The
Imperial Commission has made the most urgent re-
quests, through Commissioner General Beckwith,
to the United States Government, that there should
be such a representation of our aborigines.
The cereal and mineral representation, of the
States and Territories lying between the lakes and
the Pacific, for the Paris Exposition, will be very
complete. Wisconsin and Minnesota will furnish
wheat which will fully equal the grains of Odessa.
Idaho and Montana will supply full specimens of
their precious metals. This representation has been
raised through the efforts of Colonel Rowland, the
Commissioner to Paris of all the North-western
States and Territories, who has reached Washington
from an extended trip through the country he is to
represent.

We learn that NIr. Jennings, the New York cor-
respondent of the London Times, is shortly to lead
to the altar Miss Madeline Henriques.—New York
Leader.

Mrs. Ellen Key Blunt is giving Shaksperian
readings at Berlin. Mrs. Blunt is quite Southern
in her feelings, and cannot reconcile herself to the
Union.

At Frankfort at present we notice the names of
Professor F. C. Nilsch, — Hoppin and lady, C. G.
Wiedman, and Herman Marcuse, all of New York ;
Colonel W. B. Faswell, San Francisco ; Miss
Mason, New York ; Cons,11 E. D. Webster,
Buffalo, New York ; James Etlredge, San Fran-
cisco ; Gerald Stanton, Chicago.
In Wiesbaden are now W. II. Danidge, New
York; Philip Schieffelin.and wife; A. II. Hamil-
ton, New Orleans ; Henry Schmidt, Boston.
Mrs. Randall, wife of the Postmaster-General,
is spending the winter at Rome.
We perceive by the Vienna papers that the
Breach-loading Arms Commission, presided over by
the Archduke William, have unanimously recom-
mended the Remington rifle for adoption as the
Austrian arm.

Mr. Charles Temple Dix, the son of our Ambas-
sador to the Tuileries, is now in London. With
that delicacy so ever characteristic of the family he

has dropped his military rank, to which he is by
every right entitled. We may, perhaps, be not
considered as trespassing on private matters when
we take occasion authoritatively to deny a matri-
monial alliance between a gentleman who neces-
sarily has at present a world-wide fame as a yacht-
man, and the family of a gentleman whose past
record is sufficient evidence that his connection
with the French Court will alike redound to his
personal credit, as well as the nation at large.

THE SEVENTH REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.--It is
a source of extreme sorrow to U3 that we are com-
pelled to announce to our Anglo-American readers
that the Seventh Regiment will not visit Europe
during the Paris Exhibition. A vote was taken
among the officers in New York, and it was decided
that it would be iinp:)ssible to congregate or gather
the. Regiment in such force as would make it pre-
sentable in Europe. It can easily be imagined how
difficult it must necessarily be to collect 1,000 men,
take them from their various occupations, in which
the city of New York is interested. Yet still a
vote was passed of regret that the hospitalities
which had been so generously and cordially extended
could not be accepted.
Governor Wright, our worthy ambassador at
Berlin, is seriously ill. His many friends will re-
gret to hear this. On Thanksgiving Day about 100
Americans sat down to dinner at Berlin. Among
the distinguished guests were consul Kittell, of
Baden ; General Dodge, Consul at Bremen ; Con -
sul Kriesman, Berlin ; and Consul Dickenson, of

Leipsic. Many speeches were made and several
toasts drank, and all enjoyed a pleasant evening.
We hear that the new American chapel at Ber-
lin is to be opened for service during the month
of December. Much credit is due to the popular
lady, Mrs. Wright, wife of the minister there, for
her efforts in building this chapel. A fair is soon to
be held in aid of funds for completing the interior
and to purchase fittings. It will be for the use of
all Christian denominations, though nominally
known as the Methodist Chapel, that body having
contributed largely towards its erection.
Mr. Robinson, U. S. Consul at Strasburg, is
spending the holidays at Berlin. Mr. Robinson is
the son of the noted American Hebrew scholar,
the late Rev. Dr. Robinson, of New York.

OPENING OF THE NEW BRIDGE AT PHILADELPHIA.
—The bridge which was opened for travel on the
Philadelphia, W ilmington, and Baltimore Rail-
road, on Nov. 26, is one of the largest in the
world, being about 3,500 feet long. It is exceeded
in length by the Victoria Bridge at Montreal, which
is two miles long, by the great bridge across the
Potomac, at Washington, and by the bridge across
the Delaware, at Trenton, New Jersey, and per-
haps by a few others; but there are scarcely any
bridges which have been more difficult to build,
and which have required so much science, patience,
and perseverance in the construction. The com-
pany has met with many discouragements while
engaged in the work, and, in consequence of
the failures and disasters which have occurred
during the time, the structure has cost very largely
in excess of the original estimates. But it is at
length finished, and it seems to be solid and durable,
and will be made, before it is relinquished
by the workmen, thoroughly fire-proof. It now
gives a clear road. to Baltimore, allows a consider-
able saving of time in travel, and does away with
all pretence of the necessity of an Air Line between
New York and Washington, which has been urged
by speculators. By means of the Connecting Rail-
road in the outskirts of this city, and by the accom-
modation afforded by this bridge, the time between
Washington and New York will be shortened at
least one hour, and there cannot be laid oat any
road which would secure a greater gain of time to
the travelling community between the points indi-
cated.—Philadelphia Inquirer.

COMMERCIAL.

NEW YoRK, Saturday, Dec. 15.

Ono of the most important events in the Stock Market
has been the election of the directors of the New York
Central Railroad held at Albany on Wednesday last, when
Mr. Henry Keep, of New York, was elected President, and
Mr. W. C. Fargo, of Buffalo, Vice-President. Mr. Van-
derbilt and his clique were thoroughly defeated, and an
entirely new board elected, with two exceptions. This
occurred at a meeting representing eighteen and a half mil-
lions of the stock, and the feeling of the meeting may be
seen from the fact that seventeen millions of this voted for
he successful ticket. The fact is, that the holders were
disgusted with their property being turned to political
purposes, and their interests sacrificed to this end, and
they are bent upon making the most of a splendid line, and
really governing the railroad for the benefit of the inves-
tors. Money is active at six to seven per cent. on good
collaterals, with rare exceptions of five. Call loans are
made at from six per cent. down to five. The banks aro very
cautious. Both at Boston and at Chicago the demand is
considerable, but it is thought that the stringency will be
lessened by the disburseMent of 101 millions of currency,
being the interest on the 7-30 loan, which the Treasury
will pay immediately. About half this sum will be paid
in New York. The stock markets continue dull, with now
and then a little flickering of excitement, which only serve
to show the want of strength. Some of the leading rail-
ways have rallied a trifle, but there is not activity enough
to make the rise general. The position of affairs in Con-
gress tends to make speculators wary, and all seem dis-
posed to wait till political events are more plainly indi-
cated. It is very difficult to predict what may be the
course of events, and all seem to concur that they are
more precarious than usual. The bill introduced into
Congress by Mr. Boutwell, compelling the Secretary of
the Treasury to sell two millions of gold every Monday
morning so long as ho has fifty millions, has caused much
discussion. Both Mr. M'Culloch himself and some of our
best financiers are strongly opposed to the plan. They
hold that a discretion should be left to the Secretary if
the Treasury gold must be sold, to sell when he can do so
to the best advantage, and not at stated times audio stated
amounts.

The last statement of the public debt shows that
$37,705,300 in the new 5.20's of 1865 were issued during
November, and that twenty-four millions of Seven-
Thirties, $1,125,000 of compound interest notes, and
nearly five millions in plain legal tenders were taken up
by them. Though twenty millions of coin was disbursed
to cash five-twenty coupons, the increase of the coin re-
serve had nearly balanced that amount, and the reserve
has since swelled to $90,716,000, of which $21,441,000 is in
gold certificates. The total reduction of the debt was less
than two millions, owing to the largo disbursements, but
the aggregate reduction in the last fifteen months has
amounted to $208,050,233. Gold is weak, at 137/, for the
reason that there is a very light demand for it. Tho Satur-
day's steamers took out $574,000 and $272,000 more left
for Europe on Wednesday. These are a little in excess of
the gold exports in previous weeks, but not enough- to
make any stiffening in the price. Besides, the demand
for customs is very light, having fallen below $200,000
dollars a day at New York, when a short time ago it was
$400,000. Besides, again, the secretary has been quietly
selling four or five millions of gold—a fact well substan-
tiated, though stoutly denied at first.
The decline in the produce markets still goes on; though
it is thought that the lowest prices have been reached,
and a revival in trade will spring up. Several city houses
have succumbed under their losses. The disastrous dul-
ness in woollens has been severely felt, and there is a
difficulty in making sales at any price. The
entire earnings of the New York Central for the year
ending September 30 were $11,596,784, an increase of
$621,261 over the previous year. Of this amount
$4,360,248 came from passengers, a decrease of $161,201;
and $9,671,919 from freights, an increase of $895,892. The
operating expenses were $11,013,411 against $10,882,358.
This showing would have justified a division of 8 per
cont., instead of 6, as was declared ; but the surplus fund
was increased $186,631, making it $4,407,928, and $431,991
was applied to the structure and equipment of the road.
The present debt and capital amounted ti $38,896,804.—
The Reading Railroad has declared a dividend of 5 per
cont. in cash or stock, at the option of the stockholders.
The following are about the latest prices: —American
gold, 1374; United State's coupon sixes, 1881, 112; United
States five-twenties (1862), 1071 ; X1864), 1054 ; (1865),
1051; (1865, new issue), 1081 ; United States ten-forties,
901; United States 7 3-10 loan (first series), 1051; (second
and third series), 105 ; Tennessee sixes, 91; Missouri,
901; New York Central Railroad, 1111 ; Erie, 721; Hud-
son River, 122,•' Reading, 1091 ; Michigan Central, 118 ;
Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana, 821; Illinois
Central, 118/ ; Cleveland and Pittsburg, 91; Chicago and
Northwestern, 551; Chicago and Northwestern prelim red,
751; Cleveland Toledo, 1131; Chicago and Rock Island,
1041 ; Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago, 1051; Ohio
and Mississippi Certificates, 29i ; Canton Company, 46 ;
Cumberland Coal Company, 66¢; quicksilver Mining Com-
pany, 46i.

(From E. F. Satterthwalte and Co.'s Weekly Circular,

Our advices from New York per the Scotia to the 11th
instant report slightly increased stringency in the money
market, and a decline of about one per cent. in Govern-
ment securities. Railroad stocks were slightly depreciated,
but not in proportion to the fall in gold. In State stocks
and railroad mortgages the changes were unimportant.
Notwithstanding a broken week on the London Stock
Exchange, and consequent inactivity in markets generally,
there has been a good business transacted in American se-

curitios, United States 5-20's of both issues have been in
good demand, and close with an apparently improving
tendency, closing 721 to
Illinois Central Shares have been in good demand at en-
hanced quotations, and exhibit a riso of 81 on the week,
being last quoted 74 to 79, but Eries, on lower prices in
New York, have declined to 4G1 to after having beon
taken as high as 481. First-class American Bonds gene-
rally have been in request, and any offering aro freely
taken at advanced rate's.

CU UN I'D.Y MARKET'S.

NORWICH- SATURDAY.

There was a fair supply of wheat at this market to-day,
which met a fair sale, at the full prices of last week. A
limited supply of malting b:irley, and for such the extreme
prices of this day se'nnight were maintained ; for secondary
and distilling qualities the trade was slow.. Little doing
in other articles.

White wheat (weighing 631b), 68s to 70s ; old red aitto,
(weighing 631b), 58s to 63s ; new red ditto (weighing
601b to 631b), —s to —s ; best malting barley (weighing
521b to 531b), OOs to 52s ; runs ditto (weighing 511b to 521b),
46s to 48s; distilling ditto (weighing bOlb to 521b), 363 to
40s ; oats, 24s to 26s ; beaus, ‘67s to 398 ; peas (maple), 36s
to 38s per qr. Flour, 44s Od per sack.