The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-11 00:00:00

FUE SUN, LOINDON, MONDAY EVE.NINCiI, JUNE 11, 1866.

AQUATICS.

SCHOONER MATCH ON THE THAMES.
Three matches between largo yachts, in connexion with
the Royal Thames Yacht Club, were sailed on the Thames
on Saturday, but the extreme lightness of the wind, and
occasional calms, reduced the sport to a minimum. Pro-
bably the races can hardly be considered fair tests of the
merits of the respective vessels, or illustrations of the skill
of the crews. The contests, tedious and disappointing as
they must have been to yachting men, nevertheless afforded
a holiday to the hundreds of landsmen and landswomen
who crowded the steamers from London-bridge in the
morning. The Prince of Wales saloon steamer, char-
tered by the Club Committee, spacious as her accom-
modation is, was in fact uncomfortably crowded, and the
heat was intense. The run down to Rosherville, by the aid
of the Royal Artillery band, was very pleasant, but when
the excitement of starting the yachts was over, occasional
wishes began to be expressed that the wind would
strengthen or the signal guns announce the termination of
the sailing. The extreme stillness of the atmosphere was
all the more to be regretted, because considerable interest
was felt at the yachting clubs in the performance of some
of the yachts. There were three classes, and three vessels
in each, ready for starting, at their moorings at Gravesend,
before the arrival of the committee's steamer, with Lord
A. Paget, the commodore, on board. After a brief halt at
the landing stage the preliminary signal was given, the
white sails were quickly run up, and preparations made
to be off. Three yawls, the Water Lily, Mr. G. F. Muntz ;
Zantha, Lord A. Paget ; and the Oithona, Mr. G. Salt,
worn in the position furthest down the river; the three
schooners to sail for the first prize of £loo—the Circe,
Mr. G. Harrison ; Gloriana, M. A. 0. Wilkinson,
and the Blue Bell, Mr. F. Edwards, were in the second
place ; and the second-class schooners, the Fleur do Lys,
Mr. 11. W. Birch ; the Madcap Mr. J. S. Abbott-Dunbar ;
and the Reverie, Mr. J. Courtauld, were the sternmost.
The wind during Saturday, as is often the case at this
season of the year, took the round of the compass, but at
a quarter to twelve, when the start was made, it came in
a faint breath from the south, but so faint that it was
nearly imperceptible. The tide helped the vessels to
"slew," an operation they performed with the utmost re-
luctance. Under their plenteous spread of canvass, in-
cluding of course balloon jibs and topsails, and all the
other etceteras pressed into service in cases of emergency,
the yachts looked pretty enough to warrant the usual
comparisons to clouds and swans. The turning buoy, or,
to be correct, flagship, was anchored midway between the
Nore and Mouse Lights, the original distance having been
reduced on account of the slow sailing. So uniform was
the creeping that the whole of the yachts turned towards
home between half-past four and five, and the changing
of places had been and was afterwards very slight.
The Gloriana, which at the turn was a short distance
behind the Reverie and Madcap, spread out her huge
sails in running up, and was the first in, the time being 7.42
The Circe followed at 7.55, the Blue Bell at 8.6. The Glo-
riana won the Royal .rhames Yacht Club schooner match
last year, and on that occasion the breezes were more pro-
pitious. The Circe is a Clyde iron-built vessel, with a re-
putation of superior speed. The Blue Bell is a new craft
never yet fairly tried. The Madcap obtained the prize in
the second class, coming in at 7.54, and owing her victory
mainly to her superiority in working to windward. Her
competitors were not timed. Had the walk been sterner
the Reverie, which had taken several prizes in Scotland,
would have been a serious opponent. With regard to the
yawl class, very few persons on board the steamers were
hardy enough to bet against Lord Alfred Paget's Xantha
_ _ _

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—the winner of the ocean matches both last year and this.
On the present occasion she won easily, finishing her round
at 7.56. Leaving thorough yachtsmen out of the question,
the choice music, the scenery of the Thames, the cutters
and schooners dotting the river, and the abundant leisure
for entertaining conversation, must have been the source of
no little enjoyment to the people on board the steamer.

welching fraternity, situate on Ray's Island, and
bounded by a mill-stream and the cleaner portion
of old Father Thames. There is always plenty of
water, indeed a Spring Meeting would have come
off but for the fact of the course baying been sub-
merged. Two minor welchers ventured to show in
spite of the watery element. They were both de-
tected in the act of escaping from the tight little
island. Both got duckings —the one voluntarily by
boldly taking the brook, and the other involuntarily
by being caught and thrust in. The brace of flat-
catchers in question were operating on the Summer
Handicap, where the "A's" were in great force, not
the Metropolitan division of Alpha, but the aristo-
cratic horses, whose names commenced with ourlead-
ing letter, the trio being the Marquis of Hastings's
Ackworth, Lord Westmoreland's Auditor, and Cap-
tain Lane's Ammunition. The " pots" boiled over,
and all who took liberties with mighty Jove were
astounded at the result when Jupiter landed a win-
ner by seven or eight lengths. At Hampton the
limited space of Moulsey Hurst proved wholly in-
adequate for the accommodation of
,the tens of
thousands who go from all parts of London on a
fine summer's day in every class of vehicle. The
costers, Bethnal-green bird-catchers, dog-stealers,
and the entire refuse of every metropolitan slum
seemed to have congregated together ; it became
impossible for the police to keep in check the thou-
sands of ruffians who hustled every respectable per-
son. The welchers mixed with the regulars, and
the harpies included some of the greatest black-
guards possible, who forced the gate and set up
such a screaming in search of stray half• crowns
from the humbler-looking classes that it became
impossible to stand without immense odds in fa-
vour of being robbed ; and the parties were too
strong and prevented the moral dipping process
being carried into effect. The comfort of all
respectable frequenters of great racing meetings

loudly calls for immediate and efficient reform of
such a state of things. As to procuring refresh-
ments every booth had its front covered with lisfs,
and all who approached were beset in the most
savage manner. The existing law is quite strong
enough to repress this disgraceful state of things and
to prevent systematic plunder in open day. Many
will recollect the first days when gambling booths
were permitted, and " roulette," " un deux cinq,"
and " hazard" were permitted in and under the
principal stands ; when all over the course were
games with dice and other contrivances might be
seen ? Where are they now ? Why, may not
Scotland-yard be roused to prevent
.open betting
lists by the welching fraternity. Why should the
worst specimens from Farringdon ruins or George-
yard be allowed unblushingly to ply their nefarious
cheating system among the many at our fashion-
able and mixed meetings? Why, indeed? I leave
the city bears to their own conscience ii they pos-
sess any. They only gamble on the large scale
which ruins by thousands—the welchers attack the
morals of the younger and less experienced portion
of mankind. Each is equally responsible, for who
would justify the " parties of rank and position" in
the rotten circles of stock- jobbing who combined
together and concocted a lying telegram to Bombay
that the great and safe bank bearing the honoured
name of Masterman had stopped payment, when
such an event was deemed impossible, and which
had the effect of spreading consternation and ruin
all over India. Upon this determined and most
nefarious proceeding, with others of a similar cha-
racter, the select few of the more limited family of
" wide-awakes" have netted immense sums from the
larger brotherhood of "greenhorns," and this too in
the great city of paper, where imitation religion
rules on the surface, upon which is based the rankest
and worst hypocrisy, and under the wings of which
lie nestled that gigantic and specious foundation of
well-organised plunder, whose fair superstructure
has silently and insidiously spread its intricate
meshes, and become the terror and disgrace of our
age !

Shockii'g Loss of a Ship.--Several Lives

Lost.

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The following has been received at the Foreign
Office from her Majesty's Consul at New York, com-
municating the circumstances of the loss of the ship
Bloomer, 814 tons register, belonging to the port of
London, while on her passage from Cardiff to Aden,

and the shocking fate of the captain, chief officer,
and four hands :
" We sailed from Cardiff on the 10th March, in
charge of Captain T. S. Fleming, and chief officer
Mr. F. L. Locke, the crew all told numbering 32
persons. The ship was heavily laden, drawing 19
feet 8 inches aft, and 18 feet 10 inches forward.
On the night of the 22d March, when about 100
miles west of Scilly, with a strong breeze from the
S.W., the stern ports on the starboard side were
driven in by a sea. It was the windows only that
were washed in. The ports had not been let down
and secured. The captain would not allow them
to be let down, as they darkened his cabin. The
captain had been washed out of his berth, and was
lying on the floor, unable to help himself, for he
was quite intoxicated, and had been in that state
ever since the pilot left the ship ; he had not been
once on deck, or had done any duty. The chief
officer, Mr. Locke, also got drunk. By six a.m. of
the 23d three feet of water was found in the hold, it

having found its way through the stern ports. The
ship was rolling in the trough of the sea with an
increasing gale, with no one at the wheel. The chief
mate would not let any of the hands go to it, say-
ing the ship was old enough to take care of herself.
Some of the men set to the pumps. The crew
were mostly foreigners, and could not understand
English. Soon after the sea broke over the ship,
carried away the longboat, two water-tanks, and
all the spare spars on deck, and breaking off the
main-hatch, allowing every sea to roll down. The
crew seeing the state of things would do no more
work unless the ship put back to some port. The
captain, who was still in his cabin drunk, said he
would not put back ; the ship had cost £4,000 re-
pairs, and he dare not take her back, he would
sooner go down in her. The chief mate was in the
same state roaming about the deck like a man who
had lost his senses, exclaiming ' They would all go
to hell together.' By six o'clock the next morning
the ship had become a perfect wreck, with six feet
of water in the hold, and was fast sinking. Seeing
a sail in sight about ten miles distant they went
down to the captain and forcibly got him on deck

to see the state of the vessel. The chief mate was
still below, drunk in his berth. The boats were
lowered and he was urged to get in, as the water
was increased to nine feet in the hold, the ship not
being one foot out of water. The captain agreed to
leave the ship, but would wait till the second boat
left. Robert How then pushed off in the first boat
with 11 hands. The second officer, G. F. Hill, re-
mained to bring off the rest. The other boat was
soon filled by the remainder of the crew, along with
the captain. The chief officer refused to leave the
vessel. He was in the cabin, and was over and
over again urged to come on deck, but would not ;
and it becoming dangerouS to remain any longer
alongside, the men, eager to save their lives, pulled
off without him, and made for the ' sail,' which
proved to be the Prussian ship Germania. After
they had left the ship some time they saw the mate
come on deck and wave his bat to them to return,
but they could not. The boats reached the Ger-
mania, but the second boat in coming alongside
capsized, and the captain and four hands were
drowned. The people on board the Germania did
the best they could to save the drowning men. The
captain was caught hold of by a rope twice or thrice,
but either through the effects of drunkenness, or
from weakness, he could not hold on, and fell out
of the rope and sunk below the ship, where his
legs got entangled,
and when drawn up he was
dead. Nothing was seen of the Bloomer after-
wards. She no doubt soon foundered. The Ger-
mania arrived at New York on the 24th of May.
(Signed) " GEORGE F. Mu., second officer,
" ROBERT How, Carpenter,
late of the British ship Bloomer."

The Annual dinner of the Newspaper Press Fund
tool place on Saturday evening at Willis's Rooms, Earl
Granville presiding. The attendance was numerous, the,
proceedings interesting, and the subscriptions announced
ezoeeded

Royal Banquet at Mercers' Hall.

On Saturday evening the Masters and Wardens
of the Mercers' Company, which ranks first among
the 12 principal guilds in the City of London, en-
tertained his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
and a distinguished company at dinner in their cor-
porate hall, in Cheapside. The Prince is an honorary
member of the company, and this being the first oc-
casion on which his Royal Highness had dined with
the Master they resolved to entertain him in a
manner consonant with his exalted station, and
worthy of the renown of their ancient guild. They
invited to meet his Royal Highness, among others,
Count Gleichen, R.N., the Earl of Shrewsbury, the
Eail of ,Leicester, the Earl of Cardigan, Earl
Spencer, the Lord Mayor, Sir George Clerk, the At-
torney-General, Vice-Chancellor Sir John Stuart,
Admiral Sir George Lambert, the Hon. George Wal-
degrave Leslie, M.P., and Alderman Gibbons, Sheriff
of London, the whole company }Ring 70 in number.
The approaches to the hall and various corridors
were lined with a choice selection of plants and
flowers of rare beauty and perfume for the occasion,
and in other respects charmingly decorated. From
the roof of the dining hall banners were gracefully
suspended, and at the other end of the apartment a
collection of the ancient plate of the company, con-
sisting of " loving cups," flagons, bowls, and tan-
kards, was displayed with fine effect. The banquet
itself was served with a splendour in every way
befitting the occasion, the magnificent plate used by
the company on the memorable opening of the Royal
Exchange, at the entertainment given to the Queen
and the Prince Consort, and which had never since
been used, having been brought into requisition in
honour of the Prince's visit.

His Royal Highnesc, who was attended by Lieut.-
General Knollys and Col. Keppel, arrived at the
hall a few minutes before 8 o'clock, accompanied
by Count Gleichen. A detachment of the Hon.
Artillery Company, of which the Prince is colonel,
as was also the late Prince Consort, attended as a
guard of honour, under the command of Lieut.
Jay, and the band of the Royal Horse Artillery
played the National Anthem as he alighted. At the
entrance his Royal Highness was received by Col.
Palmer (the Master) and Mr. John Williams Wat-
son, Mr. Thomas John Watney, and Mr. Richard
Whiteman Fall, the Wardens, with Mr. Henry
Eugene Barnes, their clerk, all of whom wore their
cfficial robes, and escorted to the Court-room, where
the principal guests were afterwards presented to
him. His Royal Highness wore the blue riband of
the Garter on the occasion. At 8 o'clock the Prince
was summoned to the banqueting-hall, the Master
and Wardens leading the way. At a later stage of
the entertainment, on the removal of the cloth, the
Master drank to his Royal Highness and the rest of
the guests in a " loving cup." He then gave " Her
Majesty the Queen," a toast which was received
with every mark of respect.
The MASTER, after a pause, said it was his plea-
sure and duty to propose the health of his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, the Princess of

vVales, and the rest of the Royal family.

His fel-

low wardens and himself thanked his Royal High-
ness for the great honour he had done them in com-
ing among them. They were proud of the occasion,
and his Royal Highness might be assured that he
would ever find a loyal friend in every member of
the Mercers' Company. (Cheers.)

The toast was drunk with three times three.

His. Royal Highness the Prince of WALES, who
was greeted with cheers on rising to speak, said
Master, my Lords, and Gentlemen,—l am much
gratified indeed by the courteous terms in which
the Master has proposed my health and that of the
Princess of Wales with the rest of the Royal family,
and by the very kind manner in which the toast
has been received by the whole company. I need
not assure you that it is a source of great satisfac-
tion to me to be present here this evening, although
it is not the first time I have had the pleasure to
thank you for having done m 9 the honour to make
me a member of this ancient company, and I rejoice
to find myself once more in this hall in the capacity
of a brother Mercer. (Cheers.) Many distinguished
persons have at various times belonged to this great
company—among others, my ancestor, Queen Eliza-
beth; and I would also allude to Sir Richard Whit-
tington and Sir Thomas Gresham. As you all know,
Sir Thomas Gresham built the Royal Exchange,
and after it was burnt down—and it was twice
destroyed by fire--it was rebuilt by the Mercers'
Company at their joint expense and that of the
city of London. I have also great pleasure in
finding that the company has for its present
Master a near relative of the Attorney-General.
St. Paul's School is so much identified with this
ancient guild that I cannot forbear alluding to the
connection. The Mercers' Company are the trustees
of that great public seminary, and among the many
distinguished men who received their education there
I may mention John Milton and the Duke of Marl-
borough. His Royal Highness, concluded by again
thanking the company for the respect with which
they had received him on the occasion.
Several other toasts having been given, the meet-
ing separated.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

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CAMBRIDGE, Juno 8.
THE ENSUING B.A. COMMENCEMENT.

The registrary has informed the prwlectors of
colleges that he will require a certificate under the
hand of the master of the college, or his locum
tenens, showing that the fees due to the university
have been regularly paid in the case of every per-
son who completes his degree at the ensuing com-
mencement, and that his name is on the boards of
his college, before he can add the name of any such
person to. the register of members of the senate.