The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-08 00:00:00

'The Atlantic Cable.

The completion of this important undertaking was cele-
brated by a dinner at Birmingham on Monday evening,
when the Mayor (Mr. E. Yates) occupied the chair. His
worship proposed, " The Men of Science, whose genius,
applied to the laws of electricity, has enabled thought to
be transmitted on the instant from Calcutta to London,
and from Ireland to California—the men of commerce
whose skill has made and laid the instrument of commu-
nication, and the owers of the Great Eastern who have
devoted their unrivalled ship to the glorious and success-
ful enterprise of laying the Atlantic telegraph cable."
He quoted the official telegrams announcing the completion
of the great work, and the congratulatory messages which
had been transmitted between her Majesty and the President
of the United States, and the mayors of London and New
York; traced the progress of electricity from the discoveries
of Galvain in 1790 to the present date; and paid a just tribute
to the genius of Volta, Franklin, Priestly, Stephenson,
Wheatstone, Fairbairn, Douglas, Field, Brett, Whitehouse,
Gooch, Glass, Elliott, Newall, Horsfall, and Wright, by
whose researches and labours the great work had been
brought to a successful termination. His worship concluded
an able and eloquent speech by referring to the spirited
shareholders of the Great Eastern, whoso energy and capi-
tal had provided the means by which men of science were
enabled to overcome the obstacles and difficulties incidental
to their enterprise, and spoke in complimentrry terms of
the vice-chairman, Mr. Alderman Hawkes, who, through
all the vicissitudes in the life of the groat ship, might claim
the distinction of belonging to the select few who, by in-
vesting their capital and retaining their interest in the
undertaking, had given evidence of their faith in the genius
of Brunel and the mighty mission the great ship was de-
stined to fulfil.

Alderman HAWKE; in returning thanks, expressed the
pleasure ho felt in being present at the celebration of
an event too great to be fully realised, and which
might be considered in every respect a God-like enter-
prise. Putting to shame the men who thought only
of wealth, and whose greatest ambition was to be grovel-
ling in riches, and attached to money-making schemes,
science has shown that there were "giants on the earth,"
even in these days, worthy to bo assistants to the gods,
who by their genius had established communications
between clime and clime, and consummated the union of
nations. The first message transmitted through the
cable announced that the inhuman ravages of the needle
gun in the savage warfare between Prussia and Austria
had been suspended, and that the " good tidings of
peace" had been proclaimed. That day a response had been
heard from beyond the banks of the Mississippi, " that
martial law had ceased in that country." These were
auspicious announcements, worthy of the messenger that
had conveyed them. With regard to the great ship, he
was proud of his connection with that enterprise, and
thought that the highest honours were duo to the gallant
Captain Anderson, who had steered the best ship that ever
was built across the trackless course of the Atlantic.

Mr. Councillor WALKER ably supported the toast, and
referred to the honours which were due to Birmingham for
having taken so important a part in the manufacture of
the cable.

A number of addresses were delivered in honour of the
great undertaking.

A deputation from the British Horological Insti-
tute, introduced by W. T. M. Torrens, Esq., M.P., Alder-
man Lusk, M.P., and Valentine Knight, Esq., president,
had an interview with Sir Stafford Nortkcote at the Board
of Trade yesterday afternoon, to impress on the Govern-
ment the necessity of removing the obstructions to the
manufacture of watches, occasioned by the present arrange-
ment at the Goldsmiths' Hall for assaying and stamping
watch-cases. Tho following gentlemen were present :
Messrs. Jno. Jones, V. P. Jackson, Mylne, Bickley, Storer,
Thickbroom, Scharf, Evans, Browning, Leaver, Beck, and
Mr. Moore, secretary.
THE SAT UHDAY HALF-II 0L I DAY. —Further acces-
sions to this movement in the retail trades of the metropolis
took place on Saturday last. At the West-end a number
of the jewellers' establishments commenced closing at two
o'clock ; and in the city seven of the leading houses in the
india-rubber trade adopted the same hour. Arrangements
approximating to those already adopted by tho silk-mercers
end drapers at the West-end were commenced in other
parts of London, the drapers at Islington closing in most
cases at 5 o'clock, and those of Victoria-road, Pimlico, at 6
o'clock. Various houses in the upholstery and drapery
trades in the Borough also closed at 6 o'clock, in place of a
much later hour. In the east of London a large reduction
in the hours has recently taken place, the leading drapery
firms in the Commercial-road now closing their establish-
ments at 6 and 7 on the Saturday.
REPRIEVE OF A CONVICT.—The convict John
Banks, convicted at the Lancaster assizes for the wilful
murder of Ann Gilligan, at Preston, on the sth July, has
been reprieved by the Home Secretary. This decisior,
though welcome from motives of humanity, has been re-
ceived with some surprise, and is attributed to the clemency
of Mr. Walpole, as Mr. Baron Martin, in passing sentence,
declared that " the jury had found the prisoner guilty
upon evidence which it would have been impossible for
them to have found any other verdict ;" and further, " if
from feelings of compassion they had found him guilty of
any other crime than that with which he was charged they
would have found him guilty of an offence different from
that which he actually committed. There never was a
clearer case of murder proved." In face of this declaration
it was not generally expected that the memorial praying
for a reprieve would be favourably entertained.
RU3IOURED Loss OF THE YACHT MOSQUITO.—
General circulation has been given for the last few days in
Queenstown to a report of the loss of this well-known
yacht, by collision, on her way to Swansea. The rumour,
we believe, was founded on a telegram which was received
on Thursday evening from Mr. Houldsworth, father of the
owner of the Mosquito, by the captain of a brig which
arrived here about 10 days since with a slight damage to
her quarter from a collision. The telegram inquired if it
was a cutter yacht—such as the Mosquito—with which he
had come into collision. The captain of the brig states
that the collision took place so suddenly, and that there
was such a heavy fog up at the time, that he was unable
to distinguish what sort of craft ran into him. At the
Royal Cork Yacht Club, of which Mr. Houldsworth,
owner of the yacht, is a member, the only definite infor-
mation of the affair is that the Mosquito left the harbour
on the Friday after the regatta for Swansea, and has not
since arrived at her destination. This is now 14 days ago.
--Cork, Examiner.

" LORDS AND LADIES." By the author of " Mar-
garet and her Bridesmaids."—There are few novelists
whose works are more welcome than those of the author
of the popular story of " Margaret and her Bridesmaids,"
and her numerous readers and admirers will assuredly re-
ceive with pleasure a new book from her pen, bearing the
attractive title of " Lords and Ladies," and which promises
to be full of those vivid and entertaining sketches of cha-
racter which give such a peculiar charm to this writer's
stories, independently of their grace, originality, and in-
teroot. •