The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 471-866:

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day,

MARKETS—This Day.
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METROPOLITAN CATTLE.

There was a fair average number of beasts on sale here
to-day, in but middling condition. Good and prime breeds
moved off freely, at an advance in the quotations com-
pared with Monday of 2d per 81b. The top figure was 5s
6d per 81b. We were fairly supplied with sheep, which
changed hands readily, at extreme currencies. The best
Downs and half-breds sold at 6s 8d per 81b. Calves changed
hands slowly, at late rates, viz., 4s to 5s per 81b. Pigs
were firm, at full prices ; but mulch cows were very dull.

THE GALES.
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Early yesterday morning the wind blew with
great violence over London. On the river a number
of coal barges broke away, and were driven ashore;
two others, which were moored in exposed situa-
tions, sank in deep water. All night long men
were employed to watch the vessels. In a collision
which occurred between a brig from Goole and a
sailing barge from Rochester, a woman belong-
ing to the latter fell overboard, but was rescued by
her husband, who only saved himself and his wife
by catching hold of a chain attached to the bows of
the vessel. The captains who came into the port
this morning say that they experienced the greatest
difficulty in navigating their ships up the river, and
several violent collisions occurred, in one of which
two men were drowned, their bodies being carried
way by the rapid tide. The deceased are stated to
have been both seamen, and they were engaged in
bracing up the rigging at the time the collision oc-
curred. In the docks several vessels had their top-
gallant masts and rigging blown away. The roof
of a house was partially blown off in the Kenning-
ton-road. At Battersea an unfinished house was
almost levelled with the ground.
CHATHAM, Wednesday.

The strong gale from the southward and west-
ward which prevailed during the whole of Tuesday
night had a remarkable effect on the tide in Chat-
ham harbour, the tide at low water being the lowest
ever recorded by the gauge at the dockyard. In
many parts of the harbour shoals which were never
before observable were left dry. Nearly every ves-
sel in the harbour grounded, happily, however,
without sustaining any damage. The Wellesley,
which i 3 moored some distance up the harbour,
heeled over to such an extent that considerable
anxiety was felt for her safety, her ports being within
a few inches of the water. The Arethusa, the Glo-
cester, the Adder, and other vessels lying alongside
the dockyard, were all aground, a circumstance
which has not taken place before for a-considerable
time. The tide higher up river was so low that the
foundations of Rochester-bridge were left dry, and
people could walk across the bed of the river, there
being not sufficient water to float a small boat
through either of the arches. The spring tides for
the last few days, as well as yesterday afternoon,
have been exceedingly high, the whole of the marsh
land opposite the dockyard being submerged.
PORTSMOUTH, Wednesday.

Anticipations of further rough weather during
last night, founded on the unsettled state
of the barometer and the appearance of
the sky at sunset, were more than fulfilled
by midnight, when one of the most furious gales of
wind that has been experienced here for very many
years swept over the town. Its greatest strength
lasted about four hours, two hours before and two
hours after high water. In that short time great
damage was done to the buildings on shore adjacent
to the sea beach, and to everything that stood near
high water mark. The Victoria Pier has been very
seriously damaged. A large number of the planks
are torn up and broken, and portions of the corru-
gated iron sheeting, which formed a kind of shed or
verandah at its entrance, is bent and riven as though
it were of pasteboard. The massive gates of the
Government sallyport at the King James-gate
guard were dashed open by the weight of the sea
breaking on them, and the massive stones on which
they were set wrenched from their beds. The ex-
tensive ranges of piling on the sea fronts of-the
various fortifications have also received great dam-
age, while the various corporate boards on the sea-
beach, having painted on them the usual " caution
to bathers" have all disappeared. The oscillation
of many houses was so violent during the height of
the gale as to greatly alarm their occupants, and
several instances of partial destruction of the build-
ing occurred. In some parts of Southsea the real
extent of the damage cannot yet be ascertained,
owing to the present depth of water in which seve-
ral streets of small tenements and some houses of
moderate size stand. Luckily these houses, which
are built on marshy ground without drainage, have
been unoccupied for some time, and if every one had
been swept away the loss to the community would
not have been great.
SHIELDS, Wednesday Night.

A storm-warning from the Board of Brade has
again been followed by a wild and tempestuous
night at sea, the wind blowing a strong gale from
the south - west. The steamships which have
reached the Tyne from the South report having
encountered fearful weather on their passage
down, and several large ships have returned to
port. The schooner Shamrock, of Yarmouth, has
been picked up by the Robert Burns, steamtug,
off Coquet Island. There was no one on board.
She has been brought into the Tyne. There was a
report on the Tyne yesterday that a large East In-
diaman, which left the Tyne a few days ago, laden,
was lost upon Hasbro' Sands, and that two of her
crew were drowned. The casualties in the North
Sea during the recent bad weather are likely to be
very considerable.

CITY OF LONDON FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.—The
Corporation of the City of London a few days ago
unanimously voted the use of the Guildhall, recently re-
stored at great cost, for the purposes of an industrial exhi-
bition, to be inaugurated on the Ist March next. On the
motion of Mr. Thomas Lamprey, F.R.G.S., of Paternoster-
row, member of the general and executive committees, it
has been determined to devote the surplus funds towards
the establishment of a free public library for the City of
London. Several City firms have already expressed their
intention of liberally contributing to the p,roject, and it is
believed the corporation will also lend its aid.

AN " ADVANCED" DIVORCE LAW.—In Indiana,
the law of ' divorce is almost as " advanced" as
the most radical affinitarian could desire. The husband or
the wife, wishing to be divorced, has only to leave his or
her partner in another state, repair to Indiana, reside there
six months, then swear to an "incompatibility of temper"
between him or herself and the said partner, and swear—
what are lovers' oaths ?—that the object of the suit is not
to form another marriage, and the divorce is at once
ordered. Practically, one who desires a divorce goes to
Indiana, gives his case with a certain fee to a lawyer, and
is presented with a decree in seven months from his
arrival. In travelling through Indiana I have often seen
lounging about the hotels or in the fields, reading novels
or carrying on flirtations with prospective divorce, these
wandering forms of a dead past, waiting to be borne over
to the Elysian fields of single blessedness. In the old
settlements of the eastern part of America, "going to
Indiana" has aasignifisant a meaning as " going to Coven-
try ;" but in the Far West there is little doubt that the
Indiana law marks the direction in which the tide of
popular sentiment is setting. And, indeed, now that a
divorce does not, in that region, involve the ruin of the
character of either party, , it is remarkable with what
equanimity either learns that the other has, in the phrase
of the place, "filed a bill." A distinguished politician and
senator of Indiana., becoming interested in the movement
for making Kansas a free state, left his wife and repaired
to that territory, intending to return soon. Becoming, how-
ever, identified with the struggles of Kansas, the senator
stayed away very long. His wife at length demanded his
return. He wrote back that it was impossible to return.
His wife waited a little, and then wrote declaring that,
unless he returned by a stated time, she would sue for
a divorce. The senator made no reply, but gave her a
glowing account of the patriotic movements in which he
bore an important part. The next letter he received was
from the clerk of a court in Indiana, informing him that
his wife had filed a bill, with another from a lawyer offer-
ing to defend him. The senator wrote back to the lawyer
as follows :—" Dear sir,—Yours to hand. My wife says
she will ndt stand my long absence. If I were she I would
not stand it either. I shall offer no opposition to her suit.
Yours, Stc.—." Two years later, when the divorce had
long been granted, this senator returned to Washington as
the senator of the free state of Kansas, visited his old home
in Indiana, and found his wife still blooming and hand-
some, and surrounded by admirers. With the rest he
visited her from time to time, became presently the accepted
love; and was re-married to her.—Fraser's Magazine.
GREENWICH MEAN TIME.--Captains of ships and
others engaged in navigation are generally anxious
with respect to obtaining the accurate Greenwich mean
time. The folio ing notice with respect to this subject
was yesterday issued by Professor Airy, the Astronomer
Royal :—" Time Ball, Royal Signal Tower, Deal.—The ball
will be raised half-mast high at a few minutes before one
nearly, and will be raised at the top three minutes before
one nearly, every day. It will be dropped by an instan-
taneous galvanic current from the Royal Observatory,
_Greenwich, exactly at one. The time to be noted is the
instant at which the ball begins to fall from the cross arms
of the vane. If, iii consequence of galvanic accident, the
ball is dropped too late or too soon, a black flag will be
hoisted, and will be raised till 15 minutes before two. The
ball will again be dropped by hand at two. If the wind is
very heavy the ball will not be raised.—(Signed) G. B.
AIRY, Astronomer Royal."

The Condition of the Scottish Ploughman.

Agricultural servants in Scotland are stated to
have been the projectors of building societies and
many other means of improving the condition of
the working classes, and now we find that the
ploughmen of Midlothian have formed a protec-
tion society with a view of improving their lot. A
general meeting of this society was held tb few days
since, when a Mr. James Thomson, of Corstor-
phine, was called to the chair. There was a large
attendance.

The CHAIRMAN having briefly stated what had
been done at previous meetings, called upon Mr.
Gray Wilson, solicitor, to read a printed copy of
the rules as approved by the committee at the
meeting at Slateford on Friday last.
The CHAIRMAN, after the rules had been read,
said that as this was the third meeting held in con-
nection with the Society, and there had been nothing
said about their present condition, he felt it a duty
they owed, both to themselves and the whole work-
ing population of this country, to give a full and
distinct account of their resources. To begin with,
they had on an average £22 a year in wages—some
of them having more and others less—six and a half
bolls meal, four bolls potatoes, coals driven, and
a free house. Calculating the meal at £2 per
load, that was £6 10s. ; potatoes at 108. per boll,
£2 ; the rent of a house at £3 ; and the driving of
coals at 10s. ; the total amount would be £34.
Dividing that by 52, it would be found that they
had scarcely 13s. Id. per week. He thought he
had not understated the amount. He rather be-
lieved that the proper average would stand Is.
lower, or 12s. a week. (Applause.) Other classes
of horsemen in this partof the country, such as those
employedbyrailway companies, ship companies, and
millowners, obtained at the average rate of from
18s. to 20s. per week. Again; a farm labourer had
from 13s. to 15s. a week for 1Q hours a day, while
they (the ploughmen) had at least 12 hours a day,
and three hours on Sunday. It would thus be
seen that they were paid at least 2s. less than the
common labourer. They must be firm, he added, if
they wanted to better their condition. There was
nothing in the market against them. The masters
might blame themselves if there was a strike. They
did not want to do so—(applause)—but he thought
they might get 16s. or even 18s. a week anywhere.
(Loud applause.) In concluding, he read the fol-
lowing letter he had received from a ploughman :
" Dec. 28.

" Gentlemen,—l think there is one thing vi,p ought
to lay before the public, and that is the present state
of our wages, for I am sure there are a great many
people who are not aware of our low wages at pre-
sent. Surely the public and other trades will sym-
pathise with us when I explain our yearly income at
an average, which is £22,0f money, £1 10s for pota-
toes, £6 for oatmeal, £2 lOs for a house, 15s. for a
garden, 10s. for one month's meat in harvest, which
makes in all £33 ss. By converting this into
week's wages, it gives at the rate of 12s. 10d.
per week. Not only are our wages small, but fancy
the hours of labour we give for it ! 76 hours per
week-13 hours every day at an average, which I
believe to be correct. Surely it's time for us to
arise and plead our own cause, and do our best to
get our labour sold to a better advantage than has
been for this number of years back."
Mr. T. EwING, ploughman, Myreside, said they
would have seen a sonsy ploughman, calling himself
" P.A.," writing about the progressional condition
of the ploughman. In regard to that, he would wish
to give. a brief statement for himself, being a plough-
man near the enlightened city. His fee was £22 a
year, two pecks of meal per week—whiles very infe-
rior indeed—with a forpit of potatoes each day.
Now, including rations and wages together—not
speaking of the house, for it was a great risk to
live in it—that would amount to £29 4s. ; and if
they reduced that sum to weekly wages, he
thought it would come to ls. lOid. per head for
six of a family. That was a poor pauper's allow-
ance. The sooner Craiglockhart poorhouse was
built the better ; they would make grand hands at
hoeing the strawberries. (Laughter.) Let them
take out of their small deposit the fee of ss. a-week
for groceries—a heavy burden indeed for a wife to
carry for six of a family from Edinburgh (laughter)
—not including sour-doek half mixed with water,
which was thus described by the sour-dook poet :
" They've selt sour milk here a' my time,
To fill their nasty, greedy purse,
Clear water thus half-whitened sine ;
And hast to take it with their curse."

Let them deduct that, along with an allowance for
coals, doctor's bills, and education, and They would
see what was left to clothe themselves and their poor
benighted family, who scarcely get above the A B C.
(Laughter.) He heard that "P. A." spoke about
the ploughmen having pleasures in their own time
in the hoeing of their own yards and the cleaning of
their neighbours' potato ground. God knew that
he never felt pleasure nor ease ; and were "P. A."
to come and servo with them for one year, he would
then see perhaps " step and loup" of it until nine
o'clock at night. They were up in the morning
during the summer at half-past four to clean the
stable, feed the horses, and then graith them for
yoking. Then they returned to their brose or por-
ridge, worrying the contents like Danny Sime's sow,
when it let snap at a trough fu' of boiling dreg—
(laughter)—with their eyes half opened, and their
senses uncollected for that thoughtful consideration
of their duty to that Wise Director'who made all
backs to bear the burden. And thus the hour ar-
rived for yoking, fair helter-skelter, like Tam D unn's
waggoners ; and then they had to tear on worse
than any hulk convict or African slave, standing
out all day among the blasts and storms of winter.
When working on the led-farms one hour was scarcely
allowed man or beast for meat and rest. They had
to take with them a bit dry crust of bread—whiles
a little sour dook to wash the bit bitie doun their
throat. They need not speak of beef, for he could
hardly get a pennyworth of banes to mak' a wee
drap soup at intervals. So they might judge what
state their physical bodies were in. Their very
heart was rackit—yea, wearing on to contraction—
their joints and thighs were sore, their legs wearing
on to rheumatics, and indeed to that condition co
well described in the agonising language of Burns—
" Blind o' an e'o, cripplo o' a leg,
Aboot to seek a pass for leave to beg."
(Laughter and applause.) lie heard a farmer, not
20 miles from town, state to his men one day that
the two hours at mid-day were never allowed for
them but for the horses. Wise ignorance, indeed,
for a Solomon farmer. He thought it would be
better that the man should go and take charge of
oulaugshctoertlan andd
the rebels in Jamaica, and he would see what
struggles and privationswer throughout(ijd
.
applause.) The ploughmen
should arouse themselves and throw off that lethargy
which bound them with haggard simplicity, well
woven through slavish fear, to their masters. He
thought it would be far better if servants would
keep at a distance with their tongue either from
master or mistress. They would be more highly
valued by their fellow-servants than when working
in drudgery or deceit and undermining a fellow-
mortal. Let them all take off that canker-worm of
scandal and clash which they practised towards one
another; let them all puton the robe of honest love,
unity of spirit, and firmness; and let them all have
a little share of the mantle of independence, hke
their immortal predecessor, the poet Burns, who
sang the songs of love and liberty. (Applause.) Let
them all unite with one voice, like the loyal masons
who struggled heart and soul for the nine hours'
movement. He pressed upon them strongly to come
forward and enlist themselves under the banner of
this society, and help them in sustaining this susten-
tation fund for the relief of the distressed who were
laid on the bed of affliction, and for the protection
of their own rights. He had known men who had
been faithful servants for from 20 to nearly 30 years
in one place, who, when they became stiff through
years of toil, and deformed with rheumatics through
winter's sullen blast, had had their master passing
the verdict upon them—" Depart from me, for you
will soon turn a pauper upon my hands." There was
no happiness to cheer their old age, no consolation
given to their bereaved souls; they were left to rot
and decay in the midst of anxieties and care. (Loud
applause.)