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

prices are slightly lower than the extreme rates
previously obtained."
CARDIFF, 4th.—The steam coal trade is still ac-
tive; in fact, there are no signs of any diminution
taking place in the demand, which is principally
from the French and Mediterranean markets. Large
quantities are sent as well to the mail packet coal-
ing stations. There is also an increased inquiry for
Welsh steam on inland account. The local sale for
house coal has has somewhat decreased, but there is
no alteration in prices. Coke is in fair demand, and
the shipments of patent fuel are above the average.
In the iron trade business is dull, and both sellers
and buyers are awaiting the result of the crisis be-
fore entering into any new transactions. The few
orders which come in are chiefly from the markets
of the United States, British North America, and
the Baltic. Some contracts are in course of execu-
tion for the Eastern markets, but the latest advices
received from that quarter are not of a hopeful
character. On home account trade is at a complete
stand, and no improvement is anticipated until the
money-market becomes easier. In pig iron there is
no change to note, and the demand for tin plates is
very quiet.

LEEDS, 6th.—The influx of goods to both the
cloth-halls this morning has been tolerably large,
but the great bulkwas to supply orders given before-
hand. The attendance of buyers was small, and
their wants few, so that there was not much drain
upon the goods in any department. The inquiry
for the finer sorts of black unions is well maintained
and manufacturers are sending larger quantities to
market than for some time past. Tweeds and coat-
ings are still in abeyance, and even those who are
looking after the witneys, beavers, and other strong
makes for next season act with great caution. Su-
perfines and other classes of goods not before speci-
fied have been neglected, though cloths in the balk
state may be excepted, as there has been a good run
both for heavies and mediums. The foreign houses
to-day were once more absentees, a telegram hav-
ing destroyed any hopes of a peaceful solution of
the difficulties at work abroad.

NOTTINGHAM, sth. —The attendance at our Ex-
change-hall to-day was fair, but there was not much
demand for lace yarns. The demand for hosiery
yarns was steady, at fully late rates. Silks rather
dearer, but very little doing. For brown nets the
demand was dull, and prices were unchanged.
ROCHDALE, 4th.—The buyers at market were
in number about the same as last week, but they
manifested a still less disposition to buy on anything
like a generous scale. There were some inquiriesfor
fancy and printing goods, but not sufficient to abate
the depression which has for some time existed.
Plain goods are entirely out of favour, and the busi-
ness done in Yorkshire low woollens is quite aspoor
as that done in flannels generally. Prices of manu-
factured goods are unchanged, for, though the de-
mand is slight, the value of wool has gone up since
our last report.

Treatment of the Sick in London Workhouses

On Monday Mr. R. B. Cane, a special commis-
sioner of the Poor-law Board, opened an inquiry
at the Strand Union Workhouse on charges made
against the management of the sick and infirm in
that place by a person who had held the position
of head-nurse there. This is the first of a
series of investigations which, it is expected, will
be instituted into the several workhouses, the
management of which has been described by the late
head-nurse in them in papers laid before the Poor-
law Board by the Earl of Carnarvon, for the Asso-
ciation for the Improvement, of Metropolitan Work-
house Infirmaries. There were many guardians
present, and Mr. Ernest Hart and Mr. J. C.
Parkinson attended for the association.
Matilda Breton was called and sworn. She said
she was formerly head (paid) nurse at the Strand
Union Workhouse, and she took charge of the sick
and infirm inmates on the 21st of August last.
There were 22 wards in all in her charge, and there
were sick people in all of them. The classification
of the sick in the house was very bad indeed—much
worse than there was any need for—and the nursing
of the sick and the crowding of the wards were a
positive disgrace. The medicine was given at any
hour or anyhow by the nurses, who were all paupers
except the head nurse, and it was of no unfrequent
occurrence that the medicine from a bottle given to
one patient at one time was given to another at
another time. The pauper nurses seemed to have
I the whole control over the diets of the sick, and it
I very frequently happened that the beer was stopped
of all the sick and infirm patients, who were told
that there was none in the house. This happened
about once a week. Once complained to the ma-
tron, but such a fuss and bother was made about it
—the matron scolding the patients and others who
complained for complaining to the nurse—that she
never again complained. The rations of meat, too,
the poor people said, were often short in quantity.
The stimulants, as wine and spirits, ordered by the
medical officer, were handed over to the patients
themselves on the master's order. Witness on first
going into the house, had administered them herself,
as in other hospitals, at stated times but the pau-
pers wanted to have these things by them, and she
had good reason to believe that the stimulants
were given to the pauper nurses to obtain
attention, sold to them, or stolen by them.
Another evil connected with the house was, that
able-bodied paupers were wandering over the sick
wards. Not merely husbands who came to see sick
wives, and wives who came to see sick husbands, but
abets who came to beg or buy the uneaten meals of
the patients. The patients sold their food to pay
for their washing, for the washing which was done
in the house by pauper laundresses was so badly
done for those who did not pay for it, that the poor
people would do anything rather than wear the
things. Witness, whenever she saw any of these
badly-washed clothes, sent them back again, and
she had sent the same things back three times ; but
the laundry women did not care, they seemed quite
independent of the master and matron. These
women were often drunk, and they got the drink
from the nurses, so witness had good reason for be-
lieving, and the nurses obtained it from the patients.
This had been told her by one of the laundry women
who had been locked up in the receiving ward for
being drunk and disorderly. The wards under wit-
ness's charge were very badly ventilated—in fact the
atmosphere in them was so bad that she loathed the
going into them. The attendance was very bad, the
pauper nurses being quite unfit for their office ; an
instance of which she gave in the fact that on one
occasion two of these nurses, both of whom were
sick themselves, in endeavouring to raise a sick man,
so pulled him along the bed that a portion of his
skin, which had adhered to the sheet, was torn off,
and a large place in his back was left bleeding. This
was a bed sore forming through the man not being
properly changed. lie died the day after this hap-
pened. A great part of her time was taken up in
searching over the house for beds for the patients,
who were removed long before they were well,
to make room for others who were worse ;
and though they were warded in the sick ward, sick
slept all over the house, down even to the receiving
ward ; and when this was full some clean patients
were sent into the dirty ward (the ward for " dirty"
cases). Some of the poor sick people, after being
in the sick ward all day, had, in going to another
part of the house to sleep, to cross an open yard,
and this in all weathers. She instanced as the evil
arising from this practice two cases, one in which a
poor man who was getting well, took cold and got
erysipelas ; and another, a young woman, who
catching cold had an attack of rheumatism. The
man she had mentioned was sent to the foul ward
and placed between an itch case and a man covered
with sores. The doctor could not help this, as the
whole house was full. Each ward had a pauper
nurse and helper, and these persons were not com-
petent to perform their duties. She said she always
found medical officers kind to their patients, and
she had not found guardians unwilling to find com-
forts for the sick if their wants were made known
to them.

In the course of a long cross-examination by the
commissioner it was further elicited that the nurses
of the children in the house used to sell the chil-
dren's milk to the patients for id. a pint, and that the
medical officer had had this proved to him, for he
punished the women for doing it.
In cross-examination by Mr. Ernest Hart the

witness stated that one of the pauper male nurses
was dismissed or deposed from his position for tam-
pering with the patients' food. She was not per-
mitted to know the exact reason, and the nurse was
succeeded by an ex-potman who had never seen a
sick-ward before, and who was so infirm himself
that one of the sick patients assisted him for half
the extra rations and half the emoluments, which
amounted to is. a week, the share being Gd. each.
The master also cross-examined the witness, but
without altering her evidence, and many of his
questions the commissioner considered unnecessary.
The Chairman of the guardians then asked some
questions not bearing on the case, as to why the
witness had not written to the guardians and in-
formed them. She replied that she had told a com-
mittee of the house and they had taken no notice.
He then went on to address some observations to
her of a character which a guardian considered in-
sulting, and said the chairman was not justified in
putting, for the witness had spoken very openly.
The Commissioner agreed, and said the witness had
given her evidence in a very straightforward manner.
The proceedings were then adjourned.
OCEAN STEAM NAVIGATION.

The New York Evening Post of a recent date
contains a very interesting letter written by one of
its editors who made the trip from New York to
Europe by the New York and Havre Company's
steamship Arago. The writer pays a high tribute
to Captain Gadsden. He says :
" The vessel is unquestionably the finest seaboat
that sails out of our port. While the English and
French steamers go digging; their noses in the
brine, shipping tons of water whenever the waves
are high, the Arago floats like a duck. With little
pitching, and not much rolling, the motion causes
no more internal distress to the passengers than
would appear inevitable on the ocean. In the
heaviest weather she remains as dry as a bone,
makes about the same speed without wind as with
it, and at all times gives you a feeling of triumph
over the elements. Captain Gadsden, her comma-
' der, who is a most intelligent, accomplished, and
courteous gentleman, as well as a skilful navigator,
is more than worthy of his fine ship. He imposes
an absolute confidence by his constant care and
watchfulness, while he has brought about him in his
second officers, both in the sailing and engineering
departments, men of high qualities, not unlike his
own. Even the cuisine does not escape his atten-
tion, and the living on board would compare favour-
ably with the best Parisian restaurants."
The writer goes on to discuss the discomforts of
ocean travel generally, and comments as follows
on Mr. Silver's "Transatlantic-Ferry " plan :--
" Captain Gadsden is quite dissatisfied with our
American attainment in the art of ocean navigation.
He says that we ought to surpass the rest of the
world as much in ocean steamships as we do in our
inland steamboats. While they are satisfied on the
Thames, the Rhine, the Danube, the Mediterranean,
and other waters of Europe, with miserable little
black centipedes, that are without speed or accom-
modations of any sort, we have long enjoyed on
the lakes, the Sound, the Mississippi, and the Hud-
son our magnificent floating palaces, which make
twenty miles au hour, and are furnished like the
best hotels. But on the ocean we have allowed
other nations to equal, if not to excel, us. We
have, in fact, no Transatlantic line comparable to
the Cunard for speed or safety, nor that can beat
the German in regularity. The Arago and Fulton,
as single ships, are not equalled, perhaps, but they
compose the entire line, are somewhat slow, and
make only fortnightly instead of weekly voyages.
We should have a line to run every week, to make
the transit in seven days, and to do it without re-
gard to wind or waves. These ends could be ac-
complished, Captain Gadsden is fully convinced by
a life-long experience, by the plan of steamers pro-
posed by Mr. Thomas Silver, of New York, for the
execution of which a company is now forming."
"The comparative proportion of the steam power
of a vessel with her sectional area of resistance de-
termines chiefly her speed. To illustrate the case
more clearly, statistics of the two following steamers
are given, in connection with the estimate of the
speed as per area of resistance and power of the
proposed vessels.

Area of Mid. Nominal Speed in
Steamers. Section. Horse p'r. miles.
Persia

Great Eastern
Transatlantic Company's
new steamers 930 2,500 18*
* Equivalent to a passage in seven clays.

" These are average performances of the Great
Eastern and Persia, the latter crossing in ten and a
half days, consuming fourteen hundred tons of coal,
while the former consumes twenty-eight hundred
tons in the same time. This gives the following
remarkable result, viz. : Each horse-power of the
larger vessel costs 1.8 tons of coal and drives nine
tons across the Atlantic, while each horse-power of
the smaller vessel costs 1.55 tons of coal, and drives
only three and a-half tons the same distance at the
same speed. This exhibit demonstrates the advan-
tage of running large steamers, where there is such
an abundant employment for them as exists between
America and Europe."

It is estimated that the economical running ex-
penses of the proposed vessels will leave an annual
balance of over fifty per cent. on the cost of a
vessel (supposing that cost to be $1,500,000), as
follows :

RECEIPTS PER PASSAGE.
1,500 tons freight (one third carrying capa-
city) $lO
• . 515,000
750 Passengers (one-third carrying capa-
city) $5O. 37,500
Restauration and Wino department
Mails, Specie, &c. .. 25,000

Total
EXPENSES PER PASSAGE.
2,500 tons coal, $lO (Bristol price would
be only 10s. to 12s. sterling)
All other expenses on board (the ship's
supplies, expenses of stewards, &c.,
being in account current of restaurant
department)
Shore expenses 3,000
Wear and tear, insurance, &c., say per
passage

$43,000

Profit per passage 542,000
Or an annual profit on twenty passages, allow-
ing two months to lay by
Or one year's profit on four ships, costing
$6,000,000 3,360,000

Select Committee on Theatrical Licences
and Regulations.

The following document has been given in evi-
dence before this committee, from the Lord Cham-
berlain's office, vesting in the Examiner of Plays
authority to act as Inspector of Theatres :
The Lord Chamberlain, in order to secure greater effi-
ciency to the officer of Examiner of Plays, has desired it
be communicated to that officer, and to be registered in
the books of the Lord Chamberlain's office :—First—That
the Reader of Plays shall reside in London, for the greater
facility of communication with the Lord Chamberlain, and
with the managers of theatres, as well as for the general
efficient performance of his duties ; and that ho shall at-
tend at the Lord Chamberlain's office at least once a week
to examine the play-bills of all the metropolitan theatres,
so as to satisfy himself that no theatrical pieces are an-
nounced contrary to the Lord Chamberlain's decision. 2d.
That the Reader shall attend personally at theatres or
saloons in any case when important alterations have been
made in plays submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for
licence, or whenever any report has been made of impro-
priety, either in a drama itself, or the mode of placing it on
the stage ; it being the opinion of the Lord Chamberlain
that the duty of Examiner is not only to read plays sub-
mitted for licence and advise him thereon, but that he is
responsible to him for seeing that the play when acted cor-
responds in every respect with the play as licensed by the
Lord Chamberlain. 3d. That as the Lord Chamberlain's
attention has been directed during the last few years to
the improvement of the theatres, especially as regards a
proper space being afforded to the public, not only in the
boxes, but more particularly in the pit and the galleries,
with a view of insuring by such arrangements increased
comfort, order, and decency, and also as regards the
more perfect system of lighting and ventilation, security
from fire, and an easy ingress and egress in the case of a
sudden panic, ho wishes the attention of the Reader of
the Plays to be particularly directed to these points, and
to consider it his duty (with the assistance of a profes-
sional surveyor) annually, or should it be deemed neces-
sary more frequently, to report to the Lord Chamberlain
the state of progress which is made in these respects, and
to offer any suggestions which may advance the objects
the Lord Chamberlain has in view.
By order of ;he Lord Chamberlain.
(Signed) NonmAN.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Pills —Momentous In-
quiry.—Surreunded as we are by exciting causes of dis-
ease, it becomes our duty to seek some means of expelling
impurities from the body or rendering them harmless.
Professor Holloway has discdvered a medicine capable of
effecting this all-important point and has generously placed
it within the reach of the poorest. His pills guard the con-
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stroyed, permits fevers, inflammations, and other maladies
to run riot through and undermine the system or consign
their victims to untimely tombs. In malarious districts
and unhealthy towns these pills, after silently proving
themselves the best protectorsagainst fevers, &c., have.
within the last few years boon adopted by the profession
and public.