The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-08 00:00:00

CHOLERA IN THE NORTHERN TOWNS.

A considerable amount of anxiety prevails in :the
northern towns with regard to the progress of cholera
in the chief of them. The true type of Asiatic cholera
appeared in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Shields,
and Sunderland last week, and there is great fear that
it may become epidemic in some of these towns. It
has also been fatal in some of the outlying villages
in the county of Durham. Down to Friday the
disease had only manifested itself among the poor of
the towns mentioned ; but on the evening of that
day Mr. Titman, one of. Lloyd's surveyors ou the
Tyne, died of cholera, after two days' illness. The
authorities are on the alert, and the seaports of
the Tyne have been got into a thoroughly clean and
sanitary condition, and they are taking the precau-
tion in every fatal case of cholera to burn the
bed and bedclothes upon which the deceased per-
sons have died.

The following is the official return of deaths in
London from cholera and diarrhoea registered on
Friday, Oct. 2:—

Cholera. Diarrhoea.

West districts ... '2 .. . 2
North districts ... ...
Central districts ... 5 ... 3
East districts 6 ... 3
South districts ... 2

Total ...

... 25 ... 10

The returns for the sub-districts of Spitalfields,
Wandsworth, and Lee were not received in time for
publication.

The daily returns will be discontinued after that
for Saturday, the Gth inst., has been issued.

The Channel Fleet.

(From the Army and Navy Gazette.)
Our advices from the Channel Squadron do not
agree with the statements that have been published
in some of the morning papers. The whole of the
ships, with the single exception of the Bellerophon,
have either carried away spars or found it necessary to
go into port to make good defects. The Research
fell out on the very day of starting, but onlyfrom the
circumstance that her very small engine power did
not enable her to keep company with the larger and
faster ships. Her commander, instead pf proceeding
to the rendezvous, thought proper to go into Ply-
mouth, and lodged a complaint about the scuppers to
the new upper deck, but was ordered to proceed again
in a few hours. The Wyvern turret ship, which is of
50 per cent. larger tonnage than the Research, and 75
per cent. more horse power, kept company, and
steamed remarkably well against the head sea, but is
of course very wet, and had to go into Cork for coal
after being a short time out. The next ship in size is
the Palla,s, which has proved herself the fastest ship
under canvas in the squadron. She was the first to
set the example of carrying away spars, however,
having broken her maintopgallant mast and sprung
her topmast. The Ocean and the Hector have also
carried away spars, the former ship having to undergo
a week's refit in Cork before she can again cruise with
the squadron. The Achilles has behaved very well,
and is a steady ship in a seaway, but her foremast will
have to be shifted father forward before she can be
deemed satisfactory as a sailing ship. The Lord Clyde
has done well, but has been found to roll more than
was anticipated after her cruise to Madeira and
back, during which she exhibited great steadiness.
The Bellerophon has shown herself a most buoyant
and lively ship, and is pronounced superior as a sea
boat even to the crack wooden frigate Phaeton, in
which her captain formerly served. She has not
strained a spar or rope, and her officers are confi-
dent of beating everything, excepting the Pallas
perhaps, when they fall in with a gale of wind. She
rolls and pitches very moderately, and her officers
are much pleased with her. She has, however,
failed to tack more than once when the other ships
have done it, owing, it is supposed, to some defec-
tive action of the balanced rudder; or, as we think
much more probable, to the want of further expe-
rience with it. Her rudder has a very large surface,
and is a most powerful steering instrument, and
when the nicety of handling, which is often required
even with the ordinary rudder when tacking ina
sea way, is considered, it will not bo thought
sur-
prising that it should take some little time
to ac-
quire a thorough knowledge of the proper mode of
circumstances.
The the new rudder under suc h
The complaint that other ships fired their guns when
the Bellerophon could not is attributable, not to
any defective behaviour on the part of the ship, as
one of the published letters from the squadron would
lead the public to suppose, but from the sufficient
circumstance that she has not her guns on board.
Most of them are lying at Portsmouth, to be shipped
when opportunity offers, and in the meantime the
Bellerophon has on board a quantity of iron, which
is made to represent the weight of her guns,