The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-06 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA.

Ou Saturday Mr. Thomas Fowell Buxton, Clia;r-
man of the House Committee of the London Hos-

Mr. Samuel Gurney, M.P., Vice-President,

Mr. Joseph Sebag, a member of the House Com-
mittee, and Mr. William J. Nixon, House Governor

and Secretary, had an interliew, by appointment,
with the Lord Mayor at the Mansion-house, with
the view, if poE'sibie, to interest, through 11;m, the

::orporation of the city of London in particular and
:he citizens generally in the present state of the hos-

pital and the excessive and increasing demands
upon its resources, consquent on the outbreak of
cholera in the eastern part of the metropolis. The

Lord Mayor had readily wanted the inter,:ew and
l'stened to the statements made by the deputation

with the deepest sympathy and interest.
Mr. T.l3ux•roN said they had given up one-th'rd
of the hospital or the whole of one floor exclusively
to cholera pa''.ents, and in consequence of it being
necessary to have one nurse to every three patients,
they had beel obliged to increase their staff of
nurses, in addition to superintendents, many of
whom rendered their services gratuitously. 'lnc
number of patients admitted into the cholera wards
from the 10th of July to that morning, the 4th of
August, was 365, of whom-299 were suffering from
cholera and 66 from diarrhoea. Of these 97 had
recovered, or 48 from cholera and 49 from diarrhoea;
158 had died from cholera and 8 from diarrhoea, or
166 in all; and 102 remained in the wards, 93
of them afflicted with cholera and 9 aitb
diarrhoea,, very few of whom were convalescent.
The number of out-patients treated during the
same period in the receiving-room of the hospital,
the cases not be;ng severe enough for reception
into the establishment, were 6,251, the attendance
on whom involved extra labour and cost. The
cholera staff of the hospital cons'sted at present
o; five resident medical officers, 35 day nurses, 35

night nurses, and four men employed by day and
two men by night in (Aber departments. The enf-e

expenditure of the establishment had been increased
for extra diet and siimulan'.s to an extent beyond
all previous experience in hospital treatment, includ-

ing extra issues of w'ne and brandy to nurses, pa-
tients, and labourers. This year they were to have
publicly opened a new wing of the hospital which
they had lately built, and though they had been

obliged to forego the intended ceremonial, which
would probably have resulted in a large addition to
the funds of the hoTital, the completion of the new
building had been most fortunate and opportune at
this time when so much additional space was wanted
by the extraordinary influx of patients and medical
men. It had been perfectly astonishing to witness
the zeal of the medical staff. At first them was a
good deal of fear of contagion, but much of that had
been abandoned, and a'l the authorities of the
hospital, with many others, had volunteered their
services in the emergency. Two nurses had died
and one was ill now, but the former were extra
nurses, and slept out in the neighbourhood of Beth-
nal-green or other places where there was cholera ;
so that the authorities of the hospital hoped the
death of the two nurses was no absolute proof of th©
disease being contagious. It was frightful to wit-
ncs the sufferings of many of the patients in the
hospital. Fortunately, when the d;sease reached
the state of collapse the suffering appeared to cease,
but in the earlier stages it was fearful. Many of the
people who were brought in were just skin and bone,
and they came in poisoned, as it were. They (the
deputation) had called upon the Lord Mayor in
the hop 3 that he might be able to lay the-7 use
before the corporation with a view to a grant
from its funds. _

Mr. NIxoN, the house governor, said there were
crowds of dying people for whom accommodation
could not be found in the hospital.

Mr. S. GURNEY, M.P., obsei ved as a sad and sig
nificant fact that on Friday last there were as many
as 30 bodies in the dead-room, and people could
not be got to bury them. They had since got 16 of
them buried ; but on Friday the demands on the
staff of the establishment were so great that time
could not be found for the interment of the dead. A
very great proportion of the patients were German
sugarbakers, large numbers of whom lived in that
part of London.
Mr. SEBAG, a member of the deputation, observed
that it was astonishing to see the number of little
children in the wards of the hospital. A great ob-
ject of the deputation, he said, was to obtain the
advocacy of the Lord Mayor in the Court of Com-
mon Council in the emergency.
The LORD MAYOR said he should be doing the
Court of Common Council an injustice if he thought
they requ'red any advocacy of his on such an occa-
sion. 'lths was a question of humanity—(hear,
hear)—and he had no doubt the corporation would
Cheerfully respond whenever an appeal was made
to tnem in such a case. They had always done so
in similar cases, and he was sure they would not be
wanting on this occasion. There was great distress
in the er st of London, irrespective of that caused by
cholera, among the fami"es of men out of work, and
those people were thrown upon local charitie:, for
relief. He had received two or three deputations
on the subject, but he had been cautious about
alarming the public. Ile thought, however, the
time had now arrived when the merchants, bankers,
and other principal citizens should be invited to join
in a subscription towar is the relief of the prevailing
distress. As respected the corporation, they were
now in recess, and would not meet again until
September. There would be much ("fliculty in
convening a meeting of Common Council at present,
when many of them were probably out of town ;
but in the meantime the position of the hospital was
hardly so bad as it might appear at first sight. The
authorities had wisely appealed to the public, and
he observed that by the aid of the newspaper press,
considerable sums were flowing in from day to day.
Mr. GURNEY, interposing, said they that morning
received 170 letters containing donations, and they
could not be too thankful for the liberality which
was being shown them.
The LORD MAYOR said the public were much in-
debted to them for their great energy in the emer-
gency. He was then going from there to the Privy
Council-office, and would take an opportunity of
mentioning what he heard from the deputation.
He was inundated with letters about sanitary
matters, and people seemed to be alarmed at the
existence of anything that might produce malaria.
From all ha could hear the disease had mostly
attacked people who had but little stamina, and
those who from their poverty, had but little to eat,
and that little probably bad in quality.
The deputation then took their leave.

Mr. Gladstone and Lord Dunkellin's

Amendment.

A meeting of the East Kent Liberal Registration,
held on Saturday at Canterbury, for the purpose
of considering the conduct of Sir E. Dering in
voting against the late Government upon the rating
question of the Reform Bill, the following letters
which had been sent to Mr. Knatchbu'l-Hugessen
were read :

' "11, Carlton-house-terrace, S.W., July 30.

" My dear Ifygessen,—l have received your letter, in-
closing a copy of ono addressed by Sir Edward Det:ng on
the 16th of July to Ueut.-Ge.ieral WTiams ; and, as you
have asked my opinion on the case, I shall consider your
request as my wai:ant :or commenting on a matter which
is indeed of beat public interest, but in which I have no

title whatever to interfere.
" I cannot say that Sir E. Del tig's reasons for voting
with Lord DunkoWn have, in my view, any weight. lie
says it was not proposed by Lord Dunkelli.:,, or by any ono
else, to substitute a £7 rat'ng for a £7 rental. But I appre-
hend th's very thing was proposed by Mr. Cave, the gen-

tleman selected to second the motion. The mover, I think,
stated his preference :or a 16 rating, which would have ex-
cluded a barge number whom we had Foposed to enfran-
chise. Sir E. De-, 7ng w:lt recollect that the speakers for
the amendment were gentlemen opposed either to the bill
or to the franchise clauses. Ho says the Government should
have proposed a rating franchise of an amou-it not hther
than the £7 rental franchise. Now, as £6 ra' ing would have
been materia'ly higher, he must app..rent'y mean that we
ought ',CI have proposed a£s ra:iyg frenchise. But this, the
next lowest figure, would have given an enfranchisement
matt:3,lllly larger than that of the bl'l. I a on("er Sir E.
does not see that if IVO had done this wo should for
tho first time have g:veu colour, and even more than colour,

to the charge which has from the beg7rtning been r-ged
against us w ith such persistency and such gross and palpable
injustice—the charge of having d'sregariled the fears and
scruples of the moderate, and of having leant to the doc-
trines of extreme politicians. What he recommends as the
obvious and easy remedy for the dilemma was in our view
wholly inadmissible.
"But it is one question whether the vote, or the reasons
given for it, are gocd, and it is another whether I, if I were
an elector of East Kent, should withhold my supper t from
Sir Edward Deng on account of it. It ought, I think,
now to bo the great object of all who are in'erested either
in the Liberal pat:y, or in the subject of Pa liamentary
Refoun, to IA In about such au union 01 sentiment in the
par:y as may obv:ate all risk of the repetition of the late
unhappy events, and may secure a speedy and satisfactory
settlement of the question. I give entire credence to any
declaration proceed'ng from Sir E. Dering; and, examin-
ing his letter, with the view I have described, I find its
meaning unequivocal, especially where he says that by
proposing an equivalent enfranchisement in an altered
form we should, "if beaten on that vital point," have "put
ourselves in the right and our opponents in the wrong."
This proves, without ente-t:ng into minute criticism, that
Sir E. Dering was ft:encily to the substance of our me:-
sure. On that g:ound, without in the least degree quali-
fying my opinion as to the particular vote, I not only, if I
were one of your brother electors, should not vote against
Sir E. Dering, bat I should continue to afford him exactly
the same suppot teas if that vote had not been given. I
read his letter, and accept b's declarations, in the spirit of
confidence, and not in the spirit of suspicion. We, the
supporters of the b:il, who have had occasion to feel how
the spirit of suspicion poisons the atmosphere of politics,
and renders hopeless whrt otherwise, though difficult, was
practicable enough, should, I think, set an example of dis-
carding it and of interpreting and treating others as we
wish to be treated and inteipreted ourselves.—l remain,
my dear llugessen, sincerely yours,
" W. E. GLADSTONE.
"E. Knatchbroi-Hugessen, Esq., M.P."

" Pembroke-locigo, Richmond-park, S.W.,
Aug. 2, 1866.

" My dear Ilugessen—l am quite prepared to endorse
Gladstone's letter to you. I havo rett-.ned it to him with
that opinion. Pray do all you can to soften the s;,out
Liberals of your county, and tell them that the leaders of
the pat with Gladstone and me at their head, think they
ought to suppoi Poring. If ho agrees to the £5 rating
franchise, as I understand him to do, he ought to be taken
back into the fold. "Yours veiy ti ly,

"RUSSELL."

The reading of theseletters evoked great applause.
Sir E. DERING then entered into a minute ex-
planation of his motives for supporting Lord Dun-
kelliu's amendment, and disclaimed all intention in
so doing of seeking to retard the passing of the bill.
fie had simply supported the amendment because
he considered a rating qualification to be a more
convenient arrangement than one of rental, and he
had not expected that upon a mere queztion of de-
tail the Government would have resigned their
offices.

A prolonged discussion ensued, and a motion of
censure upon Sir E. Dering was proposed, but was
not pressed, it being finally agreed, upon the motion
of Sir W. James, to let the matter stand over with-
out pronouncing any opinion upon the subject.

The Loss of the London.

(From Bell's Weekly Messenger of Aug. 4.).

An interesting question was asked on Friday, in
the House of Commons, *by Mr. Jasper More—the
member for South Shropshire—in reference to the
foundering of the steamship London, and to the
promise given by the late Minister of the Board of
Trade, that some measure should be introduced to
facilitate and amend the official investigation of such
calamities ; and we are glad to observe that Sir
Stafford Northcotc, the present head of the Board,
approached the subject in a considerate spirit, and
declared that he would give it his best attention. In
Mr. Jasper More also support of his question,
pre-
sented a petition on behalf of those who had lost
relatives in the vessel, of which the following is a

copy
TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE UNITED

KINGDOM IN PARIAMENT ASSEMBLED.

The humble petition of Edward Gilbert Highton, M.A.,
barrister-at-law, 42, Bedford-square. in the county of Mid-
dlesex, sheweth, that the said Edward Gilbert Highton bath
recently lost a relative, Henry John Dennis, in the steam-
ship London, which foundered in the Bay of Biscay on the
11th of January last, and that the said Edward Gilbert
Highton hath good reasons for believing that the founder-
ing of the said ship, and the consequent death of the said
relative and of his fellow-passengers, was occasioned by the
negligent and careless manner in which the vessl was sent
out to sea, and afterwards navigated, first by being con-
siderably overloaded with cargo especially in proportion to
its dimensions, which were excessively long and narrow ;
secondly, in having the cargo most improperly distributed,
a large dead weight of iron being placed together in the
hold, and largo quantities of loose coal being allowed to
encumber the deck and stop up the seupper holes, thus
rendering it impossible for water to run off when accumu-
lated there ; thirdly, in being taken out of port in rough
weather, in the winter time, with "royal masts end
on and topgallant yards across," a practice universally
condemned by competent nautical authorities ; and,
fourthly, in being unprovided with storm sails, with se-
cure boat accommodation in case of distress, and with
proper appliances for using the same, as well as with ac-
cessible and serviceable signals in the shape of rockets, dm;
furthermore, that the ship was navigated without due re-
gard to the safety of life, being driven on through a vio-
lent gale after suffering several accidents, and when in a
condition wholly unfit for contending with the elements.
Your petitioner begs also to state, that, though an inquiry
into the circumstances of the disaster has already taken
place, yet it was by no means such an one as to afford
satisfaction to the parties immediately interested, or to the
public at large; first, because through certain technical
difficulties cross-examination of witnesses by counsel could
not be permitted ; secondly, because independent witnesses
were not summoned or even invited to give evidence ;
thirdly, because authentic testimony of an important cha-
racter, and directly bearing upon the questions at issue, has
only come to light since the termination of the inquiry
alluded to ; and, fourthly, because the inquiry itself ended
in no positive result, and was not so conducted as to insure
strict and unquestionable impartiality. Wherefore your
petitioner humbly prays that your honourable houseto
will be pleased to appoint a select committee to
make a full investigation into all the cirocaumsp
he
which conduced to bring about the lamentable
from which he and so many others
.abrieo
the etri. res,ca: bothse
sf for
the purpose of determining
future to,
those who may
the same, and also of affordifinPg:oassdoldnittrioesntalthsoaifregliuvaersdasnind
yourfortunes t
petitioner,
vessels eal
as in
ioof
EDWARD
dutywpl i
toaDtovhoGee
d:ojiwnuidßl
loTne
viNieviraospHtala,
oyt yN. 03.1 And
.A.,
Barrister-at-Law.
42, Bedford-square, London.

We have reason to believe that Dr. Butcher,
Regius Professor of Div;nity at Trinity College, Dublin,
wi'l be appointed to the Bishopric of Meath.
Mr. Stubbs, L'brarian to the Archbishop of Can-
terbury, will bo appointed Regius Professor of Modern
History at the University of Oxford.

Two OF THE LIONS BY SIB E. LANDSEER for the
Nelson Monument have been cast in bronze ; a third is
nearly finished. These are now in Baron Maioehetti's
studio at Brompton, whence they will soon be removed,
wo trust, to their long destined positions in Trafalgar-
square. The public would be gratified by the immediate
exhibition of these works on their proper pedestals.
G LADSTONE'S INFANTRY.—The newspapers of the
northern parts of England state that the working classes
there are registering their new-born children by the name
of " Gladstone."