The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDOii, THURSDA Y EVENING, JUNE 14, 1866.

from the people in the window. A second ladder
was brought, but it broke. He only saw two fire-
brigademen with the first escape. After the ladder
broke he went into the Ballast-office, but did nothing
more, as nothing could be done. From the time he
spoke to the people in the window until he was told
the people had escaped he should say three quarters
of an hour had elapsed. About 30 or 35 minutes
elapsed from the time he had first spoken to the
people in the window until the ladder broke. Only
a couple of minutes elapsed from the time the escape
was put to the window until the ladder broke. The
second escape remained against the insurance com-
pany's premises for 15 to 20 minutes before it was
removed. The lifting up of the ladder belonging to
the first escape occupied several minutes, and there
was no one to pull at the rope but himself. The
people disappeared from the window at the time the
ladder broke. There was then great smoke, and he
could not see them, but it seemed to him by the
shriek as if they gave up all hope, and he saw no-
thing of them after that.
The Coroner said that, as the funeral a the un-
fortunate people destroyed was to take place the
following morning, as a means of expressing their
sympathy with their relatives, they had decided not
to sit again till Thursday at 12 o'clock.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

GREAT EASTERN.

A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held
on Tuesday at the London Tavern ; Mr. C. H.
Turner in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said they would recollect that at a
former meeting it was stated that the borrowing
powers of the company had been exceeded by
£500,000 ; they were now strictly within their bor-
rowing powers, and he and his colleagues would
take good care in future that the company should
keep within those powers.

The SOLICITOR read the heads of a bill to autho-
rize the company to make certain railways, and to
purchase certain lands and ,buildings for station
purposes, to alter levels of their Ramsey branch
and part of one of their metropolitan branches be-
tween Hanger-lane and West-Green-road.
A SHAREHOLDER suggested that if the company
were paying rates above 10 per cent. to any finance
company their own shareholders would be glad to
lend them money at rates between 6 and 10 per
cent.

The CHAIRMAN said, although the present Board
had inherited great difficulties from the late Board, he
was happy to say they had not had a farthing from
a finance company. Since the last meeting traffic
agreements had been made with the Midland and
Great Northern Railway Companies which would
not give one company au advantage over the other ;
and he trusted the result would be mutually bene-
ficial. In reply to a question he stated that the share
capital required for the bill would be £76,000, with
usual borrowing powers. The penalty for non-com-
pletion of works would be £5O a day, instead of as
formerly stopping their dividend until the works
were completed and opened for traffic.
The bill was approved.
The SOLICITOR read the heads of a bill to autho-
rise the company to make certain railways to con-
nect their system with the Alexandra Patlace, in the
parish of Tottenham.

The CHAIRMAN explained that it would form part
of the company's metropolitan extensions, and he
hoped it was the', last bill they would require for
that purpose. The share capital would be £111,780,
with the usual borrowing powers.
After a strong expression by some of the share-
holders against subscribing any more money towards
rubbishing bills, the motion approving the second
bill was carried unanimously.

The next was a bill to dissolve and re-incorporate
the Muswell-hill Estate Company (Limited), with
powers to make certain railways over their estate
forgiving access thereto from neighbouring railways,
and to enter into arrangements for the use thereof.
The bill was approved.
Several bills promoted by other companies were
then approved, relating to the East Norfolk, the
Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea, the Dagenham Dock,
the Thetford and Watton, the East London Eastern
Extension, the Lynn and Sutton-bridge and the
Spalding and Bourn, the North Metropolitan, the
Weiisum Valley, the Tottenham and Hampstead
Junction, towards which the Great Eastern was to
subscribe a further sum of £33,300, and the Mid-
land a like sum ; the South 'Essex to make a line to
Pitsea ; and a bill for the construction of fish
wharves and tramways at Great Yarmouth.
Resolutions were also passed sanctioning traffic
and other agreements with the Ely, Haddenham,
and Sutton ; the West Norfolk ; the Saffron Wal-
den ; and the Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea Railway
Companies.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman and directors.

The Duke of Edinburgh at Salters' Hall.

Last evening the honorary freedom of the ancient
Company of Salters, one of the 12 principal guilds
of the City, was presented to the D uke of Edinburgh,
and his royal highness was afterwards entertained at
dinner, with a distinguished company, at their cor-
porate hall in St. Swithin's-lane. The prince, with
his suite, arrived at the hall at half-past 6 o'clock,
and shortly afterwards, at a Court specially convened
for the purpose, his royal highness received the free-
dom, in pursuance of a unanimous resolution of the
governing body of the company passed on March
15th, to the effect that being anxious to evince their
devoted loyalty and attachment to her most graci-
ous Majesty the Queen and her illustrious family,
and desirous also of marking their feelings of esteem
for his Royal Highness Alfred Ernest Albert Duke
of Edinburgh, they offered to his royal highness the
freedom and livery of their ancient and loyal com-
pany. The guests who had been invited to dine with
his royal highness were afterwards presented to the
prince. Among them were the Earl of Shrewsbury,
the Marquis Townshend, the Earl of Leven, the
Earl of Verulam, the Earl of Cork, Lord Charles
Russell, Lord Ernest Bruce, M.P., the Bishop of
Derry, the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, M.P., Mr.
Hanbury, M.P., General Sir John Burgoyne,
K.C.8., Vice-Admiral Codrington, Lieut.-Colonel
Cavendish, Rear-Admiral Wellesley, Col. Erskine,
AldermanovernoM.P., Mr. H. L. Holland,
G of England ; the Lord Pro-
vostr ofLawrence,
the
Bank
of Edinburgh, Sir Wm. Ferguson, Sir James
Duke,Mr. H, W. Eaton, M.P.,
mr .Peter Adm iliroarlthChoapllelLaanurd,ie,
Mr. Osgood Hanbury,
Mr. H. S. Thornton, Mr. Alderman and Sheriff
Gibbons, Mr. R. N. Fowler, Mr. John Simon, Al-
derman. J. Lawrence, Col. Fraser, and the Prime
Wardens and Masters of the city companies.
The casket in which the freedom was contained is
of gold, enriched with the Royal arms, and the sup-
porters and arms of the companyin silver, the whole
being supported by a plinth of malachite. It is in
the Italian style, oval in form, and very richly and
delicately worked. It is designed and manufactured
by Mr. Stephen Smith, of Duke-street, Lincoln's-
inn-fields (the company's silversmith), and was very
greatly admired. Two enamelled shields bear the
Prince's ducal coronet and cipher, and the following
inscription :

PRESENTED BY
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF SALTERS,
LONDON,

TO H.R.H. THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH, K.G., K.T.,
WITH THE FREEDOM AND LIVERY
OF THE COMPANY,
WEDNESDAY, 13TH JUNE, 1866.
FREDERICK LE GROS CLARK, ESQ., MASTER.
WILLIAM WESTON, ESQ.,/ WARDENS.
THOMAS HICKS, ESQ.,
The MASTER (Mr. F. Le Gros Clark), in present-
ing the freedom, said :—May it please your Royal
Highness,—On a recent auspicious occasion the
freedom of this great city was presented to -your
Royal Highness, and now, by a similar act of con-
descension, we are permitted to offer for your
acceptance 'the freedom and livery of this loyal
and ancient company. Although the chief original
design of these guilds, that of mutual.protection in
the pursuit of special crafts and callings, is now ob-
solete, still one distinctive feature survives, which I
am sure has the cordial sympathy of your royal
highness. I refer to the shelter and assistance
afforded to our suffering brethren, whom misfortune
has compelled to be thus dependent, besides the dis-
tribution of charity through numberless other
channels. I speak of these occasions as auspicious,
for I cannot but view any act by which Royalty is
brought into direct association with the commercial
interests and municipal privileges of our common
country as calculated to foster that mutual confi-
dence and esteem which constitute an important
bulwark of our happy Constitution. In presenting
you with the freedom and admitting you to the
livery of this Salters' Company, I would ask your
royal highness to accept at the same time an expres-
sion of our sincere appreciation of your condescen-
sion, of our devoted loyalty and warm attachment
to her most gracious Majesty, and of our earnest
prayers for your Royal Highness's lasting happiness
and welfare.

At the banquet held later in the evening, after
the customary loyal toasts had been duly honoured,
the Master proposed " The Health of their new
member the Duke of Edinburgh," which was drank
with acclamation.

His ROYAL HIGHNESS, acknowledging the com-

pliment, said he thanked them very heartily for the
manner in which they had drank his health, and for
the kindly welcome they had given him. It had
afforded him the greatest pleasure to receive the
freedom of their ancient company, and although
that was one of the last entertainments which had
been so kindly given him in the city of London it
was the the first to which he was invited. (Cheers.)
lle also thanked them kindly for the very handsome
memento with which they had presented the free-
dom of the company, and said he should always re-
member with pleasure the evening he had spent
with them. (Cheers.)
The MASTER then gave in succession " The Houses

of Lords and Commons," coupling with the first
toast the name of the Marquis Townshend. Speak-
ing of the House of,Commons, he said he associated
with the toast the name of a gentleman who for
commanding eloquence, for logical acumen, for
sparkling wit, and for felicity of illustration, but,
above all, for a manly independence of character—
(cheers)—was one of its greatest ornaments—the
Right Hon. Robert Lowe. (Renewed cheers.)
Mr. LOWE, on rising to respond to the compli-
pliment, was hailed with enthusiastic cheers. The
toast, he said, was one to which any Englishman
might well be proud to respond. The English

House of Commons was an institution unique in the
history of the world. If they would measure the
benefits it had confeqed on this country they must
form an estimate of the present state of things, be-
cause the House of Commons had drawn to itself
the greater part of the powers of Government, and

in the history of the country they saw the traces of
its work. They knew the happy state which on the
whole the country now enjoyed, and that while all
Europe was in a state of anarchy, we remained,
unprovoked and unmolested, in a state of profound
peace, not because we were disposed to submit to
insult, but because we did wrong to none and no
one was disposed to do wrong to us. We saw the
work of reformation and improvement going steadily
forward and the amount of public spirit and of
liberty which prevailed. He thought, too, we had
no reason to be ashamed of the intellectual abilities

the house had displayed. (Cheers.) It was the
pride of the House of Commons that its discussions
were not merely listened to with interest, but were
read with pleasure and with profit not only all over
this kingdom, but all over the world, and that they
not only formed the public opinion of this country,
but tended to accelerate the progress of nations
towards a higher state of civilisation. He
humbly tendered them 'his thanks for drinking
to the existing House of Commons. Of that
body it was premature to say anything, for it
had only been a few months in session ; but this
he thought they would say of it, that it was not
wanting in courage. (Laughter.) They had ad-
dressed themselves to the Herculean task of their
ovi n improvement, and had said that, finding the
house, with the consent of all men, a good and
excellent institution, they would so deal with it as
to leave it good and excellent—that finding it en-
titled to the admiration of the world they would
make it more entitled to its admiration. (A laugh.)
If they succeeded in the task, they would not only
be entitled to the gratitude of the country, but he
would say to the admiration and astonishment of
all nations. (Laughter.) But there was another
view of the question. Let us hope we might not
leave the inheritance to our posterity worse than
we found it, but let us, in such changes as we
might think it necessary to introduce, take care not
lose the substance. He thanked them for the
honour they had done to the popular branch of the
Legislature, and if it should become more popular'
he hoped it would not cease to be what he believed
it was at preient—a
faithful representation of the
feelings, wishes,and aspirations of the British
people. (Loud 6heers.)
The Duke of Edinburgh, with his suite, took his
departure shortly after 10 o'clock.

Balloon Ascent for Scientific Purposes.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sint,—During the series of experiments by means
of balloons, for the British Association, none had
been made in the month of May. It was therefore
necessary, if possible, to secure a series.

11. E. Westcar, Esq., of the Royal Horse Guards,
kindly offered the use of his balloon, he undertaking
the management of the ascent, in order to leave me
as free as possible for observing.
The balloon left Windsor at 6.14 p.m., the tem-
perature of the air at the time being 58 deg., and 58
deg. 5 min. at Greenwich Observatory. The tem-
perature at once declined, and was 35 deg at 7 hours
4 min., at the height of one mile, and at Green-
wich it was at this time 56 deg. 9 min; at 7 hours
18 min., at the height of 6,100 feet, the temperature
was 291 deg., and at Greenwich 56 deg.
On turning to de-scend the temperature increased,
and was 32 deg. at the height of one mile, being
about 3 deg. less than at the same elevation 20
minutes before. The temperature then steadily in-
creased to 54 deg. at 8 hours 8 min., at the height
of 300 feet above the sea level, but much less than
that above the ground, but also about 3 deg. less
than at the same elevation on descending. Shortly
before this the sun had set, and we now discharged
ballast freely, and should have seen the sun again
had not clouds collected.

The temperature again declined on ascending,
but less rapidly than before ; at the height of one
mile the temperature was 38 deg., and at 6;200 feet
was 34i- deg., being 5 deg. higher than at the same
height before sunset. At Greenwich at this time (8
hours 22 min.) the temperature was 54i deg. On
descending the temperature increased to 54 deg.
at the height of 900 feet above the sea, at 600 feet
it was 52 deg. 7 min., and on the ground, but still
at the height of 300 feet above the sea, it was 504
deg. At Greenwich at this time it was 52 deg.
At Greenwich the air was dry, with three grains
of water in a cubic foot, but at Windsor, near the
level of the Thames, it was damp with 4i grains of
moisture in a cubic foot. On ascending the air at
first became drier, but at the height of one mile was
saturated, and very nearly saturated at the same
height after sunset. At this height there was a
sensible moisture, both before and after sunset.
At all times during the ascent, whether the sun
shone upon either a plane transparaent bulb or a
dull blackened bulb thermometer, the reading was
very little in excess of the shaded bulb, and was
generally the same even when the sun felt sensibly
warm to ourselves.

This double ascent—the one before and the other
after sunset—necessarily kept us in the air for an
hour and a half after the sun had set, and when we
came to the ground at 9.30, near South Bognor,
there was no one near to assist. We therefore pro-
ceeded to pack the balloon ourselves, and prepared
to pass the night in the car. After some time, how-
ever, William Townsend, a shepherd, came to attend
some sheep, and we ultimately left the balloon in
the field, and passed the remainder of the night in
his cottage, at about half a mile distant.

The two ascents—the one before and the other
after sunset—are unique, and, the results being
directly comparable, .are very valuable. They con-
firm the fact of a nocturnal rising temperature.
The safety lamp was burning all the time, thus
enabling me to read the instruments after dark. I
believe this to be the first ascent for scientific pur-
poses since that of Messrs. Biot and Gay Lussac in
1804, in which the management of the balloon was
undertaken by the experimentalists themselves.
The path of the balloon was at first over Windsor
Great Park, or nearly due south, then a little east
of south, nearly over Woking at 7.43 ; west of
Guildford at 8.2, moving at the time a little west of
south, so over Petworth to Mr. Tickner's farm about
five miles from Pulborough at half-past nine.
At heights exceeding 2,000 feet the direction of
the wind was N. by W. ; at the height of one•mile
the air was nearly calm, and at elevations below
2,000 feet the direction of the wind was N. by E.
At Greenwich the direction was throughout N. by
E., and the anemometer registered 35 miles in the
31 hours we were in the balloon.
My attention was wholly directed to the instru-
ments ; Mr. Westcar's mostly to the balloon, fre-
quently, however, reading the several instruments,
particularly those with their bulbs exposed to the
sun, and he also noted many things on the earth
which I could not, and which I hope he will describe
himself. No instrument was injured in the descent.
—I am, sir, yours, &c.,

Blackheath, June 13, 1866.

JAMES GLAISHER.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Pearl, screw corvette, 400-horse power, Cap-
tain Ross, made her official trial of speed over the
measured mile in Stokes Bay, Portsmouth, on Tues-
day morning, previously to sailing on foreign ser-
vice. The ship was complete in all her stores for
sea, with 260 tons of coal in her bunkers, and drew
16ft. 9in. of water forward and 20ft. sin. aft. The
principal results were as follows :—Six runs with
full boiler power-11.380, 10.526, 12162, 9.625,
12.543, and 9.426 knots ; mean speed of the ship
with full boiler power, 10.856 knots ; steam pres-
sure in boilers, 211 b.; vatuurn, 24in. and 25in. The
maximum number of the engines' revolutions was
57, and the minimum number 56. The total num-
ber made throughout the six runs was 1,868. Two
runs made with half-boiler power gave respectively
10.465 and 8113 knots ; the mean speed being
9-439. In testing the turning powers of the ship
by circling to starboard and port the half circles
were made in respectively 2min. 25sec., 2min. 38sec.,
2min. 45sec., and 2min. 39sec. ; the full circle
being completed in smin. 37sec., smin. Bsec., smin.
35sec., and smin. 40sec. The Pearl, at the close of
her trial, was again anchored at Spithead, where
she was afterwards inspected by the Port-Admiral
and Commander-in-Chief, Sir Thomas Pasley.
Letters received from her Majesty's ship Sala-
mander, Commander G. W. S. Wares, dated at
sea, April 1, state that the ship was then on her
way to the extreme north of the Australian coast
to make a survey there of a bay and a portion
of the adjacent cost-line. All were well 'on board.

The Severn, 35, screw frigate, 2,767 tons, 500-
horse power, Commodore Frederick B. Montesor,
returned to Sheerness from the East Indies station,
was on Tuesday paid out of commission by Capt.
W. K. Hall, superintendent of Sheerness dockyard
The paying off commenced at 7 o'clock a.m., and
was concluded at 7.50 a.m., the crew consisting of
510 officers and men. The following gratuities
were awarded :—James Burleigh, quartermaster,
£l5 ; William Robinson, leading stoker, £lO ;
George Adkin and Samuel Brass, privates in the
Royal Marine Light Infantry, £5 each. The crew
have been granted seven weeks' leave, and as the
ship was commissioned at Plymouth, and a large
number of the men belonged to that port, the
paddle-wheel vessel Medusa was in readiness to take
them there. A great number, however, left Sheer-
ness by special train immediately after being paid
off.

The half-yearly examination of engineers, en-
gineer students, and shipwright apprentices in Sheer-
ness dockyard was commenced on Monday morning
and concluded on Tuesday by the Rev. Dr. Woolley,
Director of Education to the Admiralty. There
were three engineers, 40 engineer students, and 9
shipwright apprentices, who were examined in the
-following subjects :—Arithmetic, algebra, geometry,
statics, dynamics, hydrostatics, differential and in-
tegral calculus, English composition, grammar,
chemistry, steam, elementary physics, English his-
tory, and French.

The depot of the 96th Regiment, numbering
three officers, seven sergeants, four drummers, and
206 rank and file, with 33 women and children, the
whole under the command of Capt. J. M. Kirk-
wood, left Gravesend yesterday for Colchester,
having disembarked at Tilbury from the Lady Wode-
house steamer, which conveyed them from Dublin.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Commander W. H. Blake, to the
Falcon, vice Owen ; Commander D. G. Davidson,
to the Griffon ; Lieut. George R. Donkin, to the
Dauntless ; Sub-Lieut. James H. Corfe, to the
Terrible • Robert Mangle, surgeon, to the Cumber-
land • john J. Comerford, assist-surg., to the
Griffin; William Lovely, assist. paymaster in charge,
to the Griffon ; and Archibald Court, assist. pay-
master, to the Cumberland.