The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-12 00:00:00

portance to her Oaks' success, for I believe that
Mayonaise did not run up to her own form at Ep-
som, yet I am compelled to confess that her per-
formance in May is sufficiently good to warrant
even the sanguine expectations which her partisans
entertain of her ability to overthrow the favourite.
Her 51bs. allowance, too, must tell greatly in her

favour.
Defender pi-oved himself to be a good horse in the
Spring, and perhaps a more dangerous outsider
cannot be discovered. Should anything go wrong
with the favourite, Defender will be very formid-
able. .Turfites, too, regard coincidencee with much
significance, and they argue—illogically, perhaps—
that if Flatruan could win the St. Leger two years
in succession on Warlock and Imperieuse, L. Snow-
den may be able to win it two years in succession
on Sunbeam and Defender.

Gladiolus is reported much improved and so he
need be to possess the chance which his friends
ascribe to him. Of Comforter I entertain very slight
hopes. Napoleon will run respectably, but I shall
expect Gamester to revenge himself on him for his
York defeat whenever they meet again. Magnum
will run and will deprive Wells of his mount, on
Summerside. To oppose Promised Land unscru-
pulously would be to act upon the silliest prejudice.
Although one of those glorious uncertainties for
which the Turf is notorious may cause the defeat of
the favourite his overthrow is not yet dreamt of in
my philosophy. I shall therefore thus attempt to
anticipate the judge's decision :
Mr. W. Day's Promised Land, by Jericho, Bst 7st
(A. Day) 1
Mr. Saxon's Defender, by Melbourne or Wind-
hound, Bst 71b (L. Snowden) 2

Sir C. Monck's Gamester, by The Cossack, Bst 71b
(Aldcroft) 3.
The Municipal Stakes may be won by the. ydnus
For the Corporation Plate I shall select Tiara
aid Coxwold.

Sixty-eight are handicapped for4he Portland
Plate ; and from amongst many ,imals which
appear well in, I find it difficult to :e a selection.
The lot which I am most inclined to stand on com-
prises New Brighton, Twilight, Actaeon, and
Tightfit.
Thormanby shall have my vote of confidence for
the 10 Sovs. Sweepstakes on Thursday.
Musjid is being saved for his match, and will not
therefore start for the Eglinton Stakes. Promised
Land may also be an absentee, and I shall there-
fore put my trust in North Lincoln.
For the Cleveland Handicap, I shall go for lnd,
Nelson, and Woodburn. Conjuror will do the
trick for the Scarborough. Feodorowna and Her-
man shall represent my interest in the Handicap
for Two-year-olds.

A FRESH MAN.

THE EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE

GREAT EASTBRN.

(From the Horning Post.)

—Tlie--N.ihole night was passed by the directors and
the newspaper correspondents in the investigation
of the explosion and its results. The Chairman,
Mr. Campbell, called in the aid of Mr. J. E.
M'Connell, the engineer, and prepared a report for
the " gentlemen of the press," which he could
hardly expect would be adopted. Ignoring
the fact that three men were dead, and several
lying in a very precarious state, a report was
presented for publication in the newspapers
which admitted barely anything but a simple acci-
dent, and the serious scalding of a few stokers.
The indignant and unanimous refusal of the special
correspondents to receive and adopt this as their
report, I am happy to say produced better counsels,
another statement, slightly altered, together with
a medical report, were handed to us just as we left
the vessel at Weymouth. I publish them, with
other matter, at the foot of my letter.
A ship that could bear an explosion which every
disinterested engineer on board declared to be the
severest that had ever happened to any steamvessel
that was ever launched, and yet could steam on with
undiminished speed for 12 or 15 hours, from Hast-
ings to Portland, without any signs of distress in
her machinery, and with sea-tight sides as perfect as
when they were launched from Millwall, required
no injudicious support that could be given by the
press at the sacrifice of truth, in the face of a pending
examination, which would be sure to expose the
fraud. Mr. Campbell and those who acted with him
must have had a very poor opinion of the discern-
ment and honesty of the " fourth estate," and it is
to be hoped that the lesson he received will neither
be lost upon him nor the company and its officials.
On our arrival at Portland, about ten a.m., on
Saturday, we had to encounter the most melancholy
part of our journey. The old town of Weymouth
was prepared to receive us with all honour, and
Many messengers of good-will came off in excur-
sion boats to give us a cordial greeting. Their
cheers were given, and not returned ; their bands
played inspiriting tunes, and we made no sign, un-
til at last the intelligence oozed out that some great
calamity had occurred on board. From this moment
a dead silence prevailed ; and no prying questions
were even asked of the passengers as they were
taken on shore in the expectant pleasure-boats.
As the ship was not a legal sailing vessel, deli-
vered by the contractor to the company and cap-
tain, until her arrival at Ptrtland, the loss will fall
upon Mr. Scott Russell.

(From the Daily News.)
A foolish passenger had raised a cry of " the
baits," and assisted by some of the sailors, was
madly attempting to let them down. In one
moment all would have been lost, for the rush to the ,
boats would have been universal, and hundreds
would have been drowned, whilst the noble ship
would have been left to certain destruction. But
the voice of the captain was heard like a trumpet,
calling out " Men to your duty, officers to your posts,
give me a rope, and let six men follow me." The
effect of this short address was electric. In an
instant he had slid down the rope into the saloon,
followed by his brave boatswain Hawkins, and six
volunteers were not long wanted for the forlorn
hope. One after another he dashed open the
gilded panels, but the splendid apartments had,
strange to say, only two inhabitants, his own little
daughter Edith, and her pet dog. It was the
reward of his gallantry, that his own child should
be thus the one to be so providentially saved.
Mr. Atkinson, the pilot, a little unpretending man,
stood at his post on the bridge, and, undismayed
by the loud explosion, the descending fragments,
the suffocating chasm, or the yawning gulf
immediately beneath him, and in the firm
conviction that all the boilers would go in suc-
cession, continued to direct the movements of
the ship as calmly QS if he were only turning her
into a harbour. Some frightened fool shouted,
" Atkinson, come down and save yourself,"
but the gallant veteran replied with grave noncha-
lance, " I'm no engineer, I'm a pilot, I've charge of
the ship, and I'll stick to her." The officer, Mr.
Sewell, who held the wheel under Mr. Atkinson's di-
rections, was equally self-possessed. I saw his tall
figure through the smoke working and turning the
wheel with the regularity of clockwork. Of course
her speed had been slackened, and all strain had been
taken off the paddle engines, but the screw worked
wonders, and its engineer, including Mr. Blake,
who had been deputed by Messrs. Bolton and Watt
to superintend the trial trip, declared that with it
oarlonteen d
he wasays ptroepAarmedertiocac.arryy2ewshililp in eightthink
exaggerate, when I say that the first glance re-
minded me most forcibly of the ruins of Covent-
, garden theatre a few hours after the great fire.
Mr. Russell positively,the
sefitofish and lam bound to
give statements, that this
thatat. ran ngehe arrangemente
tv
ea forced
ds
against upon
it, h
andim
tblya
til
tr .
wawas Brunel;
only
in obedience to the stringent conditions of his con-
tract that he adopted it. This account was also
confirmed to me by several disinterested witnesses.
Every great operation had in fact been provided for,
and it was the neglect of only one little "tap," no
bigger than a coat button, that so nearly sent the
Great Eastern to the bottom.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE HUNTING SEASON.—
The winter of the huntsman's discontent is fast becoming
glorious to every pack in the United Kingdom. Litters of
cubs are being divided, and their ranks thinned, nearly
every morning. It affords us great satisfaction to make
known the fact that a belief is growing in high quarters of
the possibility of the co-existence of foxes and pheasants.
We trust the example of non-destroying may be universally
following. Accounts from all quarters are most cheering.
—The Field.
The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., will
visit i‘fanchester during the last week of October. He has
promised to address the members and friends of the Insti-
tutional Association of Lancashire and Cheshire, embracing
110 mechanics' institutions, and to distribute the prizes and
certificates to the successful candidates at the late exami-
nation held at the Manchester and Blackburn centres of
the Association. It is fifteen years since the ex-leader of
the Commons addressed a public assembly in Manchester.
Manchester Guardian.
Viscount Palmerston opened the sporting season
at Broadlands, on Wednesday, by going out partridge
shooting with a new double-barrelled gun, and pursuing
the game with an eagerness and a gusto which no one could
thoroughly appreciate, or even believe, without seeing.