The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-26 00:00:00

irld.RijOUßs OF Butcni.

(Front the Morning Herald.)
Mir W alter Scott, in his novel of " Kenilworth,"
tells us of a witty repartee male by young Walter
Raleigh, when rebuked by Queen Elizabeth for
having refused her physician admittance to the pre-
sence of the Duke of Sussex, then laying sick at
Say House. Raleigh having pleaded in his defence
that a skilful mediciner was at that moment in at-
tendance upon the duke, the Queen retorted upon
him with an allusion to the proverb, that in the
multitude of counsel there is safety. " Aye,
madam," rejoined Raleigh, "but I have heard
learned men say that the safety spoken of is for
the physician, not for the patient." Had Raleigh
been a member of the committee upon harbours
of refuge, he might have traced a resemblance
between the situation of the British mariners and
that of his Grace of Sussex. His shrewd remark
would certainly apply with equal truth to the
former. So multiplied are the plans for providing
them with shelter, that while the election is being
made many lives may be lost. Passing hastily
along the English Channel, and summarily dis-
missing such minor stations as Seaford Roads and
Newhaven (both of which, however, have their
admirers, the latter especially being au excellent
post for a light squadron of gun boats), we may
mention four principal places on the Cornish cost
alone, at which different engineers have recom-
mended the construction of a sea barrier. The chart
shows at the south-western extremity of England a
bluff cape, of peculiar configuration, upon the
sharp and rugged crags of which many a good
bark has been shattered. This pronsonotory
is connected with the mainland by a kind of isth-
mus, hollowed out by Mount's Bay, on the south
side, and that of St. Ives to the north. At St. Ives
and Penzance there are harbours which have been
termed convertible. A ship, that dare not make
for the one, would run to the other, the danger
consisting in doubling the cape which separates
them. For the protection of the haven at Penz-
ance a breakwater is required upon Penlee Point ;
while St. Ives, from tho wen{, round 6v libe north.-
east, is exposed to the full violence of the wind,
and can only be covered by a pier extending 2,000
feet into the sea. At New Quay, thirty miles north
of the latter spot, and, therefore, so much nearer
to the Bristol Channel, a harbour has also been pro-
jected in very deep water ; but the expense would
be so enormous as to counterbalance the advantage
of that proximity. Advancing still further in toe
same direction, until we have cleared Trevose Head,
we come suddenly upon Padstow, which lies snugly
+retired withih the bend of the peak. Here at the
first glance nature seems to,have thrown in our way
the very object of our search—a-deep cleft in the
shore, hemmed in on all sides by natural fortifica-
tions. But on looking more narrowly, we discover
a mouth so strait, so rapid a current, and quick-
sands so treacherous, that we are forced to turn
away in disappointment. Of these four sites we
think St. Ives the most likely to obtain the pre-
ponderance of votes in its favour. _

- The Isle of Man hasbeen styled the beacon of the
Irish Sea, and it has been asserted by competent
naval officers that if 30,0001. were bestowed upon a
servicepier at
to Douglas
thsmall craft s itwoulodtand h
render that
rpnortboofgs inreat
the vicinity, and secure a constant steam-packet
communication with the Mersey, in the very worst
weather. With regard to the coast of Ireland
several schemes are afloat. Greenore Point, Cahore
Point, and Ardglass, have all been highly praised.
Off Portrush, is the county of Antrim, there is a
row of rocks called the Sherries, parallel to the
beach, where, by merely closing up one of the in-
lets, a splendid harbour might be created at which
vessels bound from Halifax •or New York would call
for orders, and most of the objections which at pre-
sent exist to the north-about passage, as it is
termed, from Liverpool, would by this means be
removed. It was likewise a question with the com-
mittee, whether some assistance might not fairly be
granted to the people of WexfOrd, at which place a
considerable sum has already been set apart for im-
provement under the charge of the Admiralty. In
the neighbourhood of Wexford the navigation is
extremely critical, and the Blaokwater Bank, which
rises just outside, is notorious in the annals of mari-
time disaster. No ships, however, but those of
very limited draught can approach this port, owing
to the shallowness of the channel ; and the evidence
has convinced us that any efforts permanently to
icicrease the depth would be unavailing, inasmuch
as it is choked with countless shoals, and sands per-
petually drifting, which no volume of water poured
upon them could effectually keep clear. There
are, however, two localities on that stretch of coast '
which for a very trifling outlay could be made to
answer all purposes. The expenditure of 50,0001.
would suffice to dredge a wide opening over both
the bars which severally obstruct the entrance to
the bays of Waterford and Carl:ngford. These
bays comprise an anchorage of very large dimen-
sions, perfect in all respects ; and in the most
dreaded gales from the south-west and north-east,
either one or the other would afford an accessible
refuge to almost every merchantman that frequents
those (seas. When such interests are at stake, it
would be false economy to be over parsimonious ;
and the estimate above mentioned is not more than '
the sum which has been paid ere now far an in-
ferior or spurious painting. Some Irish members of
Parliament, the spurious allies of my Lord Palmers-
ton, have been accused of an over fondness for agi-
:A. ion. These geirkemen might perhaps think it
beneath their dignity t 0 agitate for the gift of a
dredging machine. If they would consent to do so,
their importunity, trivial as 'the object'may seem,
might in the result not only be very beneficial, as
well to the foreign traffic of their own country as to
the merchants and mariners of Liverpool, but
would, if successful, furnish them with a just and
1 'sting theme fur the display of their indignant
declamation.

We cannot dismiss this subject without a few re-
marks upon Holyhead ; since we fancied that we
could detect in some of the questions put by the
committee a lurking inclination to depreciate the
value of that harbour,
.and to find an excuse for
abandoning it, at least for the prssent, in its un-
finished state. We should be glad if we had been
mistaken in suppo,ing that any such inclination ex-
ited. If it did, it must have been sorely :locked by
the answers of the witnesses, who and all testi-
fied to the inestimable benefit which has been pro-
duced even by the half-canstructed breakwater. Al-
ready 2,000 vessels, principally from Liverpool,
take refuge at Holyhead in the course of the year,
and ten tim-s that number may be expected,
when the entire works, the design for which, on
account of the increasing cl-mand for accommoda-
tion, has teen twice or thrice extended, and brought
to a conclusion. The principle of construction
which hai be-n adopted at Holyhead is the
eaten as at Portland, and was the invention
of the late Mr. Rendel. It is entirely original,
and reflects great credit upon the ingenuity of that
talented engineer. Tiers of piles are first inserted,
five in breadth, as the support for five parallel lines
of railway. These piles are either screwed into the
_ bottom or loaded at the foot, and then dropped into
their places, that process being made use of which
will bet suit the nature of the soil. The piles are
united by transverse beams, over which are laid
longitudinal timbers, as girders for each railway.
The stage thus formed is not level, but sloped to-
wards the sea. Trains of wagons, loaded at the
quarry with loose stones or rubble, are run on to
the platform by a locomotive engine. When they
reach the incline the engine is unhooked, and each
waggon isput upon a separate tramway, and then,
being hurried downwards by its own weight, is met
at the proper point by a tumbling-block, and tilts
over its contents between the rails into the sea. The
material employed is a mixture of huge blocks and
ch'ppings. It has been found by experience that
where large masses only are used, great disturbance
will ensue ; but that the water will of itself wash
the smell stone into the interstices, and thus con-
solidate the whole into a conapact and solid bulwark.
Just beneath low-water mark a backbone of ma-
sonry is driven through the summit of the rubble in
the very centre of the breakwater. By this simple
method a barrier may be erected which will resist
the action of the waves for centuries, and of which
it may be said that the longer it endures the longer
it will be likely to last. Mr. Renders system is
the cheapest and the most speedily executed that
has ever been invented, provided only that quar-
ties are at hand; and in deterinining the situation
of the now harbours of refuse this fact must not be
forgotten where other advantages are evenly
balanced.

(From the 7imes.)
During the year 1856 ten lives upon an average
were lost every week by wrecks and casualties at
sea, within sight, as it may be said, of these shores.
As this loss, however, is very considerably less, not-
withstanding the increase in our shipping, than
was usually experienced but a few years back, we
should not perhaps bespeak any special notice of
the two circumstances were it not for one or two of
the features which characterise the return, and
which appear to us of sufficient importance to be
impressed upon the public mind. It seems placed
beyond a doubt, by the statistics which we have
recently published, both that a large proportion of
shipwrecks still arise from preventible causes, and
that the loss of life may be still further reduced by
the energies and benevolence of the public.
The ordinary conceptions of a shipwreck usually
involve the idea of a tempest or a hurricane, with
all the appalling accessories of thunder, lightning,
surge, and foam. Such a picture was given the
other day in the terrible story of the Central
America steamer, and such, no doubt, is the scene
presented occasional
zicarer home. But the