The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-29 00:00:00

up with the screw I Repairing, of eourse, while so
doing, the serious damage dose during all those
seven-and-twenty years by the dry-rot ! And—
[a word in the ear of JOHN BULL] —" That's the
way the money goes !" Thousands upon thou-
sands squandered upon the construction of ships
of war which are, with wanton extravagance,
allowed to rot away upon the stocks before it
is ever dreamt of their being launched ! And
—then, when the mischief has been done
effectually by time and neglect—then, when the
very keel is decayed and the hull is foand to be
crumbling away piecemeal—then, forsooth, it is
sagaciously discovered that the whole affair has
been an egregious mistake from the very begin-
ning ! It proves then, and then only, that the
unfortunate " wreck-in-still-water " is not long
enough—is not heavy enough—is not, in point
of fact, big enough ; it has to be cut in two—
its length from stem to stern has to be increased
—it has, last but not least, to be fitted up de
MVO with the screw propeller ! It is precisely
thus at this very time, as we have seen, with
H.M.S. The Royal Frederick. A magnificent
ship that has been lying in the stocks uninter-
ruptedly ever since the year 1830 ! A man-of-
war built, at the close of the reign of King
GEORGE I-T.—allowed to remain idle and unmo-
lested in Portsmouth Dockyard during the whole
of the reign of King WILLIAM IV.—and at length,
in the twentieth year of the reign of her Most
Gracious Majesty Queen VICTORIA, is found to
be in want of we don't know what all, before
there can be any possibility of her (even now)
being launched ! Like men, like ships :as "The
Immortal Bard" hath it—

" And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe ;
And so from hour to hour we rot and rot ;
And thereby hangs a tale I "

GOYERNAfENT WASTE.

PORTSMOUTH, Jan. 28.—1 t has this week been dino-
Tared that the Royal Frederick, 116 guns and 3,100 tons
burden—a vessel not yet launched, has the dry rot to a
very serious extent. The keel and other parts of the
vessel are affected. The Royal Frederick has been on
the stocks 27 years—the tendency to build ships of hea-
vier tonnage and for the screw-propeller having placed
the class of vessels to which she belongs at a discount.
Like others of that class, it is now, however, contem-
plated cutting her in half, lengthening her, and fitting
her for a screw.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lady Theresa
Lewis left town yesterday for Windsor Castle, on a visit
to her Majesty.
The Right Hon. B. Disraeli will receive a party of
members of the House of Commons to dinner on Monday
next, at his residence; Grosvenor-gate.
A marriage is shortly to take place between the Hon.
Richard Handcock and the Hon. Louisa Mati:da Harris,
daughter of the late Lord Harris.
The following report of the medical gentlemen attend.
ing the Earl of Harewood was issued on Tuesday
morning :—" The Earl of Harewood has passed a quiet
night, with some tranquil sleep. His lordship continues
aenscious and free from fever.—Harewood House, Tues-
day morning, Jan. 27." The answer to inquiries made
yesterday was that his lordship continues in the same
condition.
The steamer Madrid has taken out 14,6601. in specie
to the Peninsula.
The Heather Bell, homeward bound from Melbourne,
with a large quantity of gold, is calculated to have been
at sea about 88 days.
EMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES.—The screw
steam-ship City of Baltimore, Captain Robert Leitch,
sailed this forenoon for New York, with 172 passengers.
REPRESENTATION OF FINSBURY.—A rumour very
extensively prevails throughout the borough that a can-
vass is going on in behalf of a gentleman named Cox, a
solicitor residing in Islington, who is ambitious of repre-
senting the borough in the House of Commons.
ST. MARTIN'S HALL.—Mr. Charles Cotton, a gentle.
man not unknown to fame as a public lecturer, com-
menced a new entertainment last night at St. Mart n's
Hall, entitled the " Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle," with
great success.
MINING PROPERTY AT GARRAWAY'S.—Yesterday the
Great Rough Tor Consuls Copper Mine, near Camelford
Cornwall, now in full it orking, together with the build-
ings, machinery, and other articles forming the entire
plant, were put up for sale. No bid was given.
At a meeting of the United Mexican Mining Asso-
ciation held yesterday the report of the directors, after a
lengthened discussion, was adopted, and it was agreed
to empower them to raise the remaining 6,5001. of the
21,5001. voted in 1854 to carry on the workings of the
Jesus !traria Mine, the returns from which have latterly
improved.
Ad vices from Parris state that the construction of the
Ferdinand Railway of Tuscany, the particulars of which
were put forth in London yesterday, has been contracted
for by Messrs. Burroni Brothers, of Florence, at a sum
of 732,0001., or 68,0001. below the amount of the gua-
ranteed capital. The caution money of 48,0001. has
been deposited.
The half-yearly meeting of the London and North
Western Railway Company is called for the 29th of
February. A resolution will be submitted " for the
consolidation into stock of so many of the London and
Birmingham 201. shares, and the Manchester and Bir
minghain C 101. shares, as have been fully paid up."
THE WRECK OF THE NORTHERN BELLE.—The un
lading of this vessel, now lying on the rocks at King a-
gate, is rapidly progressing. Several thousand barrels
of flour and wheat have already been safely landed by
the loggers Fame:and
:Inrirea additionednntg hatatozoetftße some
.ro itadqsutaanirts,y faos-
ssai as-
sisted
beefd by :Margate
in
ah°
gbao
nr
of Sappers and Miners is
companyNo Norfolk Island,
mistak mistake. No
Nasosisstucihn
forming T
placedh e
ur neapd oerr t ot
convicthrda et r as
settlement,
orders have been given. Some small. force is to be sent
to the Falklands, to replace the existing guard, but only
for
for ordinary duty, and not to form a convict establish-
ment.
DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—The morning performance
of the Great Pantomime attracted an immense audience.
Amongst
and thetheroyal family visitors
fwaenly of France. Duringoticedtheex-Quee
n of the
French the
week the theatre has been honoured by the presence of
the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Buck-
ingham, Lord Tankerville, and a host of the nobility.
Her Majesty's steam ships Sonoom and Megmra are
announced to sail for the Cape of Good Hope and the
Mauritius, and we feel it is not too much to ask of the
Post-office authorities to despatch mails by each vessel.
At all events the mercantile classes connected with those
colonies would be glad to take advantage to some extent
of the opportunities offered to them.
THE NATIONAL HALL, HOLEOEN.—The lessee of the
National Hall, Holborn, has received from the Metro-
politan Police Commissioners a notice under the Me-
tropolitan Buildings Act, 18 and 19 Viet., cap. 122,
sec. 2, requiring him to take down the side walls of the
structure, from the level of the gallery fleora upwards,
where bulged out of the perpendicular. In consequence
of this notice the public meeting of the National Sunday
League, which was to have been held there was postponed.
RUMOURED OPERATION OF ROTHSCRILD IN THE
WHISKY MARKET.—A report got abroad last week in
the spirit trade that Baron Rothschild, the great capi-
talist, bad purchased 7,000 puncheons of the Caledonian
Distillery Company, Edinburgh. As the report was
operating injuriously on the market, a gentleman in
town, a few days ago, addressed a note to the Baron on
the subject, and he received a courteous note in course
of post, stating that there was not a shadow of truth in
the rumour referred to.—North Britisi Mail.
ACCIDENT TO A LIVERPOOL FERRY STEAMER.—An ac-
cident, which for a time caused general alarm, occurred
on Tuesday evening on board the ferry steamer Wallasey,
which plies between Egremont (the Cheshire side) and
the landing stage. The Wallasey left Egremont as usual
at 7 o'clock, and it is supposed that in crossing the
river her bottom came in contact with the anchor of the
steamer Fairy, inasmuch as she began to fill immediately.
In order to save the lives of those on board the captain
signalled for assistance, when the Tiger ferry-boat, hap-
pening to be close, took off the crew and passengers,
excepting two of the former, who remained on board,
but who were afterwards saved in the small boat. The
Wallasey was then steered for the Prince's Dock basin,
which she succeeded in reaching, when she immediately
sank.

BOAT ACCIDENT.—The John o'Groat Journal records
another of those terrible calamities with which the fisher-
men of the Zetland Islands are so often visited—viz.,
the loss of a boat, with not only all her own hands, but
five others who were passengers. The boat left Lerwick,
to return home, on the morning of Wednesday, the 14th
instant, but never reached her destination, nor have
there been any left to tell the tale of her fate. There
were, in all, ten men in the boat. Five of these had
been fishing in it during the past season, and were car-
rying, home their entire earnings, so that four families
have been both bereaved and left totally destitute by
this terrible stroke. Five of the men were married, and
four, if not all five, have left families. Two of the young
men were on the eve of marriage, one of them having
left his bride elect in Lerwick fora few days, intending to
return forlher. In a duplicate account of the accident,
received by the same mail from Zetland, it is stated that
12 lives were lost. In his description of the accident
our correspondent writes six.oar boat belonging to
the Luichness left town between 11 and 12 o'clock in the
forenoon deeply laden with wood and other goods, and
containing, besides, eleven men and a female. She was
observed to have performed the voyage in safety until
she passed Mousa, but she was never afterwards risen.
The alarm was first given by two persons who had
missed their passage in the boat, and who subsequently
had gone home by other conveyance ; and the fears then
entertained were confirmed by the boat, containing little
or nothing of her cargo, drifting ashore at Noness Head.
According to the latest accounts, none of the bodies had
some quantity of the goods has since
flbeoeantedfoausnhdo, utreb.
It is stated that the party were ail
perfectly sober.