The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-23 00:00:00

AN IMPERIAL SKATING PARTY.

A Paris correspondent writes, under date of
Saturday evening :—" Last night I had the luck
to be present at a grand Court skating match by
torchlight. In Paris the streets were muddy ;it
was supposed a decided thaw had set in, the ice on
the lake in the Bois de Boulogne was pronounced
unsafe—it was, as I ascertained myself, watery on
the surface, and not a soul was to be seen upon it.
But beyond the Longchamps race-course, and on
the banks of the Seine, near M. de Rothschild's
splendid villa, and just opposite Suresne, there is
a meadow studded with pretty clumps of high trees,
which was overflowed during the late floods, and
which, although the thermometer had risen to a
shade above zero, still presented a smooth coating
of solid ice, there being scarcely any water under,
neath. At this spot the Emperor, with as much
secrecy as possible, had made a rendezvous for 10
o'clock at night. The great Godilot, undertaker of
public rejoicings, hung the branches of the trees
with hundreds of Chinese lanterns, and serving
men, as numerous as those peasants who erst walked
all night long up and down the ponds about the
Royal palaces to prevent the frogs from waking the
Kings of France, promenaded the frozen meadow
with lanterns fixed on their heads. Besides this
constant illumination, there was an intermittent suc-
cession of Bengal fire and fizzing torches, which
lighted up the scene al giorno. A body of men in
white blouses—a special ice police—formed a cordon
round the field of operations, and kept off those
who were uninvited, but the crowd of spectators,
though considerable, consisted mainly of the inhabi-
tants of St. Cloud, uresne, and the neighbouring
villages. The population of Paris knew nothing
of the fete, and up to this hour neither the Ilfoniteur
nor any other journal has said a word about it. As
soon as the Emperor and the Court arrived the
sport commenced in very business-like style. The
Empress got into a sledge, and M. Hartogs, a Ger-
man gentleman, whose proficiency as a skater
attracted the Imperial notice two years ago, and
who is now called at Court the Emperor's Aide-de-
Cony de glace, had the honour of pushing her Ma-
jesty on the ice. He took her along at railroad
speed, and was out of sight of shore in less than a
minute. The Emperor then put on his skates, and
conducted the sledge of a lady whose name I could
not learn. The Countess do Morny, enveloped in
velvet and white furs, essayed her prowess, but
was supported by two gentlemen, who gave her a
hand on each side. The Princess Poniatowski
went along very well by herself. In a short space
of time the ice was thickly studded with a host of
chamberlains, generals, aides-de-camps, and even
judges who had come with the Court party to join
in the fashionable amusement of the hour. 'The
notion of coming to skate in a thaw was highly ap-
proved, for the night was by no means cold. The
Emperor and Empress remained on the ice till b alf-
past 11. This afternoon, the frost in the meantime
having returned with considerable intensity, the
sport was resumed by the Imperial party at the
same spot. M. Hartogs gave the Empress a pro-
menade in a beautiful sledge, which was sent for
by telegraph from Germany, and only arrived
this morning. Afterwards her Majesty ventured
to skate, but only with the assistance of two
gentlemen. She is not at her ease upon the ice,
and, considering that she comes from sunny Spain,
this is not to be wondered at. The Emperor is a
very good skater. He does not attempt any tours
de force, but he is perfectly master of his move-
ments. His wont is to go along rather slowly, and
he stops frequently to contemplate the animated
scene around him. Not the least etiquette is ob•
served on the ice. No clear space is kept about the
Emperor or Empress. They go about just like any-
body else, and to-day, unlike last evening, every-
body without exception was allowed to skate at the
same time with them. The Emperor had nothing
whatever but his own adroitness to prevent him
from being knocked over by the first tyro in the
snort whose skates might run away with him. It
was an interesting sight to see the master of so
many legions, the mighty potentate upon whose
mysterious breath tha fate of so many nations
hangs, slipping about unpretentiously on the ice,
no squire or even servant following him, and appa-
rently as much on an equality with the people
about him as a carter is with a ploughman on an
English farmyard pond. Once a young man, who
saw the Emperor skating slowly along the middle
of the lake, steered almost indiscreetly close to him
and gave him the go by, with the evident intention
of getting credit with the spectators for being the
best skater. The Emperor then, without any ap-
parent effort, increased his speed, gracefully dis-
tanced his opponent by a few yards, and, contented
with his victory, resumed the steady pace which,
as I said before, he seems to affect. The frost is
severe to-night, and should it continue the rage for
skating will attain extraordinary proportions.
Happy the amateur who has a good pair of skates,
for the manufacturers cannot make them fast
enough. The lake in the Bois de Boulogne is
again in capital order.

IBIS DAY'S SHIPPING.

LONDON, Jan. 23.—. Wind this day at noon--South-
Westerly; moderate breeze, with dull, cloudy, and cold
weather.

OrE DOVER, Jan. 22.—Wind S.W.—Arrived--Poly-
mede. from Prince Edward's Island.

DEAL, Jan. 21.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Mary Ann,
from the River, and sailed for Demerara ; Brilliant, from
the River, and sailed for lVfogdaore ; Mary E. Ray, from
the River, and sailed for Adelaide.
CARDIFF, Jan. 22.—Wind N.W.—Sailed—Friede, for
St. Jago de Cuba.
BRISTOL, Jan. 22.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Maritina,
from Mauritius; Harvest Home, and Judge Shaw, frera
New York.

OFF TORBAY, Jan. 21.--Arrived—Orkney Lass, from
Bahia.

PILL, Jan. 22.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Mary, from

P LTM OUT U, Jan. 22.—Wind S. W.—Arrived—Sequesteo,
from Havannah.

NT ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday Morning.
Arrived, Jan. 22—Xanthe, from Bordeaux ; Lively,
Cruiser, from Plymouth ; Ralph, from Swansea; Pilot Fish,
from Port Madoc ; Ellen, from Portsmouth ; Jane, from
Bangor ; Loador, from Neath ; Superior, from St. Ive's ;
Foyle, steamer, from Dublin.

Sailed--Firefly, steamer, for Cardiff; Foyle, steamer, for
London ; Wonder, steamer, for Jersey ; Schiedam, for
Shields; Georges, for Cherbourg; Melbourne Trader, for
L ittlehampton; Cypress ; for Sunderland ; Premier, for
Shields.

Arri Tod, J an. 23.—Atalanta, steamer, from Havre.

(BY SUBMAIIINE AND MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning.
Tide last hour's flood.
Arrived, Jan. 22—Excelsior, from St. Michael's ;
Free-
dom, from Seville.

DEAL, Wednesday Morning.
Anchored—Concordia, from London, for:Genoa ; Erro-
mange (reported yesterday), from Shields, for Matanzas.

THE DROWNED WALLSEND COALFIELD.—A large
and influential meeting of the coal owners of the north of
England was held on Wednesday last at the Turf Hotel,
Newcastle-on .Tyne, for the purpose of considering the de-
tails of a scheme for the drainage of the coalfield eastoac!
Newcastle, which is now under water. The chair w!:
cupied, in the absence of Lord Ravensworth, by Mr.
Bell, a large colliery owner. Mr.
before the meeting the scheme, stated that the
The whole
of Newcastle measured about 30 squarT. J. Tayelor, eld east
„ed miles.
ed." Water
of
which
was,
in
mining
language,
it had risen more than
had been permitted to accumulate till ,t
so that, in point of
100 fathoms above the high main
the high main seam was en-
tirelyfact, there was a lake a
thloeot
and the consequence ethe fathomse deep under ground,
lower seam could, only be worked
ingenious, was very uncertain.
submerged, while
ough
by a system which, 'though
Cast iron cm.
tubbing, were used in segments of
...sons, or
20 inches
height_ and 4or 6 feet long. These were
wedged
together, and thus formed a sort of dam, which
not, waver, to be depended upon. At Hebburn a
fracture in
was hothe tubbing had occasioned the entire loss of the
i n
colliery, aid might have also occasioned great loss of life.
Cast iron was therefore not to be depended upon. Under
these circumstances it was desirable to adopt some general
plan of drainage. It was therefore proposed to drain a
district of 22,000 acres, bounded by the main dyke on the
north, the sea on the east, and the town of Newcastle on
the west. This might be accomplished by placing drain-
ing engines at Jarrow, Howden, and other places in the
district. They did not seed to"go to the bottom of the bas
in all cases, but to intercept the feeders would do as well.
lie need not go into details, but, considering the vast
amount of mineral wealth which was lying unemployed, he
thought that they were fully justified in adopting a scheme,
however extensive it was, which would utilise that wealth.
In answer to various questions, Mr. Taylor stated that the
quantity of water was so great in the pits that at Percy
Main Culliery, before it was abandoned, 1S times more
water than coal was raised at it. The sum which was re-
quired to carry out the proposed scheme was only £60,000,
and the barriers of coal which were now left in the high
main seam only amounted in themselves to more than
double that sum. After several gentlemen had expressed
their opinion respecting the proposed scheme, a committee
of coalowners and others was appointed for the purpose of
considering it and examining the bill to be presented
.to
parliament in its favour.
A PACK OF HOUNDS DESTROYED BY A RAILWAY
TRAM—An accident which has caused the destruetionbe.
of
the Meath foxhounds look place on the line of railway
tween Naven and liens on Wednesday: ThLmni2LindgaanY
mail train, which left Kells at 2.30 p.m., in
at the
Seven were
time following a fox which crossed
killed,No injury LA
killed, and thrce wounded had to be
towards Naven, met the Meath hounds,
line. Seven
wore
been sustained by rider: or horses.