The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-11 00:00:00

THE DANUBE NAVIGATION.

CONSTANTINOPLE, MAY 31.
At the present moment no object can be of greater
interest to civilised Europe, or deserve more of its
attention, than the settlement of the Danubian
navigation, by rendering one at least of i!s mouths
an accessible thoroughfare. This project, so con-
spicuously sanctioned at the peace of Paris, has
not been realised as yet. All eyes are directed to
the quarter where the Danube debouches into the
sea, to watch what the commission appointed by
the seven powers of Europe may be doing ; but
unfortunately we can detect very little doing in-
deed, even in the way of preparation. The indo-
lence of this commission has induced me to make
an excursion as far as Galatz, and at every station
on the river I made it my business to institute
strict inquiries as to the operations, if any, which
were in progress or proposed, and I now transmit
you the very unsatisfactory data which I collected.
The commission of the Seven Powers has divided
itself into two sub-committees, one of which super-
intends the general management, and the other
looks after the technical details of the works. I
observed with regret, that sometimes only two out
of the whole seven, and those the Austrian and
Sardinian coromisioners, were- present at Galatz.
The English commissioner, I heard, had left Galatz
to inspect the survey of the Danube now going on,
bat the other four, to amuse themselves at Vienna
or elsewhere.

' I stated in a previous letter, that the want of
hydeographic maps or charts prevented it from be-
ing ascertained, whether the Sulina or the St.
George's Channel should be selected to be made
navigable. Nevertheless, by way of making some
sort of beginning, if only to say they had started, the
commission, ignorant as they were of which branch
was preferable, resolved on making Tultscha he cen-
tral point of their operations, taking it for granted
that the Danube must be put to righ.s as far up as
Galatz. The construction of the works and maga-
zines, where the materials must first be collected
before the workmen can be actively employed, was
confided by the commissioners to the Turkish colo-
nel, Emin Bey (Malinovsky), who has, or is sup-
posed to have, all the clerks and staffs under his
orders, The work has been in conseqm nce ad-
vanced a step, as the solemnity of laying the first
stone for the building to be occupied by the diree.
tors was gone through on the 10th of May by the
Austrian commissioner. This was the first step, but
after a few days orders were given to leave every-
thing alone ; about half the workmen and assistants
weredismissed, some hundreds of whom -consist of
Tartars from the Dobrudscha, called from their
homes for the purpose, and though the work has
since recommenced, not more than 50 men are em-
ployed. If the works of the improvement of the
Danube navigation go on at this rate they will last
one generation before the gigantic task is half ac-
complished.
It would seem that the commission intend dimi-
nishing the number of persons employed on the
magaz'nes and the like, and amalgamating several
branches of the administration into one. It is said
that this measure is dictated by economical motives.
It should be observed that the treaty of Paris
ore ited no pecunteey source, I mean, wherefrom to
defray the c )st of such an undertaking. The com-
missioners did not think of this 'at first, did not see
the necessity of obtaining definite instructions on
this head and guarantees for the money that would
be required. Only Turkey came forward with a
few thousand piastres, a mere drop in the stream,
and which has now flo wed away or been evaporated.
Seeing that the means were wholly inadequate, the
commissioners should now be doing all they can to
mend the matter. As to how far the officials or
clerks, appointed by the present commission at
Galatz, are of any use, I could not discover ; my
humble opinion is, that their services are no:, re-
quired for the moment, unless to make a parade of
official titles. To be sure, they are busy enough,
from morn to eve, at Tultscha, where the stores
have been collected and the works have been more
or less comma need. In case a diminution of their
numbers should be made, those in non-activity are
to be dismissed first, and the same rule is to be ob-
served at Galatz, if reductions are made there.
As fur the engineers, there are scarcely half the
number required for the work of their extraordi-
nary task ; but if there are no funds, there is no-
thing to be said. One thing is quite clear, that the
commissioners are not practical persons, or men of
business competent to their work. I have also to
state that the spirit of party has broken out among
them, and if one tugs one way and another the
other, no progress is conceivable.—Correspondent
of Daily News.

THE ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN OF AUSTRIA.—PORTS-
MOUTH, June 10.—A government telegraphic message
has come down this afternoon, intimating that the Graud
Duke Maximilian of Austria may be expected to arrive
every hour, by an Austrian war steamer.
PERSONATION AT THE LEEDS ELECTION.—Two young
men named Joseph Mountain, and William Bennett,
were committed for trial by the Leeds magistrates for
personating voters at the lath election for Leeds. The
first prisoner voted for Beecroft, the latter for Mills.
Warrants have been issuedagpaerinsostnatthifoeie.other persons
for aiding and abetting in the
RECOVERY OF THE BODY OF ENSIGN BOWLES.—
After a submersion of 16 days, the body of this young
officer was-discovered floating in the Ribble, near to the
Guides, or King William public-house, Freckletou, by
Henry Gornall, the guide; at six o'clock on Monday
evening. It will be remembered that on the night of
the 231 ultimo Mr. Bowles left Lytham in a boat, for
Prestan, with a man named Cartmel ; both were
drowned, but the latter was found near the spot where-
the accident happened, on the day after its occurrence,
and it was seen that the boat had sunk. It is supposed
that the remains of Mr. Bowles were "sanded u,e,"
and that the freshet occasioned by the recent heavy
rains disengaged them from the superincumbent deposit.
The body way very much swollen and disfigured. It
was at once taken to the inn, and the news of the melan-
choly discovery was dispatched by telegraph to the
unfortunate young man's relatives, who reside at Kelve-
don, in Essex.
MR. SPURGEON DONE BY A PICKLE-SELLING TAU-
, TUFFE.—Most persons have observed in the newspapers,
and on the walls of the metropolis, announcements of a
reward for the apprehension of Mr. John Gregory, an
oil and pickle• merchant in the borough, who has not
surrendered to his bankruptcy. but has left the country
in company with, it is said, his governess. It
may not be known that, in Mr. Gregory, we have to
add another to the unhappily long list of persons
who have traded on religion, or, rather, a hypocriti-
cal assumption of true religion, for the purposes
of deluding the world in general. Mr. Gregory, who
was accustomed to wear a white neckcloth among his
other personal adoriaments, was treasurer of the funds
in process of collection for the new chapel about to be
erected for-Mr. Spurgeor, by whose teaching, it would
seem, he has profited but little, and has absconded, it is
said, with over 2,000/ of the popular young Baptist's
money. A warrant is issued for his apprehension ; in-
deed, it is rumoured, that he has been captured already,
and, if so, he will find himself in a " pickle " much more
pretty " than his own olives, cabbages, and cucum-
bers.