The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-12 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

FORGET-ME-NOT. Ackermann, London, 18 44.
The " Forget-me-Not" is one of the oldest, as well
as the best, of the Annual fraternity, having now been
in existence, we believe, semewhere about fifteen years.
During this protracted period it has seen .dozens of
more showy and aspiring rivals rise, decline, and
wholly disappear, and has at present scarcely a single
competitor in the field. We do not wonder at the
steady popularity which this annual has uniformly
met with from the day when it was first started, for it
is edited with great skill and care by Mr. Shoberl,
who thoroughly understands the art of catering to the
public taste in these matters. The volume for the
present year contains not less than ten plates, some of
which are of an average character in point of exccu-
' tion, while others display superior excellence. Among
the better class, we may mention "Aurora's Fan,"
which represents an arch, coquettish young girl turn-
ing her fan to excellent account in the way of
flirtation, while a youth stands beside her, evidently
much impressed with a sense of her powers of capti-
vation. This clever plate is engraved by Mote from
an original design by Lange. " Trent" is a sketch of
this fine old town, taken on the spot. In the fore-
ground we see a quaint, old-fashioned bridge !panning
a broad sheet of water, while the back-ground is made
up of a picturesque range of mills, clothed with trees,
and gracefully varied in their outlines. " Mary
M'Donnell" is a full-length portrait of a buxom
young Scottish lass, who is sitting alone on a naked
crag, at whose feet boils a raging sea, while a sharp,
clever sheep-dog is keeping a vigilant look-out ahead.
This picture is full of spirit and animation. Of the
remaining plates, the best are those entitled" Miranda,"
and the "Cousins," which last is a portrait of two
young female relations who are engaged in the mos
confidential conversation, probably on the merits o
their respectives lovers. The prose and verse com-
munications in the volume are neither better nor
worse than usual. The article which has pleased us
most by its whim and vivacity, is called " Extracts
from the Diary of a Beauty," and is written in illus-
tration of "Auroras Fan."

CASTING OF ONE THOUSAND
32-POUNDERS, AT LOW MOOR IRON

WORKS.

The fact having come to our knowledge that in-
structions had been forwarded to Low Moor for the
execution of the enormous number of one thousand
pieces of ordnance, of large calibre, we determined to
learn the particulars on the spot. Accordingly, on
making known our business, on Monday last, we
were received with the greatest courteousness, and
were fortunate enough to be present at the actual
casting of some of the guns—a process fraught with
the utmost interest to those who ever saw the like be-
fore, and one which can hardly be viewed with indif-
ference, no matter how often it be witnessed. We
ascertained that the guns are all iron 32-pounders,
technically "longs" and " shorts," though the inex-
perienced eye would fail to detect any difference in
their lengths, and the actual difference, we believe, is
only a few inches. There is a very material dif•
ference, however, in their formation, as com_pared
with the guns hitherto in use, the weight a the
metal being infinitely greater in the new than the
old, and varying also considerably in the new, ac-
cording to the drawings to which they are cast.
Formerly, 32-pounder iron cannon were cast as low
as 24 cwt. each ; hut these now being cast weigh
twice, and in some instances almost three times as
much, namely, from 43 cwt. to 56 cwt., and even to
62 cwt. each. This immense increase of metal
affords, of course, a proportionate increase of strength
to the guns, the bursting of one of which, after it
has undergone the Woolwich test, may now be re-
garded almost as an impossibility. The principal
portion of this additional metal is placed in the
breech, though it much varies in some of the guns as
to its distance from, or proximity to, the trunnions,
as those pivots are called by which the gun rests on
the carriage. Much difference of professional opinion
seems to prevail as to the relative advantage and dis-
advantage of having the chief weight of the metal
in each piece disposed in this or that particular spot.
We believe, however, that all authorities on the doc-
trine of projectiles are unanimous in pronouncing
guns cast on this principle that is, immensely
heavy in and about the breech—to be capable of
throwing a ball infinitely further than the old light
guns, and with a proportionate economy in the ex-
penditure of powder. _

Each gun is cast perfectly solid, in a clay mould,
suspended perpendicularly in a metal casting, and
such is the bulk of iron employed, and so great is its
power of retaining the heat, that each piece takes nearly
a week to cool before it can be further meddled with :
—for instance, on Monday evening last we could not
bear to place the hand on the outer clay covering of a
gun cast on the previous Saturday morning, and
several days must elapse before the metal itself could
be touched with impunity. The guns are drilled out
with powerful machinery, and it the bore, which is
guaged with the nicest possible precision, is found t,.
vary a hair's breadth, it is at once sent to the fur-
nace and melted over again. If, however, the bore is
found to be mathematically true, it is polished, also
by machinery, till it is as smooth as glass and as
glittering as silver. The crown and royal initials
are then chiselled out just above the touch-hole, and
after receiving a final scrutinising inspection, the gun
is sent by the Manchester and Leeds Railw!! y to
Hull, and thence transported in coasters to Wool-
wich. Here- it is subjected to the ordnance test. If
it carry its range truly, and without exhibiting any
symptom of inferiority of material, and corresponds
in all respects with the drawing, it receives the Go-
vernment impress; and being freed from the rust
which it has most likely acquired in its transit, is
pronounced fit for service, and placed in the stores
accordingly. If, on the contrary, it should, in the
minutest particular, fall below the ordinary standard,
one of the trunnions is struck off, so as to render the
gun utterly useless, and it is then returned at the
cost of the maker.

We learn that not one of the guns included in the
present order to the Low Moor Company has, so far,
though a large number of them have been executed,
failed in the Woolwich test. Sometimes guns are
ordered for the purpose of being burst at Woolwich
—that is, for the purpose of trying experiments until
they burst. Lately, two 56-pounders were made
here, nine feet in length, and weighing 98 cwt. each;
and, although Colonel Dundas, the Inspector-General
of Ordnance, by whose directions all orders of this
nature are executed, has been conducting a priolonged
series of experiments with them at Woolwich, he has
not yet applied a force greater than their powers of
resistance, and will probably be some time before he
does so. As fast as these new 32-pounders are being
made—namely, at about the rate of twenty-four a
week—the old 32-pounders are called in and melted
down, their average weight being something under
30 cwt. each ; so that instead of saying that Govern-
ment are having 1,000 new 32-pounders made, it
would perhaps be more proper to state that they are
having that number of old ones replaced by those of
an improved construction. Liverpool Journal of
Saturday.

BATA AND SALISBURY RAILWAY.—We under.
stand, a Company, who will be prepared with the neces-
sary details for an application to Parliament during the
next session, for a line from Bath, via Bradford and
Trowbridge, to Salisbury, with a branch to Tringley, is
about to be formed. We hear the projectors have every
reason to believe it will have the approval of Govern-
ment.— Wiltshire Inclependext.
The effects of Lord Brougham's Bill, for the abo-
lition of arrest for debts contracted under 201., have
already been felt in the provinces. Mr. Commissioner
Harris has had to adjudicate only upon nine petitions in
Norfolk ; neither was there a single petition to be heard
at Lynn or Bury. In many instances, both in the me-
tropolis and the counties, insolvents who have been re
manded by the Court for various terms of imprisonment,
have been released upon proper application to the Court
of Bankruptcy, while on the other hand many bankrupts,
remanded for various reasons, have been liberated by
availing themselves of the Insolvent Court,—Norwich
Mercury.

A white whale was lately found stranded in Ans-
kerry, measuring about twenty feet in length. It had
no teeth, and it is possible it is one of the Aodon variety
—a small toothless whale—some of which came ashore
in Orkney a few years ago.
FATAL ACCIDENT DURING THE PROCESSION OF THE
LORD MAYOR BY WATER.—On Saturday afternoon a
coal porter, named Thomas Baldwin, aged twenty-nine,
met with his death under the following circumstances:—
While the procession of the Lord Mayor was passing up
the river, the deceased was standing on the edge of one
Of his employer's barges, when his attention became so
riveted to the proceedings, that he missed his footing and
fell into the water. About twenty-five minutes elapsed
before his body was found, when every means were used
to resuscitate him, but without effect. The deceased has
left a wife and family.
We have observed with pleasure the great activity
which prevails in the export trade in apples from the
island of Jersey. Large apples fetch 12f. a quarter, and
those of moderate size 10f.—Le Pilote (Guernsey paper
Paouric BARLEY.—A superior kind of barley,
called " Britain's Defiance" was grown last summer by
Mr. E, Brigs, of Swinstead, near Bourn, which presents
strong claims to attention, and bids fair to supersede all
other kinds in those places where it is introduced. It
produced at the rate of eighty bushels per acre, weigh-
ing 651 b. each; and its inealing and saccharine proper-
ties are considerably greater than those of any other kind
with which it has been tried. A single grain of it sown
last spring produced forty-eight ears, each of which con-
sists of six rows of grain, containing about fourteen
grains in a row, making a produce of 4,032 from a single
grain.—From a Correspondent of the Bath Chronicle.
FOREIGN CATTLE.—Ninety-eight head of horned
cattle And 49,5heep have been this week imporio by
tbft 'steam-ships from Ilamburo and Rotteiiion.__nu-a
Packet,

WOODCOCKS.—On Monday last, that capital sports-
man G. L. Coham, Esq., out of 18 shots killed 15 wood-
cocks. A similar occurrence in this county and at this
early season bas perhaps not before been heard of.—
Woolnter's Exeter Gazette.

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THE LATE ST
EXIIIBITION OF FALSE L.__
(From the Berwick Advertiser.)
Since our last we have had very boisterous weather.
The wind which blew freshly from the east on Wed-
nesday last week, continued inr several days increas-
ing in fury, and at intervals was accompanied by
heavy rains. The sea became more and more agitated
with the continuance of the high winds, and, from
Thursday last week until yesterday, our harbour was
all but inaccessible. With the exception of a foreign
galliott which entered on Tuesday and encountered
very great risk, there were neither arrivals nor de-
partures at our port within the period mentioned.
The Manchester steamer, which left London on
Thursday morning, arrived in the bay at two o'clock
on Saturday morning, but the state of the spa on the
bar prevented her from entering the harbour, and the
violent gale rendered it dangerous for her to remain
in the bay, so that after firing a signal, she ran fi)r
shelter to the Frith, and came to a safe anchorage op-
posite Charleston, where she remained until this day,
and is at present hourly expected here. On Wednes-
day afternoon the Tweed showed symptom:: of flood-
ing, and the several vessels in the harbour increased
their warpage, a precaution the necessity of which
was proved next morning, when the river was swollen
and rolled along with great impetuoiity, strewed with
pieces of timber, bushes, and other articles, showing
that the water in its course to the sea had ri,,en above
the usual limits of the river. On Wednesday night
the wind seemed to have exhatis:ed its- fury; it was
then succeeded by a very heavy rain, and next morn-
ing was exceedingly mild. The wind vecTed slightly
to the south, and the storm on the coast gradually
abated. No serious disaster is ascertained to have
occurred. On Sunday there was picked up by some
fishermen on the Magdalen fields shore a pece of the
stern bulwarks of a vessel, having the name " Era"
on it ; and on Wednesday night a similar plank was
also there picked up with " Harvest" painted on it.
This latter appeared very old, and as if it had been
long in the water: and we trust they are not indioa-.
tions of any recent shipwreck. We have in another
paragraph noticed a vessel dismasted in the Fair-way,
opposite the Fern islands. Besides that loss, the brig
Iris of Whitby with grain from Dantzic suffAed ship-
wreck at Boulmer at 5 P.M., of the 2d instant. The
crew were saved by means of the life-boat through
the exertions of Lieutenant Brunton, of the Aintnouth
coast-guard station. The schooner Graham, of Perth,
Sweeny master, bound to Blythe from Rouen in bal-
la4t, came on shore north of Warkworth at 8 P.M.,
of the 3d instant, crew saved, Portions of wreck
and a boat came on shore at the Craster station, and
are supposed to have belonged to the Elizabeth, of
Moulden, W. Cole, master. The materials found are
very old. At the caves near Emanuel Head, at Holy
Island, portions of wreck and a boat have come on
shore. They have no name nor mark on them, hut are
supposed to have belonged to a foreign vessel.
Rumours of other wrecks have been current, but the
above comprise all that have been communicated by
the authorities at the coast-guard stations, and we
are disposed to conclude they are all that have
occurred on our coat. We have heard that on
Saturday, Sunday, and again on Wednesday night,
two lights were observed on shore near Hudshead,
which were calculated to mislead persons in charge
of vessels at sea, and give rise to serious consequences.
We therefore hope the circumstance will be inquired
into, and that the parties showing these lights, through
inadvertence it may be presumed, will be made aware
cf the fault they have committed, and the necessity of
guarding against it in future.

U.O

WILTS,- SOMERSET, AND TVEY-

MOUTH RAILWAY.
The attention of our fellow-citizens is now, we are
glad to say, fully awakened to the injurious c,lnse-
quences that must arise to the trade and commerce of
Bristol, and of Bath also, should the scheme set on
foot by the Great Western Railway Corn; a Iv, for
lines of railway from Salisbury, 13rutport, and Wey-
mouth, to Trowbridge, and thence by way of Ale;k-
sham to Chippenham, be carried out agreeably to the
proposed plan.
Fortunately for the public, the Legislature is
exercising greater care and watchfulness, previously
to giving its sanction to any new railway specula-
tion than was the case a few years ago ; and
the Board of Trade is also exercising a ramie-
some scrutiny into the merits of the several schemes
which have to seek the sanction of P•arliament ;
so that a reasonable hope may be entertained
that, by making these authorities fully acquainted with
the injustice that would be done to Bath and Bristol
—by the proposed circuitous route to Trowbridge
and Bradford, and by diverting the northern traffic
from its legitimate course—the Great Western Rail-
way Company will be induced to reconsider its pro-
ject, and, looking not solely to its own interests, adopt
a line more in accordance with the requirements or
the public.

By the proposed scheme, the distance of Br.istol
and Bath from Bradford will he increased, rail,
no less than twelve miles; and passengers from the
latter town, from Trowbridge, and indeed from all
the other towns on the proposed branches, going to
Bristol or Bath, will have to he carried by a cir
cuitous route this additional distance. After arriving
almost at their place of destination, instead of finally
reaching it by a direct course through the valley of
the Avon, they will have to proceed out of their way
to Melksham and Chippenham, and then return
through the Box tunnel!

Ana for what purpose? Simi ly that the northern
traffic may be diverted from the Bristol and Glouces-
ter line to the Cheltenham and Great Western Union.
Railway, the latter being the property of the Great
Western Railway Company.
To show that this is the object, aad to show, also,
its injurious tendency as regards Bristol, nothing more
is required than a glance at the plan (.f the intended
railway : it will be seen that the aim has been to fix
the point of junction so near to Swindon as that the
traffic thence to the midland and northern counties
shall be exclusively carried on the Great Western
lines as far as Gloucester.

If public advantage and accommodati3n lay in
th;.,; direction, however much we might regret
the diversion of the traffic from our own locality,
Bristol would have but a weak case to present to the
Board of Trade, and one that we could scarcely hope
would be attended to, inasmuch as, now-a-days, in-
dividual and local interests cannot be expected to
have much weight in retarding any great undertak-
ing. But we have hopes that the present movement,
if followed up with spirit, will, by bringing out the
facts of the case—by showing that the line as laid
down, while it will damage Bath and Bristol, will
afford no additional facilities to the public—that, on
the contrary, many of the public, as passengers
merely, will be inconvenienced by it, while the ouly
party sought to be benefited is the Great Western
Railway Company : we have hopes, if these matters
be laid fairly and fully before the proper authorities,
that the plan, as far as the circuitous route from
Trowbridge is concerned (and to that, in particular,
our opposition goes), will have to be abandoned.—
Bristol Mercury.

DEATH OF DYSON, THE HORSE-DEALER.—After a
long and painful illness, Harmon Dyson died at the vil-
lage of Waltham Cross last week. He was one of the
very few horse-dealers who have amassed large for-
tunes, but the bulk of his property Avas acquired
during the late war, by contracting to supply the
cavalry with horses. His illness was occasioned
by the following singular circumstance : Dyson
had been long personally known to George the
Fourth, and though he supplied almost all the
beautiful carriage horses for the Royal Mews, they
had been for a long period purchased by different
persons of the King's establishment, so that Dyson
never came in contact with his Majesty until ac-
cidentally he himself one day went down to the Royal
Lodge with two riding horses to show the King as
likely to please his Majesty. Accordingly he Ras com-
manded to bring his horses in front of the Royal Lodge,
where, to his great surprise, the King walked out, and,
before looking at the horses, his Majesty, in his usual
familiar manner, accosted him as his " old friend,
Dyson," expressing the pleasure he had in again seeing
him, and after some conversation about horses "in
olden times," and making some remark upon Dyson'a
horses, his Majesty said he would take both of them,
and ordered the page to see that every attention was
paid and refreshments given to Mr. Dyson. Dyson was
so extremely agitated by this interview, and so cora.
pletely overwhelmed by his visit to the Royal Locke, and
by the kindness and consideration of the King, that on
his return home his whole nervous system appeared to
have received a shock, which in a few days terminated
in a paralytic stroke, and from w bleb be never afterwards
perfectly recovered, although, to the comfort and happi-
ness of the neighbouring po r, he lived to the patriarchal
age of 83.
EXPORT or HORSES.—The well-known horse
aenapt . ,
for Hamburgh. Ten useful horses, purchased by Mr. employee
Brown of
Hamburgh,arge of
Sheet Anchor, purchased for the Duke of Brunswick.
theWednesda i n
charge Wednesday,
T left
at
ttehrissa rsr,t obyn
steam-ship
Riby Nicholson, are intended to be shipped this evening
(Friday) by the Victoria, and twenty from a valuable
lot at the Paragon Inn stables, selected by mr. Schol.
field for the MM. Strauss, of Vienna, are to be shipped
to-morrow, per the Queen of Scotland, for Hamburgh.
A further lot of ten or a dozen is expected to be
em-
barked by the Princess Victoria, for A t n werp.—Hati
Packet.
FORGERY ON TUE DURHAM COUNTY B
ANICe—
Much excitement has prevailed in Stockton and its
neighbourhood within the last few days, in consequence
of its having been discovered that a forgery had been
committed on the Stockton and Durham County Bank,
by an imitation of its notes. To what extent the forgery
has been tarried is at present unknown ; but it is certain
thtit six or seven 51. forged notes have been received by
different tradesmen in Stockton. Two individuals, one
of them formerly a respectable master currier, and the
other a schoolmaster, charged with the crime, are already
in custody ; and the police are on the look-out for others
of the "establishment." Plates, moulds, notes finished
and unfinished, with all the other apparatus of a swims
mint, have been found on the premises of the suspected
parties.—Durham Advertiser.