The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-18 00:00:00

until at last they attained 900 feet, and the irregu-
lar mines were dropped, the labour being concen-
trated on newer, more rich, and extensive de-
posits. Simultaneously the proc.ss of tunnelling
,Lnd reducing were simplified, and the ore
economised, as $ll per ton now yields a
.profit. Wood sank to $ll per cord, and wages
in proportion. The companies continued their
sinking, and provided improved ani powerful ma-
chinery, working on a depth of 900 feet, sinking,
drifting, and exploring for new veins, and defraying
such expenses out of current receipts till the great
established works have become acknowledged as
permanently paying properties. The Imperial Mine,
which is given as au example, was organized in
April, 1863, by the consolidation of ,several others,
at a cost of $1,000,000, divided into shares of $250.
Tha bullion extracted has been $1,274,337. The
total expenses, including mill., shafts, and every-
thing, amounted to $3,280,000, and the dividends
have been over $1,000,000. Thus the mine it-
self in five years paid the enormous expenses
of the fine machinery now erected, and all the build-
ings, shaft, &c , upwards of £600,000, while it has
given £200,000 to the sharehol !ers, besides return-
ing all the capital subscribed. This is taken fairly to
. represent the present state of the good Nevada mines
generally. Three facts give the citizens confidence
in well-established Nevada properties. First, they
have become permanent in their character ; second,
they can now work low grade ores at high profits ;
third, the opening of the country by rail, the rise of
large towns, the settlement of population, and the
decrease in the value of food, material and money,
enables the proprietors as well as the miners to
operate at a profit. The nature of the security is
now so highly thought of on the Pacific coast that
the shares of the leading silver mines are those best
held and most distributed in those StWes. The
fact of continuous deposits at great depths is estab-
lished, and the business being reduced to a system
with results no longer uncertain could not fail to
produce this effect. The supply of bullion on the
market is now rapidly increasing, and the regular
channels through which it is absorbed opening out.
the shares of well-established Nevada min :Ls are
therefore readily saleable in San Francisco, though
of course only at a price yielding an interest which
in Europe, if the security w.re thought good, would
be considered extravagantly high. For instance,
the Imperial, which is much more likely to increase
than to diminish its dividends of the last five years,
commands $270 per sh.ara ; that is, it is value I in
San Francisco at an amount which returns about
23 per cent., the payments being made monthly in
gold. The sum hitherto absorbed in the works
will, in future, be available for distribuion. We
propose to discuss in a subsequent article what is
likely to be the effect of the enormously increasing
yield of silver, and of the continuous supply of
gold, on the value of money.—Anglo-American
Times.

DKUNKENNESS.

The Round Table, in a leading article, discusses
General Grant's habits, arriving at the conclusion
that, whatever the weakness or strength of his past
habits, or of his present ones, his claims, or their
recompense--his countrymen would be wise to
assure themselves, ere it be to too late, that where
there is much smoke there is no fire. The ./Va-
tioual Temperance Advocate, the official organ of
the cause in the United States, announces that
" having thoroughly investigated the matter we
give it as our deliberate opinion that General
Grant does not now drink—that is, anything alco-
holic." General Howard and Mr. William E.
Dodge lately examined the case at Washington, and
the opinion was based on their investigations. The
Round Table evidently thinks that General Grant
drinks, bnCdoes not, in oiii-orinion, write in a fair
spirit. The story we related last Saturday by Mr.
Olmsted is alluded to as follows : —" He writes a let-
ter to say that he was once in the General's company,
when, in his, Mr. Olmsted's opinion, the General
was quite sober, but that, on the same occasion,
somebody else who conversed with the General
thought and said that he was quite drunk, which
incident Mr. Olmsted seems to think decisive as
settling the point of habitual sobriety." Now this
does not fairly represent Mr. Olmsted's letter, as
our readers are aware. Alluding to the British
Parliament the Round Table says " such instances
(tippling) have been numerous, more so, no doubt,
in the last generation than in this ; yet one of the
most cautious of contemporary statesmen, Mr.
Disraeli, is said by leading London journals to have
been in a state of obvious intoxication while deli-
vering his recent speech on the Irish Church ques-
tion. The intoxication is asserted to have been
alcoholic, but we have heard it confidently stated
by Englishmen that this gentleman has long been
accustomed to take opium before his important
forensic efforts." If drunkenness were common
among gentlemen in England, it would certainly
frequently appear in the House of Commons, be-
cause the habits of English gentlemen almost con-
fine their drinking to dinner and afterwards, and
the dinner hour among them is from six to eight
p.m. The business of the House is mainly trans-
acted after dinner, and therefore every opportunity
is afforded for ascertaining the habits of the mem-
bers, and the instances are rare in which even a
breath of suspicion attaches to any ALP. of in-
ebriety. It would be considered something dread-
ful if a member appeared intoxicated before dinner,
for the pleasant " drinks" concocted in America
have taken long to be introduced into England, and
the habit of indulging in them during the day, when
old friends meet, has not become general. If the
business in
the English House was confined to the
day, as it is in the United States House, except in
rare instances, a case of drunkenness in it would
be absolutely unknown. The Round Table once
created a sensation by a series of articles on
" Drunkenness among Women," and the Revolution
has taken up as a plank of its platform " Reforma-
tion in Drunkenness among Men." We cannot tell
the value of the figures in the official records of the
New York Inebriate Asylum, but it would appear
if the ten years' experience of that establishment be
regarded as conclusive that the topers of America
are rich men's daughters. There were 1,300 appli-
cations for admission from this class; 39 of the
men were clergymen, 8 were judges, 340 merchants,
226 physicians, and 240 styled themselves gentle-
men. Mrs. Stanton, if these figures truly indicate
who drinks, ought to direct the Revolution first to
her own sex ; and as she considers the consumption
of alcohol disqualifies for the fanchise, rich men's
daughters must be an ineligible class. Senator
Yates, in reply to the people of Illinois, confesses
" the weakness which has borne him down," but
we scarcely think that the Senator does justice to
the strength of his potations ; it was no mild pota-
tion to which Mr. Yates succumbed, and we can
well believe what he affirms, that he often suffered
" the pangs of unutterable remorse." While he
earnestly asks the forgiveness of his fellow-citizens,
stating his sin to have been its own punishment,
he declines firmly to relinquish his seat in the
Senate, but promises a reformation. Whether there
is greater consumption of alcoholic drinks among
the legislators of the United States or of the United
Kingdom we cannot tell, but the American habit of
drinking during the day tells, as far as appearance '
goes, against America.—Anglo-American 'limes.

The steamer Leary has been burned at New
York, and the Red Jacket at Elizabeth, ort, New Jersey.
1:110 loss by the great fire at St. L,mis itmounts to a mil-
lion dollars, covered by an insurance of $700,000.
During last year 19,85 G barrels of British beer
were shipped to the United States, and 7,588 barrels to
British North America.
llornintan's Pure Teas are Bd. per pound cheaper. Their
2,500 agents—confectioners in London, and chemists in
the country—are constantly receiving fresh supplies of
these long-approved teas. Sold oily in packets.