The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-12 00:00:00

SECURI7I 2 0 GYMNASTS.

In our impression of 13th January, we re-
corded an accident to a performer on the trapeze
named "Gulnare, at the Town Hall, Bristol. This
gymnast had finished and was in the act of descend-
ing when the rope broke, and he was precipitated
a distance of 25 feet, alighting head foremost on the
empty benches beneath. Again, in our columns of
this day, will be found the account of a similar acci.
dent which occurred to one of the Brothers Boleua,
at the Music Hall, Dundee. In both cases, serious
injuries were received, and the escape with life was
all but miraculous. It must not, however, be
assumed that, through these examples, there is a
special providenc3 attendant on such active and
daring exhibitors, for the death of the female
Blondin in the summer of 1862 will testify to the
contrary. Such accidents, however, soon pass from
the memory and are disregarded, unless the press
keep them constantly before the public, which it is
their duty to do with the object of their suppres-
sion.

We believe that accidents of a fatal, or even of a
serious, nature can be prevented in such exhibitions,
if the public would insist upon the suspension of
netting beneath the performers ; for it is not a fall
of 20 feet or double or treble that distance which
constitutes the danger, but the contact of the body,
on its descent, with some hard substance—as the
floor, heavy wooden benches, or even a stool. The
artistes .are naturally adverse to all protection on
the score of their being injurious to the attraction
of their performances ; nor are they entirely wrong
in this calculation. Whether they be proficient on
the trapeze, the tight or slack rope, their exhibitions
are those of agility and intrepidity. To place an
intercepting net beneath, either suspended or
stretched at an el evation, would be almost tan-
tamount to a reduction of altitude, and in the ab-
sence of danger, the latter quality, that of courage,
would vanish from the perform ance. Most of us
would refuse to walk upon a narrow plank raised
some 100 feet from the ground, when if it were but
a few inches high we should run over it with impu-
nity, but in doing so we should have no cause to
boast of our audacity. Hence, if the public are
really bent on the prevention of similar accidents to
those we have recorded, they must be content to
witness feats of agility alone ; for to suppress
such exhibitions entirely would be to throw too
many out of employ—too many who from rigorous
training from early infancy are fit for no other
pursuit.
It must be admitted that acciden is are rare—ex-
ceedingly rare—in proportion to the number of suc-
cessful, or rather we should say the number of
happy, performances, and consequently the spec-
tators of unto ward evenus are few in number. The
public generally have never witnessed them. They
have no sickening recollection of lamentable
scenes. They may have frequently beheld the
same performance and, with entire confidence,
in the cool calculation, the nerve, and courage
of the actor, may enjoy, without apprehension, the
display of his activity. In the broad question, how-
ever, we must eschew all consideration of the pro-
portion between the unfortunate and fortunate re-
presentations, and remember alone that it is against
the spirit of the times to make the hazard of life and
limb a subject of public display. This must no
longer continue, and we do but our duty, as part of
the press, in this endeavour to rouse the public from
their apathy. Security, henceforth, must be ever
attendant on such performances, and spectators
content to witness them, devoid of the sensational
attraction of danger.—Racing Times and Amateur
Dramatic Chronicle.

MISCELLANEOUS .NEws.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Combination Company at Belmont set their
mill going Jan. 29. The Silver Bend Reporter un-
derstands that champagne was the lubricating
fluid. Labourers have been leaving Austin in con-
siderable numbers for the company's works. The
mill is under the management of J. M. Dawley,
late of the Manhattan, and before that of the Key-
stone, who has gained a large experience in manipu-
lating the different ores of Eastern Nevada. They
have sufficient ore ready to last three months, and
expect it to yield $2OO per ton. Messrs. Leon and
Mullen have purchased a mill site at the lower end
of Belmont, to erect a small mill early in spring
for working the ore of their El Dorado South
Mine, which continues to develope to their en-
tire satisfaction. W. T. Wright, Esq., long
connected with the Virginia and Gold Hill
Waterworks, left Gold Hill on the 27th of January
for Belmont to take charge of the property lately
owned by Colonel Buel. The Alpine Miner gives
the following account of a stack of silver bricks :
" We have before us the bullion resulting from the
recent working of sixteen tons of first and second
class of Tarshish ore at the Silver Creek Mill.
There are 68 bars, weighing from 41 to 11b. each,
total 1,749.60 ounces ; total value $2,040.20 ;
value per ton of ore by assay, $147.17 ; result
per ton of working $127.57, being 86i per cent. of
assay value. The company are not at present
working to take out ore, so this was obtained from
the exploring shaft and consisted of hard and soft
ore, it is thought in proportion of half first and
half second class ore.

The Sweet-water mines in the territory of Utah
have recently attracted great attention. They are
situated near South Pass, on the old emigrant route,
about 130 miles north-east of Fort Bridger, 30
miles from Fremont Peak, and 20 miles from the
projected route of the Union Pacific Railroad.
South Pass City, the headquarters of the Sweet-
water mines, is situated on Willow Creek, 12 miles
north of South Pass Station, on the old Overland
route. It was laid out in October, 1867. It has
now eighty houses and eight places of business, in-
cluding a very good store. Seven hundred persons
are wintering here, awaiting the approach of spring
to resume operations. The 'Western Union Tele-
graph Company have made arrangements to build a..
telegraph line next spring to connect this place with
the overland line. It is confidently asserted by many
that a population of 20,000 or 30,000 will throng
hither next summer, and that South Pass City will
experience a much more rapid and substantial
growth than Cheyenne City. A paper called the
Sweet-water Miner has been published at South
Pass city, Dakota territory, by Messrs. Warren
and Hazard. The paper is issued tri-weekly, the
first number of which appeared on the lst February.
The prospectus says confidently—" Within the
past six months a gold mining country has been
discovered on the Sweet-water River and its tributa-
ries, near the South Pass, that for richness surpasses
anything of the kind ever found on the American
continent, and, so far as prospected, second to none
in the world. The wonderful discoveries of both
gold quartz and placer mines during the past four
four months warrant us in thinking that within
the next 12 months a population of at least 50,000
people will be found where only in July last, Poor
Lo held supreme sway." Also, the section " con-
tains several of the largest and finest agricultural
valleys in the western country--where the soil is
fertile, the scenery beautiful, and the climate with-
out a superior—soon destined to become the homes
of 50,000 farmers."
The Pennsylvania Central Railway Company
held its annual meeting in Philadelphia on Feb. 12.
The gross earnings of the road for 1867 are reported
by the board of directors at $16,340,156 35c., and
the expenses at $12,080,299 64c., leaving a surplus
of $4,259,856 72c. The report states that while
the total revenues are for 1867 $243,626 less than
for 1866, there was a large increase both in the
number of passengers and the amount of freight
fransported, the falling-off in the earnings being
caused by reductions in the freight charges. Daring