The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-29 00:00:00

LOSSES AT SEA AND THEIR PREVENTION.

Admiral Elliot has addressed a letter to the Daily
News respecting the total loss of the steamship
Hibernia, which foundered from an accident to her
screw propeller occasioning a dangerous leak. This
is no uncommon disaster in merchant ships, and very
recently the Columbia lost her screw propeller in a
gale. Admiral Elliot strongly urges the necessity of
employing the hydraulic engine, by means of which
vessels might be effectually protected from the effects
of any leak. These accidents to the screw and screw
shaft generally occur from heavy pitching in bad
weather, but the hydraulic engine is not effected by
heavy motion. In case of a leak, however, in a
vessel of 200-horse power, the hydraulic engine
would discharge 400 tons of water a minute from
pipe is too large to be
cthheokheodl.d, anAddtmheirdaisl charge_
Elliot
asserts also that .the
hydraulic. engine would be invaluable as a means of
the power to stop the
spvehriepwnittihning choellrisoiovnusi ,lebnygthiglt would also be useful
in extinguishing fire. Finally, its adoption would
lessen the cost of construction.
THE 44 PROVINCE OF HOUSES."

The annual report of Sir John Thwaites's Parlia-
ment, otherwise the. Metropolitan Board of Works,
shews what a prodigious city London has become.
The new sewers are 82 miles in length, and these
drain an area of 117 square miles, the result being
such a marked improvement in the condition of the
Thames, that fish were seen during the late hot
summer where just ten years ago the river was so
foetid that hundreds of tons of chloride of lime had
to be thrown in by way of destroying the horrible odour.
The Thames Embankment is fast approaching com-
pletion, and its cost may be imagined when we state
that the sum paid for only one section is nearly a
quarter of a million. The new street from Black-
friars Bridge to the Mansion House, about three-
fifths of a mile in length, has involved compensation
for property to the amount of very nearly two
millions. Two new parks, one in Finsbury, one in
Southwark, have been made, each costing over
850,000. Sirice the formation of the Board, more
than 1,300 new streets have been sanctioned, 200 of
which were during last year. Finally, the Board has
a very respectable debt, amounting to nearly seve-
millions

DISTRESS IN THE EAST-END OF LONDON.

Distress is again being felt in the East-end dis-
tricts, and although in Poplar and other parishes
there is a decrease in the out-of-door relief, it is only
in the figures of last year—which were exceptional—
and the condition of the poor is so precarious, that
this diminution may be speedily replaced by a large
increase. The mildness of the weather has
contributed to keep a better condition of
the poor, and has prevented the East-end of
London from exhibiting extreme pauperism.
Among those industries which suffer the
most depression may be mentioned silk-weaving,
shipbuilding, and sugar-boiling. Since the financial
crisis of 1800 some minor trades have been in a state
of stagnation, and these employed women and chil-
dren. The East-end of London still suffers from
the effect of that panic, and will suffer for some time
to come. In Hackney, which is one of the most
prosperous of the East London parishes, there were
a few days ago no fewer than 4,800 summonses for
payment of poor rates. Lancashire never exhibited
a more deplorable state of things during the
cotton famine than can be seen in the Isle of Dogs.
The desire for emigration is becoming stronger in
the face of all these evils. The relief committees
have resumed operations in concert, and have re-
solved to leave they chronic element of pauperism to
be dealt with by the parochial boards.