The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-22 00:00:00

of disposing of the FlelA Tri on ; we ought,
perhaps, to Consider this topic as " a peg" upon
which out. Contemporary would hang an invec-
tive against the indifference to the comforts and
the claims of the poor, which it supposes to
prevail; if so, the topic is as ill chosen as
most of the topics which the Times employs
on the same or kindred subjects There is
nothing disrespectful or indicative of a want of care
for the poor, in saying that the site of the Fleet Prison
is too valuable to be applied to the construction of
baths and laundries. Some of the frontage on the river
bank is said to let for a guinea and even two guineas
the inch ; would not this frontage though admirably
indeed adapted for baths and laundries, be much
too valuable to devote to the object when, retiring
a hundred or two hundred yards from the river, a
perfectly suitable site could be obtained for a tenth
or twentieth of the money—would not (supposing
a specific sum provided for baths and laundries) the
selection of the river frontage be to rob the poor of
nine-tenths or nineteen-twentieths, as the case may
be, of the benefit designed for them.

COMMERCIAL CHANGES NOW
IN PROGRESS IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE.

A plan has been some time in contemplation for
effecting a junction between the river Elbe and the
Baltic Sea, by the enlargement of the harbour, and
by the construction of wet docks, on the best English
principles, at Gluckstadt, a port situated a few miles
up the Elbe, in the deepest and most accessible part
of that river, and by a railroad, nearly finished, from
the new docks to the deep and capacious harbour of
Kiel, in the south-western quarter of the Baltic.
Kiel, one of the finest harbours in Europe, is the most
commodious station in the Baltic, for steam-packets
to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Stettin, Dantzic, and all
parts of the Baltic, and to St. Petersburgh and all in-
tervening places. This new and efficient line of rail-
road will not only connect Gluckstadt with Kiel
northward, but also with Altona eastward, above the
dangerous and difficult shoals off the Schleepsand,
Schulan, and Blankenese, which renders the naviga-
tion of the Elbe, above Gluckstadt, so tedious and
expensive ; and, at the same time, being below the
Hanoverian port of Stade, will save all the onerous
dues levied on vessels and merchandise that pass the
guard-ship placed there by the King of Hanover for
collecting them. An English engineer of eminence
has surveyed the locality, and made plans and esti-
mates for the enlargement and improvement of the
harbour, and the construction of the wet docks, which
are to be executed under the control of a company
now forming in that part of Germany and in London ;
half the capital to be raieed in Holstein and half in
England, with a joint board of governors in the two
countries ; that in England to have a veto and a ge-
neral controlling power. To this co-operation the
Government of Denmark have made several im-
portant and liberal concessions. By these means the
long and circuitous voyage round the Shawe and
through the Cattegat, by way of the Sound to the
northern shores of the Baltic, will be shortened nearly
80 degs. lat., and render the arrival of merchandise
and passengers from England, France, Holland, Italy,
and places southward by steam-ship to Gluckstadt,
and by railroad from that part to either the Baltic,
via Kiel, a distance of about forty English miles, or
to Hamburgh and the Upper Elbe, by similar con-
veyance, via Altona, a distance of about thirty
English miles, far more certain, and much shorter in
time than by the present route. It will also avoid
the slow and dangerous passage between Gluckstadt
and Hamburgh, which often detains large sea-going
ships many hours out, and in waiting for water to
carry them over the bars between those cities. Be-
tween the months of November and January last,
upwards of 160 vessels which sailed from Altona
and Hamburgh, were detained, as is well known, for
six weeks in the Elbe, by the prevailing W.S.W.,
and westerly winds that then prevailed, whereas
had they loaded, and taken their departure from
Gluckstadt, the same wind which brought them from
Hamburgh to the Kraustsand, opposite Gluckstadt,
would have taken them to the open sea. This im-
portant junction of the east and north seas will
effect a junction between Great Britain, the greatest
manufactory in the world, and those countries which
border on the Baltic, and whose rivers empty them-
selves into that sea on the north, and into the Euxine
on the south, the granary of Europe, and the most
productive of timber, hemp, pitch, tallow, iron, and
other materials used in ship building.
It will thus open new sources for the reception of
British manufactured goods, and new supplies of
grain, cattle, and raw materials in return, entirely
free from and out of the jurisdiction of the anti-Bri-
tish impost of the Prussian Zoliverein (Customs Union),
from which Denmark, Holstein, the Hanseatic repub-
lic of Hamburgh, Lubeck, and Bremen, the kingdom
of Hanover, and the empire of Austria are at present
free. The Government of Hanover, alive to the import-
ance of keeping free from the shackles of the Zoll-
verein, have also resolved to make a port in the Elbe, and
the same English engineer has reported to them
thereon, recommending one at Brunchauven, at
the mouth of the Swinge, a tributary stream run-
ning through Stade into the Elbe, in preference to
Haarburg, opposite to Hamburgh, for similar rea-
sons, as being below the before-mentioned shoals
and in deep water. Also a railroad from that
place through Stade, with a branch line to Haarburg,
to the city of Hanover, where there is already a rail-
road just opened to Brunswick, which will shortly be
connected by railroads with Magdeburg, Dresden,
and Southern Germany, so as to make a railroad corn •
munication between the Elbe and the Rhine, through
the metropolis of Hanover. The consequences of these
projects to the commerce of Great Britain is easier fore-
seen than detailed within the narrow limits of a
newspaper announcement. Since the above became
known, a company has been formed at Harwick and
London, to run a steam-boat daily from Harwich
to Gluckstadt, which can be accomplished in twenty-
one hours. It is called the European Steam-packet
Company, and they propose building five iron
steam-ships of five hundred tons burden, as
a commencement of their operations. A public
meeting of this Company was held last Saturday
in the Town Hall, at Harwich, the mayor, R. Cob-
bold, in the chair. The hall was crowded to an
overflow. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Bag-
shawe, the chairman, Mr. A. Bauer, of Hamburgh,
the deputy-chairman, Mr. Crofts, and other Directors
of the Company, Captain Deane, of Harwich, who
for years commanded a vessel from Harwich to
various parts of the .North and Baltic Seas, and
who confirmed the facilities of the plan,
and by Mr. Elmes, the surveyor of the Port of
London, and engineer to the Gluckstadt Harbour
and Dock Company. A meeting of the London
friends of this latter company was held yesterday at
the London Coffee-house, which determined that, as
they were thus supported by a projected as by exist-
ing steam-packet companies, and by the Government
of Holstein, to complete the London arrangements
forthwith.— Sunday Paper.