The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-16 00:00:00

HINTS TO WIFE HUNTERS.

Under this head the Dublin Freeman's Journal
gives an account of an unfortunate denouement which
attended an advertisement inserted in a Dublin paper
some time since. The advertisement was from a
gentleman in search of a wife, and dressed up in the
usual style of such productions. " Fortune,' said the
advertiser, "is not absolutely requisite," but he had
no objection to from 500/. to 1,500/. if thrown in by
way of" tilly" with the sought-for bride. That sum
could be settled on the lady for " pin-money." The
whole statement concluded thus :—"The utmost
honour and secrecy may be relied on—none but prin-
cipals will be treated with, and the applicant must send
her credentials in her own handwriting." It so hap-
pened that the document met the eyes of a gentleman
who resides at S-- M—, who was able, by the help
of a " crow quill," to imitate the lady's " choice
Italian" hand ; he thought it would be a capital joke
to answer the advertisement. Ile accordingly did so,
stating that he was a lady, and possessing all the re-
quisites to make the wooer happy. The fair one
announced that she would walk on the Strand at
Sandymount on a certain day (weather permitting),
and would be dressed after a certain fashion, at the
same time requesting the gentleman to carry a bouquet
of flowers in his hand, in order that she might more
easily recognise her expectant inamorata In the
meantime the writer had apprised his " five hundred
friends, who were on the ground," to see the fun.
The appointed evening came, and as the time of the
assignation drew nigh the utmost anxiety prevailed,
but at last suspense was relieved by seeing a gentle-
man emerging from a covered car, who was dressed
in the pink of fashion, and sure enough he had a bou-
quet, and such a bouquet! Poor Reeves never ex-
hibited a greater when enlivening us with his comical
" Agricultural Wife." On he marched amid the sup-
pressed laughter of the inhabitants of the neighbour-
hood, for by that time the dogs of the town were
aware of it. He poked his head and his daisies under
the bonnet of every lady he met, and ran reveral risks
of being slapped in the face for his intrusive curiosity.
At last a lady did come; sure it must be her. " The
dress is like," muttered he, "it must be her." The
lady in question, who was a stranger, and ignorant of the
affair, had been walking with her brother, who, stopping
to speak with some friends, had permitted his sister
to proceed on her walk. The " Ccelebs in search
of a wife" walked directly up to the lady, presented
his miniature flower-plot, and with a low bow said,
"My dear, is it you ?" The lady passed on, fol-
lowed by her new admirer, who became very,
impor-
tunate, and, although warned several times toa-‘irbehaonftd;
he persisted, until in the act of saluting he:
hu e wb• as salutedseieral himself
smart
applications
ate o, and
of this
the bevr
wag fbfroul followed
p y
s
stick over his shoulders. This brought him to his
se
greater
renc
violencesucceeded,ontreamid ai,a scene of th
andsticktheemost
waslaid
ebonnissN;eeisrriol us mirth from the hundreds who were in the
secret, and who had now collected about the parties.
A couple of police-officers coming up charges and cross
charges were preferred, but after some time an ex-
planation took place, and so the matter ended. The
gentleman proved to be a Mr. residing in
F-- street, near one of the squares. lie got into
his covered cart, and drove away amid a hurricane of
laughter. We are led to believe he has not heeded a
hundred other answers to his advertisement.

The Rev. B. C. Kennicott, 8.A., of Oriel College,
Oxford, and Curate of Woodhorn, has been appointed
by ,Sir Robert Peel, upon the recommendation of the
Bishop of Durham, to the district of All-Saints, Monk-
wearmouth. recently created under the Church Endow-
ment Act. The Episcopal Chapel, in Broad-street,
Monkwearmouth, will be the chapel for this new district,
hich comprises the townships of Aionliwearmouth and

A EXPERIMENTAL TRIP IN A
s N TE.I MER PROPELLED BY A "FAN."
Since the great and splendid invention of the steam-
engine as applicable to navigation, the lightness of its
machinery, the concentration of its propelling
power, and the economy in the use of fuel, have
ever been considered objects of the very highest
importance ; and from the first introduction of
steamers, their side-paddles and boxes have been thought
cumbersome, and particularly unsightly to the nautical
eye, accustomed to the beautiful and graceful propor-
vessel. From the various applica-
tions of a sailing
tions to which steam-power is susceptible it is still in
its infancy, though already the development of its
capabilities has very far surpassed what was even
contemplated by the immortal inventor himself. The
immense power of steam is unquestionably esta-
blished ; but its appliances to different kinds of
machinery are still very limited. In regard
to side-paddles, many attempts have been made
to do away with them, as they are found to
be much in the way, to hold a great deal of wind,
and to impede the steamer's speed, especially
in crowded rivers and narrow streams. In-
deed, steam-navigation in narrow waters and
canals is almost impossible, in consequence of the
space the paddles and boxes take up, which cover a
width equal to that of the vessel herself. Besides,
the steamer's paddles and boxes abutting out on
either side are ever liable to injury. The repairs
which they incessantly require, form a very expensive
item in the annual accounts of the wear and tear of
steamers,and show that they are constantly liable to
injury. War-steamers in action would ever be in
danger of being " winged," and rendered powerless.
The paddles of steamers must also be seriously in-
jured, and frequently becoine useless when navigating
seas, lakes, rivers, and streams occasionally covered
with floating ice. It has been considered that the ill-
starred President, steamer, sooner after leaving port,
encountered large masses of floating ice, which
jammed her in and crushed her paddles, when, alas !
down she went. It is on record, that at the time she
was lost other steamers and sailing-vessels on their
passage across the Atlantic fell in with immensely
large and mountainous icebergs. The real truth,
however, may never be known.
The Archimedean screw (no new invention, for it
was in use by the ancients), which is fixed to the
stern of a steamer, was the first attempt to supersede
the we of side-paddles; but its propelling power is
weak compared to that possessed by common steamers,
and it is, therefore, considered, in that degree, nearly
a total failure. But still the immense importance of
a concentrated propelling power acting under water,
beyond the reach of shot, and all liability to accident,
has become at once apparent.
For these various reasons, engineers and other
scientific men have been studying how to effect an
object so grand and invaluable in every point of view,
by endeavouring to invent a propeller so concentrated
in one focus, which would efficiently act under water
out of all danger from accidents, and still equal or
exceed the speed at present attained by side-paddles.
This great desideratum, it would appear, is on the
point of being accomplished. A beautifully-con-
structed boat, about 50 tons burden, has recently
been launched at Greenwich. Her engines—a pair
of tens—were made by Messrs. Penn and Son, of
Greenwich. They are fixed lengthways in the
vessel, and are remarkably light and handsome. The
propeller is on the " fan ' principle, similarly con-
structed to the fan of a windmill, and, like the screw,
is fixed to the stern. It possesses a twofold action—
the one perpendicular, which regulates her speed,
and the other horizontal, which describes half a
circle, and regulates her steerage. This latter action
of the " fan" is of such admirable power, that while
it supersedes the use of a rudder, it can wheel the
boat round as if she moved on a pivot, and continue
to spin her round and round like a top, without
making head or stern way, except what little the tide
or wind may effect. This peculiar, clever, and in-
valuable action of the "fan" is most ingeniously
contrived, and is the sole invention of Mr. llunt, the
engineer, of Greenwich. The " fan," combined with
this fine principle of action, can be attached to any
sailing-vessel, from a line-of-battle ship down to a
collier, and can be worked by hands totally uncon-
nected with steam. Its power, though it could not
be so great us when worked by steam, is such that
it would enable a ship of the line to bring both her
broadsides to bear against an enemy in about two
minutes.

The vessel is named the Mystery, and although she
was not quite finished, it was determined to give her
an experimental trial down the river on Thursday,
the 3d of October, to meet and greet the Queen
and Prince Albert on their return from Scot-
land. Messrs. Hunt and Holl, the owners, invited
several friends to accompany and enjoy the excursion
with them. The day opened gloomily, rough, and
stormy. The tight little steamer, however, daunt-
lessly started from Greenwich-pier at a quarter-past
eleven o'clock, A.M. Her engines worked admirably,
and she made her way over the waves, impelled
by an invisible power, as buoyant as a cork,
scarcely disturbing the water. Just as she reached
abreast of Grays, near Gravesend, the Black
Eagle, closely followed by the Royal Victoria and
Albert yacht, hove in sight. The weather at this
time was cloudy and tempestuous, but as the royal
yacht rounded the point from Nod Meet, the sun shot
out from an opening in the clouds upon her full
broadside with magnificent splendour, and his rays
were concentrated in a halo of light around her. At
that moment she was a most beautiful and splendid
object.
The Mystery now veered round, and slackened speed
in order to await the approach of the royal
squadron, to whose officers and crew she became
an object of much curiosity. She then continued
leading the way, somewhat after the fashion of
a pilot fish, till Woolwich was reached, at about
two o'clock, P.M., when she brought-to to witness the
landing of her Most Gracious Majesty and her Illus.-
trious Consort, when all on board joined in the hearty
shouts of " Welcome home." The distance from
Greenwich-pier to Grays and back to Woolwich was
performed in exactly two hours and three quarters.
After the landing of the Royal pair, the Mystery
proceeded up the river as far as Chelsea. This part
of the voyage afforded a fine opportunity for
testing the advantages springing, not only from
the non-use of side-paddles, but from the fecilitous
and admirable way she answered to the helm, in
which point she has no equal. She wound in and
out barges, rafts of wood, colliers, and ships, with such
ease, precision, and certainty, that she astonished
every beholder. She gave the go-by to several
loolwich and other steamers which were compelled
to slacken speed, ease, stop, and back, in consequence
of the crowded state of the pool, and the fear of inju-
ring or smashing their paddle-boxes and paddles by
collision.

There could not have been a finer day for the expe-
rimental trial. The wind blew strongly from the
westward, and with or against it she proved herself to
be a capital sea-boat. The trial proved most satis-
factory and successful throughout ; she bounded over
the water like magic, without a sail or any pereep-,
tible propelling power, and almost without her-
self creating a ripple—she, however, possesses *
propelling power, equal in the ratio, to any
other steamer on the river. Her propeller, certainly,
reaches perfection nearer than any other now in use;
it is impossible to injure it by shot, collisions, ground-
ing, or any other casualty whatever. One or the
other paddle of steamers navigating the wide ocean is
frequently out of the water, but the fan propeller can
never cease performing its functions but through
some casual derangement in its own machinery.
The Mystery is now fast approaching completion
in all its various appointments, when a more efficient
trial will be given.

OPENING 01' TILE ROYAL ExCllANGE.—Official
notice has been issued to the corps of the Honourable
Artillery Company, of which his Royal Highness
Prince Albert is Captain-General and Colonel, that her
Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct that they
shall attend as a Guard of Honour, upon her Majesty's
visit to the City, upon the occasion of opening the new
Royal Exchange.
INFLUENCE 01' THE PRICE OF FOOD ON WAGES....
1" Cheap food," says the monopolists, " means low
bearing upon it ? W.rhy, just
f eturin districts h
wages.' Such is the assertion. ;thbeuset_wthhaatt, are
as
foodte facts
has
fallenrisen i 1;1.
apsr ?lee,
have risen. This has been shown on many recent occa-
pv‘r.aicgeesojfnfotohde has n
become mgod erate, wages
botwogEliyeraloyr
If
ntshtearneceis,
anyin acdornannecce
.
all in the relation to each other of cause and effect, their
tion between prices of food and wages, if they stand at
osifoun.sa,gaensdawt
operation must be exactly the reverse of that described
in the allegation, of which so much use has been made
by the supporters of the corn-law ; and it would be quite
correct to say, that " cheap food means good wages."
This is an important truth ; and the working classes,
notwithstanding the sophistry to which they have been
exposed, will ere long thoroughly understand h.—Liver-
pool Erper.
HUMANITY CHAIR, ST. ANDREW'S.—We RTC gm-
tified to learn that Mr. Pyper, of the High School, Edin-
burgh, and long esteemed as an eminent classical teacher,
has been appointed to the above chair by the Duke of
Portland, the patron. This selection, in which his Grace
was solely guided by the very preponderating testimony
in favour of Mr. Pyper, is well calculated to sustain the
fame of this ancient University ; but as the Lord Pro-
vost has hinted, the task will nut be so easy to procure
an adequate successor to Mr. Pyper in the High School.
—Caledonian Mercury.
•
EARL OF WAstiiNGToN.—The Baltimore Amerwan,
in noticing the anniversary of the battle of North Point,
says :—" A fact has just come to our knowledge, which
it may not be inopportune to mention at this time. We
learn from a reliable source, that the British Govern-
ment had actually made out the papers constituting Gen.
Ross ' Earl of Washington,' in consideration of the cap-
ture of the American capital, and the destruction of the
public buildings. The death of General Ross at the
battle of North Point, which took place about three
weeks afterwards, most effectually frustrated the inteu•
tion of his Government."