The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-11 00:00:00

DUTCH MAIL

ROTTERDAM, Nov. s.—Private letters fr,,m Batavia,
dated 21st of August, received to-day by Ow overland
mail, announce the death of his Excellency Baron P.
Mtrkus, the. Governor-General. His mortal rt mains
were interred, a week before the (hoe of the later, at
Soorabaya, with all the honours due to hi 3 rank,
We look with grief and anxiety for some parfeu'ars
of the illness which has so prematurely removed from
his high office this worthy man, who was still in the
prime of life. Everybody here who had the pleasure of
knowing him is deeply afflicted at the unexpected news
of his death.

THE HAGUE, Nov. 7.—Preceding accounts from Ba-
tavia announced that the deceased Governor was in a
weak state of health. In hopes that the ava air might
have a favourable effect, he set out in the month
of July, on board his Majesty's steamer, the
Bromo, to make a voyage along the coast of
Java. On his arrival at Soorab.iya, he land d,
intending to pass sometime on shore. This had at first
a favJurable effect, so that at the hitter end of 'July he
made an excursion for two days into the interior, which
did not seem to fatigue him more than thwe n ho accom-
panied him, Ile now resolved to proceed in the Bromo
to visit Banjoewange ; but on this excursion the symp•
turns of his disorder suddenly assumed such an alarm-
ing appearance, that it was judged advisable to return
with all speed to Suorabaya, where he died on the 2d of
_August, in the house of M. Pieterrnaier, the resident.
Ilia end was perfectly calm, and he retained all his
faculties to the last, so that an hour and a half before he
expired he dictated a farewell letter to his nearest rela-
ti'es. His loss is universally deplored in Java, which
is no wonder, since, with the exception of a two years'
leave of absence, the deceased has passed twenty-eight
years in India.
M. J. G. Reynst, Vice-President of the Council of
India, had, on the sth of August, a slimed the Gosern-
nicht as Governor-General pro tempore, in expectation
of his Majesty's pleasure.
THE HAGUE, Nov. B.—The sections of the Second
Chamber were engaged yesterday in deliberating on the
communications sent from the First Chamber respecting
the address in reply to his Majesty's six( ch. The central
section has met today for the purpose. It is expected
that it will shortly make its report, which will be taken
into consideration without delay.
The Staats Courant of this day publishes a royal
decree of Nov. 6, which opens a voluntary exchange of
inscriptions of the national debt at five per cent, into
inscriptions at four per cent. to the amount of ten mil-
lions of florins.
DUTCH FUND3.AbiSTERDASI, Nay. 8.
Nonce. HUI&
Aetna/ Dell, 24 per rent... 62% 62%
Ditto, ditto, 3 per Cent. ......
bi.to, ditto, 4 per Cent. .....
Date JIM 5 per cent.. 5w,4
A in•A Syndic, 434 per cent 9 tie
Ditto. ditto, 3% per cent.-- .... 81)% 00
Commercial Company, ?or ;40% 141%
Loan 1837, 4% per CeLl ..... 1,911 ILO
Exchange on ...ondea, Onemonth 1 12
Two months...—. 12 £7g
Hamburgh, One m.nth ..... 35 56 2.45
Tw0m0nth5........ z 5 x 5
Dutch Papers, Nov. 9.
PRUSSIAN FUNDS.—Beam, Nov. 5.
!Ms.
St. Schuld Sch., 3per cent.... ..... 9934
Prussian English Bonds, 1630, 1 per cent.
Exchange on Landon_
Prussian State Gazette, Nov. 6.

Money
99

CASTING OF ONE THOUSAND
32-POUNDERS, AT LOW MOOR IRON
WORKS.

The fact having come to our knowledge that in-
structions had been forwarded to Low Moor for the
execution of the enormous number of one thousand
pieces of ordnance, of large calibre, we determined to
learn the particulars on the spot. Accordingly, on
making known our business, on Monday last, we
were received with the greatest courteousness, and
were fortunate enough to be present at the actual
casting of some of the guns—a process fraught with
the utmost interest to those who ever saw the like be-
fore, and one which can hardly be viewed with indif-
ference, no matter how often it be witnessed. We

ascertained that the guns are all iron 32 -pounders,
technically "longs" and " shorts," though the inex-
perienced eye would fail to detect any difference in
their lengths, and the actual difference, we believe, is
only a few inches. There is a very material dif-
ference, however, in their formation, as compared
with the guns hitherto in use, the weight of the
metal being infinitely greater in the new than the
old, and varying also considerably in the new, ac-
cording to the drawings to which they are cast.
Formerly, 32 pounder iron cannon were cast as low
as 24 cwt. each ; hut these now being cast weigh
twice, and in some instances almost three times as
much, namely, from 43 cwt. to 56 cwt., and even to
62 cwt. each. This immense increase of metal
affords, of course, a proportionate increase of strength
to the guns, the bursting of one of which, after it
has undergone the Woolwich test, may now be re-
garded almost as an impossibility. The principal
portion of this additional metal is placed in the
breech, though it much varies in some of the guns as
to its distance from, or proximity to, the trunnions,
as those pivots are called by which the gun rests on
the carriage. Much difference of professional opinion
„.
seems to prevail as to the relative advantage and dis-
advantage of having the chief weight of the metal
in each piece disposed in this or that particular spot.
We believe, however, that all authorities on the doc-
trine of projectiles are unanimous in pronouncing
guns cast on this principle that is, immensely
heavy in and about the breech—to be capable of
throwing a ball infinitely further than the old light
guns, and with a proportionate economy in the ex-
penditure of powder.
Each gun is cast perfectly solid, in a clay mould,
suspended perpendicularly in a metal casting, and
such is the bulk of iron employed, and so great is its
power of retaining the heat, that each piece takes nearly
a week to cool before it can be further meddled with
—for instance, on Monday evening last we could not
bear to place the hand on the outer clay covering of a
gun cast on the previous Saturday morning, and
several days must elapse before the metal itself could
be touched with impunity. The guns are drilled out
with powerful machinery, and if the bore, which is
guaged with the nicest possible precision, is found to
vary a hair's breadth, it is at once sent to the fur..
nace and melted over again. If, however, the bore is
found to be mathematically true, it is polished, also
by machinery, till it is as smooth as glass and as
glittering as silver. The crown and royal initials
are then chiselled out just above the touch-hole, and
after receiving a final scrutinising inspection, the gun
is sent by the Manchester and Leeds Railway to
Hull, and thence transported in coasters to Wool-
wich. Here it is subjected to the ordnance test. If
it carry its range truly, and without exhibiting any
symptom of inferiority of material, and corresponds
in all respects with the drawing, it receives the Go-
vernment impress; and being freed from the rust
which it has most likely acquired in its transit, is
pronounced fit for service, and placed in the stores
accordingly. If, on the contrary, it should, in the
minutest particular, fall below the ordinary standard,
one of the trunnions is struck off, so as to render the
gun utterly useless, and it is then returned at the
cost of the maker.

We learn that not one of the guns included in the
present order to the Low Moor Company has, so far,
though a large number of them have been executed,
failed in the Woolwich test. Sometimes guns are
ordered for the purpose of being burst at Woolwich
—that is, for the purpose of trying experiments until
they burst. Lately, two 56-pounders were made
here, nine feet in length, and weighing 98 cwt. each;
and, although Colonel Dundas, the Inspector-General
of Ordnance, by whose directions all orders of this
nature are executed, has been conducting a prolonged
series of experiments with them at Woolwich, he has
not yet applied a force greater than their powers of
resistance, and will probably be some time before he
does so. As fast as these new 32-pounders are being
made—namely, at about the rate of twenty-four a
week—the old 32-pounders are called in and melted
down, their average weight being something under
30 cwt. each ; so that instead of saying that Govern-
ment are having 1,000 new 32-pounders made, it
would perhaps be more proper to state that they are.
having that number of old ones replaced by those of
an improved construction. —Liverpool Journal of
Saturday.

BATII AND SALISBURY RAILWAY.—We under-
stand, a Company, who will be prepared with the neces-
sary details for an application to Parliament during the
next session, for a line from Bath, via Bradford and
Troll bridge, to Salisbury, with a branch to Tringley, is
about to be formed. We hear the projectors have every
reason to believe it will have the approval of Govern-
ment.— Wiltshire Independent.

The effects of Lord Brougham's Bill, for the abo-
lition of arrest for debts contracted under 20L, have;
already been felt in the provinces. Mr. Commissioner'
Harris has had to adjudicate only upon nine petitions in
Norfolk ; neither was there a single petition to be heard
at Lynn or Bury. In many instances, both in the me-
tropolis and the counties, insolvents who have been re-
manded by the Court for various terms of imprisonment,
have been released upon proper application to the Court
of Bankruptcy,
various
while
so
onre
athenos, ale beenthehrandm liberatedanybankip btaii
remanded for
availing themselves of the Insolvent Court.-IVorapie4
Mercury.
A white whale was lately found stranded in Atis.,,
kerry, measuring about twenty feet in length. It had
no teeth, and it is possible it is one of the Aodon variety
—a small toothless whale—some of which came ashore
THE PROCESSION OF TUB
in
FOArkeTuALy
Aa
cfce years ago.
r' DURINGzTO.
Loan MAYOR BY WATER.---011 Saturday afternoon a
coal porter, named Thomas Baldwin, aged twenty-nine,
met with his death under the following circumstances:—
While the proccssion of the Lord Ma) or was passing up
the river, the deceased was standing on the edge of one
of his employer's barges, when his attention became so
riveted to the proceedings, that he missed his footing and
tell into the water. About twenty-five minutes elapsed
before his body was found, when every means were used
to resuscitate him, but without effect. The deceased hts,
left a wife and family.
We have observed with pleasure the great activity
which prevails in tho export trade in apples from the
island of Jersey. Large apples fetch 12f. a quarter, and
time of moderate size 10f.—Le Pilote (Guernsey paper).