The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-06 00:00:00

DEPARTURE OF THE CAMBRIA

LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY.

The British and North American Mail steam-ship
Cambria, Capt. Judkins, left the Mersey this after-
noon with the mails and passengers for Canada and
the United States. Her mails were the largest ever
taken from this port ; she had 60 passengers, and
steamed away in beautiful style, firing her guns as
she passed down the river. She is a new and magni-
ficent boat, built in Scotland, and is thus described in
Willmer and Smith's European Times, a paper pub-
lished at Liverpool, for dispatch by steam-ships which
leave Liverpool and Southampton :
" We transmit the European Times to-day by the new
and splendid steam-ship Cambria, which makes her
maiden trip across the Atlantic, under the pilotage of
that able commander and excellent-hearted seaman,
Captain Judkins, whose triumphs in the Hibernia are
familiar to our readers on both sides of the Atlantic.
With every succeeding ship built by the spirited and
enterprising Company to which the Cambria belongs,
new triumphs have been achieved—triumphs of mecha-
nism, of skill, of taste, and of improved accommoda-
tions for the comfort and convenience of the voyageur.
The career of this Company has been brilliant, but the
outlay has been great, and the wear and tear make sad
inroads even upon a princely capital. Unassisted by the
Government, the splendid fleet of steamers (of which the
Caoibria is one) could not pay, and even with the pecu-
niary allowance for conveying the mails, the return upon
the invested capital is, we understand, limited. This
we can readily believe, from the past and present expe-
-1 rience of the enormous expenditure peculiar to ocean
steaming. The French Government talked some time
ago of running steamers between Havre and New York,
but, appalled byt
Tylersuggests,
hee expense, seem
in htos Message,
have given
the
up the
project. Mr. y
es-
tablishment of a fleet of steamers between Europe and
the United States. The more the merrier, say we. But
if the President for the time being is anxious to have a
surplus income over expenditure, he will pause before
he makes the experiment, for assuredly it will prove a
blister upon the finances of the country. The commu-
nication is at present so rapid and direct, that improve-
ment seems hardly attainable, and the embryo steamers
must be able to compete in speed and in build with the
hitherto unsurpassed excellence of the steam-ships at
present navigating the Atlantic. Again, the prejudice
which prevails in this country respecting American
steamers, owing to the frightful accidents and explosions,
of which every arrival brings an account, must be over-
come. We do not mean to say that the United States
cannot produce ocean steamers equal to those of any
other nation—far be it from us to libel in this way the
ingenuity of a clever and scientific people—we are merely
stating a fact. Continued success and time would pro-
bably wear out the prejudice to which we refer ; but in
the interim, the waste of dollars, in establishing a cha-
racter, would not be trifling: compared to it the Presi-
dent's salary and the whole travelling expenses of Con-
gress—would be a mere flea-bite. If the project is once
determined upon by the American Government, we have
no doubt it will be spiritedly carried out, albeit, it does
appear unseemly for a nation to appear as the competi-
tors of private enterprise, especially when the transit
between Boston and Liverpool is not unfrequently per-
formed in a dozen days. But no commercial country
can find fault with the communication being too frequent
or too rapid. The only fear we have is, that an ill-con-
cocted or ill-digested scheme may—as it unquestionably
will—result in failure and disappointment.
" From this digression on Atlantic Ocean navigation we
return to the Cambria, which has been built, like her
predecessors in the Clyde, by the same able hands and
clear heads that have already turned out so many chefs
d'ceuvre. If there is skill in augury, she will outstrip all
that has gone before her. We had intended to have
entered into a minute description of the vessel's appear-
ance—the beauty and symmetry of her form—the vast
power of her complicated and elegant-looking machinery,
engines, boilers, and fittings—the magnificence of her
saloons, with all the appointments for the comfort and
happiness of the passengers—the accommodations on
deck, studiously arranged, to combine safety with ele-
gance ; but after some consideration we have deemed
the labour superfluous. We entered upon such a de-
scription in the case of the Hibernia ; and making some
allowance for the superior tonnage and capability of the
new ship, the same remarks apply to both. The Cam-
bria's performances will be her best test—her own
advertisement. She is commanded by one who is every
inch a gentleman and a sailor; her passengers, we have no
doubt, will be right merrie fellows,' and in her maiden
efforts to annihilate time and space, on the broad and
swelling bosom of the Atlantic, our best wishes—fears
we have none—go with the good ship Cambria, her
gallant crew, passengers, commander, and all ! Vivant
the Cambria

GAS MONOPOLY AT SHEPTON
MALLET.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. _ _

;OTI.---ha;espftc; in your valuable journal for
exposing this monstrous monopoly, you will much oblige
your readers here by inserting the following.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A DAILY READER.

Considerable dissatisfaction has prevailed in this town
amongst the consumers of gas for the last two years, in
consequence of the exorbitant charge that has been
made for gas, viz., 12s. 6d. per thousand feet, besides 6s.
per annum for the use of meter.
Three memorials, respectably signed by the inhabi-
tants, have been sent to the Directors, soliciting them to
reduce the price to 10s. ; but all to no purpose. The
last of these was to the effect, that unless the price was
reduced to 10s. at the commencement of the present
year, they should discontinue burning it. This the Direc-
tors, who call themselves men of business, took no notice
of, although it was signed by upwards of forty of the
most respectable tradesmen ;n the town ; they had not
even the eourte3y to acknowledge it. The consequence
was, that last Thursday a busy scene took place in the
town, through the removal of the Company s meters to
the station, where the greatest part were delivered safely
before the evening, much to the astonishment of these
self-styled men of business, some of whom talked great
things, and made many threats. The greater part of
the shops are now illuminated in the good old sytle of
lamps, candies, &c., and will continue so, unless these
moiopolist men of business choose to reduce the price of
their gas. The price of coals here for making gas, is
not more than 7s. or Ss. per ton.

THE LATE INQUEST AT KIRKBY LONSDALE.—DE-
CISION OF TFIE POOR-LAW CODIMISSIONERS.—The fol-
lowing is the decision of the Poor-law Commissioners
with regard to the conduct of the medical and relieving
officers of the Settle Union,in the case of the child,
Eleanor Mackenzie, the subject of the recent inquest at
Kirkby Lonsdale. The Commissioners have carefully
considered the evidence, and they are of opinion that
Mr. Sellers, the medical officer, and Mr. Thompson, the
relieving officer, were both guilty of neglect in this case,
more especially the former, Looking to the circum-
stances of the case, the Commissioners feel it their duty
to dismiss Mr. Sellers from his office of medical officer.
With respect to Mr. Thompson, the relieving officer, the
Commissioners have already stated their opinion that he
was guilty of neglect in this case. It may be remarked,
however, that although the relief he gave in this case
was illegal in form (being money instead of articles of
absolute necessity), and was probably insufficient in
amount, still he visited the case and did relieve it. The
Commissioners, therefore, under all the circumstances,
will permit him to retain his office ; but they feel it
their duty to reprimand him most severely, and to cau-
tion him that the Commissioners will certainly dismiss
him from his office in the event of a recurrence of any
similar neglect of duty on his part ; and the Commis-
sioners request that the Board of Guardians will com-
municate to him this reprimand and caution.—Signed,
by order of the Board, George Coode, assistant secretary.
W. Foster, Esq., clerk to the guardians, Settle Union.—
Lancaster Guardian.
An interesting fact—the existence of cellular cavi-
ties in the lungs—which has been denied by many ana-
tomists, has just been ddemonstrated by M. Rouchoux,
of the Academy of Medicine. M. Rouchoux estimates
the number of these microscopic cavities at 600 millions,
divided in 17,790 groups.