The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-01 00:00:00

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GOLD AND SILVER BULLION AT
THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

TO. THE EDITOR OF TEE SC A I -11:
Sin,—By the new Bank Charter Bill, clause 4,_it isxlV:l"
posed to enact "That from and after the 31st day oaugtis-t,
1844, all persons shall be entitled to demand from'ctlfe'sue
department' of the Bank of England, Bank of England notes -
in exchange for gold bullion, at the rate of 3/. 17s. 9d. per
ounce of standard gold." Under this clause, will partieapie-
senting gold bullion, of any other standard than that of Great,'
Britain, be entitled to demand Bank of England notes for it,
according to its relative value to the British standard, .the ,
British being calculated at 3/. 17s. 1014., but paid for in
Bank of England notes at the rate of 31. 17s. 9d. per OZ.
If the demand of notes for bullion be limited to-gold bul-
lion of British standard only, the accommodation to im-
porters will be crippled.
In the Schedule A, which relates to the circulation
.depart- -
mein, there is no separation of coin and bullion, the returns
are to be made only under the heads " Gold- bullion " and.:
"Silver bullion." How is the value of gold bullion to be
calculated in this return ? Is it to be estimated at-Mint price
3/. I's. 101c1., or at 31. 17s. 9d., the purchasing:price? How
is silver bullion to be calculated in'this returns At theimar-:
ket price? If so, on what day's price? the -valut one .:
the day the return is made, as the price of silvet "caries, at. 1
one time-we find it quoted 4s. Hid., at. others 55.-0144,,per
The same questions will also apply to gold and silver bullion
(not coin) in "the banking department." Bullion is to be
under the . head "other securities ;"—if the value be not
returned under such head, I see none under which it can be,'
returned, for it is clear it cannot be returned under the bead
,6 Old and silver coin;" and how is the value a sow, ;
bullion to be calculated in reference to the 3cl clause tit.Lich
entitles the Bank totave not exceeding one-fourth part of
the gold coin andtullion in amount in silver bullion ? In
this 3d clause, the "coin" does not occur in 'reference to
siR-er, it is 'confined to silver "bullion" alone—is the
latkai or_is.sne department to Le restiained front holding -
silver coin, as part of the silver bullion that the Bank will
be entitled to hold?

It shall not be lawful for the Bank of England to retain
in the issue department, at any one time, an amount of
slyer bullion exceeding one-fourth part of the gold coin and
bullion at such time held by the Bank of England in the ,
issue department." According to my notion, the word aied
between coin and bullion refers only to the word " gold ;" if
so,, the proportion of silver to gold can be only 1 to 4, or
not.as some persons imagine 1 to 3—the silver is not to form -
one-fiirth part of the whole of the gold and silver
together; but to be equal to one-fourth part of the gold coiit'
and
_bullion only; so the silver will only form one-fifth of
silver and gold Jointiv—these points had better be settled at -
this time than to have any quibbling after the Bill shall be-
wine law.—Yours, &c.
Ilfracombe, June 28th, 1844.

R: W. D.

LOSS OF THE MANCHESTER.
The intelligence brought by the General Steam Navigation
Company's steam-ship John Bull, Captain Corbin, which
arrived late last night, respecting the deplorable loss of the
Manchester steamer is somewhat interesting. It still bears
out that which we have already laid before the public, that
not a soul has been spared to tell the tale of her wreck.
Amongst those at Cuxhaven hopes were entertained that
some might have escaped by being washed ashore in the
boats to the southward of the Elbe, but by advices received
from all quarters, it proves to be a forlorn hope. This sur-
mise arose from the circumstance of its being known that
the ill-fated vessel carried two boats, each capable of holding
at least twenty persons, like all the rest of the steamers run-
ning to and from Ilamburgh ; but that conjecture was soon
set at rest by the bow of one, and the fragments of the other,
being picked up by the Victoria steamer in the course of
Friday night; the former being identified by a white ball
and red cross being painted thereon, the signal of the Com-
pany. The Hamburgh steam-ship had also conveyed to
Hamburgh a portion of the wreck, but most parts of it were
in small pieces—the effects of being dashed about by the
breakers. Large quantities of the cargo have been fbund,
and the accounts from Cuxhaven state them to be as fol-
lows :-614 packets of twist, 112 pieces of velvet, 55 pieces
of calico, 10 packets of tulle, 199 packets of twist, 59 packets
of. calico, and similar large quantities are expected to be
safely landed and housed in a few days. There has also been
recovered some ladies' clothes, linen, dresses, collars, and
stockings, the latter marked " M. H.S." no doubt belonging
to Mrs. St. George Smith or her daughters, they being the
only female passengers on board. Down the coast at Busum.
and at a place called Hedeivigenkoog, a quantity of manu-
factured goods have been cast ashore, and about 2,000 more
bundles of twist, which have since been forwarded to Cux-
haven.

As the John Bull steamer came out of the Elbe on Wednes-
day morning, Dodd, a pilot on board the pilot galliot boat,
lying in the harbour, was spoken to for the purpose of ascer-
taining the latest information. The officers were informed
that the wreck of the Manchester had been discovered sunken
in twelve feet of water, in the neighbourhood of the Reissea
sand, but the exact part could not be ascertained. Another
party on board stated that the masts could be seen protruding
through her bottom, but this operation is considered as im-
probable. The Reissen sand is situated about eight miles to
the northward of the Vogel sand, and separates the latter
from the Marl-bank, tie spot where it was at first supposed
the vessel bad been Wrecked.

Two parties have arrived at Cuxhaven from Hull, for the
purpose of identifying the bodies washed ashore. One of
them is a friend of Mr. Egington, a magistrate of Hull, with
whom the unfortunate Mrs. George Smith and her daughter
and son had been on a visit previous to their departure in the
Manchester. The Transit steamer, cn going out of the Elbe
on Sunday evening, picked up the body of a man, which was
supposed to be that of the mate. It was afterwards recog,
nised by the pilot at Cuxhaven as being one of their own
people, who was lost out of his boat during the late gale.
From the fact that the cabin clock and a watch being
picked up, showing the same time (half-past one), there
cannot be a doubt but that she was lost at that time on Sun-
day morning. The captain, Mr. Dudley, is said to have been
a steady, experienced sailor. He formerly commanded the
Innisfail, Newcastle steamer, then the Scotia, in the Hain-
burgh trade, and then the Express mail-steamer, frem hull
to Gottenburgh.
The Manchester had two letter bags on board, both of
which were of course lost.

DEATH OF A JEW UT BLEEDING HIMSELF TO
DEATH.—On Friday Mr. Baker held an inquest at the London
Hospital, on Barnett Barnett, a Polish Jew, aged 70 years.
City police constable Ferrett, 624, stated that on Friday
morning last, about eight o'clock, he was on duty in Graver-
lane, Houndsditch, when he was called into No. 7 in that
street by a Mr. Durant, who told him he had seen foot-
marks of blood in the passage adjoining the room occupied
by the deceased. lie knocked at deceased's door, but not
getting any answer, and finding the door locked, he broke it
open, when he found the deceased sitting in a chair, quite
insensible, and a large quantity of blood on the floor. Both
his legs were also covered with blood. Witness immediately
sent for Mr. Dyle, a surgeon, who, upon examination, found
that the blood was issuing from a small puncture in the right
lee. The leg had a ligature round it, as is usual in cases of
bleeding, and he had performed the operation in an appa-
rently scientific manner, having perforated the right vein for
venesection. There was no doubt he had done it himself.
The puncture was very small, as if done by a needle, no in-
strument being found near him. Mr. Dyle staunched the
bleeding, and advised his removal to the above hospital. He
never rallied, and died yesterday morning, the house-surgeon
said from exhaustion, consequent upon the excessive loss of
blood. There being no evidence to show what had induced
the deceased to resort to such an extraordinary expedient on
self-bleeding in such a part of the body, the jury, in the
absence of such testimony, returned a verdict that "Deceased
had died from loss of blood, from a punctured wound in his
leg, but how or by what means, or by whom the said punc-
ture was caused, there was no evidence to show."
THE LATE COLLISION OFF GRAVESEND.—AD-
JOURNED INQUEST.—Yesterday, at two o'clock, Mr. C. J.
Carttar, coroner for West Kent, resumed and concluded the
inquests upon William Williams, aged nine years, and Ga-
briel Rosling Williams, aged eight years, the children of a
waterman residing at Gravesend, who were drowned on the
12th irst., by the Antwerpen steamer running down the
Maria peter-boat. Mr. Watson, of the firm of Watson and
Broughton, solicitors, Falcon-square, attended on behalf of
Capt. Jackson, and the owners of the Antwerpen steam-ship,
and Mr. Pelham for Jonas Knight, the Trinity House pilot
in command of the vessel at the time of the accident. The
Coroner having referred to the evidence of identity taken
upon the two former occasions, several other witnesses were
called and examined. Capt. Thomas Jackson, of the An-
twerpen steam-vessel, came forward voluntarily to give evi-
dence, and stated that the steam-boat was, at the time of the
collision, in charge of Jonas Knight, a Trinity House pilot,
who was taken on board at Margate. The vessel was of 600
tons burden, and belonged to a number of gentlemen residing
at Antwerp. Witness was dressing at the time the accident
took place, having quitted the paddle-box about ten minutes
previously. The mate was assisting the pilot, but the latter
had sole charge of the steamer. Witness had conunanded
vessels for fifteen years, and deeply deplored the sad event.
Ile had ordered the expenses of the funerals, &c., to be paid,
and done everything in his power to relieve the sufferers' re-
latives. The Coroner said that it had been proved by all the
witnesses that the conduct of Capt. Jackson had been entirely
free from blame. After hearing sonic further testimony,
Knight, the pilot, was called upon his summons, when it was
found he had suddenly left the room by the advice of Mr.
Pelham. The Coroner then summed up, and the jury returned
a verdict of manslaughter against Jonas Knight.
SINGULAR SUPERSTITION.—On Tuesday a fisher-
man residing in Woolwich, named Michael Sullivan, had
been drinking rather freely during the morning, and, con-
trary to the dissuasive arguments of his friends, proceeded
in his boat to the middle of the river to catch whitebait, and
while engaged in hauling in his net was observed by several
persons on shore to overbalance himself and fall into the
river. Drags were immediately procured, and even* attempt
made to recover his body, but without success. Some of hie
friends insisted upon trying the following singular plan to
discover the body, but without the anticipated result :—A
bundle of straw was taken to the middle of the river in a
boat, and on her arriving as near as possible at the spot
where he fell overboard, the straw was set on fire while float-
ing on the surface of the water, and allowed to be carried on-
wards by the tide, then running down, the parties in the
boat expressing a firm belief that the fire would go out and
the smoke cease to be evolved over the place where the body
had settled in the river. The experiment failed entirely, as
after considerable labour in dragging the river for some dis-
tance round the place where the straw ceased to burn and
to smoke, the parties gave up further trial as hopeless, and
the body has not Jet been found.
CHATHAM DOCKYARD, JUNE 28.—The Cruiser,
16-gun brig, to form one of the experimental squadron, will
be put out of dock to-morrow. She is completely rigged, and
has the greatest portion of her stores on board. The masters
and pursers of the Mutine and Espiegle experimental brigs,
as well as of the Cruiser, have arrived here and commenced
their duties. These three vessels are expected to be put in
commission in a few days. Workmen are busily employed
in building booths for the accommodation of the public to
witness the launch of the Retribution steam-frigate, which
is ordered to take place on Tuesday next, at half-past one
o'clock. Immediately after the launch a second class steam-
vessel, to be named the Bull Dog, will be laid down on the
slip on which the Retribution now stands. The frame and
timbers for this new vessel have already been brought tip to
the neighbourhood of the slip, to commence immediately with
its building. The Rhadamanthus steam-vessel, of two guns,
Master-Commander Thomas Lean, left this port yesterday,
for Woolwich, where she will remain to have the defects of
her boilers made good. The Apollo troop-ship, is nearly dis-
mantled of her rigging. She will be taken into docl on
Monday, July 1, to have her defects may good.
The Rev. Henry Hake, Perpetual Curate of Ant—
ley, in the comity of Warwick, has been instituted by the
Lord Bishop of Worcester to the vicarage of Chilvers Caton,
in the same county, vacant by the resignation of the Rev.
George Hake. Patron, the Lord Chancellor.
CUSTOMS.—Three officers of the Landing Depart-
ment, who have been some years in the service, have within
the last two days been promoted to the office of Landing Sur-
veyors, in pursuance of warrants which have been received
from the Treasury to that effect. These appointments are
understood to have taken place in pursuance of a recommen-
dation by the Revenue Inquiry Commission to the Lords of
the Treasury, for the establishment of Landing Surveyors to
. be increased from twelve to fifteen, to insure a more complete
ttepervision of the department.

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