The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-03-18 00:00:00

Mar. iB, I Ris

Mr. Matzini, the Italian exile, whose charge against thei
government of Opening his l..trers, has again given rise td
the frequent debates on postoffice espionage has published
a further letter, in which he re-affirms "That the twenty
one Italian exiles have been allured to Calabria by dark,
snake-like proceedings of the Austrian and Neapolitan
governments, and that those governments were enabled
to do so by their attention having been awakened to the
subject by the secret communications extracted from WI
correspondence by the British government."

STATISTICS OF THE IRON TRADE.—Few, excepting
those who are connected with this important branch of
the manufactures of this country, either as maTmfacturera
or extensive dealers, are aware of the progressive and
rapid improvement that has taken p 1 ice in it within s
very limited period. Commencing with Midsummer,
1843, a period when the prices were lower than they were
ever known to be, we shall take August of that year, and
Staffordshire bars as a scale to measure by. On the cur-
rent price of August there was an advance declared on the
Ist of September of 20 per cent., and this advance wall
maintained, with scarcely any interruption, till Ist April,
1844, when a further advance (calculated in the lowest
price) of 10 per cent. was advised. In the beginning of
May of the same year a farther rise, equal to 10 per cent.
on the price of August, 1843, was declared—and this lasted
till October, when, by some misunderstanding among the
manufacturers, a reduction took place. It was uncalled for
and of very short duration. The August price of 1844 wag
very shortly resumed, and in the beginning of January of
the present year a farther advance, equal to 10 per cent•
on the lowest price, was announced. On the 31st of
January circulars were sent out, advising another advance
of 10 per cent. On the 22d of February a farther advance
took place of 20 per cent., and on the Ist of the present
month another advance is intimated of 20 per cent. oil
the lowest price. So that, putting these together, the rise
in the price of this article is exactly 100 per cent., or, ill
other words, the Price is doubled since August, 1843.
The other descriptions of iron made in that district have
undergone similar changes. In South Wales, the advance
on bar iron within the same limited time is full more, and
in Scotland the rise has been from 100 to 110 per cent.
within the same period. We know of no branch of out
manufactures that has so prospered, nor one that hag
better prospects still in view; and, considering its maV"
nitude, the capital embarked in it, and the vast populatiog
depending upon it for their support, it must be a subject
of gratulation to all that it is in such a prosperous state.-"
Scotsman.

THE MURDER AT SALT-HILL.—The trial of Johd
Tawell, for the murder of Sarah Hart, commenced od
Wednesday, at Aylesbury. Mr. Sergeant Bytes stated
the case for the prosecution. Several witnesses were ex.,
amined. who proved that the prisoner was at the house 01
the deceased, on the evening of the Ist of January, a fevn
minutes before she was found dead. Other witnesses
proved his apprehension next day in London. The sir'
geon who attended the deceased proved the presence of
prussic acid in the stomach of the deceased. The sub'
sequent evidence was substantially the same as that Rived
on the inquest, with the exception of a long and minutes
examination of the medical men respecting the contents
of the stomach, and the presence of prussic acid, and its
properties as a poison. The prisoner was ably defended
by Mr. Kelly. who shed tears more than once in his ad-
dress to the jury. The points most in favour of the pd.,
soner were, that although he had overdrawn his accounts
his credit with the bank was not impaired, and that he
had been in the habit for many months of purchasing
prussic acid at the same shop in London, for a disease
under which he laboured—varicose veins. A number of
witnesses were called. who gave the prisoner an excellent,
and at the conclusion of the second day, the court ad-
journed to Friday, when, after the judge's sumn.ing up,
the jury after about halt an hour's consultation returned
a verdict of guilty, a sentence which the prisoner heard
with remarkable firmness. His lordship then sentenced
him to death. 'Notwithstanding the calm demeanour of
the unhappy criminal throughout the trial, and even while
sentence was being passed upon him, his strength became
exhausted when he descended the ladder which leads front
the dock to the gaol-yard. He fell upon the ground in a
fit, but he was immediately raised by the gaolers who
were conducting him to his cell, and he recovered in
w minutes. His spirits, which, during the time he vivo
in prison previous to his trial, were unusually good, have
now sunk to the lowest possible ebb. Up to a late hole
of the evening he continued to pace his car, and cry'
" Oh dear, oh dear, what will become of my poor wife
and my children ! " Dinner was served to him at bit
usual hour for eating, but he declined to partake of it.
Later in the evening he ate some beef-steak. Whether
in seriousness or otherwise, his conduct had hitherto
given evidence of a feeling of certainty that he must be
acquitted. He not only invited the person who daily
served him with his meals to visit him at his house, but
anticipating that his trial would terminate on Thursdal
night, he actually had a carriage in readiness to convey'
him to his home. His son, by the unfortunate woman
Hart, was in court during the trial. He is a very fine
lad, about five years of age. When the verdict of guiltf,
was pronounced by the foreman of the jury, a murmur or
applause was heard in court, but it was at once and serf
properly suppressed.

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

(From the Athtnceum.)

The electric telegraph now on the South Western Rail-
way is the most important yet erected in this country, it;
many respects. First of all, it is to perform the twilit
functions of an electric telegraph for the railway, commu-
nicating orders and messages along the line according to
the instructions of the directors and managers. Next, it
is to serve the important use of communicating between
the Admiralty and the naval establishment at Portsmouth.
For this purpose, we believe, the coannunication will ter-
minate in the Admiralty at Whitehall, at this end of the
line, and in the apartments of the officer in command, at.
Portsmouth. We believe that a similar communication
will soon be effected with the arsenal at Plymouth. The
South Wales line may also carry the telegraph to Milfordr•
another of our dock-yards. and thus it will take pace that
orders will, at any instant of time, with the quickness of
thought be transmitted to the great naval stations of the
country from headquarters, and from each to any of the
others, or information be returned from them to head-.
quarters, with greater speed than they could formerly be
carried from the great room of the Admiralty to the se-
cretary in the adjoining apartment. The energy which',
in case of emergency, this would infuse into every part of
the service, must be of incalculable service-to the country;
For all practical purposes, the dockyards and arsenals 01
our navy may then be considered as transported from
their present remote situations into the very board-root°
of the Admiralty, at Whitehall. This is the second use
of the telegraph of the South Western Railway : the third
is to throw open to the public this means of communica-
tion at the office of the railway company, on the payment
of a very small fee. When the use of this shall have be-
come general, you will make appointments for converse
tion with your friends, not by taking a journey of 80 Of
90 miles to London, Southampton. or Portsmouth, he",,
by each party attending at the hour of aseignation at the
respective telegraph-offices in the town where they reside.
You will then enter the office, take a chair, and ask the
telegraph" How do you do, Thompson ? " At that aloe
merit the telegraph will say, " How do you do, Thon'r
son ? " to your seated friend at the other end in rorts:
mouth. He will then, of course, reply, through 00
speaker of the telegraph at your own end, " I thank Pet;
Smith ; I hope your gout gives you less trouble this fine
morning." These preliminaries over, more important
e
matters may be erne ed on and discussed, without
dirrent, until the quarter of an hour you have paid for 'A
expired, and you have to give way to your successor arlui
his amiable friend. This is not a hypothetical case, huo,
was, maths mutandig, the commencement of our Or
first int,rview (parlance rather) through the South Wes-
tern Telegraph.
An important point is establishd by this telegraph'',
which had not formerly been decided. It was donhtfer
how far weather might interfere with the transmission e
the electric current. The sleets, thaws, and fogs that have
intervened since it was erected have given ample oftPht;„t.
trinity to judge of this effect. It is found in fine west"b"/
the power of the current is not sensibly impaired even..a
produced is nearly as strong at the further end as
transmission through 88•. miles ; that is, the indicatio`i
et 00,4
from which the signal is transmitted—the diminution u
poem- being not above 5 or 10 per cent. in fine acathier,
Mr. Wheatstone has employed a beautiful title V:°t„is
metric apparatus for cl
the purpose of detecting this ,",,,I"p
ence. It is an ingenious modification of the usual aPP:;
ratus for the decomposition of water, rendered Inust
more delicate. By this it appears that the Writhe'
amount of loss through twice 88. or 176 miles, is "'era,
e cost circumstances 50 per cent. By using Ow oat
therefore, of double the intensity required in the °lto-
favourable circumstances, he finds it easy to insure 4,,
perfect. working of the apparatus, even in the most u°
vourable condition. liee
The wires which communicate from one end of the UOO
film
tube, the other are no longer closed up in a concealed
tube, but are conspicuous to the travellers in na'• 0V
,:long, the line. All along the railing there are oprigo
pots, erected at equal intervals, which rise higher teat!
he top of the carriages, and along the to-pact these Pn'iiee
continuous wires are carried in a manner similar in aPPeeprl
ance to an ordinary wire fence. Thus. tall is visible'par
accessible, so that if defects shonld arise they are at °Or
detected and easily temedied. The wires depend by Sou
celain eyelets from the pasts for the purpose of instil', ,itb
and are protected from corrosion by being covered free
zinc. These art angements are now so practically Per
as to leave little more to he desired. je foe!
Two methods are used to communicate the worc..cier,
one end to the other. 1p one plan there are two
employed in the work; these wires are independet 000
each other, and give the signals by affectit g each tba
needle. Two needles serve to give all the letters 0f
alphabet. ble
By the combination of single oscillations with °raft;
and triple oscillations, either singly to the right or le ei
you get all the characters of the alphabet from a couPt;so,
needles. And you do so by the motion only of two 00
dies by the two hands of the operator, which do not rendoa
to leave the instrument for an instant. This may he.easrt
nearly, it riot es rapidly, as common speaking—cer''
more rapidly than vocal spelling of the words. , 000'
A second method is by an exquisite little cotnh'l3oo4
The letters of the alphabet are all engraved round 'At?,
lar wheel. To speaK you only turn each letter rottPsool
a fixed point, and the same letter is shown through! oil
hole to the reader at the other end. This method !Or at/
ingenious—to the inexperienced it seems the essltie,
simpler ; any one by very slight instruction can th t, ebe
confidentially to his friend at the othir end. Istitigrse,
presence of a third party. The South Western teall b 6
is not yet open to the public, but we hope it soon ler th
Our readers will be glad to learn, that the author!oyf ae%
invention are among the few who reap the reward t
entific research in a pecuniary form. Governmelo
we believe, £l5OO a year for this telegraph, whle,jite
been erected for its use by the proprietors of the
and the inventors of the telegraph conjointly.