Weekly national intelligencer., 1854-02-04
FOREIGN ITEMS.

Il t- :. n 4 \
Mr.. R. STEPHENSON, the eminent engineer and CO..
the first Of january in his yacht Ttana to insnec<
the ne which Is not progressing satisfactorily lust
the rise Of the water in Lake Marios has rendered. 4;
to take up three four miles OF rails in order
TO raise the beyond the reach of the mum
dation The President Of the Council at Cairo assan
Pacha has given the engineers every assistance but The
between Turkey and Russia has drawn SO many men
from that the Vceroy is unable to prosecute the
works with vgor.
In lecture on China delivered at Bolton England
Dr. Bowrng said 1t had been calculated thauf all the
bricks, stones and masonry of Great Britain were ratb
cred together they would not furnish materials enough
WORK sqcn as the wall OF China, and that all the
buildings in London put together would not have made
the towers and turrets which adorn it.
The new manteaa de Ia eo required to be worn bv Ia
dies at the French court is more unpopular than
was anticipated Husbands do not like on account Of
the expense and wives shrink from the dancno
drill, without which the wearers of the costume cannot
hope to avoid appearing ridiculous The Empress alone
has in-bearers but other ladies must concentrate all
the powers Of their mind upon their trains to escape
catastrophe At the reception of New Years night thera
were not more than two hundred ladies present out Of
eight hundred invited Under these circumstances il i
thought impossible to enforce the regulation announced
that ladies avaling themselves Of invitations on jan
uary first would not be again asked to during the
year.
The Earl Of ELLEsMERE has just become the purchaser
of many hundred manuscript plays by all the authors
who have written for the stage from the year 1877 to the
year 1874 These the copies which were from time
to time sent officially to the Lcenser of Dramatic Compo
sons; and in many instances they bear his marks and
remarks for regulating the performances and contain
passages omitted not only in the representation but in
the additions afterwards printed from the acting copies
Thus in the case of not few Of popular wri-
ters, those manuscripts supply portions hitherto
known and which, but for the preservation of these ORR
gnas would have been entirely lost II has also often
happened that proogues and eplogues did not accom-
pany plays printed but here they are found either
attached to the drama itself sent in for appreciation
separately furnished The Office Of Lcenser was es
tabshed in its present form in 1857; and it was the
good fortune and good taste Of the late Mr. Larpent who
died, believe in 1924 to obtain and preserve all the
manuscripts Of his predecessors in the appointment and
his widow being anxious to sell them in 1885, they were
bought for $780, Of course the lapse of time has de-
Perforated their value and they recently offered to
the trustees of the British Museum at the price he gave
for them. Triting the outlay and strictly ma
onal the collection for probably good but
certainly unexplained reason they politely n declined
the purchase" The owner unwilling thA such an
assembage of dramas some in the very writing Of their
authors and theatrical autographs should be sold by
ton and Dispersed and made proposal to the Earl Of
Elesmere, who instantly accepted it.
DR.. FERGUSON BRANsoE, of Sheffield writing in the
Journal Of the Society Of Arts says Several years ago
was endeavorng to find an easy substitute for wood
engraving rather to find out substance readily
cut than wood and yet sufficiently firm to allow Of cast
being taken from the surface when the design was n-
shed be reproduced type metal or by the electro
hit upon which at first promised success viz the very
common substance called soaps but found that much
more skill than possessed was required to cut the fine
lines for surface printing very little experience with
the material convinced me that though might not sup
ply the place Of wood for surface printing contained
within itself the capabty of being extensively applied
erto unknown Die-snking is tedious process, and no
method Of diesinkng that know Of admits of freedom
OF handling drawing may be executed with hard
point on smooth piece of soap almost readily, as
NJ in n hnrtn fspnao oor nr,n roxusp
with lead pencil Every touch thus produced is clear,
sharp, and well-defned When the drawing is finished,
cast may be taken from the surface in paster or bet
ter STILL by pressing the soap firmly into heated gutta-
percha. In gutta-percha several impressions may be
taken without njuring the SOAP admit Of proofs
being taken and corrections made-a very valuable and
practical good quality in SOAP It will even bear being
pressed into melted sealing wax without injury have
tried sulphur mould but imagine an impression
from the soap could easily be taken by that method" Dr.
Branson has also employed beeswax white wax sealing
lacs we'll other plastic bodies and in Of
these heated steel knittngneede point SUBJ
stuted for the ivory knitting He sent several
specimens to the Society of Arts which show that from
the gutta Of plastic cast in brass may be
obtained with the impression either sunk in relief
During the year 1853 there deposited in the Nor
que of Paris three hundred and ninety five corpses show
ing decrease Of thirty below the year 1862 Among this
number were 254 men, 81 women, and 80 newborn in
nts Of the 305 adults 27 have been recognised and
81 reclaimed by the families for the sake Of proper burial
1t is the first time that such satisfactory result has been
obtained in all cases The modes Of death were 14l
suicides "a accidental Deaths "a sudden DEATHS 26 drown
ed cause not known and assassinatons while Of
the newborn infants % infantcdes. The suicides
sudden Deaths and homicides have undergone remark
able dminuton again last year, while there in
in accidental deaths and the depose Of newborn
children The Of the increase of the latter
CORY is yet unknown while that of the former may be
simply explained by the immense works Of construction
which proceeding in all parts Of the town. and which,
Notwithstanding the recommended precautions
and then the of fatal accidents from those employed
in them. "sh
WINTER IN EUROPE.
Late French papers speak of intense cold prevailing in
that country.
A Havre paper says Christmas morning the ther-
mometer degrees below zero; the 26sh degrees,
and the 9th 5 degrees.
At Rouen, the 26th the thermometer was Is degrees
below zero--the lowest point since 1889.
AT Paris, Christmas day, the thermometer was 10
below zero and the 26th at H. The Saone below Ma
con, was blocked with ice on the 25th
The lowest point of the thermometer at Paris in 1846
Il degrees below In 1889 it was Is; and the
intense cold of that winter aided by the dearth which
then prevailed aggravated the horrors Of the revolution
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA,
New Revised Edition,
NT0W in of publication in Edinburgh, imported
In and for sale at much reduced price by
LITTLE. BROWN co.