Middlesbrough & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser. — 1869-12-02 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

DEPTH OF WATER IN THE SCEZ CANAL.—A telegram of importance to shipping has been received in reference to the actual depth of water in the Suez Canal. A large fleet of ships bound to India are being detained until satisfactory intelligence was received as to the practicability of their passing safely through the canal. Lloyds' special agent at Alexandria telegraphs as follows :—" The Canal agent affirms the minimum depth 5 metres 10 centimetres. equal to about 16 feet 10 inches, and that ships drawing 5 metres have all passed safely through." The prospectus of the Suez Canal Company stated that the canal would have a uniform depth of 8 metres, or 26 feet. The large Indian ocean steamers of the Messageries Imperiales Company, each over 2,000 tons register, have, it is known, already traversed the canal, but they were lightened, only carrying sufficient ballast. The special correspondent of the Sle,pping Gavlte, writing from Port Said on the 18th ult., says :—As regards the soundings there are 23 feet 6 inches of water along the canal from Port Said to Ismailia. My information is the result of 2,500 casts of the lead. I saw them myself, and felt them with my own hands. Mr Hawkshaw and Mr Bateman, both eminent engineer-1, say the canal is a grand success; and as a nautical man, I know it is—that is, as far as Ismailia. Between the latter and Suez I know there ar,- 17 feet, but I am not sure of any more.  ALWAYS TIIE seNue.—Much is said Si to the enormous costliness of the armaments of Europe, and it cannot be doubted that the immense sums annually extracted from the pockets of the people for the support of these establishments, is one main cause of the poverty and misery which exist in all European countries. But there is another aspect of this question which is far less considered than it should be, and that is, the incalculable moral mischiefs inflicted on society by large standing armies. The report of British Military Prisons, just issued by Captain Dricane, Inspector General, refers to the large amount of crime in the British army, and to the increase of offences to the amount of 20 per cent, in the past year. The newspapers have also lately contained repeated instances of suicides and homicides by British soldiers. The disgraceful immorality of garrison towns and camps, as Aldershot and the Curragh of Kildare, continues to be little, if at all, diminished. On the Continent a similar state of things everywhere exists. The Pall Malt Gazette has just published a striking account of foreign armies, from which it appears, that crime and vice everywhere abound amongst these. In France the annual conscription amounts to a minimum of 160,000 men. Every young man over 21 is liable to this conscription. The actual army of France amounts to 650,000 men, all of whom are prohibited from marriage, except in very peculiar cases. Hence it is no wonder that "the one thought of the French soldier is, how to win ewe lambs from the fold," in other words, how to seduce as many young women as possible, and so bring misery and ruin into previously peaceful households. The notorious condition of French garrison cities confirms the truth of the above charge. In Prussia things are little if at all better, and the local press of the provinces often narrate scandalous instances of violence and profligacy, even on the part of the officers of the army. Russian soldiers are a most degraded class. Some years ago it was the custom to punish criminals in that country by making them private soldiers. Everywhere in Russia the dirt of the military barracks is so disgusting that the smell infects the whole neighbourhood in times of heat. The moral condition of the forces in other Continental States is also of a deplorable nature. Indeed it admits of no disproof that a standing army is necessarily a hotbed of every vice, and a curse to all people.  Ladies should use only the GLENFIELD STARCH, which never fails to give the most complete satisfaction. The GLENFIELD STARCH is exclusively used in the Royal Laundry. and Her Majesty's Laundress pronounces it to be the finest Starch she ever used. Prize Medals were awarded for its superiority, an the manufacturers have much pleasure in stating that they have been appointed Starch purveyors to the Prineese of Wales. The FIELD STARCH is Sold in packets only, by all Grocers, Chandlers, dm, &e.