STEAM WITH ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 67, 17 April 1852, Page 2

STEAM WITH ENGLAND.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald.) The following extract from a private letter received per Joseph Somes from Mr. De Salis, will inform our readers of the present position of the steam question,—which, so far as the Colonial Office and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are concerned, is about as far advanced as ever it was. We learn from another source, on which we can rely, that the directors of the Screw Steam Ship Company will be ready to despatch their new ship, the Harbinger, 920 tons, in all January, for Sydney ; and that they will be preSo^eari y T?BT atWOmOntU>oomniUni^ We hear also, from good authority, that cr- o--vemment, independent of a Gape route are determined to have one via Singapore, probably on alternate months. y Extract of a letter, dated Oct. 20, 1851 •-_ " Viewing the Cape route merely as an instalment of what is due to the Colonies, I shall not rest till a direct communication via India is accorded them and on this view I recently addressed b r Charles Wood, in whose hands the matter exclusjvely lies, the letter of which enclosed is a popy. " I know his intention to give a two monthly communication via Indh, as well as via the Cane^

but I believe, unless he is urged by ' pressure from without,' his project will not be carried into effect for an indefinite period. I therefore propose, with the aid of such colonial and other assistance as I can muster, to press the matter constantly upon him when he returns to town, and the time for official business re-commences, say towards next December. Now everything is, stagnant, and nothing can be done.

" I trust that in the interim the gold discovery will have its effect, and induce some of the colonial steam companies to open the route themselves. For various reasons I need not here enter into, I see but little prospect of English steam enterprise, unassisted by a government grant, accomplishing this object. I believe, also, that the distance intervening between California and Australia will preclude any of the American steamers in the Pacific being employed between India and Australia, besides which they appear to have full employment for their ships in their own waters, without taking them elsewhere. °

" The Pacific Steam Company informs me that they have no present idea of running steamers from Panama on their own accouut without a government grant; there appears therefore no great hopes from that quarter.

" I have seen the two new ships the Cape Company are building, professedly for the Australian trade, the " Queen of the South," and the " Lady Jocelyn ;" the lines are fine of these two ships.

" They are built as much with a view to speed as to carrying, and' I consider will sail exceedingly fast; but for the reasons stated to you in a former letter, I still doubt whether the company will not find it prudent to let their ships return via the Horn in lieu of the Cape."

Kossuth.—The departure of Kossuth from the shores of Britain was marked by a demonstration at Southampton, equalling j n enthusiasm that which attended his landing there. Nearly all the population turned out to bid him God-speed on the voyage, and the affectionate expressions of esteem which were displayed, exhibited the firm hold which his virtues and talents have taken in the minds of the English nation.

Mr. Douglas Jerrold has addressed the following letter to the Daily News :—" It is written in the brief history made known to us of Kossuth, that in the Austrian prison he has tauo-ht English by the words of the teacher Shakespeare. An Englishman's blood glows with the thought that, from the quiver of the immortal Saxon, Kossuth has furnished himself with those arrowy words that kindle as they fly —words that are weapons, as Austria will know. Would it not be a graceful tribute to the genius of the man who has stirred our nation's heart, to present to him a copy of Shakespeare ? To do this, I would propose a penny subscription. The large amount of money obtained by these means, the cost of the work itself being small, might be expended on the binding of the volumes, and on a casket to contain them. There are hundreds of thousands of Englishmen who would rejoice thus to endeavour to manifest their gratitude to Kossuth for the glorious words he has uttered amono- us —words that have been as pulses to the nation I remain, &c, Douglas Jkrrold." In a subsequent letter, Mr. Jerrold states that subscriptions have already begun to pour in upon him and he suggests that the payments should be made at the office of the Daily Neivs. The rumour of the secession of Lord Lansclowne, Lord Clarendon, and Sir George Grey from the present cabinet was confidently revived. J

Hie Times, Nov. 25, confirms the announcement, that the Queen of Spain had released twenty-three of the Cuban prisoners, who were British subjects. Lieutenant Pi r n, the naval officer who had undertaken the new expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, arrived with a cabinet messenger at Berlin en route for Siberia, on the 23rd Movember. He was introduced by Baron Uie fcmperor of Russia. Lord Call,cart was to be appointed ComOn t)ie 24.h November, Mr. Walker, one of ChJofTTTCan^ teS f°rthe P-sidentia ,i?' li w Vmle(\ States, was entertained at a public dinner at Liverpool. Mr. Rarashay, the Liverpool County Court •Sr C ci:o l, been reraoved; m'- puii- k wJ den and Co., two American firms at Liverpool

had failed. The liabilities of the latter were es timated at from £60,000 to £80,000.

The ex-member for Limerick, John O'Oon nell, is about to emigrate with his family to Australia. J

Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Cry stal Palace was awarded £5000 by the Exp™ live Committee. J

Abtifical Leather.—-A steam engine of six or eight horse power, is erected'at AbW ton, Massachusetts, for grinding up the chips and shavings of leather which are cut off by shoe and boot makers, and whic/h have heretofore been burnt or thrown away. Tlipqp nv l ground to a powder resembling coarse snufF and this powder is then mixed with certain gums and other substances so thoroughly that the whole mass becomes a kind of melted leather. In a short time this dries a little, and is rolled out to the desired 'thickness, perhaps l-12th of an inch ; it is now quite solid, and is said to be entirely waterproof.

Admission of Jews to the House of Commons.—The action by which penalties toalaro-e amount are sought to be recovered against Mr Salomans, for voting after, his refusal to take the oaths at the table of the House, will be tried in a few days. The record is duly passed and a special jury obtained. Sir F.'Kelly and Mr. Peacock, Q.C., will conduct Mr. Saloman's defence, and Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., and Mr Bramwell, Q.C., will appear for the plaintiff The speaker of the House and the tellers at the division will be the chief witnesses.— Globe.

Neatly three quarters of a million sterling appears, according to the advertisements in the Times, about to be raised for California and Australian quartz rock-crushing Companies. After three years of quiescence the London public have suddenly turned their attention to the subject, and within the past few weeks their eagerness to participate in the adventures they have hitherto scorned and disregarded has led them to pay from 50 to 200 per cent, premium for the privilege. Wool.—The third series of sales of colonial wool commenced on the 23rd October and closed on the 14th November ; they comprised 16,900 bales Sydney ; 13,800 bales"Port Phsiu; 3800 bales Van Dieman's Land-; 2200 bales South Australian; 1400 bales Cape of Good Hope, and 1000 bales East India. The sale went off well, and the middling and low qualities of Australian sold at improved prices. Cape wool sold at a slight decline, in consequence of there being a larger quantity offered than expected ; scoured wool met great competition, as also skm wool; best lambs scarcely supported previous prices. East India was in fair demand, but prices barely supported. The following are the prices :—Australian—superior clothing, Is. 10d., 2s. 6d.; inferior to fair, Is. 4d., Is 9d.; scoured, Is. 6d. 2s. 2J^d. ; handwashed, Is. 3d. Is. 5d.; lambs, Is. 3d. Is. 9tf'd. Tama- snian, combing and clothing, Is. Id. Is. 10)4A ' lambs, Is. 3d. Is. lOtfd.; Port Philip aiid Portland Bay, combing and clothing, Is. 4d. Is. 10^1.; scoured, Is. sd. 2s. 2d. ; lambs, Is. 4d. 2s. 4d. ; South Australian clothing, Is. 2d. Is. 7d.; lambs, ]s. 2d. Is. 6d.; handwashed, Is. Id. Is. 5d.; Cape clothing, 7d. Is. 6d. ; lambs, Is. Id. Is. 6d.; handwashed, Bd. 15.0 d.; East India, fair k to good white, 7d. 9d. ; pellow, 6d. 7d.

The Times, Nov. 14, thus comments on the close of the Wool Sales. " The" Colonial wool sales, which began on the 23rd of October, have arrived at their termination, and the advance obtained, as compared with,the last series, has been l£d. per Ib. on combing wools, and from &d. to Id. on clothing descriptions of middling and in inferior grades. On (.fine Sydney^wd Cape wools, of which latter an ir.iexpegt.edly large quantity was brought forward, -scarcely any improvement is perceptible, TTie attendance of buyers, which, with slight fluctuation, has been steady throughout the sales, consisted almost exclusively of home manufactiuers, principally from the north. The result furnishes evidence, that notwithstanding recent complaints, a large consumption is steadily going on, since, on the whole, no speculative feeling was observable such as could be attributed merely to the gold news, the constant increase in the supply every year, despite casuahties of all kinds, having'given some degree of confidence to the trade, as to the prospects of future shipments, whatever may be the result of the^ate discoveries." .