Miscellaneous.
The Times says that the prospectus has been issued of the Liverpool and Australian Navigation Company, Avith a capital of €400,000 in £100 shares. The company possess a charter1 of incorporation, and their object is to establish a line of vessels chiefly characterised by speed us sailing ships, but with a sufficient amount of screw power to prevent detention"by calms sucb/as has just been experienced by the James Baines. £205,000 of the amount has already been subscribed, and the Company own the Great Britain and the Royal Charter, the latter of 2,720 tons which is now on her way to Melbourne, having been built expressly for this service. The management at Liverpool is to be carried on b}' Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., at a remuneration based upon the receipts of the company.
Sir Robert Peel and the Press.— The two members for Tamworth had lately an opportunity of meeting their constituents at a public dinner given to the retiring mayor of the town. Ths toast of " Her Majesty's ministers "was spoken to by Sir R. Peel, who said : —This war was not a matter of choice to them, it was a necessity (hear) ; and the best way of concluding it was by a hearty and determined prosecution of it, and an untiring perseverance in carrying' cut the object we had in view (cheers). But, however determined the Government and the people were to carry on the war with vigour, it would be perfectly useless unless they had fitting agents abroad to answer to the policy of Lor.l Pahnerston. What they wanted was men three thousand miles away, with energy and vigour to carry out the policy of the administration at home. He could not help saying that the press had rendered the most incalculable benefits to the country. Far from crying down the press, as some others were inclined to do, he thought that the press had done infinite good by placing] before the public, with great temper, justice and determination, the circumstances which had occurred in connection with the war, and which otherwise might have been concealed both from the parliament and the country, and which had led to the adoption of measures, which, but for the press, might not have been undertaken. Having touched on the cost of the war, which he set down at £ 100,000,000, Sir Robert went on to say that during the last year the fleet in the Baltic had cost the country between £8,000,000 and £9,oooooo_sterling ; and bethought he was expressing. the opinion of many in the country when he said that the £8,000,000 or £9,000,000 spent in the Baltic had not answered the expectations of the people. The honourable baronet expressed a similar opinion as to the fleet in the Black Sea, and referred with high praise to Lord Palmerstou's late speech in the Guildhall. Captain Townshend followed, controverting Sir Robert's views as to the fleets, pointing out that all that, could oe done was done. Other toasts followed.
The Moniteur says—" Accounts received direct t'rom General Williams, tiie defender of Kars, state that his health is almost completely established. He speaks highly of the manner in which General Mouravieff has treated him.
Three Russian officers have entered the regiments of Ottoman Cossacks. Fires continue of frequent occurrence in the Turkish capital.
A new Royal warrant has been issued regulating the conditions under which the relatives of officers killed in action, or dying of wounds within six months of the time of their infliction,'shall receive a sum of money in lien of a pension. The rules are almost exactly similar to those laid down in the royal warrant of last June regulating pensions. Ths highest sum to be paid is that actually expended by the deceased officer in the purchase of his commissions. Should he leave a widow only, she receives the amount absolutely, unless her pecuniary circumstances preclude a claim to a pension. If a widow and children be left, the widow is to receive the interest at three percent, for life, the principal to be then divided among the children, should they have, attained the age o* 21. Should the officer leave children but no widow, the interest is to be applied to their benefit until they attain the age of 21. Should tiiey die before that nge, the principal reverts to the Crown. When no widow or children are left,the money may be|paid to the father or mother. Failing the existence of these relatives, it may be given to brothers or sisters, under the same rules, as regards age, that are applicable to children. No grant to be made to any person not entitled to pension or gratuity. Misconduct on the part of the widow or ill-treatment of her children, renders her liable to forfeiture of her interest under the warrant. The warrant is retrospective as far as the date of the declaration of war against Russia, and persons anxious to commute their pensions previously granted for the allowance under its provisions are to make application before the 23rd of October next.
New BiTjl. on" Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister. —Lord St. Germain's Bill to amend the le,\v as to marriage with a deceased wile's sister has just been printed by order of the House of Lords. It if entitled '' Marriage Law Amendment Bill." There are eight seclious in the measure. The preamble declares that it is " expedient " to amend the law as to marriage with a deceased wife's niece.
The bill proposes to repeal so much of any act or nets of parliament as renders void or voidable any marriage celebrated between a man and his wife's sister or niece. Such marriagesbefore the pnssinsrof this (intended) act are not to be " void or voidable, " by reason only of the affinity uf the parties thereto. To enable such marriages to be celebrated under the 6 and 7 Win. IV., c. 85, the affinity stated is to be no lawful impediment. There is a provision as to excepted cases where marriage was already illes-:d, and another provision as to property, which has already become vested in consequence of the impediment now existing with respect to marriages with a deceased wife's sister or niece. The act is not. to affect settle-
mentsof personal property under wills or testaments administered lo before the passing of the same. The law and discipline of the United Church of England and Ireland, or the Church of Scotland, are not to be
affected. Neither the parties to any marriage between a man and his deceased wife's > sister or niece by reason of the affinity between the parties is to be liable to any censure or punishment. It is not propose I to extend the new law to Scotland. The bill stands for the second reading1 on the Bth proximo
A Nkw Discovery in Ware auk. — Mr. Tabborner, connected with a celebrated gun factory in Birniing-hnm. exhibited, on Thursday week, at Hornseywood house, one oi the most perfect specimens of the art at gunnery, so far as regards an improvement on the •' Old Brown Bess," which has been as yet submitted to the authorities at the War office, or the public. The capabilities of this gun, whether used as a musket, a rifle, or a fowling-piece, an; perfectly
astonishing-. Instead of tin-; old system of boring1 down the cartridge, and all its attendant inconveniences, there is introduced in this new intention a system so simple, that a child, if physically able to hold the weapon, can fire it off from morning1 to midnight, without any danger to himself or injury to the gun, by either friction or heat. Indeed, unless we mistake much, this invention will create a revolution in gun-making and gunmachinery, that will rather surprise tr c present manufacturers of the article. The new invention does away altogether with the present system of loading, for instead of expending four or five minutes in loading a gun or rifle, according to the piesent system of doing- so. tiiic new gun can be loaded and fired six times in a minute, for any given length of time without injuring the gun itself. The weight of the musket is only eight pounds and .a-hatt"; it is charged of course according to what the Government has directed, but within a thousand yards, its range is'infallible. There is no recoil whatever from the sun. and from our own experience we can say, that in an hour three hundred and twenty rounds were fired off, not in haste, but deliberately, in our own presence, at a mark three hundred yards distant, and yet. though the barrel was a little heated, the breech was perfectly cool. In point of fact, the gun, we believe, would have continued to fire for any given time, and not be injured in the slightest degree by the circumstance. The musket has been already tried sixteen or seventeen days in Hythe. and seven or eight at Enfield. and even the hypercritical authorities of those establishments have not been able to discover anything with which thpy might find fault; although many of them m.iy have felt a personal interest, in what was goii g forward. The gun is constituted on the wellknown principle to mechanics of " wedye and wear ;" the barrel is perfect, without any division in principle ; it is one piece from muzzle to breech, the breech itself being the locality where the science of the inventor is remarkably displayed. No escape of lateral gas is possible, and the entire safety of the sun is based upon what engineers call the " multiple of metals," which secures it from all accidents. On the whole, we have only to add, that the experiment of yesterday proves to our unscientific eyes that had such a weapon been used at Inkermann we would not have had to record the distressing loss of life, which filled so many hapny homes in this country with distress and sorrow. — Morning Advertiser.
The Robbery of the Royal Nurseky Plate.—A reward of £200 has been off?red to any person who will give information to the police, leading- to the apprehension of the person who stole the chest containing the royal nursery plate from a wagsjon while stmdinsc near the Mason's Arms Porchester Road, on Saturday lost.. Bills announcingl that fact and irivin<r a full description of th«» plate stolen were yesterday afternoon posted throughout the metropolis, and circulated by the police in their various districts to every pawnbroker, silversmith, and general dealer. Tt is somewhat sintrular that not long ngo the valuable jewellery belonging to Lady FJlesrnere w^ aiso contained in" a bus that wns emptied of its contents in the snme dm-oti"n — that of Shoi-e----ditch Churchyard. Insppr-for Thornton who had charge of that case. has. up to the present time, failed in having' ei;her thiei or the property. DISCOVEIiY OF HEX MAJESTY'S Pt,ATE Chest. —The police have snceeedfMl in discovering the chest that, coiif.n'ned the plate, which was stolen H''.rinir iis conveyance to Windsor. rJ'he robbery is sujiposed to have been committed by a man dressed in a flannel jacket, who was waiting- in the neighbourhood of the Fdoroware-roacl with a cab. The chest has bienjiiscovered, quite empty.
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Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 389, 26 July 1856, Page 8
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1,865Miscellaneous. Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 389, 26 July 1856, Page 8
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