Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 611, 15 September 1858, Page 4

Miscellaneous.

The Leviathan Measueed ih Pins.— There is probably no object of modern industry and skill that has created a greater amount of interest and speculative observation than the Leviathan. Her gigantic proportions, her vast and roomy arrangements, and her enormous tonnage, having fully entitled her to be termed the mammoth of the deep ; and if her sailing powers are equal to the magnitude of her other arrangements, there Is every probability that she will effect as great a change in maritime affairs as the railways have done in that of locomotion. The structure of this huge ship, however, is nothing more than the natural development of our maritime capabilities. In our leading factories, and in our spacious warehouses and shops, we have long demonstrated the fact that large returns and small profits are the most profitable and beneficial both to producei'and to consumer; and if the application of this principle holds good on land there can be no question that it will be found equally so upon the sea, for the mere media of transit can make no differerence in that respect. As compared, then, to the minnows of the ocean this maritime mammoth holds about the same position as the late millionaire Morrison's town-of a-warehouse in this metropolis does to the myriad of miners which are devoted to the same class of industry. Yet huge, mammothic, and gigantic as the Leviathan may be when compared with her many sailing sisters of the deep, we venture to think that few—very few—of the many thousands that have seen her, aud the many millions who have heard of her, and, doubtles, would bo delighted to see her, have anything but n vague and undefined notion of the carrying power which she possesses, and of the space which can be devoted to that purpose, in her peculiar structure. The tonnage of the Leviathan is stated to be 22.500 tons; this is an enormous carrying power, which, however, can only be estimated.by those who have v practical knowledge of such matters, and who are almost daily habituated to observe them. At the first blush of the question, many would suppose that this huge vessel is capable of carrying a large street, or a small townsmen, women,,children chattels, houses and all; .but,; when we. suggest, to this magnitudinously-visioned class another made of conveying to'their mind's eye the size and power of the Leviathan, they will, we believe, have a different notion of what she really is, and how much she can really accomplish, as regards her carrying capacity. We shall simply measure that capacity, which is not proportionate to the other appointments of the vessel, by a mere pin, and not by foot.and inches, as is the common practice, which from its very contrast will perhaps convey the best notion of its size and extent. Suppose, then, that any one was allowed to pay the Leviathan a visit once a week for a single year, upon this condition, that a pin must bropped upon her deck at tho first visit, and that upon each of the succeeding weekly visits the number of pins must be doubled. Thero would, then, bo fifty-two deposits of pins, and

each would' be'double that whiclT"preceded 'it: Many no doubt imagine that the capacious hold of the huge-monster-will contain the, aggregate quantity of pins deposited. The pin, we ought to premise, must be one of those which ure for ordinary use, and about one inchin length. Let us calculate for a momentjor so. On the first week there would be one pin; on the tenth week there would be 512 pins, on the twentieth week there would be 624.288 pins.onthe 40th there would be 549,755,813,888, and on the fifty-second or the close there would be the great enormous number of 2 251 799,813,685,248 pins. Now, the weight of this quantity of pins would be, as possible, 251,316,943 tons 7 cwt. 67 lbs. 5 oz. So that, it would require about 1,117 Leviathans, calculating thetonnage of. each at .22,500, to carry the weight of pins that might be deposited in fifty-two _ weeks, upon the simple condition of commencing with the unit and doubling the quantity each time. Applying the pin-measurement moreover, to the length of the voyage of the Leviathan to Australia.and back, giving 15,000 miles as the distance oat and the same home, it will take just thirty-two deposits of pins to complete the line, each pin occupying an inch, and the whole to be laid end to end. The ship would pass over the space, in a right line, of 1,900,800,000 superficial inches, and the number of pins thai, pro rata would be deposited in the time specified would be 2,147, 483,648, wdich would cover rather more than the same length of line. Again, if we take the total number of pins deposited in'fifty-two weeks and assuming each pin to be an inch in length, the aggregate deposit would measure 35,539,769,786 miles, which, at 30,000 miles the voyage out and homeward, would give for completing the same distance by the Leviathan, 1,184,659 voyages, and the time required for making them, giving fifty days out and home, will be 324,564 years, a pretty long distance for a single vessel to make.: But calculations ■of this nature, it may be said, belong rather to astronomical science, in which distance may be imagined by the aid of figures, yet cannot be realised to the practical conceptions; of the J mind, and are of little value when applied to the mere definate area within which maritime matters, however extended, must necessarily, be confined. Be it so; still there is many a^mind set to think upon thesubject when it is placed before it in an out-of-the-way manner, which, otherwise it would leave unnoticed, and though these calculations may be considered more curious than instrnctive, still they must be acknowledged to be as useful as those which have occasionally described" the ..precise length to which a pound of cotton can be lenghtened by spinning, the singular tenuity of a grain of gold when beaton into leaf, and the are which the sovereigns, required to "redeem the national debt would cover, if each were laid upon the ground^ or, indeed, any other calculation upon a subject of a kindred nature.— Bell's Messenger. The Prince Consort has just returned from a visit to Saxe Gotha and Berlin, the object being in the first instance to arrange for the succession of his second son to his childless brother the reigning Duke, and to see his daughter the Princess Royal of Prussia who has met an accident by a fall on a staircase from which she has now recovered. Count Cavour resolutely pursues the path of Constitutional reform and economical progress, and the Qbeen of Spain is trying to make polical capital by exhibiting herself and her baby in the provinces.

The Paris Conferences have recommenced upon the Danubian question, and it is said are at loggerheads, indeed so voilently opposed that personalities have besn exchanged ■; One of Lord Malmesbury's new Ambassadors has been guilty of an escapade which will recoil upon the Minister who sent him to Tuscany with such indecent haste. Mr. Howard, who was sent to Florence, presented his credentials, in a hasty and somewhat informal; manner, caused the Grand Dake to come from his country Chateau to receive him, and on the day appointed for the reception took "French leave" without notice for Paris on,the ground that he had a bad leg. People who see him on the Boulevards, see nothing the matter with his gait, and it is simply asked were there no doctors in Florence? At the annual banquet of the Royal Academicians, on which occasion her Majesty's Ministers attended, ex officio, in full force, the last toast was, " Mr. Dickens and Mr. Thackeray," to which each of these gentlemen responded. Mr. Thackeray told an anecdote:— Permit me to say that had it not been for the direct act of my friend who has just sat down, I should most likely never have been included in the toast which you have been pleased to drink; and I should have tried to bo, not a writer, but a painter, or designer of pictures. That was.the object of my early ambition, and I can remember when Mr. Dickens .was a very young man, and had commenced delighting the world with some charming humorous works of which I cannot mention the name—(laughter)—but which were colored light green, and came out once a month —(a laugh)—that this young man wanted an artist to illustrate his writings, and I recollect walking up to his chambers with two or three drawings in my hand, which, strange to say, he did not find suitable. (Laughter.) But for that unfortunate blight which came over my artistical existence, it would have been my pride and my pleasure to have endeavoured one day to find a place on these walls for one of my performances. This disappointment caused mo to direct my attention to a different walk of art, and now I can only hope to bo "translated" on those walls, as I have beon, thanks to my talented frioud Mr. Egg.

A petition lias boon got up at Manchester praying the Government to take up the caso of Sir James Brooke and his territory in Borneo.

-Massacre ov the EiriiopEAiTS":iT -j-S?" .dai£ on the Red Sea, June 13;'., 1858.— Tbo particulars of the.above horrible event are, as'nearly'as can bo ascertained, as follows : — An Arab ship sailed from Calcutta, one owner living1 afc Calcutta, and the other1 at Jeddah, and, as is customary with native owned ships, sailed under English colors, thereby saving harbour dues at Calcutta. Upon this vessel's arrival at Jeddah, her part owner took down the English flag, and hoisted Arab colors, which, coming to the notice of H.8.M.. Consul, he gave orders to Captain Pullen, of H. M.S. Cyclops to have the British flag reinstated. It then appears that the crew, aided by a large body of townspeople, proceeded to the Consul, forcibly entered his house, and deliberately murdered him under circumstances of great atrocity. They then rushed to the French Consul's and both that gentleman and his wife fell victims to their violence, and their daughter, while bravely endeavoring to save her parents, "was severely wounded by a "sabre cut across the face, but happily rescued alive by the Turkish Commandant, and was afterwar.ds received on board the Cyclops. They proceededin their bloody work until about 25 Christians had been sacrificed, among whom were several Greek merchants of wealth and respectability long resident in Jeddah, and who were in no way connected with the ostensible cause of the outbreak. The Turkish authorities were quite powerless,having no force adequate to suppress their violence, and the whole affair, was so sudden and so speedily effected, that Captain Pullen, of the Cyclops, had ho intimation of it until some Christians, who had effected their escape, raached his ship. He landed a force of sailors and marines, rehoisted the national colors at their respective consulates, obliged the Turks to salute them with 21 guns, and having marched through the streets with his men, everything being now quiet, and no trace ofthe rioters,who had disappeared to their homes, he collected the bodies of the unfortunate victims, and buried them with military honors. It is stated that a chief, who had been in arms against us at Delhi, had recently arrived with about 40 followers at Jeddah, en route for Mecca, and is supposed to have instigated this massacre. The Cyclops was met at sea by the European, as she was proceeding to Suez with despatches from the home Government