SCOTLAND.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 46, 22 February 1864, Page 5 (Supplement)

SCOTLAND.

(FBOM OUB OWN COBBE3PONDENT.) - GLASGOW, 25th Dec, 18G3. During the-paßt month; our citizens ♦ shave been enjoying an unwonted excitement in connection with the Trans** atlantic struggle. A chronic cause for the agitation felt has been the presence of the suspected privateer, Pampero, in. our harbor, and over the movements of wjiich one of H. M. gunboats has been keeping a considerate watch. ; I r slightly referred to this .famous, or infamous, craft in my lasfy and will now give your readers some fuller particulars regarding the steamer. The Pampero is a screw steamer, of about ,900, tons burthen, is 230 feet Jong, 32, feet in breadth of beam ,-and 20 feet in depth of hold. She is barque rigged,and carries very taunt spars, has fine ends, and is driven by a screw and two direct-acting condensing engines of 200 horse power. That she has been built for speed no doubt is felt, and the rate she is likely to attain is quite uncalled for in ordinary commercial pursuits. She has excellent accommodation for a large crew, and her officers' quarters are unusually roomy, ahd are supplemented by cabins, declared to be fitted up for cabin passengers. Her 'tween deck accommodation is, besides, very ample, and, it is alleged, may be required for steerage or intermediate passengers in the " Chinese trade," for which it is said she has been fitted up. Her equipment has been proceeded with at the Fiiinieston Quay, and which no longer boar the suspicious character it is stated it bore while the steamer was in the yard of her builders, the Messrs. Thomson, of Go van. It is still alleged that her gunports were Aims ily nailed up by her builders, who also turned into water tanks the powder magazines she was originally filled 'up with. It was likewise rumored that her gun tackle "ring b-. Its had been drawn, and shot racks taken . down, in order to avert the suspicion which hung over her. In connection with the Gro vernment interference in this matter, the services of various parties have been taken, and a' recriminating correspondence has taken, place in our papers, between the parties giving evidence, or lodging information, Avhich leaves doubt «if a very straightforward course has been pursued. Tf the Pampero turns out to be really a mercantile craft, both her builders and owners have much to complain of. On the contrary, if it be proved that the Messrs. Thomson aud their employers have been conniving at a breach oi' the Queen's proclamation, as well as attempting to bring about a collision between our own aud the Federal G-overnment, condign punishment ought to fall upon the selfish and | regardless principals in a base conspiracy. Public interest has been so much stirred upon the Pampero's possible fate, that multidues have been in constant attendance at the quay examining- tho suspected craft, and listening occasionally to a wordy war raging between such political orators as chose the edge of the wharf for their peripatetic debates upon American affairs. What may be the ultimate destination ofthe Pampero it might be premature to hint at, but the course the Oo vernment lias taken in connection with the Alexandra at Liverpool, has sufficiently alarmed Southern agents and speculative shipbuilders. I observe from a paragrajjh in a local journal that the Pampero has been seized by G-overnment. and a guard has been put on board — an issue I fully anticipated. While referring to this matter, I ■ observe that an old navy cruiser, H. M.S. "Victor, has been bought by Southern agents, and notwithstanding an order i for her arrest sent to Sheerness, has been suddenly run off with by the cute crew put on board of her. An alleged Confederate Ham ha.s been launched at Hull, and has been run out of the Humber without delay, showing in both instances a strange laxity on the part of our own Government, and j which want of foresight the Federal Government may on some future occasion, find ifc convenient to imitate to I our own discomfiture. Another source of irritation -has been a lecture upon American affairs, delivered in our City Hall by Mr. Spence, of Liverpool, the writer of the long letters in the London Times, upon American affairs, initialed " S," and for the first of which, it is alleged, the ." Thunderer " remitted to the clever pleader a cheque for £50. Mr. Spence, had for his chairman • ex-Baillie Jlannan, a renowned " old woman," whose only apology for his position . must have been an active sympathy with black slavery, and which a good many of our local manufacturing nabobs are not ashamed to show. The City Hall was crammed by a mob of 3000 persons, 1000 of whom had been invited by special ticket as known abettors of the Southern cause. Mr. Spence's discourse was rather eloquent, but opened up nothing new. It was simply a reiteration of his canards whicli appeared in the Times, eked out by such scraps qf special pleading and plausible misrepresentation as served purpose. Notwithstanding the fact that the . ordinances of secession, passed by the Confederate States particularly declare "that "these .States seceded for the maintenance .and extension" of "slavery, "Mr. Spence solemnly assured the "gulls " who listenedto him, that slavery had nothing to do with the matter, and ; further, Baillie Hannan lent the weight; of his personal -authority, to fulminate the same . absu.rd Key. Messrs. John and

. William Macadam, the friends of liberty in Italy and Hungry, strangely app eare d on the platform "to sympathise with the Confederate cause, and the latter was the proposer of a resolution to. support the lecturer's. views. ■This was of course carried by the i packed audience with; great demonstrations of delight, modified by the shou*ts | and yells of their opponents in the J Hall. Among these were a considerable number -of the old emancipation party in Glasgow, ,' who were no silent spectators of this farce of . a, -public meeting,- and who, at the close, gave some audible murmers to their disgust. • .Another incident occurred in one of the lobbies leading from the Hall, and through which the audience streamed out. Mr. Andrew Patau,- the well known philantropist, an energetic member of the Glasgow Emancipation Committee, j*, while, passing out, was addressed by- the cashier of one of our banks, and who highly eulogised Mr. Spences address. '.: Mr. Paton, in his uncompromising way, admitted . the eloquence of the speaker, but doubted the accuracy of. his facts. The cashier replied that, ■" he had as much right to .believe Mr. ; Speneeas Mr. Paton." "I don't see that you have," answered Mr. Paton, " you have known me for thirty years* I have done business with you, and, unless it be holding Mr. Spence's unpaid iron-bills, I ' don't know what else you can know about him." The stories alleged concerning Mr. Spence's financial affairs' gave a point to the rejoinder made, wliich greatly amused those who witnessed the reeonfre. Tn order to neutralise whatever influence the address of Mr. Spence might have exercised, the Emancipation party in Glasgow, with the aid- of various co-operations, brought forward the Rev. Dr. Massie, a United Presbyterian clergyman, resident in Lon-. don, to deliver- an address in the City Hall, in which the cause of the abolitionists should be defended. The Rev. Doctor had been in America on a special mission, whicli enabled him to obtain very full and accurate information upon various disputed points connected with the emancipation of the blacks. Dr. Massie, who. is a Glasgow man, and who was born in Balmanno-street, obtained considerable favor in the eyes of the fellow citizens who composed his audience, and which the character of his address entitled him to. He spoke well and vigorously, and showed that ever since the election of President "Lincoln, the Southern party had exerted every influence to resist appeals to constitutional measures, ancl had eventually drawn the sword to carry out their purpose of establishing a realm, of which slavery should be the chief corner stone. He further explained that the seceding States had passed their ordinances of secession on the distinct ground that "it was for the conservation and spread of African slavery- — their separation from the. North had been carried out, and in fact completely upset the manifold inventions Mr. Spence had ventured upon. Resolutions diametrically opposed to those passed at Mr. Spence's lecture, were carried out with but partial opposition from Southern sympathisers, and the meeting altogether was a successful demonstration against the enemy. While on American topics, I may refer to the new business created on the Clyde, of building " blockade runners," and which . our principal ship-building firms liave engaged in. The class of vessels built are paddlewheel steamers of 500 or 600 tons burthen, running at an average speed of seventeen or eighteen miles an hour, and built so as to cross the shallow bars which abound on the American coast. \ They draw only four or five feet of water, aud are flat floored, so as to be upright in case of being left by the receding tide. They are of immense length, low in the water, and are painted in a style which will render them difficult to detect at a distance. Their couple of funnels are made to shut down telescopic fashion, or to fold back like the funnels of the steamers on the Thames, which ply under the bridges. A noticeable peculiarity is the addition of a" top-gallant forecaslte," or a deck bent upwards in the centre, which reaches back from the low bow twenty or thirty feet, and which will prevent a heavy head sea from breaking in over the low stern and bulwarks.- This additional fitting is seen while the vessels are still in frame — the iron ribs forward reaching up to the toj) of the rail, and then sweeping over the deck in a curve sufficientlyhigh to permit the stowage of goods under it, or the crew of the craft to be berthed. The improvement is a great one, and I should think exceedingly applicable to the passenger steamers running long upon our stormy coasts. In connection with blockade running, I observe that the old Sumter, re-named the Gibraltar, has just arrived at Liverpool, froni Wilmington, in North Carolina, with a cargo of 300 bales of cotton, and which will afford her owners an excellent profit. Passing to matters having a more strictly local interest, I notice a meeting of our local unemployed relief fund committee, Whose occupation by the way, is fortunately gone, and assembled with whom were the general public .who have subscribed to the fund, but sparingly represented, however, on the occasion. From a report read, it appears that the whole means placed at the disposal of the committee was £36,000, a moderate enough sum, it will be confessed, when the ' nature .of the crisis is understood. Of the amount named, £6565 14s. 9d. remains, and which may be raised as the writer's progress is to stifle murmurs likeiy to be made by those who have a diminished support. * Thepaupensedpopulation has certainly

diminished to a minimum, and not-. withstanding increased rates of dis- ; count and a general tightness of the ' money market, trade is steadily im- * proving, despite of, perha,ps in consequence of, the American struggle. It was anticipated that in consequence of . the abundant harvest the loaf would , fall to an unprecedently .low price. This opinion is not likely to be\realized, one penny having been added to the ; price of the four-pound loaf during the past fortnight. The abundance of the potatoe crop has greatly tended to lower the price of grain ; ; but the fear of a development of disease within the 1 pits has caused farmers to glut the market with the fayorite esculent. The distressed condition of Poland - and a famine in Hungary must limit Continental supplies ; and the feeling among the Glasgow grain trade,^ I learn up on inquiry, is the expectation of a considerable advance in' prices with the progress of spring. The arrival of grain at the Brodmielaw is exceedingly heavy at present, chiefly from American ports ; "but many of the vessels are froni Canadian harbors and which have of course been making their last run for the season. While the Broomielaw is crowded with grainloaded and other craft, the port of Greenock is thronged with a forest of masts.. The flour -trade of Greenock has not been so prosperous for years, and -the spread of * sugar refineries through the town suggests that' the port is rapidly mpnpolising the sugar trade of the kingdom. Under this thriving state of matters it has been discovered that the dock accommodation is far beyond the requirements of the place, and the considerable progress has been made in the, building of our docks which 'will extend down as far as the Bay Of Quick. Between Glasgow and Greenock the great enterprise .of deepening and widening the Clyde progresses ; the present difficulty being a narx*ow portion of the river opposite Renfrew Pier, which is /to be widened by a. strip taken from the north side- of the river, and that will cost an enormous . sum to excavate. The beginning of the month was "'-, marked by a series of storms iiii: preeedented for violence, and which swept* over the whole country. On the 3rd and 4th, a hurricane of southwest wind swept the Irish ChanneF and Firth of Clyde driving back outward bound vessels, and wrecking several craft. During the bad- weather a large ship was driven ashore at Toward Point, opposite' Rothesay, and the vessels moored off Greenock were driven up and across the river without suffering any serious hurt ia_' consequence. On the English coast it was far otherwise: '.Ax A case 0f... some notoriety was recently tried before our local'bankrupt court, some particulars of which may amuse your readers who may have peeped into the windows of Messrs. Muir Wood and Co., music sellers, Buchanan - street. Mr. Robertson, bookkeeper and cashier to that firm, was recently arrested for making away Avith the funds of his employers, and has just been making unaccountable disclosures in the Court of Bankruptcy, presided 0A r er by Mr. Sheriff Strathearn. Mr. Robertson has been in the employment of Messrs. Wood and Co. for ten years, and must have won among his creditors' friends a reputation for the piety of a saint and the profusion of a prince. From what he told the Sheriff it appears that besides being an office-bearer in East Campbell-street Uiiited Presbyterian Church, he was also the founder of the Bethel Mission, an association founded for the promotion of religion and amusement among the poor and ruthless population of the city generally, and of the Black Boy close in . particular. In order to carry out this benevolent and magnificent project Mr. Robertson organised various picnics, and steamboat trips up and down the Clyde. Since Mr. Robertson was patron, secretary, treasurer, and manager of the Bethel Mission, the whole responsibilities fell upon himself, and appear to have been, most willingly borne. His salary was but £100 ' a year, and in order to supplement what his own pocket provided to defray the expenses, the pious youth helped himself freely out of his master's till. The sum stated to be missing is £2000, y but a lower figure may ultimately be - named. No doubt is felt that Mr. Robertson is more fool than rogue, and it is felt in his extenuation that he ■'• has only been a little more regardless^ and undoubtedly more kindly and honest than the thoroughpaced knaves who abound in Glasgow, and who pay away to churches and clergy missions immense sums, either filched ;out of the pockets of unsuspecting creditors or out of the stomachs of ill-paid and * over- wrought -workmen. Passing up Buchanan-street to the fashionable establishment of . Messrs. Starroch and Son, I may notice a sensational innovation this firm has introduced in the shape of a rotatory brush* for brushing the hair of such fashion- V ables as patronise the establishment, The machine is somewhat complicated and^is driven with belts like a turninglathe. The novelty of having one's hair brushed by machinery attracts a considerable number of dandies to the establishment, and so far the speculation promises to be a paying one. Among notable events is the blowing upof the Karnes Gunpowder Factory in the Angles of Bute, near the mouth ' of Loch Fy ne - '-^c explosion, which -was terrific, levelled some portions of „ the buildings and caused great devastation. The cause of the accident — which has involved the death of seven men and the wounding of several others— is* supposed to hare been „ , -*.

lisioned hy a >flash- of lightning ing a thunderstorm raging. : y much' lamented over ; heeh the death of Dr. Strang, the f. ; Chamberlain, a public functionary atlyi respected for his attainments .'Bevotion to his duties. The doctor Recently had Va magnificent testiiial presented to him by his fellowiens, and was fortunate in finding •vklue appreciated possibly beyond: merits. ?he Theatre Boyal, burnt down last ing, has been re-built, with many )fovements, and was opened to the 1 jlic the s other evening quite unextedly. : The house is considerably jer than it was, and is decorated in lost- "gorgeous style ; the only fault .are' heard- -made, being the height of i stage, which carries, the voices of A. actors^ over the : heads of the lience sitting in the 'front seats. 3 Christmas pantomime of "Jack I the Beanstalk" is to be immebely commenced, and Mr. Houghton L .! Mr. "William G-lover, the joint prietors, have been exerting themres. to their utmost to achieve a cess. Mr. Samuel Bough, formerly ne painter to the theatre, but ter known as a most successful dscape painter has been coinmisaed to paint the drop scene, aud ich is, of course, a triumph of Che Circuit Court is now sitting in uui.' city but its proceedings are unattended with any particular excitement. Three cases of murder havebeen tried, but each has. subsided into a culpable homicide. The first of these, the Bishoptou murder, was the trial of an "Irishman, named Turpy for kicking on the head and causing the death of another Irishman, named Mullen, within an inn at Bishoptou. The violence was committed during a riot which closed a raffle held at the inn, and which appears to have attracted all" the ruffians in the neighborhood. Turpy and another man named Thornton were tried for the crime, but the latter was dismissed from tlie bar. and the former had a leuient sentence passed upon him by Lord Deas, who, * on the present circuit, is the very emI bodiment; of mildness. The Dalmarnock road murder was the trial of a weaver, for beating to death or throttling the dissipated wife of a soldier, with whom he cohabited. Dr. M'Leod, | who prosecuted forthe crown, inferred -that. -.marks upon the corpse indicated . strangulation. Por the defence, Dr. Thomas Johnstone, of Rose-street, Cornet Hill, r showed that the inference drawn was by no means a correct one, ahd eventually the jury returned a verdict of not proven. The Stockwellstreet murder, was the trial of** an old soldier, for the murder of a policeman. It was shown that the policeman had died from injuries received in . a struggle with the prisoner, who was '* mortally drunk "at the time, but it appeared to the jury that the hurts had been received through no malignant purpose on the part of the criminal. A verdict of culpable homicide returned, appeared to gratify tlte court and the audience. ]S"o other cases of import occupied the attention of the judges. The clipper ship Yeetis leaves the Clyde immediately for your shores, passengers being ordered to go aboard the ship in the jßroomielaw on the 31st inst. The , splendid clipper ship Paria, of 1200 tons burthen, sails for Otago in the middle of January. She belongs to Patrick Henderson's line, and is likely to be largely patronised by intending passengers.