STEAM COMMUNICATION.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 111, 12 November 1858, Page 4

STEAM COMMUNICATION.

(From the Sydney Herald.) If we do not misinterpret the brief announcement of the telegraph, the steps that have been taken in this colony to put the steam communication with England on a satisfactory footing have met with a cordial approval and co-operation in Victoria. If this is so, and if the two leading colonies of Australia work heartily together, the others will naturally fall in with their arrangements, and the British Government will be induced, if not morally bound, to assist them in the realization of their projects. But had they been found thwarting each other from motives of mutual jealousy, they would have gone far to prevent any satisfactory result from being attained, and have injured themselves quite as much as they could have triumphed over each other. New South Wales took the initiative, and pledged itself for ten years to guarantee the Australian half of the subsidy necessary to maintain steam communication with Panama. It remained for Victoria to take a similar step with regard to the communication by the Suez route. This, in fact, is only an extension—and a natural extension —of their existing responsibilities. For, two years ago, they became jointly responsible for the amount of'i£92Jsoo, the Australian half of the subsidy granted to the late European and Australian Mail Company. All that is now needed is that they should separate, and increase their responsibilities—that instead of uniting to guarantee the colonial moiety of one contract, they should each do that service for the route that is most advantageous to them. If this is satisfactorily arranged, the whole matter will be simplified; the difficulty of having too many parties to a contract is got rid of, and the home Government will not have to keep intricate postal accounts with all the colonies separately. The arrangement of the intercolonial mails, and the adjustment of the intercolonial contributions I to the service, will be settled out here by | mutual consultation, and probably with much greater satisfaction to all parties than could be afforded by anj T plan designed in England. Seeing that every attempt that has hitherto been made to establish steam communication with England has been a failure, it might be thought more ju?licious.for all the colonies to unite thoroughly to establish a service by one route, rather than divide their efforts and augment their responsibilities by attempting to start two services at once. And this might be the case if any one route could give equal satisfaction to all parties. But past experience has shown that this cannot, be dono. The Suez route suits Victoria very well, but it cannot be made to render equal service to New South Wales. It is not probable that in any new contract that may be made for the Suez Service the rate of speed will be increased. On the contrary it will probably be diminished, as efforts have been made, by parties anxious to obtain the contract, to show that more time ought to be allowed. Any such extension of the time would altogether deprive Sydney of the advantages of an immediate return of post, and, according to the present time table, even when strictly adhered to, the country towns lose that advantage. This is not the case with Victoria. Between the date fixed for the arrival of the mail at Melbourne, and the date for its subsequent departure, there is a clear interval of nine days. This allows time for the mail to be distributed to all parts of the colony, and replies to be returned, while the commercial men in the city have ample time for meditating on their correspondence. The advantage of such an interval, as compared with the hurry imposed on the Sydney merchants, and the deprivation to which the rest of the colony is subjected, is too obvious to need comment. It is preposterous to represent the colonies as receiving equal advantages under such circumstances, even when the steamers are punctual; and when to this is added the chances of detention— and delays hitherto have been the rule rather than the exception—the variation in the be~nefitreceivablebecomesmore marked. It is not at all probable, therefore, that, under any arrangements that can be made for the Suez route, the requirements of this colony would be so satisfactorily met as to lead us to rest contented with it alone, and it becomes necessary, in justice to ourselves, to agitate for the establishment of the Panama route. The same considerations become still more forcible when applied to the northern parts of Eastern Australia, which are rapidly rising in importance, and to the colony of New Zealand. The necessary expense, too, of maintaining the two routes contemporaneously is not so much greater than what has been already incurred as to create any very serious difficulty, while the additional accommodation that will be afforded, not onty to one colony but to all, will be well worth the cost. The Chamber of ; Commerce at Melbourne took the question into consideration, and remitted to a sub-committee the recommendation of a definite plan. The intelligence that reached them of the course adopted by this colony will, to some extent, restrict the points to which their deliberations will be confined. For it then rested with them to determine whether they would fall in with the principle sanctioned in Sydney, or whether they would act moppoKtion

to it. We are at present in ignoratibe of the discussions which have prompted the conclusion at which they have arrived, but that conclusion is precisely the one we have desired. It was entirely a matter for the people of Victoria to. determine whether they would be content with a branch to Galle, or have a through line. The former plan would be the cheaper, tli9 latter the more convenient. The Parliament in Victoria isJ not yet assembled, and the Government would hardly commit the colony to a great and prolonged expenditure without the assent of the Assembly. But there can be little doubt but the decision arrived at by the Chamber of Commerce will be. generally approved by the Parliament, the Press, and the country. We are disposed to hope that matters are now at length in a right train, and that, unless the British Government disappoints our expectations, both routes will before long be efficiently at work.

Upheaval of the Australian Continent— The following facts relative to the gradual upheaval of the land we live in were collected by Dr. Ludwig Becker, and embodied by him in a paper recently read before the Philosophical Society of Victoria. The paper is entitled "Some facts determining the rate of the upheaval of the south coast of the Australian continent." After some preliminary observations, the writer directed attention to the circumstance of the bottom of Hobson's Bay having risen four inches during the last 12 months. Five years ago it was observed that the foot of the old flagstaff at Williamstown, which was only a little lower than the present one, had been several times washed by high water, and now the space about it bore green vegetation, and dwellings and tents were erected on a spot which a few years ago was under water. Between the old pier and the Williamstown lighthouse, and a foot below the road, some shells were found, which' had been deposited there.by the sea, and between the horizontal layers of these shells were found imbedded, some skulls of sheep and bullocks, filled with clayey matter. This was four feet above the average level of the sea, and the skulls had not been recently thrown there, but when the surrounding water rendered it a convenient place for such a deposit. The beach at Sandridge, St. Kilda, and Brighton was even more upheaved, but it,was difficult to draw any conclusions therefrom, in consequence of the interference .of the effects of the Yarra deposits. In South Australia the railway had risen four inches during the first twelve months after its construction. In 1802 Flinders found 10 fathoms of water in a certain point in Lacepede Bay, whereas, in the same place, there was recently seven fathoms found. The Government of South Australia, alive to the necessity of a re-survey of the coast, had already undertaken such a work. The soundings taken by Flinders were novy useless, in consequence of the subterraneous action ; and on the whole it might be concluded that there was an annual rise of' land of about four inches. The motion of the earth's crust in the southern part of Australia, as far as can be ascertained, is at present slowly permanent and upwards, but it was impossible to say whether such sudden rises were during or after an earthquake. The paper next referred* to the extensive floods which surrounded Melbourne some years ago, and which had lately shown a considerable falling off, and this was accounted for by the land rising, and it was estimated that the Melbourne wharves had risen six feet during the last twenty years. The paper concluded with a recommendation of caution in the future formation of piers, dams, breakswaters, &c, the sites of townships, wharves, and docks, and that the Victorian coasts should be re-surveyed. The Cargoes of the Dunhar and Catherine Adamson. —Although nearly a year has elapsed since the last of these two wrecks, and more than a year since the first of them, legal proceedings are pending here in reference to a quantity of goods recovered from the bed of the harbor, which must have formed part of the cargo of one. or the other of these ill-fated ships. The suit alluded to, is an action of trover brought in the name of Captain Stuart, of the Catherine Adamson, by Mr. Watt, of the firm of Gilchrist, Watt and Co., against Messrs. Mitchell and Co. The nett proceeds of the goods recovered by the latter firm, forming the subject matter of this action, is over £4000. They are claimed as a part of the Catherine Adam- | son's cargo, and this claim is resisted upon the ground that their identity cannot be j established, and that they are more pro- ■! bably goods which have drifted in from i the wreck of the Dunbar. The case was tried at the August sittings, and, after, a i four days' investigation, and a great mass i of conflicting evidence, a verdict was found for the defendants. But a new trial has been moved for. On the part of the plaintiff (who sues for the benefit of the cargo owners and insurers) reliance was chiefly placed upon admissions by Captain Williamson, one of the defendants, that a portion, at all events, of these goods did belong to the Catherine Adamson. But the latter denies having made those admissions in their full sense, and avers that although he was willing to contract with Gilchrist, Watt, and Co. as a salvor, this was not under recognition of their right as agents, but simply because he was willing to pass over the whole business to them as a respectable firm, on their payment of his salvage, and on their undertaking-to deal solely with the claimants of these goods. The dispute appears to have originated in the rejection of Captain Williamson's claihv for 50 per cent, salvage. From the nature of things no clear evidence of identity as to any goods thus recovered is possible; and the final decision of this case must rest upon the clegree of weight to be attached to the statements on either hand as to the admission! . already alluded ■ U>.~~svdnetf fferald. ' '

■:■■ :. ■ -.^ . - , »«.:•-, • TheJ&ombsJiells of Sebustopol still Exploding.—The correspondent of" the Boston Transcript' at Sevastopol says:—-The bombshells strewn about the city during the ' siege are still doing the work of death. No less, than eight deaths, I think, have been caused by explosions of these missiles since my arrival, hardly a year since. Only a. lew days ago. two seamen belonging to the English steamer- Beyrout came on shore near our shipyard, and for a few minutes were conversing with Mr. Gowen. They then started for .a walk to the Redan, quite near pur residence, and on reaching the breastwork one of' them picked up an unexploded detonating shell, intending to keep it as a relic, but finding it rather heavy, threw it down, when it instantly exploded and killed him, almost severing the head from the body, and completely cutting off his;. right leg. The remains were brought to our yard, whence they were buried. His companion escaped with a. slight scratch ' upon the lip. On the following day, two .Russians were killed in a similar manner while picking out the stopper of a shell. The lock •by which the concussion ignited the powder of the shell is a curious affair —being a small equilateral cross, with ar capsule at each point, and four little ham- - mers held by a human hair. A sudden jar breaks the hair, causing the hammers to strike the cap, which explodes. After the shells are charged, the locks are en-, closed in a copper tube and inserted-within the hole of the shell, upon which a'plug is placed. The shells thus prepared are placed in a box of the size ot an ordinary, chronometer-box, which, for safety, must be handled " this side up, with care." Jenny Lind. —Madame Jenny LindGoldschmidt resolved, as is well-known, a long time ago, after she had given up her projected journey to Russia,. to leave her present residence, Dresden, and settle in England. This intention she has now carried out. After all her furniture in Dresden had been disposed of, no inconsiderable number of packages, with articles of value, &c., were forwarded via Hamburg, to England, where Jenny Lind will repose in retirement on her laurels at a;villa near London. Value of Saw-dust to Farmers and Others. —If saw-dust can be got in sufficient quantity, there is no better bedding for horses, cows, or pigs, and calves especially. Allanimals do well upon it as a bed; it keeps dry and free from impure smell, and as a manure, or rather as a sponge ior manure, nothing.can surpass it.—Agricultural Gazette. . Prudence. —The great end of prudence is to give cheerfulness to those hours which splendour cannot gild, and exhortation cannot exhilarate—those soft intervals of unblended amusement in which a man shrinks to his natural dimensions, and throw* aside the ornaments or disguises, which he feels in privacy to be useless incumbrances, and to lose all effects when they become familiar. To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition—the end to which every enterprise and labour tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution. It is indeed at home that every man must be known by those who would make a just estimate either of his virtue or felicity; for smiles and embroidery are alike occasional, and the mind is often dressed for show in painted honour and fictitious benevolence. Origin of the Welsh Language.—When the tower of Babel was being built the workmen all spoke one tongue. Just at the very instant when the " confusion" occurred, a mason, trowel in hand, called for a brick. The assistant was so long in handing it to him that he incontinently flew into a towering passion and discharged from the said trowel a quantity of mortar, which entered the other's windpipe just as he was stammering out an excuse. The air, rushing through the poultice-looking mixture, caused a spluttering and gurgling, which, blending with the half-formed words, became that language ever since known as Welsh. Why Prudent Men Prosper. —The origin, of wealth is in moral feeling—self-denial. —"Here is something I will not consume ' or throw away—l will take care of it, store it up for the future use of myself, or others.'* The man who first said and acted thus, laid the foundation of a virtue upon earth. A suit for divorce is now pending in Rochester, which originated in a dispute between Mr. B. and his wife as to whether they should have beefsteak broiled or some oysters fried for breakfast. Tobacco. —The pupils of the Polytechnic School in Paris have recently furnished some curious statistics bearing on tobacco. Dividing the young gentlemen of that college in two groups—the smokers and non-smokers, it is shown that the smokers have proved themselves in, the various competitive examinations far inferior to the others. Not only in tlie examinations on entering school are the smokers in a lower rank, but in the various ordeal that they have to pass through in the year, the average rank of the smokers had constantly fallen and not inconsiderably, while the men who did not smoke enjoyed . a cerebral atmosphere of the clearest kind, —Dublin Medical Press. Hoiv, to catch the French Accent.—Vision went;to Paris in 1829, and was one daywalking in front of the Hotel Maurice, with His tongue hanging out of his mouth. " What are you doing that for?" asked his intimate friend* Potier. " Why," replied the eccentric man,', '♦ I'm learning your language, and I want to^catch the accent." - ■] JEggs.r-^M. Genin has addressed the Academic dcs Sciences on this subject. He says he his able; after three years* study, to state with, assurance that all -eggs containing the germs of males, have wrinkles on their' smaller end, while femaleiegg*-., are equally smooth at both extremities. • v.' .