Correspondence.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 141, 25 February 1859, Page 2

Correspondence.

THE FIBROUS. SLAB.

To the Editor of the Colonist. Sir, —Many of your readers perhaps, may pause ... and exclaim, "What next?" but such is the case; and the fact may turn out to be a much more important one to these settlements than at first sight is thought apparent. . About three years since, a .8100,000 Com-, puny was formed in London, styling itself the "Patent Wood, or Fibrous Slab Company— (limited)." This company was formed for the purpose of carrying out an invention for the manufacture of slabs of a fibrous material, combining many of the properties of wood, and adapted in a superior degree to almost every purpose to which the various descriptions of xvood are applicable, and also better adapted to many purposes for which marble or slate are now'used. The superior properties of this material are as follows—viz.: It is uninflammable. It is a non-conductor of heat or sound. Ifc is free from dry rot, shrinking, expanding, splitting, or xvinding, uninfluenced by atmospheric changes, and consequently more durable than wood. It is easily worked, although equal in density to the hardest woods. It can readily be adapted where bending is necessary, to any form required by the cabinet-maker or joiner; also for panels, bulkheads, floors and ceilings, circular, spherical, eliptical and other shapes. This material has been used for many purposes, amongst which may be mentioned the panelling and interior fittings of several steam vessels, a magnificent one,of which was for the use of the Pacha of Egypt.' The., dome of the nexv reading room of the British Museum (except the irou girders), is iriternally, constructed of this material. It basdoiible the area of the" dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, and, is equalto that of St. Peter's at Rome^ 'The dome of the Museuni was erected under the direction of Sydney Smirke, the Government architect. The sizes of the panels, composed of three pieces, are 22 feet long, by ll£ feet wide; thesß panels, in their spherical form, were raised to the height of 110 feet, and fixed in one piece to the roof. Dickens' Household Words says, " I see before me a large slab some seven feet square, apparently of highly polished marble, and of about an inch and a half in thickness. It is strong and massive in substance; it is delicate and elegant in texture. It is about as heavy as the same slab or tablet would be in oak or mahogany. It is waterproof; it is soundproof. Nothing could be heard through it any more than through a, brick wall. It will not crack in any heat or climate, nor warp nor ■" give " in any way. It can be cut, filed, sawed, planed, turned by a lathe, nailed, and screwed. It is a non-conductor of heat and cold." Such is an abridged description of this novel bufc important manufacture, the principal material for xvhich is the refuse of fibrous substances ; and although this company could not, on account of the cost, use our New Zealand flax, yet those who do can better afford a market price for it, when they could always find a good one for the refuse. It is also well known that for years past British manufacturers have been seeking all over the world for supplies of some fibrous material, especially for paper-making, and that the last newspapers from England bring intelligence "of a public determination, headed by a large number of leading men in the kingdom, to abolish the paper duty, on the ground that a tax on paper is a tax upon kuowledge. We may therefore shortly look for this as "an accomplished fact," And yet the enterprising men of these settlements—the encouragers of a staple export—our merchants and monied men-—will and do speculate for a lode of copper which they cannot see, or coal Which has not yet been proved a "fait accompli," or the gas policeman looming in the distance; but they cannot'find time to go a few yards out of their way to convince themselves, by ocular examination, that an available material—which they do see and know goes annually to destruction in unlimitable quantity —can be converted into a well-paying export. What the inference is, I leave you to judge. There can be no doubt but coals would be the most valuable, if available, of these' productions, beca.use of the amount of labor distribute able, and that copper ore would be a very valuable export; but we have not gotjt yet» and without exports there cannot long be imports ; and that-gas, however desirable, is not an export. Is it that we have no capital—no moneyare xve crippled for the want of the means? Oh, no; I forget "Professor" (!) Holloway, not being aware that we have a mountain of copper haudy to the town, has considerately sent us nearly half a tort of copper advertisements by .•vjiy of' at'-ken;' of his approval of our belief th:tt a crip,ila can be cured of a bad leg of .twenty yturs' standing! Yours, &c,j \ . TENAX. To the Editor of the Colonist. •Sir, —Amongst the amusements which tbe inhabitants of the "xVesi side" of the bay have recently indulged in,—their interesting cricket

match and other diversions, without alluding to their expected horse races,—the manufacturing of a fresh-batch of Magistrates has given rise to much discontent and discussion, though to some of the persons named, perhaps, no valid objection can be raised. Indeed it was desirable that an increase of that body should have taken .place long since. But the appointment of young inexperienced persons to a post of this sort, is not likely to add either weight, authority, or consideration to an office which we are accustomed to see filled'by gentlemen, if not of legal abilities, at least of mature years. In the present instance, the Government* must have been somewhat cajoled in the representations made to it, of a mere youth, who, whatever may be his knowledge of timber sawing, or of the art and mystery of a carpenter, caii bring no amount of intelligence derivable from such materials to the magisterial bench, and which will become, from the near relationship of some of the parties to each other, a mere family compact or party,—a state of things much to be regretted; the more so, as there are several gentlemen here much more eligible in every respect to fill such an office, and who have been passed over, in order to gratify the favoritism and interested motives of the youth's relatives. Altogether the thing savors strongly of— jobbery. ■ It is believed, in the early settlement of this colony, it was customary.to. select persons to fill this office if they could simply read and ■write; but now, when there is no lack of educated gentlemen, -highly fitted for such an appointment, we see an inexperienced young man placed in a situation of some importance, which ill befits him, to the exclusion of those whose mature years, experience, property, and respectability so well entitled them to look to such an appointment. The precedent being now established of the youthful sons of magistrates being raised to the Bench, simply because they are the sons of magistrates, the rule to be just, must elevate also the boys of all the other magistrates; though the government would do we'll to consider before they make such appointments as these, whether the magistracy is upheld thereby or not in the estimation of the settlers. I remain, Sir, yours,, PUNCH. 4th February. INTERESTING RELICS. To the Editor of the Colonist. S IIt) —if some of our scientific men who spoke so learnedly at the late coal and gas meetings •would just pay a visit to Collingwood Bridge, they would find an object well worthy of th-?ir profound researches. On a casual examination, we thought it must be the remains of Home antediluvian animal—marine or terrene; bat a closer inspection convinced us that these remains were ligneous not osseous. "We must thus suppose, till further light be thrown upon it, that it is a portion of some temple wherein the primeval inhabitants of this country worshipped and sacrificed their victims. The exceeding angularity of the various parts is not the- least curious circumstance connected with these relics. I am, Sir, yours <fee, INDEX. TO THE RATEPAYERS OF NELSON. Per favor of the Colonist. Have you seen the Culvert just built in Toi-toi Valley ? If you have not, go and see it. It has a wooden floor; the sides "are piles lined" with white pine boards, and the top is a roof of brick resting upon this woodwork. Who xvas the architect of this culvert ?—Some one of the Board of Works. By whom was it built ? —The Board of Works. Where did the Board of Works get the money to build such a disgraceful piece of work ?—I answer from your pockets. Who wrote the above letter ? I. M. HILL. Nelson, February 20th, 1859. To the Editor of the Colonist. Sir, —The Editor of the Nelson Examiner having declined to insert in his columus my ansxver to his article of the 12th instant, I beg of you kindly to insert it in your next issue if possible. The Editor of the Examiner appears to me very like those who, having discharged all their ammunition, cast their firelock at the head of their adversary and take to their heels. To the Editor of the Nelson Examiner. Sir, —In .your last issue you seem to express a strong desire that your correspondent would furnish you " from time to time with a fexv more copies of the Univers." In reply, I have no objection, but hope you will apply to mo with confidence upon requiring any of them. Indeed the one I have sent must have already undeceived you and your readers concerning the confidence to be placed in the reports of the French correspondent of the Times'. The only condition I ask of you in return is: That the article you take from the Univers be printed in full; for I think a ■whole article necessary to give the meaning of the writer. I should not like you to put a small extract preceded by a long preface, and followed by a long sequel, to contort the meaning of the xvrit'er, as the French correspondent ofthe Times has done. The Univers may have its own ideas and its peculiar xvay of expressing them, yet I am persuaded it is a very well informed paper. I beg to remind you, Sir, that the question betxveen you and me xvas a ceitain conclusion imputed to the Univers by the French correspondent of the Times, which conclusion neither you nor I have been able to find in the original copy of the Univers, as you owned yourself with a frankness that honors you. With this avoxval of yours I imagined the question between us xvas to he dropped altogether. But.noxv you shift the question and pass on fresh attacks; first against the French Government in. general, and its acts in particular; .then you bring the Count of Montalembert and his case; then I do not know xvhat affair at Maubeuge; then the questions of private judgment and infallibility; then the Bogaiha Times; and, as if all those charges were not already enough in your issue of the 12th instant, you begin anew your attacks on other points. I ask you and any of your readers what connection those charges have xvith the point at issue betxveen us ? I can see no relation at all. In concluding, I beg to state that it is inconsistent for me to answer that system of shifting. In fact no one can be able to ansxver some twenty points of discussion put forward in the same time, and without the least order or connection. I remain, yours, FIAT LUX. February 15tb, 1859. As one of the Governor's orderlies was riding along the esplanade, in front ofthe Custom House, Hobarton, his horse suddenly sank in the ground up to the haunches. It appeared that the animal liad broken the temporary. covering of a xvell, about 20 feet deep, sunk for the purpose of obtaining Water for building the Custom House. The well was only closed by a single planking, upon which a coat of gravel had been spread, and its existence seems to have been forgotten. A cricket match was played at Hobarton between an eleven selected from the officers and crew of H.M.S. Amethyst and the New Town Club. It wa3 numerously attended, Lady Young, tho Colonial Secretary, the Judges, and the elite of the city being present.

ENGLISH AND"' EUROPEAN GOSSIP. (From the Sydney Herald Correspondent.) London, December 15th. The item of the.greatest importance in this present monthly budget-is,, 'affaire Montalembert, as the French have it. For a time it has taken absolute possession of the English mine], even to the exclusion of Mr. Bright, at Manchester, and Mr. Gladstone, at Corfu. That xve are very deeply interested in the matter is not to be denied. The. crime of M. de Montalembert is, that lie prefers English to French institutions. The comparison is held to be odious to the French Emperoivmais quest cc quit vsut ? What tyranny have xve heard of, so wanton and reckless, as that which xvill not have black called black,nor white, xvhite? To assert that the French havo not their liberty— to aspire after that liberty, and to shew how, in a neighboring state, it works to the safety and honor of a great people—are these to be reckoned offences against the French Empire ? What and xvhen is to be the end of a system so sensitive to criticism ? To prosecute a man for stating the broad fact that there is no liberty, does appear to be a droll method of proving to the contrary. What has M. de Montalembert said or done which is one-half so derogatory to the dignity of the empire as his prosecution, trial, and condemnation ? For tried he has been, and of course condemned. If it had been the right of the Emperor, to justify the truth of M. de Montaiembert's libel, he could not have taken any more'effectual measures. The xvorld knoxvs now better than ever what sort of liberty remains in France, and what is the exact relation of her constitutions to those of England. The speech of M. de Bewryer for the defence, hoxx'ever restricted by the arbitrary interference ofthe Judge, xvas xx-orthy of the fame of one of our greatest living orators. At its conclusion, the Court xvas tho scene of an extraordinary sensation. A storm of cheers and bravoe.s burst spontaneously from the audience—an audience, too,'be it remembered, most carefully packed and selected, consisting of all the most moderate and respectable men xvho lend a passive adherence to tiie Imperial system. No notes whatever were permitted to be taken of the proceedings. It, of course, almost every word, found its xvay into the great London dailies, xvhich xvere, in consequence, rigidly excluded from France. Being convicted, M. de Montalembert had lodged an appeal to the superior court, but before that appeal could be heard came iv a pardon from the Emperor, in the shape of an epigram, the most impudent imaginable. The pardon, it was expressly declared, xvas « I'occasion de Tan-nivcrsaire dv _ 2 December / Tlie joke, xvhocvcv perpetrated it, is likely to be an expensive one. It'has excited a lively feeling of disgust, even among the Emperors adherents, who consider it tin peu ti op fort. The insult, of course, is less to M. de Montalembert, xvho, unfortunately for his feme, did lend himself for a fexv days to the policy of the coup d' etat—thm to France, xvho does not care to be reminded of an anniversary so infamous. It is—as one of our ablest journalists lias remarked-—as if Richard 111. had Jet off Buckingham in recollection of the day on which the two Princes xvere murdered in tlie Tovver— or Cromw.dl had pardoned a Cavalier ia remembrance of tbe 30th of January—or the Pope had dated an amuestv on the eve of St. Bartholomew. Certainly, the Emperor does xvell to remind Europe ofthe 2nd of December. Some of us, in England, had nearly forgotten ithad nearly forgotten the grandest act of larceny ever committed—had almost lost out of mind the story of that shameful day, when the drunken fury of a brutal soldiery 'xvas let loose upon a defenceless people—when women and children xvere shot down at their own doors, and saw their husbands and brothers slaughtered without even a shadow of provocation. Hardly appreciating the exquisite good taste of the Imperial coup-de-grace, M. de Montalembert' has somewhat spoilt the point of the joke by refusing to accept bis pardon. For this refusal'heis blamed by some of our leading- journals, but I think that the majority of men of sense and spirit xvill agree in thinking that M. de Montalembert has done right. On legal grounds there can be no pardon, until after final conviction. Now, while his appeal is yet.undecided, M. de Montaiembert's case is still open, even in the eye of the French laxv. He cannot, therefore, accept as a favor that which he might yet obtain as a" right, and his acceptance of which involves an admission of guilt. But having committed, no crime, he denies that there is any power xvhich can pardon him ; aud so the Imperial grace is frustrated, and the xvhole affair rendered a great deal worse to the Emperor and his friends. Joined to the frequent late instances of Imperial unwisdom and bad faith, the affair of -Montalembert has left a very bad feeling in this country. People ask, very naturally, if these are the e\;idences of that profound sagacity xvhich xvas guaranteed to us in lieu of any ofthe finer virtues, on the part of Louis Napoleon. To be a knave is bad enough, but to be a knave and fool together is intolerable. Of course, there arc some who still maintain that xx-e have nothing to do xvith the character or the acts of our continental partner, but, in a concern where the liability is'not limited, is it not our business to discuss the affairs of our ally, as only less important, to us than our own ? Oid Fogydom, of course, is up and wags the beard against the insolence of the Press, and so forth. By its representative, Sir Francis Head (believed to be ofthe family ofthe Block Heads) —that old chiffonier of literature—xvho is always cither blowing Bubbles or gathering Faggots, it has come forth to defend the Emperor, and to denounce the "unpatriofiam" of those who attack the existing French institutions. The climax of Sir Francis fiend's argument is. to point out the vast unprotected xvcalth of London, and the furious cupidity of the French army ! For the honor of our country, you xvill he glad to know that these considerations have no weight xvith the British' public, except in a direction precisely the contrary to that advocated by Sir Francisilead and his friends. Those xvho denounce the Emperor's policy have never even implied so gross an insult to the French nation, as to charge it with only being kept from brigandage by despotism. This was reserved for the silly old xvomen of the sterner sex, whose cause Messrs. Bright and Gibson have adopted. These txvo self-elected tribunes of the people have been lately the heroes of a grand demonstration at Manchester, which regarded as a political movement must yet be regarded a failure. Every one looked to this meeting in the expectation of gleaning something like a definite idea of the future policy of the Manchester party, but in this every one xvas disappointed. We are as much in the dark as. to " Bright's game," as we xvere. As for story, " Lord.bless you, they've none to tell, us Sir." You may imagine how destitute that party is of a cry, from the fact that the Game Laws formed the grand point of attack in Mr. Bright's speech. As for Parliamentary reform, xve had the shadowest outline of it possible. We know nothing more than that Mr. Bright has been chosen as one of a committee to draxv up a scheme of reform on the part ofthe Liberals; but we may be perfectly assured that any such scheme from such a source has not the remotest prospect of success. Even the Liberals do not trust Bright, and that worthy is as far from being their leader now as he was at any time. Doubtless, Ire xvill attempt to bring forward his scheme, and we are sure that there xvill be a good speech or txvo about it; but the result will, bo. rather to impede the progress of sound and true reform, than to advance it. Mr. Bright's failure xvill but strengthen the hands of the Tories, xvho may then come in xvith a measure of their own, to take xx'ind out ofthe Liberal sails, granting the lodger franchise, increase of metropolitan representation, and reducing the figures in the counties, all measures of real reform, yet tending, as of course, to real Conservatism. The state of Italy is such as to excite the liveliest alarms in tho bosoms of the continental despots. All accounts agree that things in Lombardy look ominously like 1848. The King of Sardinia's speech, warning his soldiers that they may probably "smell gunpowder in the spring, has added fuel to tlie flames, or rather flame to the fuel. Austria'is seriously uneasy, and is doubling her Lombard garrison. Yet all true friends of Italian freedom are in hope that no rising will Xx attempted at the present moment,-

ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN" GOSSIP.

xvhen it must of necessity fail, and xvhen failure xvill but throxv hack the era of Italian liberation another decade of years. Were there no other reason why the Italians should not move at present, it is sufficient thafc tbe Emperor Napoleon reigns in France. It is sufficient that he xvill permit no war of freedom so close to his frontier; and Sardinia is not powerful enough to cope single-handed xvith the detested Austrian.?. Even should France and Austria come to blows, as is not unlikely, I do not see that Italy is to benefit much. Mr. Gladstone's diplomacy among the lonians j has been spoilt by the unlucky chance which led to the publication of Sir John Young's private despatches. Whatever k_c_ xvas sent out to do, xvill J noxv become doubly difficult. The lonians, since they have learnt Sir John Young's sentiments, expect, and xvill be content xvith nothing less than their liberation from England; nor is it clear to me hoxv Mr. Gladstone's proficiency in Homeric literature is to advance his cause among that mongrel race—as Sir Bulwer Lytton would seem to expect. Of Homer, the lonians know about as much as they did"',of liberty, before xx-e taught them. For either, they have about an equal j capacity; and if xve are to continue to*rule them, it is to be hoped that we xvill do axvay with that I humbug of popular representation, xvhich is a curse rather than a blessing to those who don't know hoxv to use it, like the louians. It xvas one of Lord Grey's many foolish crochets—this lonian Parliament —and xve are noxv reduced to the alternative, either of giving up the lonian Islands, or that lonian Parliament. Among domestic incidents, perhaps the most interesting is a-''recent marriage in high life— Major Lindsay to Miss Jones Lloyd, Lord Overstone's daughter.' Ifc is not every day a man marries three millions sterling; yet that is the precise figure afc xvhich Miss Lloyd has gone. For herself, she might have done a great deal xvorse. She might have wedded some used-up swell xvith an empty title—she has preferred a fine young soldier, a Victoria Cross to boot, and a hero of Inkermann. The Australian Association, I am sorry to say, is at a halt. After many meetings and much discussion, it has come to nothing bufc a mouldy, seedy little room on the second floor of the Jerusalem—xvith a perpetual odour of stale cheese and tobacco, and a constant suspicion of a dinner with onions the day before yesterday. I believe the hitch lies in (he aristocratic assumptions of certain members of the sqitatocraey, xvho carry theii* Sydney airs into Coi-nhill, and would have no meaner gentry among them. This is very ridiculous under the circumstances. The Australians are '. not numerous enough to form more than one association, and that association, to cany any xx-eight, ought to be composed of all xvho are interested in the fortunes of the colonies. I trust that matters xvill yet he so mauaged as to give us one poxverfnl and united centre of Australian interest aud organ of Australian opinions in England. IRELAND. December IS, 1858. The past month, that is, dating from the departure of the List mail for your side of the xvorld, has been marked by a succession of violent gales of xvind and frequent rains. The loss of shipping, and, I regret to add, of life, has been frightful; hardly a comity on the seaboard of our islands bufc furnishes its harrowing accounts of xvvecks to the long list of casualties. Off the south-west coast of Ireland, the Atlantic is literally strexvu with the debris ofthe victims of the violence and duration ofthe storm ; and, strange to say, the weight of the hurricane came from the eastward. Great anxiety for the safety of the Indian Empire, one of the Gal way " Lever" line of steamers, prevailed; insurance ran up to fabulous figures, when boats that had sailed from America many days after her arrived xx-ifchout tidings of oue of our missing pioneers ofthe Irish-American route. Long faces predicted taunts from our Liverpool and other friends across the channel, of " Just a spurt, and a failure, like everything Irish," xvhen, providentially, she reached Broadhaven harbor, in-the. county Mayo, after experiencing a hurricane that extended over nearly a month, xvith more or less severity. A "greuf portion ofthe cotton cargo had to be burnt, as also all the spare spars, deck planking, &c, and the passengers placed on short allowance. Great praise is due to the captain and officers, and far and xvide has been the rejoicing over her safe arrival. A new iron screw steamer, of some 1200 tons, built in Waterford, about three weeks ago was lost, about forty miles off the Lizard. Ifc appears she had called at Cardiff (ou her way round to London, to be handed over to her purchasers), for a cargo of coals, and being heaviiy laden, shipped a good deal of xvater, xvhich, owing it is supposed to some neglect in battening down the hatches, got below, put out the fires, and the vessel getting into the sea. became unmanageable ; fifteen of the crew, seeing that she xvas settling doxvn, got away in one of the boats, and were picked up by a schooner, and landed in Cork ; the remaining fifteen or txventy men of her erexv are supposed to have perished, no tidings having been heard of them. Accounts from Spain speak of over 100 bodies, and pieces of xvreck, lying on the beach, about fche entrance of the Straits. So much mystery envelopes the insurance transact ions of owners, that it is hard to say how heavily losses may have fallen on individuals-xx-bo have lost ships, and xvhose name is legion. The " O'Malley case" has caused a good deal of excitement, and created much illfeeling lately. A policeman of that name, and a Roman Catholic, married a Protestant; at his death, in 1857, he left six children, the eldest | •txvelve years, the youngest: twelve months old. From poverty, they xvere compelled to enter the Ttiam poovhouse, in the books of which establishment they xvere duly entered as Protestants, the faith in xvhich they had been, xvith their father's fnll knowledge and consent, brought up. Before long, tlie poor mother died, xvhen the children xvere claimed by their parental uncle, a Roman Catholic, aud the mother's sister, a Protestant, also claimed them. The poor law guardiaus refused them to tho latter, xvho had means to support them, and gave them fco the uncle, xvho had-' none. The aunt appealed, aud the Lord Chancellor gave an ex parte order, revoking the poor laxv guardians' decision. Against this the uncle appealed, and, happily for the poor orphans, the upshot of the trial is, that fche aunt lias got them, and it is to be hoped will do her duty by them. When found, some ofthe xvretched children xvere in a most filthy and starving state, and the others were taken out of a convent school. I am sorry to say fche ruffians xvho attacked Mr. Nixon, in Donegal, as well as the murderers of Mr. Ely, in the Queen's county, remain at large, in spite of the reward of ,£IOOO in the latter, and about the same sum in the former case, for their apprehension. The Government, however, seem to be determined to check this diabolical Ribbon system, and have issued a proclamation to Ireland, making the administering of secret oaths, and the forming secret societies, or attending thereat, illegal, and offering large rexvards to informers. Hardly had the proclamation time to circulate through the country, xvhen fifteen parties, all apparently respectable men, principally tradesmen's assistants, were arrested in Bantry and Skibbereen, in the County Cork, and lodged in the Cork gaol, on the information of one of their own party, one " Sullivan." They are said to belong to a "Phcenix Society," whose "notion" xvas to induce some American "fillibusters" to come and conquer Ireland. In truth, xve are queer felloxvs, we Irish ; the suddenness and certainty of the arrest seem to have astonished the natives thereabouts, and I do sincerely hope that these "Jeunes Irlandais" may, if guilty, be made an example of. . There is every chance of another attempt to lay doxvn the Atlantic cable. The present Company, xvhose £1000 shares, by-the-by, are now only worth ,£4OO, xvere empowered to raise one million of money; they huve already literally " sunk " about half that sum, and now propose to raise £537,000, on xvhich they ask Government to guarantee _|- per cent, for 25 years, xvhich is the period over xvhich the subsidy of £.14,000, granted by Lord Palmerston s Government, xvas to extend, contingent, of course, on success. This guarantee xvhich. the Company ask, amounts'to £22,500 per annum. The new capital cf tho Company is fco be

kept distinct fronvthe old, and they offer Government a first charge on the property, after paying working expenses, for any advances xvhich may lie required in the xvay of interest. As the Government guarantee •__■ per cent, on the capital to bo expended on the"'Red Sea and Indian Telegraph, it is mo.st likely they xvill do the same by tho Atlantic Company, especially as the receipts for a few months xvould, if it succeeds, meet the guarantee. ' We have Madame Lola Montes lecturing in Dublin to crowded and fashionable audiences; she has lately,-come from America, and purposes visiting tho provincial towns, xvhen she has overdone the metropolis. Three nexv steamers are being built in England for the Gal way and American line, guaranteed to steam 20 miles an hour, and be ready next summer.. We are anxiously axvaiting the punctual arrival of the P. and 0. boats from Australia; xve only heard yesterday (12th) here, ofthe Victoria's having sprung a leak near Ceylon, and the Oneida's performing her old trick of breaking down (when wanted) near Aden. Some 800 troops xvho xvere consigned to an old East Indian tub of about, 50 years of age, the Bombay, and xvhich said tub xvas to have called in at Cork and " taken in" a deck load! —a fact—of 100 more men, xvas bloxvn away from xvithin ten miles of that port to the middle ofthe Atlantic, and having become dismasted, refused —soraesay plnckily —assistance from vessels xvhich arrived, at Cork, and Water-ford, and reported her. Then, a Government steamer, xvhich, as luck would have it, did not break doxxm in the search, was sent to tow her into Plymouth, in which by some strange chance, she succeeded. I think I mentioned the Lord Lieutenant's marriage to Lady'Adela Capel, the Earl of Essex's daughter, in my last. Prices remain much the same; wheat, 21s. per barrel of 280 lbs.; potatoes, plenty and good, at say £2 per ton; maize, a full market, and low price, 16s. per barrel of 280 lbs. There xx ras talk of Cork merchants endeavoring to get up a direct steam communication with Sydney, via Panama, but I fear for the present it has fallen through. I wonder the old Royal Mail (VV. I.) Company, have nofc seat boats round to work the Pacific' side, especially after the handsome sum of £50,000 per annum voted by the Government of my old friend—Nexv South Wales.