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fcMj ftida tadWinsH I ijuMs. BY JAMES GARDNER. [Front the Columbia Carolinian ] The South Carolina Railroad and the Post Office Department. Messrs. Editors: ; Y difficulty having aris en between the Postmaster General and - | South Carolina Railroad Company in re.anon to the transportation 01 the mail, the former a. published a portion oi the correspondence w m<h ensued. This measure we cannot but regall a. l.’. effort to enlist the public sentiment against the company, and thiis to compel us o s - ■ • the wishes oi the Department. the J e deem it necessary to submit to the puDly. >• > facts in relation to the differences which hare occurred. . . . > • !,'.s company ei ". Ji ' •»» ’’ - ; ssl, to transport the great Northern an.. - * • ernmailtoand from Chaiieston ...... A That contract embraced the to.lowing pro is '°~’ltis hereby stipulated and agreed by the said contractors and their secuu-.ies, -* 10 . I -u’. •’ . . ■ • ■■ crease ol ccbin k? re • imposed by the law tor the additional service required. But cefttract-o’S may. in case u! increased service or change o. schedule, relin ,wish the contract, on timely notice, i: they pre terit to the change ; afjp the Postmaster Gen- , era! mav discontinue or curtail th. service. n«* allowing one month’s exra puy lor tne ainoj’ii. dispensed with. , We carried the mail m ter this contract to and . from Chaiieston ai i A igus‘a unti. the .early part of the present -,ear. The Postmaster Gen eral then determined to discontinue tne trar>s pbrtation of the mail by steamers bet*«en « *•- n-.ington and Charleston, and entereQ into a con tract with the Wilmington and. Manchester Railroad Company to carry the mail between Wilmington and Kingsville—the latter being a station on the Columbia branch o: our road. — This made it necessary the service upon our road by making Kingsville tne point for receiving and delivering the great Northern and Southern mail instead of Charleston, it e acceded to the proposal of the Post Office Depart ment. on the condition that we should, be paid $237 50 per mile from |Charlestomto Branchville, and horn Columbia, byway of Kingsville jii.d Bracnchville, to Augusta. This was agreed to by the D-itariment in the following letter. Avgusta. (Ga..) Aug. 19,1851. Dear Sir! Yours of the 16th instant has been received, and in reply I have to say* that the following are the terms on widen you pro pose to accept '* the change oi the runningof the mails from Charleston to Kingsville,' viz I hat you must continue to receive t ie same r.*. e ol pay from Chaiieston to Branchville. as you were then receiving and for trie ser vice from Columbia, via Kingsville and Branch ville, to Augusta, Georgia, you must be paid at the same late per mile (237 50-100) as the South Carolina Railroad was then receiving from Charleston, South Carolina, to Augusta, Geor gia. Very respectfully, your obedient servant’ (Signed; J. D. FRIERSON, Special Agent Post Office Department. The change was ma le. and the service so mo dified has been regutady performed by this.com pany. The schedule under our original contract was: Leave Charleston, twice daily, at $ a. m , and Hi a. m. Arrive at Augusta, same days, by 3} p. m and € p. m. Leave August®, twice daily, at 6a. m., and 10 a. m. A.rffve at Charleston, same days, by 2 p. m. ano 4 n. m. When the change irom'tfnartestpn to Kings ville was made, the schedule -*vas not altered. On the 6th June a letter was addressed to this company from the Department, proposing to change our schedule so as to take the mail at Augusta at 8i p. m., and deliver it at Kingsville at 3or a. m.—changing our day service into night service. The importance of this measure induced the President of the company to cooler personally with the head ot the Department.— He then explained that, independently of other embarrassments to this company, the change would involve an additional cost ot $52 000 But. with the desire to consult and promote the public convenience, he offered to make the change, provided we were paid the same rate ol compensation per mile ($300) as was paid to the railroad companies between Washington and Wilmington. The increase at tr is rate ol pay oeing only 513.000. This was refused by the Postmaster General, and this company then de clined his proposal. The assent of the company not obtain ed, the Postmaster General, on the 3J of August, addressed a notice to the President ot the-compa ny requiring a change qf “schedule, so as to leave Augusta at 8 p rn.” # By reference to the clause of trie contr. ct quoted above, it will be perceiv - ed that the effect of this notice is to compel the contractor either to submit to tne change pro posed or to g : ve up the contract. He cannot claim to carry the mail on the old schedule with out sumbitting to a heavy loss. Another letter,dated 11th August, was receive.’ from the Department, stating that if the change of schedule was notacceeded to by this company a reduction in the rate of our pay equal to $12,- 375 per annum would be enforced, on a contract made in *lßsl and carried out by this company in good faith. We were therefore reduced to the alternative, either oi submitting implicitly to the will of tne Department, which we had already refused to do, or of surrendering the contract. We then, through the President of the Company, on the 19th ot August, addressed a letter to rhe Post master General, ot which the following in an extract: '•We now receive $237 50 'per mile for the service from Charlestan to Augusta, and from Branchville to Columbia, including the double daily service, which I would again repeat has been, and continues to be, regularly performed. This compensation we are satisfied with, and we respectfully propose that th; contract ahou’d be allowed to remain on the present terms, both as to service and compensation. If this be not agreeable to the Department, then we now re spectfully beg leave to give notice that we will relinquish the contract and discontinue our ser vice on the Ist of October next.” With the anxious de-.ire to avoid any inconve nience to the public, we subsequently determin ed to continue the service till the Ist ol Novem ber, and notice was given to tne Department that we would discon inue service on that day satisfactory terms be previo ;dy ofl :ied. :: No reply having been received from the Putt master General, we have since adopted and trans mitted to the Department the following icsolu tions ■ RttolceiL That thia company will not accept the change of schedule proposed by the Port - master General, and ’do hereby exercise tru ir right to relinquish the contract so» arryirig the mad under contract -No. 3,131. Revived. That alter the Ist of November next ♦his company will not take said mail upon their road, or admit it upon their cars, but upon the express understanding with th*- Post Office De partment, that the mail is to be carried on the schedule and terms set forth in our original con tract, except so far as the same had been modi fied by the agreement made through Mr. Filer eon, agent of the Department’, referred to in his letter of 19th ol August, which modification ♦ rn braces the substit tion of Kingsville instead ot Charleston as the point lor rer-eption and delivery ol the grtut No I hti. r n and Southern mail, aid i also stipulates for the payment o! two hundred and thirty-seven and a halt dollars per mile from Chaiieston to Branchville and from Columbia, by wav of Kingsville and Branchville to Au gusta, for the mail service under said contract; ! the said rate to be computed for service was .-Jtade on the first ol February last. it is obvious, therefore, that this company has always performed, and is willing to continue, i the service required under their original contract. I It is equally obvions that the Postmaster Gene ral requires us either to perform new service— and without compensation—hr to abandon the ’ contract. . This company also consented to make the change ot schedule intended to accelerate the ; mail, upon receiving a compensation t/ial will not < fen rover their expenses Our has been re acted, on the ground that th* compensation demanded is excess ve. But what is the test of a just compensation " We repeat, we cannot carry the mail at the price we demand without loss. How does the Department meet this ; statement! Can it secure the transportation of the mail by some other conveyance cheaper j and better than by this company? If it : can. then the company confers a benefit by sur rendering ‘.be cuntiact. The D-partmsnt is : freed from embarrassment, and enabled to adopt this cheaper and hetfer conveyance. But if it , cannot secure, at the price we demand, a means of transporting tha mails rt cotivenient*nd satis factory as this company affo.-is. upon what pre text can the Department expect tne duty .do be performed by us at a less price ! If. at the Com pensation demanded, the company would be per forming the service cheaper and better than if can be performed by any other party, upon what ground can the service be insisted on, and the compensation withheld? Certainly upon no oth er greur-d than that the compan-y owes it to the Department as an act of benevolence, hi other l words the company are to carry the mail at a i loss to themselves as a charity to the Govern ment. There is a marked difference between the business of the road ot this company’ and that bl most of the roads that have entered into mail (Contracts. They are chiefly employed in the transportation o! passengers. Our business is mainly the conveyance of prod use and merchan dise. To put an additional passenger train on our road would materially interfere with the taking of the produce of the C. untry to market during the business season. If we would dis pense with the running of the present passenger train, and substitute that proposed by the Postmaster General, the difficulty’ would be ' avoided. But it is impossible to do so. We can not dispense with- our present train without the most serious inconvenience to the internal trade 1 of the State. Indeed to do so would go far to break up our local travel. With us the car riage of the mail is but a secondary consideration. ’ Our chief duty to the cities of Charjgston, Au guste, Colombia and Camden, (to which our ' roads serve as the principal means for internal communication,) and to the public generally, is the safe and speedy transportation of the mer chandise and produce upon which their trade and income depend, and we must hold that in paramount consideration. Another difference has arisen between the ■ company and Department, As we have stated ! when the change was made from Charleston to Kingsville, as the point for receiving anddeliver- I ing the mail, we made it the condition of the change that the pay for service on our Columbia ■ branch should be raised to $237.50 per nftile on i account of the increased expense to us. And I for the reason that our workshops and offices being located in Charleston, the change to Kings ville occasioned no diminution of running on the road between Branchville and Charleston while it increased the service op, the Columbia branch of the r iad. The change o Kingsville was made on this condition of an increase of pay, and we have regularly performed the service. We, however, have not been paid in accordance with the express stipulation ; and although, re peated aplications have been made to the De partment, payments are still withheld; and in his letter of the 11th August, the Postmaster General assumes the right ot his mere will to reduce the pay from Charleston to Branchville and from Kingsville to Columbia to SIOO per ■ ; mile, though there had been no change ol service ! since we had entered into t.,e engagement to ■ perform it at $287.50 per mile. There Is another proceeding ot the Post Office • Department which has given just cause ot dissa- I tistaction to th s company. It arose out of the ’ I following circumstances. The arrangement tor ‘ the transfer of the mail Pom the steamers be- ■ tween Wilmington and Charleston to the pre sent route was made without consulting this ■ company, except as to the compensation which , we would require. The Wilmington and Man- - Chester company engaged to transport the maif r . from Wilmington to Kingsville, and, were to be r paid for that service: and we contracted and • i were to be paid for its transportation from Kings- • ville to Augutta. It was known to this com pany that the mail would eventually take this t ' aoute, and as preparatory thereto we had entered - ihto a contract providing lor the rebuilding of a part of the Camden Branch of our road which 1 crosses the Wateree river and swamp. The : ' work proposed embraced the building of a new ’ ■ bridge and raising the trestle work through the swamp to a sufficient height to avoid all inter t ruption from freshets. It was the opinion of .this ■ I company that the transportation ot the great Northern and Southern mail could not be safely , | transferred to this route until the above work • was completed. The Postmaster General, how > ever, before’the work was executed, did transfer , ’ the mail to this route. The contract made hy s i him with the Wilmington and Manches'er - I Company embraced the use of this portion of our i road, that company receiving the compensation lor its use. As had been anticipated a freshet occurred, 1 and in March the route was interrupted for se veral days. We regularly transported the South ’ ern mail from 'Augusta to Kingsville, but the Wilmington and Manche-ter company, in con seqence of the freshet, were unable to receive it I and could not take it across the river and swamp, for the same reason they were unable to deliver the Northern mail to u». To aid the Wilmington ; and Manchester Railroad company in the execu tion of their contract we made repeated attempts topass both the Northern and Southern mails across the river, and incurred considerable expen ses in our efforts to forward them. The South ern mail we took to Columbia, and afterwards to Charleston, whence it was subsequently car ried to Wilmington by a steamer employed by ' private enterprise. Under tlreseciscumstanc.es the Postmaster General undertook to inflet a line. (We will not enter-into the question whether this was a proper case for imposing a penalty.) But. instead ol imposing the line upon the company that had made the failure, (if fail ure there was,.) and whose contract embraced the space within the failure occurred, and who re ceiver! pay for the service that had not been per forined, he fined this company $1,200, though we nad fully performed our contract, having trans ported the mail in due time f-orn Augusta to Kingsville, and having afterwards incurred extra expense, and also performed extra, service by , carrying the mail to Charleston, from whence it was transporter! to Wilmington in advance of the time it would otherwise have reached that I city. But the peculiar character of this transac tions does not end h“re. We have a contract : for the conveyance of a local mail to Camden, the compensation for which amounts to $1.9 0 pr-r annum, or about $5 per day. The fine lor ! a failure ot mail up the toims of the contract i< three times the daily pay. But the P.rstmait-r 1 AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1854. General imposed upon us the fine of $1,200 under this contract, though three days’ failure would only amount to about sls. We are first fined for a failure occurring under a contract with another company’ for carrying the Northern qnd Southern mail, and the fine'is imposed under a , contract which has no rotation to that mail. That we should be greatly dissatisfied with the course pursued by the Department cannot be surprising. The personal applications of the President of the Company for redress, and his frequent written remonstrances have been alike unnoticed and disregarded. If we could re sort to a jury of the country for redress we should apprehend noinjury Irorn these proceeding, other than a mere delay ol payment. But our rights are subject to the arbitrary will of the Lead of the Department and we have no appeal but the tedious process of an application to Congress. This company make the above statement of facts public in justification of their determination, under the circumstances narrated, to abandon the mail service after the Ist of November. While deeply regretting the inconvenience the public may suffer from the interruption of mail : facilities, injustice to the stockholders of this I road they cannot subniit to exactions which they consider unjust and tyrannical. JOHN CALDWELL, President. ] From the Columbia Caiolinian of Tuesday.] The Mail Service. X ( We are permitted to publish the fol owing correspondence between the South Carolina I Rail Road Company and Postmaster General I Campbell, which, wesupposo, is final, in relation to the mail service on the South Carolina Rail Road. It only confirms us in the views we have already expressed, toughing this controversy —as a high-handed measure of the Postmaster- General., Any person who has taken the trouble to read the correspondence cannot fail to perceive that the letters ot the Postmaster-General of the 3d and 11th August were peremptory ordeis to the Railroad Company, and that the Company ■ had no alternative from a heavy loss-but aband i oning the contract, which course tirey had a , tight to pursue, under its provisions: I Oi’ficr S. C. R. R. Company—Charleston, ‘ Oct. 21, 1851.—Sir: —We received from you an I order, dated 3d of August last, to change the j schedule in contract No. 3 131 from GJ o’clock, ■ A. M., to 8 o’clock, P. M., leaving Augusta : and 1 have also received from you a letter, dated 11th I August last, notifying us that you would with i hold a portion of the compensation to which we I are entitled for service on our road from Kmgs ' ville to Columbia, unless we accept the change as ordered. The change of schedule proposed in your letter of the 3d ot August, not being accept able to this company, we preferred to relinquish the contract, and accordingly in our letter of 19th of August last we gave you notice that on the Ist of October we would discontinue to carry the mail. Subsequently, with a view to the I public convenience, and to afford the department the most ample time for other arrangements, we I determined to postpone the period (or discon'inu | mg the service to the Ist of November proximo, i Ot this determination we gave public notice, a ■ copy of which was sent to your department, and I you were further informed of it by my letter ol j the 10th of October instant. We have received ; no communication from you in relation to the I change of schedule directed in your letter of the 13d of August since my letters of the 19th i August, or since we transmitted the other notices to you. We therefore presume you adhere to the change ot schedule ordered by ycu on 3d of August. Under these, circumstances, to protect our selves against a change of schedule which would j occasion great loss and injury to this company, ail’d against the withdrawal ot the compensation whi. j the Department contracted to render lor services that they have regularly and faithfully performed, we have no alternative but to exer cise the right reserved to us in our contract with the department. We have, therefore, adopted the following resolutions, which we transmit to you as our final action in the matter. [The resolutions were published on Saturday ] We also enclose a copy of the letter of Mr. Frierson, to which these resolutions refer. RespecUuily. yours. JOHN CALDWELL, President. To Hon. James Campbell, Postmaster General, Washington, D. C. Posr Office Department, Oct. 25, 1854 | Sir:—l have received your letter ol 21st instant, communicating the resolutions of your company ; not to accept the change of schedule proposed by | tne, and not to take the mails upon your road or . admit them into your cars, after the first ot No j vember, except by the schedule of your original 1 contract, (modified so as to receive and deliver " the great mails at Kingsville instead ot Charles ton, and upon the payment of $237,50 per mile horn Charleston to Bianchville, and Irom Columbia, byway of Kingsville and Branchville tozlugusta. « Your demand as to compensation is wholly in admissabte, for reasons heretofore fully stated, and you can only be allowed at the above rate for the distance Irom Kingsville to zYugusta, and and SIOO a mile from Columbia to Kingsville and Charleston to Branchville for single daily mails, as stated in my letter of 11th August lasi. Your light to discontinue service cannot be be maintained under existing circumstances, be cause the contingency contemplated by the clause in your contract, in respect to a change of schedule, ( s o which you allude,) has not actu ally happened. With a view of expediting the mails it has been urged upon you to change the hour of departure from Augusta. You have de clined doing so, and continued the former schedule without any attempt on the part of this depart ment to enforce a change. The great necessity (or double daily service has also been pressed up on your attention, but it has simply been a mat ter of negociation, and no order on the subject has been issued. Unless, therefore, penalties should be imposed for failure to change your schedule, you are bound to continue the present service to the end of your contract term. 1 am, sir, respectfully, &c., &c., JOHN CAMPBELL. John Caldwell, Esq., President South Carolina Rail Road, Charleston. • Offices. C. R. R. Company, Charleston, S C., Oct., 1854. —Your letter of the 25th instant has just been received. It is with great regret that I perceive difficulties with the Department are incurred with every communication. In that now received, you question our right to dis continue service, on the ground, if I understand you, that the letters addressed to this company have been simply matters of negociation, and that no order on the subject of change of shedule has been issued. I must say that I find it im possible to put such a construction on your letters ol the 3d and 11 th of August. In the (ormer you say: “ Having exhausted all the means in my power and (ailed in my purpose, &c., there remains nothing lor me to do but to insist that you make proper connections with the mails as now conveyed to the South. I there expect that you will arrange at the earliest day for changing yom schedule so as to leave Jlugusta at eight p. m.” 1 can understand this language only to mean that we change our schedule or abandon the ser vice. We have with much regret, with regard to public convenience, felt ourselves compelled to embrace the latter alternative. The reasons, however, that you urge in support of your posit ion are singular, viz : That we cannot discon tinue service unless penalties be imposed for failure to change our schedule. As I understand the clause of the contract, it was intended to en able us to protect ourselves against incurring penalties; and it would be indeed strange that our right to abandon should only arise alter we have subjected ourselves to the tender mercies of the department and felt the penalties. But in k your letter of 11th August, you do propose, if I comprehend your meaning, to impose a penalty. You say that, ‘‘ unless you perform double daily service on the terms proposed to you, I shall be compelled to reduce the pay between Charleston and Branchville to the rate allowed elsewhere for similar service. It will also become matter for serious consideration,” &c. You thus an nounce an intention to withhold the compensa tion due under our contract unless we comply with your requisitions. By the Resolutions of the Board of Directors of the 20th instant, the continuance of our ser vice is made to depend upon the engagement of the Department to fulfil the original contract as modified through Mr. Frierson, your agent,as set forth in his letter ol 10th bl August, a copy of which has been sent to you. It only remains for me. therefore, to carry out the resolutions al- ' ready referred to. / 1 am, sir, respectfully, &c., &c. JOHN CALDWELL, President. I To Hon. James Campbell, Postmaster General, 1 Washington, D. C. LATER FROM EUROPE. Details of the “Pacific’s” News. The War. — Sevastopol not Taken.— The news from the Crimea is—nothing 1 A multitude of private letters, telegiaphie despatches, and re vivals of old news is found in the English and Continental papers, but none state that Sevastopol is taken, nor that the allies have made much progress toward taken it. Lord Raglan’s latest despatches say that he expected to “open fire” in a few days, and pri vate letters add that an attack on the outworks ’ was fixed for the 9th inst. Menschikoff kept ithe fieldnorthward of Sevastopol. The position of the allies was strong and easily defensible against an attack from the landward. The allied extreme right leans on the slope ot the mountain east of Balaklava, which run down like immense walls to Aloushta. Tqe body of the right wing l is at Karnara, and butposts are posted on the Black river. The centre occupies the road lea i ding from Kadikoi 1 o Sevastopol, and irom Bak shiserai and Balaklava—The body of the left wing is at Karani; the outposts at Khutor. Ihe allies’ siege artillery, with 00,000 gabions, facines i and piles, have been disembarked and have mostly reached the camp Menschikoff has a hundred field guns with his army. On the 4th a canon ade took place betwaen some English steamers and the quarantine fort of Odessa —nothing re sulted. RussYa continues to amass troops on the Aust rian frontier, but has scarcely a regiment on the Prussian. The inference is plain—the Czar at length distrusts Austria, and has an arrange ment with Prussia. Informatory of this suppo sition, rumor at Vienna says that a secret treaty already does exists between Russia and Prussia with respect to the Turkish war, in which trea ty Russia strictly lays down the limits within which Prussia may make a sham alliance with the German powers. In the crowd of so called “dispatches the fol lowing are the on.y ones that indicate any pro gress in the operations. Vienna, Oct. 16. P. M.—Lord Raglan has written to Omar Pasha that the regular siege of Sevastopol would begin on the sth inst., and he thought that the fortress would be taken in ten days. Vienna, Oct. 17.—1 tis reported from Con stantinople sth. that the Russians, 20,000 strong, under Menschikoff, have been again beaten ; and that the southern heights, (of Sevastopol) are taken. The surrender of the city is looked for between the 13th and 14 inst. Against this, set the following, received from Berlin : * ... St. Petersburg, Oct. 15.—Nothing of im portance had been undertaken against Sevastopol to the 9th October, being last advices. The Russians seem fully determined to defend the Crimea, even should fall. As a proof of the importance attached to the defence, it is currently given out in Russia that the Grand Duke Constantine will himselt take command of the southern army. The question is discussed with much earnestness as to the possibility of reinforcement reaching Menschikoff, so as to en able him to assume the offensive in the fisld against the allies, and compel them to raise the siege. The Russians have already 300,000 men entrenched at Bakshiserai, as a neuclus for the expected reinforcements, and the army of the Crimea will be, by the middle of October, in a I pdSition to operate with 60,Q00 men in the field in ai<i of the besieged garisson, which numbers 30,000 —the total Russian force being thus 90, 000 men. To meet this force the allies have at present, at sea and on shore, an equal number, that is to say 90.000 men, and-they are continually bring ng up reinforcements, having, of course, the tree command of the sea. Eight thousand addi'ional Turks are under orders to embark from Varna; and the Egyptian extra contignent of 7,000 will proced direct from Alexandria to the Crimea. The Russians will thus be outnumbered, and as the allies have a siege artillery, (for which 800. 000 shot and shells are already landed) and all arms of warefare, there is every probability’ that Sevastopol will fall, and, perhaps, speedily. But it by no means follows that its fall will end the war. Turkey is well nigh exhausted ol recruits. France it is true, has still 150,000 men tg spare; England has not a single regiment, unless she bring forward her sepoys from India. Russia, on the contrary, has immense reserves, and may protract the war indefinitely. Re-Establishment of the Kingdom of Poland.— There are various indications, little in them selves, but amounting in the aggregate that the Courts of France and England have actually under consideration the practicability of re-es tablishing the kingdom of Poland, as an inde- I pendent power. Such a stroke of policy, it ‘is | believed, is a favorite project of Napoleon 111., who hope thereby to cripple Russia’s influence I over the German Powers.and as the influence of j Russia diminishes to build up that of France in its room. A pamphlet which has just appeared in Par is, entitled ‘‘a letter to the Emperor on the East ern question,” and which is suspected of having been inspired by Government suggestions, ar gues the case with some ability. I Position of the Armies.— The London Times has the following comments upon the position ol the armies, and the probable period at which the attack upon Sevastopol will take p'ace: It is. however, probable that an interval of time which will seem long to us, though it be short in comparison with the difficulties to be surmounted and the end to be accomplished, must still elapse before we receive any decisive intelligence of the progress ot the seige. The telegraphic despatches which reached us in the course ol yesterday are chiefly from • Russian sources, communicated in Vienna, and they do not add anything of importance to what was already known. The position ascribed to the allied armies are precisely those which we have already determined by inference, between the slope of the mountains which skirt the port cf Balaklava and the coast immediately south of Sevastopol; and we add, that the whole coast or undercliff horn Balaklava to the Aloushta must be in our power; 'or it is highly improbable that any Russian detatchment should haVe been left in that narrow sea, where it would be sepa rated from the main body of the army. VOL. 33 —NEW SERIES- VOL. -9 -NO. 38. Even supposing that ten days have been con sumed in the construction of the siege batteries before they open their fire on the place, that pe-, riod is by no means long. Two siege trains of heavy guns, said to amount in all to 40 pieces, are to be landed from the transports which brought them from Woolwich and Toulon, con veyed fora distance of six or seven miles ovei a chain of hills, and placed in position. The works required for erection of such batteries and for the protect on of the troops must be consid erable, even if the dry and rocky nature of .the soil does not altogether obstruct the excavation of regular approaches and covered ways. In that case, which is the more probable alterna tive, the engineers will have to rely, as they did at Bomersund, on the artificial materials such as sacks of earth, gabions and fascines, all of which have to'be transported from the ships. If our readers will recall to mind the number of days spent at Bomersund in these preliminary opera tions, and the amount of preparation required before three small batteries of three or four guns each could be opened on the forts there, although those operations were conducted with great spirit and vigor, they will redily perceive that such an enterprise as the siege and bombard ment of Sevastopol is not ta be begun in a cou ple of days. There is, however, many reasons to believe that these measures are proceeding rapidly and successfully, and it deserved partic ular notice that.we have heard nothing of any attempt on the part of the enemy to interrupt them. Other .Affairs. — The Council of Tanzimat has been appointed in accordance with the decree of the Sultan, mentioned some time since. Ali Pasha is President, but Faud Ali Pasha, Mehe met Pudchi, Rifaat and Hifzi Pashas, Ruchti Molla Effendi, and Faud Effendi. A bon mot is attributed to Lord Raglan at the battle of Alma. He lost his arm in the last French war. At Alma while lookingat the gal lant conduct of the French light infantry, he ex claimed —“The French owed me an arm, now thev have paid’ me,” Great Britain.— The subject which at present most occupies the attention of the British pnblic, j is the lamentable deficiency of surgeons, nurszs, and surgical requirements, which is distressingly i increasing the mortality among the sick and wounded of the arpay of the East. Already, a ’ national subscription has been set agoing, and I €I,OOO sterling have been sent to the London fimes, to which paper the credit belongs ot bav ing originated the movement. The Times itself is flooded with letters Irom all parts of the conn try, offeiing suggestions tor the disposal ol the fund. The great want, however, appears not to be medical requirements, but medical men.'— Hundreds of qualified persons are ready to offer their services as temporary attaches to the medi cal staff, but the absurd “ red-tape” requirements of the military boards prevent them. For ex ample : hospital students skilled in dressing, and in the minor operations of the surgery are ineli gible unless they have completed a prescribed routine of studies in logic; and others recom mended as skillful with the knife are refused ad mittance into the fleet unless they have com pleted two full courses of—midwifery ! The eminent surgeon ffutherie opposes the move ment, and«shows the fallacy of attempting by charitable subscriptions, to make up for the gross neglect or incompetency of the medical depart ment of the army. Os course, in the present philanthropic vein of the public, his remarks are hot ’listened to. Prayers have been offered up iti some of the Irish Roman Catholic Chapels, for the souls of the brave who fell at Alma. Winter threatened to set in early this year.— Already snow had fallen in the north of Scot land. Queen Victoria and her Court had returned from Scotland to London. Their progress is duly chronicled in the papers to hand by this arrival. The Recent Commercial Failures. — The recent commercial failure at Liverpool continued to oc cupy attention, the more so that theyjrave had disastrous effects in Ireland. Conflicting state ments' were current with respect to the probable result. Our Liverpool correspondent is enabled to state—and doubtless reliably—that a trust deed is being prepared, and is now nearly com pleted in the affairs of Mr. Edward Oliver, and will likely enable all debts to be paid in full, with alarge surplus remaining for Mr. Oliver.— Mr. James McHenry’s affairs are to some extent involved with Mr. Oliver’s but a good result was anticipated—much better than the public were led to believe by the London Wmes. With regard to the Chancery proceedings in stituted by Mr. W. Gardner, who is stated to be a relative or family connertion of Mr McHenry, the following is from the Liverpool Albion of i this morning : j ‘’To-day, an advertisement appears in the ' Liverpool papers, by which it appears that Messrs. W. Gardner & Co. have commenced a I suit against Mr. Oliver, for the purpose of having I sundry bills accepted by tl.em cancelled. These I amount to £45,000, and it is alleged by Messrs, Gardner & Co., that they received no considera j tion for them. The injunction was, in conse- I quenee, obtained to prevent their falling into the i hands of third parties. Several of them, how j ever, have gone into circulation, bat those in the | hands of the trustees will be given up; the others j cannot be followed. These bills have been j drawn as follows:—Six bills by Mr. Oliver, in j July and August, amounting to .£20,000; eight by Messrs. Mann & Birney, of Cincinnati, in I August, amounting to .£15,000 ; and £IO,OOO by : James McHenry, in two bills, dated the 6th and j 16th of September, .£45,000, and no considera | tion, is lending a name to some extent for finan | cial purposes, and shows, with other financiering i operations that have come to light in the course ■ ot the week in regard to one of the other large 1 houses which have suspended, that Messrs. Gard- ■ ner’s is by no means a single instance of a name I being lent without security or consideration. France.— The obsequies ol Marshal St. Ar | naud were celebrated on the 16th, with great (pomp. The garrison of Paris and the Imperial Guard formed the procession. The Bulletin de Lois contains an imperial de i cree reinstating M. Jerome Bonaparte in his : quality of Frenchman. His son, Lieutenant Bo naparte, has joined the aimy of the east. I Barbes, the Red Republican, has refused the I act of clemency granted to him by the Emperor. i Barbes says, that if the authorities did not re ar- i rest him r.'ithiu two days he would retire into voluntary exile—into England. Russia.— At the recent great fire in Memel j the whole place would have been burned down had it not been for the exertions of American and j English sailors then in port. Martial law is proclaimed in the governments <*f Charkow, Pultawa and Kiew. Mr. Upton, an Englishman settled on the Cri mea, and son of an engineer of fortifications in j Sevastopol, has been taken prisoner by the Brit- | ish, and sent to Lord Rigland’s head quarters to have information extracted from him respecting j the works. China.— Letters from Hong-Kong of Aug. 22d i state that political affairs at Canton remain in | the same critical state, and dissatisfaction was | spreading. The insurgents were in great force j in the surrounding country, and three attempts , were made to take the city, which, however, i failed. Honam, opposite Canton was threatened, , and the people are quietly- maturing for an open , assault against the Mandhcin’s authority. At Whampoa contributions were forcibly le vied. The river between that place and Canton continued to be infested by pirates, and trade could only be carried on under convoy ot armed steamers. The appioaches to Whampoa, bo':. > by land and water, were in possession of the in surgents. The transit of teas and inquiry for goods having ceased, the business at Canton had been limited to shipping off the teas that were on the market. An attempt had been made to ' effett a compromise with the insurgents, but un successfully. The village of Couloon, on the opposite side of Hong Kong Bay, was taken possession of on the night of the 18th of August by a band ol pirates' 1 he neighborhood is occupied by banditti Sir John Bowring, the British Commissioner had visited koochowand had an interview with I the Viceroy, and with the Chinese authorities at Amoy, bighnug was going on between the two parties at Shanghai, but the Imperialists ap pear to mane little progress towards the reca i ture of the city * Satnqua, the late laoutai ( had been ordered to Pekin to ans ver some charges of the public cen son, Lau has been appointed in his place. Com missioner McLean had arrived from Shan«hai a* Hong Kong. It was understood that he would re urn there shortly with Sir John Bowrirw. to. i settle the question, qnd would attempt to trade ■ up the Yang-tse-Kiang. I'he news of the insurgents in the North is ve i ry scanty, and the impression was that they i were meeting with reverses and were on the re ; treat. The latest Pekin Gazette, dated June 28 ; contains nothing interesting. All was quiet at I Ningpo, to Aug. 4th. At Foochow much activ ; ity was going on in the shipment of teas. A fire had destroyed 1,000 houses. On the 1 Sth all was quiet at Amoy, and a fair trade going on. There was no change in political matters at.Na moa to fte 18th of August, the insurgents-being still around the city. Japan Expedition—Attack on Sitka.—Commo dore Perry was to return heme next month, Sep tember. The U. S. ship supply was at Canton. The British Admiral Sterling remained at Shanghai awaiting the arrival of the French Ad miral Laguere, in the French frigate Jeanne of Are. On his arrival the united French and En glish fleet were to proceed to Sitka to attack the Russian ships and forts there. Work on the Savannah, Albany, & Gulf Rail Road—The work on this.important en terprise has continued its regular progress during the last seveial months, without the slightest re j lerence to the epiderrtic which so fatally ravaged our city, and so seriously affected some depart ments of its business. Ground was first broken (as is generally known) between three and four miles beyond the limits of the corporation. From that point the work has been extended in both directions until the grading is now nearly com pleted. south-westwardly to the Little Ogeechee.' and north eastwardly to within a few hundred yards of the lots chosen and purchased for the depot, on Liberty street. Lover’s Lane has al ready been crossed and the city limits entered. . In passing yesterday over a portion of the track, we discovered that the grading, as it ad vanced towards and crossed the South Western boundary of the corporation, had been a work of much more difficulty than we anticipated. The track sweeps into the city by a graceful curve in stead of advancing by a right line. Its length is thus slightly increased and the work is made considerably heavier, but these disadvantages are far more than counterbalanced by the great sav ing which the company thereby makes in the cost of its right of way. The route selected-by which to enter the city, passes over a scarcely habitable swamp, the value of the right of way will be trifling as compared with what might reasonably have been charged, had the road come by direct line, over the elevated and even surface which it woull thus have crossed. It is gratifying to know that among the hands employed there have been no deaths, and very little sickness during tha past fatal season. This is partly owing to the admirable system of man agement pursued by Messrs,Collins the contrac tor- but ro-M-h more to the fact that their labor ers are slaves. Had the operativefPbeen whites there is little doubt there would have been a complete suspension of work during our late ep idemic.—Sav. Georgian. I Business !.•$ Savannah.—Take a stroll, read- i er, along our wharves,and notice our fine marine I ot one steamship, 15 ships, 16 barques, 5 brigs, 6 ! schooners, and many steamboats—and notice the I bustle it is creating among sailors, stevedores. | laborers and others engaged in their various I duties; clerks employed in receiving and shipping I immense freights, and draymen loading and un- I loading their vehicles—all vigorously bending to I work—and ask yourself if business has com | inenced. From the wharves to our streets—the j Bay the busiest ot all—and witness the deter ! miuation of all who have returned to their : several avocations, to make amends for the past' ; —look around upon the several stores that have I re-opened, and see the condition of things there j —and again ask yourselves if business has com- J menccd. Il it is not .as flourishing as it should i be, it is attributable to the temerity ot out i friends, who are away, in not coming among us |to aid in doing their duty for Savannah. She is I fast rising from her late prostrate condition, and will soon, from present bppearances, be firmly on her feet again. Our own people, who ire still away from their homes, should return to them, and thus give confidence to our country patrons to come also, and have their orders filled. We are ready for you all—so come at once.— Sav. 4th. jjy Our mechanics have gone to work in ear nest, and are actively engaged in the erection ot several new buildings about the city, and in re paiiing buildings and other houses that were in jured bj’ the late gale. The change in the aspect of affairs generally, within the last week or two, is really encouraging. Every one is resuming business, with an earnestness that bespeaks for Savannah an early resatortion. — lb. Cotton. —We would state, for the information j of our planters and merchants in the Interior. 1 that the Cotton market has fully opened, and the | only reason for the limited sales we have report i ed lor the last two weeks, is the entire absence of an offering stock. Prices paid in this market ■ now will compare favorably with those of any ' of the neighboring cities.— JO. [Telegraphed for the Baltimore Sun.] • i Louisvilli:, Nov. I.—The Sait Lake mail ar ; lived at Independence on Sunday, bringing ! little intelligence of interest. Business in the valley was recovering, but money was not very ' abundant. Indian depredations had become le's frequent and more amicable relations existed between ! the Mormons and the various tribes, who were quiet. But few were seeh on the route. Messrs. Ward and Gurry have moved their . trading post further up the mountains. Two Companies ot troops were met at K>rt The prairies were burnt pretty weh of! by the Indians, and was scarce, and only met With in small spots. , . , . New Hope, Nov. 2.—There is a report here of 'a serious break in the Delaware Division ot the Pennsylvania Canal at the Four Ninety feet of the bank is gone and ten teet washed out below the bottom. The navigation rn t'he canal is thus closed and it is approtended that it will take several weeks to repair tne damage. The Prize Fight.—Thomas Hyer, the New Y.nk pugilist, denies, over his s-gn.ture a . connection with the recent prize fight near I onis He has not been absent from New Y ork lad has not “ had the least idea of bemg engaged in such a business.