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Leader (1850-1860), 1st October 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 5, No 497. Oct. 1, 1859-1 THE LEADER, 1097

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      The Strike. The Unfortunate Dispute Betw...

      eurfid . At the same meeting of the Conference it was resolved that a communication should be sent to the masters stating that the men locked-out were willing to return to work on condition that the document was withdrawn . At their meeting on Tuesday the masters declined to entertain the pro ^ position as it came from what they considered to be an illegal body . On Thursday , however , the negotiation at the Freemasons' Tavern between the Committee of the Master Builders and the Deputation from the Operative Masons , which'had lasted twodays , was brought to a termination , unfortunately without any satisfactory result in the way of a reconciliation ; and the deplorable breach between the employers and the employed , from circumstances which transpired last night after the masters had arrived at a decision , it is feared , becomes from this moment wider and deeper than before .

      Judging from the temper shown by the men at a crowded meeting held yesterday evening , it would seem that the very failure of the attempt at mediation , emanating , as the effort did , from the side of the operatives , is calculated the more to embitter the existing alienation ; and henceforward the masters will have to maintain the struggle , not , as until now , with the Paviors' Arms Conference alone , whose authority they have recently repudiated , but with the formidable trade confederacy of the masons , numbering at least 10 , 000 men spread all over the country , who will probably bring into play all the elaborate machinery and the esprit de corps of a secret society , which'has been silently and gradually organised during a quarter of a century and niore , partly for

      waging a conflict of this kind in the last resource an the interest of labour against capital . Up to'this point in the struggle the London operative masons on strike have never been supported out of the funds of their general society extending all over the country , for the reason , principally , that the society considered the nine hours' movement hopeless and untenable from the first , and refused to countenance it . But the effort at reconciliation having failed , and the cause of quarrel being , not now the nine hours' question , but that of the declaration , with a new element of strife imported into itnamely the demand on the part of the masters , that they will revise obnoxious portions of their trade

      customs and regulations , the probability is that the masons' society will now recognise the strike as what they call a " legal " one—that is , a strike which they wil \ countenance , and apply their funds in aid of the members of their craft engaged in it . In that evens they will be bound by their laws to pay 10 s . a-week at least to every man on . strike , and by making a voluntary levy upon themselves of only 6 d . a-day throughout the whole society , which they occasionally do in an emergency , they can at any time raise about £ 1 , 500 a-week . It follows , therefore , with these facilities at their command for providing the sinews of war * that they will be in a position to prolong the strike for an indefinite period of time , so far as they are concerned .

      No 497. Oct. 1, 1859-1 The Leader, 1097

      No 497 . Oct . 1 , 1859-1 THE LEADER , 1097

      The Great Eastern. Ix Seems At Present T...

      THE GREAT EASTERN . Ix seems at present to be as much a mutter of un ,-certainty when the Great Ship will be again ready for sea , as whether she will ever make her contemplated voyage to the United States at all . The most contradictory rumours are circulated in the daily journals , and the only fact which seems to be agreed upon is , that the theory of " no unpleasant motion at sea " is one that hns not been sustained in practice . The proceedings during the past week are'thus described : — -The repairs necessary for fitting the Great Eastern for sea are daily going forward with the utmost diligence nnd rapidity . Mr . Croee ' s artists are busy redecorating the grand saloon . .

      Carpenters and fitters are incessantly at work removing the traces of the late explosion , and restoring the cabins as they were before it happened . ' The new funnel has been put together on deck and is nearly finished , and . the injured wrought iron beams and bulkheads have been cut out nnd preparations made for replacing them with others . Yet , in spite of this activity and ty \ o progress that has undoubtedly been made , we should be deceiving our readers if wo hold out the least hope that the Great Eastern Mill be ready for sea on the 8 th of October , or perhaps even during the month of October at all .

      The fittings of the ship and njl matters connected with her sen-going equipment are now entirely in the hands of the Marino Department of the Board of Trade . With a passenger ship of such gigantic magnitude , and which when complete will go to sea literally with n population equal to that of many towns , It has been felt that no possible precautions which the greatcut experience and most j ealous vigilance can suggest should bo neglectod . Borne of the most prominent suggested improvements are that the coal bunkers should all bo well ventilated nnd fitted with pipes through the centre , as e the case -with Unc-ot-baulc ships , to enable the

      temperature of the coals to be tested and registered at certain intervals throughout the day , and a different kind of steering wheel , and also making a second tiller in the lower deck connected with , though independent of , the upper one . Now . that all the wreck has been cleared away the amount of damage which has been sustained by the boilers and more substantial fittings of the ship can be readily ascertained . The massive iron main-deck beams which were so curiously doubled and torn by the force of the explosion have been cut away , together with the tattered remnants of the lower portions of the funnel and jacket which still remained attached to the upper part of the boilers , and altogether the space has been cleared so as to allow the work of restoration to proceed with all due celerity . Upon minute examination it , was found that the to the extent

      forward boilers had not been injured which was at first imagined , nor yet escaped entirely without damage . The copper plates of these two boilers , upon which the funnel and casing rested , are very much dinted in , and many of the iron stays in the interior are either broken or very much bent . Some of the hot-air tubes have also been damaged , but not to a serious extent . The replacing of the stays and such of the tubes as it will be necessary to remove will soon be accomplished but the restoration of the two damaged boiler plates must occupy time . A few days will suffice to restore the injured iron supports of the main and lower decks . The three men , Tait , Ypxori , and Sparkes , who were badly injured by the explosion , are now progressing steadily and favourably , and no doubt is entertained of their ultimate recovery . They are now at the Weymouth Infirmary .

      It is not improbable that in a few days the Great Eastern will leave her present moorings , and go round under e & sy steam to Southampton Water . On Friday a vocal and instrumental concert was given on board . The band of the ship was conducted by Mr . Macfarlane , formerly band-master of the Duke of Devonshire . The vocalists were Miss Messent and Mr . Wilbye Cooper . Mr . Richardson gave ] some solo performances on the flute . The Liverpool Journal says :- —" The Great Eastern was built as a commercial speculation , and the direction of the directors should be in the line of remuneration . At Portland , without any consumption of coal , the small tax on visitors would realise £ 600 a day ; at Holyhead the same price of admission will

      produce something like £ 2 , 000 a day ; and sightseers pay better than passengers . This being the case , it would be absurd to sail her prematurely for America or any other place ; her machinery is still imperfect j and it has to be tested ; for this purpose several trial trips should be made ; and every trip should terminate in a populous and paying port . By the time she is properly ready for a long voyage in the spring a considerable amount of her debt would be liquidated . On the other hand , if the Great Eastern go now to the United States all America will go to see her ; but at home curiosity has been partially exhausted ; at Portland and New York the

      admission of visitors would yield the sum ten times told to be booked in this country . Looking beyond this legitimate income , there is another and fur greater to be obtained ; that , let the Great Eastern fulfil her promise , as no doubt she will , the company will be called on by Government to build many more , and it is in cpnstructing these that the directors should look for their substantial reward . On the 12 th of October the ship is announced to be at Holyhead , and on the 15 th the Queen will come down to sec her ; her Majesty will be the guest of Colonel Pennant , Pcurhyn Castle , near Bnngor , will stay over Sunday , the 10 th , and proceed next day , the 17 th , to inspect the Great Eastern . "

      Naval And Military. From . The Indian Pa...

      NAVAL AND MILITARY . From . the Indian papers we gather that an army of 10 , 000 men will be sent from India to China , composed of Englishmen and native troops , the selection of which is to be left to the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief } and of this force , which might well be increased one-half , Major-General Sir Hope Grant , K . C . B ., will have the command , than which a better selection could not be made . No troops , it is thought , will be despatched from England .

      The successful expedition under Captain M'Clui ' took was equipped in 1857 ugninst the recorded opinions of the Admiralty , and the exponso ofit has fallen heavily upon Lady Franklin . It is suggested to the Treasury to refund to her tlio sum , and to m 6 ve her Majesty to gra , nt the widow of the admiral who full in the execution of his duty a homo for her declining days in her palace of Kensington . " It is not certain that Lady Franklin would accept the one , or that her falling health , which now detains her in Southern France , would allow her to avail herself of the other , but the offers would be none the less graceful , or bettor express the warm

      sympathies of the world at large for her noble sacrifices and exertions . Captain M'Clintock should ; by order in council , be allowed sea time as a naval officer while he commanded the Fox , and receive his wellriierited knighthood . -The officers and crew of the Fox ought to get the remaining" 10 , QOOf . reward for solving the fate of the lost expedition . " On Tuesday the troops in Portsmouth Garrison , amounting to nearly 3 , 000 men and six guns , consisting of engineers , artillery , rifles , and militia , were drawn up on Southsea-common , at eight o ' clock in the morning , under General Scarlett's command . Shortly afterwards the Commander-in-Chief , accompanied by a brilliant staff , arrived on the ground , and was received with a , general salute .

      His Royal Highness then passed along the front and rear lines of the troops . Forming in columns of companies , and marching past in slow and quick time , the different manoeuvres incidental to a field day commenced , the llifles throwing out skirmishers to the front to repel a supposed advance of an enemy , the Artillery opening on each flank , with the main body moving up in support ; additional skirmishers were thrown out by the Rifles , and the whole line advanced . The face 6 f operations was then changed , the troops forming squares to resist cavalry , with the Artillery in the intervals . The conti lines

      troops next formed in two guous facing to the eastward , aud threw out a strong body of Rifles as skirmishers , who in their turn had to rapidly form themselves into separate squares to resist an apparent advance of the enemy ' s cavalry . The Rifles were next formed in three lines , a little in advance of the rest of the troops , and put through the sword bayonet exercise . This was one of the most striking features of the review , each movement appearing as though performed by one man . At the close , His Koyal Highness expressed his delight and satisfaction at their appearance and proficiency .

      ... ... A number of recruits belonging to the Woolwich division , of Royal Marine Light Infantry , who have passed for service , have been ( yesterday ) inspected , and a strong and able body forward in gunnery exercise and others " well up " in rifle practice , to the total number of 400 , the majority of whom have not served afloat , were pronounced in readiness for

      sea . The trial of the new steel gunboats lately made at the Island of HyGres has been so successful that the French Emperor has decided that , after some corrections have been made , according to the suggestions laid down by his own imperial hand , fifty more of these boats shall be set afloat immediately . Captain Brunet , ever on the watch , has seized the opportunity of appealing to the public in another letter to the Univers , showing that the improvements are his own , and set forth in the " Nouvel Armement de l'Europe . "

      It is announced that the French force to be sent to China will consist of 5 , 000 troops of the line , 1 , 500 marines , six large steam transports of 1 , 200 horse power , four sailing frigates , and six first-class and six second-class gun-boats . Another account sets the French at 10 , 000 to 12 , 000 men . It is to be hoped and expected that England will not send a less force , for if she does the French will claim to have achieved whatever successes may be obtained by the comhined fleet and army . The large mortar vessels intended for operations in China , have been removed from thntportion of the harbour in which they have been lying , and taken into the first dock at Chatham for the purpose of being examined by a board of officers , in order to discover whether the marine worm has effected any ravages in the timbers . hold nt Woolwich to

      A court of inquiry has been investigate the flogging of a gunner who suffered severely from the punishment . As tlio man was suffering from boils when the hisli wns administered , the court decided that the medical officer was blanieable for njlowing the punishment to bo inflicted , and ho was reprimanded . The man has not yet fully recovered from tlio effects of the flogging . The now turning battery about to be constructed by way of experiment at Boulogne , is occupying all the attention of the engineers in . Paris , and more controvers y and opposition scorn to be created by this invention than by any of those which have been submitted to the Emperor Louis Napoleon . Tlio batteries will possess two rows of canons rayes , will bo iron cased , and will bo unprovided with mast or sail . They will bo moved by steam , and be enabled to turn and manoeuvre with the greatest rapidity in sense .

      ovory .... . . The Dover , iron paddle-wheel steamer , with 90-horse power engines , lent by the Admiralty to the C olonia . 1 Department about six years ago , for service in the rivor Gambia , by returned to Woolwich , ana is ordered to bo docked for necessary repairs . She was fitted out at Woolwich , and her crew consists of Kroomon . who will bo forwarded to Africa , by the first available ship . It is stated by the Times naval correspondent that

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 1, 1859, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01101859/page/5/