THE NEW MOTIVE POWER—THE ERICSSON—HER SECOND TRIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 130, 2 July 1853, Page 11

THE NEW MOTIVE POWER—THE ERICSSON—HER SECOND TRIAL.

[Prom the " Alta California," March I.] We have already stated to our readers the result of the first experimental action of the caloric engines in the new steamer " Ericsson." We now come to consider the results established by their second trial on an excursion to, New York harbour, on the llth January. In noticing the first trip of the " Ericsson" we had occasion to observe that the New York papers were not so enthusiastic on the success of the experiment as we had been led to expect they would be. Since that, however, the new moter has been more favourably tested, and the most lavish commendations'have flowed from the press on the subject. The complete success of the new invention is now considered established beyond a doubt. We have already described in general terms the action of the motive principle as applied by Ericsson. We have now a sketch of the machine in motion, taken from the New York papers. ' This trial trip was made for the benefit of the members of the press, almost exclusively, and Mr. Ericsson was accompanied on the excursion by representatives from, (and some of the edi-tors-in-chief of) every newspaper in NeAV York. It was a highly satisfactory test, as will be seen by the result:— "We have just returned from a trial trip of the caloric ship "Ericsson," the 'breathing ship,' as the Mirror very properly called it the other day—and have been a witness of the most perfect triumph of its powers. As a motive power for all legitimate purposes of commerce —domestic or international—it will straightway supersede steam. Anything more experimentally successful, more practically simple, cannot be conceived." Theasubes in Cheapside.—" Why, there are sometimes three tons of gold a day passing through one house close by here." Three tons of gold a day !—Tons J " Why, one customer of that house has dealings with it to the extent of a million a month! What the business of that house will be passes human calculation. There are ships on the sea now, sailing away for England as fast as they can carry on, with millions stowed away in their holds! The gold they bring from Australia is so pure, that Nature has thrown the refiners here out of the refining branch of their business, and all they have to do is to cast it into golden ingots, value eight hundred pounds sterliug each. It is one carat and three-quarters above the standard, which is twenty-two carats! While the value of standard gold is three pound seventeen and tenpence halfpenny an ounce, and the value of Californian gold is below it, the value of Australian gold is from four pounds one and sixpence to four pounds tAVO an ounce! When the house close by here sent the first two bars of Australian gold to the Bank of England, the Bank of England sent them back, supposing from their purity that there must be some mistake. When the house close by here was first established, gold avus calculated in their accounts by the pound ; it is calculated now by the ton. Then their premises were thought much to# large; now they are far too small. Then gold lace was in fashion, and the making of gold wire Avas a most important section of the business. Now the making of gold wire has been abandoned as a waste of time." — Dickens' Household Words. The number op Marriages in proportion to the population of a country is more or less indicative of its being in a flourishing or declining condition ; and in proportion to the number of marriages; it is only reasonable to assume the increase of births. Judging by this test, we must infer that the nation was never in a more flourishing state than it is at the present moment. The quarterly return of the Regis-

trar-General is amply demonstrative of the truth of this position. "At present," says the Times, "so steadily does the country thrive under the influence of Free Trade and plenty, that even the unprecedented tide of emigration still on the flow has not succeeded, according to Mr. Farr's estimate, in quite turning the tables against the population of this island." According to the Registrar-General's Report, the exact number of births in the last quarter Avas 152,066, and of the deaths 99,946. showing a natural increase of 52,120, or something above 200,000 a year. On the other hand, during these thirteen weeks, there left this country for homes beyond sea, from the ports of London, Plymouth, and Liverpool alone, 55,315 emigrants, and the gross emigration of 1852 exhibits no fewer than 350,647 departures; and Mr. Farr thinks it " probable that the emigration from England is at present not equal to its natural increase." The average number of deaths for the same period wears no unfavourable aspect.