BRITISH ACQUISITION of TERRITORY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 94, 23 November 1859, Page 4

BRITISH ACQUISITION of TERRITORY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

The Gazette dv MM, of the 20th August last, republishes the following important oxtract from the Presse, without remark :—: —

"Ameuica. — Our correspondent at New York, in his letter of the 3rd of August, notifies to us a new conquest or encroachment on the part of England. The British agent accredited to the Republic of Guatemala, lias obtained the cession of all the territory of Balize. In 18oG', Sir George Grey demanded exactly what Mr. Wicke has just obtained — that is to say, one hundred aud sixty miles of the coast. About lf>o square miles have now been acquired by the English Crown. This cession is absolute, without any drawbacks or conditions. Great Britain thus finda herself mistress of St. Thomas, the only port which belonged to the republic. That state, whose territories have not been extensive, sees them now to an extraordinary degree lessened. However that may be, England has, moreover, stipulated for a sanction and acknowledgment of all the old establishments ; as also for a recognition of the damages sustained by every Englishman who has been put out of possession. These establishments, some of which have been in existence for from twenty to five-nnd-twenty years, were made for sawing down and trading in mahogany. Illegal traffic on a very vast scale was here disguised under the name of that trade."

Important to those who ace Deaf. — Hearing THiiOUG-u the Tukoat.— l will state a fact : A friend of mine, who is bo utterly deaf as to be almost beyond relief from any of the mechanical inventions now in use for the aid of persons afllicted with deafness, walked into a chapel and took his seat on one of the open benches. He heard nothing of the sermon then and there delivered, until, from mere listlessness, he placed the rim of the crown of l»is hat in his mouth, when he heard distinctly. He has frequently repeated the experiment in my presence with the same result, and where the opportunity is afforded him, he places his hat between his lips, and carries on a conversation, speaking in the usuiil way, and hearing as I have described. I have made the experiment with many deaf persons, and generally with success. I have to leave the learned in acoustics to explain ; I only state the fact, aud every one can make the experiment. Is it tho open mouth, or has the vibration of sound on tho hat anything to do with the effect produced. Look on a crowd of listeners, eager to catch the effect of the speaker; they sit with open mouth, "With locks thrown back and lips apart," "in listening mood," &c., as in the poet's description of 'the Lady of the Lake. It is almost impossible to make uso of the hut as an auricle j but I venture to think that if science would apply its efforts to hearing through the throat, following nature as a guide, more would be done for the sorest evil that can afflict .humanity than .has yet been effected. " The obstructed path of sound," lam persuaded, may be reached this way. — Notes and Queries.

The Lime Ligut applied to Navigation Pubposes. — The Mornimj Chronicle, of 3rd August, reporls that, during the lust two or three months, several exhibitions have been made in Westminster Hall, by permission of the late First Commissioner of her Majesty's Works, with the recently improved oxyhydrogen lime light, the practical application of which system to lighting purposes was introduced by the late Lieutenant Drummond, as far back as 1826 ; after numerous trials made, especially on the Ordinance surveys of Ireland and Scotland, these trials, though they fully illustrated the power and economy of this mode of lighting, did not find favour with lighthouse authorities, owing all that period to its want of continuity and volume. It was employed successfully by him in Scotland, as station marks, on Ben Lomond and Knock Layd, distant ninety-five miles, as alluded to by Professor Faraday, in his Christmas Lectures, 1858. The all important elements of continuity and volume — without which it is but a transient light — have been completely and efl'ectually'attained by Bastable's patent arrangements, which are now being publicly exhibited nightly in New Palace-yard, under the sanction of the present First Commissioner of her Majesty's Works, where it may be seen in contrast with the ordinary gas lights. This light is exhibited in its simple state, unassisted by reflectors or glass shades, with a dazzling and overpowering effect, and illustrates its suitableness for lighthouses, railway and ship signals, and oilier similar purposes, where its great penetrating power woidd be extremely valuable, especially in hazy weather, when o. dinary lights urc noi seen at all, or at least only to lure the observer into danger. This light is now in the course of application as a harbour light to one of the most important harbours

mi the western coast. A few weeks ago we observed ime \ery successful trials on one of the clock-faces I the New Palace at Westminster, when its su|>eri•rity over that lighted by the ordinary gas was strik'igly obvious, from its superior brilliancy and absence '( advent itious colour. An idea may be formed of the ower of this light from the fact that the photomerical intensity of a single jet consuming four cubic ret of gas per horn* is equal to from eighty to one inndretl fish-tail ordinary gas burners, consuming 320 o 400 cubic feet per hour ; but this is even much ulhin t lie maximum effect to be obtained from this vstem of lighting, which is limited only by the qu-m-ity of gas consumed, and the perfectness of the comJiistion. It is a singular fact, that by the combustion if ordinary carburetted hydrogen gas (such as used or street lighting, combined with oxygen gus cheaply obtained from sources patent to the public), an inensity so greatly superior to that of the carburetted ,ms alone is obtained, by simply consuming it in conact with lime (such as is ordinarily produced at the limekilns). A company, under the title of the Lime Light Company, has been registered for applying these latented improvements for the lighting of lighthouses, ooaeons, ship?, harbours, docks, railways, public buildings, and thoroughfares, and, indeed, to every purpose where a powerful and economical light is de--irable. In the case of fairway beacons, for instance, for lighting vessels up intricate navigable channels, is eminently fitted, as the arrangements admit of several weeks' supply of gas and lime (the gab being used in a compressed stato, for the sake of poitabitit^), being put on board, thus avoiding the necessity of daily supervision, which in sucli ca<«e3 would be impracticable from frequent stress of weather and other causes. Similar arrangements are applied to coasting and other vessels performing short voyages, giving them a brilliant light without the necessity of generating gas on board ; while for vessels on larger voyages the apparatus for producing the gases are of so simple a character that a continuous supply may be insured by the attention of an ordinary labourer. Whether this light be considered, in a useful, sanitary, or economical point of view, it is caloulatcd to supersede the ordinary modes of lighting, and from the simple fact that no deleterious gases are evolved from it, it is obviously a most desirable mode of lighting where health, paintings, costly enrichments, or other property subject to injury, is exposed to its notion, the absence of which quality has rendered the use of gas aud other modes of lighting objectionable. The light will, in a few days, bo set up in Milford Haven, and the Great Eastern, on her trial trip, will be provided with it as her principal masthead light.