TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 663, 12 August 1864, Page 11

TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH AMERICA.

(From the New York Tribune.) The necessary arrangements for another attempt to lay a submarine telegraph between Ireland and North America have been made, and the Atlantic Telegraph Company are more sanguine than ever that the experiment to be undertaken in the spring ofl86&will be a complete success.

By the time that the Atlantic Telegraph Company is ready for its grand enterprise, a second and entirely different line of telegraphic communication between Europe and America will approach, if not reach, its completion. This is the line running across Siberia, thence connecting with Kussian America, th nee passing through Britieh Columbia, and ultimately reachinff our Pacific States. The most difficult portion of this telegraph, that through Siberia, is now, according to a recent despatch, completed as far as Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia.

Mr Collins, a citizen of the United States, to whom the Russian Government have given for a period of thirty-six years the exclusive right of working this telegraph through the Russian dominions, has now obtained from the British Government the right of way through British Columbia, The Western Union Telegraph Company of the United States are prepared to assume ths construction of the line, and capitalists are ready to supply the money for carrying oat the undertaking.

It is intended to continue the telegraph northward along the western coast of British America to Behring's Straits, which will be crossed by a submarine cable forty miles long, thence along the coast of Arctic Sussia to the mouth of the Amoor River, at which point the Russian Government have agreed to meet ths line and con™ nect it with their own. The new line will be not far from 4200 miles in extent, and when completed it will unite Europe, Asia, and America, principally by land.

The Wrong Envelopes.— A fashionable physician enjoys peculiar advantages in the collection, of curious facts. He is behind the scenes at critical moments ; he is slipping in and out of great houses, when stormy scenes are passing, or startling changes are in the wind ; he is close at band when the prince, statesman, or favorite, reduced by illness, is irresistibly impelled to seek relief ia semi-confidence or self- laudation endicg in selfbetrayal. Sir Henry Halford was the beav, ideal of the character ; and no man was more disposed to profit by his opportunities. His over-eagerness to stand well at the sama time with two great party leaders, once led him into a ludicrous scrape. In the brief Ministerial crisis brought about by the resignation of the Reform Ministers in May, 1832, he wrote on the same day to the Duke of .Wellington to congratulate him on the salvation of the Constitution from the Whigs, and to Lord Grey to condole with him on its pending destruction by the Torie9, and enclosed the letters in the wrong envelopes ; so that the Duke received the condolencp, and Lord Grey the congratulation.— From " Diaries of a Lady of Quality," quoted by the Edinburgh Reoiew.

Practical Joking.— A very ludicrous practical joke was brought under our notice the other day. A shoemaker, whom we will call Brown, died a short time since at no great distance from Talbot, leaving a blooming widow of about thirty-five years of age, and a large quantity of property in boots and shoes for her future dowry. A. strapping fellow, , residing in the neighborhood, conceived a liking for the widow before the defunct husband was buried ; and the said strapping fellow, whom we will call Smith, undertook to see that the last sad offices of departed merit were performed in a proper manner. With a few friends he went to a cert dn cemetery, and took up a piece of ground for the grave. Smith, and Brown being about the same size, it was resolved that Smith should lay on the ground at full length, and thus the size of the grave should be determined. This was accordingly done, and from time to time, as the grave was put down, Smith descended the hole and measured his full length at the bottom, in order to ascertain that the sides and ends were being carried down perpendicularly. In the meantime it was suggested to Smith that, as he would shortly be the happy possessor of the widow, the least he could do was to shout to the gravediggers. Smith considered the request only reasonable, and sent for a gallon of spirits. Sinking and drinking proceed-d onward, and Smith imbibed three tumblers of raw spirit in drinking the health of the widow. At last the grave was aunk to a depth of five feet, and Smith for the last time descended ; -but when at the bottom the depth of his potation began to show itself, and he threw himself down, resolved to have a sleep before he came out again. A spirit of mischief then seized hold of his companions, and tuey determined to bury him in the grave. A large quantity of earth was thrown upon him, the mischievous rascals taking care that his race was left uncovered. Reclining under about a load and ahalf of earth, Smith slept on for about two hours, when he awoke to find his companions gone. Sobered by this^time, he made a desperate effort to release himself, but finding that the> more he struggled the greater quantity of earth rolled down on his face, he contented himself with shouting for help. His companions, whohad retired for only a short distance, came, and one of them carefully descended the hole, but only to find that if a shovel was used, Smith would probably be injured by the blade. A rope was then got and made fast under Smith's shoulder, and assistance having been obtained, he was dragged from beneath the dirt, very little injured by the joke beyond a 'ew braises about the body. Although disposed to be wrathful with the jokers, Smith's usual good temper soon ret covered itself, and he .contented himself with remarking to the astonished bystanders that " he had made Brown'a grave warm for him, at all ce v 6v 6n vi Hi s*?ry "so *« silent as to whether the blooming widow has as yet consented to become Mrs Smith. All the parties to this joke, incredible as the face may appeal*, are Scotchmen.— Talbot Leader, July 22,