The Sun. — London, England, 1864-11-03 00:00:00

Government Powder Magazines, -,....- With the impression caused by the explosion of Messre. Ha powder magszines at Erith still freak on the public mind, a brief notice of the Go vernment magazines is the South 'West District cannot be otherwise than interesting, and will serve as an appendix to the article on " The Powder Magazines at Purfleet" in The Sun of the 19th ult. The Government magazines in the SouthaWest Dietrict are three in number—Marchwood, Tipnor, and Priddy'salaard. Marchwood is the largest magazine in the kingdom, the greatest receiving store from Parfleet, and has a storage capacity for 76,000 barrels of powder, each containing 1001 b. "fipnor is the depot magazine for Portsmouth, and has a storage capacity for 22,000 barrels. Priddy's hard is the issuing magazine for Portsmouth, and is the only one of the three establishments where manipulation of powder can be truly said to take place. It has a laboratory within its walls, and is closely situated to the Portsmouth dock and Royal Clarence victualling-yards. There are also the shell magazines within the walls of the Gun-wharf, which can be at once disposed of here by saying that, although they are situated close to the engine house of the Gun-wharf factory, yet as each shell is closed with its metal cap and enclosed in its own wooden be:, they lie there in perfect security. The doors are double, as is the case with all maga zines, and every time they are opened a man is specially stationed with a supply of water to throw on any suspicious looking matter that might alight at or near the doors from the direction of the fac tory chimney or boiler house. Under these circum stances, the care of the Portsmouth Gun-wharf shell magazines, and the safety of that este. blishment and the towns of Portsmouth and Portsea, so far as the storage of shell in the Gun-wharf is concerned, may be safely consigned to the care and supervision of the resident mill. tarp storekeeper and his staff. The removal of the lightning:conductors from the roofs of the maga zines to positions round and above them would add to their security. There is, of course, an immense amount of powder, loaded shell, rockets, kc., in the magazines of the fortifications round Ports. mouth, and also on board Her Majesty's ship Ex cellent in the harbour, and on board such of Her Majesty's ships as may be anchored at .Spithead— but with this material it is not intended to deal at present, our further remarks being confined simply to the magazines at Tipnor, Marchwood, and Priddy's•hard. At the extreme point of a long and narrow strip of salt marsh which projects from the island of Portsea into the shallows of the northern extremity of the waters of Portsmouth harbour, within half a mile of the left flank of the defensive lines of Hilsea, and nearly opposite the ruins of Porchester Castle, stand theTipnor magazines. Their distance by road from Portsmouth dockyard is about 31 miles, but in a straight line across the water they were not more than two miles distant. No public waterways pass near them, so that they are per fectly free from danger from passing vessels, while the general aspect of the situation is sufficiently uninviting, winter or summer, to check the curio sity of the waterman's freight of any passing wherry The approach to the magazines by land is for the last mile through rugged lanes, over the peninsula of salt marsh referred to, and with two solitary exceptions, free from human habitations, and there• fore nearly as perfectly isolated on its land as on its water approaches. At some 500 0r,600 yards from the extremity of this strip of salt marsh a high gate thrown across the road, and connected right and left with a lofty palisading reaching to high. water mark on either side, marks the boundary of the establishment. A short distance within these gates are the outer buildings of the establishment comprising the residence of the superintendent, the residences of six magszise men, the barrack for the detachment of '6O soldiers and their com. mending officer quartered on the establishment, with the necessary canteen and other offices. Pass ing on beyond these buildings another barrier,kept locked night and day and under charge of a sentry, has to be passed. Directly inside this bar rit r stand, right and loft, two low one storied buildings—the (Ace and guard room—and a little in advance of these the engine house, &e., the latter close to the high brick wall that encircles the magazines. Pass ing along the western side of this wall another bar rier, locked and guarded by a sentry, has to be passed before the visitor reaches the entrance to the magazine and its small wooden planked jetty, alongside which the vessels of the War Department discharge and receive their cergeje. The planking is pegged down with wooden kegs, and the barrows which transport the powder to and from the maga zines are of the form used at Puifi eat and other Government establishments of the kind. It was satisfactory to find on inquiry that an order of the most peremptory nature is in force in the Pees mouth, or Sauth•West District, prohibiting fire or lights of any kind on board any vessels belonging to the War Department is the district engaged in the transport of powder, or other combustible materiel, whether the vessel is empty or loaded. '1 ho order is but of recent date, and it is uncertain whether it is yet in existence at all other stations. The Tipnor magazines differ materially in external appearance from those at Purfieet, ttinding at a greater alti tude from the level of the ground, and being plenti fully supplied with windows, in the latter particular differing altogether from the Purfl,et magPzinee, which haue no windows. The entrance to the maga z ne proper at Tipnor is about 100 feet from high water mark, that being as near as possible the dis tance from the double doors of the magazine to the outer edge of the jetty, About 30 feet are taken up by the jetty, and the remaining 70 are occupied with a covered passage and ante-rooms leading up to the double door entrance. At the outer entrance of this covered piseage are two small rooms, one on the right being the room where all persons enteriugthe magE.z . no change their own feet coverings for the brown leather magazine boots,and comply with other precautionary regulations, as at Put fleet. The op posite chamber has its floor covered with hide, and is termed the cooperage. Here all powder barrels or eases suspected of being faulty, when such are met with, aro examined and repaired by the cooper of the establishment, or the powder shifted into other barrels. Owing to this latter operation being performed there this:room is sometimes called the " shifting -room." The passage is divided by four doors, at intervals, from the double doors at the entrance to the magazine, and right and left along this passage are stored empty casks and cases. Entering the magazines, it is perceived as soon as the eye gets accustomed to the gloom of the place that what appeared to be two buildings adjoining each other in their outward wens is in reality but one vast building, with a dividing wall and double doors transversely reeoss its centre. The building is bombproof, and a continuous vista of arches can after a time be seen extending in all directions over head, springing from piers of immense strength, which rest on the foundations at abort intervals. The Game strict regulations and surveillance exist inside the Tipnor magazines which are to be found at Pur fleet, and have hitherto been attended with the same good results. It is said by those who have been attached to the magazine for years (and it is a peculiar feature that the majority of the men ems ployed in Government magazines belong to what are termed " magazine families "—that is, they have been born and reared on magazine ground, on which their fathers have been born and reared before them) that a grain of loose powder has never been seen on its filar. This may b a an exaggeration, but certainly a carefully-applied application of the brush in one of the passages brought not even dust, and, as the magazine is swept through every time powder is received or (Es. charged, and also at fi ed intervals, it is not pro bable any spilt grains would remain long enough on the floor for observation. The magazine now contains 80,5001 b of loose powder in barrels of the F.G., and A,4. descriptions, and 143,7101 b of the same kind in metal cases in flannel bags, in all 100 tons. There are lodged for the Royal Artillery 10,000 lb of powder in barrels, and 76,4001 b in com mon cartridges, In made-up cartridges there are 918,0001 b made up for large ordnance, and 76,3681 h for small arms, giving a grand total of the contents of the magazine as 1,277,3701 b, or 570 tons; The storage capacity of the magazine is a little over 22,000 barrels. Powder is stored in Tip nor in five descriptions of packages, from which the common powder barrel used in private magazines is rigidly excluded, powder being received from the private manefecurers only in barrels made by them spa. cially under the terms of their contract. This barrel stands lowest in grade of excellence in Government magazines, and is termed "common" powder barrel. Next stands the Government improved barrel, suc ceeded by the metal lined improved barrel, which latter is about as near to perfection of security as a wooden powder case can well be devised. In addi tion to these wooden receptacles are two descriptions of sectional metal cases stored for magazine service in her Majesty's ships, and their presence in the midst of the numerous wooden barrels surrounding them strongly suggests the security that would be at once gained if all magazines stored powder only in similar metal coverings, and discarded the use of wood, or at least of unlined wood cases, altogether. There is nothing apparently which can be sup Bested to add to the efficiency of the care and supervision bestowed, under the existing regale. tiona of the War Department, by the officials at Tipnor upon their magazine for its safety and preservation ; yet there are four alterations which might be at once carried into effect, which would certainly add to the present security of the build ing, and one provision for the future that would perpetuate its present admirable isolation from other buildings. The alterations relate to the office, the cooperage or shifting-room, the lightning-con ductors on the outside of the building, and the pre-. eence of small-arm cartridges inside. The provision for the future relates to the purchase of a strip of private land within a short distance of the magazine. The office stands within 60 yards of the south windows of the magazine, and necessarily has a fire place fitted for the clerks' accommodation in cold weather. In the daytime, in dry weather, the glass windows round the magazine are opened, as well as the ponderous inner and outer shutters, and all that then separates the contents of the magazine in a line with the windows with the outer world is the ordinary stout, wire blind. With a wind from S.W. and sparks from the office chimney—and sparks will sometimes issue from the best regulated chim neys—the latter, if blown against the wire blind, would enter the magazine, and might settle upon a wooden barrel of powder. The spark, in 999 cases out of 1,000, might probably go out of life innocently, or the barrel of powder, and the magazine with it, might go up. There is plenty of spare land, 200 yards further distant to that where the office now stands, and it would be as conveniently placed as now, if removed. The lightning-conductors on the side of the building are affixed to the roof of the magazine at their highest point, when they would be more efficacious and safe if fixed round the en closing wall at a height exceeding the present posi tion. So far for the outside of the building. As regards the inside, the presence of the shifting-room in such close connection as a 65-foot passage with the magazine is decidedly objectionable. It is not denied that a barrel of powder might explode while under manipulation in the shifting-room, as to meet some such event the doors have been erected in the passage to cut off commtwication with the magazine itself. No sane person, how ever, would volunteer to stay inside the magazine while a barrel of powder was exploded experi mentally in the shifting-room, and this is as strong an argument as can well be urged for the re moval of this shifting-room to some position at a greater distance from the magazine, and where it would not be connected with it by any covered pas sage. The only fact remaining to notice in connec tion with the arrangements of the magazine itself is the storing of small-arm cartridge in it. We have already expressed our grounds of objection to the presence of this material in the Put - fleet maga zines, and the same argument will apply with equal force to the magazines at Tipnor. The provision for the continued isolation of the magezino now only remains to speak of to conclude our notice of Tipnor. The magazine and its surroundings stand on the western edge of some 10,000 acres of land belonging to the War Department, but into this largo tract pierce some narrow strips of land which are private property. One of these, of small extent and value, actually extends along the foreshore to the cu er boundary paling of the establishment, and on the shore line close to the magazine. This land ie announced for sale, and already a large brick kiln, the property of some enterprising speculator, is erected and busily at work turning out mounds of bricks for the erection of buildings. The land . may now be bought without these buildings, and the iso;tion of the magazine thus cheaply pre served. A few months more, and the expense of such a course will be doubled or trebled. The Marchwood magazines are situated on the western shore of Southampton Water, the megazlne pier being about two miles distant from the steam boat pier at Southampton. The village of March wood, the nearest part of which is about half a mile distant from the magazines, has a somewhat scat tered population of 1,200 persons. The magazines stand on about 17 acres of ground, and the entire establishment is in form as near an equilateral tele angle as is possible, the base of the triangle being occupied by a barrack for the accommodation of a company of infantry that is constantly stationed here on detached cltiny, for the protection of th© magazines, from some regiment in the dis trict, the necessary guard.house, entrance-gates to the storekeeper's residence, cffices, labourers' cot tages, &c., this base of the triangle resting upon the Government road which leads from the shore line of the river to the village of Marchwood. The right face of the triangle rests, with its dwarf sea-wall, upon laigli water mark of the river, and comprises the pier and landing stage, the cxamining.house, the shifting-house, and A B C and I) magazines. The left face of the triangle inclines in the direction of the village of Marchwood, arid is, therefore, ad• ditionally protected by an outer wall 65 feet distant from the walla which enclose each magazine. It contains E F and G magazines end the cooperage. Along the lire of magazines on each angle, or face, is a timber-laid and pegged road, or "roller . ' way, over which the barrels of powder are wheeled three at a time in magazine barrows on gun metal wheels. Throughout this roadway, which is, in fact, a con tinuation of the landing stage and pier, the plank ing is fastened down with wooden trenails, and not a particle of iron has been used in its construction. Parallel with this roller way is a small canal, which gas formerly used to float boats np to the door of each magazine to deliver or receive its freight of powder. The substitution of the roller way and pier has, however, superseded this tedious process by another more suitable to the present age. The peculiar features in the Marchwood magazines, and one in which they differ from all others, is their method of construction, which appears to reduce the chances of damage from an explosion to the minimum point attainable, and so to protect each mag7xine that its explosion shall not necessarily destroy its fellow. This is accomplished by building each magazine as a square of massive side walls, covered in with a light titober and slated roof, and, in addition to enclosing each magazine with its own independent outer wall and courtyard—the distance between the walls of the magazine and the wall of the courtyard being about 20ft—each ma gazine is isolated from its next fellow by a traverse of earth 40ft in breadth.of base, and 21ft in height. Should a magazine at any time explode, the least resistance offered to the expansion of the gases generated would be' in the slight rooting of the building, and the main force of the explosion would therefore be expended upwards instead of laterally, the small portion of the force that would be thrown laterally with the magazine walls would be met by the outer enclosing walls and the eartt.en traverses, which it is calculated would suffice to throw it off and upward, and effectually protect the adjoin ing magazines. The actual position of the maga. zines, examining house, shifting house, cooperage, ike.,:with the pier and landing stage, is in this wise: —The pier runs out into the river 150 yards to the landing stage, where the vessels discharge or receive their cargoes. If powder is being received, three barrels at a time are placed on the barrow and wheeled to the examining house, which is the first building on the shore line at its junction with the base of the triangle, and there the casks aro care fully examined. If found tight and perfect in all respects they are then stowed away in one of the rim SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1864. magazines. If they show the slightest sign of slacknrss in the hopping, staves, or bead, they are carefully covered up in cloths and removed to the shifting house, where they are either tightened up by the cooper, or the contents are shifted into an other barrel, as may be required. Both examining house and shifting house are entirely removed from any close connection with a magazine, each being a building by itself with its own protecting traverses of earth, thus standing in marked contrast to the posi tion of the examining and shifting room at Tipnor, which is situated in the covered entrance pas sage to the magazines. The examining and shifting houses at Marchwood are both on the right face, in company with A, B, C, and D magazines. The cooperage is on the left face, also protected by its earthern traverses, in company with E, F, and G magazines. The distances between the respective magazines, which distance of course includes the traverses, are —from Ato B, 114 ft ; from B to C, 250 ft from C to D, 110 ft ; from Dto E, 150 ft ; from E to F, 120 ft ; from F to G, 95ft. The distance from the head of the landing stage to the nearest or A magazine is 458 ft. It may be as well to state here that in the event of any loaded or loading ves sel alongside the pier not being completed in her loading or unloading, she is compelled to haul off from the pier each day at sunset, and drop anchor down the river clear of the magazine, and 300 yards off in the river from the pier line. The Marchwood magazines, as we have said, have a storage capacity for 76,000 barrels of powder (Purfleet has a storage for 52,000), but their present contents, not reckoning some 1,500 barrels on their way in the Lord Panmure from Par fleet, are as follows : Whole barrels of loose powder 62,372 Ditto cannon cartridges 2,602 Quarter-barrels of rifle ammunition, small arm Metal-lined cases of ditto TOTAL WEIGHT OS GUNPOWDER. Tons cwt. gr. lb Loose powder 2,338 0 2 24 Powder in cartridges Grand t0ta1.... 2,467 12 2 20 In this return are observable the objectionable presence of rifle ammunition, with large storages of powder, and the absence of the variety of pack ages which may be found at Tipnor, as, with the exception of 105 metal.lined cases, all tho remainder —upwards of 62,000—are contractors' barrels, made by them under the terms of their contracts with the Government. If we enter ore of the Marchwood magazines— say F, with its 13,200 barrels, an idea may be formed of the internal arrangements of the whole, and a contrast drawn with the blind arches of Pnrfleet, or the almost equally gloomy vaults of Tipnor or Priddy's Hard. We enter by the door in the Courtyard wall from the rolling way, and immediately inside the doorway are ushered into the " shoe and clothes rooms," which are attached to the court-wall, and where we make the neces sary alterations in clothing. A short planked roller way leads from the entrance•gate and shoehouse to the double copper-lined doors of the magazine, the latter a by no means gloomy one-storied building, with large double-shutter wired windows, standing in the middle of the courtyard, its slatecovered roof capped with the Government pattern lightning-con ductor. Entering the building it is found to be a well lit and ventilated and beautifully clean pinewood cabi net of vast dimensions, walls, ceilings, and fittings gleam ing in all the bright dry freshness of that wood, with not a speck of dust to be found on the floor or fittings to soil a lady's cambric handkerchief, nor a sign of cobweb or stain of any kind to be discerned on the pine planking of its roofing. Long narrow passages extend through this northern forest plucked hall, from which branch off bays to each window filled up with its share of the 1,320,0001 b. of pow der, which is piled up in tier upon tier of barrels in every available space. The floor is as clean, if not so bright and fresh-looking, as the pine -lined walls and roofing, and, as a proof of the great care taken in receiving or issuing barrel., it is stared that the floor is carefully watered before and carefully swept immediately after the work is done. No barrel of powder, it is said, that has once passed the examining -house has ever been known to leak, nor has a grain of spilt powder ev3r been found on the magazine &or, Constant inspection is being made of the barrels in store, and if any one gives sign of shrinkage or slackening of its hooping it is at once removed to the shitting-house, where it receives the necessary attention from the cooper, and is then reconveyed to the magazine. Four barrels of powder requiring the attention of the cooper were in the shifting. house at the time of our visit. An experienced eye could detect no slackening of hoops, or fault of any kind, but the keener vision of the officials had detected the " sign" and removed them from among their thousands of fellows to apply the remedy. On inquiring of one intelligent man, who, it was understood, had once been stationed at a magazine where akood deal of private merchants' powder was at times received temporarily from merchant shipping, whether the average or private powder casks was as good as those under the cooper's hands, the reply wns, "Oh, dear no, many of then, you midat knock to pieces with a good blow I of your fist." This was dangerous gronnil, and no further I inquiries were, therefore, made. Marchwood, it will be admitted, from what we have said of it, must necessarily involve an immense amount of re sponsibility on the shoulders of whoever may have charge of it, for although the issues and receipts there do not ex. coed the average of two per week taking the year round, yet vigilance must never be relaxed, the storekeeper in charge must never be absent from his post, must live with his family literally in the centre of his magazines, may sleep certain hours if he can (sleep, perhaps, he does not on firer taking charge, until his nerves get braced by time to the novelty of the "situation"), and for all this responsibility, care, and discomfort, banished from friends and the outer world, the gentleman in charge receives the extraordinary cum of 2s Gd per day in addition to the amount of salary he would receive it quietly employed at his desk at the Tower or in the War-effice. The Marchwood establishment consists of the resident military storekeeper, one foreman, one cooper, and five magazine then, the latter of whom all have sprung from "magazine families," and one watchm an to go the rounds at night. There is also the military guard, now consisting of a company of the 87th Regiment and its officers. When extra labour is required, working parties are engaged from the soldiers off duty. Three sentries are constantly on duty, one at the guardroom and one facing each line of magazine doors. This arrangement, however, leaves the magazine's water frontage and the angle of the establishment nearest Marchwood altogether uuwatched and an additional watchman should be engaged fur the night/ watch on the sea front, and a sentry placed at the angle nearest Marchwood. The lightning-conductors on the roofs of the magazines might also be superseded, or supplemented, by other conductors affixed to tall poles at each end of each magazine, but just outside the wall of the ccurtyard. There is nothing else that could possibly be suggested as an improvement in any portion of the arrangements and super vision of the great establishment at Marchwood, while there is everything to admire in the very jealous and proper feel ing with which the approach of a stranger to its gates is re garded by its efficient resident storekeeper. Priddy's_hard may be dismissed with a briefer notice than either Tipnor or Marchwood, for the reasons that the same excellent rules and regulations that exist at the two latter establishments are in equal force at the former. All that the skill of man, guided by experience over a long series of years, can do, under tho circumstances of the present ar rangement of this eal.ablishnsent, is done here as it is done at Tipnor and Marchwood; but it differs greatly from those establishments, inasmuch as it is not a mere storehouse for powder as they are, but is the issuing and receiving maga zine for the port, and conzequently has its magazine almost constantly open, and has also a laboratory with its work shop within its walls, and at no great distance from its magazines. Its close neighbourhood to the dockyard at Portsmouth and the Royal Clarence Victualling yard at Gosport gives an immensely increased importance to any question which may arise as to its safety. On this latter point Priddy's-hard is safe enough, except in the event of some unexpected accident. Although powder and other dangerous materiel, including rockets, are being con stantly passed in and out of the magazines, yet it is always carried near the magazines in as small quantities at once as may be possible. The fact, however, remains indisput able that if there is danger of an explosion in any Govern ment magazine in England it is in the magazine at Priddy's hard ; and that a certain danger does in reality exist there is sufficiently proved in the presence of the laboratory and its workshop in such close proximity to the magazines, not withstanding the known care and experience of the; officer in charge and the staff under him. The results thsa would follow from an explosion at Priddy's-hani cannot in any degree be estimated without first considering its, position. Priddy's-hard establishment stands on the west shore of Portsmouth harbour opposite the northern extremity of the dockyard and her Majesty's ships Excellent and. Illustrious, while between the magazines and the latter vessels are moored the largest of the ships of war which may be laid at harbour moorings out of commission. The: harbour shore forms the termination of that aide of the (3stablishment on which stand the magazines, a creek rune's:lg some distance into the shore separates it from the Royal Clarence Victual ling-yard at Gosport, and a semi-circular line of fortifica cation stretching from the creek to harbo ar high-water mark isolates it from the mainland and the adjacent village of Hardway, It is distant from the north building shed of Portsmouth dockyard just half a mile, mid. only half that distance from the shipping moored in mid stream. From her Majesty's ships Excellent and Illustria us (both, as the gunnery ships of the port, crammed with gun powder and all sorts of experimental shells, rockets, and other projectiles under trial) it is distant about 100 yards fu.c)ther than the dockyard, and from the centre of the Royal Clarence Vic tualling-yard it is three furlongs distant. The magazines .it Priddy's-hard comprise the grand magazine A, m rth and south stores B, and C magazine for lodged stores. The present contents of these magazines are below the average, and are as follows: A Magazine--Present contents, 7,720 barrels; storage capacity, 7,000 barrels; description of roof, bomb proof; distance from nearest laboratory or working room, 106 yards to rolling way. B Stores—Present contents, nil, the roof being under re pair by the Royal Engineers; storage capacity, 4,000 bar rels; description of roof, splinter proof; distance from nearest laboratory working room, 106 yards. --- C Mag3zino for lodged stores, separated from A and B by earthen traverse—Present contents, 677 barrels; storage capacity, 1,056 barrels; description of roof, splinter proof; distance from nearest laboratory or working room, 180 yards. The A magazine contains more than its allotted number of barrels of storage, but this is owing to the necessity of clearing out the B stores, in order to carry out repairs to its roof. In the remarks made in this article on the position of the lightning conductors on the roof of the magazines it is not intended in any way to dispute the dictum of so distin guished an authority as Sir Snow Harris, who is supposed to have the direction of these matters ; but. however scien tific it may be to so fix the conductors on a magazine as to, metaphorically speaking, convert the whole building into a mass of metal which should convey the electric fluid direct to the earth without the possibility of danger to the con tents, it is open to serious question whether the safety of the magazine would not be more wisely provided for in sur rounding or in substituting conductors altogether clear of the building. So long as the conductors on a magazine form an uninterrupted line of metal frcm their topmost point to the earth, and have sufficient capacity to carry off the elec trical discharge, the magazine is safe. If, however, there is an interruption in the line of metal, or there is not suffi • cient capacity to carry off the fink, the magazine is just the contrary of safe, and exposed to destruction the first time a thunderstorm occurs in its vicnity. There are recent examples of her Majesty's ships, which will perhaps illus trate the question more than any mere assertion unsup ported by facts. Her Majesty's ship Bacchante, during her recent service as flagship in the Pacific, was struck at her mainroyal masthead by lightning, but beyond the bulging outwards of the conductor from the mast in several places, and the fusing of the heads of several nails, no damage was done aloft, but several of the crew who were leaning on the iron wire topmast stay were thrown with violence to the deck, aad one of them was severely injured. Now, in this instance there was no interruption of the metal line of the conductor, and yet some of the current must have been diverted by a longer circuit for want of conducting capa city, or some other cause. The circumstance was an ex• ceptional one, but great disasters arise very often from exceptional causes. The second illustration, in this case only showing what might have happened, the error being fortuna+ely detected in time to remedy it, is that on the chief gunnery officer at Portsmouth inspecting officially a frigate that had been prepared for commission, he dis covered that the connection which ought to have existed between the conducting band on the ship's mainmast had been cut off or never formed, and the break occurring just over the magazine. Had the ship gone to sea with the error undiscovered, the first time the conductor at her main royal masthead was brought into play it would simply have con ducted the electric current to the magazine, and destroyed the ship and all on board of her it once. The Great Polish Trial at Berlin. Several interesting incidents have marked the progress of this trial since our last report. The testimony of official witnesses that a ticket with a red seal, on which was an appeal from the Posen Committee for payment of the national taxes, and which the prosecution alleged was found among M. Moszozenski's papers, was not among them when that gentleman was arrested, has caused considerable sensa tion, and the evidence of M Jackowski, formerly an agent of the National Government, afbrded much valuable ma terial for arriving at a correct es.timate of the political ten dencies of the insurrection. The sitting of the 22d October was chiefly occupied by the examination of i%l, N. Sulerzycki, aged 62, formerly a councillor of the Credit Foncier Society, and a member of the Chamber of Deputies at Berlin. The accused com plained that he had been detained 16 months in prison with out cause. He had devoted the greater portion of his life to agricultural pursuits, in which he had b en unusually successful ; subsequently he was elected by Germans and Poles as their deputy; but his attachment to his country had always brought down upon him the persecution of the Prussian officials. He had opened his house to all his countrymen, not with the object, however, of exciting them to insurrection, being opposed to all unnecessary bloodshed. The documents found in his house were purely of an histori cal character, and many of them were left there by chance by his visitors. A great number of persons had called upon him, but he had never had any political relations with them, The matter of the ticket with a r3d seal, stated to have been found among the papers of M. Moszozenski, came up on the 21th. The first witness, a gendarme named Freiwald, deposed that he had conducted the revision iu M. MoszJzonski's house, and that ho had collected ad his papers, and looked carefully through them. Ho was :certain there was no ticket with a red seal among them, as ho would have no ti;;; d the seal; and, moreover, he'had numbered all the papers, whereas the ticket had no number upon it. Laskowski, a clerk who was present at the revision, con firmed the testimony of the former witness in all respects. Z , Lubrowicz, formerly steward to =the accused, said he was in the constant habit of arranging his papers, but had never seen the ticket in question. ii•Jrr LeiAt, awn. rho Prosecutor whothta he still held to his assertion that the ticket was found among the papers of the accused. The Crown Prosecutor evaded the question. _ _ _ M. J. Illowiecki was then examined on the charge of having acted as military commissioner to the National Go vernment. lla denied the charge, and deposed that the Court should summon certain witnesses, who could prove the truth of his statements. The court consented, and then adjourned to the 25th. On the 25th, after some unimportant evidence relating to M. Sulerzycki, M. lialkEztein was brought up for exami nation, Ho admitted that he had purchased arms of the insurgents, but only with the object of promoting an in surrection against RuEsia. The AbLtiJ. Lebinski acknowledged that he had acted as organiser of the district of Ostrolenk a for the National Go vernment, Ho had chiefly resided in insurgent camps, and his duty was to obtain provisions for the troops. There had never been any intention of attacking Prussia. He was pursued, with a few others, by the Russians into Prus aim territory, where they murdered his companions, and ghe was dead. In e t i v o e n r e l h y o wa s wound ta e k d e , n t b h y i n t k h i e n l t e h t i t s h c i o m n d s i Prussian troops, and cared for only to be thrown into prison, M. Theodore J.ckowski, aged 33, late agent of the Polish National Government, was then called, and addressed the Court as follows : Gentlemen, permit me to precede my answer to the charges of the accusation by a few remarks. In 1854, after, the accession of the Czir Alexander 11., it was generally thought in Poland that better times were at hand. These hopes, however, were Boon destroyed by the memorable words of the Czer to the nation, Point de reveries! I will not go far back into history, but begin ir whin the nation expressed it s w i shes in adeflonm the time iteshape, viz., from the year 1861, These wishes tended to the union otthe kingdom of Poland with Lithuania and the provinces seized by Russia, to the regulating of the relations of the peasants, to the amelioration of the schools, and to the de velopment of commerce and material prosperity. At that time the nation divided itself into two camps. The first still believed in the good intentions of the Russian Government, the second had abandoned that faith; and thus were formed the White and Red parties. I must here, however, also allude to two other parties, which, though anti-Polish, created no slight dif f iculties by their violence and activity —I mean the party of c osmopolitan revolution and that of panslavism. 1 do not here wish to name the leaders of these parties, I. will only add that tho latter was in fact nothing but a Government party. Every possible means were taken to neutralise the action of the party cf cosmo politan revolution, and the leaders of the National Govern ment were at length forced publicly to declare in their official organ Ruch (movement) that they repudiated all participation in the tendencies and objects of that party. Meanwhile all the steps taken by the law party of the Whites were unsuccessful. The address to the Czar was not received, the attempts to regulate the peasant question produced no result, and the schools were closed. In the Government of Warsaw alone 160 schools were closed in one year. Tho White party began to be convinced that it would not succeed in attaining its object by the course it bad selected, and the ranks of the Reds were consequently greatly increased in numbers. The last blow was given to the Whites when, in Aug. 1862, tho proscription was an nounced, instead of the expected reforms. The recruiting lists were destroyed with the object of preventing the levy, but the Russian Government determined to execute it with out the lists. This intelligence soon spread in the country, increasing the agitation which already existed in a high degree. The Central Committee determined, in order to avoid useless conflicts with the Russian troops, to remove those who were threatened by the levy from the districts where they lived. This was begun in Jan., 1863. About 3,000 young men succeeded in escaping from Warsaw, but when this became known to the police, it surrounded the town with a dense chain of sentries, so that it was extremely difficult to send individuals out of the capital. At length, in the night of Jan. 14, the first levy began in Warsaw—re cruits wore nut taken, only young men—and, when these could not be found, old men and even women were torn from their families and sent to the citadel. The struggle began in the palatinate of Plock. Tha Central Committee seeing that the war, for which it was not prepared, had begun,was forced to take some steps to organise the combatants. It was then that appeared the well-known address of Jan. 22, )863. In it the Central Committee said :—" We require the Poland of 1772," i.e , within the frontiers of Russian Poland, where alone the Cen' ral Committee had relations—in Posen and Galicia it had no relations—and in those provinces no one knew the insurrection would break out. In the address above alluded to the Central Committee clearly says the struggle is to be with Russia alone, and that the inhabitants of the other Polish territories were not to believe in any other statements. The second question was the introduction of arms. Three roads were open to the Central Committee— through Austria, Prussia, or by sea. It was determined to use them all. Shortly after the committee was informed that two convoys of arms had been seized in Prussia. It then issued strict orders to its agents in Paris, London, and Liege to use the utmost care in transporting arms, Were we not charged with high treason for having sent these arms, I could give you many names of Germans who assisted us, and are not in the least suspected of high trea son. Our many failures could not induce the committee to stop the struggle, which once begun could only be continued to the end. The war spread, and with it the sympathies of Europe for the combatants; and thus arose committees in Paris, London, Rome and Potsdam, Hamburg and Cologne. Could it be wondered at that in Posen, also, a committee was established ? I must, however, here admit that although the Poles will not cease to be grateful for the sympathies expressed for them, these committees, in fact, brought little, if any, assistance to the insurrection. The National Govern ment, therefore, determined to send agents abroad in order to organise the transport of arms and volunteers. Then came the sad intelligence of the arrest of our countrymen in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Let me be permitted, gentlemen, here to inform you of the views of the National Govern ment regarding this measure. It regarded it as a political step of short duration and slight importance, forit believed in the feeling for justice of the Prussian bench, who must at length have been convinced that this was simply a ques tion of showing sympathy for our brethren in the field, and not of high treason. I will not further describe the mea sures of the organisation in the country, but will pass to the consideration of what were the hopes entertained by the National Government. What hopes could they have, but hope in God ? None. They never reckoned on active help from any Power. They thought at one time of diplomatic help, and with this object sent me in October, 1863, to Dresden, with instructions to ascertain whether King John of Saxony would be disposed to accept the Polish crown, and act as mediator in our behalf, in order to obtain the neutrality of Prussia and Austria. It, then, gentlemen, the National Government intended to offer the Polish crown to an ally of the Prussian monarch, it seems to me clear that they could have no hostile intentions with regard to Prussia and Austria. The accused, in reply to questions addressed to him by the President. said that no money was collected in Prussia and Austria, the National Government having forbidden it. The sitting then closed. City Sewers Commission. The Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London met on Tues lay at the Guildhall, under the presidency of the Chairman, H. De Jersey, Esq. A deputation of several inhabitants of the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, consisting of Mr Sand, churchwarden; Dr Read, one of the District Medical Officers of the West London Union ; Mr H. Potter, Mr Pontifex, Vestry Clerk, &c., attended before the Court, suggesting the removal of two or three houses at the end of Plough-court, Holborn, in order to give a thorough ventilation through the place, from the want of which the inhabitants ha 3 long suffered. It was explained by the deputation that the place in question was densely populated, and the inhabitants had been visited by fever, which had called forth the attention of the parochial officers. The Commissioners of Sewers had given them partial relief by enlarging the entrance to the court in Fetter-lane a few years ago, and they were now asked to proceed with a further improvement on behalf of the per sons residing there. Upon the motion of Deputy Obbard, seconded by Mr Green, the memorial was referred to the Improvement Com mittee to consider and report. Mr DAW, the principal clerk to the Commissioners, also read a memorial from the same parties complaining of the quality and price of the gas su; plied in the city, and they asked the Court to take all measures that might be needful to put an end to the evils of which they telt they had so just cause to complain. Mr Deputy OBDARD moved that the memorial be referred to the Special Gas Committee to examine and report, Mr G. WALTER seconded the motion, which was at once put and agreed to: A communication was read from Mr Thomas Lott, vestry clerk, forwarding a copy of a resolution passed at a vestry meeting of the inhabitants of the united parishes of St Mary le-Bow, St Pancras, Soper-lane, and Allhallows, Honsy lane, in which they expressed their opinion that the gas at present supplied to the City was d ficiant in quantity and inferior in quality, and the charge for the same excessive, and requesting the Commissioners of Sewers to consider the propriety of taking the manufacture and supply of gas into their own hands. The communication was also referred to the Special Gas Committee for consideration and report. The attention of the Court was drawn to certain negotia tions at present pending between the Bishop of London and the inhabitants of the parish of St Dionis, Backchurch, re specting the state of the parish church; and also to an order issued by the Commissioners for certain repairs to be done to the church. It seems that in the first instance a report was presented to the Commissioners by the district surveyor, referring to the dangerous state of the church, and an order was issued by the Commissioners calling upon the church wardens to take the necessary steps for putting it into a proper state of refair. A meeting of the inhabitants was snl).9( quently held, at which several gentlemen called atten. tion to the scheme proposed by the Commissioners appointed under the Union of Benefices A..3t, who suggested the union of the parish of St Dionis with that of St Clement, East ch,Aap, and recommending that the church of the former be pulled down, and it was urged that in the face of these facts it would be imp udent toga to the expense of putting the church into a atata of repair. At thn ronetinv: referred to the vestry clerk was instructed to lay a statement of the facts before the Bishop of London, req•esting to be fur nished with any information as to the contemplated union, which might guide the parishioners in dealing with the question as to the repairs of the parish church, and a fur ther resolution was come to, requesting the churchwardens to communicate with the Commissioners of Sewers, request ing them to suspend the order made upon them to proceed with the repairs. This latter communication was to-day read to the court by the principal clerk. After some conversation an opinion was expressed that it was the duty of the Commissioners to proceed against the churchwardens and enforce the carrying out of the order, and a motion to that effect was adopted. _ _ A letter was read from Messrs Cerf and Berton, submit ting a specimen of a natural pit paving stone, similar to that at present used in Paris, for paving the street of the City of London. The stone in question it is said has a great advantage over the ordinary granite paving, being cheaper and not so slippery. It was referred to the General Purposes Committee to con. eider the advisability of making a trial of the stone in the City. SANATORY CONDITION OF TUE CITY. Dr. LETHEBY, the medical ofacet of health, laid before the Court the following report on the sanatory state of the City:— " To the Honourable the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London. "Gentlemen,—The inspectors' returns which are before you relate to 267 houses that have been inspected during the week, and I submit a list of 62 places for sanatory im provement. I also submit a list of places requiring further proceedings on account of orders already issued, but not yet complied with. " The markets and slaughterhouses have been duly in spected, and the officers have condemned 5,949 lbs, of meat as unfit for human food. It consisted of 20 sheep, 2 calves, 12 pigs, 38 quarters of beef, and 67 joints of meat. 2,089 lbs. were diseased, 2,106 lbs. were putrid, and 954 lbs. were from animals that had died from accident or disease. In ono case where the carcase of a calf that had been seized at the shop of Mr Bonser, who, although ho called the atten tion of the inspector to the condition of the meat, yet refused to give up the name of the sender—the meat was in a very diseased condition, and was condemned by Alderman Salo mons on the 27th ult. I submit to you that the case ap pears to be one which requires investigation with a view to legal proceedings. " In the course of the week there have been 56 births and 53 deaths registered in the City. The mortality re turns are a little above the average for the season, 21 of the deaths wero among children of less than five years of age, and 11 among persons of 60 and upwards. The chief causes of death were as ;follows --Phthisis, 4 ; bronchitis, 5 ; pneumonia, 2; mesenteric disease, 4; scarlet fever, 6; whooping-cough, 1; croup and laryngitis, 3; intermittent fever, 1; and erysipelas, 1; making together 8 deaths frona tubercular diseases, 7 inflammatory affections of the lungs, and 13 from diseases of a zymotic character.—l re main, gentlemen, your obedient servant, (Signed) " H. G. LEVIER - Y. " Guildhall, Nov. 1, 1864." THE GAS SUPPLY. Dr LETHEBY further reported that the illuminating power of the gas supplied to the City during the week had, except on one occasion with the Chartered gas, been equal to the requirements of the act of Parliament, and the amount of sulphur in the City and Chartered gas had not been above the quantity sanctioned by Parliament; but the quantity of sulphur in the Cheat Central gas had been ex cessive. The Commissioners, after disposing of some other busi- ness, adjourned. [ADVERTISEMENT.] Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— Conclusive Evidence.—Scarcely a day passes withen leaving behind it some proofs of the curative powers of Holloway's world-esteemed Ointment and Pills. A lady writes from New 011erton, Notts, on the 7th March, 1864 " I beg leave to state a few weeks ago I had the misfortune to bruise rey leg most severely. To my great surprise and inexpressible delight your wonderful remedies were no sooner applied than they gave me ease, stopped inflathma tion, and made a perfect cure in an incredibly short time." Testimonies such as the foregoing, which might be multi plied to any extent, should console the afflicted and give hope to the despairing, when worn out by maladies which seem unrelievable.—Sold at Professor Holloway's Esta blishment, 241 Strand, and by all medicine vendors through out the civilised world. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The war and the negotiation which Denmark has been carrying on against Austria, Prussia, and Federal. Germany for now nearly 12 months have at lest come to an eud, and we are at liberty to close with indignation and disgust one of tte darkest pages in the annals of modem Europe. Ths Danes must look back with very bitter feelings of self-reproach and of indignation to the events which have transpired since the commencement of the month of November in last year. The Monarchy then stood erect ; if not endowed with wealth, nor powerful from the numbers of its people, it was at any rate strong in its heroic traditions, in the prestige of a long line of Sovereigns succeeding one another with uninterrupted regularity, in the success of its arms against its insurgent subjects in the great battle of Idstedt in 1850, and in the recent marriage which promises to piece one of her Princesses upon the Throne of Great Britain. Now she is crushed by overwhelming force, plundered of her provinces, compelled to pay an enormous contribution, and confined to a few islands and to the barren peninsula of Jutland. The result is due partly to her own errors, partly to adverse fortune, and partly and in by far the greater measure to the bad faith, the cruelty, and rapacity of the two great German Powers. A year ago she was just about to experience that first mis fortune which brought all the elements of mischief which were lurking around her into the fullest vigour and most destructive activity. On the 16th of last November the old King Frederick died; he was a Dane, possessing the confidence of his people, and able to restrain them by personal popularity and the prestige of ancient authority. His suc cessor, descended from a different line, more Ger man than Danish, and suspected, though, so far as it appears with little reason, of preferring the in. terests of Germany to those of Denmark, succeeded under circumstances which entitled him to every consideration, both at the hands of his own people and of the German Powers, who were then pressing on Denmark with angry menaces a settlement in their own sense of the Schleswig-Holstein question. But that consideration which he certainly was en titled to from both the unfortunate King obtained from neither. Only two days after his accession he was compelled by popular demonstrations, which seemed to leave him little choice between acceding to the wishes of his subjects and immediate deposi tion, to give his assent to a Constitution, not indeed in violation of the Treaty of 1852, but of the under standing between Denmark and the German Powers by which that treaty was preceded. For an act thus extorted the King could hardly, under the circumstances, be held responsible. A gene. roils or even an ordinarily fair enemy would have felt for the situation of a man who was reaping a harvest of evil which he had not sown, and would have waited to see whether, when he became confirmed on his throne, King Christian would not have found means to retract the concession wrung from him at the first moment by popular violence. But he had not to deal with generous and fair enemies. Just six weeks after he had succeeded to the throne, on the 27th of last December, the long threatened Federal execution against Holstein was put into effect, and the coun try was invaded, not, as was pretended, in a hostile spirit, but simply to enforce the judicial authority of the German Bund over a refractory member of the Confederacy. Such a proceeding closely re sembles a distress for rent, which gives no property in the goods distrained, but only invests the land lord with a pledge that he will not lose his money. So far there was great harshness, but no falsehood or violation of legality. From this point every step taken by the German Powers has been stained with fraud or violence. The ice having been broken by the entry into the Duchies under the pretence of legality, the Federal force, which had served its purpose, was rudely pushed aside, and Austria and Prussia stepped boldly on the scene to act for themselves. Oo the Ist of February they entered Schleswig without, so far as we can see, any shadow of justification for such a step, under the worn-out pretext, if pretext that can be called which is really nothing but a confession of the in tention to plunder, of holding it as a material gua rantee. Then followed a war in which all the ad vantage of numbers and of the quality of arms was so clearly on the one side as to preclude the possi bility of acquiring the smallest amount of military glory by the largest quantity of military success. Next followed the invasion of Jutland, which, as it could not be excused on the worn-out ground of material guarantee, was coloured as being made for strategical considerations. At Duppel the Danes, worn out with fatigue and entirely over matched by the Prussian artillery, soon ceased to offer effective resistance, and the place was stormed with much ease, which did not, however, prevent the most extravagant exultation and the employ ment of the utmost limit of the most extreme rights of war against the conquered. It is needless to dwell on the armistice, on the brief renewal of hos tilities, and the ultimate submission of Denmark to a power which s he f oun d it i mposs i ble to resist. Since then she has experienced an agony protracted through dreary months of negociation, if that may b© called negocia tion which consists of the most exorbitant and outrageous demands on the one side, and fruit lest appeals to j ust i ce an d t h e l aw and usages of civilised nations on the other. Peace has at last been signed—such peace as is made between the unhappy inmates of an Italian diligence and their paleaerese when they have given up their pur.pa, their watches, their rings, their bracelets, their earrings, their studs, and their silver pencil cases, and have thoroughly convinced their importunate negotiators on the other side, by submitting to a minute inspection, that nothing remains for the one to lose or the other to gain. Denmark loses Schles wig and Holstein ; she pays eight millions and a half of dollars, which must be wrung from a people already ruined by unheard-of military exactions; and she is called upon, contrary to the law of nations, to expiate a wrong by paying compensation to Prussian shipowners for having exercised the undoubted right of a belligerent to capture enemy's ships in time of war. We aro well used to see the strong oppress the weak, but we never remember an instance in which so much cruelty was blended with so much perfidy, and the rights of nations so glaringly violated by proceedings originating in a pretended appeal to law and justice. It is incon ceivable how such an amount of territorial aggran dizement as has been obtained by the German Powers—how any amount of popularity and influ ence could be thought worth buying at such a price. Prussia has indeed obtained the petty Duchy of Leuenburg ; and Germany, we suppose, must be con sidered to have gained, somehow or other, all that Denmark has lost; but such acquisitions are dearly purchased by the triumph of a policy which osten tatiously tramples under foot every consideration of right and justice, and reduces what was once the law of Europe, understood and acted on between all nations, small and great, to the simple question of the longest sword. If Prussia is quite sure that she will always have power on her side, that she will never encounter any adversary stronger than her self, that she has established so firm a military superiority over every other nation of the Conti nent as to be able to despise those considerations of justice and mercy which are ever invoked by the weak against the violence of the strong, she may be wise in the course she is now taking. But if his tory, and above all her own history, admonishes her how little trust is to be reposed in the perma nent possession of that strength which she is now abusing, she may do wisely to consider what mercy she has in her turn to expect, should she be so un fortunate as to wage an unsuccessful war. The treatment she received from Napoleon, and the out rage inflicted by it on the opinion of Europe, have been counted among the most prominent causes of his fall ; and Prussia in her treatment of Denmark has as much exceeded the severity of Napoleon to herself as she falls short of him in all those attri butes of military power which were unable to pro tect him from signal reverses and almost unexampled misfortunes. POTS.—The rumour that another bloody battle has been fought in the Shenandoah Valley, which reached us by the last American mail, is now con firmed, and the official report of General Sheridan places beyond a doubt the authenticity of a telex gram recently received in Manchester from a private source, the genuineness of which has for the past few days been warmly canvassed. Whether the Confederates have sustained a serious defeat may be open to question, but it is at least indubitable that the Federal General claims to have routed his opponents and to have captured a large number of guns. The immense advantages arising from tele grarhie communication are to some extent neutra lised by the uncertainty attaching to informatio❑ which is acquired with no less rapidity than it is transmitted. A piece of intelligence can be flashed across a kingdom in less time than it would take to institute the necessary inquiries to establish its accuracy when possibly incorrect, and hence arises the natural temptation to announce first and inves tigate afterwards. This observation especially applies to the reports of the operations of hostile armies. The news of a victory or a defeat travels fast, and furnishes food for comment long before its truth or falsity is satisfactorily established. But in our thirst for intelligence at the present day we are not satisfied unless the mails which cross the Atlantic contain the latest rumours transmitted from the capital to the most distant headland which the steamers sight ere they bid farewell to the American continent. We are therefore constantly compelled to await a subsequent mail before venturing to express a con. fident opinion on the intelligence which reaches us, and are compelled to reserve our judgment until the latest rumours circulating in New York or Washing° ton have been confirmed or-disproved. Nur is tbi° the only disadventage at which we are placed in commenting up on th e su b stance o f t h e A nt ericse, meils. It is nat ura l th a t t h e respect i ve gener als el l contending armies should give s omew h a t differen t accounts of the engagements which may take pled bettet en them, and for s uc h di screpanc i es eve ry on e must be prepared ; but it happens that the Feder o! Government and the Fed era l G enera l s h av e maw such an invariable practice of . giving the most Me n ' dacious reports of the bat•les in which their trooo have been engaged, that, unless where a defeat admitted, or attendant circumstances confirm 01 , 6 etnnouncement of a victory, one is compelled 1 await the receipt of the Southern version before at taching that credence to the statement wit,ie h b ; under other circumstances, wo u ld b e accor d e d. . 111 Government at Richmond is precluded from trail mitting its war news t o Europ e s i mu lt aneous ly Wi t , that of the rival Govern men t a t W as hi ngton , na l not unfrequently happens that th e b oas t e d v ictol i of the North are, after a short i n t erva l d emons trst to be damaging defeats. Many considerations lead V ei l to the conclusion that th e r ecen t a ll ege d succ ess Gen, Sheridan will be found to belong to this chill It will be recollected that, after th e appointalen of Longstreet to the command of tne Confederst e army in the Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan deette° it expedient to retrace his steps, and whilst re: treating devastated the whole region through whin"l he passed. According to the l a t es t i n t e lli gen ce ~ had reached Strasburg, and h a vi ng a t thi s pol secured a position which he b e li eve d h e cou ld bolt against any attack on the part of the Confederat e° he seems to have left the headquarters of his ark and gone to Winchester, a town some twenty nuj'e farther north. On the mornin g o f th e 19th October Longstreet, taking advantage of a heed , fog, attacked the Federal position with comPle'L success. The Federals were taken by surp r ise, tbe', left flank was turned, and they fl e d in th e great disorder. The temporary earthworks which ha „ been thrown up for the defence of th e i r positie; were carried by assault, and 24 guns fell into tt l i hands of the assailants. By the time the Fedel- General had repaired from Winchester to the poi which he ought never to have quitted, his army W I been driven more than four miles up the valley tr i , point between the villages of Middleton and Net / town, and here he succeeded in rallying his for and making a stand against the advancing Confearo rates. It was then 1 o'clock in the afternoon. 1 : 11 , hours later he, in his turn, assumed the offeuel c i and, if his report is to be reli e d u p on , re p u l s ed e adversaries, regaining his lost ground, and capt°,: i ing 50 guns, inclusive of th ose p rev i ous ly t a ken: l the Confederates. The Federals had o n e gene' ll killed and three wounded, whilst their loss in ol e o is estimated at 5,000. A Confederate General sc o also amongst the slain, and Sheridan claims to P hi captured 1,500 prisoners. For the details of engagement we must still wait; but we shall; much surprised if it does not appear that the Fe u d ral army has not s u stai ne d muc h grea t er darne d l than it has been enabled to inflict. There is lit' ff worthy of note in the military operations elsewb e e throughout the Confed erac y. Th ere i s a b so lute; no news from the James River, the repulse ou j Wiled by Grant at the beginni ng o f O c t o b er halm to all appearances satisfied him of the inutility attempting to carry the defences around Richnli with the forces at present at his disposal. 01 continues to mauceuvre in northern Alabama, Sherman still occupies Atlanta. despite the repeiTo predictions of his opponents that its evacust`o would be inevitable. In Missouri Price pure o tt his triumphant career, and has added Glasgov!o the list of towns which have already fallen 111 0 his hands. No more State elections bale taken place; but the Republican and Demoers e e parties are untiring in their efforts to secure.rei prize at the great contest which will be deetf o l in the course of the present month. The electilo Mr Lincoln is believed to be almost certain. '0 President does not, however, neglect to canvas far as he is able, the immense co ns tit uenc y on Wilio o votes he must depend for the renewal of his le to of office. There is something very strange to ° of eyes in the Chief of the State making a st u d oration ; but it is in America as much a matte course as for a memb e r o f th e H ouse o f C o al° here to make a speech at the banquet of an / e t cultural meeting, or in the town-hall of the bar° t vo which sends him to Parliament. It seems Ole recent speech made by Mr. Seward has been 0 0 10 preted as meaning that, in the event of Mr Lisdot not being re-elected, he would, during the rental o ith of his term of office, endeavour, so far as he to embarrass, if not to ruin the Government • w go, others have inferred, from the fact of th e en Convention oe n Democratic at o i c t c bn a e d g i da t el definitivelywr nominated,e the at once seize the reins of government without tie ing until the time when, in conformity with I K Constitution, the present occupant would vacate 00 presidential chair. Mr. Lincoln has taken oee u ,! o pt to assure his fellow-citizens that all apprehert ° 4ol on either score are groundless, because, as he ° e t the will of the people, when c o n s tit u tionally i t ot pressed, must be law f or all. If th e p eo ple ° t bV North, however, have no better ground then the for believing that neither party will abus e d power entrusted to it, their guarantee for the rott servation of order and the protection of the inte r i fie of the State is extremely insignificant. So far e 00 0 are in a position to judge, we should say that A e e ril considerable time has elapsed since the Fe. lab population nave had an opportunity - of exprte their will in a eanatitatinaa I manner, arta r'•iilt° very long time must still elapse before they Wi enabled to do so. COUNTRY MARKETS. HULL—TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a moderate suPPdI English wheat of varied condition. Where sales, ok pressed lower prices had to be ac ce p te d . Foreign neetie The price of all spring corn tended downward, with limited inquiry. LYNN —TUESDAY. At our corn market to-day the supply of wbefl t middling, and sold at former rates. Barley met ! trade, at scarcely so much money. Oats and boo' unaltered. White wheat 43s to 45s I B ar l ey . 325 to R 095 to Fled .. 3Bs to 39s Grinding •• ' to Beans .36s to 378 I Oats Old 40s to 42s I Pea s .......0 to Averages --Wheats, 38s 10d—b ar l e y, 30 s 2d ---1)el 35s Od, MARKET HARBOROUGH—TuEsDAY. A moderate show of wheat, which sold heavily atl recent currencies. Barley in t o l era bl e supp l y, a nd o ' l o 0 a shade less money. O t h er ki n d s o f gra i n at f or mer —White wheat, 41s to 455; red, 38s to 42s per 3 6 Malting barley at 31s to 33s per qr.; grinding, 27 0 f , per 30 st. Oats, old, 26s to 28s; new, 23s to 2501 ) at. ; beans, 36s to 42s per qr. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE—TUESDAY. The wheat trade was quiet, and late prices were /I supported. Malting barley dull. In oats, beans, an no change. Flour in retail at late rates. M ON MO UT lI—TITESDIY. The local markets h ave k een fairly attended 13 , di buyers and sellers during the last six or seven c p and there has been a considerable amount of business The average quotations are as follows : Wheat, white 5s 3d to 5s 9d I 8ar1ey...... 3s 4d to 3 9 Ditto red..... Os Od t o O s Od Oats ..... 2s 2d td CORK—TUESDAY. The following were the quotations this morning •o f wheat, 7s 6d to Ss 3d ; whit e , 8 s Od t o 9 8 Od bar 6d to 7s 6d ; oats, 58 8d to Cs I.od ; black do., _ Ol3 6s 61; bare, —8 Od. DUBLIN—TUESDAY, i t Id, Supply of wheat sma ll, oats and barley fair. Intl,' freely at a slight a d vance. F oreign wheat sought e? sellers asking ad t o 6d a d vance, which buyers do 110" to. Maize mor e h ea l t h y than for some time past. o, ' s. d. s. d. s . d. 1 5 Wheat, white.. 24 0t026 6 I Oatmeal lO ot ° / 1 AtO , Do., red 2l 6 to 24 0 Beans.. ..... - o' - 0 t ), Do., new .... oto 0 B ere Barley v Oats to '9'y Do., black — o to —.O Indian corn .. 27 ° y --- Births. ,i 0 ESSEX..—On the Ist inst., at Kentish-town, the Win. E. Essex, Esq., of a d aug ht er . ~dl 7 GURNEY.—On the 2d inst., the wife of H. Edmd. Esq., of Nutfield, Surrey, of a daughter. 1 44 PORTMAN.—On the Ist inst., at Durweston, the KO" . Portman, of a son. Marriages. ofq LElGHTorr—LYszEn.—On the 2d haat at Saint —63 tr is o # •) ri o t Hanover-square, Henry Leighton, Esq., to u daughter ot Robert Lyster, Esq., et Milton I, Brighton. tOe;d l SLADEN—FRExat.—On the Ist i ns t., a t Queens p-. 41 Sladen, Esq., of Rippl e C ourt , K ent, to C aro line o r daughter ot Sampson T. W. French, ERg, t G li Queenstown, Ireland. Deaths. fe l BINGHAM.—On the I s t inst., at 35, Gordon-alga.fe, j p grine Bingham, E sq , age 76. I por Boorn.—On th e 31 s t u lt., Ri c h ar d B oot h, of '' near Northallerton, aged 76. , BLETCHLEY.—On the 29th ult., at 19, T a b e rnacle' r 0 Bletchley, aged 32. CD9 BURNEY.—On the Ist inst., at Brighton, the Are ll ; a , Parr Burney, D.D., Archd eacon o f C o lches''' 80. ror t° EAST,—On the Ist inst., at 37, Bryanstonsstreeil square, Wm. East, sq., aged 49. a GODDARD.—On the 29th ult.. a t R owcro ft, Strot cestershire,,.Charles Goddard, Esq., aged 57. N~- - - 4 lif, London: Print.ed and Pubilshed by WILLIAM 1 0. 1 of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at i'LIE SUN O ince coll , Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy. U tye kriddlepez.—Thursday, November 3, 1804.