The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-25 00:00:00

DECREASE IN DRUNKENNESS.

The Saturnalia (says this writer) in which the army seems
to have indulged while the expedition was at Kinburn have
terminated, and wise, judicious, and feeling measures have
been taken by the Commander-in-Chief, to prevent their
recurrence, by pointing out to the soldiers the mischief they do
themselves, their families, their comrades, the army, and the
country by such excesses. The fact is, that Major Powys has
pointed out some of the main causes of the evil in his letter,
and those causes will be removed in a great measure by the
orders which General Codrington has issued respecting the
transmission of soldiers' money to home. There will be
drunken soldiers ever, lust as there are drunken cobblers and
drunken gentlemen, but the men had more money than they
knew what to do with ; they could not get rid of it in any way
but by drinking it or throwing it away, and some of them
selected the former plan, while many more escaped the
alternative by wisely keeping it. The other day a man came
to me and begged of me to take care of 30 sovereigns for him,
as " he did not know what to do with it till he could get
leave to purchase his discharge, and it was not safe to carry
it about with him. Would it not be practicable to establish
ambulatory regimental savings-banks in the field at trifling
trouble and small expense ? The French are by no means free
from drunkenness, but the extent is less apparent, inasmuch as
feeble
the men are not permitted to stagger about the country,
although an occasional bacchanalian may be seen singing
ywhere
chansons from between his blankets of mud an
between Kamieseli and the left pare de siege. As to our
own authorities, they are waging a war of extermination
against spirit vendors, and, above all, against rakee b
im-
porters. This villanous spirit inflames men s rains, and
sets them mad ; it has all the abominable properties of fretsh-
run rum or new whisky, but it affects the nervous system
more mischievously, and produces prostration, which fre-
quently ends in death. It is dreadfully cheap, is colourless,
like gin, with a taste of bad anisette and a fiery burning
smack on the tongue, and is alcohol all but pure, with the
exception of the adulteration, which contributes the flavour.
Captain Shervington, the Provost-Marshal at Balaklava, has a
wonderful knack of following out the concealed depots of this
by the smell, and the process of punishment is simple. The
owners are compelled to start the poison into the sea, and

they are then ordered to leave the Crimea instanter. Can-
teen-keepers who keep it are fined heavily, their canteens are
shut up, and themselves deported, at their own expense, to
Constantinople. No less than three native vessels were
seized the other day by Captain Shervinton full of rakee;
the cargoes were confiscated, and the ships sent away, never
to be let into Balaklava again. Every canteen-keeper or
storekeeper on whose premises a drunken soldier is seen, no
matter what the excuse may be, is fined £5 for each, and the
Provost-Marshal has more money than he knows what to do
with from this source alone. But they are a wealthy race,
these social vultures—many of them king vultures—respect-
able birds of prey, with kempt plumage and decent demeanour
—others mere " adjutants," dirty and predacious. The
sutlers of Kadikoi care little for £5 fines while they can get
6d. a dozen for tacks and 2s. a pound for lard sub nomine
butter, and they pay their taxes like lords, or rather much
more willingly, now that the income-tax is pressing on people
at home. Taxes ! What is the man talking about ? It is
quite true, nevertheless."

The special correspondent of the Times, writing from the
camp before Sebastopol, on the 7th inst., says, in reference to
THE WEATHER AND THE ROADS :

The weather has been exceedingly unpleasant since I last
wrote ; heavy rains have fallen, and the roads are severely
tried, but on the whole they stand the heavy test uncommonly
well, and the unsettled parts are undergoing repair. The cold
of winter has not yet set in, and it promises to be a late spring
next year. The railway is nearly useless, owing to the
destruction of trucks, and the Land Transport Corps com-
plain bitterly of the discreditable, worthless, and rotten carts
sent out to them from England. Is there not an inspector of
carriages at Woolwich ?
The effect of the mud and wet on the animals of the Land
Transport Corps is distressing, but I am not able to affirm
that it could be avoided. Notwithstanding the numerous
good roads though the camps there are tracts to be traversed
by thousands of animals under their burdens which are ex-
ceedingly deep and heavy. Many of the animals are cruelly
used by the people to whom we are obliged to intrust them.
There are two men to every three horses or mules, but then
these men are barely sufficient to perform long marches, from
the divisional camps to Balaklava and back again, and after-
wards to attend to the animals and clean them properly. In
some muddy pool or in some deep scarp on the hill side the
poor animal, which, perhaps, has stood in uncovered stables
all night and is badly groomed or not rubbed down at all,
sinks beneath its load, and dies there in lingering agony.
Many of the divisional stables are still uncovered ; there is a
great want of nails and planking, and the result is that the
animals are exposed to the inclemency of the weather after
hard work, get knocked up with sore backs or cracked heels
—are lamed, lose shoes, and at last succumb on the road.
The men have tolerable cover and warmth, and are not over-
worked—their fatigue duty keeps them healthy ; and it is
observed by the surgeons that those men who are kept to
labour as a punishment for offences, and enjoy moderate
exercise in stonebreaking and road-repairing, are generally in
excellent health. Last night it blew cold and fierce, rain and
sleet fell in torrents, and many tents were blown down in
camp. I need not say that those who were suddenly exposed
to the violence of the elements were in a very sorry plight
indeed. A bed with a lively little sewer intersecting it is not
the most agreeable thing in winter time. It is considered
that, if the Government had sent out hammers, nails, planks,
and felt, the men would have done much better.

The same correspondent writes as follows, respecting
OUR FUTURE PROSPECTS :

The siege artillery is ordered home—at least, a large portion
of the officers and materiel will go before winter is over. The
batteries will be filled up to their full complement. The staff
officers of the train will return to Woolwich. Major-General
Dupuis will be succeeded in his command by Colonel 'Wood, a
very energetic and able officer.

Since the battle of the Tchernaya the field artillery have
had little opportunity of trying their strength with the enemy,
except that which was afforded to Major Thomas at Eupatoria
or Tchebotar during the recent reconnaissances, and of which
that officer skilfully availed himself in the presence of our
allies, and they look forward with confidence to the results of
the next campaign to show that they are as superior to the
Russians in the rapid and dexterous handling of their guns as
they are in courage under fire and in their equipments and
appointments.

The Colombo came back from Kertch a few days ago,
having landed with creditable expedition and despatch Major
Bondhier's battalion of the Turkish contingent, and sailed on
Saturday for Constantinople. She reports that provisions
were rather scarce in the camps, and that the enemy effectually
deter the Tartars from bringing in provisions, and are closing
round the place, as though they meant to attack the position.
The contingent is assuming shape and form every day, and
will be able to give a good account of the Russians, should
they indeed assail such a formidable position as the allies
occupy. The Turkish huts are described as being admirably
suited for the winter, and to excel those erected by our men, at
vast expense, in every quality which a hut for troops should
possess. The enemy have succeeded in burning a good deal
of the hay stored up for the winter by the allies, or rather
placed in positions where they thought they could rely on
getting it for use.