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

HUTS AND TENTS :-

We are in statu quo; possibly tbe eeper, and the
Russians fire more than usual upon the town. There is no
change in the attitude of the enemy. The storm of Saturday
morning taxed the het. covordy, and they are by no means
highly spoken of; they are too frail and lightly built, and the
rain and wind pass through with uncomfortable facility. The
huts constructed in the sides of the hills by the French and
Sardinians are said to be more comfortable, and do not cost
a tithe of the money. They are roofed with wattles, covered
with mud and earth, and, if they are rather dark, they are at
all events warm and water-tight. It is now said that the men
would have done much better if the authorities had sent out
nails, hammers, planks, old canvas, and some glass. But it is
impossible to satisfy everybody.
In reference to the same topic, he further proceeds :
The new huts are much complained of, and it is said they
are frail, ill-made, full of chinks and knots, which drop out,
and leave inimical little embrasures for the wind to shoot
through. During a moderately strong breeze of wind, a short
time ago, the roof of one of the hospital huts at the Monas-
tery went off on a mission of its own, and left the poor
inmates shivering in the cold till they were removed to
another building. The hut in question, however, was built
before the new huts came. The tents now issued to the
army are new and good, and most of the war and time-worn
fabrics, inside which our gallant ancestors reposed in Egypt
or Spain, have been condemned, and are used as outsides for
the new tents, or as covers for huts, officers' quarters, stables,
and fabrics of that kind. The authorities at home, you
already know, refused the application of the commissariat for
more tarpaulins to cover the stores, " because they were very
expensive." Well, the wet weather came on—hay began to
smoke, corn and barley to heat ; and the commissariat officers
were obliged to purchase canvas wherever they could, to
prevent the loss of thousands of pounds' worth of property,
not to speak of the mischief to the army. But the " holders
of canvas stood firm '." they saw their opportunity, and
they refused to sell it for less than 2s. a yard, at which
sum many hundred yards were purchased for the commissa-
riat store of this division. But even now the stores are badly
protected, for their is no pitch or tar to cover the canvas,
although there is a vessel reported to be in Balaklava with
300 tons of these useful articles on board for the use of the
army.

The correspondent of the Morning Herald, writing on the
Ist of December, says, in respect to the
RUSSIAN FIRE FROM THE NORTH SIDE :
Although the desultory firing against the town of Sebas-
topol scarcely requires notice, that against the Malakoff is a
novelty that must not remain unrecorded. During the whole
period since their retreat from the southern shore of the har-
bour, the Russians have daily thrown shot and shell from the
north side upon the points occupied by the allies, yet in so
useless a manner, and at such long intervals, that the damage
done proved unimportant. But since I last wrote you, and in
order, perhaps, to wind up November with some eclat, the
enemy, especially on Thursday—the anniversary of the Polish
revolution, 1830 —maintained so unexpected and so very heavy
a fire upon the Malakoff, that the French were almost tempted
to return it. But they did not. Their officers ordered them
to keep under shelter in the very " bomb-proofs" into which
the fire of the allies had so often driven the Russians, prior to
the capture of that work on Saturday, the Bth of September..
To this fire on the Malakoff the French disdained to return a
single shot. The allies have not fired for weeks. " Wait a
wee," as the Scotch proverb has it, and Prince Gortschakoff
will find a few new batteries open upon him, which will more
than compensate for our present non-acknowledgment of his
favours. :Yesterday, St. Andrew's-day, broke with so fine a
frost-and clear a sky, that a renewed cannonade was expected,
but this did not occur, and, soon after noon, heavy rain, which
still continues, again set in, and " not a gun was heard," nor
was there " a funeral note." The Russians seldom hit us, and
therefore waste their ammunition most ridiculously. Some
people imagine all this present fierceness on their part but pre-
cedes a pre-arranged retreat. I cannot myself think so ; and
I imagine they are preparing for some mysterious " dash" in
or near the harbour of Sebastopol, for we can perceive a good
many boats and rafts under the north shore. N' importe, all
is ready for their reception, and perhaps the boats may be
collected merely to be burnt some day, or, as the fleet was,
but to be sunk.