The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-29 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

We have had a heavy snow storm last night and this
morning. The fall has ceased,' but the snow lies several inches
deep on the plateau. On all sides, at the distance of about
three-quarters of a mile, our horizon is limited by a haze a
few shades greyer than the snow and semi-transparent, so
that figures are dimly seen walking within it. The wind
howls drearily round the huts, but the snow lends light to the
foreground, and the temperature is milder than it has been
for the last few days—far milder than it was on the 2nd, a
piercing day of frost, wind, and sleet. Fatigue parties, in their
short, fur-lined coats, their heads protected by those black
sealskin caps, the shape of which reminds one of pictures of
Russian travelling, bring up firewood on their shoulders to
the different commissariat stores, and a considerable amount
of snowballing goes on among them in the intervals of their
toil. Here and there carts move slowly through the deep
snow, in which, hard by my window, some Tartar dogs are
now disporting themselves, apparently quite in their element.
The winter piece is complete, and not unpicturesque. But it
suggests a wish that the whole, instead of part only, of our
army had more substantial shelter than tents against the
sharp wind, the drifting snow, the bitter cold that will attend
a return of frost, and the chilly floods which a thaw must in-
evitably bring. Well provided in most essential respects the
soldiers are—well clothed and well fed ; but it seems strange
that by this time they should not all have been hutted. Huts
are getting up, however, with great rapidity, along the road
to Balaklava. The health of the camp continues good.
Drunkenness, from all I can learn, is much less rife than it
was last autumn. There can be no doubt that in the autumn
issues of back pay and the difficulty of transmitting money
aggravated the evil.

-JAN. s.—Nothing new since yesterday. It is a severe frost
and a fine bright morning.

Writing on the sth, the correspondent of the Daily News
gives the annexed particulars as to
SNOW-BALL SKIRMISHES.

Yesterday and this morning the troops have been amusing
themselves by snow-balling each other, and really, without
exaggeration, military tactics were displayed by the con-
tending parties that would not have disgraced our greatest
generals. Before a battle commences it is usual to construct
a redoubt, or two or three batteries on each side, about 100
yards apart. In this open piece of ground, between the
work, the fight is most curious. No distinction is made or
shown during the contest between the officer and the private.
Sorties are made, rifle pits established, and sometimes flags of
truce are hoisted, all for the purpose of taking each other's
works, on which generally are fixed two or three flags of
different colours. Some of these flags are often captured ;
but the chief standard on each side is always a make shift
union jack. This is never fixed in the snow, but always
waved over the works by a soldier, as long as they are tenable.
The principal challenges given are one company against
another, or the right wing of a regiment against the left ; but
yesterday evening, in the Light Division, there was a most
hot contest between the first and second brigades. The
middle ravine was the great point in dispute. As one brigade
charged down, the other retired, and then, as the former came
almost to a stand-still, through being blown while ascending
the enemy's side of the ravine, it was sure to be charged down
upon, losing, in all probability, several men taken prisoners.
These great battles, still unsettled, were at last stopped by a
brigade-major, but not until he had ,got well slated himself.
Amongst the prisoners taken by thd' 2nd Brigade, who were
in most cases dragged by their legs, down and up the sides of
the ravine, I noticed Colonel Wellesley, 7th Fusiliers, Capt.
Thynne, Rifle Brigade, and several other officers.

The operations of the engineers still continue, and the same
correspondent, writing under the same date, says, in regard to
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CENTRE DOCK,

On Wednesday evening the English engineers blew up the
bottom of the centre dock, which is at top 236 feet long and
95 feet 4 inches wide, and at bottom 191 feet long and 40
wide. There were 13 charges in all-11 of 1601 b. each, and
two of 300 lb. each—total, 2,360 lb. of powder. The hour
named was half-past four ; but all was not ready for Mr.
Deane to operate upon with his ten voltaic batteries and elec-
tric wires till an hour and a half after, when the demolition
was pronounced complete as far as it went. Two cables were
again used, to which the small wires leading to each charge
were attached. In addition to a large number of engineer
officers, there were present, although it was dark, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, with two aides-de-camp, Brigadier-General
Straubenzee, with his aide-de-camp, and two officers of the
11th Hussars, viz., Captain Dallas Yorke and Cornet Wilkin,
besides the garrison of Sebastopol and the officers on guard,
the whole being under the superintendence of Brevet-Major
Nicholson, R.E. The enemy took no notice of the explosion,
nor have they been firing much lately from the north side,
although it is reported that on New Year's Day the French
and Russian picquets were uselessly firing at each other.

The Times' correspondent on the 6th January writes as fol-
lows, concerning

THE RUSSIAN TROOPS AND THE WEATHER.

Yesterday was a model of a fine winter's day. The long
icicles that fringed the eaves of the huts glittered in the bright
sun, the rays of which tempered a sharp frost. It was the
very day for pedestrians, and, notwithstanding that the snow
lay a foot deep on the ground, numerous walking parties were
out, officers' ponies getting an unaccustomed holiday. Groups
of young gentlemen, armed with fowling-pieces and revolvers,
were seen sallying forth in pursuit of an imaginary game, and
returning with empty bags, having been gratified by the dis-
tant view of a flock of bustards, by an overhead prospect of a
flight of wild geese, or by a glimpse of a remote hare contemp-
tuously observing them. The Russians took advantage of the
fine weather to hold a review of a large mass of infantry on
the heights above Inkermann; and the Light Division, having
no foe to combat, divided itself into two brigades, and had a
furious battle with snowballs. At night the cold increased,
and this morning it is very severe. There is no wind, so we
feel it the less, but still it is tolerably intense. Early ablutions
were a struggle with masses of ice, and towels stiff as boards,
and which needed thawing ere they could be used. The
cold weather has not yet lasted long enough for us to judge
of its effect upon the general health of the army; but the
men are so well fed, and in such fine spirits, that it is to be
hoped, notwithstanding canvass coverings, there will be no
serious increase of disease to record. At present the sanitory
state of the army is most satisfactory. The difference between
this year and last is very striking. To take the light division
as an example : it is about 6,500 strong, and has 433 sick, no
cholera, and but a small proportion of serious cases. In De-
cember, 1854, there were 258 deaths in that division; in De-
cember, 1855, there were only eight, and three of those were
from wounds. Of course, the absence of trench duty goes for
a good deal in this enormous difference, but not a little of it is
also to be attributed to the shelter, warm clothing, and good
food the army now enjoys. -