The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-19 00:00:00

A HEAVY RUSSIAN CANNONADE :

Between 9 and 10 o'clock on the night of the 29th ult. the
whole camp was startled by the heaviest cannonade that bas
been heard since the fall of Sebastopol. Although the night
was pitch dark, officers flocked up to Cathcart's-hill, and from
a considerable distance down the road, curious spectators bur-
ried to the front. The cause of the firing appears to have been
as follows :—Six boats, full of men, put off from the Russian
side of the harbour with the intention, as some suppose, of
effecting a landing in Sebastopol, although it is difficult to
conjecture what advantage the enemy could have expected to
reap from so hazardous an enterprise. Others talk of a recon-
naissance, but the Russians can distinguish more with their
glasses in the daytime than they could from their boats in so
dark a night. Finally, a third conjecture points to the sunken
men-of-war, concerning which there is a myth current to the
effect that they are held down below water by cables, and will
start up afloat as soon as those are severed. It is not very
probable that the Russians propose to raise their sulunerged
fleet just now, so that this hypothesis falls to the ground, un-
less its ingenious framers imagine that they were going to see
after the tackling, or to ascertain the ravages of the worm.
Rather unlikely ; and, in truth, nobody knows the object of
this sortie of boats. Fire was opened upon them ; the French
are said to have sunk one of them, and then they retired, and
the Russians commenced a furious cannonade from all their
batteries right round to Inkermann. It is reported that they
sent shells into the Malakhoff, and even into the Redo. As
usual, the damage done was very small. A shell fell into the
French gnardboat, carried off a man's arm, and went through
the boat's bottom ; but the crew stuffed a coat into the hole
and got safely to shore. A round shot went through the roof
of the Town-Major's house in the English part of Sebastopol,
but hurt no one. The fire was chiefly directed against the
French, who replied vigorously. Very heavy while it lasted ;
it was not long sustained.

Under the same date, the Times' correspondent gives the
subjoined account of the
HEALTH OF THE BRITISH TROOPS :

There is no variation to note in the health of the army,
which continues excellent. What a contrast between last
year and this ! Last week's return gives 18 deaths (of which
five are in the Land Transport Corps) in an army of 53,000
men, our present strength in the Crimea, exclusive of the
Highlanders, &c., at Kertch. In the coresponding week last
year the army here was about 29,800 strong, and there were
638 deaths!! 18 deaths in 63,000 is about lin 3,000, orl-30
per cent. per week, or at the rate of 1 22-30 per cent. per
annum—about 17 per mil—which would be a low averap of
mortality in an English population of the same age, all males
of, say, between 18 and 45 years old. After this, who shall
shall venture to talk of the noxious climate of the Crimea?
Winter is, of course, noxious in any country, if men ale ex-
posed to it without proper food, clothing, and shelter. But if
the climate here be so hurtful and fatal, how is it that the
English on the plateau of Balacklava, and the Turkish Contin-
gent at Kertch, enjoy such excellent health and such an exemp-
tion from mortality as is hardly to be paralleled in the annals
of armies ? I stood by the roadside, two mornings ago,
watching a fatigue party, 1,000 strong, march down to the
stores for wood. I never saw such pictures of rude health
as all the men were. The young recruits, of whom there
are quite as many as is desirable, have got acclimatized,
and are gaining a more manly and hardy look. I par-
ticularly noticed the clean, smart appearance of the sol-
diers of the 57th regiment, of which a strong detachment
was included in the fatigue party. This regiment is one
of the finest out here,—certainly one of the crack corps of the
Fourth Division. It is very essential to make the physical con-
dition of the men a main point of army discipline, and one
which it is an important and particular duty of officers to at-
tend to; and I believe that there is an increased consciousness
of this out here, and that many officers are most zealous in
considering and promoting, by every means in their power,
whatever may contribute to the health of their soldiers. As
regards moral improvement and wholesome pastime, the ef-
forts made by various officers, colonels of regiments, chaplains,
and others, to supply the men with books and reading accom-
modation, have, no doubt, borne good fruit in their degree.
Owing to the necessity of erecting dwellings for the army, it
has been found impossible to get up as many reading huts as
were at first projected, but something has been done, and
some of the divisions are well provided with books. The
wear and tear of these is, of course, considerable, and we have
not nearly enough yet. The Guards, I understand, are pretty
well stocked with literature, and there is a reading hut in
their camp, well attended, and where perfect order is preserved.
The Fourth Division has a library for the use of the men.
The Scotch Brigade up beyond Kamara is the worst off for
books, and this is a great pity, for nearly all the men read,
and none in the army would be more glad of a supply of food
for the mind. Books are on the way from England, but they
are tardy in arriving. What has become of the Harbinger
steamer? We are uneasy about her, for she is three weeks
overdue.

The correspondent of the Daily News gives the annexed, in
reference to the

FINAL DESTRUCTION OF THE DOCKS :
About five p.m. of the 31st of January, the last portion of the
Karahelnaia Docks was blown up by the English engineers.
The destruction of the whole of these works, and the large
basin connecting them, is now complete, In consequence of
the fragmentary manner in which their demolition has been
effected, and the long intervals between the several explosions,
the operation has lately attracted but little interest in camp.
It is only fair to mention that unexpected difficulties have been
encountered in consequence of water entering the shafts and
galleries ; and occasionally from the frost. There is a strong
desire to witness the destruction of Fort Nicholas, which, it is
understood, is shortly to be blown up by the French ; and, as
it is one of the most conspicuous buildings in Sebastopol, from
its position, curved outline, and its peculiarly striking length
of arched galleries, and may be viewed in perfect security from
the high ground in front of the camps, there seems to be no
reason why the time fixed on for its demolition should not be
made generally known. The Russians, either from not having
time to complete the necessary preparations, or from some im-
perfection in the galvanic wires leading to the magazines, failed
to destroy the work, as they did Fort Paul, when they evacu-
ated the south side. They had evidently made the attempt.
A considerable part of the interior was destroyed by fire; but
the progress of the flames was arrested before they reached
the east end of the building, where a large hospital, with many
offices and private apartments, remained entire, with all their
furniture, in the same state in which they had been left when
hastily abandoned. At this end of the building was also found
a large magazine of gunpowder and explosive materials,
apparently arranged in such a manner as to secure its total
destruction.

The correspondent of the Morning Herald, under date of
Feb. 2, from the French Camp, Kamiesch-road, says, in refer-
ence to the

PEACE PROSPECTS

Fifteen batteries of French Artillery, amounting to about
400 officers and non-commissioned officers (le cadre), embark
for France to-day : and the only conversation in camp this
morning is la paix ! We yesterday received the Morning
Herald of Jan. 18, containing the following