The Press.
London, England, 1855-10-20 00:00:00

THE ALLIED BATTERIES.

Although the range is too great to admit of much
precision of aim, the French in the mortar battery
behind Fort Nicholas reply with great vigour and no
little success to the north batteries. At the same
time new batteries are being thrown up near Fort
Alexander and Fort Paul by both French and
English :

4. rsut
will be ready to commence their share in the long-range
farce about the middle of the present week, with, 1 believe,
six or eight heavy mortars and a dozen of long sixty-
eights. To these the French are busy in preparing to add
one or two other mortar batteries on the rising ground
which overhangs the harbour behind the Ilalakot, and
designed, I should say, to play upon the long line of re-
doubt which I mentioned in my lut letter as crowning the
moat elevated of the undulating heights on the north aide.
They are also throwing up another mortar work still
further up the harbour, and to both are making roads,
which seem to give promise of artillery practice through-
out the winter. Neither by them nor ourselves, however,
has anything yet been done in the way of dismantling or
levelling the enemy's works, both trenches and redoubts at
present remaining as when we first entered them on the
9th News Cor., Oct. 2.
The erection of these new batteries, according to
the Times correspondent of the Ist instant, was
disturbed by the Russian fire, but little injury was
done.

FIRE AT KARABELNAIA SUBURB.
A serious fire broke out in the Karabelnaia suburb
on the 90th of September, and, in destroying the Large
barrack buildings, inflicted a serious loss of wood and
material upon the " hutting interest" :
A shell from the Russians burst close to the barrack►
and a merchant sailor ran to look at the crater it formed
in the ground. Thence he entered the building itself, and
sauntered about smoking his pipe till he came to some
loose gunpowder, on which, being of a scientific and expert•
mentalising turn of mind, he tried the effects of dropping
several sparks from the burning tobacco. The powder, u
is not unusual in such cases, exploded with violence, and
blew up the sailor and a sentry outside. They were both
dreadfully burnt. As the floor was covered with cartridges
and loose powder, the fire caught, and went leaping on by
fits and starts to a large quantity of tho same combustible
matters. No one could approach to stop the fire. It at
last caught the magazine, and the explosion blew out the
walls and ceilings of the central barrack. The dames set
fire to the dry woodwork, and in a abort time the whole
pile of buildings, which were of admirable construction,
was in a blaze. The conflagration lasted till all that could
be burnt was consumed, and lighted up the sky at night to
a great distance. All that remains of the Imperial liar-
racks of Sehastopol is a mass of charred and blackened
stones, split by the action of fire. The Russians, thinkin
that the accident had been caused by their own fire, plie
their guns with increased rigour, and threw shot and shel
around the place, but did no damage. It is not quite cer-
tain that the man who caused the accident was a sailor.
Some people say he was a navvy of the Army Works Corps.
Whoever he was, by the act for which he so dearly paid he
destroyed not less than thirty thousand cartloads of wood,
which would have been made available for hutting and
fuel. It is, on the whole, a miracle that more accidents of
the kind do not occur, owing to the neglect of the autho-
rities and the carelessness Of the men. No ono seems to
take any care to destroy the great quantities of powder,
loose and in cartridges, which is to be found in all the
Russian batteries, and in every nook and corner of the
place. It was only the other Jay a naval officer pointed
out to me the danger arising from the number of live shell
lying inside the Medan. The fuses are open tubes of wood,
and have no caps, so that a spark setting fire to one flise
would blow all the shells up. The live shell■ are to be
found in all directions, and are generally nicely imbedded
near small magazines or piles of cartridges. It is now
supposed that the explosion which took place in
the Strand Battery, and hurt so many men, was a fougasse.
The Russians seem to be strengthening their camps near
Mackenzie's Farm—Times Cor., Oct. Ist.

THE TURKISH CONTINGENT.
The Turkish Contingent has been sent upon active
service at last. The Times correspondent at Con
stantinople writes on the 4th :
It seems the fate of the unfortunate Turkish Contingent
to be kicked about like a football from corner to corner.
After such long detention at the liuyukdere camp that It
began to doubt whether an Intention of ever mOving it
thence really existed, it was told that it was going to Ha-
laklava. This anticipation, unpleasant to the Turks,
sufficed to produce, or, at least, greatly to increase desertion.
When this crime, favored by the vicinity of the capital, had
taken ten per cent. from the numbers of the force orders
came to embark for Varna. A battalion accordingly de•
parted, but before a second could sail down comes an order
to embark for Kertch. Eager for motion and action, the
leaders of the contingent lost no time, and in a very few
days the whole of the first division, part of the second, and
some artillery went on board in good spirits, band playing
and men cheering, and quitted the Bosphorous for the
Western Crimes, when, behold ! again the wires quiver, and
General Vivian is informed that he is forthwith to embark
his corps for Shumla, via Varna! What wonder that the
general, although the most amiable of men and obedient of
soldiers, lost all patience, vowed that he would not be thus
treated as a shuttlecock, and hurried off to the British
Ambassador to tell bim so, with a decision and energy that
are said to have somewhat startled that diplomatist. A
message from the Crimea then summoned him to the
head-quarters of the allied armies, where it is to be hoped
he will be able to convince the commanders•in•chief that
it by no means conduces to the good condition, comfort, or
contentment of troops to be bowled about the Black Sea at
the time of the equinox from south to north and from west
to east, and then off to the west again. Ido not speak of
the unnecessary expense thus incurred, since there seems
a sort of tacit convention that John, who pays for all, is to
grumble at nothing. It is reported that the last order—
countermanding the troops from Kertch to Shumls--bact
its origin in a belief that it would be impossible to provision

994

them during the winter at the former place. If this be
true, the opprobrium was unfounded. There will be no
difficulty in storing six months' provisions at Kertch
before the bad weather sets in, and there are contractors
here quite ready to undertake the work should the com-
missariat deem it too great an exertion. Meanwhile the
contingent is away from this, with the exception of some
two thousand men, or little more ; the same steamer that
took a battalion to Varna went back, as soon as it returned
to the Bosphorous, to convey it to Kertch, where some of
the troops that left Buyukdere last week have probably by
this time arrived. Should they again have to traverse the
billows of the Black Sea, bound for the Danube's banks,
we can but wish them light breezes and strong stomachs,
and that the higher powers may know their own minds
better another time.

THE HEALTH OF THE ARMY.
The fine weather and the release from trench
duties appear to have had a decided effect upon the
health of the army, which is excellent :
The troops continue remarkably free from sickness of
any kind : in no army has the per centage of sickness ever
been so low, perhaps, as it is at present in the British force
in the Crimea. Two hundred invalids have been sent for

treatment to the civil hospital at Renkioi, near the entrance
to the Dardanelles, being the firstcontingeot of sick soldiers
sent to that establishment. The large number of wounded
brought to the hospitals in the field by the final assault
are reported to have made very favorable progress ; and it
is asserted that, in the greater proportion of cures, the
time occupied under hospital treatment has been consider-
ably less than would have been required, according to or-
nary experience, in hospitals in towns, or other situations
with a less free circulation of air.—D. News Cur., Oct 5.
The Times correspondent for once appears satisfied
at the health and strength of the army :
At present the troops are in excellent health. Our
strength is very considerable. It is almost as numerous
as that with which the Duke fought the battle of Vittoria.
The infantry counts 27,000 ; the cavalry, 3,500 ; the artil-
lery, 9,ooo—in fine, General Simpson has under his com-
mand not less than 38,000 effectives of all arms. There
are few things to be complained of ; but an army is an in-
satiable creature, and its providers must. be as thoughtful
and foreseeing as ants. Supplies must come in before-
hand in prodigious quantities, or we are starved out. A pile
of stores disappears in a day. To all commissariat officers
in charge at Balaklava it may be well said—" Nulkt fronli
fides,"—" Have no faith in the front."