The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-30 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY.

ADMIRALTY, DEC. 29.—Arpownsmns. Lieu-
Minot—T. liamabotham, to the Royal Adelaide.
Paymaster—J. C. Meagher, to the Meander.
Surgeon—G. H. Ry►n, to the Shannon.
Midahipmaa—R. D. Clements, to the Hector.
Naval Cadet—G. B. Long, to the Achilles.
Naval Cadet (nominated)-11. D. Phelps.

PORTSMOUTH. Mr. 29.

The Victory, Captain Francis Scott, flag ship of
the Commander-in-Chief, will be paid out of commission on
Saturday and re-commissioned on the following day • as also
will the Victoria and Albert, royal yacht, Captain his
Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen.
The Achilles, 20, iron screw frigate, Captain E. Viussittart,
made • further trial of her speed at the measured mile in
Stoke's Bay yesterday, and by trimming the ship fear heels,
by the stern and using the best hand-picked coals, the
realised an additional speed over her former trial of nearly
• knot, the average being 14.240 as compared with 13.419
during the previous run. This result is, of emirs., at.
tined under the most favourable conditions, and
the test can scarcely be considered other than •
fallacious one. rho ship is made to attain • degree
of speed at the measured mile which she cannot
realise at sea, where it is impossible to obtain only hand-
picked conk, and to regulate the trim of • ship to an inch.
During the final run yesterday, the speed of the ship be-
came suddenly checked with an accelerated motion of the
engines. She anchored at Spithead, and on examisatioe it
was found that two of the four bladed of the screw had
broken off. To repair the damage, it is necessary to dock
the Achilles, but, as there is no accommodation for her in
this dockyard, she is to be sent rimed to some other port.
• The Royal Alfred, armour-plated weasel, in course of
construction at Portsmouth, is to be completed according to
a design which shows considerable deviation from the
original plans. Instead of being plated throughout with
41-inch iron, she will be coated amidships with iron plates
6 inches thick, forming • sort of box, which is to mania
the armament, cousis.ing of ten 300-pounder Armstrong
guns. The DOW arrangement. however, will not necessitate
any material addition to the aggregate weight of the
armour plating.
It is reported that Captain G. W. Prosily, C. 8.. of the
Hector, iron-screw frigate, will be appointed to the coin.
maod of the Excellent gunnery ship at Portsmouth, and
governor of the Royal Naval College, vice espial' A. C.
Rey, C. 8., who has been appointed chief of the new naval
ordnance department

EALING STEEPLE. ki Asy.s.—Thers are at lest strong
symptoms that these steeplechases, so frequently post-
pcoed on account of frost, will come off. The promoter of
the meeting informs us that in consequeoce of the decided
thaw which bee set in. there is every probability of the
sports being held on Tuesday and Wednesday nest, lied the
meeting is once more put off to those days. Owners and
trainers will thus have time to send their hones to the
ocean of action. _

DEATH rime FIRE. —Last evening an inquiry
was held by Mr. John Humphrey', Middlesex *wooer, at
the Frampton Arms, Wellatreet, Hackney, respecting the
death by fire of Mrs. Mary Ann Backe, aged 36 years. Mr.
W. Backe, 51, Palace-road, said that he was an artist, and
he was also pantomimist at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. The
deceased was his wife. She wan* &Tomo s.. bat had not an
tat the time of her death. On Tuesday
engagement attar 6 o'clock, he left boom to go to the theatnt
Deceased was thee a little the worse for drink. He grieved
to say that at times, for tea years past, she pee way to
habits of intemperance. His preoccupation with his ben.
bees prevented his taking the precautions be otherwise
would have adopted. Emily Cape, • little girl,
maid that at half•past 7 o'clock on the night
in question, Mr.. Backe seat her for • quer.
tare of gin. Witness fetched it, and then left
the deceased by herself in the back-room, and went
away. Deceased wag not at that time so tipsy as she bad
been. Mrs. Laura Pastel said that she resided in the next
house, and at half-past too o'clock on Tuesday night she was
alarmed by a dreadful smell proosedine from deceased's
house. She raised an alarm. Hawes, 44 N, said that on
being called to the house be found the smell of fire so strong
that he at once broke in. He forted the deemed deed on
the floor, but the flesh still burning. He had to throw
water over her to put it out. The bones of her arms and
chest were laid bare and charred, the &eh being
all burnt off. The whole of the dress of the upper
part of the body of the deceased was consumed,
and he therefore inferred that she set her clothes
on fire either by falling against the grate or by
leaning over the candle, which was still alight on the
table. She had set fire to a chair, and the room was filled
with thick smoke, which rendered it almost impossible to
breathe. Dr. Meade said that when he was called in be
found the deceased just dead from her dreadful burns. He
had never seen a wore terrible case of burning ; some of the
Loess were completely denuded of flesh. She must have
been burning a long l ime. Mach sympathy was expensed
in court for the husband of the unfortunate deceased, who
fainted while giving his evidence. The jury returneda ver-
dict of " Accidental death by fire."
DEAD Lvrreas.—The report of Postmaster Den-
nison shows en extraordinary amount of carelessness on
the part of the letter-writing community. Three million
five hundred sod eight thousand three hundred and twenty-
' five deed letters were received during the pant year—over
nine thourand a day. Many of these letters emitained
money, deeds, bills of exchange. drafts, cheques, jewellery,
and other valuables. Some of them were misdirected,
others tot directed at all, others unstamped, sad others
only partially directed. Thousands of these dead letters
were returned to the writers, but the great majority had to
be destroyed. This statement ought to teach the public
to be more careful in their correspondence, for the amount
of sofferiag caused by these lost letters is incalculable.—
New York paper.