The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-21 00:00:00

Win Court.

BALMORAL, Joss 19.
The Queen and Princess Helena drove out yes-
terday morning.
In the afternoon her Majesty went out accompanied by
Princess Helena, and attended by the Duchess Dowager of
Athole and Miss MacGregor.
Princess Louise went out riding, attended by Miss
Cathcart.
Prince Leopold drove out attended by Lieut. Stirling.
In the evening her Majesty received (by telegram) the
melancholy intelligence of the death of her grandson
Prince Sigismund, the fourth child of the Crown Prince
and Princess of Prussia, aged one year and nine months.

The Princess of Wales took • carriage drive yesterday,
accompanied by the Duchess Caroline of Mecklenburg.
Messrs. E. and E. Emanuel, of Burlington•gardens, had
the honour of submitting for the Prince of Wales's inspec.
tion the Newcastle Cup for 1808.

RETURN OF THE COURT 70 WINDSOR.—WINDSOR,
JUNE 20.—Her Majesty the Queen and royal family are
expected to return to the Castle, from Balmoral, by Sa-
turday next. Orders have been received at the Castle, and
preparations are being made in Henry the Third's tower for
the reception of the royal children of Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse of Darmstadt, who are expected to arrive

here, either this evening or to-morrow forenoon, from the
continent. The state apartments of Windsor Castle have
been closed to the public since her Majesty's departure for
Scotland, and will remain so until after the wedding of
her Royal Highness Prineess Helena on the sth proximo,
as all the rooms on the north aide, as well as the Vandyke,
Zuocelli, the Waterloo Chamber, the reception rooms, and
the tapestry rooms looking into the Quadrangle are being
fitted up in a style of magnificence similar to when the
Emperor and Empress of the French visited her Majesty
at the Castle. _ _

-----
The Duke of Edinburgh and suite left London
at 10 a.m. yesterday, and, as we learn by telegraph,
arrived at Crewe at two o'clock. They inspected the rail-
way works there, arrived at Liverpool at 6.20, and
drove off to the house of Mr. Graves, M.P., where they
dined with a select circle. _ _

Last evening the Countess De Grey had an
assembly at the family mansion in Carlton-gardens. Pre-
viously to the reception the noble earl entertained a select
circle of noblemen and gentlemen at dinner, covers being
laid for 23. _ _ _

--- ---
Last night his Excellency the Turkish Ambas-
sador and Madame Musurus, gave a grand ball in celebra-
tion of the anniversary of his Imperial Majesty the
Sultan's accession to the throne of Turkey. Owing to the
unexpected demise of the infant son of the Crown Prince
and Princess of Prussia, the anticipated visit of the Prince
and Princess of Wales was deferred. Notwithstanding the
absence of royalty the Turkish embassy was attended by
an immense number of the elite of society, there being
over GOO present, including all the leading members of the
diplomatic corps.
The dinner to Admiral Rom, on the presentation
of his testimonial, came off on Monday at Willie's Rooms,
and was numerously attended by his friends and suppor-
ters. Lord Granville made an excellent chairman, and
spoke with his usual felicity. The Duke of Beaufort gave
" The French Turf," and spoke in cordial terms of the
reception given to him in Paris when he won Le Grand
P,ix. The testimonial consisted of the full-length pic-
ture of Admiral Ross, by Weigall, which is now in the
Royal Academy, and three magnificent pieces of plate.
The officers of the select committee and the royal

gun factories of Woolwich arsenal have been engaged for
some weeks past in testing the advantages of a cheap
material for the manufacture of the service guns intro-
duced by Mr. Fraser, director of the royal gun factories.
The saving will be enormous if the expectations are
thoroughly realised.

The Royal Sovereign turret-ship, Captain F. H.
Herbert, is lying alongside the slip jetties of Portsmouth
dockyard, where the present appearance of her after turret
at the points where struck by the steel shot from the 9-inch
12-ton gun on the recent trial, is being photographed for
the Admiralty. The ship since the trial has, during dock-
yard visiting hours, had a constant succession of visitors.
A melancholy accident took place on Monday
evening near Corhally, on the tipper Shannon. A corres-
pondent of the Dublin E.rprtss says :—" It appears that
Lieutenant Rodgers dined with a gentleman who resides
at the Limerick side, and came over alone, as he was so-
Icustomed to do, in his own cot. He left the house of his
guest between 10 and 11 o'clock to return home, but mi-
-1 fortunately perished in the attempt, the wind blowing
strong a: the time from the north-west, and a fresh on the
river after the recent heavy rains and mountain floods.
Some men observed the perilous position of a boat and its
occupant, approaching the open gap at the Limerick side,
and ran to procure help, but almost instantaneously the
boat and man disappeared." The body had not been
found when the last despatch left.
The Duke of Beaufort, whose horse Ceylon this
year won the Grand Prix de Paris, has given 7,500 fr. to
the poor of the twenty arrondissements of Paris, and
2,500 fr. to the English Protestant Church of Chantilly.
The vase of Amathonte has arrived at the Quai
D'Orsay at Paris from Havre. and although itweighsnearly
15tonsthe steam cranes there will bequite capable of land-
ing it safely.
A mail steam-packet communication has been
established between Brisbane, in Queensland, and Batavia
Torres Straits, touching at Bowen Port, Denison, which
is upwards of 700 miles north of Brisbane. A telegraphic
communication has been established between Port Denison
and the capitals of Queensland, New South Wales,
Victoria, and South Australia.
A line of couriers is about to be established
between Kiatcha, the boundary town of China in Siberia
' and Tien-Tin, in the Gulf of Pecheli, in connection with
the Trans-Mongolian telegraph line. Messages will be
conveyed to and from Shanghai and Tien-sin by passage
steamers.