The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

THE LONDON GAZETTE

B ANKRUPTS.—Joux JULIUS STULZ ER, Grenville-street,
Brunswick-square, late of Guildford-street, ship owner and
merchant. WILLIAM TURING CURTIS , Great St. Helens,
City, merchant and commission agent. JOHN COLE
FOURDRINIER, late of Bush-lane, paper maker, potato dealer,
and discount agent. JOHN PROUT , Sutton, Cheshire, silk
manufacturer. SAMUEL SHEEN, Norwood, Surrey, victualler,
ROBERT CLARKE, miller, Liverpool. ED WARD POWELL ,
Newtown, grocer and provision dealer. JOHN SMITH,
Manchester, tobacconist. ELDON DAVIS, Oxford-street,
cabinet manufacturer. PETER HEWITT, Ossett Common,
Yorkshire, worsted spinner. JOSEPH MARSDEN, Derby,
ironfounder. RICHARD NIC [JOLSON, Southampton-court,
Holborn, carpet bag maker. JOAN PHILLIPS VESEY, Exeter,
hatter and hosier.

BIRKENHEAD DOCKEL—The estimated parliamentary
expense of Mr. Hartley, the engineer, for altering, improving,
and completing these docks, is £680,000.
THE %A :num.—Yesterday was beautifully bright and
warm, and the country districts looked very well after the
refreshing rains which fell at intervals for the two or three
previous days. The field operations are advancing with
rapidity, and an early and abundant harvest may be expected

THE ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

Camp before Sebastopol, March 3

I have more than- once had to remark that there
is a much larger proportion of sickness in the Land
Transport Corps than in the rest of the army.
The mortality of the army has been 4 per cent, and
of the army including the Land Transport Corps 5
per cent, or thereabouts. It is evident that, owing
to the nature of their duties, the Land Trans-
port men are likely to be less healthy at this
season than the soldiers of infantry regiments.
The Land Transport men have constant and hard
work, and no matter how bitter the cold, how
heavy the rain, it must be done, for the supply of
the army depends upon it. They are particularly
liable to frost-bite when harnessing, driving,
and riding, and often wet through for hours
together, or plunged to their knees in mud
while extricating their carts from some piece of
deep ground. Strong, hardy men are required
to bear up against such exposures and fatigue.
Unfortunately, little pains appear to have been
taken to secure such. Mere lads, of weakly con-
stitution, are doing work which would tax the
strength and powers of endurance of robust adults
--attempting to do it, for most of them soon sicken
under the effort. Considering the short time that
has elapsed since the new organization of the
corps commenced, great progress has certainly
been made, and can have been achieved only
by zealous and constant exertion on the part
of Colonel Wetherall and his officers. Ac-
counts from Kertch, from trustworthy and im-
partial sources, are highly satisfactory. Healthy as
this army has been during the winter, the Turkish
Contingent has far surpassed it in that important
particular, and this is attributed mainly to the
great sobriety of the men. During the last three
months of 1855 there were but 02 deaths in the
Contingent, which is upwards of 16,000 men strong,
exclusively of the cavalry, and of the depots on the
Bosphorus. This year scurvy has appeared among
the Turks, attributable to an insufficient supply of
vegetables, lime juice, &c., but, although widely
spread, it is not severe, and measures were
promptly taken on the discovery of its existence
to give the men the sort of food the deficiency
of which had brought it on. Among the British
troops at Kertch there has been no scurvy. The
Contingent's hospitals are very good, and the Turks
have the most perfect confidence in their English
doctors—a confidence dating from last summer,
when the cholera was among them at Bujukdere
camp. The soldiers of the Contingent are generally
large, muscular, robust men; their temperance is
remarkable. They are contented, docile, and seem
to like their officers. Notwithstanding all the
calumnies that have been propagated against the
Turkish Contingent, its generals and its officers,
there can be no question that the experiment,
as far as it has yet gone, has been completely
successful. And there can hardly be a doubt
that if they had to take the field these 16,000
Turks, well led, would fight as gallantly as
did their countrymen at Silistria and at Kars.
Including English officers of the Contingent,
clerks, servants, the detachment of the 10th
Hussars, &c., there is a Protestant congregation
at Kertch of about 500 souls. Service is per-
formed in the oft-mentioned building, which was
a ladies school, and is now a cavalry barrack.
By way of experiment, it was once performed in
the Kertch Cathedral. The Russian priest' s
permission was asked, and he made not the
slightest difficulty, and attended himself, as did
a large number of the inhabitants, to witness the
service. The good understanding between the Eng-
lish chaplain and the Russian priest was perfect, and
when the former left, about a month ago, the latter
presented him with a bell, having both their names
inscribed on it, which now swings in the little
wooden belfry of the church of the Second Div
ision, where its owner does duty. These are pleas-
ing and humanizing incidents in the history of a
war, which abounds in bloody and desperate epi-
i

It is with the sincerest regret that I record the
death of a most amiable young man and gallant
officer—Major George Ranken, of the Royal En-
gineers--who was killed in the zealous discharge of
his duty, at the explosion of the White Buildings on
Thursday evening last. The accident occurred at
the south-western corner of the edifice, and has been
related to me as follows :—A. mine having failed to
explode, and some minutes having elapsed, Major
Rankin sent his men to a distance, and himself
entered the place to renew the train, scattering
louse putvtiut over it. From the poaitiou in which
his corpse was found, it is supposed that he had
completed his perilous task, and was about getting
through a window when the explosion took place,
and the building fell in. His arm was broken, and
there were injuries to the skull and spine, which
must have occasioned instant death. The Army
Works Corps men dug for his body until midnight
on hursday ; they were then relieved by Sappers.
The body was not extricated until half past eight
o'clock on Friday morning, The unfortunate
officer was buried yesterday, with military honors.
at the Engineers' Cemetery, Left Attack. Major
Ranken, commanded the ladder party in the attack
on the Redan. He was a most promising officer, a
great favourite with his comrades, and his loss is
deplored by all who knew him. If peace be now
definitively made, Major Ranken will, perhaps,
have the melancholy distinction of being the last
Englishman killed in the Crimea. The last
Frenchman killed here, up to this date, fell in
a duel. Two French officers, who have gone
through the whole war unwounded, ciwarrelled
the other day and fought with sabres ; one was
killed, and the other was so badly hurt that
he is not expected to live. Colonels Wetherall and
Mackenzie are about to proceed to England.
Their departure is understood to be occasioned by
the discussion to which Sir John M‘Neill's report
has given rise.

March 7.—The week has been as eventless as
the weather has been detestable. Sunday was so
bright and pleasant a day that people forgot last
year's experience, flattered themselves winter had
departed, and formed pleasant projects of rides to
Baidar and Urkusta, of rambles to the Tchernaya
to talk to the Russians, of wanderings in French
Sebastopol, All these small Crimean castles
quickly crumbled. The heavy rain on Monday
made most abominable roads on Tuesday; then
round went the wind, and down went the quick-
silver, snow fell in abundance, and at eight o'clock
on Wednesday morning the thermometer stood
at 12° Fahrenheit, It is difficult to estimate
the exact depth of snow on this elevated plateau,
because the wind drifts it, but there cannot
have been less than 12 inches, and in some places
men sank up to their thighs; and the snow
continued to fall at intervals during the whole of
Wednesday, agreeably varied by sharp hail. The
camp presented the same old winter picture,
dingy huts and gray tents rising out of the
dazzlingly white surface. The wind was at
times so violent that it seemed miraculous
the tents and huts should resist, and not
be swept away and unroofed; and the rain
fell in torrents. Great dismay in the Crimean
Jockey Club ; spring meetings postponed sine die.
The customary duties of the camp became more
toilsome than usual. Fatigue parties slipped and
staggered through the deep greasy clay under the
load of the daily rations. Cornmissariat officers
and others having quill-work to do shut themselves
in their quarters and toiled at states and accounts.
Leaks, previously unsuspected, revealed them-
selves under the pressure of the deluge ;
there was much swabbing of hut floors, and
horses shook their ears and looked dismal as the
heavy drops oozed through the ill -j ointed stable
roofs and soaked through their blankets. For
that day, at least, the general order prohibiting
gossip with the Russians across the Tchernaya
was unnecessary. On Sunday and Monday there
had been considerable intercourse of that kind,
knives and pipes were bought as relics of the
Crimean campaign, and coin of the respective
countries were enclosed in balls of earth and ex-
changed across the river. Indeed, there was
every appearance that, if a stop was not put
to the growing amity, Cossacks would be coming
over to dine in camp, and English paying visits
to the North Forts, or Mackenzie plateau.
To-day there is another- change in this inconstant
climate. All last night the wind howled furiously,
and the rain fell in torrents. Towards the morning
the wind again shifted ; the rain became snow, and
the plateau is once more white. It is now about
noon ; the thermometer stands at 220, but the
frost has not lasted long enough to form more
than a thin, crisp upper crust, through which tha
foot sinks into fathomless mud. It is quite pos

sible that to-morrow may bring us balmy breezesa!
a brilliant sun, and rivers of mud for roads. Suen,
are Crimean caprices. A large number et.
boxes, containing voluntary contributions of
books, games, &c., intended for the instruction
and amusement of this army, have lately
been received from England. They include a vast
collection of excellent and valuable books, and,
thanks to the generous donors, every division has.
now a good and daily-increasing library. Through
the exertions of Miss Nightingale a considerable
quantity of school materials—such as mans and
~
slates—has been supplied to the schools ; but it fa
desirable that well-meaning persons in Englan
should reflect as to the probable utility of what
they send out. Some of the boxes recently receive,.
have been filled with the most inconceivable run
bish, fit only to be burnt.
10 p.m —Last night's gale seems generally con-
sidered, by persons who have been out here sine'
the first landing in the Crimea, as violent as "Y_
that has been experienced since the disastrous
tempest of the 14th of November, 1851. It is d
be feared that we shall shortly hear of wrecks an
misfortunes at sea. A cattle-ship came irate
Balaklava to-day with half its cargo dead, from t
pitching and rolling of the vessel. The u°,°,)„o
broke away and fractured the captain's leg iniyd
places. The latest report is that the -rt"o
1.
and Fourth Divisions are to move de'%'
to Inkermann and the Tchernaya to relieve
the French, who suffer greatly from sickliesl
The mortality in the French army is., „lib
to amount to 170 men a-day, and, altliu„*"„-d,
the exact number cannot be positively ascertilne
there is strong reason to believe that the au°:n.
statement is near the truth. lam assured that le.
three days 570 men died. There may be exaggof
ration in this, but it is certain that the number.,
sick is very large, and that the French Control. s,
sariat is badly off. This severe and fickle weatle;
must be trying to an army which is chiefly •111)
canvas, and as I believe, insufficiently rationed'
March B.—We have had a bitter cold night: erne
the earth is iron-bound with frost. The mail "-„
on Thursday has not yet arrived.—Times Correa--
dent.

The correspondent of the Daily News gives tlinee
following amusing anecdote :—A curious gee to
occurred the same day between some of. the 'au,
belligerents, near to Inkermann. As is well knosv„s
the valley of the Tchernaya at this spot beeoltr
very contracted, the cliffs which flank it on eit+7o
side being within rifle shot of each other. 011,,* a
Saturday the usual dropping fire had eease`; °he
the part of the Russian riflemen, but 'none 0'1",,d
Russians came out of their ambuscades or elleu:if
themselves outside their works. It seemed sere
they had received orders not to fire, but. lot
doubtful whether the French had received etabed
instructions. On Sunday, however, they aPprneacie
freely, and, in common with the French an"Zoli
English officers and soldiers who had grad of
collected together at this part, led by a d esr?
having a near inspection of the caves and eurus
giPcle,
dwelling places in the cliffs on the Ruseian:hlich
assembled on the banks of the small river ""sfid
divided them. Mutual salutations took Plaee' cle
to establish a fraternisation, as far as the obe,t3ers
which flowed between them would permits e cg, ed•
and tobacco were tossed across and interehl"tere
This was not sufficient, and various atteraPts deep,
made to cross the river ; but the water was
rise to
and they all ended in failures, which gave r; hit
amusement on both sides. At last the Russian' °d
upon an expedient. They felled a high tree',...sry
projecting it across the water, formed a teinP°eot
bridge, The invitation was accepted. Over geed
French and English, and nothing could e%eir
the civility of their late antagonists, but now " the
friendly entertainers. They showed than
ro.
Rock chapel, the iron balcony of bPeell
jetting from the face of the cliff, had oft" i-ces,
an object of curiosity, and hewn hollow Paersi
which, instead of being simple chambers or init
excavations, proved to be spaciousundergron"A fo barr
racks. There was also soup, raki, or the Pipes der
such as desired them, and it is asserted that 1111,,teci
the influence of this sudden friendship, ass'©
tor
by the raki, there were more thanol3',,sy
two instances of soldiers not finding their.....o
back to their camps for many hours after the ti;u
when they first crossed the river. Some Thisstiv,
officers were present who spoke French fine° 41
cliteuess the French
and received with pch twot.
few English officers who were near the Os!
This meeting took place before the gene'
order appeared confining all persons within
diet
camp from going beyond the outposts, an or;ti
which will, of course, interrupt any further.vi9,,;o
to the Inkermanu chapel and caves. The 637„f-
-writer, under date of the Bth instant., comelts.
cates a painful incident. He says :—On IVed°.ed
day afternoon, the Ist Royals, near Kamara,l3lllLa
one of their offices, Captain Turner. lie had wihe
nine years in the service, and was the soil of
ed
late General Turner, who at one time comeellero
the Cork district in Ireland. Four of his br°t
have been in the artillery, one of them 10
died of cholera when Master of the giirsseet
Dublin, just after having received a Pre bet
from the Queen for his services duringbocif
first visit to Ireland in August, 1842. The dun
of Captain Turner was carried on an artillerYcfbi
carriage drawn by eight horses, being precede sea
his company; the Grenadier 4, as a firing PartL'tbet
followed by all the officers of his regiment, t.°6'.flie
with Brigadier-General Horn, C. 8., andst3'o .'n,pos'
.effect of the procession in the snow was most i"--0/13i6
mg. I cannot help relating the circumstanee'v,e, Do
death. On returning to England on sick leave siic
was informed that he could not .possiblYllboae°
months, so he determined to leave his earaP'
in the Crimea. Previous to leaving thebridet
on horseback, last Saturday, for Traktir; 0,131
to be present as a spectator of the negeeiatfabow
spoke to Lieutenant White, of his reginlell3, o°
his private affairs, in view of a sudden dencreeA'
returning to his camp he tumbled off hirer ttti-
was carried into the hut of a Sardinian aliuorite
there died of aneurism of the heart. A fa
of the
camp rumour now is that two divisions ec for
army, under Sir Colin Campbell, will erabaciore„
Canada the moment peace is officially df,-,ortil,"
with Russia, The Highland, and Third or tie
Divisions are likely to be the ones seleoteut
right glad will they be to have a look:, a 60111/
Yankees with Sir Colin Campbell as the' •
mander-in-Chief.