The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-07 00:00:00

THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD.

A large mumber of medical men, chemists, and phar-
maceutists, assembled last night at the rooms of the :Filar-
snarceutical Society, Bloomsbury-square, in order to hear
a communication by Dr. Hassall. Amongst those pre-
sent we noticed Mr. Schelefield, M.P., Dr. Hassall, Dr.
O'Connor, Dr. Dillon, Dr. Semple, Dr. Bernays, Pb. D.,
Dr. Normandy, Messrs. Alexander Ure, F.R.C.S., E.
Joseph, M.R.C.S., Jabez Hogg, M.R.C.S., Jacob Bell,
Bastick, Curtis, Morson, Hills, Squire, Hanbury,
&c. The subject was the adulteration of annatto, a
vegetable dye, much used by dyers, painters, soapmakers,
and also employed in 'the coloration of milk, butter, and
cheese. This communication was of a very elaborate
character, and it contained the results of the microscopi-
cal and chemical examination of 34 samples of annatto.
The following ingredients were detected :—Very large
quantities of sago, wheat, rye, and barley, in 14 speci-
mens ; tumeric powder in several ; chalk in a great many
(this in some instances amounting to over 60 per cent.) ;
sulphate of lime or gypsum in several, salt in a great
many, alkali in many; red earths, as Venetian red and
ruddle, in a great many, lead in three samples, and cop-
per in others. To such an extent was the adulteration
carried that some of the samples contained not more than
30 per cent. of annatto. Dr. Hassall admitted that
alkali was necessary in order to render it more soluble,
and possibly a small quantity of starch, but any excess
of this, and all the other articles, Dr. Hassall regarded
as adulterations.

SavlNGs-Bmixs.—Notwithstanding the many causes
of distress among the industrious- classes, the deposits
and interest due to depositors in the Finsbury BAnk,
Sekforde street, according to the accounts made up to
the 30th of November, remain nearly the same as at the
beginning of the year. During the last 12 months it
appears that the deposits amounted to 74,3611., the re-
payments to 82,5931., the interest to 8,6571., and the
capital to 269,3961. The balance in their favour at the
National Debt-offibe also exceeds the amount due on
their accounts.

THE MASSACRE Al' RANG° HEAD.

• 1
The following official report'of the eircumstancds,
attending the attack upon the boat of • her Ma-
jesty's ship Coisack, at Hango ba § been fur-
nibhed by 'Lieut.. Genoste,, at the request of the
Lords Commissioners of the Board of Admiralty
London, Nov. 29, 1855.
compliance with the order of the 22d inst.,
reccived'frorn you, directing me to transmit to for
Mit
the infortion'athe Lords' Commissioners of 'the 'Ad.'
miralty a full and detailed. account of the circumstances;
attending the landing from the boat of H.M.S. Cossack,
at Hango Head, and of the attack made-upon her by the
Russian soldiers, I have the honour -to state that,- on
Tuesday, sth June last, when lying off Hango Head, in
M.S.-Cossack,'l.received orders from Ciipt.'Panaliniee
to proceed on shore in the cutter of that ship; with, a
flag of truce, to land five Finnish captains,'Russian sub
jects, and to communicate with , the Rutsiarf officer' or
officers At that place,. to inform him for what purpose I-
bad come on shore, and alio to acquaint him that we had
reeeivednrders to take or destroy-all the Small, Russian
coasting vessels or boats found passing and reps' Bing
along the coast: - . •
Capt. Faaishawe also inforined me that hid ,gi-sieis
permission to the stewards to go in t 4 bost,'and that if
the Russian officer whom I should meet on shore had no
objection, and the inhabitants were willing to jell any eggs
or poultry to them, I was to permitthem to purchase these
articles, but I was on no account.to permit their being,
with me to interfere in any way with the performance
of the duty on which I -was sent ; nor, if the things
which they wished to purchase were not immediately at
hand, were we to wait for them, nor . on any account to
permit them to detain the boat.
Having received my orders I found the cutter at the
gangway manned with the ordinary harbour boat's crew.
of boys and young hands, she having another fighting
boat's Icretv of older and stronger men, wleo were always
sentin her when going awayfrontthe ship for warlike
purposes, but whe were not -einfloyedln-thittns • ,
the Finnish prisoners, wirh their- luggage, .being in the
boat; as also the three stewards, Mr. Sullivan, midship-
man of the boat, and Dr. Easton, who had obtained leave
to come with the boat for the pleasure of the pull and
his own amusement.
The muskets belonging to the boat were in her, as is
customary whenever a boat is sent away from the ship
in war time in an enemy's waters. The boat's magazine
was also in the boat containing its usual complement ;
that is, only cartridges for the muskets, two small blue
lights for signals, one small rocltet for the same purpose,
and one slow match. The-muskets were in the bottom
of the boat, under the baggage belonging to the priso-
ners ; the crew had not their cartouche boxes on, they
being attached to the muskets, and with them in the
bottom of the boat.
As soon as we had left the ship the coxswain of the
boat asked nee if he should serve out the ammunition to
tur hes
peu
laimel
dec,nu,,s
,taocnd mer
toi tanitngl musksnngo
taw;
aet
hytaitsr boa
from
u lawd
sebbewi
pel ori
were
ded,
gwoai
nr
gas is the
ly
time.with
hla
flag of truce we should not-require them." In conse-
quence of this order the magazine was not unlocked, and
no ammunition was given out, nor any musket loaded.
When a little distance from the ship, and at least a
mile and a-half from the shore, I ordered the flag of
truce to be hoisted in the 139 w of the boat, it beiog the
most conspicuous place, and it remained there during the
whole time of our approach to the shore, equally visible
as the boat herself.
Theflag was of white bunting, attached to the end of a
boarding-pike. As the boat approached the shore I
examined most attentively with my glasses the beach
and neighbouring coast and rocks, to see if I could dis-
cern the presence of any Russian force, bat nothing
whatever could be observed to indicate there being any
troops in the neighbourhood. I was not, therefore, sur-
prised that the flag of truce was not answered, as we had
no reason to suppose that we should find any soldiers
there.
The flag of truce not being answered in any way, and
no signal of any kind being made, I of course concluded '
that there could not be any Russian troops in the-neigh-
bourhood, and therefore proceeded slowly to the shore to
fulfil my mission, the flag of truce being still kept in the
most conspicuous position.
On arriving at the jetty, no person being visible ex-
cept two women standing at the door of one of the
houses, and one peasant who ran across between two
houses, I landed the Russian prisoners and their bag-,
gage, and giving particular orders to Mr. Sullivan not
to let any of the boat's crew leave the boat, proceeded to
accomplish the remaining part of my mission by com-
municating with the Russian lieutenant at the telegraph
station, to acquaint him with the reason of my coining
on share close to his station, and to tell him our orders
to put a stop to the coasting trade, as I have before
mentioned.

The telegraph station was on the bill, immediately
above where we landed on the jetty ; the road to it ran
round the bottom of the hill ; in so doing, approaching
the houses on the beach, and being under three minutes'
walk from tlat.boat. _Pisa Rnosrian _priatumrs 510,,Arnp,
nied me (in order to be delivered to the officer), as did
also Dr. Easton. I also permitted the three stewards
to follow me, but ordered them particularly to keep
close to me, not to communicate with the inhabitants
or attempt to purchase anything, even if offered, until
I had given them permission, after having, in the first
place, obtained the sanction of the Russian officer.
The stewards were dressed in plain clothes, as were
the Russian prisoners, and they could in no way be dis-
tinguished from them. I-beg to state that the stewards
being with me did not in the least influence my proceed-
ings ; that I should have advanced to communicate with
the officer at the telegraph station equally whether tl ey
had been with me or not ; the consideration as to whe-
ther they should obtain a few eggs and poultry not being
of the smallest moment. My intention was, on finish-
ing my official communication with the Russia❑ officer,
to ask him if he had any objection to their obtaining
anything that was for sale on the spot, and, if he had
consented, I should have permitted them to do so, but
should not have allowed them to go away from the sta-
tion or detain the boat.

On moving from the boat I gave the flag of truce to
Lortun, the midshipman's steward, who carried it beside
me, high and conspicuous in the air.
Being thus in the act of carrying out my obvious and
imperative duty, and bona fide proceeding t) find the
nearest military authority, with whom the duty required
me to communicate, under the full protection of the flag
of truce, my astonishment may be imagined when, before
we had proceeded 40 to 50 paces from the boat, a heavy
fire was suddenly opened upon our small and utterly de-
'fenceless party, from all sides, by Russian soldiery, who,
having hitherto lain carefully and treacherously con-
cealed, now first gave notice of their presence as, after a
murderous volley, they leaped from behind rocks and
advanced on us, uttering the most furious cries and firing
rapidly as they came.
Of our small party who were on the pier several fell at
the first fire ; Lundstrum, one of the Finnish captains,
called out in Russian to stop the firing, but was immedi-
ately shot down with a bullet ,through his head ; three
of the other Russian prisoners also fell wounded, and
ounn ed,e
rshelter withs e Pr.
oEfatshteonp,ierle.aped into the water and got
The captain's and gun-room steward were both killed.
The midshipmen's steward, who carried the flag of truce,
was shot down with a ball in the hip the first fire. I
immediately took the flag of truce from him, and, hold-
ing it up in the air, and pointing to it, called out in
French and English, and did all I could to prevent them
firing on the boat.
Of the party who had landed, I was the only one left
l
standing in less than half-a-minute after the fire opened.
For a moment the soldiers seemed puzzled, and partially
stopped their firing, but immediately afterwards resumed
it harder than ever, advancing upon us with frightful yells.
Of the poor fellows in the boat many fell at the first
fire, killed or wounded, one jumped immediately into
the water and got under the jetty, by which means he
escaped being hit ; the others seeing the numbers of the
soldiers and the impossibility of resistance, not having
even a loaded weapon or the powder to load one with,
also jumped into the water, and hung on the off-side of
the boat, keeping as far down in the water as possible
for protection. But even there they were not safe, as
although not a blow had been struck or a shot fired on
our part, and not a man was now visible in the boat, the
Russian soldiers continued in the most barbarous man-
ner to fire through and through the boat, until she was
completely riddled, killing and wounding several of the
poor fellows who were in the water on the off-side.
In the meantime, on shore, the soldiers rushed down,
and not having succeeded in killing me with their balls,
rushed at me with the bayonet ; resistance from theird
when
numbers was, of course useless, 20 being
me, and many more behind ;at this moraent, wh t
close
erohuenir
weapons were within a 'few feet of my
,breast, the Rue
sian officer ran 'np almost breathless, and just got be-
tween me and his infuriated soldiers in time to keep
them back and to save my life. I. immediately showed
him the flag of truce, and spoke to him in French and
English ; he replied in French, and with a good accent,
"Je ne pane pas Francais." By his directions I was
instantly seized by the soldiers, who at once deprived
me of my sword and.glassee, and took the boarding-pike
with the flag of truce attached to it out of my hand.
They then commenced pulling me off to the houses, I, of
course, endeavouring to remain, trying g to make the-
officer interfere to stop his men firing, who still in the
most cold-blooded manner continued to load and fire
through the boat, in which
110 person was visible, as the
killed and wounded men were in the bottom of the boat.
They did not cease firing for some time, and then
went down and got into the. boat, and took prisoners
the poor fellows who were on the other side of her, only
two of whom had not been hit. They then took the
weapons which were in the bottom of the boat, and
which they could not possibly have seen before they got
into the boat, as also the magazine ; and with these, and
dragging theirprisoners, wounded and unwounded, along
with them, came up from the boat to the houses. Mr.
Sullivan had also a most extraordinary escape ; he was
on the jetty, close by the boat, when the firing WM.
menced, and moved up towards the end of it afterward* ;
be was not hit, although the balls ploughed up the earth
all round him, and was taken prisoner almost at the
same moment as myself.
I do not attribute out escape to any ordeal or !fish
_ _

on the part cif tEe
Itusstans ,- -
make them prisonerg, as the balls struck all 'rout
and they fired at us repeatedly when running in, s!
of the shoti being fired within a few yards of us, aM
should certainly have been bayoneted in a few se-comb-4
ha f not the officer arrived at the moment he did. ,• •
Uuder the circumstances in which we were attacked, '
and from the nature of the grount it was impossible to
estimate with any'degree of accuracy the number-of the
Russian soldiers engaged, but I should consider that at •
the lowest estimation there were from 150 to 200, be,
sides the Cossacks who appeared after the firing was
over. It.was also difficult to judge of the exact time
that the firing continued, but I should say, that from first
tb last it could not have been less, than from seven to
Cossack; manner
the i n
fourwhich dead-bodiesh boat
eight ;minutes, which although the aim of the Russian
soldiers—w—aTt very had, ftiltra-cconnts for-the
extraordi-
nary
wfdasuardididaledh,er, i siearwarseafteeacrh-
warde proved when the boat
.was recovered 'by H.M.S.
pierced withoot less than five balls ; and one poor fel-
low who had been hit in two places in the leg, and had
tied his handkerchief round it (ee"--els- —hen lying
wounded in the bottom of. the Luise sr warda
struck by three balls in the body and be,
As I was being dragged by the soldiers towards the
.htivaes' Tencottilt •re t an elderly officer in the uniform,
Of -the Rossi= navy, whom I now saw for tbe first time, •
and who, I have since heard, was the lieutenant of the
telegraph station ; I immediately addressed- him in ' -
French and English; he returned me no answer, but
;shook his fist, in which he carried a cane, in .my face, in
the most insulting manner, although I was held by eight
'or ten soldiern-- -
Addressing the men who held me, he made them run
me up towards the houses, he himielf running beside us,
while one of the Cossacks who had now appeared on the
scene urged nie forward by repeated blows of his lance
in the back as he followed on his horse. Oa our ar-
rival at the houses, we found two small Russian carts
ready at the door of the largest ; the officer in the naval
uniform gave directions for us to be bound, which was
immediately done, by tying our arms behind our backs
with a piece of small rope, the officer himself superintend-
ir; and assisting with his own hands to draw the cords
tighter.
Mr. Suliivan and myself were then thrown on our
backs in one of the carts, being also tied to the cart itself,
and driven off at a rapid pace towards Eckness, with a
Cossack escort. The men, after being bound in the same
manner, and then tied together two and two, were hur-
ried off on foot in the same direction, urged forward by
blocs of the Cossack lances behind, the slightly wounded
and few that were unhurt being compelled to support
and drag their more severely wounded comrades with
them. During the time that we were being bound the
military officer was also present, but the older officer,
in the naval uniform, evidently directed-all the proceed-
irgee.
The soldiers who perpetrated this most barbarous out-
rage were not irregular troops or militia, but belonged
to one of the best Russian regiments, the grenadiers of
Frederick William of Prussia, as they are called, the
King of Prussia being their colonel. These troops had
only come down from Eckness to Hango the same morn-
ing, and had only been a few hours at Hango when the
affair occurred. After our men had proceeded some way
towards Eckness, the Russians, perceiving that it as
quite impossible for the wounded men to march so far in
t` eir suffering state (the distance being 20 to 25 English
miles), procured carts, in whic'i they were tied, and
oonveye I after Mr. Sullivan and myself to that place.
To return to those who bad in the first place taken
bs carrying
at r
et flag
hli of truce)refrge under the jetty, they consisted of Dr. Easton, one
Finnish captain, and one sailor from the boat, and Lor-
ton, the midshipmen's steward, who (after being shot
down
contrived to creep under the pier. These were not dis-
covered by the Russian
than
time,
mtew,
oand
h o bad
ure-
mainedr
yi
nmy their side
concealment whilt
soldiers
for t
no
considering us all killed, and fearing to come out until
the departure of the Russian soldiers. Finding at length
that the Russian soldiers bad left the place, • they came
out. Dr. Easton wishing to dress Lorton's wound, as it
was serious, before going off to the ship, they entered
one of the Russian houses for that purpose, but unfortu-
nately whilst they were so engaged some Russian sol-
diers returned, and surrounding the house, took them all
prisoners, and placing them all in oarts conveyed them
also to Eckness.
Most unaccountably the soldiers still allowed the boat
to remain in the same position, with, as they imagined,
five deal bodies in her • but happily one man, John
Brown, although severely wounded in two places, was
not dead, and succeeded during the night in getting off
from the shore, and was discovered by the Cossack next
morning, as mentioned in Capt. Fanshawo's report.
When Mr. Sullivan and myself arrived within two
miles of Eckness we found a Russian regiment encamped
outside of the town. The of this regiment imme-
diately cut the cords with which we had been bound, bit
not before they had left marks on our arms which were
not effaced for more than three weeks ; and they also ex-
pressed much indignation at our being bound in sounee-
cessary and barbarous a manner.
We waited at this place until the arrival of Gen. Mol-
lar, the commanding officer of the district, who was ex-
pected the same afternoon. On his arrival I immediately
told him the state of the case, and requested him to send
at once a boat with a flag of truce to H.M.S. Cossack, to
communicate with Capt. Fanshawe and inform him of
what bad happened. He replied that it was not in his
power to do so without permission from Gen. de Berg,
but that if I wrote to Capt. Fanshawe he had no doubt
Gen. de Berg would forward it immediately from Hel-
singfors. Gen. Mollar remained until the arrival of the
men who were prisoners, and then we all proceeded with
him to Eckness. In crossing the river to that place I
perceived, placed in the same boat with myself, the arms
which had been taken out of the cutter, as also the
boarding-pike on which we had carried the flag of truce,
but from which the flag was now removed.
On arriving at Eckness the wounded men were placed
in the hospital, and the unwounded in a house in the
town, with a guard over them.
Mr. Sullivan and myself accompanied Gen. Mel'ar to
his house, where he inquired at greater length lila the
case. He appeared veay much annoyed with the con-
duct of the Russian officers at Hango, and I have also
reason to believe that he placed the young military cffie
car under arrest the same evening, under which be was
kept until General Mollar received orders from thehigher
authorities to release him.
Dr. Easton and the others who had been with him ar-
rived at Eckness the same evening about 10 o'clock.
Di. Easton was allowed to see the wounded next day,
but was not permitted to remain with them, as he desired,
being removed to Helsingfors two days afterwards.
Mr. Sullivan and myself were removed to Helsingfors
on the second day after our arrival at Eckness. I imme-
diately sent my letter for Captain Fanshawe to General
de Berg, and was informed it would be sent by the first
opportunity, although it was not forwarded for re arty
two months afterwards.
Mr. Sullivar, Dr. Easton, and myself were kept in
close confinement to our room., with sentries at the
doors, for five weeks after our capture. After that time
we were treated more lenietely and kindly.
As we were all separated, I could hear nothing of the
fate of those who remained cA my unfortunate boat's
crew, until, on my arrival at Odessa, I found the un-
wounded m ready to go off in the same boat to
'H.M.S. Spiteful. They said that after the first day
they bad been treated with mode' ate kindness.
Of the fate of the poor wound, d fellows I have as yet
been unable to hear anything. The names of those who
fell in this unfortunate affair, being already known to
their lordThips, it is unnecessary to repeat them in this
place ; suffice it to say, that in this murderous attack, 1
Russian prisoner was killed, 3 were badly wouoded, and
1 escaped by leaping under the jetty ; of the total of 17
English present, 5 were killed, 5 were severely wounded,
3 escape 1 by being under the pier, and only 4 others re-
mained unhurt ; of these four, Mr. Sullivan and myself
were taken prisoners on shore, at d the other two were
protected by keeping as much as possible out of sight,
nearly covered by the water on the offside of the boat.
It only remains for me to hope that their lordships, in
taking into consideration all the circumstances connected
with this melancholy day, will perceive that no precau-
tion was omitted on our part which is necessary and
proper to be used on such occasions :-
1. That the flag of truce was clearly and distinctly ex-
hibited at a long distance from the shore, and remained
conspicuous during the whole time.
2. That the flag of truce being in no way answered, or
any signal of any kind being made, and no signs of an
armed force being visible, we had every reason to sup-
pose that there was no armed force on the spot, and in
these circumstances we acted in strict accordance with
the laws of war in advancing to the shore.
3. That on reaching the shore, no Russian officer or
authority being ready to meet us, but we, knowing well
that there was a lieutenant of the navy in the telegraph
station immediately above us, I was perfectly authorised
in advancing under the full protection of the flag of
truce to communicate with him (he being the nearest
naval or military authority), and so carrying out my im•
perative duty, and fulfil my mission, having, of course,
taken all proper and necessary precautions that no com-
munications should be held with the inhabitants without
his sanction.
All our proceedings being thus in strict accordance
with the laws of war, I hope it will plainly be seen that
not the smallest pretext was afforded by us to the Rus-
sian officers and soldiers for their treacherous and pre-
meditated ambusb,•and murderous and cowardly assault
upon a small unarmed party, defenceless and incapable
of defence, and under the full and legitimate protection
of that flag whose sanctity has always been acknow•
lodged in civilised warfare.—l have, &se,
LOUIS GENESTE.
To the Secretary of the Admiralty.

CNIIECH-RATE CONTEST AT NEATEL —A very strong
and exciting church-rate contest has just terminated at
Neath. There were three days' polling. For .the rate,
165 ; against, 116 ; majority for the rate 49.—Swameet
Herald.
THE MURDER IN LEICESTEBSNIEN.—An adjourned in-
quest on the body of John Acres Fowkes was held at
Snareston on Wednesday, when the evidence of William
Fowkes, brother of the man who was committed for
PPosite in all important particulars to
that he gave on Monday, that the
Jury, after a very
tmrivarldoenr:Mwaos so
nday on a charge of having Committed the
o
long investigation, returned an open verdict ,Frum the
report which appeared in The Sun on Wednesday, it will
be seen that William Fowkes swore to having seen his
brother John (the prisoner) at the window at the time of
the shooting, and that this Was the strongest evidence
adduced against the prisoner. At the inquest on wed-
nesday he swore that he did not see his brother at that
time. He saw a face, and supposed it was his brother
from the expressions be bad used that night. He also
swore that he saw no smoke when he heard the report
of a firearm. He could not tell whether it was a gun or
pistol that was fired.