The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-26 00:00:00

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL socrurs
EXHIBITION INr CARLISLE.

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNA

4.
Friday, Saturday, and Monday, like the first day of I
Although several weeks have now elapsed since the
the exhibition, have been devoted to experimental opera-
occurrence of the last great events at the siege of Sebas-
tions with locomotive farm power engines, fixed engines, ,
to of this interval of time has undoubtedly served to
thrashing, winnowing, and finishing machines, and other
consolidate the position of the allied armies in the Cri-
implements. The proceedings, though somewhat im-
mea, to remove many of the causes of apprehension ex•
peded during the last day or two by the unfavourable cited by the return of summer, and to advance by slow
state of the weather, have been carried on daily with but certain steps the operations of the siege. Of all
vigour from morning till night, but, owing to the returns these grounds of satisfaction the most important are the
remaining in the hands of the judges for the purposes cf health of the army, the success of the sanitary measures
their award, we have hitherto had no oppoetuniiousty c adopted in the camps, and the favourable climate we
giving anything like a definite result of the var ex-f have found in the southern districts of the Crimea.
periments. Among the exaggerated perils and objections wHich
There can be no doubt that the agricultural machinery were at one time conjured up in this country to bring
and implement portion of the show is by far the most ' the Crimean expedition into disrepute, it was roundly
important and interesting. Nevertheless, strange to asserted that the climate was of Arctic severity in win-
say, but few persons have patronised the trial yard since ter and pestilential in summer ; whereas it was perfectly
its opening. The admission fee has something to do well known to those who had examined the subject that
with the paucity of attendance. Five shillings is con- this region enjoys the average temperature of the south-
sidered too much to demand each day for such a small lem coast of Great Britain. The army has, of course,
portion of the exhibition as the trial yard embraces.
At the trial field, which is situated on a spacious farm I acquired a degree of stability and vigour in campaigning
which was not to be expected when first it took the
at Drawdykes-castle, about two miles distant from the ' field ; and we are confident, from the numbers, the con-
show ground, a great variety of implements have been dition, and the valour of these troops, and the large
in operation. To this sight the public are admitted : amount of their field artillery, that the allied armies are
free, and the attendance has been in proportion to the !
facility of the entree. The reaping machines were tried i able to encounter with the most confident expectations
_on Monday evening, when the farmers were able to of success any force the enemy can by possibility bring
judge for themselves whether Mr. Mechi is right in stig-
against them. The delay which has occurred has bad
the advantage of converting our invasion of the Crimea
matising the scythe as their greatest enemy. In respect I
into an occupation of several of the most important
to the former implements—the drills and hoes—they !points in the Peninsula. Eupatoria, Kamiesch,
have shown a perfection of capabilities never before seen
I
in this part of the world, the competition lying princi- Balaklava, and Yenikale are now fortified stations,
which we shall hold during the whole continuance
Rely between Messrs. Hornsby and Son, of Grantham, of the war. We apprehend that the Russians them-
and Messrs. Garrett and Son, of Leicester. The judges
of implements in the trial field were Messrs. Huskisson, selves can entertain no hope of renewing the attack
of Inkerman, or of shaking off the grasp which
Grainger, Read, and Scott.
the iron hand of war has laced on one of the richest
On Thursday the trial of farm steam engines, both p
portions of the Imperial dominions. Had Sebastopol
fixed and portable, was carried on. The greatest poi- been carried last autumn by a coup de main, we should
sibie interest was manifested by the makers, and some at once have effected our primary object in the destruce
extravagant bets were made upon the expected per- tion of that fortress, but we should not have proved in
formances of the favourites. so remarkable a manner the inability of the whole power
During the whole of the day the Prussian Minister, of the Russian empire to repel the
adversaries who have
Baron Von Usedom, accompanied by Colonel Malcolm, now established themselves on the Crimean coast. We
was upon the ground, examining minutely every piece of trust, however, that this firm position of the allies will
machinery. He appeared to let nothing escape his at- enable them at no distant period to extend their active
tention, and conversed freely with the inventors and operations beyond the Belbek, and that it is neer* a
patentees upon the capabilities of their several mechani- question of time at what moment it may be most expe-
cal productions.
dient to commence such a movement against the en-
Subsequently Lord de Grey, Mr. Grey, of Dilston, campments from which the enemy still continues to
Lord Dillon, Baron Ricasoli, Lord Burlington, Sir W. throw reinforcements and munitions of all kinds into
Milner, Mr. Canon Harcourt, and other distinguished Sebastopol.
individuals, visited the trial yard.
The temporary silence of the batteries, which has suc-
The performance of the portable engine of Messrs. ceeded to the furious bombardments and assaults of the
Tuxford and Son, of Boston, upset all previous calcula- first half of the month of June, denotes that the besieg-
tions as to what could bo done by such pieces of ma- era are conducting their approaches to the key of the
chinery, running with great exactitude and precision no position with greater caution and regularity, and that
less than 3 hours and 47 minutes with one cwt. of coal, we shall probably hear no more of a profuse expenditure
exemplifying the extraordinary fact of the performance of life until our guns have been brought so near the
of one-horse power per hour, with barely exceeding 311 b. walls as to subdue the fire of the enemy. The report of
of coal. Prince Gortschakoff on the action of June is a careful,
The entries for portable power-engines were (1) Messrs,: though not, strictly speaking, an accurate account of
Tuxford ; (2) Clayton ; (3) Barrett • (4) Hornsby ;la 1 that operation. The Russian General overrates the
Ransome's; (6) Garrett; (7) Crosskill ; and (8) Lee ; forces engaged by the French and English armies and
whose engines were respectively (1) 8-horse power ; (2) the losses they sustained ; he does not clearly show that
8 ; (3) 6 ; (4) 8 ; (5) 7 ; (6) 7 ; (7) 6 ; (8) 7 ; and prices
(1) 2501.; (2) 260/. ; (3) 2151. ; (4) 2551. ; (6) 235/. ; (7) the failure of the attack by the French columns was
mainly caused by the want of simultaneous action,and
220/.; (8) 1801. that the engagement on the extreme right, in efhich
Messrs. Barrett, Ezell, and Andrewes, and Messrs. General Mayran fell, was, in fact, over before the co-
Ransonie and Sims, were, as usual, close upon the lead- lumns under General Brunet and General Autemarre
frig engines, Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth coming advanced. He entirely omits the remarkable fact that
second. ,
the attack of General Eyre's brigade on the extreme
At the close of the trial of the locomotive farm en- left enabled a handful of British troops not only to
gines, Mr. Boydell's " steam horse," or "traction en- penetrate into the houses and gardens at the bottom of
gine," was put upon the brake in order to test its power. the ravine, but to remain there all day ; but, with these
At a pressure of 531 b. the dynamometer showed that exceptions, the report gives a tolerably connected view
the engine had a power of 14A horses, much more than of this action, and it enables us to form a more correct
opinion on one or two points of the means of resistance
was generally expected. The inventor claims for it the
power of dragging after it between 70 and 80 tons. It of the garrison.
was suggested that sinew and muscle should exert their It clearly appears, in the first place, that in this, as in
strength against the iron joints of the engine. Accord- all the preceding instances, the Russians succeeded after
ingly, the steam was soon got up in the boiler of the the bombardment in re-establishing the defence of Se-
ponderous machine, and when at a pressure of 401 b., or bastopol in its primitive state, and, though it is not
12-horse power, it was set in motion. A strocg cable denied that the works were severely damaged by the
had been previously attached to the engine, 30 men have fire of the besiegers, means have constantly been found
ing hold at the other end. The "steam-horse" was to repair the lines and to construct new batteries, even
galloping off at the speed above indicated, when, with under a heavy fire. This is one of the principal circum-
a sarong pull and a pull altogether, the 30 men succeeded stances which distinguish the siege of Sebastopol from
in arresting its progress to their own delight, and the
amusement of the spectators. all ether sieges in history, and which show the uncom-
mon skill with which the Russian engineers avail them-
For the last two days of trial the principal features
selves of the new system of fortification they have created,
have been the machines for threshing and preparing while the Russian troops display equal energy in the
grain for its final dressing. Some very good specimens execution of these plans. Sebastopol may be said to be
I were exhibited. Messrs. Hornsby and Son have at defended by the spade as much as by the sword, and re-
length succeeded in turning out a machine which, on peated experience has now shown that in works of this
being tried, was found to thresh perfectly, leaving no nature the utmost damage caused by a bombardment
grain in the ear, and none being wasted, as is too often from siege trains even of unexampled magnitude and
the case, in either the chaff, which was well separated, power may be repaired within a few hours by an :native
the straw, which sustained little or no damage in the and resolute garrison. That, of course, is a peculiar ad-
process, or the pulse. Several, practical farmers ex- vantage which works rivetted with masonry can never
pressed themselves in terms of unqualified satisfaction possess, and the contrast which has lately been drawn
at the result, having narrowly watched the process by a writer in the Edinburgh, Review between the speedy
assittighout. Two of Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth's fall of the towers of Bomarsund and the protracted resist-
machines were tried. One of them worked admirably, ance of the earthworks of Silistria, and Sebastopol is a
but its apparently costly and complex construction most instructive lesson in the art of defence. To render
weighed in the balance against it. the bombardment of Sebastopol of any use at all as a
The entries of threshing machines were as follow : preliminary to the assault of the place, it must be fol-
Messrs. Garrett, Barrett, and Co., Humphreys, Holmes, lowed instantly by the attacking columns, fur the inter
Clayton, Tuxford, Ransome's, and Hornsby. Each val of a single night has on more than one occasion suf-
machine was intended to thresh 150 sheaves on trial. In
Seed to counterbalance the effect of one of these gigantic
one amount of time the maximum, power consumed to operations.
complete the work was 1501 b. ; the minimum, 901 b. On the 18th of June, however, the Russians em-
The fixed threshing machines are huge constructions
ployed another resource, for which they deserve con-
compared to the portable. They occupy separate sheds. siderable credit. Although the capture of the White
Their size and cost of erection nullify to an extent any Works on the 7th of June had enabled the French on the
advantage they may derive from their ampler dimes-
right to command the Careening Bay, our allies do not
sions. Generally speaking, they are beyond the means appear at that time to have brought guns of a heavy
of the farmer. calibre to bear on the port, for it is stated that six Rus-
In the power-machine chaff-cutters, &c., the following sian steamers-of-war advanced to the Careening Bay
parties competed :—Messrs. Barrett and Hall, Williams, point at the commencement of the action and opened a
Dray and Co., Richard and Chandler Smith and Ashby, severe fire on the French in the ravine where their re-
Cornes, Carson, Turner, Ransome's and Sims, Garrett serve was placed. General Pelissier had alluded to the
and Son. The greatest quantity of chaff cut by one same circumstance in his report, and it indicates some
machine was 1,4851 b. within the hour ; the least, 6001 b., ingenuity on the part of the defence that this last rem-
showing a considerable variation. The minimum amount nant of the naval forces of the enemy should have been
of power required for cutting 11b. of chaff, lifting one thus employed. We have very little doubt that, before
foot, was 1,2671 b., the maximum 2,86816. the attack is renewed, batteries of a far greater range
In the hand-power chaff-cutters, the following parties will have been established in such a manner as to com-
competed :—Messrs. Crosskill, Garrett, and Son, Wil- mend the port, and that it will then become practicable
liams, Hill and Smith, Smith and Ashby, Richmond and to sink or burn from the heights these maritime auxilia-
Chandler, Comes, Carson, Ransome's and Sims. The ries of the garrison. In fact, as we draw nearer to the
capabilities of theca implements varied—the greatest town, and avail ourselves of the command of the sea at
amount of chaff cut within the hour being 2101 b. ; the both extrem:ties of the line of attack, 'the communica-
least, 90ib. ; the minimum power required for cutting tion of the garrison with the northern side of the har-
11b. being 1,2841 b. ; the maximein, 3,3101 b. boor, from which the garrison draws its most important
These implements, as well as the larger machines, supplies, will become more difficult, and the shipping
were all tested by the dynamometers invented by Mr. which is still afloat ought tc be altogether destroyed.
Amos, the society's consulting engineer, fitted up in a Although none of the measures that have yet been em-
peculiar manner, so that they may be applied to either ployed against the place are of a decisive character—
steam or hand power. and we are free to confess that there has been more
The deluging rain of Monday night produced an un- novelty of invention in the defence than on the side of
comfortable effect upon the show ground next day, and, the attack—yet each of the steps that has been taken
as the weather continued showery, there was a falling exhausts and destroys some portion of the defence ; and
off in the number of visitors to the yard, though the ar- this steady progressofthe besiegers hasnever been thrown
rivals in the city from all parts of the country were back by any positive success on the part of the enemy. The
numerous. only advantage, indeed, which the Russians can boast of
The trials in the yard were principally confined to the is that of having resisted our attacks ; but they have
fixed thrashing-machines ; those in the field took a wider failed themselves in every sortie, in every attempt to
range; but the chief object of interest was Boydell's trac- force our lines, and in every attempt since the
tion engine. It started early in the morning, as above 17th of October to subdue our fire. Our military
anticipated, and reached the trial field in saety, with- efforts, like our political resolutions, require only to be
out obstruction by the way. When there it was put to conducted on the principle of Lord Lyndhurst's wise
work in various ways---ploughing, scarifying, and har- and bravo advice—" Persevere." On many accounts
rowing. Upon the whole the result was satisfactory, the Crimean expedition is highly favoured by the saln-
The reaping-machines and revolving hoes attracted a brity of the country and the efficiency of the army; the
good deal of attention, but there was nothing in their supplies requisite for the troops are now thoroughly or-
performances that has not already been often described. 4anized, and the lessons of the past year are not thrown
Usher's steam cultivator, a large and heavy machine, away. We therefore expect the result with patience
which was to have gone up to the trial-field yesterday, and confidence, persuaded as we are that the expedition
rwiaseitstethaevdieirteecrtiieouneotferimtsileeaatdieerns. to bring this great
only succeeded, with great difficulty and after
false starts, in passing the gates of the trial-yard, when,
it stuck fast in the soil a few yards beyond. many
oenntlyerap
In the course of the day the floral and horticultural
exhibition was opened in a aeries of large tents adjoin-
ing the show ground, and, in spite of the unfavourable
state of the weather, was very numerously and fashion.
ably attended. The display of hothouse plants and cut
flowers was magnificent. Contributions had been sent
from all parts of the kingdom.
The decorations of the are city
• nearly completed. The
handsome arches and other designs, coupled with innu-
merable flags and evergreen festoons, have given to the
streets of the ancient city a very picturesque appear
ance.

THE EISTEDDFOD, ST. MARTIN'S-HALL.

Eleven o'clock was announced as the hour of meet-
ing, but it was past 12 before the Right Hon. President
took the chair. His apology was a very sufficient one.
lie was (as he said) in a transition state, having within
a few hours vacated his seat in Parliament by accepting
a Government office, and his time, consequently, being
completely engrossed ; for which reason, he added, he
could remain but for a short time. Sir Benjamin opened
the proceedings by an excellent address, explaining the
objects of these meetings, advocating their usefulness,
effective in and warmly recommending them to public favour.
The first business was the competition of performers
on the Welch harp, a noble instrument, but of pri-
mitive construction. It has three rows of strings ;
the two outer rows are unisons, consisting of the
(whichmoset
diatonic scale, the chromatic semitones being produced
It is
(there being no pedals) by an intermediate
row.
skilful
thus a difficult instrument, but very
hands. There were only three cohmorpetni
conse-
quence, as was explained,
d Welsh air with
jo:thicn'e thatTh o
Thomas
had
s
ofhwhaahtomnonheeofWtahse
them
n ew. e r He
first-rate,e s tated
va-
riations ; and when they had done, .
been given. Each of them of
flatyhes short
M-tr.
htioma n ou
(our well-known harpist)
have been pleasantthe
to wue
more plainly than
award of the judges,
honest fellows if they
probably they did not), t
pg he e were hundreds
and that in NV3I-- tra
first, second, of others as
t they received . and third prize,
good • bucda understood eforw ard
sto guineas, in purses attached to ribbons,P
from guinea
presented to them by some of
which were
of the platform. Then there the fair occu-
pants
petition of
in their primitivecostume, whose rustic deportment
was very engaging. Each of them sang a Welsh
ditty, accompanied on the harp. Nothing
simpler than their
singing,
or more could be
unadorned. by the
graces of art, yet they all had sweet tunable voices, and
one of them (Ann Price by such name) sang with re-
markable sweetness and expression that a loud encore
burst from the h 1
w o e audience It is needless to add
that Ann Price carried *
the
eoff the first prize, smaller ones
t
being given to
other two.
Sir Benjamin
,j Hall now left the chair, but before his
aeparture a vote of thanks, moved in an eloquent address
by Mr. Lloyd Davies, the newly-elected member for the
Cardiganshire boroughs, was passed by acclamation.
The chair was then taken by one of the Vice-Presidents,
and a number of prizes were awarded to the authors of
poems and essays on subjects connected with the Prin-
cipality.
On the whole, the proceedings of this Eisteddfod were
pleasing and interesting ; and we trust that it will lead
to other meetings of a similar kind, more fully prepared
1 and on a greater scale.

ISLINGTON LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.—Mr,
Joseph Simpson has just resigned the librarianship of
this society, to the great regret of the committee and
members, by whom he is much respected. A more ln•
crative appointment is the occasion of Mr. Siinpeon's re.
kipation.