The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-25 00:00:00

THE FLYING SQUADRON.

The following extract from a letter from one of the
flying squadron of the Baltic fleet explains the circum•
stances of the death of Mr. Story, and other particulars,
not given in the official despatches we published yester-
day :

" July 16.

"In the early part of last week we crossed the gulf and
visited the south shore, calling at two places, Kounda Bay
and Koskola, at both of which we fount Cossacks and Go-
vernment stores. We burnt the buildings, including a
Cossack barrack, at Koskola, from which the owners but
just cleared out, leaving much of their gear—lances, pistols,
saddles, bridles, coats, shakos, &c. On Friday the squadron
returned to the north shore, and anchored off the Strait of
Frangsund, one of the entrances of the passages leading to
Wiborg. On the afternoon of that day a reconnaissance was
made in force of the defences of the strait by the Ruby gun-
boat and the boats of the frigates, with the view to ascer-
tain the nature of the obstructions placed to prevent our
ingress. We started about 6 p.m. with eight boats and the
gunboat, and proceeded unmolested up the narrow pas-
sage leading into Frangsund, Lntil within 4UO yards of the
entrance, which we knew from pretty good authority to be
staked. A Russian steamer, towing some large row gun-
boats, appearin inside, the Ruby opened fire on her at very
long range, as well as the rocket-boats, and almost at the
same time a heavy fire of musketry was opened from the
left bank by men concealed behind a long low breastwork
recently thrown up, and from among the trees. This was
returned with great spirit by the boats, and shells fell with
beautiful precision. The boats, continuing to advaLice,
soon reached the obstruction, which was found to consist of
large caissons of timber filled with stones, a small pas-
sage being left open for boats to pass through ; some
of the boats pulled over it, and passed inside, thus fairly
offering battle to the two steamers and the row gun-boats,
who were pitching shot ant shell at the Ruby from behind
the Point; they, however, were not game to come out, and,
as the object of the reconnaissance had now been. completed,
and all the soundings taken, the recall was hoisted, and the
flotilla commenced its retreat. The firing lasted upwards of
an hour, and was kept up with great spirit on both sides.
The Ruby, not being provided with rifle-plate bulwarks, was
much exposed, but most providentially no one on board was
hit. In the boats five men were wounded—one only severely.
A sad accident occurred iu one of the Arrogant's boats by the
ignition of a rocket that had been prepared and placed in the
boat ready for firing; the rocket exploded in the boat, and
ignited the small magazine of ammunition, containing some 10
rounds of ball cartridge as well as the bursting charges for the
rockets ; two'men were severely burnt ; one has since died, and
the midshipman (Mr. Story) was blown into the water and
never again seen ; being unable to swim, it is supposed he sank at
once. The remainder of the crew jumped overboard, and
were picked up by the other boats. The Russians are con-
structing some very strong works on some islands in Frang-
sund Bay, covering the approaches to Wiborg, the works of
which are not considered well adapted for sea defence. It
is supposed they have a large number of row gunboats laid
up there for security. The Arrogant joined the fleet
at Nargen to-day, leaving the Magicienne at Hog-
land. In the late distribution of C.B.'s to Captains
who served in the Baltic last year I find Captain Scott
excluded ! How is this ? Captain Scott took an active
part in the first bombardment of Bomarsund, and after-
wards at Abe. Rear-Admiral Martin, who saw not a
shot fired, is made a K.C.B. The Ajax, cO, is anchored
at Foyle Fiord, Aland Islands (July 11) ; the Desperate,
Conflict, and Basilisk are blockading in the Gulf of
Riga ; the Pylades and Tartar are off Dagerort and.
Hauge Head. The following ships are anchored off
Revel :—The Duke of Wellington, Exmouth, Russell, Pem-
broke, Hawke, Cornwallis, Amphion, Volcano, Vulture,
Merlin, Lightning, and Cossack, with 20 French and English
mortar-boats. We were glad to see, on the 15th inst., the
Sparrowhawk cutter, the property of Messrs. Galt, of Portsea,
wine merchants, run up to our anchorage, 18 days from Eng-
land, laden with a very acceptable cargo. The new mortar-
boats have been practising for the first time against some
islands here, and have developed the extraordinary range of
upwards of 4,000 yards,"

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF

ENGLAND.

CARLISLE, July 24.—The seventeenth annual meeting
of this society is now being held in this city ; but
although it nominally commenced on Thursday last, the
real proceedings of interest, at least so far as the great
majority of visitors to these anniversaries are concerned,
do not begin until to-morrow. Hitherto the proceedings
have been confined to the trials of the machinery, to en-
able the ju;:ges to decide on their awards, but though
the trial yard has been tolerably well attended, compa-
ratively few visitors from distant parts have as yet been
attracted to " bonnie Carlisle."

Carlisle, up to a very recent period, was more celebrated
for its historical recollections including the imprison-
ment witl-in its castle of Mary Queen of Scots after the
battle of Langside, and its siege during the rebellion of
1745, than for the importance of its trade. More peaceful
times, the advance of civilisation, and, above all, the
railway system, have, however,done much to develope the
resources of Carlisle, and the population, which in 1801
was under 10,000, now closely approximates to 30,000.
The old gazeteers inform us the staple trade of the town
consisted of whips and fish-hooks, but those elements of
industry are now thrown far into the shade by its cotton
and woollen manufactures—the tall chimneys, to which
EnglAnd owes so much of its commercial glory, now
rapidly adding to the variety, if not the beauty, of the
scenery. The most exten-ive of these establishments is
that of Messrs. Dixon and Son, who are engaged in the
manufacture of cotton goods in all their details, being
said to employ 7,000 or 8,000 hands, or more than one-
fourth of the whole popul,.tion.

As we have stated, Much of the present prosperity of
Carlisle is due to its railways, though the Carlisle Gerd
to the Solway Frith, which was opened in 1823, and has
been since converted into a railway, gave the first real
impetus to the trade. The city is, indeed, now one of
the great centres of the railway system of the north of
England, as uniting it with that of Scotland. The first
of these railways, the Newcastle and Carlisle, 60 miles in
length, was opened throughout in 1838 ; the Mareport
and Carlisle, 27 miles in length, and from which there
are junctions with C.tckermouth and \Vhitehaven, was
opened in 1845 ; the Laneaeter and Carlisle, 70 miles in
length, which connects Carlisle and Scotland with the
whole of the London and North-Western system, was
opened in 1846 ; and the Caledonian Railway, to Edin-
burgh and Glasgow, and from which there is a junction at
Gretna with Dumfries, was opened in 1847. On entering
Carlisle by any of the railway stations, the visitor's atten•
tion is at present attracted by triumphal arches of ever
greens and flowers thrown across the roads in honour o
the meet leg of the Agricu tural Society, and a few of the
bout es are decorated w .tla flags, wreaths, evergreens, 8v Of
hut these tokens of welcome are far less imposing and less
general than in any other city we have visited with the
society. If, however, the outward show of welcome isnot
so great as at some places, the inward feelings of gratifica-
tion et the visit can scarcely be conceived to be leas enthu-
siastic, inasmuch as the old tariff of 10s. and 15s. a
night for beds is demanded with the greatest nonchalance
though we believe that the expectations of a rich har-
vest will, in a great degree, be disappointed, the visitors
in many instances preferring to make the neighbouring
towns, which are easily reached by railway, their rest-
ing-p'aces, and thus escape the extortion of the resident
innkeepers and other inhabitants. At the same time
the number of visitors up to this period is much smaller
than anticipated, or what we have been accustomed to
observe at similar meetings. This we think, however,
may be in some measure accounted for by a slight alte-
ration in the arrangements, which will deter the general
company from arriving until a later period of the week
than hitherto. The trial days of the machinery hays
been extended so as to include the Tuesday, and the im-
plement-yard is not thrown open to the public until the
Wednesday.

The exhibition ground is to the north of the castle, on
some beautiful meadows called the Sorceries. It would
be useless to describe the general arrangements of the
showyard, there being nothing to distinguish them from
those of firmer years. The dinner pavilion, with all its
accommodations and ornaments, is likewise familiar to
every attendant at the meetings of the society, and we
need therefore only say that the arrangements are as per-
fect as it is possible to make them. The space allotted-to
implements is not as large as at Lincoln last year—Carlisle
not being situated in such close propinquity to the prin-
cipal manufactories in the kingdom as that city ; but
still, it is understood that there will be a very respectable
show, whilst the entries for cattle exceed those of any
former year, with the exception of the exhibition at
Windsor in 1851.
Amongst the implements exhibited which attracted the
most attention in the trial yard may be mentioned Boy-
dell's locomotive or steam traction engine for ploughs,
&c. The novelty of this engine consists in the wheels
being supplied with "' a portable railway," as it is called,
consisting of a series of shoes or short lines of railway,
are laid with theP revolutionsprogress.
The of the
appearancewheel, and
is
any-
thingt u
facilitate
prepossessing, but the ease with which the en-
pineich
worked
appears to have given general satisfaction.
Itiss but
tatetethe generalthat the " portable railway" has been lately
applied to gurecarriage!,, and is likely to have a very
material influence on military operations by the ease and
facility with which heavy ordnance will be enabled to
be removed from one point to
but we abstain from of-
fering aannotuhmerb.erThoefredrhilalsv,ehboeeesn
r respective merits, as it
ng
e.,
only unjust to do so prior to the
also
so
igtdrhi
shaa,lensry,ne
abooytppi
mj machines,uinion sedsog tfeeos
e,
tioyh&f
enei
publication of the awards, but it is very difficult for the
ob-erver, from his necessarily disadvantageous position
and want of sufficient opportunity to examine the vari-
ous implements, to arrive at a correct conclusion with
regard to them.
Carlisle was, last evening, visited by a very heavy
thunderstorm ; and this morning being wet and sloppy,
fears are beginning to be entertained relative to the suc-
cess of the popular day of the exhibition.

MR. MECHI IN CAELISLE.—Taking advantage of the
meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society in Carlisle,
Mr. Mechi, on Saturday, delivered a lecture, in the
Athena um, of the agrieriltural state and
.provectx of
the kifgdoXll•
. • • '