The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-06 00:00:00

public service, but time may work wonders, espe-
cially if courage and patience are brought to bear
upon it, and it is to be trusted that the excellent
suggestions of Mr. LONG, and the wise remarks of
many others, will eventually turn to profit, and
thus many who are now in provincial retirement
nrAy not be shut out from the advantages of a speedy
communication with their friends and correspon-
cents, and lose the benefits which so many others
enjoy and participate in freely.

The votes for the Navy Estimates were not
allowed to pass the House of Caromons without
discussion or dispute. The vote of L 1,164,100 for
naval stores for the building, repair, and outfit of
the fleet, steam machinery, and ships bnilt by con-
tract was especially subjected to criticism. Air. P.
BERKELEY complained that a large number of
vessels were being annually withdrawn from the
effective list ; Mr. CORRY expressed his dissatisfac-
tion with the reduction of the sum set aside for the
building of armour-plated ships, and censured the
imprudence of the Admiralty in not laying down
more vessels of this kind, since as it took two years
to build them, we could not increase our present
number of 25 until the year 1867 at the earliest.
The strength of the French Navy was anxiously
discussed, and Mr. LINDSAY only expressed the
opinion of a grod many members, when he declared
that England should not rest satisfied with equal-
ling France in the strength of her navy, but should
rival that of France and any other Power com-
bined. The First Lord of the Admiralty, in an-
swer to these various remonstrances, confessed that
our reserves were not at present in a satisfactory
condition, but denied that things were altogether
SO bad as had been represented. The tendency of
the day was, no doubt, he said; to build armour-
plated vessels, and we are glad to find that an
experiment is about to be made of combining wood
and iron in shipbuilding. It is not possible, as
we know, to combine copper and iron, owing to
the electric action, while the wooden frame
is liable to rot, and the iron bottoms
soon get so foul as to lose their speed and become
unmanageable, If, therefore, the plan of combin-
ing a wooden bottom with an iron frame be success-
fully carried out, a very important advance will
have been made in shipbuilding. Both the new
vessels to be tried on this plan are to be constructed
on the twin screw principle, one of the most im-
portant of navel improvements of recent times, and,
one which is destined to effect as great a revolution
as the introduction of the paddle. We may rea-
sonably anticipate, judging from past experience,
that the double screw will be in common use in the
merchant service before it is extensively employed
by the Admiralty. It is a sign of better times,
however, that t hey should have already adopted it
in some of their new vessels. With regard to the
complaints brought forward by hon. members, there
is certainly no reason why the Government should
relax its efforts in building ships, since ships will
always be wanted, and it is surely better to keep up
a constant moderate supply than have to give hur•
rind orders in a moment of panic. With regard to
the deficiency of armour-plated ships we have
already shown how that evil can be remedied at
very little cost of time or money, by putting an
iron belt round the water line of some of our old
wooden walls. The additional weight could be
easily set right by removir.g one or two guns, and
by this means we should not only be able promptly
to supply an important addition to our iron-plated
fleet, but turn to useful account valuable material
now lying idle. Men of all ranks are too ready
to run away with new inventions, casting old stores
aside, and readily believing that the new has ren-
dered the o'd obsolete and unworthy of notice.
But while there is a frank admission
on the part of the First Lord of the Admiralty,
that our naval reserves are defic'ent in strength and
number, and while the country is asked for £lOO,OOO
increase on the vote to bring them up to the neces-
sary standard, it is surely well worth wh;',e to
look a little at what we have in band, -..nd to ask
how far the old tried sea-worthy vessels can be
adapted to the latest improve meats of skill and
science. The Admiralty r,sy rely upon it that any
rational scheme for`.acs improvement of the navy
is certain to me r..,, with popular support, and no
more than ra fair share of that criticism and con-
siderat;.ea at the hands of the house than is neces-
sae4 to give the matter a fair hearing. There is no
branch of the public service i❑ which Englishmen
take a deeper or more general interest than the
navy, and its efficiency and force are points no less
dear to the national pride than essential to the
national safety. It is owing to a long course of
expenditure so lavish, and prejudice so narrow,
that Admiralty mal-administration has become a
byword, that the naval estimates are looked on
with disfavour. The public have found, from long
and unsatisfactory experience, that notwithstanding
the large sums ao regularly asked for, and so freely
voted, there is never money enough to reward
merit, to encourage invention, or to give new plans
or experiments a fair trial. The money wasted in
alterations of new vessels, cutting off decks, re-
modelling shapes, Bce., would go a long way towards
reinforcing our fleet. However, we cannot make
amends for past mistakes by rushing into the oppo-
site extreme, and therefore let our shipbuilding go
steadily on, since, if Rome was not built in a day,
so neither can be a well equipped man•of-war.

FORT SUMTER.—The following is an extract from
a letter dated Feb. 22 :—'• We were obliged to go
by night, as the fort is only situated 1,400 yards from Bat-
tery Gregg, from where the Yankees generallyshe!l the place
night and day, and would sink you in a minute did not the
darkness cover your approach. We started about 0 o'clock.
It had just got dark, and after an hour's tail we reached it,
35,000 shells have now been thrown against this devoted
place, a mass of iron equal to 3,000 tons of iron. Several
times the flagstaff has been shot away, and as quickly re-
placed, and still the cry is no surrender.' The place, as
we approached it, looked like a mound in the middle of the
water. All of a sudden the moon burst forth, and showed
us the place with the distinctness of day. The scene is
deeply impressed on my memory. The place looked as if an
earthquake had taken place, and thrown down the walls, or
like some magnificent ruin which the hand of time had de-
solated. The jagged edges of the walla standing out in bold
relief, with the sentries pacing slowly up and down the
ramparts, made it truly an impressive sight. Fortunately,
they were not shelling when I was tb -re ; it being very well
protected by sandbags, however, in place of the walls, very
few men got hit. The fort is about four acres in size, all the
walls are down except the west on the side of the city,
which is partly so; however, it is stronger than ever, and
it will long prove a thorn in the sides of the Yankees.

STRALSUND, April 2.—A notification from Berlin,
dated March 29, states that it is hereby made known that
the intended blockade of the harbours of Stralsund, Wol-
gast, Barth, Gricfswalde, and Cammin by the Danes has
not yet been carried into effect.

THE ST. GEORGE'S CHALLENGE VASE.—Lient.-
Colonel C. H. Lindsay, commanding the St. George's
Rifles, has addressed a letter to the various commaniing
officers of Volunteer Battalions in Great Britain respecting
the rules in future to be observed in the competition for the
St. George's Challenge Vase. He states that two competi-
tors, instead of one, are to be admitted from each battalion
to take part in the contest this year. They are to be selected
as before, the number of those in each battalion competing
for selection being raised, however, to 20. Where, from want
of butt accommodation, a battalion is unable to return a
minimum of 20, it will be expected to pay the full amount
of the entrance fees (2s a head), as if the whole number had
come forward. The entrance fees, a list of the competitors
in each battalion, with their numbers, and the names of the
two selected numbers, must be forwarded to the chairman
of the Challenge Vase Committee,. 39, Maddox-street, W.,
at latest ten days before the meeting of the association at
Wimbledon. Extra money prizes will be awarded by the
Vase Committee to the ten best shots, concerning which a
detailed notice will be given in the amended rules, which
are preparing for circulation,