The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-24 00:00:00

APPOINTMENTS,

Captain John Shepherd (1840) to the Victory, at
Portsmouth, as flag-captain to Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas
Cochrane. This officer might be sought for in vain in
the Admiralty official list, as there is only one officer of
his rank figuring under the date of 26th October, 1850.
This is another instance of the careless manner with
which the official list is compiled under the immediate
patronage of the Admiralty. Captain Shepherd's last
employment was in command of her Majesty's ship In-
constant, on the South American station, and on the
paying off of which so many painful occurrences were
alluded to in the House of Commons. —Morning
Herald.

Commander Henry Trollope to Rattlesnake, store-
ship, fitting at Sheerness.
Lieutenants—C. J. Rowley to Portland ; Thomas
Andrews to Dido ; E. N. Underwood to Magicienne ;
David Spain to Basilisk ; Robert Gibson to Barracouta.
Paymaster—John Brickwood to Imperieuse.
Mates—Arthur Wing to Barracouta ; John L. Perry
to Imperieuse.
Clerks—Henry J. Nettleton, to Rhadamanthus ; C.
N. Motherwell, to Horatio ; Gabriel J. Kenyon, to Im-
perieuse ; Robert Bone, to Imperieuse ; Henry G. Bar-
low, to Odin ; Henry Pengelley, to Valorous.
Midshipmen—Hon. C. A. Talbot, to Imperieuse ; F.
P. Staples, to Imperieuse.

PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 23.
As anticipated yesterday, the remains of the late Com-
mander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Thos. Briggs, were moved
from the dockyard at 5.30 a.m., and 17 minute-guns
were fired.

London, 92, Captain Mundy, came into harbour this
day, at 11, and is now alongside the jetty. She will be
taken into dock to have her bott6ni cleaned. We can-
not help noticing the masterly manner in which she was
handled. The Echo, steam-tug, was sent to Spithead,
to tow her into harbour. There being, however, a stiff
breeze from E.S.E., she preferred her canvas, and after
a few tacks weathered the Spit Buoy, and came into
harbour in fine style.
Encounter, 14, screw-corvette, Captain O'Callaghan,
came to Spithead from Cowes-roads, at two p.m. this
day.

Dwina, Russian corvette, left Spithead this morning,
at ten, and in passing the Prussian corvette Mercuri, at
the Motherbank, exchanged complimentary salutes.
Fairy, royal yacht tender, was placed on the gridiron
this morning, to have the screw propeller unshipped.
The Simoom, 18, Captain Kingcome, has gone into
the steam basin to-day to land the machinery for the
Duke of Wellington, 131; and the Medea, 6, Commander
J. C. Bailey, was taken out.
The Fire Queen steam-yacht, Mr. Paul, Master Com-
manding, went to Sconce-point this morning, carrying
Captain Chads, C. 8., of the Excellent, and Captain Hen-
derson, C. 8., of the Blenheim, to inspect that new battery.

SHEERNESS, DEc. 22.
The Cyclops, 5, paddle-wheel steam-frigate of 320-
horse power, in command of Lieutenant John Seccombe
pro tem., arrived here and came into harbour at 3.30
p.m. this day from Portsmouth. She has brought round
to this port the Marine Artillery, for service on board
the steam-frigate Amphion, and the steam-sloop Barra-
eouta ; also, 30 warrant officers for service here and at
Chatham, and the seamen lent from the Waterloo, Mo-
narch, and Boscawen, with the seamen riggers lent from
this yard. She is moored to her old moorings on the
west shore.

The Amphion, 34, screw steam-frigate, of 300. horse
power, has this day been commissioned here by the
Master, Mr. W. J. B. Hilliard. The commissions for
the following officers appointed to her have arrived,
some of which have already been taken up :—Captain—
Charles G. E. Patey, taken up ; First Lieutenant—G.
B. W. Nicholas ; Second Lieutenant—James C. Camp-
bell ; Master W. J. B. Hilliard, taken up ; Paymaster
—C. S. Giles ; Clerk—Mr. E. Edmeads, taken up. The
Marines for service on board this ship arrived here this
afterimon:from the Chatham division, by the steam-ten-
der Adder, Second Master Mr. James Watt. The Am-
phion will—including marines, officers, and seamen—
have a crew of 300.

The Barracouta, 6, paddle-wheel steam-sloop, of 300-
horse power, has this day been commissioned by the
Master, Mr. S. W. Freeman. The commissions have
arrived for the following officers, viz., Commander G.
Parker; Lieutenant Thomas H. Collirpgwood ; Mr. S. W.
Freeman (taken up); Paymaster, Mr. Frederick C. Du-
sautoy ; Clerk, Mr. C. M. Balfour. The marines for
duty in this ship arrived here by the steam-tender Adder,
Mr. James Watt, from Chatham, at 3 p.m. this day,
and immediately proceeded on board. The Barracouta
is to have in complement, including officers, seamen,
marine artillery, and marines, 160 men and officers.
The Adder, steam-tender, Second Master James Watt,
arrived here at 3 p.m. this day, from Chatham, with
marines for the Amphion and Barracouta,.
The Ordnance hoy Ebenezer, Montagu, Master, arrived
here this day, from Woolwich, with gun carriages and
Ordnance stores for the Agamemnon, 91 guns, Captain
Sir Thomas Maitland.

A very interesting experiment, to explain the working
of Captain Alexander Milne's night semaphore signals,
took place here to-day, under the superintendence of
First Lieutenant Thomas R. Christopher, of her Ma-
jesty's ship Waterloo, in command of Captain the Hon.
Montagu Stopford. The signalmen belonging to the
Waterloo were present, and the mode of working was
simply and efficiently explained by a Mr. Gossage, the
inventor of an improved portable engine pump, ship's
fire-engine, and watering-engine. By this semaphore a
complete code of night signals can be made to equal the
complete day code by flags. The semaphore is in three
parts, having three lanterns capable of showing lights of
various colours ; each part of the main staff, which is of
metal, and connected by a bayonet-joint, can be as
quickly unconnected as a soldier would unfix his bayonet
from his musket. The entire apparatus is fixed in a box
six feet in length, and of about 15 inches square,
By an Admiralty order six shipwright apprentices are
to be entered in this yard, and six boys are to be sent
here, by Admiralty order, for the purpose of being ex-
amined by the professional officer, the master shipwright,
Mr. Samuel Read, as to their qualifications in arithmetic.
A number of the working shipwrights belonging to this
yard have, it is reported, petitioned the Admiralty for
the old privilege to be continued to them—that is, that
such of their boys who are capable of passing their ex-
amination should have the preference over other boys.
The result of such petitions is not at present known.
Some of the petitions point out to their lordships that it
frequently occurs that an old, experienced shipwright of
good character gets his own son entered, and he is then
placed under his father to be instructed in his trade, and
under such circumstances the father has a very powerful
stimulant to do his utmost in making the apprentice an
efficient mechanic, where no such stimulant would exist
were a strange boy put under his charge to the exclusion
of his own son, on whom he has bestowed as liberal an
education as his limited wages would permit, in order to
qualify him to pass his examination when a vacancy for
apprentices occurs.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS ON THE EREWASH VALLEY LINE.
—Two accidents occurred on this line near the Kirkby
Crossing on Monday last, one of which, it is feared will
terminate fatally. The first occurred to a coal train
which left Mansfield at 6 a.m. It appears that the gate
keeper at Kirkby overslept himself, and the gates re-
mained closed when the mineral train came up. The
driver observed the gates, but the incline there being
very great, it was impossible to stop the train, which
smashed through the gates with tremendous violence,
breaking them to pieces, but fortunately doing no fur-
ther damage. The other accident occurred about an
hour afterwards, near the same place. The passenger
train from Mansfield was passing Kirkby, when it is
supposed, although no one witnessed the accident, that
a labourer, in the employ of Mr. Hodgkinson, farmer, of
Kirkby, was knocked down. The poor fellow, who, it
is thought, was crossing the line, was found soon after-
wards, his body being frightfully mutilated. The man,
who is deaf, it is imagined, could not hear the train ad-
vancing. But faint hopes are entertained of his recovery.
FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE MAIDENHEAD AND WYCOMBE
LlNE.—Yesterday, as a man named Edwards was pur-
suing his work as a carter on the line of railway now in
the course of construction from Maidenhead to Wycombe,
he suddenly fell with great violence from the embank-
ment to the bottom of a deep cutting, and was taken
home in a state which left no hopes of his recovery.
Edwards had quarrelled and fought with a companion
named Curry, on the previous day, and it is supposed
that dizziness in the head, arising from the injuries he
received in the pugilistic encounter, caused him to fall
into the cutting, and thus meet with a premature death.
ACCIDENT ON THE SHREWSBURY AND CHESTER RAIL-
WAY.—On Wednesday the afternoon train, leaving
Shrewsbury at 3.20 for Chester, ran into a train of coal
and lime trucks, that were coming out of the Mineral
Branch of the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, at the
Wheatsheaf Junction, near Wrexham. Fortunately,
the engine-driver saw the danger, and, by shutting off
the steam, and applying the break, the force of the col-
lision was much broken, none of the passengers were at
all injured, and only the passenger engine-driver very
slightly bruised.
THE THUNDER STORM.—PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.—
During the thunder storm which visited this neighbour-
hood on Thursday night, an accident of a very alarming
but transitory character occurred to Mr. Glass, the well-
known landlord and auctioneer of the Lamb Inn, War-
minster. He was returning with a horse and gig from
Devizes market, and had nearly reached the turnpike
gate between Bratten and Westbury, when both he and
the animal were struck by the electric fluid. For seve-
ral moments he was utterly stupified by the shock, and,
to use his own language, he felt, on recovering conscious.
ness, as though he had been "almost smothered in a
cloud of sulphurous vapour." The horse also was
stunned, and it was several minutes before it sufficiently
recovered to be in a fit state to proceed upon its journey.
Mr. Glass still complains of a stiffness and numbness of
the joints, which he attributes to the shock he experi-
enced ; and it is a fact, which demonstrates the provi-
dential character of his escape from instant death, 'that
the same current of electric fluid set fire to a wheat
mow, as detailed in our Westbury news,— Wilts County
Mirror.