The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-24 00:00:00

LANGHAM HOTEL.

Mr VILLEBOISNET complained of the large expenditure,
and movod as an amendment that a committee of five share-
holders be now appointed to investigate the accounts and
expenditure in the hotel.

The amendment having been seconded, a long discussion
ensued.

Dlr VILLEBOISNET withdrew his amendment, and the
original reolution was agreed to.

A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the pro-
ceedings.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Victoria screw steamship, Captain J. Gooi

_ .
enough, intended as flagship for Rear-Admiral
Smart, commander-in•ct•ief of her Mjesty's ships
in the Mediterranean, left Spithead yesterday after-
noon under steam for that station, calling at PAya
mouth, being still a few hands short of her oomph).
went.

Her Majesty's paddle-wheel sloop Barracoata, 6,
guns, 1,053 tons, 300-horse power, Commander John
D'Arcy, recently returned from the West Indies,
was this day paid out of commission in tl:e large
basin in Sheerness dockyard by Captain-Superin-
tendent Charles Wise, Aide-de•Camp to the Queen,
who highly complimented the ship's crew on their
orderly and steady conduct during paying off. In
consequence of the length of time that the Barra-
couta has been in commission (four years and a half),
the large amount of £3,700 was paid among 120
men, who upon receiving their money voluntarily
entered into a subscription for the mother of one of
their messmates, George Fenn, who lost his life by
falling from aloft: in a gale of wind while on the
passage to England. The sum of £2l was sub-
scribed, The Barracouta has had three commanders
during the time she has been in commission, viz.:—
Commander Wm. Wood, who retired on promotion ;
Commander Malcolm, who resigned, and Comman-
der John D'Arcy, who has had command one year
and a half. The vessel will be placed in the third
division of the Sheerness Steam Reserve,
The screw corvette Cadmus, 21, 400-horsepower,
will be placed in dock at Chatham, on Saturday, to
be examined, in order to ascertain whether she has
sustained any injuries from the recent shipment
and unsbipment of her screws. She has shipped
her new propeller, a "left-handed" Griffith's screw,
which arrived from Woolwich in the early part of

he week.
The important experiments recently made under
the direction of the Ordnance Select Committee to
.eat the value of the invention of Major Palliser
or the employment of cast'.iron chilled shot in
both naval and land warfare have proved so
eminently satisfactory as establishing the enormous
superiority of the shot made according to the
plan advocated by Major Palliser as compared with
the old system of casting shot that an announce-
ment has been made at Chatham that the shot in
future to be supplied to the navy, as soon as the
existing stock of the ordinary spherical shot has
been exhausted, will be manufactured according to
the new process. The first public trials with the
solid shot made on Major Palliset's process took
place at Shoeburynoss, when a 12-pounder chilled
shot was tested against a steel shot of similar
weight, the results of the trials being so satisfac-
tory that the Ordnance Select Committee directed
a further series of experiments with a round
chilled iron shot made of Derbyshire hot blast iron.
and weighing 1031 b., which was fired from the So.
merset gun, with a charge of 251 b of powder, against
the Lord 'Warden target, a spherical steel shot,
weighing 116 W, with the same charge of powder,
being tested at the same time against the chilled shot.
Notwithstanding the disparity in theweight and cha-
racter of the two shots, the effects of each were very
nearly the same. Both shots went completely
through the 4t-in. iron plates of the target, as well
as through Bin. of timber backing, bulging up the
second inner iron skin of the target, which an exami-
nation of the plates at Chatham Dockyard shows
the shot failed to penetrate. Another and still
more important trial subsequently took place, on
which occasion two sets of experiments were made
against La Gloire target, the first from an ordit, at.)
68• pounder and from an Armstrong 100• pounder,
both of which were proved inefftctual against the
armour-plating of the target at a distance of 200
yards. The second trial on the same occasion
was from an Armstrong 5.22 inch shunt gun,
which was used to fire a number of rounds of
steel and chilled shot, ranging from 2281 b. (steel)
to 258. b. (chilled) i❑ weight. The general result of
this trial was to prove, as before, that the chilled

iron used as a projectile is nearly, if not quite,
equal to steel, while both are immeasurably superior
to cast-iron. Oa the score of economy the chilled
shot presents several advantages over those of steel,
the materials from which the latter are made costing
£5O a ton, while those for the chilled shot cost only
£5 a ton.
The following appointments and promotions have
been made at the Admiralty :—Capt.W. M. Dowell
to the Euryalus, vice Alexander, invalided—Capt.,
H. Boys, to the Barossa, vice Dowell—Capt. W. H.
Haswell, to the Pelorussvice Boys—Capt. H. He watt,
to ba musketry instructor of the Royal Marine At..
tillery,viee Dolled, period of service expired—Com-
mander J. W. Armstrong, to the Argus, vice
Moresby promoted—Commander C. E. Stevens, to
the Perseus, vice Kingston, promoted—Commander
T. E. Smith, to be Inspecting Commander of the
Coast Guard—Lieut. C. F. Walker, promoted to the
rank of Commander—Lient.F.W. Lewis, to command
of the Bouncer, vice Holder, promoted ; Lieut G. D.
Morant, to the Grasshopper, vice Walker, promoted
—Lieut. A. I. V. Collins, to the Victoria—Clement
Hirtzel, of the Grasshopper, promoted to be Master
—Dr. W. R. Bennet, assist.-surgeon, to the Duke
of Wellington—Dr. Henry N. Maclaurin, assist.-
surgeon, to Greenwich Hospital—Charles F. Wil-
liams, assist.-surgeon, to the Impregnable—J. C.
Grigg, assist.-surgeon, to the Victory—Edward R.
Connor, master's assistant, to the Firefly—Henry
Hall, assist,-engineer, to the Espoir—Ewd. Hocken
and Henry Rider, of the Phoebe, promoted to be
firstiolass assist-engineers.
The undermentioned gentlemen have been nomi-
nated to naval cadetships—John W. Strachey,
Frederick H. Thomson, Henry R. Scott Rogers,
and Gerard M. Brooke.l

COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR SHEFFIELD.—An
explosion occurred yesterday morning, at a colliery
at Woodhouse, near Sheffield, belonging to and worked by
the Fence Colliery Company. The pit was examined, as
usual, yesterday morning, by Mr Redfern, the under viewer,
and a deputy, and found to be free from gas in every patt
In less than an hour, however, an explosion occurred with
a noise like thunder, and sending volumes of smoke up the
shaft. Redfern, and his deputy, who had not been long on
the surface, descended, with others, and found all in con-
fusion below, most of the 116 men down the pit running
about in tarror, scarcely knowing what to do. It was ulti-
mately ascertained that while the miners were at breakfast,
a quantity of bind fell from the roof in some distant work.
ings, and freed a large quantity of gas, which was driven
upon the lights of the men at breakfast, George Ward,
aged 19 years, was killed. Three brothers, named Goodall,
were very seriously burned, and doubts are entertained as
to their recoverp. The rest of the men were got out of the
pit uninjured, except that some of them had suffered from
the after-damp,

On Wednesday evening, Lieut.-Col. Tennant,
late of the 35th Regiment of Fo3t, committed suicide by
shooting himself this morning, at his residence, Raglan-
road, Dublin,

A special general meeting of this company was held yes-
terday at the hotel in Langh4m-place, Regent-street, the
Earl of Shrewsbury in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said they had met for the purpose of
considering the propriety of increasing the capital for the
completion and opening of the hotel in March nest. The
auto of -,,;`,j1,000 would enable the directors to open the hotel
at the time stated, replete witli every comfort, and all those
conveniences required in a first class hotel. They were per-
tec.ly sati,fiad with the manner in which Mr Lucas, the
contractor, had constructed the hotel', and they had every
confidence that the undertaking would be a great success.
fie therefore :rusted that there would be no opposition to
the resolution. Ho then moved, "That the capital of the
company be increased from £150,000 to £lBO,OOO, by the
issue of 3,000 shares of £lO each, bearing a preferential
dividend at th© rate of S per cent. per annum, to be allotted
among the present shareholderspro rata."
Mr WILLIAMS seconded the motion.