The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-18 00:00:00

PRICE •.4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Life Guards; Corporal-Major St. John, Ist Life Guards;
Trooper 0 tter way, 2d Life Guards; C orp oral- Maj or
Armstrong, Ist Life Guards; Corporal-Major Wake, 2d
Life Guards ; Corporal-Major Priestley, Royal Horse
Guards; Corporal-Major Adcock, Ist Life Guards; Cor-
poral-Major Learmont, Royal Horse Guards ; Corporal
Cornish, Ist Life Guards; Trumpet• Major Binnie, Ist Life
Guards: Corporal Dean, let Life Guards; Corporal Bee,
Royal Horse Guards; Corporal Harker, 2d Life Guards;
and Corporal Gower, 2d Life Guards ; while in addition
Captain Chapman, late of the militia, kindly entered the
lists against two of the best swordsmen in the brigade. The
fencing was not, perhaps, marked by such a degree of cool-
ness and grace as is exhibited in the schools, for the gaslight
in the hall probably dazzled some of the men, who besides
were a little anxious to display their acquirements, but after
the customary preliminary exercises of the salute and the
thrusting in carte and tierce, they donned their masks and
set to work with right good will, showing such marvellous
cunning in fence, and such quickness in thrust, as rendered
it evident their lives would be of little value were but the
button removed from the foil. Captain Chapman and Cor-
poral-Major Waite seemed as though they would never
weary of the play, and after an excellent bout, in which the
guardsman had a great deal of trouble to withstand his less
gigantic but expert opponent, they retired from the platform
amidst a perfect shower of applause.• The single-stick and
sabre practice, too, was marked with much determination
in attack and dexterity of guard. Life and limb would have
been in jeopardy every moment had not the players been
well guarded by friendly pads : and in the displays of box-
ing a great deal of amusement was occasioned by the evi•
dent comparative incapacity of one of the men who exhi •
bited in the first part of the programme, and so much did
the audience feel delighted at the punishment adminis-
tered that they unanimously demanded an encore, which
demand was complied with, no doubt to the intense
delight of the victim in the encounter. The sword and
bayonet practice was very interesting from the apparent
inequality in the weapons, and it is hard to say where the
advantage rested. It is perfectly clear that one thrust with
the bayonet, either from a straight point in the chest, or an
upward point in the head, is sufficient to dispose of an op-
ponent ; but, on the other hand, let the infantry man once
miss his mark and he is at the mercy of the swordsman.
The Saladin feats were performed by Corporal-Major St.
John and Corporal-Major Waite, the former of whom by
swift and dexterous cute repeatedly severed a silk handker-
chief and some ribbons on the edge of his sword, and then,
with one fearful sweep of his weapon divided the carcase of
a sheep ; while the latter, with one blow, cut through a bar
of lead six and a half inches in diameter, repeatedly sliced
an apple held on the hand of a comrade, and what seemed
to be the more marvellous feat, cut in two an apple inside a
handkerchief without any injury to the texture of the en-
closure. They were both highly applauded at the close of
their performances, as, indeed, were most of the men.
The entertainment, we understand, was exceedingly suc-
cessful in a financial point of view, and we can warrant that
it gave the highest satisfaction to a numerous audience,
amongst whom were many ladies.
The children for whose benefit the entertainment was
given were seated in front of the orchestra, and showed by
their healthy and contented appearance that they are well
cared for and nurtured.
The bands of the Ist and 2d Life Guards, wader their
respective conductors, played a varied selection of excellent
music during the afternoon.

Final Sale of the Great Eastern Steamship.

LivEßrooL, FEB. 17.

The sale of the Great Eastern steamship was opened to-
day in the cotton sales' room, Exchange Buildings, there
being this time no reserve placed on the vessel. As on the
first occasion, when the ship was offered at auction, there
was a very large attendance, so on the present occasion the
room was crowded with merchants and shipowners. Mr
Cunard (of the firm of Canard, Wilson, and Co.), the auc-
tioneer, enumerated the conditions of sale, one of which,
the most important, was that if the purchaser made any ob-
jection which the vendor could not removele was at liberty
to rescind the contract on return of the deposit of 10 per
cent. It was stated that a clear title could be guaranteed to
the ship, and that all claims against her would be discharged
by the vendors, the deposit-money in the meantime remain-
ing at the Liverpool Bank to be returned if the title was
found incomplete. There was comparatively little bidding,
Mr Yates, secretary of the Great Eastern Steamship Com-
pany (Limited) leading off with a bid of £20,000. Mr John
Rae, shipowner, made the next bid for £25,000, but as he
was uaderstoed not to agree to make the necessary deposit,
his bid was not entertained, and the next actual bid was
that of Mr M‘Gee, shipowner, for £21,000. Mr Yates fol-
lowed with £22,000, and after Mr M'Gee had bid £23,000,
the vessel was ultimately knocked down to Mr Yates for
£25,000. This amount, however, only represents a small
portion of the money which the new company have ad-
vanced. as they had previously purchased bonds of the
Great Ship Company to the amount of £70,000 ; and thus
the actual cost of the vessel to the new company, after re-
ceiving the dividends on the bonds purchased, will be about
£BO,OOO.
A claim was made by Mr Rae at the close of the sale, on
the ground that he had bid £25,000 for the ship. The
claim, however, was not entereained, on account of Mr
Rae having failed in regard to his deposit, and to observe
other minor technicalities connected with the conditions of