The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-23 00:00:00

EIEAR DOCTOR, what do you advise ? 1
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one or their capital chops and magnificent potatoes, and that
is th best advice I can give you.

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Naval and Military Telegraphy,

An exposition of the system of telegraphy for the joint
use of the army and navy in combined military and naval
operations, which has been brought to its present state of
perfection by a series of experiments extending over some
months, by Captain Frank Bolton, of the 12th Regiment,
and Commander Colomb, of her Majesty's navy, took place
on Friday evening last, under the inspection of the Lords of
the Admiralty, and was atteaded with the most perfect suc-
cess. Their Lordships had left Portsmouth in the afternoon
in their yacht Enchantress, and anchored for the night in
Cowes Roads, the Pigmy paddlewheel steamer, Master
Commander Vine (fitted with sets of signalling apparatus),
following from Portsmouth and anchoring near the Admi-
ralty yacht, according to the arrangements announced in
the Naval and Military Intelligence of The Sun of Saturday.
The Pigmy thus became one point of communication which
may be termed the central, with the Lords of the Admiralty
on board to watch and direct the proceedings. The Pigmy

carries one of Captain Bolton's army field lime lights, and
is also fitted with the magneto-electric light of precisely the
same nature as the one that throws its powerful rays
nightly across the Channel from Dungeness Lighthouse.
Command Colomb was on hoard the Pigmy, and conducted
the signalling, under the direction of the Duke of Somerset
and his colleagues. The three outlying signal points from
the Pigmy were,—the semaphore tower, in Portsmouth
Dockyard; Ash-down, in nearly the centre of the
Isle of Wight; and St. Catherine's-hill, the high
land near Black Gang Chine, at the southern extremity
of the island. At the semaphore tower was one of
Capt. Bolton's army field lime lights only, in charge of Capt.
Bolton and a corporal of Engineers. On Ashdown was a
similar instrument in charge of a couple of Engineers or
Sappers, and on St. Catherine's was a similar instrument,
with also a magneto-electric apparatus, in charge of four
Engineers.
The time appointed for the signalling to commence was 9
p.m., and the initiative was to be taken on board the Pigmy.
It was considerably past that time, however, before the
Pigmy made any sign to those in the semaphore tower at
Portsmouth, and it was evident that the Lords of the Ad-
miralty were either directing messages to St. Catherine's-
hill in the first instance, or there must be an intervening fog
between the signalling points undiscoverable from the sema-
phore at Portsmouth. The former eventually proved to be
the case. Capt. Bolton, anxious to discover the real cause,
flashed his light in the direction of Ashdown, and the call
being at once answered, Capt. Bolton flashed the question
as fast as the words could have been slowly spelt, "Have
you any fog there, or is there any visible round St. Cathe-
rine's ?" The answer, flashed as quickly back, was "No-
thing that we can see." The call signal from Portsmouth
to Ashdown was made and answered and these messages
sent and received in 2m 30s. St. Catherine's station was
next flashed into position out in the darkness, and told to
keep a sharp look out. At 10 p.m. the magneto-electric
light on St. Catherine's-hill burst into view over Hyde, with
all the brilliant intensity of a summer noonday's blue sun,
and " winked " out its message, " Cowes has seen us; good
night." Portsmouth, however, was anxious to know what
Cowes had said, and Captain Bolton, by a couple of flashes
from his diminutive apparatus, checked his powerful friend
and agent on St. Catherine's-hill, and put the necessary
question. Again the wonderful light winked through the
darkness, and, commencing its answer, said, " They asked
if we could."—At this point Captain Bolton had to signal,
"Wait," for Commander Colomb on board the Pigmy at
Cowes was calling attention with his magneto-electric light,
and, on being answered, sent the following passage (having
no official meaning) to Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour,
at his residence in the dockyard, from the Lords of the Ad.
miraity who were on board the Pigmy, then from on board
their yacht Enchantress :

"Semaphore tower, inquire of Sir Michael Seymour if
:he Channel Fleet have coaled ; ask also which boat won
the race."

The message was sent from the semaphore tower fo the
residence of Sir Michael Seymour, aad an answer was sent
acros by the lime light, that—

" The Channel Fleet have not all coaled yet. Admiral
Elliot's boat won the race."

Their Lordships now quitted the Pigmy for their own
yacht, quite satisfied with the experiments, and a parting,
"Great success," again winked by the magneto-electric of
the Pigmy to the lime light on the Portsmouth semaphore
tower closed the proceedings, and the Pigmy immediately
weighed her anchor and returned to Portsmouth.

It will be understood at once from the hour at which the
signalling took place that only the night system of Captain
Bolton and Commander Colomb was put under trial by the
Lards of the Admiralty, and this course was taken for the
reason that it difficulty in transmission existed in one part
of the system over the other it must be with the night
rather than the day system, from the fact that fogs—that
great enemy to all sight signals—are in greater force about
the high lands of the Isle of Wight by night than by
day. The magneto-electric light and the lime light may
be shortly described as follows :—ln the magneto-electric
the power that produces the light is resident in 120 perma-
nent magnets, of about 51b, each, ranged on the periphery
of two large wheels, the latter driven by steam power, which
causes 160 soft iron cores surrounded by coils of wire to
rotate past the magnets. The small streams of electricity
thus generated are collected together into one stream, and
by a special piece of apparatus, termed a commutator, the
alternate positive and negative currents are all brought into
one direction and conveyed by a wire to the illuminating
apparatus and " lamp" or " regulator."
The lime light is obtained from the ignition of a piece of
lime, the shape and thickness of a small cedar pencil, by
submitting it to the intense heat evolved by the compound
flame of hydrogen and oxygen gases in the proportion in
which they form water. The Erne does not burn, but simply
becomes brilliantly illuminated without undergoing any
chemical change. This light is stated to be the most intense
and pure known, with the exception of the electric light,
over which, however, it possesses the great advantages of
being steady and continuous, and its volume capable of being
increased at pleasure. The cost of the magneto-electric ap-
paratus is something like £2,000 at present, but it can be
produced more cheaply as it is brought into use, and its cost
of working is said to be comparatively trifling after it has
been established. The cost of Captain Bolton's lime light
field apparatus. complete for field service, and such as is now
supplied by the War Department to our Royal Engineers,
is about £35. The lime light will receive and transmit sig-
nals with certainty to a distance of 23 miles, The range of
the magneto-electric is greater. The lime light is now sup-
plied to every ship in the Channel Fleet for night sig-
nalling, having superseded all other signal lights, and
especially those with coloured glasses. The army and navy
have thus already adopted the light officially to a certain
extent, and it is with the object of its complete adoption
throughout both services that Commander Colomb and
Captain Bolton have now for some months past been em-
ployed upon these experiments to perfect a set of signals
which may be introduced as the signal code for the conjoint
use of the army and navy, and upon this part of their duties
the commission to be named by the War Department and
the Admiralty will immediately be formed and make a re-
port. The entire system of transmitting the signals by day
and by night is available under all circumstances, and is
expressed by jets of steam, revolving shutters, a collapsing
cone or disc by day; by one bright light by night, and by
a fog horn or steam whistle in a fog. With these means the
following results have been already obtained :-
1. Perfect communication by day has been established
between St. Catherine's Down, Isle of Wight, and her Ma-
jesty's steamer Pigmy, with the shutters and jets of steam,
the Pigmy being 16 miles off at sea, at the rate of two sig-
nals in three minutes, including the transmission of the
signals from St. Catherine's to the semaphore tower at
Portsmouth, an additional 16 miles,

2. Perfect communication by night between the same
points, at a seaward distance of 30 miles by the electric
light, and a seaward distance of 22 miles with the lime light,
at the average rate of one signal per minute, the weather
being ordinarily clear.

3. Fog signals by sound with common ships' fog horns,
at a distance of three to four miles, at the same rate of
speed.
Messages of 12 signals have been sent from St. Catherine's
Down to the Pigmy, and vice versa, at a distance of 17 miles
seaward, in a gale of wind, and transmitted to Portsmouth
in eight minutes,including the repetition at St. Catherine's.
On the night of the 18th inst. 200 signals were sent between
Portsmouth and St. Catherine's Down in one hour.

neers, Capt. Bolton's arrangements for fixed military sta-
tions, such as the semaphore tower at Portsmouth, as the
headquarters for telegraphic communication with all the
surrounding fortifications, are independent of any signal-
book, the operator flashing each letter of a word from the
point of his lime light as he sends his message. It is evi-
dent, however, that this independent method would not
answer at sea, where the flagship must keep repeating a
message until answered by each ship in the squadron, and
for this latter necessity Commander Colcomb's mechanical
regulator expressly provides, making and repeating the
signal independent of any skill on the part of the seaman
signalman.

THE VOLUNTEERS.

-- e-.~ _

A court of inquiry, ordered by the Lord Lieutenant of
Hampshire at the instance of the Secretary of State for War,
was held at Winchester a few days ago into the circum-
stances he official reports were based which
ledto upontherec which
tdiieshbandment ofthe 18th Hants, or Basing-
stoke corps, for insubordination at the review at Guildford
on Easter Monday. The court Was composed of Sir George
Pechell, Colonel-Commandant of the 4th Administrative
Battalion of Hampshire, as president, Capt. Barton, of the
3d
p Assis-
tant-Inspectorir of Volunteers, attended from the War-office.
It
sacte: h Rants. Col. Luard,
the review on Easter Monday a
generalapaeuat reorderathn that
dwt Capt.apsre previous
Bu
issuedior by Col. 11 tM urdo that no company
in any battalion was to consist of less than 24 files. Lient.-
Col. Humphery, MS. who woman& the let Hants
Administrative Battalion, on arriving
found four other com-
pante s andbelonging to one subdivision at Shalford-common
with his own, the Andover company,
his battalion already
on the ground ; two companies from Southampton, under
Lieut.-Col. Sir G. Pechell, were added to his command,
which thus consisted of seven companies and one subdivi-
sion. The men forming the subdivision were at once dis-
tributed among the seven companies, but Colonel Hum-
phery, in the hope that more men
might yet arrive, and
obviate the necessity of breaking up any of the com-
panies, delayed obeying the general order until the last mo-
ment—until, indeed, a peremptory command from the
brigade-major compelled him at once to do so. As each
company consisted of less than 24 file, and as the battalion
could consist of six companies only, one had to be broken
up. He accordingly directed Lieutenant Brooks, who com-
manded the Basingstoke or junior company, and which
numbered only l7i files, to distribute his men in certain
proportions among the rest. Some of the men, in obedience
to Lieutenant Brooks's order, were marched off to one of the
companies from Winchester, but others of them, on being
ordered to join some other company, refused to obey. After
the review Lieutenant Brooks resigned his commission, and
Colonel Humphery, as the officer in command of the bat-
talion, reported the circumstances to the Lord-Lieutenant
of the county, the Marquis of Winchester, who in turn re-
ported to the War-office, and eventually, by the command
of the Queen, the Basingstoke corps was,disbanded for in-
subordination. The subject was one of painful interest to
Volunteers in general at the time, and having bince con-
tinued to rankle in the minds of the corps in question and
of the rest of the inhabitants of the town of Basingstoke,
Lord de Grey and Ripon ordered an inquiry into the cir-
cumstances.

At the court constituted as above Mr Brooks, late lieu-
tenant, was called as a witness. Ho said he was at the re-
view with the Basingstoke corps, which ho commanded. He
formed up the corps, when the Colonel asked him the date
of his commissions, he told him he could not mind the date,
but that Lieutenant Pooro was his senior in rank. The
Colonel then said he must break up the 18th, or Basing-
stoke. He replied, " Very well," and asked how many files
were wanted for No, 1 Company. The Colonel said, "Three
files," which were detached and joined it without objection
on their part. He then asked the Colonel how many files
he would require for No. 2, and was told two files. He ac-
cordingly ordered two files to join No. 2. On his so doing
the front rank man of one file said, " I won't go." He also
heard two other men further down the company say they
would not break up, Upon that he turned to Colonel
Humphry, who was close by, and said, "My men refuse
to break up. On this the Colonel said to Adjutant Crofts,
who was near him, The Basingstoke corps refused to be
broken up." The Adjutant's answer was, " Then we must
break up the battalion." The Colonel then turned to him
(Lieutenant Brooks), and said, "I will have nothing more
to do with you ; I will break up the Andover corps." He
did so, and brought five files from that corps to the 18th
Hants to make it up to the requisite strength, with an
order that the Andover flies sLoulu work together. He
then proved the company, and they drilled with the rest of
the battalion. Four men had refused to obey. One
front rank man said he would not go, two others refused
to break off, and a fourth, in the centre of the corps, ad-
dressed the Colonel, saying that the 18th were the strongest
on the ground, and requesting to know why the Colonel
did not break up his own corps. By the expression "My
men refuse to break up'' witness did not mean to infer the
whole corps was disobedient, nor did he think it was. He
only intended this expression to apply to four men.

The witness, in cross-examination; said the Colonel ex-
pressed
his sorrow at breaking up the company to bring up
the others to the requisite strength. He made use of no
words to the Colonel to imply that there were only four men
disobedient. The Colonel, in a letter, asked him to recon-
sider the resignation of his commission. He did so, and
wrote a letter in reply. The letter was put in, and was to
the effect that he had reconsidered his resignation, and
would not again expose himself to such treatment from his
corps. If a corps would not obey its officers it should either
be disbanded or the officers should resign. He accepted the
latter course, and adhered to his resignation.
Colonel Humphery, M.P.,
was called, and said, in sub•
stance, he distinctly remembered Mr Brooks reporting to
him that his men refused to break up. He replied, "Not
break up? They must I" Mr Brooks said, " Well, they
won't do it, and I can't make them." He (Colonel Hum-
phery) then turned to Adjutant Crofts, and, remarking that
the Basingstoke corps refused to be broken up, asked what
he was to do. The Adjutant replied, "I know what we
should do in the regulars. I should order the companies in
front and rear to fix bayonets and march the offending com-
panies off the ground under arrest. He (the Colonel) said
he and he did then hear some
man n
case,
him why he did not break
could
in
dt
knote Basingstoke do
a
up his own company. Upon that he went to the Andover
company, and said loudly—the 18 Lb must have heard—" Do
you hear the Basingstoke men refuse to obey the commands
of their officer? Now, you show them that if you under-
take a soldier's duties you know how to discharge them by
obeying
They did so, and he sent five files to
the 18th, or Basingstoke, which were five files short, al-
though they said they were the strongest company. His
company, the 13th, was one file stronger than theirs. When
the battalion was equalised he formed square, and, riding
into the centre, rebuked the Basingstoke corps for their
up when your officers, and set them an example by breaking
required."
conduct. He did so in a voice sufficiently lend for all the
men to hear him. He had no remonstrance from the Basing-
stoke corps in reference to the rebuke ; nor had he any rea-
son to believe otherwise than that Lieut. Brooks meant that
all his company were disobedient. He received every aid
was never said in his hearing
from the non-commissioned officers of the corps, and so he
men, He expected every
day to receive some expression of regret on the part of some
stated in iwnahsistko
body, but in vain, and as far as , _
ue was concerned he was
willing, having rebuked the corps, to allow the matter to
was sent to the Lord
matter to rest.efficOcoinalildMruecicorhft.a3lofttehwhine --.
received the resignation
bu t bfreefmor eEtahral
et , 0 n
received;rt of the facts of the case. —p
April Bth, a letter
Up to that time
ofcalling L
Lieutenant i eutf.orß arkoreoekpso
he had said nothing about what had taken place at Shalford.
Hear sentie,s in
tt
e hisr.
taroocoanceuos
felt it was hard for
them to suffer for the foolery of a few men. He (Colonel
Humphery) had done all he could to get them a court of in-
quiry. There, as far as he was concerned, the matter rested.
He believed the disobedience was general till he received a
cope did
yn
ofa letter
hecould from
to
Mre k
ell
The Court asked if more than four men expressed their
disapproval at being broken U.
Colonel Humphery replied he knew nothing of that, ex-
cept by hearsay. He did not personally observe any dis-
affection, except as to the man who addressed him.
Mr Brooks asked the Colonel if it would have been in ac-
cordance with discipline if any of them had remonstrated
when he addressed the men in square.
Colonel Humphery said it would not have been in accord-
ance with discipline, but in accordance with his knowledge
of the Volunteers. They were free and easy, and he did not
think they would stick at remonstrance.
These were substantially the circumstances elicited at the
court of inquiry, which lasted• four hours. They will be
reported to the War-office, and the result will afterwards
be made known.

The let corps of the Administrative Brigade of Kent
Artillery Volunteers, consisting of twe batteries, under the
command of Captain-Commandant G. E. Sharland, wore in-
spected on Wednesday by Colonel C. J. B. Riddell, C. 8.,
commanding the Royal Artillery stationed in the Chatham
district. After the inspection of Volunteers on the parade
ground, which was in every respect satisfactory, both as
regards equipment, arms, clothing, and accoutrements, as
well as the manner in which the parade manoeuvres were
effected, the corps commenced the more important portion
of their duties by manning the batteries commanding the
entrance to Chatham Harbour. They did so to practise with
the 68-pounder and 32-pounder smooth-bore guns, and to
expend their annual allowance of garrison gun ammunition.
The projectiles fired ,on the occasion consisted of 68-pounder
and 32-pounder solid shot and common shell, the target
being moored to seaward, at a range of about 1,800 yards.
Notwithstanding the somewhat untoward chew:realm of

The new code may be said to be based upon the Morse
telegraph, the short and long dashes in the printing of
which are represented by Captain Bolton and Commander
Colomb by the time the jets of steam, cone, or disc, or
shutters are exhibited by day ; the time the light is flashed
in by night, and the duration of the sound emitted by the
steam whistle or fog horn in a fog. For exhibiting the
light or cone on board ship, Commander Colomb makes
the duration of the signal dependent upon a mechanial
arrangement of his own invention, which leaves nothing to
the judgment alone of the signalman, ann makes use only
of numerals, which are thus applicable to the present naval
signal-books, In the telegraphic corps of the Royal Engi•

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 23, 1864.