The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-08 00:00:00

DR. TURNBULL.

The following has also been published, being the
return from the War-office to an address of the
House of Commons, dated Feb. 19, 1864, for•--

. . ---
" Copy of any Letter or Memorandum (other than the
Memorandum dated Horse Guards, February, 1863, now
upon the table of the House, Parliamentary Paper, No.
406, of Session 1863), signed by the Adjutant-General of
the Forces, and addressed to the Commander-in• Chief in
India, between the 18th day of December, 1862, and the
Ist day of June, 1863, in which his Royal Highness the
Field Marshal Commander-in-Chief is stated to have
modified his opinion on the remarks of Sir Hugh Rose on
Dr. Turnbull, surgeon of the 6th or Inniskilling Dragoons."
" Horse Guards, S.W., March 14, 1863.
Sir,—Having submitted to his Royal Highness
the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief your letter
of the 20th January last, enclosing copy of a letter
from Colonel Haythorne, written by your excel-
lency's direction, to Lieut.-General Sir William
Mansfield, and also a letter from Surgeon Turnbull,
I am directed to inform you that his royal highness
considers that the unwillingness of Dr. Turnbull to
enter fully, in the first instance, into every possible
circumstance which might appear to bear on the
disease which carried off Sergeant-Major Lilley very
much modifies the opinion expressed by his royal
highness on your remarks upon that medical officer
and the circumstances of the case.
" His royal highness also approves of the remarks
made on Lient.-Colonel Crawley's omission to send
Dr. Turnbuil's supplementary report, after he had
ascertained that very considerable quantities of
brandy had been consumed in the house of that
non-commissioned officer, and that there is a pro-
bability of his , symptoms having been aggravated
by drinking.

At the same time his royal highness must remark
that, whilst the fact of the sergeant-major's having
hastened his death by drinking rests on doubtful
evidence, the whole previous life of that non-com-
missioned officer seems to have been marked by good
conduct and sobriety.
" With reference to the confidential reports of

Nov. 7, and Sir William Mansfield of Dec. 9, 1862,
covering them, I am directed by his royal highness
to inform you that they have been submitted, as is
usual with all confidential reports, to his notice,
and that he is glad to find that, according to the
lieutenant-general's reports, Lieut.-Colonel Crawley
has had no further occasion to complain of any want
of support from the officers present; and his royal
highness trusts that, as he does not feel warranted
at present in removing Major Swindley, that offi-
cer on joining will, after the admonition he has
received, do all in his power to redeem his cha-
racter, and render due and efficient support to his
commanding officer ; but should his royal highness's
hopes in this respect be deceived, he will have
no hesitation in itinoVing Major Swindley.—l have,
&c., (Signed) "I. YORKE SCARLETT, A.G.
" Gen. Sir Hugh Ruse, G1.C.8., K. 5.1.,
Commander-in-Chief in India.'

Serious Accident at the Birkenhead Docks,

On Sunday an accident of a serious nature occurr:d at the
tiirkenhead Docks. The north wall of the Morpeth Lasill4
has for some time been in a tottering condition, and has hau
to be supported by piles and backing. In consequence of a
portion of the backing having been removed, however, 1201
feet of the wall fell in on Sunday, lifting 50ft of the heavy'
structure bodily from the foundations, carrying it 20 feet
across the new excavations, and piling it in an upright mass
against the splendid granite masonry of the Morpeth lock.
The gates of this lock were closed, and fortunately with-
stood the shock. Had they not done so the most serious
consequences must have ensued by the sudden abstraction
of the tidal waters of the Mersey, a quantity of water suffi-
cient to cover 11 acres 32 feet in depth. To fill the vacuum
between the old and new walls, a large quantity of water
was necessarily drawn off from the Morpeth basin, and to
compensate for the abstraction, a tidal wave of great magni•
tude rushed up the basin from the river, breaking with ter-
rific force against the head of the basin and inundating s
portion of the shore road. The whole of the vessels in the
Morpeth dock broke their chains and ropes, and some ulti-
mately drifted with the current into the Egerton dock, but
generally they sustained only slight damage. At the Mor-
peth dock all the water was in violent oscillation for nearly
an hour,