The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-16 00:00:00

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His Prussian Majesty's screw `.°o6lkte Viit-5Ni"
14, Capt. Batsoh, from Brest, arrived lu Piymoutlr
Sound on Wednesday.
The Cadmus, 21, 400-horse power, intended for
service with the North American squadron, was '..
commissioned in Chatham harbour yesterday by
Mr S. S. Sugden, master, for Captain A. C. Gordon,
who is expected to join today. The Cadmus has
all her guns, shot, &a., and the chief portion. of her
stores on board, and only awaits the arrival: of tier
crew frcm.the various receiving ships to be zeley-
for sea.

PRICE ...... ...ld
STAMPED ....5d

Purification of the Press.

We earnestly hope that those important organs
of the general press which have joined us in de-
nouncing the facilities afforded by many otherwise
respectable journals to the advertising quacks for
ventilating their obscenities and spreading their
nets, will not desist from the useful work now so
well begun. Public opinion iS fairly aroused, and
if the subject be not allowed to fail into oblivion
by neglect a most wholesome reform will surely
be iff,cted. But it must not be forgotten that the
influecce to be overcome is a very powerful one.
The amount of money expended by the proprie-
tors of " Silent Friends," " Vital Regenerators,"
and " Guides to Manhood," in advertising their
harmless wares, is very great, and no doubt to
many a struggling journal the sums so received
constitute an inducement which pleads very nr7
gently for the continuance of a practice which is so
largely lucrative. Bnt if the attention of the gene•
ral public be sufficiently awakened to the vile nature
of this traffic this inducement will cease, for the
loss of circulation and the loss of character incurred

The (Mei& trialeof the ircn frigate Achilles eves
concluded Yesterday at Portsmouth with her helf-
boiler power trials of speed at the measured mile iu
Stokes Bay, and her tested time in makicg cirel( s
to port and starboard. The same officials condecte d
the trial yesterday as on the full-power trial of the
previous day, and the conditions of wind and wee.
'her were also equal. The runs over the measured
mile gave the following results :-Ist run 5 min. 10
lsec., 11 613 knots-24 run, 5 min. 49 sec., 10-315
knots-3d rune 4 min. 55 sec., 12.203 knots-4th
run, 6 min. 4 sec., 9.E90 knots. The mean speed of
the ship was 11.131 knots. The tested time in mak-
ing the circles gave these results :—To Port: Time
in getting helm up, 1 min. 9 sec.—angle of rudder,
28 deg.—turns of wheel, 3 s—men at wheel, 14--
half circle made in 5 min. 17 sec—fall circle do.,
10 min, 37 sec—revolutions of engines, 37. To
Starboard : Time in getting helm up, 1 min. 32 see.
—angle of rudder, 27 5 deg.—turns of wheel, 3.5
men at wheel, 14—half circle made in 5"-min. 14
sec.—full circle do., 10 min.. 3 sec—revolutions of
engines, 37. COntinuing our comparison of the
Achilles with the Warrior, in our report. of the lull-
boiler power trial of the Achilles, in The Sun cf
ye.sterday, it Will bo found that the difference
be-
tween • the two strips in speed is about the
same at
,half as at full-boiler power, the
Warrior at half-boiler power having reelised
a speed of 12186 knots against the Achilles
yesterday of 11131 knots. It must also bementioned
that the Warrior had a greater arncunt of stores and
coals on board than the Achilles at her trial, and
also that the Achilles' safety valves were loaded to
251 b., when the Warrior'a were only loaded to 25!b,
There are, however, many things, attendant cir-
cumstances, connected with the trials of both ships
that must be carefully considered to satisfactorily
account for the defeat of the new Warrior—for so
the Achilles must be considered—by the old one,
and the most prominent of these undoubtedly are
the 21,in. extra immersion of the new ship, the ex•
change of a two bladed Griffith screw for a four.
bladed Mangin, and the great weight and "drag"
thrown upon her really beautiful bows by her bow..
mast and topgallant forecastle. These are matters
that must be attended to Et once, and we trust the
Admiralty will admit the necessity of doing so. Ree
ferenoe was made in our report of the Achilles full
power, in the Times of yesterday, to the very su-
perior manner in which the general metal fittings
of the ship's decks had been. executed. It is but
justice to a very efficient officer to state that they
they have been done under the superintendence and
after the designs of Mr T. P. baker, chief engineer
of Chatham Dockyard. The ventilation of the ship
has also been arranged by him, and the general now
of fresh air throughout the ship below is apparently
as perfect and comprehensive as it could possibly
be in a ship of the Achilles class.

by journals which shall continue to defile their

columns by the announcements, will more than
counterbalance the direct profits of the paid inser-
tions. There is no reason that we can see why it
should be considered much less disgraceful to print
this sort of obscenity than it would be to introduce
it into written correspondence or ordinary conver-
sation. The journalists who permit their columns to
be so abused are undoubtedly the eceoinpl:ces of those
whom they freely denounce in their leading articles.
We willingly suppose that many have been unaware
-of the extent to which these men go; of the wicked
falsehoods which their books systematically incul-
cate as truths; of the cunning with which they
pander to the curiosity of youth, and the artfulness
with which they sow the seeds of the habits which
they describr; of the ingenuity with which they hint
dangers, distort natural conditions into indications of
disease, and sound alarms so numerous and so well
devised that only those who despise and distrust them
can rise from the perusal of their books without
fear and trembling, and the impulse to seek advice
from some of their crew. Those who yield to that
impulse sunr not only in pocket, but in morale.
They are led to believe that which endangers their
peace of mind and destroys their self-respect.
Thousands have suffered not only pecuniary de-
spoilment, but mental torture and moral self-abase..
ment under their hands. There are many impor.
tant:organs of the press, in the metropolis and in
great towns, which have not yet seriously faced this
question; but we earnestly hope they will be in-
duced to take part on the side which honour and a
regard for the public warfare and for public de-
cency and morality demand. The profession will
have seen with great satisfaction that the plain
appeal which we penned a fortnight since has
found a wide echo, and has been largely endorsed
by the press. But persistence in this course is
essentially necesssary to such a measure of success
as will materially affect the present disgraceful
state of things. That journal must bo considered
defiled, and unfit for circulation in the families of
decent men, which does not reject these advertise•
ments.—The Lancet.

The Higbflyer, 20 gun serew corvette, 1,161 tons,
and 250-horse power of engines, was commissioned
yesterday at Portsmouth for Capt. T. M. S. Palley.
The half-yearly inspection, by the Civil Service
Commissioners, of candidates for admission as ap-
prentices in Sheerness dockyard, end engineer
students, was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the
6th and 17(// inst. There were 11 candidates for
admission as apprentices and 18 for admission as
engineer students. On the following 'Thursday and
Friday was held the annual examination of work..
men and cfficers belonging to the dockyard as can-
didates for promotion during the ensuing year. Tho
examiners were Mr W:Moody, the master ship-
wright, and Mr F. Martin, the assistant master-
shipwright of the yard. There Were 59 candidates.
The half-yearly examination of engineers, as.
sistant engineers, engineer students, and appren-
tices in the dockyard was held in Sheerness on
Mondey, Tuesday, an& IVednesday last, when 31
engineers and assistant-engineers, 39 engineer
students, and eight dockyard apprentices were
examined in the following subjects from papers
prepared by the Rev. I. Woolley, LL.D., her Ma•
jesty's Inspector of Naval and Dockyard Schools--
viz., geography, English grammar and composition,
Freud], arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigono-
metry, hydrostatics, chemistry, and steam and the
steam engine. Tho examinations were conducted
by the Rev. Roland Williams, chaplain of the yard ;
Mr Wm. Rumble, inspector of machinery afloat ;
Mr R. S. Crockford, master of the dockyard school
for apprentices, engineers, and engineer students;
and Mr S. L. Townsend, of the steam factory.
In accordsnce with instructions to that effect
received from the Horse Guards, a number of non-
commissioned officers and men have been selected
from the depot companies of Royal Engineers at
head-quarters, Chatham, to go through a course of
instruction at the topographical, surveying, photo-
graphic, and other schools at Brompton Barracks,
previously to being draughted to join the service
companies of the corps at the various home and
colonial stations.

TEE VOLUNTEERS.

The annual distribution of prizes to the 40th Mid.
dlesex (Central London Rifle Rengere) took place
last evening at the Music-hall, Store-street, in the
presence of a large assembly of the Volunteers end
their friends. Lieut.-General sir J. Y. Scarlett,
Adjutant-General of her Majesty's forces, and
honorary colonel of the corps, filed the office of pre-
sident and distributed the prizes to the successful
competitors. The prizes themselves were nearly 60
in number and £2OO in value, and consisted of cups,
watches, chains, field glasses, time-pieces, &c. In the
.bsence, from domestic causes, of Lieutenant-Colonel
Somerset, commanding the corps, Cspt. Cowper read
the report of the doings of the corps in musketry
during the past year. The result, as gathered from
the document, was highly favourable to the regi-
ment, which in shooting has made a marked advance
upon last year's figures. Sir J. Scarlett then ad-
dressed the Volunteers, and expressed hissatisfaction
with the report which had been read, although he
wished it bad been possible for a larger proportion
of the corps than 122 out of 557 to have attended at
the targets. At the same time, he was hilly alive to
the difficulties that stood in the way of working men
who desired to practice at the targets. After refer.
ieg to the increased number of prizes given this year,
and inferring therefrom the increasing interest felt
in the corps and the Volunteer cause generally, the
gallant general proceeded to notice the presence
among them of Col. M'Murdo, who had done so much
to promote the interests and welfare of tfret cause.
(Cheers.) It was satisfactory toknow that the efforts of
that gallant officer had not been in vain, for the total
number of Volunteers now reached 166,000 or 5,000
more than the numbers on the Ist of December,
1863. (Cheers.) It therefore appeared that the
movement was a healthy and a growing one, and it
was natural that it should be so, inasmuch as it
had not risen out of any momentary panic, but bad
been the result of calm popular judgment, upon a
comparison of the condition of this country with
that of our neighbours across the Channel, who,
with few colonial demands, possessed an army of
500,000 men, while Great Britain, with her colonies
dispersed all over the globe, had only 220,000 men,
of whom bat a very small proportion were availab:e
for home defence. It therefore b:cem e evident to
all thinking men that to ensure the safety of the
country either there must be an increase in the
standing army, which would entail additional taxas
tion, or some other means of defence must be found.
That means of defence the people had themselves
found in the establishment of Volunteer corps, and
such had been the progress of the movement that he
entertained no doubt but the Volunteers were a per.
manent institution. In conclusion, the gallant Gene.
ral referred to the necessity of Volunteers being tre•
quently brought together to practise movements and
file and volley firing, and urged upon employers the
duty of affording to their servants occasional half..
holidays for such purposes. Upon the invitation of
Sir J. Scarlett three hearty cheers were given for
Colonel 114Murdo. That gallant officer briefly re-
turned thanks, 'and especially supported the Gene.
rai's recommendation to increased opportunities
being afforded to Volunteers to perfect themselves
in drill and shooting. He himself was a great
advocate for the weekly half-holiday, which he was
assured by large employers of labour had proved,
wherever it had been adopted, equally beneficial
to the employer and to the employed. He
congratulated the 48th Middlesex upon having
for their honorary colonel the leader of the
heavy cavalry charge at ailaklava—(cheers)—who
had in his report of this year's inspection of them
expressed his approval of their performances. Not
only this regiment, bat the whole Volunteer body,
was deeply indebted to Sir j. Sesrlett, who as Ad-
jutants General, had been called upon to undergo
great labour in providing military instructors for the
various corps. The prizes were then formally distri-
buted, Ensign Hooper taking for the second year in
succession the reward of his skill as best shut in the
regiment. Two additional cups wore presented,
which were interesting as evincing the good feeling
prevailing in the corps, one being given by the prize
winners to Sergeant-Mejor Gatteridge and the other
by the Lieut.. Colonel and the Adjutant to Quarter.
master. Sergeant Scott. The ceremony of handing
over the prizes being concluded, Mr Torrens pro-
posed a vote of thanks to the chairman, which was
adopted by acclamation. In returning thanks Sir
J. Scarlett said he could not accept all the praise
that had been bestowed upon him for his official
conduct towards the Volunteers, as all ho had done
es adjutant had been under the orders of his Royal
Highness the CJintuantha-in.Chief, who took a
great interest in all that concerned the Volunteer
movement. The National Anthem, played by' the
bands of the corps, which during the evening had
performed several pieces of music, brought the pro-
ceedings to a clove,

Ytaterday Sir IL Mayne, Chief Commissioner of
Afetropoliten Police, visited Shcernes dockyard,
for the purpose of inspecting the police force at
that establishment, which is under the immediate
direction of Superintendent Strength, the head of
the Metropolitan Police doing duty at Chatham.
During his inspection Sir it. Mayne saw the mem-
bers of the force go through the naval sword drill,
in which the whole of the dockyard police are now
instructed.

The Proposed Underground Railway in

Whitechapel,

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Whitechapcl, con-
vened by the churchwardens, in terms of a requisition pre-
sented to them for that purpose, was held last evening in
the large school room, St, Mary-street, Whitechapel-road,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the proposal to
construct an underground railway from Aidgate to Mile-
end, The meeting was presided over by tho Rev. P.
Cullen, the rector of the parish.
The RECTOR, in opening the proceedings, referred to the
scheme as one seriously affecting the interests of the public.
Whether the public benefit would be at all commensurate
with the private injury was another question; but he con-
fessed he could not understand how that could be, as it
appeared to run nowhere, terminating as it did at the canal
bridge in Mile-end.

Mr J. linnsoN, surveyor to the board of trustees, read
a report he had prepared for presentation to that holy
respecting
the schen e, and which stated that he had
examined the scheme together with the others which had
been proposed for the eastern district of the metropolis, and
he had come to the conclusion that it would be injurious to
the trade of the parish. The proposed line was d üble the
depth of the Metropolitan line which had gone along Eu_
ton-road, and would as a necessary consequence increaso the
injury to property in the course of its formation. The rails
would be laid at an average depth of 35ft below the road way.
The reason of its being made so deep was to prevent com-
petition with two oilier underground lines which pained
through the parish, namely, the East Metropolitan and -the
South London, and within the lines or devie.ti,n of the
schemes some 500 houses are included. There appea, ed
be no want of accommodation, and consequently no nccessr; y
for the proposed line, as between Aldgato and the prupead
terminus the London Genera' Omnibus Company run 193
journeys each way between Aldgate and Mile-end-gato
daily, while SO journeys were made each day the ht;i3
length of the proposed line. To that number had to be addLd
the omnibuses not belonging to that company. There were
also now three railways stations within three quarters of a
mile of the proposed terminus and a station in course of
construction at Bow.

On the motion of Mr GRLEs, seconded by Mr Humrun EY,
the report was adopted, as were also resolutions adverse to
the formation of the proposed line.

On the motion of Mr FRANCE a memorial in opposition to
the scheme wzs resolved to be forthwith prepared for signa-
ture by the inhabitants and presented to the Board of Trade.
A committee was then appointed to draw up such memo-
rial and take the neoessary steps to opposo the scheme in
such :manner as they might consider necessary.

A Tote of tharlo to tae chairman cloked the proceedings.