The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-22 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The operation of plating the iron-cased frigate
Lord Warden, 24, 1,000 horse power, under con•
struction on No. 7 slip at Chatham Dockyard, was
commenced yesterday. Four of the 51-inch armour'

plates are fixed in their places on the port and star-
board broadsides of the frigate. This Zhiokness of
plate will be carried from the lower edge to 2ft.
above the water's surface—or, in other words, the

portion of the vessel which is most likely to be
struck by shot will be protected with the thickest
armour-plates. But although 5 inches will be the
maximum thickness of armour-plates used in encase
log the Lord Warden, an extra thickness of iron has
been worked along her broadsides by the introduce
tion of 11 inch plates between the frames and behind
the outer planking. It is exactly this additional
thickness of iron now used by Rr Reed, the Chief
Constructor of the Navy, for the first time, in his
vcssels of the Lord Warden and Lord Clyde class,
which will render them all but impregnable to

modern artillery. The quantity of armour-plating
the Lord "Warden is intended to carry is between

1,350 and 1,500 tons. Instead of the armour being

carried along only a portion of her sides it will

cover the whole vulnerable portion of the frigate
from stem to stern, and at the same time be carried

completely over two decks. The most novel feature

observable in the Lord Ward©n is the high heavy

bow, towering above her fighting deck, which is in.

tended to be armed with the thickest kind of plates

to give protection to the battery of heavy guns in-
tended to-be placed in that part of the ship. Hitherto
it has been the practice in war ships, and especially
in those composing the iron•clad squadron, to give
great roundness, or bluffness, to the bow above the

water, for the purpose of affording space there for
guns capable of firing right ahead, and to make the
ship very narrow below the water immediately
beneath this bluff and heavy bow, in order to
give speed, to which everything else would appear to

have been sacrificed. The consEquence of this has
notoriously been a great disposition to plunge in our
ships of war, and especially in those iron-plated
frigates in which the full bow above, unlike the
stem of the Warrior, is burdened with armour. In
the Lord Warden all this will be corrected by the
long ender-water bow, projecting some 10ft or 12ft
beyond the stem. It will give such buoyancy to that
part of the vessel that althoagh an enormous:thick-

ness of armour is carried all round the bow a loft,
and four large guns firing a head in a line with the
keel, are protected, it is expected that the entire fore
part of the ship will be more satisfactorily water-
borne than the bows even of the frigates which carry
no armour at ail. With this improvement is also as-
sociated another equally important—viz., a total
change in the form of the vertical sections of the
bow, the new form of section being U•shaped, in
opposition to the old V•ahaped bows, to which the
Admiralty have until now so pertinaciously clung,
The slightest thonghtwill convince anyone that when
the bow of a ship is formed like a V it will cleave
the water with facility as the ship plunges, and
thus tend to increase the violence of each plunge.
A bow, on the other hand, formed like a U, will
be obviou,..ly greatly obstructed by the water in its
descent, and thus the violence of the plunge will be
diminished. Fur these reasons it is anticipated
that, in spite of the great weight of armour which
the Lord Warden will carry, which exceeds that
of any other vessel efhat, she will be -c-zsier in a
seaway than any previously constructed irons-cased
frigate. This form of construction will, at the
same time, give greater space and airiness in eac'a
deck, ,and additional security for the powder
and shell magazines, which will be kept at least
Bft, below the water, and within the shelter of the
armour-casing.
The screw frigate Bristol, 39, 3,027 tons, 600
horse power, fitting in the steam basin for the
first division of the Chatham steam reserve in the
Medway, is getting well forward in her fitments,both
inboard and aloft, and will shortly be out of hand.
Oil her completion another of the most serviceable
of our unarmoured class of screw frigates will be at
the disposal of the Admiralty for commission, to
relieve one of the numerous vessels which will arrive
home in the course of the ensuing year.
The Highflyer, 20, screw corvette, recently com-
missioned at Portsmouth by Capt. Pasiey, was un-
docked at that port yesterday after an examination
and repair to her valves and copper below the water
line. The llighflyer is berthed for the present along-
side Portsmouth Dockyard, with no data yet Ex.,.d
for her leaving England on her term of foreign ser-
vice. It is not probable that she will now be de-
spatched until after the 27th or 28th inst.
The Rigar, 78, screw line of battle ship, Capt. G.
P. Hornby, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sidney Col-
pays Decree, C. 8.; and the Aurora, 35, screw fri-
gate, Capt. Sir Leopold M. M'Clintock, have both
hauled off from alongside Portsmouth dockyard,
and having completed their refit and painting,
will be ready in a few days for sea. It is not
probable that either of the ships will be out of har-
bour until after:Christmas at the earliest, as their
services are urgently required elsewhere.
The Imperial Ottoman screw line-of-battle ship
at Southampton, and the two screw frigates in the
Thames, all at present receiving their engines and
boilers, manufactured for them in this country, are
expected to assemble at Spithead about the middle
of next month, in order to try their machinery and
speed at the measured mile in Stokes Bay, under
the direction of the Admiralty officials, previous to
the squadron sailing from England for Constantis
nopie.

Major.a.m. Henry Palliser died at Victoria•park,
Dover, at the age of 71. Be entered the Royal
Regiment of Artillery as Second Lieut. June 4,
1810, and served in the Peninsula and France from■
November 1812, until May, 1814, and received
the silver war medal, with four casps. He served
also in the American war. He became First..
Lieut. on February 18, 1814, and was employed
with the army of occupation in France from June,
1815, to Nov., 1818. His commissions bear date as
Captain, wept. 27, 1832 ; Brevet-Major, Nov. 9,
1846; Lieut.-Col., Nov. 1, 1848; Brevet-Col,, Nov.
28, 1854; Col., Dec. 13, 1854; and Major-Gen. in
1861

NATIONAL REFORM UNION.—A public meeting
in connection with this union was held on Tuesday
at Manchester, Mr G. Wilson in the chair. The attendance
was numerous. The
_Chairman in his address alluded to
Mr Buxton's propositions which appeared in a letter in the
Times a few days ago. He said he believed that Mr Buxton
was most anxious that the working classes should get what
was due to them ; but he advised Mr Buxton to visit the
homes of those men, for there he would find spit its as noble
as any that dwelt in palaces. With respect to tho recent
meeting at Bradford, he hoped that it would be followed by
others of a similar character, in various parts of the country.
Mr Jacob Bright said that if _there were a large waking-
class vote, and members to vote for, he believed one of the
first things they would do would be to promote the estab •
lishment of a system of free public schools, similar to
that great institution which was the glory of the free states
of America. (Applause.) Mr T. Spence having addressed
the meeting, Mr Alderman Heywood said that the moot-
ing was not prepared to accept such a reform bill as that
Proposed by Mr Buxton. (No, no.) Nor were they pre-
pared to discuss the question with him whether they would
have such a bill or not. Any question like that,
whoever
might propose it, they utterly repudiated. (Applaiire.) Of
all Liberalism, he should reject that under the style and
title of moderate Liberalism, which Mr Buxton described
himself as promoting,
(14lilatve ) Mr M. Price said Mr
Buxton was a member of the lower House of Lords, and a
Whig; and his letter in the Tiin, s was a nasty compound
of stump blarney and Whig
sophisms, (Laughter.) The
westing concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman.
. Serious alarm Was cautod on Sunday in the
Church of Scint.Severin. The service had just con-
cluded. and M. Hanicle, the cure, wais.leaving th, vestry,
when the report of a firearm was heard. 'the congrega,
.
tion rushing towards the e 1 of whence the noise proceeded,
a woman was seen holeing in her hint: a pistol, whichshe
Ltd in7t disci:arr.:fad at the cure, hnt fortunately withent

injuring Hai. The culprit, who, the better to avoid being
reeng-eina, had assumed male attire, had frequently received
pccuniary assistance from M. Hanic!e, but a refusal on his
part to accede to her last application is supposed to have
induced her to adopt this made et revenge. She was
arrested and taken to the Prefecture of Police.

A telegraphic despatch from Toulon mentions the
arrival in that port of the Invincible frigate from Tunis,
wnich place she left on the 16.1. Agitation had recom-
menced in the south of the Regency. The Arabs had sur-
routaded the camp of General Ruttern. Ptince Ali, at the
head of a body of troops, left on the 15:h to relieve the
General.

Cotton Supply Association,

At the usual meeting of the executive committee,

held on Tuesday last, a letter was read from the
British Vice.Consnlate at Larissa and Volo, enclose
ing a sample of native cotton and one grown from
American seed in Thessaly, as also a sample from
the neighbouring province of Liiadia, in Greece.

The cotton crop, which has now been gathered, will
be about 2,000,0001 b., being but little more than
half the return which early favourable prospects

had indicated; This has 13-_,3n owing to untoward

natural causes. Toward the close of August a fierce

scorching wind, called " Leevab," similar to the

desert blasts known to Eastern travellers as the

" Seam" or " Seemoom," which often oceurs in
Thessaly during high summer, and which parches
all vegetation, swept over the plans for several suc-
cessive days. The native plants suffered severely,
and, although those from American seed did so in a
less degree, the damage to them was serious. At thb

commencement of the picking season heavy rains
set in, which, continuing without intermission
throughout the first half of October, did great mis.

chief.— In the vicinity of the mountain slopes the
torrents and floods were very destructive, and not a

single district escaped without more or less loss. The
greater resistance of the cotton grown from Ameri.
can seed to unfavourable weather influences, as com-
pared with the indigenous, the larger returns ob•
tained, and its higher value, seem at length to have
convinced agriculturists of the great advantage of cul-
tivating the New Orleans variety. The plantations
from American seed, though attacked by locusts in
early spring, subsequently put out fresh leaves, defied
the " Leevah's" scorching effects, and finally gave a
goodly, thongh diminished, return of choice cotton,
Ginning by power machinery is now at operation
at Volo, at Larissa, and some other principal places
in the interior; while some presses at Volo daily
pack from 25 to 30 baits each, of from 2201 b to
2181 b weight. These, however, will soon be inade-
quate to meet the calls upon them, now constantly
on the increase. A letter received from Trieste re-
presents Lower Albania to be specially suited to
the growth of cotton. The climate is good, the pc.
pulation industrious and intelligent, while such es.
periments as have already been made have proved
most successful, and have excited an earnest desire
to make farther efforts with better seed. A supply
of Egyptian and American seed was granted: A
letter was read from Naples, stating there is a con.
siderable demand for American seed, and that the
quantity of land applied to the cultivation of cot-

ton has been three or fcur times that of last year.
The spring frosts rendered it necessary to replant
a portion, and much was sown so late that it hardly
arrived at maturity befure the early rains and cool
autumn checked the ripening. 0 wing to the unto-
ward season, the produce, it is thought, will not be
more than 60 per cent. of the anticipated quantity,
and this, it is feared, will be of inferior quality. It
is expected that a still larger area will be placed

under cotton next year. A letter was received from
Constantinople describing the difficalties which
the writer has encountered in carrying out his
project to establish a model farm, and expressing
his opinion that though Asia Minor atone might
furnish a million bales of cotton every year, the
system of agriculture is so defective that it will
be long before any such expectation will
be realised. 113 alleges that the poor pea-
sant is hindered in the cultivation of his land
by the rapacity and oppression which exist, and
the fear that his profits will be absorbed by some
dishonest official. A letter was read accompany-
ing a sample of cotton from St. Lucia, and
reporting that the cultivation has been extensively
commenced. A letter was received describing a
landed property in Jamaica, within six miles of
Kingston, containing 1,360 acres, the owner of which
is intending to go out and cultivate cotton on a part
of it under his own supervision. Ho wishes to ob-
tain pecuniary advances to carry out his purpose,
for which he offers as security a mortgage of the
property and a policy of insurance. He would be
glad to communicate with any parties disposed to
join him in his proposed enterprise, and to give
ample information. A. letter was read from the
Foreign-office, stating that a despatch has been re-
ceived from her Majesty's Minister at Tangier, re-
porting that the Moorish Government has removed
for one year the prohibition on the exportation of
cotton; and that owing to representations of Sir
John Hay, his Majesty the Sultan has consented,
at the expiration of the year, to consider whether
the prohibition shall or shall not be altogether re-
moved. A letter was also read from the Foreign-
office, stating that the acting British Consul at
Niogpo has reported, under date of Oct. 7, that the
value of raw cotton exported from that port last
year amounted to nearly £1,000,000 sterling, and
that the quality is every year improving, while the
supply of it apparently is only limited by the dee
mand. A letter from the honorary agents of the as-
sociation at Bombay states that applications for
seed continue to be received, chiefly from up-country
from Government ( ffi3ers, who seem to be earnestly
doing what lies in their power to extend and im-
prove the cultivation of cotton on that side of India
A sample of cotton-like produc3 from the East, for.
warded from Lille, of which many specimens have
been at various times sent to the association as pro-
posed substitutes for cotton, was received but not
considered to be available. Preparations of several
indigenous fibres, the results of experiments made
with the view of producing a substitute for cotton,
were submitted for examination, and a specimen of
fibre from Natal, which it is said can be produced
in large quantities. The samples of cotton from the
Punjab previously advised were received, and valued
at 19J, 183, and 14d, respectively. In the district
where these were grown it is stated that the extent
of land planted with cotton has year by year been
largely increased. An application for seed by an
intending emigrant to Queensland was granted,
which concluded the business.