The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-18 00:00:00

TIIE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EYE'NING, MAY 18, 1864.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—(This Day.)

LORD MAYOR'S COURT.
(Before the Common Sergeant and a Jury.)
ADVERTISING FOR EMPLOYMENT,-A NEW CHIMNEY

POT,-RADDON V. BAKER,

This was an action to recover commission for selling a
new and improved chimney. pot, and it created some amuse-
ment. Mr. Besley appearing for plaintiff, and Mr. Collins
for the defendant.

It appeared that plaintiff saw an advertisement in the
Daily lelegraph for canvassers for an article in daily and
great request. He was to have a commission on all he sold
and he set out that he had introluced the article in a few
places, but with great difficulty.

In cross-examination plaintiff said he went round with a
sample, worse luck. (Great laughter.)
Mr. Collins—Why so ?
Plaintiff—Because I had to drag about all day with one
of the chimney-pots under my arm, in a hat-box,
(Llughter,) It was like a great pillow.
Mr. Collins—Why did you not put it on your head.
(Great laughter.)
Plaintiff—Because my bead does not smoke. (Renewed
laughter.)

Another witness deposed to having gone round, but he
was not bothered with samples. He sold without.
An attempt was made to refer the case, but plaintiff's
counsel declined, and defendant's counsel endeavoured to
show that plaintiff was seeking to recover for more pots
than he had sold.

The inventor of the new chimney pots said he made cer-
tain terms with the plaintiff, lower than those claimed,
Defendant was the capitalist.

Mr. Besley—Now is this your advertisement--" Wanted
agents everywhere to introduce the everlasting mousetrap."
(Roars of Laughter).
Witness—lt is.

Witnesses were called to show that special terms had
been agreed upon before tho plaintiff went to work.
His Lordship having summed up,
The jury found for the plaintiff for his claim less 10s.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Days
MARLBOROUGH STREET.
COMMITTAL WITHOUT A FINE.—BRUTAL ASSAULT ON
THE MESSENGER OF THE HAYMARKET THEATRE.—John
Kennedy, one of a number of fellows who nightly hang
about the Haymarket Theatre, and cause great confusion
by running after and annoying persons leaving the theatre
to knoW whether they require cabs, &c., was brought be-
fore Mr. Knox charged with the following brutal assault
on Alfred Bell, messenger at the Haymarket Theatre,
Bell said that on the previous he saw the prisoner and
three other men at the dress circle entrance of the theatre
annoying ladies by soliciting them to have cabs. He
attempted to move the men, when the prisoner turned
round and gave him a violent blow on the nose, knocking
him down, and on getting up the prisoner gave him another
blow in the face and then ran away.
In answer to Mr. Knox, the complainant said he had not
been to a doctor yet, but his nose was broken.
Police-constable 300 A proved pursuing the prisoner and
taking him into custody.
The prisoner said he was shoved by the complainant, and
he thought he was justified in striking him.
Mr. Knox said the prisoner was one of a gang of touters
who hung about the theatre and were a perfect nuisance.
The complainant was only doing his duty in trying to re-
move them, so that persons leaving the theatre should he
allowed to do so without being annoyed, when the prisoner
commits a violent assault upon him and breaks his nose,
He should sentence the prisoner to two months imprison-
ment with hard labour.
CAUTION TO BEERSHOF KEEPERS.—Mr Daniel Bard,
the keeper of a beershop at High-street, St. Giles's, was
summoned by the police for opening his house for the sale
of beer before one o'clock on Sunday.
Inspector James Brennan, of the F division, proved
visiting the defendant's house at a quarter past 12 on Sun-
day morning, the Bth inst., in company of Sergeant Ackrill,
and seeing six men standing in front of the bar, one of
them drinking from a quart pot containing malt liquor.
Having called Mrs Bard's attention to the men being there,
he went into a room at the rear of the bar and saw some
men sitting at a table, on which were strewed some playing
cards. There was also a quart pot with beer in it. Mrs
Bard represented the persons in the room as her lodgers.
In answer to Mrs Bard, who represented the husband,
Inspector Brennan said the door of the house was not shut,
only closed to.
Sergeant Ackrill corroborated the inspector, and said that
on leaving with the inspector he placed a constable to watch
the house to see whether any of the persons Mrs. Bard said
were lodgers come out.
A constable said from a quarter past 12 to 2 o'clock he
saw persons leave the house and one enter,
Mrs Bard having called some witnesses,
Mr Knox aseertained from the inspector that the defen-
dant had previously been fined 20s and costs for keeping
his house open till a quarter past one.
The inspector and sergeant both stated that bad charac-
ters frequented the house.
Mrs Bard said the police had not told the truth.
Mr Knox said he did not believe two such intelligent
officers as the inspector and sergeant would swear what was
not true.
The defendant was fined 20s and costs.

Progress of Ordnance at Home and Abroad,

The above was the title of a most important and interest-
ing lecture delivered by Commander R. A. E. Scott, R.N.,
at the United Service Institution, on Monday evening;
Captain Heath in the chair.
Capt. Scott remarked that at his lecture in January, 1862,
he had to describe the French cast-iron guns, hooped, rifled,
which still fired the round ball, and made use of rifle pro-
jectiles with a low charge for the purposes of bombardment.
Now the French were fast making steel guns, which they
had rifled upon a simple plan, and it had been said that 4-
one-third inch plates with wooden backing had been pierced
at 1,000 yards by a steel shot from a gun weighing 6 tons.
The rifling of their field-pieces, which are muzzle-loaders,
continued unchanged, and the projectiles have similar studs
to those that were first adopted. American officers who
had taken part in the struggle going on between the North
and the South had told him that in that country the navy
had always been opposed to the rifled guns, and although
several of the larger Parrotts have been introduced it had
been in opposition to their opinion. One officer, who had
commanded a squadron, told him that the crews were
afraid to use the rifled guns, and that in consequence
he gradually got rid of all but a few light chase pieces.
The experience at Charleston amply confirmed this idea,
for a large proportion of the Parrott rifles gave way
below an average of 300 rounds each, and most of
them gav,e way towards the muzzle, owing to the increasing
twist checking the shell, and so causing an explosion in
the gun. They stood pretty well when fired horizontally,
but could not stand high elevations where the recoil was
reduced. The new cast.iron 10-inch American gun of 7/
tons, with a special charge of 43ib., was the most powerful
broadside gun in the world. This charge was only in-
tended to he used when the gun was employed against an
iron-clad. The 11-inch Dalhgren guns had been ordered
by the ,Secretary to the Navy to fire a charge of 301 b. of
powder when engaging an iron-clad; but the usual charge
was settled at 291 b. fcr a solid shot, and 151 b. for a shell.
The light charges of 3011 a. were adopted after many trials,
when it was found that 11 inch charcoal iron guns were far
stronger than anticipated, and that as an iron-clad would
be engaged at close quarters and the gun would be laid
nearly horizontal, it would have but a comparatively small
strain thrown upon it. The Southern States, although un-
accustomed to the manufacture of iron, soon started a foun-
dry, and had continued to turn out guns in considerable
numbers. The size of bore most in use for their defences
was a 10-inch. It was round steel shot from smooth-bore
guns of this size which did such good service at Charleston,
and large quantities of the shot were made by Mr. Vavas-
seur, the present manager of the Blakely Ordnance Com-
pany. Several other English makers also assisted,
and the shot was sent out as " cheese." The
Southerners had a pet rifle called after Captain Brook,
which—like the Parrott gun--is of cast iron strength-
ened with a band over the breech. They found,
however, from the capture of the Atlanta, that they
were greatly mistaken as to the power of the rifle, and that
after all the smooth bore was the best gun. What dispelled
their confidence was a 4201 b. shot from a Rodman gun on
board the Weehawken, which shook every timber of the
Atlanta, and killed or wounded about 40 men, besides
paralysing the remainder of the crew. The Southerners had
received a considerable number of field guns from Europe,
some strengthened iron guns of large bore, and some steel
guns. But the Blakely Company knew more about that
part of the subject than the lecturer did, The Prussian
system—from which the English lead-coating and breech-
loading was a delicate off-shoot—consisted of a rifling
similar to the Parrott and Manton, with the exception that
the grooves narrowed towards the muzzle, and so relieved
the strain upon the gun, It was possible that this ingeni-
ous arrangement suggested the contrivance of the muzzle
nips in the English fine grooved and shunt guns, as well
as for the French plan, the principle being similar to
that of our early Enfields. The Prussian projectiles wore
leaded so as to show large projectiles of lead, which squeeze
down into the rifling with comparative small strain. They
first used one and then two wedges in their breech-loading,
but they have not found breech-loading so satisfactory
as they anticipated for 24-pounders. The Prussians com-
menced with a field-piece made by Krupp of mild steel,
and the wear of these guns had given them no reason
to regret their choice of material. They then con-
verted their brass guns into rifled breech-leaders. They
are now replacing their new 24-pounder rifled guns of 50
or 60 cwt. and their cast-iron rifles by steel guns. It
appeared to have been a shot from one of these steel 24-
pounders that lately damaged the Danish cupola ship by
striking her on the deck. Referring next to the Austrians,
Captain Scott remarked that after numerous experiments
with gun-cotton, and almost perfecting its use they seemed
unwilling to incur further expense, and therefore the manu-
facture was drooping. In the matter of artillery they had
made but little progress during the past year. The position
of the Spanish, Swedish, Danish, and Italian artillery was
also about the same as it was in the beginning of 1862, The
Russians had been recently making numerous experiments.
They had copied the French system of grooving. England
had supplied them with a large nal,4l= of steel shot, and it
was understood that most of the 9-inch and 11-inch built-
up steel guns now making by the Blakely Company were
for that nation. The Russians had alsa given large orders
to Krupp for solid steel guns, and had also caused severe

to be made in their own country ; but the larger charges
and heavy elongated shot used had prevented the heavy
solid rifled guns yet tried from withstanding 100 consecutive
discharges—a failure which might be cured by the use of
lighter shot. But there could be no doubt that the guns
were powerful, and behind the iron slabs with which their

forts are to be covered thedyarwi g
would prove very formidable
antagonists to any ships
could fire round shot with then
p r
ot a r e
shse tos 0
vfaf
et 0
st
rat
dc
cnki
ant
rhcgee
ems
a., b
rf for
da
v ittheynh ge
thus briefly noticed the
lecturer directed attention to proceedings at home ; but
adopted it was said that
work it out, any remarks upon home ordnance must
them
country was bound to
Armstrong's system was
inasmuch as when Sir
necessarily be confined to
a resume of the progress and
orensluylhtsaodf
tthhea t
Armstrongsystem. He (Captain Scott) had the grati-
fication of stating, in connection
12 system.
with that system, that not
length, but by the skill of
Artillery, a sort of Dutch case
i:munder been reduced a foot in
Lieutenant Reeves of the Royal
had been adapted to the gun
for use at close quarters.
length, the 600 pounder is so
short that it approaches the h
nstead also of the new guns
being made of an excessive
howitzer in that respect. The
fifty Somerset guns building
naval in the Arsenal were all that
guns. The vent piece of
the Armstrong was giving
a vent hole through the lty to the double wedges and
gun, thus following closely the
Russian type; and although theo fine grooving had not been
entirely abandoned no new
160 pounders were now being
so rifled. In a word, breech loading was flickering in its
socket before having been
finally given up by Sir William
Armstrong. The shunt system, of which the disadvan-
tages had already been pointed
out, is also on the wane, it
having been proved that the
early impression as to the
from
damage done to the muzzlesqueezing the shot was
well founded. The whole of the
heavy guns rifled on this
plan had cracked round the muzzle, So, after all, it was now
in contemplation to give up the shunts and grips, and come
to a plain groove, with sharp
asrnrsßut the same ten-
dency to fracture existed in these se. h
arp cornered grooves as
in the shunt groove. Capt. Scott next proceeded to notice
the Armstrong and Whitworth competition.
fi He described
the guns used, and remarked that e
latest improvements,
Armstrong ordnance
employed comprised all Sir William's
but did not include any gun now
used
had in the service, not-
withstanding all that the nation
forms of the Armstrong gun. Mr
rlaid for the earlier
Whitworth, brought to
the contest three 12 pounders and three
He
. 0 pounders, such
as he proposed for the service. had
were
entirelyrounded out the
angles of his rifling, and his shotof iron
rounded at the corners--an improvement which had
, greatly
lessened the :wear on the driving Bid, of ~,e
His 70 pounders weighed about 78 cwt. '" gun s rifling.
Captain Scott then
gave a long and technical account of the tesult of the expe-
riments at Shoeburyness with these n
rival an Upon the
breech-loader he remarked that it was —sofe'
far below the
standard of the others that some of its strengest supporters
had at last said--J, Let us, at all events,
far whenever
loader ;" and they had good reason to say
so
40 or 50 rounds were fired consecutively, even
with,
have a breech-
moderate
quickness, the men in the rear of the gun had their faces
and clothes blackened by the escape of gas. It was useless
to further conceal the fact that soldiers weree
as
efearful of
n
the gun as sailors, and became so agitated and vens in
rapid firing that during 200 rounds fired about
a ;o
ways
ago the vent-piece was once put in the wrong y) and
once the breech screw was not screwed up. Both thesea de-
fects were happily seen in time by a spectator. The 70
pounder had not yet been tried, but the lecturer had
no
hesitation in stating that the Whitworth projectiles
would
have greater penetrating power than the Armstrong shot.
The Mackay, the Blakely, and the Palliser guns we
passed in review, and, in conclusion, the lecturer remarkednext
That the discussion of these questions was a great national
advantage, and had it taken place earlier, and conducted
thoroughly, a very large sum of money would have been
saved which had been expended upon weapons now
proved
to be of comparatively little value. This money
w ould
have been far more usefully employed in developing the
ste°l
manufacture of the country--a manufacture which
was
admitted by Sir Woo. Armstrong himself to be
still far
behind the great Prussian fires represented by Krupp. All
other countries had utilised the material already in h and,
and expended very little upon new guns ; but &wan
d at
once commenced a new manufacture, which was pointed out
at the time to be imperfect; t
and a the present moment
there was not a single portion of any of Sir Willie. 're s Plans
of rifling which could be adapted to a naval gun. Some
remarks upon the many failures of the Armstrong guns in
active service ; the benefits that would accrue from the sub-
jectifc of naval guns being taken UP by a committee of prac •
al
naval officers ; and the best mode of plating vessels,

brought the lecture to a conclusion.
In the course of the discussion which followed, Captain
Selwyn commented adversely upon tho late leading article
in the Times upon the practical lesson to be deduced from
the late fight in the North Sea. The Times declared that

rifled guns and long ranges would decide future actions;
and the limes also made other remarks concerning which
Captain Selwyn observed that it was very dangerous to the

naval supremacy of the country that the leading journal
should draw each incorrect conclusions and teach such

false lessons. Young naval officers were, perhaps, better
instructed in the contents of the daily papers than in the
duties of their profession, and were therefore likely to pay
too much attention to the remarks of those gentlemen who,
sitting at home at ease, seemed to be cai able of saying all
kinds of things upon all subjects. No naval action ever
,had been or ever would be decided at long ranges. On the
contrary, he believed in the tactics gallantly pursued by the
Austrians in going into close quarters and doing what they
could, although in that case, as in many others, two to one
was one too many.

A vote of thanks brought the proceedings to a close.

Mr, Dion Boucicault and Mr. Webster,

" THE FOX CHASE,"

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—An announcement to the following effect has
been made to the public by Mr. Webster, the manager of
the St. James's Theatre, in reference to my new comedy,
in five acts, entitled the " Fox Chase" :

" Notice.--This comedy, when sold to Mr. Benjamin
Webster, was guaranteed to be new and original,' or it
would not have been so announced; but Mr. Boucicault
has just acknowledged, in a private letter, that he took the
idea from the French drama of Sullivan.' "

As this notice has been freely repeated and commented
upon by the press, I beg of your courtesy and sense of jus-
tice Ito admit my reply. I have not acknowledged in a
private letter that I " took the idea from the French
drama Sullivan;' three weeks ago, in a letter to Mr.
C. Mathews, I observed that the story of my
piece was the same as " David Garrick," then forthcoming
at the Haymarket ; the anecdote underlying the two sub-
jects being the same. I now beg Mr Mathews to suffer
this letter to be published. There is nothing in it of a pri-
vate nature, and there could be no reason for withholding
the whole of it from publication, except a desire to mis-state
a part of its contents. Mr Matthews knew that I had pro •
duced the piece completed, and in good form, in America,
in 1844, and he wrote to me concerning these alterations and
additions. I replied that I had no copy by me of the New
York edition, and if the incomplete copy in Mr Webster's
hands were thrust on the stage, it would barely escape
failure. The facts are these :—ln 1863 I offered Mr Webster
an unfinished comedy in five acts, called "The Married
Bachelor ; or, Don Quixote the Second ;" he lent me £5O
upon it; and it is needless to observe that such an amount
is a very small part of the value of a "new and original"
comedy in five acts, such as Mr. Webster states he pur-
chased under my guarantee. He made no inquiries as to
its originality. For eleven years the play remained un-
noticed in his possession, until the 2d of May, when he
advertised simply "a new comedy," by Dion Boucicault,
Esq., to be produced on Saturday, May 7. On that day be
postponed the performance for three days, and altered his
description of it, calling it a "new and original" comedy,
which announcement he maintained for three days—long
enough to enable him to issue the above notice on the day
of performance.

As "David Garrick" was produced at the Haymarket a
week before my comedy was announced as "new and ori-
ginal," as my private latter was antecedent to that period,
Mr. Webster was fully acquainted with the similarity
which existed between the two works, and his announce-
ment was thus made to create an occasion to make an
apology in the form of the above notice.

rII leave it to the public to form their own opinion upon the
motives which have induced this gentlemen to produce my
work in a manner to secure the failure I predicted, and then
to place a playbill in the hands of the audience on the first
night, containing a further inducement to them to condemn
the play tendered for their entertainment.—Your obedient
servant, DION' BOUCICAULT.
Manchester, May 13.