The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-21 00:00:00

MAILS DUE.

Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. April 18.
via Marseilles
Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. April:s.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Mar. 30.
China, Penang', and Singapore, via Southatupton.April 3.
-.:., %1...-.,:11.- 111... ~Q
Falkland Islands

Gibraltar, via Southampton Mar. 28.
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton April 3.
via Marseilles Mar. 14.
India (Bombay), via Southampton .. Mar. 28.
via Marseilles Mar. 22.
Portugal.... ......
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Mar. 28.
via Marseilles Mar. 22.
Newfoundland .. April 13.
Oporto and Vigo
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Mar..2l,
by U.S. packet....
by Canadian packet. Mar. —.
W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe April 10.
M Bahamas, via New York April 7.
exico ..
All parts of West Indies, ....Mar. 30.
including Chili, Peru, I Mar 30
California. and British Columbia.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE,

SCOTTISH NORTH-EASTERN.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at
Aberdeen on Thursday: Mr, Stirling, the chairman, pre-
sided.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The
Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving that the report be adopted,
confessed that at this time last year he looked forward with
no little concern to the effect which the opening of the In-
verness and Perth Highland line would have upon the traffic
of the Scottish North-Eastern Company. He was glad,
therefore, to be able to point to the report as showing that the
company had not only maintained their ground, but that
there was a satisfactory increase in the receipts. He might
mention that by the opening of the Inverness line they nut
only lost the through passengers from Aberdeen to Perth.
who all had formerly travelled 90 miles over the Scottish
orthrEastern at an average fare of 10s. each, but they had
also lost the whole traffic upon the seven miles between
Stanley and Perth. In these circumstances it was grati-
fying to find that the traffic from other: quarters having
been considerably increased fully made up for tho antici-
pated loss. For this they were greatly indebted to a
most abundant harvest throughout the country, and the
unexampled prosperity of the staple trade of the district—
the flax trade. Having quoting various figures from the
report, he adverted to the bills the company were now
promoting before Parliament, the ariangemeats regarding
which, of the whole, were in a favourable position, and con-
cluded by expressing his readiness to answer any questions
respecting the Gffairs of the company.
Dr. MATHEW seconded the adoption of the report, which
was cordially agreed to ; the usual dividends were declared
on the preference stocks, and also dividends on the Aber-
deen Original Stock at the rate of 1 per cent. per annual ;
on the Scottish Midland Ordinary Stock at the rate of 41
per cent. per annum ; and on the Dundee and Arbroath
Ordinary Stock at the rate of 71 per cent. per annum for the
past half year.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the
chairman.

TRAFFIC RECEIPTS FOR THE WEEK.
Miles Opened. Receipts.
- ~

Railways.

1864. 1863. 1864. 180:

- ----
Belfast and N. Counties X
135 136 1,745 1,909
Belfast and County Down.. , 49 708 649
Blyth and Tyne 284
28 1,572 1,467
Bristol and Exet,er
Caledonian .... . ..... -
Cockermouth & Workington Bl 81 -
Cork and Bandon 2O 20 328 314
Cork, Blackrock, & Passage 6l 61 115 189
Cork and Youghal - . 321 32. 404 352
Cornwall 651 531 1,454. 1,417
Deeside l7 17 242 235
Dublin & Belfast J unction.. - 63 63 1,239 1,307
Dublin and Drogheda 75 63 1,347 1,6 i '2.
Dublin and Meath
Dub.. &Wicklow and Wexid 9tl 484 1,791 2,177
Edinburgh and cEasgow lO9l 1691 7,524 7.203
Furness, &c 5O O , 2,95. 2,659
Glasgow & South-Western
Gt.Eastern,Nrth.,&E.linion
Great Northern 353 351 29,774 24.534
Great North of Scotland 5B 53 1,633
400 1.570
lit. N ort hn. & Wes tn. (Irel.) 7ll 711
S.- i 7,144
'3, t.Southn. & Westn.(lrlnd.) 3731 329 6-1- 53 3,433
Great Western
oo 3
Inverness & Aberdeen J mac SS S6l
944 A 7 1,893
Inverness & I'crth Junction 11°1596i 16-561 55.°21115 .81-.
3
Irish North-Western 145 145 ,o, .„
R 6 393 6...'"
Lancashire & Yorkshire 402 31'5! —ll4 211
Limerick and Ennis..
Limerick and Follies 263 .till 58' 4 543
Idanelly 461 464 6,786 80,661
London & North-Western
1179 i '

The accounts received this morning respecting
the state of trade in the manufActuring districts
em e n t
among i n the
deco
t,t:in
s
during the past week are exceedingly favourable.
market
At, e
, c lr:ceasst
ieorn
et the recentb r feelingov
ette movement d
speculators, and in woollen and worsted et
Leeds, Halifax, Bradford, and Huddenfield mere
business has been transacted, and an improvement
in prices established. Excepting Sheffield, opera-
tions in the hardware districts have been conducted
on a rather large scale, and at Wolverhampton, the
requirements oa American Gnd Indian account
were still conkidabie.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.
Her Majesty's steam storeship Industry sailed on
Friday from Woolwich, laden with victualling
stores and iron buoys for moorings in the South
Atlantic stations. She also took a few head of oxen
from the south of France for experimental breeding
purposes in the Isle of Ascension.
Daring the last few days a large supply of the
5 inch and 6 inch iron armour plates have been
sent in to Chatham dockyard from the Millwall
Ironworks and the establishment of Messrs. John
Brown and Co., Sheffield, for the Lord Warden and
the Bellerophon, ironcased frigates, building in the
dockyard. In anticipation of the heavy demand
which will bo made on the factory department of
the dockyard when the works connected with the
Bellerophon are fairly in hand, a number of addi-
tional mechanics will shortly be entered at the yard,
and several new machines of enormous power are
now in course of Erection for the preparation of

armour plates.
The Talia, Turkish Imperial yacht, lying ;at
'Woolwich, has been open for public inspection dur-
ing the past three days, and has been visited during
that time by about 12,000 persons. It was calculated
that about half that number were admitted on board
on Friday. The Arsenal pier was thronged curing
the whole of the day, and large numbers failed in
obtaining admission. She is now closed to the pub-
lie, in order to complete the arrangements for her
departure for Constantinople, appointed for to-day.
The Talia was on Thursday visited by Rear-Ad-
miral Eden and the Hon. J. R. Drummond, Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty. Their Lordships
subsequently repaired to the dockyard, and officially
inspected the shipbuilding departments, visiting
the plate-bending sheds, in which the armour-
casing is being prepared for Mr. Reed's corvette
Favourite, and also the Enterprise awl Pallas, and
the various works in progress. An Admiralty order
had been previously received notifying that the
annual establishment of the yard should be dis-
charged, in conformity with regulations recently
issued. Accordingly about 400 mechanics and
labourers, coming under the denomination of hired
men, assembled in the open space fronting the
official quarters, and were informed viva voce by Mr,
Turner, the master shipwright, that, having ful-
filled the terms of their engagement up to that
period, he was ordered to give each man his dis-
missal from the service. The whole of the men
were forthwith re-engaged and were again entered
as hired men. These regulations are put into effect
in order to relieve the Government of the onus of
superannuation. This step has called forth some
severe animadversions, as many of the men had
been in the service upwards of a quarter of a cen-
tury, and hoped shortly to be entered on the per-
manent establishment, by which the whole of their
time would have been taken into consideration
for retirement. Their Lordships, having inspected
the paddlewheel sloop Hecate, pronounced her
unfit for further service. Her ironwork is eaten
with rust and her timbers are quite rotten.
She is consequently to be taken to pieces.
On Saturday Rear-Admiral S. Robinson, the Con-
troller of the Navy, visited Chatham dockyard for
the purpose of inspecting the progress made in the
way of fitting the various vessels building and pre-
paring for sea at that establishment. After transact-
ing business at the office of Capt. Stewart, C. 8., the
superintendent of the establishment, the Controller
directed his attention to the Bombay, 67, now in dry
dock, where she has been several months fitting for
an Admiral's flag. Most of the work on board is
now completed, and in about a fortnight she will be
ready to leave the dock. The Admiralty have di-
rected her condensers to be strengthened by means
of tension bolts, which will be fixed athwart ship,
and this work will be executed by Messrs. Hum-
phreys, Tennant, and Co., the makers of the engines.
After inspecting the Cadmus, 22, 400 horse-power,
which is undergoing some heavy repairs in the ad-
joining dock, the Controller visited the east end of
the yard, where the ironclad frigate Lord Warden
is now being put in frame, and afterwards embarked
on board the City of Rochester steamer and proceeded
dow a the harbour to the Achilles iron frigate, which
is being brought forward for sea with as much de-
spatch as the resources of the dockyard will permit.
Her Majesty's screw frigate Ariadne, 26, 3,214
tons, 800 horse-power, Capt. E. W. Vansittart, was
put out of commission and the crew paid off in the
Medway on Saturday under the superintendence of
Capt. C. Wise, naval aide-de-camp to the Queen.
The Ariadne has been upwards of four years in com-
mission, and has been attached principally to the
North America and West India squadrons, and for
some time was engaged in operations on the Mexi-
can coast. Notwithstanding the length of time she
was in commission, she has lost but few of her crew
from death or sickness, and most of the officers who
joined the ship at the time she was commissioned re-
turn in her. Three of the crew have been recom-
mended to the Admiralty for medals and the accom-
panying gratuities for long service and exemplary
conduct. The crew were paid off in a most orderly
and expeditions manner, and nearly the whole of
them immediately left by train to spend their six
weeks' ,holiday with their friends. The Ariadne
goes into the fourth division of the Chatham Steam

Reserve.
The Bulldog paddle, Capt Chas. Walker, will be
docked this morning for the purpose of having her
valves examined prior to her going out of harbour.
She will soon:be ready for sea.
The Adventure troopship, Capt. Waddilove, is
still in the hands of the dockyard officials and along-
side the jetty ; she is, however, nearly completed in
her fittings, and will probably embark naval super-
numeraries and a few troops (detachments) to-mor-
ro ee and leave on Wednesday or Thursday for China,
calling at Plymouth and Dublin. Very extensive
alterations have been made in the internal fittings
of this ship, and her ventilation is ranch improved.
The subjoined is notified as the amended scale of
allowances to officers of her Majesty's ships on the
East India station, who may qualify themselves to
Bet as interpreters in Oriental languages, sanctioned
by the India Office :—Per Mensem,—Class I. For
Hindostanee or Persian, 180 rupees, moonshee
allowance ; 50 rupees, interpreter's allowance.
Class IL For Arabic, 180 rupees, moonshee allow-
ance ; 100 rupees, interpreter's allowance. Class
111. For Hindostanee, Arabic, and Persian (three
languages), 180 rupees, moonshee allowance ; 200
rupees interpreter's allowance. In appointing in-
terpreters preference will be given to Class 111.
over Class IL, and to Class 11. over Class I.
The Highflyer, screw, after having had very ex-
tensive repairs in Mr. White's yard at Cowes, was
towed into Portsmouth harbour on Saturday. It is
expected she will immediately be brought forward
and fitted out, in readiness for being commissioned.
The America, target ship, having been repaired
and made available for further service, was un-
docked on Saturday. She will resume her station
this morning, and some interesting trials will take
place to-morrow. Seven armour-plates have been
affixed to her sides—One 41in from Beale and Co.,
Sheffield; one 51in and one Gin from Brown and
Co., ; one Gin and one 51ein from the
Thames Iron Company (the latter being manufac-
tured from iron imported from Norway); and two
41-iu French plates.
The screw steamship Princess Royal, 73, Capt.
Jones, fleg of Rear Admiral G. St. Vincent Kin,'
C. 8., left Plymouth Sound on Saturday afternoon'
for the Cape of Good Hope Station.
The screw steam frigate Galatea, 26, Captain
Rochfori Maguire, was taken into dock at D..von-
port on Saturday to make good her defects.
The screw steam coastguard ship Ajax, 60, Capt.
Michael Da Courcy, is early expected at Plymouth
from Kingston.
The screw steam ironcased ship Research, 4, Capt.
William Hurst, and the
.paddlewheel steamsloop
Gladiator, 6, at Plymouth, received draughts of
seamen and marines on Saturday.
The Royal Marine division at Woolwich, which
has for some time past been considerably below its
allotted strength, was on Saturday further reduced,
55 men of the division having been previously exa-
mined by a medical board, were invalided and dis-
charged from the service, and 75 recruits were trans-
ferred to the depot station at Deal.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Alfred G. H. HerTey, midship-

man, to the Revenge ; F. Day and A. M. Brum-
mage, assist. engineer, to the Bulldog; Lieut:
Francis C. R. Baker, to the Excellent, for study ;
Lieut. H. Wilkinson, to the Majestic ; Lieut. A.
H. Webb to the Asia ; Lieut. Godfrey Taylor to the
Pembroke; and Lieut. George W. Allen to the

Geyer.
The undernamed have been nominated naval
cadets :—Joseph Alleyne, Frederick Bell, Archibald
W. Cavage, Arthur G. Cuthbert, Henry C. Dawson,
Philip A. C. De Crespigny, Arthur Dove, Charles
S. Elton, Reginald B. Fulford, George K. Gordon,
Martin A. Hammill, William P. L. Heyland, Edwin
A. Hobson, Walter H. Maher, the Hon. Basil Napier,
Michael P. O'Callaghan, Charles G. Robinson,
George H. C. Stapleton, Ferdinand F. Tapper,
George Walmisley, Frank C. Younghnsband, Francis
G. Jones, Charles M. Le Blanc, George P. Hender-
son, Reginald Y. Smith, Charles J. Poole, Murray
William Gruggen, and William H. Hingston.