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London, England, 1864-12-13 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 1864.

EMEMBER! WE WAIT SUPPER for you
1,) after the Covent Garden Opera, at EVANS'. Fail

the prophet's mantle in relation to the future issues
of war, I think,' can venture to promise that against
these lines no force of Federals is soon likely to
prevail. Daring the fine autumnal days of October
both sides have lately busied themselves in strength-
ening their earthworks, until it would be a difficult
task for either party to surmount his opponent's
lines, even though undefended by men. On the
south side of the River James and front of Peters.
burg the Confederate lines are still stronger, inas-
much as the ditch in front of them is deeper and
the stockades (consisting of pointed stakes stuck in
the ground and sloping outwards at an angle of
45 degrees) are repeated, running in double, treble,
and sometimes in quadruple lines. The language
of an experienced Confederate artillery officer in
reference to General Pickets's liaes in front of Ber-
muda Hundred was, that they are so strong they
cou)d be held by a parcel of old apple women.
Upon the north side of the river there has existed
lately by tacit agreement a kind of truce between
the pickets, so that there is no difficulty in riding
without molestation or danger along the whole
length of the lines ; but upon the south
side the Bang between the pickets is every day
incessant and continuous, and it is impossible
to show an inch of head above the works with-
out the risk of a bullet through the brain. The
firing is kept up on both sides with a view to pre.
vent the possibility of desertion. There is in both
armies such weariness of the war that desertions
have been numerous during the Mit three months;
but latterly thelnflux of Federals has far exceeded
the outflow of Confederate desertions. It is probable
that the invitation held out to Yankee deserters by
the Confederate authorities in their general order,
No. 65, has tended to deplete the Northern ranks,
inasmuch as nine out of ten Federal deserters,bring
a copy of this order in their hands when they enter
the Confederate lines, and claim the privileges and
promises which it offers, and which I need hardly
say are scrupulously extended to them. As this
general order may be not without interest to some
of your readers, I append a copy of it :
_ _

in Hamoaze, and will have Plymouth to•day or
to-morrow for Gibraltar and Malta.

The iron paddlewheel steam sloop Trident, 3,
Commander Charles T. Balfour, from the Arediterr
ranean, is hourly expected at Plymouth.
The following appointments have been made in the
Royal Naval reserve :—To be Sub.-Lieut., Wihiam
Joseph Whereat; to be Honorary Lieut., Charles
Gribble,

MO PERSONS SEEKING LANDED
EE*A. ATES, TOWN AND COUNTRY IttSIDENCES,
FREEHOLD AND LEASEHOLD INVESTMENTS, AND
PROPER LIES GENERALLY-

To BE HAD GRATIS, at the principal Railway Bookstalls
throughout the kingdom, or at the Auction and Estate Offices,
No. 67, Chancery-lane, London, ➢Messrs. E. and H. Lumley's
"FREE PROPERTY REGISTER," containing availed selection
of landed and house properties now in the market, from
the nobleman's mansion, with its manorial domain, to the
cottage with its few acres.
OWNERS OFF OPERTIFS Wishing to Sell or Let can em-
brace the °ppm tanity that the medium of this Register
'Words, by sending the partict!ars of their properties to the
Estate Offices, 67, Chanceryiane, London, as the Messrs.
Lumley can in most cases introduce immediate customers,
where the property is of an eligible character, thereby avoid-
ing the disadvantages of delay and its attendant incon-
veniences.

Demolition of the Great Exhibition Building

Althomgh yesterday morning exhibited emphati-
cally that sort of atmospheric complexion which so
fully justifies Lord Brougham in leaving " merry
England "in November and spending his winter on
the shores of the Mediterranean, a very large crowd
indeed assembled in South Kensington to witness
the scientific demolition of the last of the great sec-
tions of the exhibition building. There were a great
many carriages and thousands of people on foot,
both in the Cromwell and Exhibition roads, whilst
the windows of all the aristocratic residences in the
neighbourhood were filled with spectators evidently
firmly relying on the skill of the Sappers and Miners
to carry the critical work of explosion to a perfectly
safe conclusion.

THERE IS NO CHARGE incurred, unless a tenant or pur-
chaser is introduced throwch Messrs. Lumley's Agency,
and then only the usual moderate commission.
Auction and Land Offices, 67, Chancery-lane, London.

VURNITURE, CARPETS, BEDDING, and
FLOORCLOTH, CARRIAGE-FREE to any house in
the kingdom, regardless of amount or distance. First-class
goods at second-class prices. Terms peculiarly liberal to
Clergymen and Gentlemen. An immense stock to select
from, displayed in Showrcoms occupying an acre of ground.
Every article warranted.
CLERGYMEN and GENTLEMEN ABOUT TO FUR-
NISH are respectfully informed that Messrs. Cobbett and
Co. are publishing an entirely New Edition of their un-
equalled A' OUSE FURNISHING GUIDE, illustrated by4lo
adrni"able engravings of every description of Furniture and
heasteads, with prices attached. A copy sent gratis and
post-free on application. This costly work also contains
complete estimates for furnishing on the following revised
scale : •

A Six-roomed Parsonage £74 3 0
An Eight-roomed ditto
A Ten-roomed ditto ........
A Twelve-roomed ditto

Together with a Price List of purified Bedding, and a mass
of valnable informationto all requiring household furniture,
mrpets, or bedding. References kindly permitted to Clergy-
men and gentlemen in or near Great Malvern, Southampton,
Chichester, Bury, Ely, Preston, Grimsby, Ryde, Plymouth,
Wells, Oxford, Brighton, Gainsborough, Margate. Kidder-
minster, Wellington, Croydon, Cambridge, Staines, Dorking,
St. Alban's, Worcester, Ipswich, Peterborough, St. David's,
Wrexham, and above 500 other places in all parts of Great
llrita

COEI3ETT and CO.. General House Furnishers, Deptford-
bridge, London. S.E.

PARIS.-GRAND HOTEL DU LOUVRE.—
Establishbd in 1855.—Situated in the most Central
lart of Paris, Rue de Rivoli and Place du Palais Royal—Six
lundren Bed-rooms at from 3fr. to 201r.—Sixty sitting-
rooms at from 41r. to 201 r.—a richly-decorated Dining Saloon
—Table d'Hote at six o'clock—Public Coffee and Dining
Rooms Choice Wines—Dinners served la carte both in the
dining rooms and the private apartments—Reading and
Conversation Saloons; also Saloons for Musical, Wedding,
and other parties—all Newspapers and Serial Publications
received—Divane, Coffee, Smoking and Billiard Rooms—
numerous Bath-rooms—Carriages on the premises—first-
class Private Equipages at command -Omnibuses running
to all the railway st ‘tions—Pestal Letter-box—Telegraph
Office day and night—Photograph Studio—a staff of servants
speaking all languages.

PRIZE MEDAL—INTERNATIONAL
EXHIBITION, 1862.
FRANCIS TUCKER & CO., Wax Chandlers, &0., &0.,
To the Queen and the Pi ince of Wales.
(Established 1730.)
The Jurors' Report on Wax and Church Candles, in 1862.
testifies to the excellence of the quality of Messrs. Tuckers'
manufacture.
A distinguished Dignitary, in a letter addressed to Francis
Tucker and Co., on the subject of
WAX CANDLES with PLATTED WICKS,
says:--
" I have found them fully equal to the recommendation
which you gave them, and can sincerely, in my turn, I com-
mend them to the clergy for the use of the altar."
Finest quality, with latted Wicks, patented.. 2s. 2d. per lb.
Ordinary quality .. is. Od. per lb,
VEGETABLE CANDLES, with a Mixture of Wax.
Best quality .. Is. sd. per lb
Second quality „, „„ .. Is. 3d. per lb.
Third quality .. is. id. per lb.
Carriage paid in London on Orders of Five Pounds in value.
FRANCIS TUCKER AND CO.,
South Molton-street, Grosvenor-square. Manufactory—
Kensington (Established 1730).
The largest Establishment in England for the Manufacture
of Wax Candles for the use of the Altar.

" General Order, No. 65.
Adjutant and Inspecton.General's Office, Richmond,
Virginia, Aug. 15, 1864.

It having been represented to the War Department that
there are numbers of foreigners entrapped by artifice and
fraud into the military and naval service of the United
States wh3 would gladly withdraw from further participa.
tion in the inhuman warfare waged against a people who
have never given them a pretext for hostility, and that there
are many inhabitants of the United States now retained in
that service against their will who are averse to aiding in
the unjust war now being prosecuted against the Confe-
derate States ; and it being also known that these men
are prevented from abandoning such compulsory service
by the difficulty they experience in escaping therefrom,
it is ordered that all such persons coming within the
lines of the Confederate armies shall be received, pro-
tected, and supplied with means of subsistence until such
of them as desire it can bo forwarded to the most convenient
points on the border, when all facilities will be afforded
them to return to their homes.

(By Order)

S, Coornn, Adjutant and Inspector General.
To this order is subjoined a translation into French,
and another into German, and it is circulated in the
Federal army as widely as possible, not to mention
Chat it is daily printed in the Richmond journals,
of which many copies find their way into the Fede.
ral ranks, But there is reason to think that if
its circulation was still wider among the Yankee
soldiers the fruit that it would bear would be still
more abundant.

I am happy to roport that Gen. Longstreet is at
present quite freo from the nervous sensibility in
his right arm from which for some time he suffered.
The nerves of motion arc still entirely paralysed,
and the arm is almost useless, but he is able slightly
to move the fingers, and it is the opinion of army
surgeons that he will regain plenary use of it from
18 months to two years, when the nervous tissue
shall have had time to repair itself. His general
health and spirits are excellent, and his confidence
in the ability of his soldiers to hold the Confedes
rate lince, and to keep the enemy out of Richmond
for an unlimited period iy unabated. It is a strong
testimony to Gen. Longstreet's value as a soldier
that each of the three great captains of Secessia—
Leo, Beuuregarcl, and Johnston esteems him
equally, and desires his presence by their side.
Upon the 18thainst. Beauregard telegraphed from
Jacksonsville, in Alabama, soliciting Longstreet's
compatiy in the West, but it was decided that he
could not be spared from his old army corps before
Richmond.

It is now a little over two years since the closing
ceremony of the Exhibition took place, and when
the last audience might be seen streaming out of
the various entrances which are now only so many
heaps of ruins. The treasures of art, of science,
and of industry have since then been scattered to
the four winds of heaven; in the interval there
have been almost as much skill, labour, and per•
severance concentrated on the work of demolition
as" had previously been devoted to that of erection ;
and now, on the spot where a vast palace of indus-
try so lately reared its head in triumph—where
hundreds of thousands of people had been a whole
season daily congregated to be instructed and
amused—where great organs had pealed and per-
fumed fountains had sparkled—where representa•
tives of all the peoples of the world might have
been seen hustling each other in friendly eagerness
to participate in the spectacle—there is nothing now
left but a heap of the most melancholy of ruins,
namely, those of a new building. The plough has
passed over Jerusalem—or, to use a more trite but
still more apposite simile, " the cloud-capped towers,
the gorgeous palaces," have all vanished, and almost
literally left " not a rack behind."
The process of demolition has been throughout
entrusted to the skilled and steady hands of the
Royal Engineers, and the agent used has been
that terrible gunpowder which is so difficult to
work with safety. The Sappers, however, have '
found out the secret, for the explosion which took
place yesterday morning was about the thirtieth
which had been found necessary for the destruction
of so vast an edifice, and like all its predecessors it
was perfectly successful, and so skilfully managed
that the frail hoarding which surrounds the ruins
was not shaken in the slightest degree, nor did a
single brick or fragment of a brick fiy over into the
adjoining street. Nay, so admirably calculated
had been the strength and direction of the ex.
plosion that it would have been quite possible
for a man to have stood at the southern
entrance whilst the charge was being fired,
and to have come away completely unharmed
when the whole building had become a mass of
ruins. The mining party consisted of a sergeant
and thirteen men, under the command of Lieute-
nant Knocker, RE., and a corporal who had
charge of the electrical apparatus. The machine
which has been used in all these txplosions is a
recent invention of some German electrician, and
is calculated to play an important part in future
warlike operations. Had wo had it in the Crimean
war hundreds of valuable lives .might have been
saved, and General Todleben's famous earthworks
might have turned out not quite so impregnable.
It is a small case, not larger than an American
clock, and although able, as was seen yesterday,
to blow up one of the largest edifices in London,
might be conveniently carried about in a
bend. The name by which it is known in the ser.
vice—namely, The Frictional Machine"—Suggests
the novel mode in which the electric shuck is
generated. When the top is taken off two discs are
seen rotating on an axle, which communicates with
a handle outside the box, and these are composed
of ebonite, a composite material, which is believed
to be the best non-conductor which has yet been
invented. When these discs are made:to rotate by
the turning of the handle outside, friction is set up
with a pad placed beneath them in the box, which
pad is composed of an amalgam of zinc and mer-
cury, and the result of the friction is the generation
of the electric spark. Between the discs a steel
point stands up, and as the disc turns the point acts
as a conductor, and carries the fluid along to the
wire outside, not, however, until a signal has been
given, and by the pulling of a trigger all interrup-
tion to the current is removed. This beautiful
machine was most skilfully handled by the corporal
in charge, and did its work with all the precision of
clockwork and all the harmlessness of the most
simple mechanical operation.

The building which was destroyed yesterday
morning will be well remembered by the public
as the southern entrance facing the Crom-
well-road. The fagade was large and massive,
and the great object was to prevent its falling out,.
wards into the road. By a very skilful piece of
engineering, Lieutenaet Knocker fulfilled this in-
tention with entire success, and caused the four
walls to "cave in" with the perfect safety to all
surrounding space and objects to which we have be-
fore alluded. The process was something in this
fashion. The front wall or facade " was counter-
sunk" at a couple of feet from the ground, that is to
say, a row of holes were bored at an agle of 45 deg.,
and a very low charge of powder placed in each.
These were first ignited, and the result was so to
weaken the wall, as that the latter, although still
standing, could be easily brought down by a very
slight additiorial force. The plan was in fact ex-
actly similar to that by which the American axe-
man brings down the monarchs of the forest, viz.,
cutting two-thirds through the trunk, and then
dragging down the tree in the direction re-
quired. In this case the fagade having been
thus weakened, full charges were applied all round
the remaining three sides of the building, and these
when tumbling down dragged the facade inwards
and along with them, thus preventing the casting
of a single brick or fragment of a brick into the
Cromwell-road. The whole operation of destruc-
tion which, if carried out Blackfriarsebridge fashion,
by human labour with pickaxe and crowbar, would
have occupied at least three months, was iu this
case brought to a successful termination in about as
many minutes. The first explosion, namely, that
which "countersank" the facade, was scarcely
noticeable, and the second, which brought down
the whole building in crumbling masses of ruins,
was litae louder than a pistol.shot. A cloud of
dust rose into the air, a rumbling noise was heard,
and the next minute there was nothing standing
over the whole site of the great Exhibition building
except Mr. Morrish's once famous refreshment
rooms, and which we understand have been handed
over to the authorities of the Horticultural Gar,
dens. The ruins took the shape of large masses of
brickwork, the tenacity of which testified creditably
to the good faith in which the building contract
had been fulfilled—heaps of single bricks from por-
tions of the wall which have been closest to the
powder had received the strongest shock; and still
smoking masses of mortar and other rubbish, where
but a few moments before had stood a stately edi-
fice, under whose porch hundreds of thousands of
persons had passed in and out during the Exhibi•
tion season. There is nothing now left to be done
with the great triumph of Captain Fowke's archi•
tectural genius hut to cart it away. The re-
moval of the great domes was a tedious and
difficult task, but we understand was effected
With much less sacrifice of human life than had