The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The committee appointed by the House of Com-
mons to supply a report on the relative merits of
the rifled ordnance proposed for the naval and mili-

tary services,• Gen. Rumley, president, and Capt.
Dyer, secretary (the names of the committee having
been already given in The Sun), assembled yester-
day at Woolwich and commenced their investigation
of the metal and system of manufacture employed
in the shot and shell foundry of the Royal Arsenal,

and afterwards inspected each branch of the Royal
gun factories, sighting rooms, boring mills, &c
They were accompanied through the departments
by Sir W. Armstrong and Lieut.-Col. Boxer, the
respective superintendents.
The new gymnasium erected at the rear of the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, having been
completed by the Royal Engineers, was yesterday
formally handed over to the Governor's orders for
immediate use. The gymnasium is pronounced one
of the most perfect of its kind. The principal
portion of the building is cruciform. It stands on
an elevation, the lower floor being appropriated as
smoking and lounging rooms, American bowling
alleys, &c., which are fitted up with great taste and
convenience under the superintendence of Mr. Jones,
R.E. They are well ventilated on Dr. Arnott's prin.
ciple, and heated throughout with Deane's patent
gas stoves. In the area approached from the back
of the Academy is a range of smitheries and work-
shops containing forges, lathes, &c., driven by an
8 horse power steam engine, where the gentlemen
cadets practice the art of forging and turning out
every article required in their profession. On the
reassembling of the classes at the close of the vaca-
tion next month, the company of cadets will be
reduced to 240, instead of 300 as heretofore, on ac-
count of the small number of commissions to be
awarded at the ensuing examinations.
Beyond purchases of property in the neighbour-
hood of Chatham and the adjoining city of Roches-
ter, under the provisions of the Defences Act, on
which to erect fortifications for the protection of the
arsenal and garrison of Chatham on the land side,
po steps have as yet been taken by the Government
for the construction of any of the defences. It is
probable, however, that the next few months will
see a commencement made of a portion, if not of
the whole, of the works, the various tenants to
whom the land acquired by the Government has
been let having received an intimation that posses-
sion will be required in a short time. Tho cost of
the land at present taken 'and hereafter required is
stated in a Parliamentary paper recently published
to be £150,000, of which amount a considerable
portion has already been paid to the owners and
occupiers. The cost of the buildings and works
proposed to be erected in the neighbourhood of
Chatham is given in the same return at £500,000,
exclusive of the value of the land. In the mean-
time, the works at the entrance to Chatham har-
bour, as well as those which will command the ap-
proahes to the Medway, together with the batteries
placed at Folly Point, Bishop's Marsh, Garnet Ness,
Garrison Point, drain Spit, and other points, so
as to render Chatham dockyard and arsenal se-
cure from the sea, are being pushed forward as
rapidly as the numerous obstacles to be encoun-
tered will permit. In addition to the works already
in progress, a full description of which has already,
appeared in The Sun, it is the intention of the Go-
vernment to construct a large fosse of consider o
able
breadth and depth, which will add still farther t
the security of the channel approaches to Chatham.
The entrance to this fosse will be at
Cheyney Rock,
situate about a mile to the south-east of the salient
angle of No. 1 bastion, thence taking a westerly
circuitous direction through a portion of the Isle of
Sheppy, and terminating on the Lapwell-bank, a
short distance south-west of Sheerness dockyard.
The proposed fosse will be upwards of two miles in
extent, and from its position will prove a formidable
obstable to the advance of an invading force against
the numerous batteries and bastions which will
guard the approaches to Chatham on that side. At
each end of the entrenchment will be constructed a
powerful casemated fort, constructed of sufficient
strength to mount guns of the heaviest description.
On Cheyney Rock will be placed a fort of much
larger dimensions than either of those at the en-
trance to the Medway, and of a size sufficient to
allow of its being garrisoned by several hundred
men. The position of Cheyney Rock is admirably
adapted by natural formation as a site for the erec-
tion of formidable works. Its proximity to the main
channel of communication, through which all vessels
of any considerable amount of tonnage have to navi-
gate, will enable its guns to play upon any hos-
tile flotilla attempting to enter the river either
under sail or steam. The armament will be mounted
on platforms traversing three-fourths of a circle,