The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-29 00:00:00

The Gun Question.

On Thursday the committee met at Woolwich to
test the endurance of the three 12-pounder guns
which had stood the 3,000 rounds with regular
charges.

The guns were fired with an " air space," which
is the severest trial to which they could be subjected.
For some of the rounds the shot was jammed into
the barrel with pieces of metal.
The committee met again on Monday to continue
the trial with the following charge :—Double charge.
of powder, 6 solid shot instead of one, and 6 inches
of air space between the powder and shot.

The Armstrong breech:loader yielded at the forty-
second round, the steel tube splitting from the
muzzle to the trunnion.

The Armstrong shunt muzzle-loading gun burst
at the sixtieth round, splitting in a similar manner
to the breech-loader, and bursting the trunnion
hoop.

The Whitworth (muzzle-loader) continued for the
rest of the day, and completed 89 rounds. To all
appearance it looks as serviceable as ever.
This interesting trial will be proceeded with on
Tuesday.

Shipwreck of Scarborough and Loss of

Seven Lives•

On Sunday morning, at an early hour, a fatal
shipwreck occurred at sea, about 15 miles from
Scarborough. All on board, save the master, were
lost—that is to say, five men and two boys. The
circumstances are of a painful interest. The unfor-
tunate vessel was the brig Guardian, of Whitby
(Breckon master), from Shields to Rotterdam, coal
laden. "At about two o'clock on Sunday morn-
ing," says Capt. Breckon, " our vessel was about 15
milesoff Scarborough, and while labouring in a heavy
sea and strong weather, she sprung a leak. At the
same time one of the boys was washed overboard
and lost. It was very soon evident we could not
keep the ship, which began to settle down fast. The
boats were cleared, and one of them was launched
and occupied by four men. They made fast by the
ship's stern, waiting to take me in, with another
man and the remaining boy, at the last moment.
As the brig suddenly began to sink, I jumped with
the boy in my arms. I saw the man who jumped
with me reach the boat, but I was drawn down two
or three fathoms into the water by the vortex of the
sinking vessel. I lost hold of the boy, and on com-
ing to the surface I was providentially washed
alongside of, and by the next sea directly into, our
other boat, which had floated clear of the foundered
ship. At a short distance I then observed the boat
in which I had just before seen my crew floating
bottom upwards, with two of the men upon her. I
could render them no aid whatever, and they ap-
peared to be washed off directly. I suppose the
boat had been upset either in the endeavour to get
the man who jumped with me, or from the rope by
which she was attached to the ship not being let go
in time. This was about five o'clock. I was drifted
to the shore in the boat, through a heavy surf, and
was thus most providentially saved."

THE CASE OF DR, PRITCHARD,

DISCOVERY OF ANTIMONY IN THE BODY OF

MRS. PRITCHARD.

The public interest in this case still continues, and
will no doubt be increased by the announcement which w
believe we are now fully justified in making, that the che-
mical analysis, which has now been in progress for some
days, is understood to have resulted in the discovery of
minute traces of antimony in the liver of Mrs. Pritchard.
The analysis was not interrupted by the temporary absence
of Dr. Maclagan in London, as has been supposed, but has
been carried on with great care and in the utmost secrecy.
No official information, therefore, can be obtained as yat
upon the case—that antimony has been discovered, though
in minute traces, in the liver of the deceased. It is neces-
sary to remember, in connection with this fact, that several
preparations of antimony are used medicinally, and that it
is not at all improbable that, in in the course of some tem-
porary sickness, a medicine containing antimony might have
been with perfect propriety administered. On the other
hand, we believe that the police authorities in Glasgow have
from the first suspected that antimony had been used, and
we understand that they telegraphed through here to
that effect. The result of the analysis, therefore, so far as
it has gone, has confirmed these suspicions; and though
the traces of antimony are, as we have said, very minute,
yet antimony is so rapidly eliminated from the system,
that large quantities of it are rarely found on analysis.—
Swanton.

THE SHEFFIELD MURDER.—The inquest on the
body of Eliza, Drabble was held on Monday. The jury
returned a verdict of wilful murder against Stanton, who
was committed to the present Leeds assizes for trial.

A dreadful accident, arising from an incautious
use of gunpowder, occurred at Marske, near &dear, on
Sunday night. One man named Holmes was killed, and
three of his children were so frightfully burnt that there
was no hope for their recovery.
CHAIN CABLES AND ANCHORS.—A report has been
laid before Parliament, made to the Board of Trade
by their officers, Mr. Galloway and Mr. Gray, on the Act of
last session, which provides that after the Ist of July next
no chain cable whatever, and no anchor exceeding 1681 b. in
weight be sold for the use of any vessel unless it has been
tested and stamped by some person or company licensed
under this act to test anchors and cables. The officers have
examined the proving and testing machines at various
places, and find that the machines cannot generally be
relied upon. There is a beautiful one at Birkenhead pro-
vided with compound levers and dead weight as a check, but
of the machines without them the officers have reason to
believe that no two exert a like strain on the cable proved
unless by accident. One public machine examined was
found to be absolutely worthless ; at another the manager
was found testing the chains double. The public machine
erected for Lloyd's in London is spoken of by very many
persons with anything but confidence. It is not fitted with
levers and dead weight, and therefore no one can say what
is the actual strain put upon the chain. The length tested
is as much as 75 fathoms ; a great part of the force of
the machine is exerted in lifting such a length of chain
from the bed, and the chain is never stretched tight.
Chainmakers say they can afford to sell a chain 10a. a ton
cheaper if it is to pass this London machine than if it is to
pass the Birkenhead or the Tipton, and this although the
freight to London is several shillings a ton more. The
officers report the several requirements which they consider
ought to be insisted upon by the Board of Trade in the:test-
ing to be undertaken. The Act of last Session has been
well received; it will be of immense value for the foreign
trade, and the officers were told repeatedly that the honest
maker now sees his way to supplying a really good chain
without being undersold by a bad article made by a small
maker. They were shown specimens of bad iron almost
resembling plate-glass in brittleness, which has been used
in making chains to meet the market, and they were shown
good iron which may be used, and if used will make a chain
guaranteed to stand 15 per cent. beyond the Admiralty
proof.
MDLLE. ILIA DE MURSKA AT VIENNA, February
11.—Mdlle. von Murska has now added to the
characters already performed by her, at our Imperial Opera
House, that of the Queen of Night in Mozart's " Zauber-
foto," and reaped a large harvest of appreciative approba-
tion. Her performance was earnest and noble, in harmony
with the ideal spirit of music, and in every detail her object
was to raise herself to the level of her task. In no instance
did we hear an uncertain and puffed-out, or tremulous tone
nor, generally, a single specimen of those vulgar, clumsy
tricks, which are so frequently practised by fair singers at
all used to the life of the coulisses, and which have
gradually become naturalised as substitutes for, or ex-
aggerations of, the expressions of genuine feeling. Madlle.
von Murska has under her command an organ of extensive
compass, rich and full, and capable of the most varied tonal
feats. Even where Mozart had let loose all the powers of
his orchestra, the voice of Madlle. von Murska rose a head
higher than the raging flood of sound. Our Opera appears
at length to have found in this young lady an artist who
is fully capable of satisfying the most exaggerated demands
in this particular, and who, certain beforehand of victory,
can hold her ground against the brass-cuirassed orchestra
of the most modern scores. As Queen of Night she met
with a most brilliant reception from the public ; nearly
every separate phrase,' and especially the two airs, was
followed by a thundering tutti of applause.— Vienna
Zeitung.