The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-01 00:00:00

he Act 7th and Bth Victoria,
Wednesday, Aug. 30, 1865.
ARTA% EN T.

Government Debt .£11,015,1(0
Other Securities .. 3.634,000
Gold Coin & Bullion 13,658;865
Silver Bullion

£28,215,865

'EPARTMZNT.

Government Seen-

cities (including
Dead WeightAn-

nuity) £10,384,209
Other Securities z1,256,7, 6
Notes
Gold and Silver 923,747
Goin

I 139,182,477
FORBES, Deputy Cashier.

Another Forgery of Russian Bank Notes.

r Yesterday afternoon five foreigners were placed before
the magistrate at the Lambeth Police-court, charged with
being in possession of a large quantity of forged Russian
bank-notes for five roubles each. The prisoners were ap-
prehended by Inspector James Thomson, of the Detective
Police, and Sergeant Mulvany, at a house in
Russell-street, Camberwell New-road. The men were
found sitting in a room, and when the police entered they
secured a carpet bag, in which the forged notes were dis-
covered. Mr. Herd, an employe of the Russian Consul in
England, proved that the notes were forgeries, and that
they had been struck from a plate which was very coarsely
executed. The police also found in the house a box
containing a quantity of engravers' tools. The solicitor
who appeared for the prisoners denied that they knew
anything of the contents of the -bag which had been left
there by other persons. Inspector Thomson said he
should be prepared on another occasion with evidence
which he thought would bring home the charge to some of
the prisoners, and therefore he applied for a remand, which
was granted. The magistrate, however, said he would take
bail in £2OO for each of the prisoners, with the exception
of the occupier of the apartment in which the forged notes
were found.

In the present instance the notes are quite distinct from
the case now under investigation at the Marlborough-street
Police-court, which, it will be recollected, were for 50
roubles each, and were struck by the photographic pro-
cess.

THE ACCIDENT TO THE ATLANTIC CABLE.—When
the first piece of wire was found in the cable no one
had any idea but that it was there by accident ; and as the
cable was perfect up to the moment of sending the last tests
from the ship to the shore, it at once occurred to us that
the wire had been driven into the cable whilst it was pas-
sing through the machinery astern. But when the fault
of July 29th was examined, a strong suspicion was at once
aroused that the injury was caused by some villain on
board, for the wire was driven in an artistic manner right
through the cable from side to side. Several attempts to
pierce the cable by pressing similar pieces of wire
itwasagainst
the
t work
with the
h ofh an assassin. Had h
eel_utterlyfailed. The
been The men
caught,
the world might have heard something of an attempt
to administer Lynch law. One man was suspected, but
there was no evidence against him. When the lastfault took
ie that man
m wasa
place, M. Despescher, on guard in the tank, saw one of
nthoethincabg, if
lemenmestitoowpsdreownnottosutisepiheiisosuhs.oe-Bstersindge.
did not belong to the gang then at work, but came down
before his time. Then Mr. Field, who followed M. Des-
poacher, heard a scraping of wire, and the men heard it too,
and called out to the man on deck. Some people seem
to think that the mischief could have been avoided if the
man on deck had heard the alarm, but that is not so, as
the cable could not then have been arrested on its course
overboard. The only advantage gained would have
been a warning to the electricians, that a wire had goal,
over sticking out of the cable. As it is, the nature of the
third fault must be a mystery for the present. It is onlY
surmise that it was caused by another end of wire. An
examination of the cable shook all faith in its alleged per-
fection, for it was found that several pieces of wire
were broken in the coils, and some of the wire proved to
be brittle and ill-tempered. This discovery allayed the
excitement caused by the suspicion of malice, but it
damnified the character of the cable, as it revealed v.
strong suicidal tendency on its part. As yet that grave
question of accident or design is undecided. Our subse-
quent exploit, however, tends to diminish the chances of
malicious injury materially. For who will run the risk
of detection, especially under the close inspection to be
established in future, in order to inflict an injury which
can be at once found out,
fkpeabeewtydd.
utep f
n wordst
surprise.
or no asm the.
to
TheNothingth
the
fidgne
grappling
deepest
was ready.
breakage
eaa:tt of
it:grdehyoi
which
h
and
t Nhht whicheaoh se
cableebuoyAc tiexcited
couldcae tandon skcob?
beu much
all
over. But Staff Commander Moriarty and Captain
Anderson determined the exact position of the
extreme part of the cable actually laid to be in lat. 51 deg.
24 mitt. 40 sec. N., long. 39 deg. 4 min. 30 sec. W.—to the
actual seconds--and then they marked down the ground or
sea gone over in the picking up till the cable
broke, and traced the end to lat. 51 deg. 25 min., long. 39,
deg. 1 min. On noon of the 3d, the Great Eastern having
steamed and drifted in a fog 46 miles E. of the end of the
cable, began to grapple, caught cable in 2,000 fathoms,
1
and slipped buoy No, 1 close to the line of cable nOs
miles W. of the first lift of it on August 4. Then she n
on 6th August
till noon of sth August, and at noo
she was sixteen miles further to the eastward, enveloped
drifted seven or eight miles S.W. of the buoy in a fog
in fog again, and had to steam to the westward, grop-
ing her way and looking for the buoy till she got
within three miles of the broken end, and grappled the
cable again. Then, when the second swivel broke
on Aug. Bth,she slipped buoy No. 2 to mark the spot, some
10 miles West of buoy No. 1, and left these two marks on
the ocean when she was obliged to abandon the attempt.
Sailors alone can appreciate the extraordinary skill dis-
played in the proceedings thus simply stated.—Cornhill
Magazine for September.

The report of the directors of Pile, Spence, and
Co. (Limited), exhibits a clear profit of £20,082
4s. 6d. for the half-year ending 30th June. The
directors recommend that the sum of £10,980
14s. ld. should be carried to the reserve fund,
leaving a balance available for dividend of £9,100
10s. 5d., being after the rate of 15 per cent. per
annum, free of income tax, on the paid-up capital
of the company.
The mail from Guayaquil has brought a remit-
tance of £6OO on account of the dividends on the
debt of Ecuador,

AMERICA.

(From the Correspondent of the Times)
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 18.
The news from America this week is a budget of

bank robberies, forgeries, failures, swindles, and
murders. The country has exceeded itself, and has
produced of each class of crime an example of the
most stupendous character. Of course, business is
deranged, credit is broken up, and every one is on
the look-out for a panic. The firm of Ketchum,
Son, and Company, of New York, has long been
known as a thrifty and sound private banking-
house. Morris Ketchum, the head of the house, has
for years been a shrewd, observing, and cautious
business man, who has devoted all his time to money
making, and has been very successful. His son,
Edward R. Ketchum, although regarded as avari-
cious, was the envied of all Wall-street. Both of
them during the war were intensely loyal, being
prominent members of the Loyal League, and fore-
most in branding as malcontents and traitors all
who raised a voice against the prodigality of the
Treasury and the misconduct of military opera-
tions. The eldest Ketchum was an intimate friend
of Secretary Chase, and his confidential adviser, and
it is reported, with strong probability of truth, that
Morris Ketchum was the real parent of the green-
back issues._ The younger Ketchum was the cause

of the fall of the house. He went deeply into stock
speculations, and lost enormously. To make good
his losses he gradually abstracted from the fire-

proof room of the firm the stocks and bonds de-

posited there as collaterals for loans. He was deeply
involved in the gold speculations of the day, and
some two months since applied at the Bank of New
York to open a gold account in the name of Charles
Graham and Co., well-known brokers in Wall-
street, whose business he managed temporarily.
The account was, of course, opened, and young
Ketchum received a check-book containing 5,000
bank gold checks, each for $5,000. This book re-

presented the enormous sum of $2,500,000, and,

of course, gave him unlimited command of money.
The manner in which the gold business is carried on
in New-York is very simple. To avoid constant
handling of the gold it is deposited in bond, and is
transferred from seller to buyer by means of these
checks. To make the transfer complete, the signa-
tures of the bank teller and register, the drawer of
the check, and sometimes the endorser, are neces-
sary to be affixed to the check, and one would sup-
pose that this was ample protection against fraud.
But young Ketchum surmounted these obstacles,
and for over two months forged all the names to
the checks, and raised money on them. Charles
Graham and Co. were ignorant of his operations,
yet so careless were they that they received over
$250,000-worth of his check, with their own forged

signature attached, without recognizing the fraud.
The Bank of New York received a similar amount,
never discovering the counterfeited name of their
teller. Ketchum continued his operations until the
14th of August, when, finding he could carry his
enormous losses no longer, even by forgeries, he ab-
sconded, taking with him $60,000 in greenbacks.
Before departing he left a letter for his father, in
which he admitted his crime, and asked his father to
provide for his -wife and child, very coolly saying
that he had provided for himself ! Like all our de-
faulters, he will, no doubt, endeavour to escape to

Europe. Of course the house of Ketchum, Son, and

Co. failed, and Charles Graham and Co. suspended
immediately afterwards. Graham and Co.'s loss is
placed at $280,000, while the loss of Ketchum & Co.
is said by the elder Ketchem to be $5,000,000. lie
announces his ability to pay 50c. in the dollar, and
both houses have made assignments for the benefit
of creditors. The Bank of New York will be able
to tide it over, its loss of $250,000 being more than
covered by the earnings of the past six months.
Of course this gigantic swindle in New York has
broken up all business arrangements, and the panic
is extending all over the country. Every man looks
upon his neighbour with suspicion, and from all
quarters there are rumours of new " defalcations."
The appetite for excitement which the war stimu-
lated so highly is being amply gratified. In addi-
tion to Ketchum, P. E. Mutnford, another New
York broker, has swindled by fradulent checks to
the amount of $28,000; and as if the West were de-
termined not to be outdone in rascality by the East;
on the heels of these enormous frauds have come to
us detailed accounts of gigantic swindles that have
been perpetrated upon the revenue by the Western
distillers. A tax of $2 a gallon is levied by the
Government upon all the whisky and " high wines"
manufactured in the United States. Of course, so
onerous a tax puts every one's invention at work to
evade it, and so successfully has it been done that
for some time past whisky, that is supposed to be
taxed $2 per gallon, has been selling in the market
for $1 75c. to $1 90c. The Government organised
a detective system to discover the frauds, and the
entire West was examined. Thousands of barrels of
whisky and " high wines" were discovered that paid
no tax, and they were seized and confiscated. In
Illinois the forfeitures reach $700,000. In St. Louis,
St. Paul, Chicago, Dubuque, and all through every
Western State, nearly every liquor manufacturer and
dealer is implicated. Many have runaway, and cannot
be found, and their effects have been seized to await
contingencies. The strangest possible hiding-places
were selected for the whisky barrels. In one instance
425 barrels were concealed in coalpits, the mouths
of which were walled up, and the barrels inside
embedded in earth and coal. Smuggling from
Canada has been carried on to an enormous extent,
and so great have been the frauds, that it has been
demonstrated that, while $28,000,000 were collected
during the last fiscal year, when the whisky tax
was $1 50c., not more than $12,000,000 will be
collected in the current year, although the tax has
been increased to $2. The consumption of whisky
in the 'United States is about 80,000,000 gallons
annually, and this tax should produce $160,000,000,
instead of the paltry $12,000,000 that will be col-
lected. The enormous frauds and the small amount
of tax collected are striking commentaries on our
revenue system. Whisky is taxed too high, and
though one half a man's stock is annually confis-
cated, he will still reap an enormous profit if he de-
frauds the Government out of the tax on the other
half. If he is honest, and pays the tax on all, he will
lose money, and had better abandon his business.
Connecticut, it seems, is emulous of the fame of her
New York neighbours, and although she cannot
produce a financial crash of hugeproportions, having
exhausted herself by the Townsend Savings bank
swindle at Newhaven, she does what is worse, and
gives to the general budget a singularly horrible
railroad accident. On August 15 a freight train was
disabled near Bridgeport, on the Housatonic River
Railroad, and a passenger train following was com-
pelled to stop and back towards Bridgeport. About
this time some of the railroad officials, who were,
experimenting with a new engine, came rushing;
along the road from Bridgeport, and
met the -pas-
senger train. The engine struck the hind car, split
car;
and in half, passing through it and into the second
a
and then, just as the engine was stopping, the boiler r;
burst in the midst of the passengers, scattering
their mangled bodies and the fragments of the car
on all sides. A more diabolical affair can scarcely
be imagined. Twelve passengers were killed out-
right-11 were so dangerously wounded that they
are not expected to survive, and 15 others were
scalded and severely bruised. Scarcely a pas-
senger in either of the cars escaped without in-
jury, and although the horrible nature of the
affair has made every one's blood curdle, it
will be forgotten, as every other crime in
this country is, and no one will be punished for
causing it. The next sensation that arises will con-
sign the Housatonic Railroad slaughter to oblivion.
American politics are fast becoming a subject of
deep interest, and in a very short time we shall
again be in the midst of the turmoil of an election
contest. Negro suffrage will be the great dividing
line of parties, and the reconstruction policy of the
President will be the shibboleth that tests the true
friend of the Government. The President will not
falter in punishing any office holder who does not
say " amen" to his policy. In New York the Cus-
tom-house is filled with the bitterest Radicals, who
advocated negro suffrage, and condemned Johnson's
reconstruction policy a little too long. The collector
and naval officer have just been turned out, and the
subordinates have discovered, to their ()Teat sorrow,

that even repentance will not save them. From the
character of the men selected to supersede these
officers it is evident that the President intends to
cut loose from the Radical Republicans, and draw
around him the Conservatives. The new collector
is Preston King, an ex-United States Sc nator, who
has always opposed the Radicals, and is known as a
Free-trader. In old times he was a Democrat. The
new naval officer is Moses F. Odell, a member of
the last House of Representatives, chosen by the
Democrats. Odell was a M'Clellanist in the last
Presidential campaign. As Johnson sees the drift
of the Southern States, he will gradually become
more decided in his expression of Conservative
opinions, and will not mince matters with the
Radicals.
The Democratic Convention of Maine, the first
Convention that assembled, has given an expression
of Democratic opinion which indicates the ground
upon which the party stands. The resolutions were
adopted with great unanimity, and have met with
approval from all parts of the country. They ex-

press profound gratitude to God that the war is over,
and advocate the banishment of its bloody and
barbarous spirit from the country. They assert
that it is the duty of the Federal Government to
re-establish at the earliest moment and with the
least possible interference the true constitutional
relations between itself and the Southern States,
and that each State should be the judge of its own
electors ; and they endorse the President's recon-
struction policy. Upon this ground the Democracy
will fight the Fall campaign against the Radicals,
and no doubt before long, will be in direct coalition
with the Conservative Republicans. In New Eng-
land, the Radical Republicans, who control all the
Conventions, are directly at issue with the Presi-

dent, both on account of the leniency of his recon-
struction policy and his opinions adverse to negro
suffrage. The Democrats, although they endorse
both of these, do not fully support him, however.
He will not secure their friendship until he changes
his Cabinet and puts a stop to all military inter-
ference with elections.

In Ohio, the Republican candidate for Governor,
General Cox, by his repeated speeches against negro
suffrage, is giving his party a great deal of trouble.
The Convention that nominated him supposed they
did a very neat piece of diplomacy by avoiding the
negro, but the General has spoilt it all. There is
some talk of nominating a Radical candidate for
Governor, many preferring the division and defeat
of the party to the triumph of such heretical
opinions. The current set strong in this direction,

but the party managers hope to check the defection
until the election is over. After that, they say, the

split is inevitable. Judge Dickson, who framed the
no-policy resolutions of the Convention, is" out" in
a letter condemning Cox's principles, but saying he
will vote for the man! He says that Cox belongs
to the Calhoun school, and continues—" Perhaps
if General Cox's views are sound it would have
been the part of wisdom, as well as humanity, for
us to have paused before we freed the slave, and
exposed him to these perils." Pausing would
certainly have been very wise, but American Abo-
litionism never pauses. It is always on a rush. In
Ohio, if the Radicals would only be quiet, they
would secure the election, but the New England
journals are urging them to desperate measures.
The Hartford Press, a Radical organ, expresses the
genuine New England opinion thus :
Cox shows himself to be a narrow-minded politician.
There is no difference between his position and that of the
most bitter democrat. He does not represent Ohio ; and
if the Republican party do not repudiate him and nomi-
..

nate another candidate, they deserve the defeat wo trust
they will meet.
Outside of Yankeedom negro-worshipping is uphill
work, and General Cox has no doubt laid an anchor
to windward. Democratic arms are open to wel-
come him. •
In Kentucky it is at length settled that the De-
mocrats have carried the State by about 5,000 ma-
jority; that they have the majority of the Legisla-
ture, thus securing a United States' senator ; and
that five out of nine Congressmen are Democrats.

In Minnesota the Democratic Convention met on
the 16th of August. They resolved to sustain
President Johnson, and reaffirmed the principles
laid down by the Maine Convention, with the
addition of a resolution expressing their anal terable
opposition to a protective tariff. A partiality for
free trade characterises both parties in the West.
The Republican Convention of Pennsylvania met
yesterday, and its doings may be considered as de-
fining the position of that party in the Middle
States. The question of negro suffrage, as in Ohio,
was avoided, and the resolutions adopted endoise
Johnson's policy, compliment Edwin M. Stanton,
and recommend the confiscation of the property of
all Confederates with more than $lO,OOO to pay the
war debt and pensions. They also advocate a higher
protective tariff, endorse the Monroe doctrine, and
say that soldier's should be chosen to fill all the
offices.

The conflicting reports that have been published
about Cabinet differences on the reconstruction
question have led to an announcement officially
" that there is not now, nor is it believed there will
be, any substantial difference between the President
and his Cabinet with regard to the restoration of
the Southern States," and that the President will
pursue without change the programme of restoration
already begun. Coupled with this is also an official
statement about the trial of Jefferson Davis. Some
of the Cabinet are unwilling to try Jefferson Davis
for treason, and the President declares that if he is
tried it shall be before a civil Court. These differ-
ences of opinion have prevented the trial from being
ordered before this, and, as they are now as strong
as ever, no doubt the same uncertain state of affairs
will continue for some time. There are still rumours,
however, that the trial has already been ordered.
Three of the children of Jefferson Davis, and his
mother-in-law, passed through New York State
this week on their way to Montreal. The entire
family is very destitute, and $6,500 have been raised
in Washington to relieve the necessities of Mrs.
Davis, who is still in the South.

Very little that is new has been developed in the
last few days in the South. The Mississippi Re-
construction Convention has been in session for
several days, and is composed of 88 delegates, all
Southern rights men, and numbering among them
nearly all the leading men of the State. No law
has yet been passed by the Convention ; but an
ordinance ratifying all judicial decisions, judg-
ments, decrees, contracts, &c., made during the
war has passed a first reading. A law prohibiting
the Legislature from imposing any disability, or
punishment, cr forfeiture of estate upon any citizen
engaged in the war against the United States, or
for political opinions resulting therefrom, was
hailed with great favour, and immediately passed a
first reading. A petition was presented praying
that steps be taken on behalf of Jefferson Davis
and Governor Clark, and ordinances were intro-
duced abolishing slavery and providing for an elec-
tion of State officers on the first Monday in October.
The proceedings of the Convention indicate the
course that will be pursued by all the Southern
States. As the delegates show a very independent
spirit, and do not seem afraid to avow their friend-
tary step in.
friend-
ship for the late Confederacy, it is feared the mili-
and summarily close their pro-
ceedings. The President, however, will be far too
wise to allow
such
ointerference,.. as it will do no
good and only provoke hostility to him. In Alabama
the officers appointed by Governor Parsons are
qualifying themselves in all parts of the State and
military rule is gradually disappearing. In Arkansas
the same gratifying restoration of the civil power is
observable. In Tennessee the military rule con-
tinues as strong as ever, but a sign of its coming
fall is evident, in an order just promulgated, dis-
solving all the courts-martial now sitting in Middle
Tennessee. From Louisiana it is reported that busi-
ness* is very active, and the receipts of cotton at New
Orleans are largely in excess of the demand. The
country is very quiet, and General Can by has just
issued an order that all soldiers who wish to re-
main in the South shall be mustered out at such
places as they may select. In Georgia the military
are still engaged in meddling with things that do
not belong to them, as the following very foolish
pronounciamento shows : - - - • -

" Head-quarters Department of Georgia, office of the
Provost-Marshal General, Augusta, Georgia, Aug. 3.
" Orders.---Telegraph operators, express agents, post-
masters, forwarding merchants, common carriers, and rail-

road agents are notified that they will not forward or deliver
messages, goods, wares, merchandise, or mail matter to any
person whomsoever within the department of Georgia who
has not taken the oath prescribed in the President's pro-
clamation of amnesty, of May 29, 1865.
" Any violation of this order will be punished by a for-
feiture of all rights to transact business with this depart-
ment by the offending party, and by fine and imprisonment.

"By command of Major-General STE EDMAN."

This is the only instance of military officiousness
that has been reported within the past few days. In
Richmond, on the 15th of August, an arsenal ex-
ploded, destroying $lOO,OOO worth of military stores
and killing two men. Tobacco-smokers will no doubt
take a hint from another item reported from Rich-
mond. An enterprising Yankee has collected 6,500
bushels of tobacco ashes from the burnt district, and
has shipped them in a schooner to send to the North,
where they are regarded as valuable for fertilising
purposes.

The negroes still cause trouble. It is positively
asserted in the North Carolina newspapers that there
is not a single citizen of that State who favours negro
suffrage. In Florida, however, under Federal aus-
pices, the opposite appears. In order to elect a Mayor
for Fernandina whose views coincided with theirs,
the military permitted all negroes to vote who cast a
ballot for the military candidate. Ten negroes voted
where one white man did ; the Mayor was chosen,
and the first precedent for negro suffrage in the
South was put on record. Whether it will hold
good, however, is quite a different question.
Troubles between the negroes and planters are
reported from various parts of the South. In Ala-
bama and Mississippi it is said the blacks are mur-
dered and their houses burnt, and that the woods
are filled with refugees who have fled there for
safety. Twenty-five Mississippi planters are under
arrest at Vicksburg for maltreating their negroes.
In North Carolina great cruelties are sometimes
practised upon them, and in Virginia some cruelties
are reported, but the statements are generally of an
opposite character—that the negroes, refusing to
work, are roaming about the country in• armed
bands, stealing whatever they can lay their hands
on, and that the troops (also negroes) wink at these
outrages.

The great anxiety of the negro to imitate the
white man has set the quack medicine vendors at
work, and accordingly a compound has been in-
vented to turn black men white. Our newspapers
are filled with the following advertisement:—•

" All Negroes Notice. You Can Become White.—
Levere's recent discovery will remove the pigmentary de-
posits from the skin, changing the darkest complexion to a
bright olive in the course of from three to ten weeks. This
compound is free from all poisonous and irritating quali-
ties, and although its effects are rapid, yet it is perfectly
harmless to the skin."

As many of our whites in America, by their politi-
cal views and general habits, show a strong desire to
become negroes, there is no doubt that it would be
equally profitable to invent a specific for turning
white men black.

Ford's Theatre at Washington is being converted
into a fire-proof building, in which all the captured
archives of the Southern Confederacy will be kept.
They will be under the charge of Dr. Francis Lie-
ber, of New York.
On the 17th of August, the shock of an earth-
quake was felt all along the Mississippi river. The
shock was light, and did very little damage.
The Confederate privateer Shenandoah, when last
heard from, was reported to be steaming towards
Cape Behring, in the Kamtschatka Sea, and it was
feared great havoc would be caused among a fleet
of 40 American whalers that are cruising in that
latitude.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

---- -- ..q,

Her Majesty's screw steam frigate Bristol, 39,
3,027 tons, GOO horse power, in charge of Capt. L.
E. H. Somerset, which has undergone thorough re-
pairs, both in hull and machinery, in Sheerness
dockyard, and been fitted for the first division of
the steam reserve, has been taken into No. 3 dock
to be fitted with a new poop and flag accommoda-
tion. The necessary additions and alterations will
be completed iu about a month, when she will be
placed in commission, and carry the broad pennant
of Capt. G. T. P. llornby, as commodore of the first
class. The Bristol is to take the place of the Rattle-
snake, 21, screw steam corvette, Commodore Wil.
mot, C. 8., on the west coast of Africa.

The screw frigate Arethusa, 35, 500 horse power,
Capt. R. J. J. G. Macdonald, which so narrowly
escaped destruction by fire on the recent occasion of
her official trial of speed at the Maplin Sands, is
undergoing a complete overhaul and repair to both
hull and machinery, which will detain her in har-
bour for several weeks to come. During the time
she is under repair the opportunity is taken of effect-
ing some desirable alterations and improvements in
her machinery. The Arethusa was to have joined
the Octavia and the Constance, the other frigates
selected to make a series of experimental trials in
the Channel several months since, but in conse-
quence of a series of mishaps and breakdowns she
has been detained in the Medway during the whole
cif the summer. Just as she was on the eve of start-
ing for Portland to join the other vessels composing
the squadron the fire broke out on board which at
one time threatened such serious consequences.
The old screw liner Cornwallis, 200 horse power,
converted several years ago from a sailing ship to a
screw steamer, since which time she has not moved
from her moorings in the Medway, has had the whole
of her machinery and boilers removed and one of her
decks cut down preparatory to being secured and
sunk alongside the jetty, near the entrance to the
steam basin at Sheerness, in order to facilitate the
operation of taking ships in and out of the basin.
The whole of her internal fitments have been re-
moved, and she is left a complete shell.
The paddlewheel steamer Barraconta, 6, 300-
horse power, fitting for the North American and
West India station, is being prepared for sea by the
shipwrights and riggers at Sheerness dockyard. She
is now having her standing wire rigging set up, and
the mechanics are busily employed in overhauling
her engines and machinery.
The War Department vessel Inkerman arrived at
Woolwich arsenal yesterday from Chester, laden
with 120 tons of returned stores. She met with a
succession of contrary winds and calm, and was 20
days out. She spoke the Morning Star, of London,
on Aug. 21st, nine days from Liverpool, bound to
the West Coast of Africa. She was encountered off
Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, and requested
to be reported all well, but with contrary winds.
A new steam pinnace, intended for her Majesty's
ironclad steam ram corvette Pallas, was yesterday
launched at Woolwich, and went down the river from
the dockyard on a trial of her machinery and speed.
The engines, which were supplied by Messrs. Mauds-
lay and Co., and were in charge of Mr. Warrener,
are of the nominal power of eight horses. In yes-
terday's trial they made 342 revolutions, with 601 b.
pressure steam. The mean speed of six runs was
6.795. The draught of water was 2ft forward and 3ft
aft. The size of cylinder, sin. in diameter; length
of stroke, 6in. It appears that wehave now resolved
to imitate our French neighbours in all that may be
likely to benefit the service, and are now fitting our
line-of-battle ships with these useful steam launches,
which are to carry 'a couple of guns each, fore and
aft, and which willprove most formidable in shallow
waters out of range of ships' guns.
Her Majesty's iron troopship Dromedary, Master
Commander Allard, was yesterday hauled out of
basin at Woolwich, and went down the river on a
trial trip. She is now about to load at Deptford
with provisions for the West Coast of Africa, where
she is to relieve the iron storeship Wye, Staff Com-
mander Valentine Roberts.
Yesterday a detachment of 90 non-commissioned
lotGlfflinecalerd rnsfsa,and men of the Ist battalion Coldstream
nunder
Barracks,the command
Sheet-street
of Capt.
Windsor,
andleft
marched to the station of the London and South-
Western Railway, whence they left by the 2 30 p.m.
train for Vauxhall, en route for New Chelsea Bar-
racks, whither the rest of the battalion proceeds to-
day (Friday) at 9 o'clock. The 2d battalion Grena-
dier Guards, from Aldershott, march in to Windsor
to-day.

It was Capt. Henry Nangle, of the 15th Regi-
ment, and not Staff-Surg. Nangle, who embarked
with other officers in the Himalaya on the 28th of
August.