The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-10 00:00:00

THE VOLUNTEERS.

,
At a meeting of members of the First City of
London Engineers, held at the City of London
National Schools, ltruite-street, Finsbury-pave-
ment, on Tuesday evening last, it was determined
to form an Artisan Company, to be composed of the
trades authorised for the Royal Engineers—viz.,
carpenters, joiners, cabinetmakers, masons, brick-
layers, plasterers, smiths, engine fitters, mill-
wrights, coopers, painters, tailors, collar-makers,
miners, draughtsmen, Sze. Members of these
trades will not pay an entrance fee, and will be pro-
vided with the uniform and accoutrements on ad-
vantageous terms to suit their convenience. It was
also decided to accept the services of a volunteer
brass band organised under Mr. Sluishman, late
bandmaster of the Bth Hussare.

A special general meeting of the members of the
London Scottish Rifles was held on Tuesday, at the
Scottish Corporation-hall, Fleet-street, Lord Elcho,
the commandant of the corps, in the chair. On the
motion of the chairman a resolution was passed
empowering the council of the regiment to alter
the rule with respect to the entrance fee, it having
been proposed to abolish the entrance fee altogether.
On Saturday the 10th company of the 4th City
of London Rifles proceeded to Rainham for ball
practice, and, notwithstanding the extreme cold-
ness of the day, some excellent scores were made.
Lieutenant Ebsworth has gone to Hy the for the
purpose of undergoing the course of musketry in-
struction. Colonel Sykes, the commandant of the
4th, has decided that his regiment shall not take
part in the contemplited sham fight at Brighton
on Easter Monday, upon the ground that they are
not sufficiently efficient. This has occasioned much
disappointment among the Islington companies
(formerly the 7th Middlesex), who were present at
the review at B"ighton last year, and received
honourable mention for their efficiency.
On Saturday a handsome building erected by
Capt. Rucker, 26th Kent Volunteers, at Vanburgh-
park, Blackheath, from his own funds, at an expense
of upwards of £2,500, was publicly opened in pre-
sence of a large concourse of spectators. It is a
handsome and substantial erection of red brick, over-
looking the wide expanse of the heath from its
northern extremity. A large bas-relief, represent-
ing the White Horse of Kent, surmounts the door-
way. The fine hall, which occupies nearly the whole
of the interior, is within the walls 100 ft in length

by 53ft in breadth, the roof in the centre being 38ft

above the ground. No pillars or props of any kind
interfere with the floor, which thus extends over the
whole area, without any obstacle to the free move-
ments of the corps at drill. The brick walls are
whitewashed inside, a row of projecting bricks form-
ing a notched cornice at the top. Eight massive
principals support a handsome wooden roof, the
upper part of which is covered with sheets of glass,
by which the room is lighted. Altogether, the
architecture is most appropriate, and at once sug-
gests by its style of decoration the purpose to which
the hall is dedicated. On Saturday the gay appear-
ance of the building was heightened by the ever-
greens and banners with which the walls were deco-
rated, and the large body of Volunteers and spectators
who for the first time assembled under the roof.
Viscount Sydney, the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, took
the chair, and opened the proceedings with a brief
speech, in which he referred to the peat success of
the Volunteer movement. Lord Holmesdale, M.P.
for West Kent, proposed the first resolution, to the
effect that the meeting approved the Volunteer
movement. He was seconded by Alderman Salo-
mons, M.P. for Greenwich, who dwelt at some
length on the effects of the Volunteer movement in
increasing the influence of England abroad. Gene-

ral Sir Richard Dacres, Commandant of the Wool-
wich Garrison, proposed a resolution to the effect
that the value of the Volunteer force depended
on its permanency. He enforced the im-
portance of drill, and as a means of drill under our
humid and changeable atmosphere, the erection of
suer halls as that presented to the Volunteers of
Kent by Captain Rucker. He did not approve of
teapots being awarded as prizes for rifle shooting.

He thought that a medal, which could be hung up,
was a better gift, and that the remainder of the
funds should be bestowed in the purchase of knap-
sacks, tents, and other requisites. The resolution
was seconded by Admiral Hamilton. Mr. Anger-
stein, M.P. for Greenwich, proposed, and Captain
Buckle seconded, a resolution to the effect that the
building is one of a kind eminently calculated
to give permanency to the movement. The Rev.
Mr. Soames moved, and the Rev. Mr. Selwyn se-
conded, a resolution conveying the thanks of the
meeting to Captain Rucker, who, at his own ex-
pense, had erected the drill hall. Captain Rucker,

who was received with great enthusiasm, returned
thanks, and expressed a hope that the building
would tend to promote the success of this great
movement, in which be took the deepest interest.
The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the
chairman.

The Volunteer Corps of Essex, after the comps•
rative inertness of the winter, have already com.

menced active operations. A handicap rifle match

between the 3d Essex Artillery and the Stratford
and Plaistow Rifle Corps, has just taken place.
There were 28 competitors, who fired 10 rounds
each, the winners being Quartermaster-Sergeant
Brownfield, Artillery, 15 points ; Ensign Thurgood,
Plaistow Rifles. 14 ; Private Croucher, of the same
corps, 14. The Witham Corps, under Ensign
Blood, and the Tendring, under Captain Cardi-
nell, attended divine service on Sunday last.
An amateur theatrical entertainment is about to
be given on behalf of the Dunmow Rifle Corps
band. The annual meeting of the Rochford Corps
has been held. The corps is in an efficient
state, martially and financially. The receipts had
been £l9O 9s. ld., and the expenditure £l7O 3s.
6d., leaving a balance in favour of the corps of £2O
ss. 7d. A large muster of the corps afterwards
dined together. A grand Volunteer demonstration,
in which all branches of the service will be repre-
sented, is contemplated upon the Essex coast, near
Southend, towards the close of the summer.
In Suffolk abutt for the long range for the Hales-
worth company is nearly complete, the targets
being fixed and marker's hut begun, so that the
corps will shortly be in possession of a range of 600
yards. The Saxmundham Corps held its annual
meeting in the course of last week, Lieut.-Colonel
Schreiber presiding. The receipts for the year were
reported to have been £l5B, and the expenditure
£l6l, showing an adverse balance of £B. It was I
resolved, however, notwithstanding this deficit, to
admit effective members in future without payment
of the los. 6d. hitherto insisted on as an entrance
Ice. At the close of the meeting Lieutenant-Colonel
Schreiber inspected the corps, the members of which
were Put through the manual and platoon and a few
company movements.
Y • Cheney Ewart, of Boddington-b all,
Leicester, and Esston-Lodge, Norfolk, late Captain
of her Majesty's Bed
y Guard, has just accepted the
First Lieutenancy of
the first battery of the Yar-
mouth VolunteerAtnil lery. In consequence of the
resignation of Ensig
Preston who is about to leave
England for Norway,ay,
A. Watling has been
elected ensign of the 2a
Volunteer Rifles. company of the Yarmouth
rep
shire and the fens. The EIY ted from Cambridge-
Several matters may ber
shire and the fens. The
Y Ps has commenced
company drill and bayonet exercise in
the Corn-
exchange. Oa Wednesday a handsome
challenge
cup, presented by the the ladies of wian-ech
rhaeldh
t h e
neighbourhood, was competed for by 15
rs
of the corps formed in the town, and the prize We
won by Private Tunnacliffe, who made 17 Point:
Shooting was conducted at ranges of 200, 500, and
700 yards, five rounds each. The cup will be shot
for again in September, and if Private Tunnacliffe
is again successful it will become his property; but
if another member of the corps makes the highest
score the prize will become the subject of a fresh
competition next year. The Cambridge Corps had
a monthly prize competition in the course of last
week. The shooting was 200 and 300 pads, and
Drum-Major Ling made the highest score. As,
hoyever, he had previously taken a prize he was
disqualified, and Surgeon Hall was awarded the
first prize for the greatest number of hits, and
Private bull the second, for the greatest number of
points. In another match for a short Enfield, pre-
sented by Colour-Sergeant Hall, the distances being

500 and 600 yards, Sergeant Fuller was the winner
his score being 13 points.

The officers of the 2d battalion of Glamorganshire
Volunteers met at Cardiff to ascertain the opinion
of the body on several matters. The first question
considered was whether the battalion should join
the proposed Volunteer review o❑ Durdham Downs,
Bristol, and it was decided, after speeches from
Captain Bruce, M.P., and other officers, that the
battalion should attend the review, should there be
no Glamorganshire meeting. It was stated that the
total number of effective Volunteers in the Rifle
Battalion had risen from 735 in October to 835 at
the present time—just 100 in three months. It was
agreed to set on foot a battalion fund for defraying
the travelling expenses of the Volunteers to bat-
talion or brigade meetings. Much discussion took
Place on the subject of the uniform, and a prevail-
ing opinion was expressed in favour of adopting the
red in preference to green or gray. Captain Bruce,
M.P., thought he was not betraying confidence in
intimating the intention of the Government
to further assist the Volunteers beyond finding the
cloth for uniforms at first cost. At present, how-
ever, the Government could not see their way
clear. A man might be given a uniform, and after
he had had it a very short time he might give 14
days' notice and quit the service. However, he
might say that he knew it was the intention of the
Government to afford additional assistance at an
early date. The question of presenting the volun-
teers with cloth would be considered early in the
Parliamentary session, and he (Mr. Bruce) would
not fail to press upon the Government the necessity
of affording every encouragement to the volunteer
movement. Subsequently a resolution was passed
in favour of adopting a red uniform.
The annual meeting of the members of the 4th
Wilts Rifle Volunteers (Chippenham) took place a
few days since. The financial statement showed
that, after discharging all liabilities, a balance re-
mained in the treasurer's hands of nearly £l7. The
chairman announced that, in addition to a challenge
cup, the following prizes would be competed for—
viz., a silver cup of the value of 20 guineas, as a
prize for the best aggregate scores at 200, 300, and
500 yards ; a silver goblet, for the best aggregate
scores at 200 and 300; a chased silver goblet (the
latter for competition exclusively among the officers
of the Chippenham corps and the Colne and Woot-
ton-Bassett sub divisions) ; a Kerr's rifle, with
second barrel of small bore, value 12 guineas; a
short Enfield five-grooved rifle, and one or more
other prizes.
The Swindon Rifle corps is in a very disorganised
state. All the officers have resigned, and it is
feared that the corps will have to be disbanded,
unless some gentlemen in the neighbourhood will
take greater interest in it than is at present mani-
fested.

Mr. B. Haworth, father of the commanding officer
of the East York Volunteer Artillery Brigade, has
presented a silver cup to be shot for from 32-
pounders. The firing will be held consecutively at
Whitby, Scarborough, Filet', and Bridlington, at a
not less range than 1,300 yards. Adjutant Symons
is to be the referee. The 3d North York Volun-
teer Artillery commenced a contest on Saturday
last for a give' cup given by Lord Londesborough.
The day was so unfavourable that the contest was
shortly adjourned, but the corps reassembled on
Monday and eompleted the shooting. The ranges
were 100, 200, and 300 yards; at each range five
shots per man. The highest scores were Sergeant-
Major Taylor 22 points, Sergeant Stewart 22 points,
Corporal Waite 20 points, and Private White 20
points. The tie between the first two was shot off
twice, Sergeant Stewart eventually winning the
cup.

THE GREAT PYTHONESS AT THE
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

Among advertisements to seekers of amusement,
one from the Zoological Society has probably been
observed by our readers. It announces that at the
society's gardens "the large python may be now
seen incubating her eggs." We confess that this
advertisement somewhat surprised us; for, having
recently read in the treatise on reptiles published in
the last edition of the Encycloycedia Brstannica,
that " no reptile is known to hatch its eggs," we
were not prepared for an announcement from the
Zoological Society so directly in opposition to that
of the author of this recent treatise, which is sup li
-
posed to be a high authority on reptiles. True,
herpetology has by no means kept"pace with other
sciences, many important features still remaining
obscure ; yet, we thought that the question of
reptiles hatching their eggs had been as firmly
settled as that all ophidians are oviparous. But
from the days of Pliny, who tells us that young
boas feed on cow's milk, and that they are indebted
to this mythical connexion with the bovine family
for their name, mighty serpents, worse " than fables
yet have feigned, or fear conceived," have always
been subjects of mystery, and it is not, therefore,
any very great wonder that opinions should differ
respecting the hatching of their eggs. The
Pythoness which has suddenly become a cele-
brated and interesting character in the great
London world, where almost daily some event or
person is elevated to a prominent position only to be
put aside when a new wonder appears, is one
of the large varieties of the great boa family.
It was born in West Africa, and has been 11 years
in the gardens, during which period it has thriven
well, waxing yearly in strength, girth, and length,
until now it is a very giant among the serpents in
the Zoological Society's collection. It is better off
than many animals in the gardens, which live in
single blessedness in their narrow prison-houses,
for the great lady Python has a husband. We must
say, however, as will be seen presently, she does not
seem to derive any great comfort from his society.
It may be that, because her mate is much less than
herself, she regards and treats him with contempt.
He is a dwarf compared to her, being a kind of
reptilian Brummell, toying, as it were, with peas
while his wife eats scores of animals. She has
gorged ten full-grown rabbits at a sitting, or coiling
rather; and on the last occasion that we saw the
interesting couple at their dinner (provided every
Friday at the fashionable hour of 7) she stowed
four rabbits in her elongated maw in an amazingly
short time (how many more followed we know not),
while her husband not only turned away from a
rabbit, but was absolutely insensible to the attrac-
tion of a dainty duck which quacked provokingly
under his very nose. Do not, however, suppose
that the male serpent is puny or powerless.
Waterton himself, who came forth from a cavern
with a boa encircling him with its muscular coils,
would have succumbed under the grip of such a
reptile as this. We only wish it to be under-
stood that he is small compared to the Pytho-
ness. The great egg-laying event occurred four
weeks ago. The plethoric condition of the
serpent occasioned uneasiness. Some supposed
that she had bolted a stray blanket ; it was
considered whether something might not be done
to relieve the great reptile, when she excluded, as
w ell as the keeper can estimate, about 100 eggs.
These, enclosed in a white leather-like substance,
are about the size of those of a goose, the majority
of a dirty-white appearance, connected by a mem-
brane. Among them are two small red eggs,
and many are indented, probably by the great pres-
sure of the serpent's body. It is remarkable that
this prolific exclusion of eggs, which might be sup-
posed to have exhausted the animal, and conse-
quently excited hunger, has had apparently an
opposite effect. A t all events, the reptile has not
broken fast for 23 hours, her husband having mean-
whiie indulged in occasional rabbits. Indeed, the
sight of these animals, pleasantly provocative at
other seasons, seemingly only irritates the Pytho-
ness : a few days since, an unsuspecting rabbit
havingae.as frisked near her ladyship, she straightway
it by the throat and cast the affrighted beast
savagely from herper paternal
occa-
sion, when. her husband,.
Pride and And on
feeling
er husband, doubtless actuated by pro
,maoprpertohaaenhedonheisowcciafe-
in order to see ho
domestic matters were going
on, she has, to
use the keeper's words, shouldered
him away with one of her great coils, showing
plainly that by thus giving him the cold shoulder
she prefers performing her maternal
theduties keeper seen
her absent from her interesting incubatory opera-
tion, and then, before lie could get
round to the,

back of the cage to have a better view of the eggs,
she was on them again. In fact, she much resem-
bles an old hen with a brood, puffed up by mater-
nal pride and conceit, and is in a highly exciteable
condition—spiteful, too, according to the keeper, for
she has struck more than once at objects outside
the glass which have irritated her. Though
she does not eat, she drinks freely; but as water is
near her, she is not obliged to leave her eggs to
assuage thirst. Having communicated these in-
teresting particulars, the keeper kindly went round
to the back of the cage, opened the door, and re-
moved the blanket cautiously. There, true enough,
in direct opposition to the non-hatching theory, was
the mighty Pythoness in great coils,—
" Fold above fold, a surgy maze, her head
Crested aloft,"
not a whit attenuated by her long fast,while beneath
the lowest coil were bunches of eggs, some plainly
visible between the folds of the coil, others, as the
keeper said, being only partially seen in conse•
qnence of their being overlaid by the serpent's
body. Some of the eggs were of a dirty-green
white, decomposition having probably taken place;
a supposition strengthened by the odour emanating
from them and also from the serpent. The removal
of the blanket, though effected most quietly, imme-
diately excited the Pythoness. Her head, which
was lying on the topmost coil, in the best position
for observation, was suddenly raised; she became
restless, darted out her long qaivering tongue with
great rapidity, and would have struck the keeper
had he not re-covered her with the blanket and put
an end to her irritation. It will be interesting to
watch the result. Immediately opposite the
Pythoness's cage is a lively member of the viper
family, which was hatched in the gardens in 1860
from an egg; and we understand that a boa
was born in Paris from an egg hatched
by the female. Thus the Zoological Society
may reasonably look forward to an increase
of its interesting collection of reptiles; and
though the Fellows are not probably particularly
desirous to have an accession of 100 Pythons to
their stock, yet a few lively baby Pythons would
undoubtedly be an important addition to the attrac-
tion of their unrivalled gardens during the ensuing
season, when our metropolis will be crowded by
sight-seeing visitors. We trust, however, that,
apart from this fin ancial consideration, the society
will take care that the Pythoness shall be carefully
and closely observed while she is incubating.—
Athenceunt.