The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-11 00:00:00

Rifled Artillery.

The report of the Ordnance Select Committee which con-
ducted the trial of the competitive guns rifled on three dif-
ferent systems contains the exact results of the experi-
mental practice with each gun. Those results are noted
so minutely in the tables appended to the text of the report,
that every detail of every shot fired can be referred to. As
the trial has ranged over three years, it may be supposed
that the tables and diagrams make up the greater portion
of the volume.

The experiments to which the first part of the report re-
fers were made with 7-inch wrought iron guns rifled on the
French system, and the competing systems of Commander
Scott, R.N., Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Jeffery, and Mr. Britten.
On these weapons tho committee make the following re-

marks ,

" The difference between the systems of Messrs. Jeffery
and Britten consisted substantially in the method of attach-
ing load to the base of the projectiles, and one gun only was
prepared for these two gentlemen. The French gun was
added at the request of the Committee. The Committee,
warned by experience of the former competition, determined
on this occasion to limit the trial strictly to the rifling of
the guns, and they therefore endeavoured to eliminate all
other sources of difference, and themselves fixed a uniform
weight and form and windage of shot, and also the charges
of powder. Mr. Lancaster's shot are slightly shorter than
the others, because the Committee had previously deter-
mined that the term ' 7-inch' gun should mean a gun down
which a 7-inch spherical shot could be rolled, and under
that definition the internal sectional area of an oval-bored
gun must necessarily be larger than that of a grooved gun
of the same nominal calibre. The committee would gladly
have confined the competition to the same amount of twist,
but it was clear that the expanding projectiles of Messrs.
Jeffery and Britten would be unfairly treated if fired from
a gun with as sharp a spiral as would suit the other com-
petitors ; and, moreover, the French system is that of PM
increasing twist, while that of the others is uniform.
They therefore allowed each competitor full latitude in
this respect."

The following paragraph gives a more detailed
description of the guns :

" The guns are muzzle loading. They have solid steel
tubes 3 inches thick, a solid forged breeched piece, and ex-
ternal strengthening coils. Their weight averages 149 cwt.,
and the length of bore is 10ft. 6in. Cammell's steel is used
in Scott's, Lancaster's, and the Jeffrey and Britten guns,
and Firth's steel in the other. They are vented 5.75 in.
from the end of the bore, being the position to give the
greatest initial velocity with a charge of 201 b."
The shot used were solid, weighing 1001 b. and
1101 b. The powder used was A 4, and the cartridges
were made up to an uniform diameter of 6 inches and
five-tenths. The charges varied in weight from 121 b.
to 251 b.

The following are stated as the "general results"
of the trial :

"Lead-coated expanding projectiles.—A very short ex-
perience showed that the systems of Messrs. Jeffery and
Britten were unsuited for heavy charges ; large pieces of
lead were blown off the shot, and the shooting was so wild
as to throw these systems entirely out of the competition.
" Endurance.—About 350 rounds have been fired from
each gun. This is sufficient to test the endurance of guns
such as these, but it is sufficient to indicate that with steel
lined guns there need be no fear of the breaking down of the
grooving by the abrasion of the ribs or studs in either of
these systems ; at all events when in Commander Scott's
system soft bearings are used. The committee can see no
reason at present for placing one gun before the other in
point of endurance.
"Easiness of loading.—The French gun was certainly
the easiest to load ; but there is nothing to complain of in
this respect in Commander Scott's gun. Mr. Lancaster's
-shot were all got home with more or less difficulty, and in
some cases a metal rammer had to be used.

"Liability of tho projectiles to injury from rough usage.
—None of these descriptions of shot are liable to injury
from knocking about, but the Lancaster should take the
first place in this respect ; Commander Scott's first plan the
second 'place ; the French shot on Palliser's system the
third ; and Commander Scott's second plan the last.
"Recoil.—There seems no practical difference between
the guns in this respect. In the early part of the trial the
Scott gun bad the greatest recoil, but on an exchange of
carriages with the French gun their places in this respect
were reversed."

There is no difference worth mentioning in the

" Commander Scott's gun has the advantage of both the
others in point of range with round shot, but is very much
inferior to both in uniformity of range and accuracy. It
is worthy of remark that the charge of 201 b., which is
nearly half the shot's weight, gives an increase of velocity
of only 271 ft., and only 200 yards, or thereabouts, of addi-
tional range, over the charge of 121 b., which latter charge,
with the small windage allowed, gives a considerably
higher velocity than that of the service 32-pounder or 68-
pounder shot. The committee have now placed the Secre-
tary of State in possession of all the data that aro requisite
for comparing these five systems of rifling as applicable to
heavy battering guns using a charge of 1-sth or 1-4th the
weight of the shot. The gun rifled on the French system,
with arrangement of the studs suggested by Major Pallisser,
gives by far the best result, so far, in point of accuracy, the
trial not having proceeded beyond solid shot of the forms
and weights specified. It was the easiest to load, and
although somewhat inferior to Commander Scott's gun in
respect to firing round shot, is in every other respect equal
or superior to it. The committee also prefer it to Lancas-
ter's, although Mr. Lancaster has subsequently shown how,
in his opinion, his shot may be made very easy to load
without increase of mean windage, by taking the windage
allowed chiefly off the third quadrant of the shot. The
committee are confirmed in the preference expressed above
by the superiority which the French system of rifling
evinced over the former plans of the same gentleman when
tried in rifled cast iron 32-pounder guns in 1862. For rea-
sons already given they reject both the systems of lead-
coated projectiles as unsuitable for heavy charges."

Railway Collision.

--- a ---

On Saturday a destructive collision took place at
the Hoghton station, near Preston, on the East Lan-
cashire section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail-
way. About 7 o'clock a heavy goods train, consist-
ing of 25 waggons, from Liverpool, arrived at
Hoghton. Eight of the waggons belonging to it
had to be shunted upon a siding on the lower side
of the station, and without any delay this work
was proceeded with as soon as the train landed.
They were " tailed" into the siding with an old
rope, which was in such a very bad state that it
had to be pieced three times before the waggon
could be got across the line. Immediately after they
had been run into the siding, some of the officials
observed that they had been scarcely run up far
enough. A signal to this effect was given to the en-
gine-driver, and he thought it would be best to push
them up properly, instead of pulling them on with
the rope which had been previbusly used. In order
to do this he had to run across the line, with a num-
ber of waggons at the rear of his engine, and then
cross obliquely to the siding. About this time a goods
train from Normanton, in Yorkshire, to Preston and
Fleetwood was due at Hoghton, and as the danger
signals along the line it was travelling upon had
been on during the previous shunting it was thought
best by the officials at the station to allow them to
remain up for a moment or two until the waggons
had been pushed back by the engine which was then
about to cross the line. But it so happened that the
foreman of the platelayers on the Hoghton portion
of the line was near the signals—which are some dis-
tance from the station—at the time, and as he saw
that the line past the station was clear, and not
knowing that it was intended just then to run the
engine and the waggons behind it across for the
purpose of driving the already shunted waggonsfur-
ther into the siding, he turned the danger-signals off
and the approaching goods train, which would have
stopped if they had been on, ran past at a brisk
speed. Directly it had passed the signals the other
engine crossed the line at Hoghton station, and was
then reversed to drive up the trucks. The driver of
the now approaching train could, not, however, see
what was being done here, in consequence of a sharp
curve between the place where he was at and the sta-
tion, and as the signals indicated a clear road he
drove on, down the decline ahead, at a speed of be-
tween 15 and 20 miles an hour. in a few moments
afterwards he noticed the, engine and waggons across
the line at the station, but the distance was so short
was only about 100 yards off—that he had no
possible chance of bringing his engine to a standstill
or of materially checking its speed. The =sequence
was that his train dashed along, and as the engine
and waggons ahead could not by any contrivance
be then got out of the way there was nothing in
prospect but a terrific collision. The ticket clerk
(Thomas King) at Hoghton station shouted out to
the guard, a man named Cleeves, that there was
danger immediately ahead ; and the latter, managed
to jump out of his van a few yards before the col-
lision took place. The engine of the train which
was running up caught two of the waggons across
the line, and dashed them to pieces. It then became
entangled athong the wheels of one of the waggons,
was thrown off the rails, and after rushing onward
for about 10 or 15 yards it turned completely off
the road, ran down the embankment, went into a
hedge, and was almost overturned. The driver
(Henry Vickers, of Preston), and the stoker, held
on to the railing of the engine after it left the metals,
and remained at their post until fairly off the foot-
plate by the overturning of the engine. Fortunately
neither of them sustained serious injury. The driver
received a cut on the side of the head, but it is not
of a dangerous character ; while the stoker received
nothing beyond a smart shock, consequent upon the
violence of the collision. The van out of which the
guard had jumped, and which was next to the engine,
was forced right upon the tender. While being
thrown up in this manner, the top of it came in con-
tact with the broken edge of the tender, and it was
completely torn off. The body of the van was
nearly broken to pieces ; the springs framework,
and one or two of the wheels were smashed and
crushed up, and the articles it contained were strewn
about in every way—in fact, the van was fairly torn
to atoms. The two waggons which were struck by
the engine were in a similar state—they were com-
pletely smashed up, and their contents, between 50
and 60 bales of cotton, several bags of bran, and
some hampers of potatoes, were thrown about in
the wildest confusion. Six other waggons were
also broken more or less ' • some had their sides
staved in, others had their buffers smashed, and a
few had their connecting rods, wheel boxes, springs,
&c., broken.

SEBASTOP 0 L.—A communication from Sebastopol
in the Union says—" It is difficult to imagine a more
desolate place than this poor town ; it is a positive sepul-
chre. Its sloping hills, once covered with picturesque gar-
dens, are transferred into arid wastes ; one can no longer
distinguish the places where the vines grew, and a barren
moss replaces all the verdure which formed, 10 years ago,
such a charming panorama. The country is depopulated,
and despoiled of all its-commerce. The factories aro de-
serted ; the cultivation of tobacco, which might compete
with that of the Turkish, declines every day; and the
landed proprietors have almost entirely- renounced making
wine. We were accustomed to see a whole fleet of barges
full of fruit issuing from our port ; the importation now is
nearly double the exportation. In 1864 there entered the
harbour 888,000 robles worth of merchandise, two-thirds of
it corn, and only 140,000 roubles worth went out. This year
the difference threatens to be still more formidable, for the
choking-up of the water courses has dried up the meadows
and caused great prejudice to the rearing of cattle. The
French ought to come and make a new campaign hero, but
one entirely of peace and industry. This time they would
gain large profit, after =ordeal much more speedy and less
painful than that of a siege. We have an especial want of
some superior vine-dressers. Viticulture is in distress from
the following circumstance :—Since the emigration of the
Tartars, the care of the vines is confided to the soldiers
sent here to form the garrison ; there are some from Arch-
angel, Helsingfors, and Polotzk, who have never seen a
grape in their own country, and aro there incapable of turn-
ing the vine to profitable account. Instead of wine, they
make a blackish sort of liquor, alike devoid of name and
taste. With respect to tobacco it is the same; whilst the
Crimea would suffice to supply the whole of Russia with
these two essential objects of contemporary consumption,
and even to export them to foreign countries. Seriously,
for European traders, there are enormous profits to be
realised in this country without any risk, and I think it
can never recover itself without the aid of such intelligent
adventurers. We should want hands from the South of
Europe chiefly, for the Germans are only good at corn.
Much corn cannot be produced here ; the sun parches the
ear before it comes to maturity ; but the same sun produces
all sorts of fruit in great abundance and of prodigious size.
Without exaggeration, there is a harvest of millions to be
reaped in the Crimea, in fruit and tobacco, and nothing
would be easier than their exportation."

(P.rom the Solicitors'
The strange case of alleged
IVedaesday before Mr. Ingham, _ sldd
to the conviction of a man more sinned against than
sinning, will prcibably have one good result : that of
clearing up the rather hazy ideas of that worthy
magistrate on the subject of carrying off young
women. It is difficult to make out from the news-
paper report what the precise charge was which was
intended to be brought against the Rev. Mr. Crosse's
late groom, but it is quite clear that the only indict-
ment which could be sustained would be under the
latter part of the 53d section of 24 and 25 Vict., c.
100. The first part of that section is designated
for the protection of women of any age who have
any sort of property in possession or expectancy to
lose, and stamps with felony any one who, from
motives of lucre, takes away or detains any such
woman against her will, with intent to marry, or,
&c. The provision must be dismissed at once, since
the young lady herself stated that she went at her
own suggestion, and stayed of her own accord. The
section, however, goes on to declare that whosoever
shall fraudulently allure, take away, or detain such
woman, being under the age of 21 years, out of the
possession and against the will of her father or
mother, or of any other person having the lawful care
or charge of her, with intent to marry or carnally
know her, or to cause her to be married or carnally
known by any other person, shall be guilty of felony
and liable to penal servitude not exceeding 14 years.
we may observe, is new, and there
Tishaist
present
but
one decision on its interpretation,
which, however, does not throw much light on the
enactment,
real meaning of the statute (" Reg. v. Burrell," 12
R. 149). The essential ingredients of the
offence are that the woman should have such an
terest in real or personal property as is defined
in the earlier part of the section, that she should
be under twenty-one years, and that the person in-
dicted should allure, take away, or detain her out of
the possession, and against the will of her guardians,
with the intent, &c. ; and lastly, that the alluring,
taking away, and detention, should be fraudulent.
From the evidence given in the present case, it is
indisputable that Miss Crosse, being over twenty and
under twenty-one, was such a woman as is contem-
plated by the section, that she was allured, taken
away, and detained, out of the possession of her
father, and against that gentleman's will. But it is
equally clear that the person who so Oared, took
away, and detained her was herself, and that if any
fraud at all was practised, it was in all probability
contrived and executed by her alone. She " arranged
the row" by which the groom was dismissed, she told
him to come to her bedroom ; she prepared the burnt
offering, which served as a beacon to summon and to
light him to his love ; she suggested the elopement,
and would have eloped had there been no " George"
at all. She did not even require his assistance in
scrambling out of the window. " I think I was slip-
ping down, and he held me." That appears to have
fairly represented the relationship between them.
She was always slipping, and he occasionally held
her up.
Mr. Ingham appears to consider that the passive,
not to say lamb-like, part which the groom, a boy of
eighteen, played in this performance, was a taking
away within the meaning of the statute. It was
suggested that the abduction must be fraudulent,
while here there was no fraud. It will probably
puzzle a higher tribunal than Mr. Ingham's to put a
satisfactory interpretation on this word. It is not
" feloniously," nor is it " by false pretences ;" but
though the word "fraudulent" does not at first sight
seem to imply so grave a moral offence as either of
the other expressions, yet we strongly suspect that
it will be much more difficult to define, and there-
fore a conviction under it will be more doubtful.
Indeed the case of " Rex v. Burrell (übi. sup.)
proves how difficult it will be to fix a definite mean-
ing on the word " fraud."
Mr. Ingham, indeed, seems to consider that an
important question in the case was whether a woman
under 21 could " consent." With all respect to him,
that mist which so often hangs over our police courts
must have obscured his mental sight. There cannot
be the slightest doubt that a woman under 21 can
consent ; but the awkward part of the case is, that
it is utterly immaterial whether she consents or not ;
since, if the offence is complete without her consent,
it is equally complete with it. The part of the sec-
tion which we arc now considering does not make
the dissent of the woman an element in the crime,
so that however clear the merits may be on the side of
the groom and against the young lady, he really
stands in some peril should the minds of the
Court of Criminal Appeal be as Mr. Ingham's
mind ; of this, however, there is, perhaps, not
much cause for apprehension. As to the payment
for the railway tickets, that was provided out of their
common fund, of which she did not contribute the
larger portion. Is this, too, " a fraudulent taking
away ?"

It only remains for us to ask why on earth was
this prosecution instituted ? There are causes and
reason for all things, we are taught, if we only look
deep enough or high enough for them. Why does
the father of a young lady, whose name has been
tarnished, and her own reputation jeopardised by a
boy whose chief fault is that he is not a " Joseph
Andrews," prosecute for abduction and charge with
wholesale robbery his intended son-in-law, who with
extraordinary generosity, or still more marvellous
prudence, begs his lover not to apply her private
fortune to his support ? Why does this father, the
mischief being complete and irretrievable, gratui-
tously publish his sorrow to the world ?

On inquiry being made on Saturday of Inspector
Lovelace, who took the groom into custody, it was
ascertained that the young lady remained in Wands-
worth until Friday afternoon, when she left with
her father and his brother for some place of security.
On the termination of the judicial examination on
Wednesday last, which occupied the magistrate's
attention until long after the usual hour of closing
the court, the young lady, as was reported, was
taken, with her friends, through the private way,
while her intended husband was removed down the
public staircase ; but she positively refused to re-
turn to Ockham Rectory. A compromise was
eventually made, the young lady consenting to re-
main with the family of Inspector Lovelace, who
is a very respectable officer, for a few days, and
who promised that she should not have any com-
munication with her youthful lover. The in-
rvoeomundidesretoavkeernedahseromteemwpohat.
early and late prome-
7anfeoddr twtohaeshgafound
srly ctoa arduousrb oat adpesi:ke
nading in front of the house. So determined was
he to remain in the sight of the girl, who was able
to see him through the window, that he defied the
inspector to remove him, telling him at the same
time that it was a public highway, and that he had
a right to be there. He, however, consented to go
away if desired by Miss Crosse, who then in the
presence of the inspector said, " George, go away,
I don't wish to see you." He implicitly obeyed her
injunctions and returned to the old lodgings at Mrs.
Wiggins's, in Love-lane. The inspector states that
Miss Crosse conducted herself with propriety while
in his house. It is a singular circumstance in the
case that in selecting Wandsworth as their place of
abode they should select lodgings within a few doors
of the police-station and court. It is expected that
on the day appointed for the next examination,
viz., Wednesday next, the case will not be proceeded
with.

ANTIQUITY OF THE PYRAMCDS.—Mahmud Bey,
astronomer to the Viceroy of Egypt, has issued an
interesting treatise as to the date of the building of the
Pyramids, tracing their connexion with Sirius, the Dogstar'
The late Viceroy, Said Pasha, ordered him to work out this
problem. He found the exact measurement 9f the largest to
be 231 metres at the base, and 146.40 from the ground to
the apex. Hence follows, that the sides are at an angle
51 deg. 45 min. Mahmud Boy found that the angles of the
other three pyramids, near Memphis, were on an average
inclination of 52 deg. The fact that the sides of these monu-
ments are placed exactly true to the four points of the com-
pass, seemed to point to some connexion with the stars,
and Mahmud Bey found Sirius sends his rays nearly verti.
cally upon the south side, when passing the meridian of
Ghizeh. He then found on calculation back the exact peg-
lions the star occupied in past centuries, that the rays of
Sirius were exactly vertical to the south side of the Great
Pyramid, 3,300 B.C. Sirius was dedicated to the god Sothis
or Toth Anubis, and hence the astronomer deduces that the
Pyramids were built about 3,30033. c. ,