The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-22 00:00:00

CANTERBURY HALL.

The Canterbury Hall and Fine Arts Gallery was
crowded last night, Lambeth and the south-west of
London being determinedly bent on making merry
this Easter-tide. There was one special attraction
to draw people here, and that was the " Miraculous
Steckel," the performer on the flying trapeze, whose
first appearance at this ball we noticed a few days
since. His leaps are certainly of the most perilous
character, but he accomplishes them with the
greatest apparent ease. It would necessitate the
details of a lecture on posturing to point out the de-
grees in which this artist differs from his " contem-
poraries" in the art of navigation the air. There
can be no doubt, however, that ho has taken up his
position in London as ono of the most fearless of
performers on the trapeze, whether we consider the
extreme length of the leaps from trapeze to tra-

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PRICE..... ....4d.
STAMPED ....Ld.

pc ze, the cleverness of his summersaults, so swift
and so perpendicular, or the perfect abandon which
marks all his feats. The re-engagement of Miss
Russell, the prima donna, also afforded an oppor-
tunity of hearing some powerful and well cultivated
vocalisation, the general execution of the operatic
selection being most meritorious, as usual. What is
known as a " host of talent," contributed to promote
the harmony and hilarity of the evening. We may
take this opportunity of pointing out the special
capabilities of this hail and picture-gallery for fur-
thering a decision to which the management have
come to render them available for the purposes of
benefits to be held by philanthropic institutions
and other bodies. In the succession of halls
which really form the entire building
the most ample scope would be found for meetings ,
of the kind.

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2ffE

The Black Prince iron frigate will bo taken in
hand for masting alongside Portsmouth dockyard
to•day.

In the drawings for the conversion of the Royal
Sovereign at Portsmouth to a cupola,or %hield ship,
provision has been made to provide her with a
powerful " beak" below the water line, so that she
may at any time be used as a « ram," in addition
to her effective artillery power.

The Defence, IS, iron frigate, Capt. It. A. Powell,
CM., in No. 10 dock at Portsmouth, on the water
being pumped out of the dock, into which she was
hauled on Friday last, has been found to have an
excessively foul bottom. his will now be
thoroughly cleansed and coated with a preservative
composition. The defects specified are not numer-
ous, but they will increase in number if all appa-
rently requisite alterations and repairs are executed
while the ship is in the hands of the dockyard offi-
cials. The popular belief is that she is so divided
and protected by water-tight compartments that in
the event of her bow or stern, the parts unprotected
by armour-plating, being partially destroyed by
au enemy's shot, she would still float and fight her
guns nearly as efficiently as she did before her bow
or stern was injured. So far, however, is this from
being actually the case, the probability is that she
would go down from beneath the feet of her officers
and crew, her so-called water-tight compartments,
as at present fitted, being quite useless in prevent-
ing water from either end reaching the midship
part of the vessel below.
The Victor Emmanuel, 91, screw, Capt. Cliffoid,
CM., arrived at Spithead yesterday morning
from
the Mediterranean, having sailed from Malta on 14th
of March, and Gibraltar on the sth inst. on enter-
ing the anchorage the ship exchanged the cus-
tomary salutes with the Victory, flagship of the
Admiral commanding at the port. A number of
naval and military invalids, from ships and regi-
ments stationed in the Mediterranean, have arrived
in the Victor Emmanuel, and were landed from her
by Government steamers yesterday.
The bottom of the large iron floating fire engine
at Portsmouth has been coated, in sections, with
the compositions of four different sections, with
the comparative value of each in preserving and
keeping clean the bottoms of iron vessels. The
names of the competing manufacturers are--M.
Guibert, of Paris; Messrs. M'Crea, of Liverpool
the Dublin Steam Packet Company; and Mr. Hay,
the Admiralty chymist at Portsmouth.
The Adelaide steam transport sailed from Ports-
mouth on Saturday for the Thames, after clearing
out stores, and being paid off from the Government
service.

By Electric and International Telegraph from
Plymouth, Monday, 10 p.m., we learn that the ship
Newcastle, 1,137 tons, Capt. C. Wiltshire, belong-
ing to Messrs. H. Green and Co., London, from Cal-
cutta, with a cargo of rice, indigo, Assam tea, and
wine, has passed up Channel. She brings 228 pas-
sengers, including Capt. Farrington, 51st Regiment;
Lieut. Ford, Royal Horse Artillery ; Lieut. Des-
borough, 27th ; Staff-Surg. Meanc, and 183 invalid
soldiers, 31 women, and 41 children. The New-
castle spoke, Feb. 28, in lat. 35 16 S, long 19 54 E,
the Swedish bark Prince Oscar ; April 12, an out-
ward bound British ship of war, steering to the
eastward ; and April 13, lat 34 33 N, long 37 33 W,
the ship Crystal Palace. The Homesdale and the
screw steamer Lady Jocelyn arrived at St. Helena
March 16, the day the Newcastle left that island.