The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-27 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Her Majesty's paddle sloop Alecto, Commander
W. H. Blake, from the south-east coast of America,
yesterday landed her guns and war stores at the
Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and proceeded to the
dockyard to be paid out of commission.
_ _

The Blakely- ordnance gun, proved a few days ago
at the Woolwich butt, and which has since been
mounted on a carriage and platform, the patented
invention of the company, was on Thursday fired
six times to test its efficiency and endurance. In
spite of the incessant rain, and the total want of
• shelter, the officials of the garrison and the Ord-
nance Select Committee were present in large num-
bers. The platform is made of wrought iron, on the
box girder principle, and weighs eight tons. The
carriage is constructed of double plates of wrought
iron, and weighs three tons. The crane used in lift-
ing the monster shot, for loading, together with the
windlass and appendages, add other three tons to the
weight of the fittings, which, together with the gun
itself, amount in the aggregate to 294 tons. Mr.
Campbell, acting on behalf of the company, who has
superintended the manufacture of the machinery,
pointed out the extraordinary facility of working
the gun, in spite of its great weight, now within the
power of a single gunner. By a simple movement of
the windlass the gun was traversed and placed in
position for firing by himself alone, to the manifest
approbation of the officials present. The first round
was fired with a charge of 301 b. of powder and a
5001 b. shot, which was intended as a test of the
pressors in checking the recoil, and was found satis-
factory. The second charge was increased to 451 b.
of powder, with the same sized shot. This being
the ordinary service charge, four additional rounds
were fired without an increase. The sixth and last
round was fired with 481 b. of powder. Thegu
carriage, and the whole of the appurtenances, _
under-
went a rigid examination at the conclusion of h
eac
round, and were found free from blemish any
The
gun
signs of having suffered from the
and fittings will be shipped in a few test.days for St.
Petersburg.
In the Army Estimates f
sum of £3,000 is taken by ther the G
o
v
ye
r
e
narm einBt6, samong
various other sums, for e
o
the purchase of additional
land,
n
of the rifle range for the use
ofthe
at Chatham garrison, as ,
eamen
well as providing d
but accommodation
instruction. Th
for 700 officers
original
estimate men while ?lnal
of the undertaking was £64,000, but up to
the3lst of December last .175,800 had been voted,
and £56,000 expended. Among the largest BUMS
taken by the War Department is one of £30,000 for
the erection of additional quarters for married non-
commissioned officers and men, as well as for the
enlargement of the existing buildings. A similar
sum of £30,000 is also required for improving the
sanitary arrangements at the several barracks, in

accordance with the rec;onmitudittion ‘•
Of the Army
Sanitary CommissiOn: mental
.414)ols and
chapels absorb a sum.-:6 -:£7;b00; - and ew vote,
which has only appejared
years is one of £4,000 fOr'th&-eitilblislulient and sup-
port lEstima of late
of military gymnasia, after the.'iilodel of that
which has been so successfully established at Chat-
' ham. A sum of £5,000 is also taken for the im-
provement of military reading and recreation rooms.

LONDON, MONDAY, FEB. 27, 1865.

-0,--

The condition and prospects of Ireland are just
-now occupying a prominent position. The debate
of Friday evening, which is to be resumed to-night,
will have enabled a good many gentlemen to express
their views respecting the evils and grievances of
Ireland, about which there is not much difference of '
opinion, and the means of remedy, regarding which
hardly two men think alike. In the multitude of
councillors there is wisdom, it is said on good
authority, and it is to be hoped that some of our

Parliamentary representatives will be able to pro-
pose some course of action which will commend
itself to prudent legislators. As this, however, is
not so very probable, and as, supposing such wisdom
to be displayed, it is not very likely to find
favour with the Government, it •is worth while
to examine the suggestions of a gentleman
who is evidently familiar with his subject, and who
has just embodied his very sound and practical
opinions in the form of a pamphlet.* His remarks
are principally founded upon the very obvious dis-
crepancy between the natural wealth of Ireland and
her actual poverty, and he finds the explanation in
some very simple and remediable causes. Sufficient
capital has not, he says, been laid out in Ireland to
make it reproductive, and while hundreds of
thousands of English money are annually crossing I
the seas for the use and advantage of
foreigners, scarcely a fraction finds its way
across the harrow channel which separates us
from the sister island. England herself would be in
a very different position had she not received the
stimulus of liberal outlay ; but Ireland is suffered to
remain a beautiful and wealthy country, whose
beauty is only admired by the occasional tourist,
whose wealth is left ungathered by her starving
people, and whose landlords content themselves for
the most part with drawing such incomes as they
can get from their estates without much outlay, and
spending it in England. The first and foremost of I
want in Ireland, says Mr. WHITE, is railways. He
points out the wonderful change which has been
effected in India, in France, and in Spain by the
introduction and extension of the railway system,
and he brings forward most convincing argu-
ments of the truth of his anticipations
in regard to the development of the
Irish railway system-
First comes the effect on
the fish traffic. The extent and value of the Irish
fisheries have been often spoken of, and they are
of marvellous extent, but while the half-fed popula-
tion are mainly dependent on vegetable food, liable
to the caprices of the seasons, this cheap and nutri-
tious food, ready, as one one may say, at their own
doors, has been almost entirely neglected. The
development of the Irish fisheries, too, by means of
railways would confer a double advantage, since the
fish salted might be imported in large quantities to
England, thus opening a remunerative trade to Eng-
land, while it increased the English supply. It seems
from the official report that on the coast of Galway
the herrings are often used as manure, because
the fishermen are tooupochor to buy salt at
the proper moment. m
good was done,
l
it is said, by the late Pi •
hing Board advancing
oans to fishermen, and as
great deal of service might
be done in this way. Small
piers and harbours are
wanted on some parts of the coast, Which could be
easily established, and any such outlay would
speedily repay itself. Here, then, is a most profit-
able trade lying waiting for development ; and the
effect which the extension of railways would have
may be guessed from the fact that the amount of
fish consumed annually in Birmingham in 1827 was
400 tons; in 1817 it was 5,000 tons, owing to the
introduction of railways. By its means fresh fish
ru iaht be imported in large quantities to the west of

* Letter to Lord Palmerston on the Employment of our
Labour and Capital at Home. By G. Preston White.
cornish: High Holborn, and Grafton-street, Dublin.