The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-15 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The following order from the Horse Guards,
addressed to the Cavalry and Royal Artillery, has
been issued by command of the Duke of Cam-

bridge :

"To facilitate still further the mounting of
officers of the Royal Artillery and Cavalry, his
Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief,
with the concurrence of the Secretary of State for
War, is pleased to permit officers to select horses
from the ranks, under the following regulations,
which, however, do not abrogate those laid down
in the circular memorandum dated the 24th of De-
cember, 1860, No. 99 : —l. An officer under the
rank of field officer may select any horse, not pre-
viously told off for a non-commissioned officer, on
the payment of .£5O to the paymaster. 2. The
paymaster will credit the Government with the
troop price only, the difference be:ng applied,
through the regimental dealer, to the purchase of
remount horses of a superior class, so that the officers
may have increased opportunity of selecting suit-
able chargers. 3. No horse su selected shall be
sold by private contract, or otherwise disposed of
by the officer within five years from the date of
selection, but after the expiration of that period
such horse may become his property without re-
striction. 4. Should the officer wish to part with
the horse before he has had it five years, he must
place it at the disposal of his commanding officer,
who will, if it be passed sound and effi-
cient as a trooper or gun horse, and provided
its age does not exceed six years, take it back
into the ranks at troop price. If, however, though
sound, it be over six years old, the officer will re•
ceive £5 less than troop price for every year exceed-
ing that age. 5. Should the horse not be sound,
it may be cast, and sold with other cast horses, the
officer receiving the proceeds of sale. 6. In either
of the cases stated in paragraphs 4 and 5 the officer
may, with the consent of his commanding officer,
purchase another horse from the ranks for £5O. By
these means, and without any loss to the public, it
is expected that dealers will be enabled to buy
troopers likely to be selected by officers, who will
thus have the opportunity of securing good horses
at very reasonable prices."
Lieut. Skinner, of the 38th Regiment, is under
orders to join his corps in India, and Capt. Ponder,
of the sth Fusileers, is also about to leave Colches-
ter for Portsmouth. A party of officers, sergeants,
and privates of each battalion will leave Colchester
Camp for Hy the during the present month for the
purpose of receiving musketry instruction.
On Tuesday Major-Gen. Stransham, Inspector-
General of the Royal Marines, accompanied by Capt.
Travers, his Aide-de-Camp, arrived at Chatham for
the purpose of making an inspection of the Chat-
ham Division of Royal Marines, which is now un-
usually strong, and satisfying himself of the progress
made by the officers and men of the division in the
new drill. On his arrival, the Inspector-General
directed the battalion to be marched to the Great
Lines, where, under the command of Col. Fraser,
Second-Commandant, the companies were put
through an extended course of battalion drill, many of
the movements being somewhat intricate. During
the progress of the inspection Major-General Stran-
sham called several of the captains and subalterns
from the companies, and directed them individually
to take the command of the battalion, during which
he noted the efficiency, or otherwise, with which
they manoeuvred the division, two of the subalterns
selected being candidates for the post of adjutant.
In the afternoon the battalion was again marched
to the lines. when other officers besides those se-
lected in the morning were taken from the compa-
nies by Major-General Stransham, and these in
succession took the command of the division. The
Inspector-General returned to the Admiralty in the
evening, and will, it is understood, pay similar
visits of inspection to the other divisions of Royal
Marines, the chief object the Lords of the Admi-
ralty have in view in the appointment of an
Inspector-General of Royal Marines being to
ascertain by means of frequent inspections that the
officers at the several divisions are thoroughly
acquainted with their duties.
The Ist battalion 10th Regiment, under the com-
mandbo and South-Coast Rail-
ways, special trains on the
n
of Col. Norman, arrived at Portsmouth yes-
terday cBI irffi
Brighton
ht
South-Eastern
enrudtahy fromas Sba
-
tern
ways. The corps embarked on board her Majes-
ty's screw troopship Adventure, Commander Leth-
bridge, which was appointed to sail for Dublin at
7'30 p.m. last evening. Those who embarked con-
sisted of 27 officers, 41 sergeants, 20 drummers, and
778 rank and file, besides women and children, and
five officers' horses. The Adventure returns to
Portsmouth from Dublin.

The 3d Royal Surrey Militia assembled on the
Bth inst. at their headquarters, under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel Challoner ; they muster 890 men
of all ranks.

COLLIERY EXPLOSION.—We learn that a colliery
explosion took place yesterday in the coal pit belonging to
Messrs. Brand and Co., situated at the corner of the Lanark-
road, between Hamilton and Larkhall. The report is that
considerable injury has been sustained—involving, it is to
be feared, the loss of life as well as destruction of property;
but the particulars we have not ascertained,--North ,British