The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-12 00:00:00

rilE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 12, 186 a

Detector's Broadside on Quacks and
Quackery !

Dr. COURTENAY'S bold, dashing, slashing pam-
phlet, entitled, " Revelations of Quacks and
Quackery "—being a reprint of a remarkable series
of Letters, published by him originally under the
pseudonym of " DETECTOR," week after week, in
the columns of The Medical Circular, and here re-
published in a formidable brochure of 72 pages
octavo—Dr. Courtenay's daring, pitiless, and un-
compromising pamphlet -is really and truly, we
would say, ACapital Substitute for the Pillory! There
are certain offences against public decency and
public morality, in regard to which we are some-
times almost disposed to regret the abolition of the
punishment of the Pillory. And it is against one
of these----it is against one of the very worst of these
that Detector, that is to say Dr. Courtenay, has
opened up his terrific, ripping, tearing, annihilating
Broadside ! With a bold and, we would almost
say, self-sacrificing devotion to the interest
of the public disdaining to think of the
pitch and filth he is constrained to handle in
doing it—Detector, resolutely buckling to the un-
enviable task he has set himself, resolutely seizes,
one after another, upon a whole set of these Quacks,
fastening them, one after another, as he seizes them,
in the Pillory of his Pamphlet. It is for all the
world like the actual realisation of Tenniel's ruthless
cartoon in a back number of Punch--wherein it

may be remembered one of the Dr. Henery-genus
was being pelted with some of his own medical
abominations! Detector's labours in another way
might be regarded as having been undertaken in
imitation of one of the most famous of the labours
of Hercules, namely, that of cleaning out the stable
of Augeas. So far as the feather-end of a single
pen could do it, Detector has cleared out his stable,
that stable the doors of which he has-not hesitated
to• fling wide open to the public at large !
And he has " gone in " at this effort of his towards
making a clean sweep of it, so resolutely and
with a will, as the sailors have it, that his (De-
tector's) grey goose quill, we will hope, may prove
for the Quacks and for Quackery like a very twig
out of the besom of destruction.

The British Disaster at Dewangiri.

The following is an extract from a letter from
the officer who commanded the Royal Artillery at
Dewangiri on the occasion of the recent disaster to
our arms :

Koomerekottah, February 7, 1865.
I never thought that I should have to write such a
etter as this. We have been most soundly thrashed by
he Bhooteahs, and, what is far worse for me, they have
got my guns, not taken in fight, or I should not be here
to tell it, but thrown away in our retreat for want of
means to carry them. To begin at the beginning :
about four a.m. on the 30th of January, our camp at
Dewangiri was suddenly turned out by yells, shrieks,
musket shots, and every horrible noise that it would be
possible to be awakened by. We rushed out in our night
costume, and I got my men to their guns. It was pitch
dark, only illuminated by the constant flashing of muskets
on every side. Our camp was literally surrounded. Young
Urquhart, with his Sappers, was hard pressed, and he him-
self was one of the first shot down while leading his men
at a charge. We at last drove the enemy off from one part
of the camp after another, getting rid of the last about 9
o'clock. We then found that, out of a force of seven officers
and 400 men, one officer was killed, one wounded, and 50
men killed or wounded. It was a large proportion. We
"accounted" for a large number of the Bhooteahs, and
took a few prisoners, all of whom stated the Bhooteah force
to be 5,000, and that the Rajah had sworn to turn us out.
We laughed at the idea, and sent off to Gowhattee for
reinforcements. The letter got there that evening, and
on the Ist of February we got an answer to say that
our force was ample, and that no reinforcements would
be sent. That evening our principal supply of water was
cut off, and we had no men to hold the source of it. By
the 2d of February the enemy had advanced and cut off
the best pass to the plains. On the 4th they held a hill
which completely commanded our camp, and, to add to
our troubles, our water was very nearly gone, and there
was not sufficient for drinking purposes for another day.
It was accordingly decided that we should retreat that-
night to the plains by one of the passes which was still
open. I got 50 men of a native infantry regiment to help
to carry my guns. They couldn't be dragged ; they had
to be taken off' their carriages and carried. We started
at 1 a.m. on the sth. The wounded came first, carried by
200 men of the 43d Regiment Native Infantry ; then my
guns, with 50 of the same regiment. These men who were
told off to help me with my guns all bolted, and left me
with 16 artillerymen to shift for ourselves. We struggled on
for about a mile up a very steep, bad path. At last I found
it was out of the question attempting to carry the guns
further. We were perfectly alone, expecting every instant
to have these savages on uc. It was no use sacrificing
the mon as well as the guns, so I spiked the latter and
threw them into a ravine. Pushing on, we first came on
two of my own wounded men, deserted on the road.
We took them on, and then came upon a Sepoy
deserted in the same manner. It was now getting light,
and I saw we had completely lost the rest of the force.
About 7 a.m. the Bhooteah yells were heard in our rear.
By this time I had picked up about a dozen straggling
Sepoys and a lot of camp followers. These latter bolted
the moment they heard the Bhooteahs, which was a good
thing for us. I got the rest together, and kept the
fellows at a distance by constantly turning and letting
the men who were carrying the wounded get on a bit.
At one time my small party was completely surrounded.
Our only chance was to attack the lot in front. I took
all the men I could spare (only eight), and gave them a
volley at 20 paces, which made two bite the dust ; then
with a rush we put them to flight. They still continued
to follow us up, but kept a respectful distance, evidently
seeing that men who were fighting for their lives were
not to be trifled with. How rejoiced I felt when I first
saw the plains ! I knew all was right then. I got all my
men safely into camp here at sunset, having brought out
four wounded men and several sick who had been de-
serted by the mon told off to escort them. We had been
16 hours marching. My men behaved splendidly. I wish
I could say the same for all the others. I wish they
would hand over to my tender mercies those who deserted
the sick and wounded. They ought to be hung. I don't
think any blame can attach to me for throwing away the
guns. In my own conscience I feel perfectly clear, but oh!
so small. To be beaten by the men we have been despis-
ing is too much, and I feel thoroughly sick.

The Lady Victoria Long Wellesley has recently
purchased Bolney Lodge, Cuckfield, Sussex, from Admiral
the Hon. Sir Frederick Grey. Lady Victoria Long Wel-

lesley has resided for some time in Sussex, where her ac-
tive benevolence and philanthropic efforts for the good of
the poor have won her the regard and esteem of all
classes.

TROUBLES ON THE FRONTIER.--A little while ago
ago, when the river was frozen over below Detroit,
a man from Toronto attempted to cross with a team of
horses and waggon. He had previously provided him-
self with a passport, setting forth his age name, size,
colour of the eyes and hair, peculiarities, physical con-
dition, and future prospects, for which he paid the usual
fee. With this key to unlock the gates of Uncle Sam's
exclusiveness, he anticipated no trouble in making his
entrance, into this "land of the free and home of the
brave." He proceeded to cross the river bn the ice
opposite Wyandotte, although not intending to land at
that point. The road being better on the ice than on the

land, he designed to keep near the shore and travel on
the ice. Ho was espied by the military guard stationed
at Wyandotte, who brought him up with a round turn
and demanded his passport. Having never travelled in
monarchical Europe, and being ignorant of the nature
and use of a passport, he did not know it was simply for
exhibition, but supposed it was a sort of ticket of admis-
sion to the country, which was to be given up at the door,
as one hands over his card to the doorkeeper of a circus.
He accordingly handed over his passport, supposing him-
self to be inside the lines, and proceeded on his journey.
When opposite the fort he was again saluted by the guard
and his passport demanded. Having already disposed
of the useful document, he was, of course, minus,
and informed the guard of the manner in which
he had disposed of it. But this was not sufficient.
His own story, uncorroborated by any witnesses,
was not credited, and he was ordered to cross back to
Canada without delay. Furthermore, he was ordered
to cross the river in a straight line, deviating neither to
the right nor left on penalty of being shot. Being
terrified by the threats of the guard, and the loaded
muskets :pointed at his head, he attempted strictly to
follow out their instructions. When he had reached the
middle of the stream he discovered that the ice was
unsafe, and shouted to the guard information of the fact.
But they still kept their guns pointed at him, and told
him to proceed straight. Rather than risk his life by
being shot, he preferred to risk it on the strength of
the ice. But ho had not gone far before his horses broke
through, and he saved himself from drowning with
some difficulty. Still the guard refused to allow him to
land or to allow any one to go to the rescue of his horses.
After his earnest supplications help was sent to get
the horses out of the water, and the man was made a
prisoner and conveyed inside the fort. One of the horses
was drowned, but the other was saved, and is said
still to be in the possession of a man at the fort. The
owner, after being kept a prisoner for some time, was con-
veyed across the river, and told never to be caught on this
side again. The result of these operations is, that the man
has lost his team, and somebtdy has the horse which was
saved.—Detroit Free Press.