The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-27 00:00:00

EMBARKATION OF GUA IiDS FOR TEE

EAST.

PORTSMOUTH, Oct. 26.—Seven hundred and sixty-
seven men, 13 officers, and 15 non-commissioned officers
of various regiments embarked this afternoon on board
the General Screw Shipping Company's steam-ship
Queen of the South, for conveyance to the Crimea, to
fill up vacancies caused by the losses at the Battle of
Alma. The troops consisted of 1 officer, 2 sergeants,
and 80 men of the Grenadier Guards ; 2 officers, 1 ser-
geant, 7 drummers, and 50 men of the Coldstream
Guards ; 7 officers, 2- sergeants, and 100 men of the
Scots Fusilier Guards ; 2 officers, 2 sergeants, and 120
men of the Ist battalion of Ist Royals ; 1 officer, 2 ser-
geants and 100 men of the 7th Royal Fusiliers; 2 ser-
geants and 100 men of the 19th Regiment ; 4 officers,
2 sergeants, and 130 men of the 23d Welsh Fusiiiers ;
and 2 officers, 2 sergeants, and 80 men of the 95th Re-
giment. _ _ _

The abovenamed detachments chiefly came to this
port by railway from London, Winchester, and Vialiner.
They were met at the railway terminus by the bands of
the Lancashire and Wiltshire regiments of militia, who
played them through the streets of the town to the dock-
yard, alongside which the Queen of the South was lying
ready to embark the troops. The detachment of the
95th Reganeut came over from Parkhurst-barrack., Isle
of Wight. They were brought from Cowes by the Comet
steam-tug. The last detachment that arriv>•;d in the yard
was the 19th, who got there by five o'clock this after-
noon. Through the facilities in the dockyard, the whole
of the troops and their baggage were embarked as they
arrived, and they are now ready to proceed on +heir
voyage. The Queen of the South will not sail, however,
before to-Morrow morning. She takes out supernume-
rary seamen for the Black Sea fleet.

ALLEGED ILLEGAL MAKING OF A DISTRICT
RATE.-JA PORTANT PROCEEDINGS.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. A'Beckett was engaged
several hours at the Southwark Police-court in a case of
vast importance to the ratepayers of the metropolis, and
which occasioned considerable interest in a very crowded
court. Mr. Wilcoxon, the extem.ive paper-stainer and
decorator at the corner of Horsemonger-lane and New-
ington-causeway, with a number of the adjoining shop-
keepers, were summoned for neglecting and refusing to
pay a paving and lighting rate, alleged to be legally
made by the commissioners of the Dover-road district,
according to their local act of P.trliarnent. The chief
interest caused by the proceedings was that a rate had
not been wade in that district fur more than 20 years,
and that the whole of the defendants were rated by
another adjoining district.
Mr. A'Beckett, after patiently hearing other argu-
ments on both sides, said—l think it would be better
fur the two boards to enter into some arrangement, and
prevent this litigation going on, as it would save a great
deal of unnecessary trouble and expense. I shall there-
fore adjourn all the summonses for a month, so that
some proper agreement can be made between them, and
if not will hear any argument that may be raised, and
give my judgment as to the legality of the rate, and the
parties to be rated.
Mr. Fleming agreed to that, and all the parties left
the court.

PONTOON EXPERIMENTS AT CHATHAM.

Some interesting experiments were made yesterday
afternoon, opposite to the Pontoon-hard, St. Mary's
Creek, River Medway, by the Royal Sappers and
Miners, and in the presence of Brigadier-General Jones,
director of the engineering establishment, and the
principal officers of the Royal Engineer■ and the
East India Company's engineers, for the purpose
of testing the efficiency of the pontoons invented by
Captain Francis Fowke, R.E., they being constructed
on a very different principle to any yet in the service.
The cylinders are about 20 feet long, and are made of
sail-camas painted, and are water tight. Each cylinder
is hooped, inside and outside, with twelve hoops, and the
saddles are considerably wider than those in general
use. The rafts are let into one another, forming a very
firm platform ; the balks are similar to those now used.
The cylinders are very portable ; each can be put up into
a small corepa.ss, so that they are not so large as a big
drum. They are very light, and can be moved about
with very little difficulty, and must prove very valuable
to troops on their march through a country where there
are small rivers. They are easily put together, and a
pole goes through the cylinders for the purpose of ex-
tending them out to their full width. These pontoons
were manned, and taken up and down the river with the
tide, and brought down against the tide, without much
difficulty. They bear a great weight, and they aro very
steady in the water. A report of them, with the opinion
of the director, is to be wade to the Board of Ordnance.

PATMOTIC FUND OF 1803, 1809, AND

1812.