The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-01 00:00:00

PART 11.

SELECTION OF OTHER PERSONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE
TARIM

Police.
In the admission of men for this force, the superin-
tendent will take care that strict inquiry, is made into the
character and previous habits of candidates who may be
nominated by the board, and he will be at liberty to re-
commend candidates for selection whom he may consider to
be peculiarly well qualified for these appointments. No
person is ever to be entered who is not in every esect
fitted for the high trust to be imposed on him. Quickness
and intelligence, thorough respectability of character, and
sound and vigorous constitution, are to be considered in-
dispensable.
Preference is
generally to be given to eligible candidates
from remote counties, over those belonging to or connected
with the immediate vicinity of the town.

-
Roperies.
Care is to be taken in the selection of proper and efficient
men for the ropenes, both by constitution, ability, and
character.
Hired men who have performed their duties in a satis-
factory manner, and proved themselves in every respect fit
for the service, will be selected to fill vacancies on the esta-
blishment. House boys aro not to be entered below the
ago of eleven years ; and they will, if attentive, and in
every respect eligible by ability and conduct, be selected
for ropemakers' apprentices. The superintendent is there-
fore to recommend to the board the most efficient persons
for entry.

Estbe
gers.
The established rigge stare to be selected by the superin-
tendent, assisted by the master attendant, from the best
qualified candidates among the seamen riggers serving in
the dockyard, or from seamen serving in the yard craft,
but if no sufficiently qualified person be found, then they
may be selected from the ships in port ; none, however,
are to be entered above the age of 45 years, or who have
not served at least six years in tho Royal Navy with the
ratings of petty officers, able-bodied, or ordinary, and with
general good character. Pensioners are not to be consi•
dered eligible.
Seamen riggers will only be entered from volunteers
from her Majesty's ships paying off, as vacancies arise in
the yards; but none are to be appointed with less servitude
than six years in the ratings of petty officer, able-bodied,
or ordinary, with general good conduct, but especially in
their last ship, Artificers are not el%ible as omen riggers,

Labourers.

Labourers to be nominated by the board are to be ex-
amined by the professional officers of the yard, under the
directions of the superintendent, and are not to be entered
unless they are by previous habits accustomed to labour,
and capable, by constitution, of performing the duty re-
quired of them, nor above the age of 35. After a proba-
tionary trial of one month those only are to be retained
who are found duly qualified.

Extra Alen.
Extra men ordered to be entered for any special service
are to be selected by the superintendent ; and close atten-
tion is to be given to the conduct of men so employed ; but
only those whose behaviour proves in all respects satisfac-
tory are to be recommended for entry on the establishment,
or re-entered as extra men, in preference to other persons.

Foundries and Metal Mills.

As the workmen for these manufacturing establishments
are required to be selected for the particular duties they
will have to porform, my lords leave the selection of them
in the hands of the chief engineers, subject to the approval
of the superintendent, every precaution being taken that
only qualified and skilled workmen be admitted. No va-
cancies are, however, to be filled at any time but such as
are absolutely necessary to meet the requirements of the
service, nor without the previous sanction of their' lord-
ships.

Factories.
All factory boys (with the exception of rivet boys, who
are to be selected from the sons of deserving men employed
in the factories) will be nominated by their lordships, and
one-half at least will be selected from the sons of ()Seers
and other persons in her Majesty's services, but no boys
(rivet boys excepted) are to be entered unless they have the
same amount of knowledge as required for an apprentice.—
See page 4. . _

Victualling Yards.
My lords desire that the principles laid down in these
regulations be extended to the victualling establishments
with reference to the promotion of all parties in these yards,
and also with reference to the entry of labourers.
_ Their lordships take this apportunity of making it known
to all persons in the naval establishments, that if any prin-
cipal or subordinate officer, or other person employed
therein, shall attempt, through the influence of political or
personal considerations, to evade or set aside these regula-
tions with reference to the selection of individuals for pro-
motion, my lords, on proof thereof, will no fail to exercise
their authority, and will immediately dismiss any person so
acting from her Majesty's service. And they call the strict
attention of the superintendents to this subject, with their
express desire that they will personally use their best en-
fdeavours to give effect to their lordships' injunctions, and
assist them in carrying out these regulations, which are
issued with the express view of placing in their hands the
requisite control over all selections for promotion and the
entry of persons into the yards, so far as relates to the in-
dividuals recommended being in every respect fit for the
situations to which they are nominated ; and my lords,
confiding in their integrity and the just discrimination of
the professional officers in carrying out their orders, will
henceforth hold them responsible if any person is admitted
who is not in all respects qualified for her Majesty's service.
My lords desire that the form No. 1 in the appendix be
henceforth adopted for all future applications for entries
into her Majesty's dock and victualling yards, and a copy
thereof is to be sent to the superintendent when any per-
son is ordered for examination at their respective yards,
with the exception of the name of the person by whom the
candidate is recommended.
By command of their lordships,
R. OSBORNE.

Admiralty, March 3, 1853.

SURVEYOR OF THE NAVY.
As their lordships hold the Surveyor of the Navy re-
sponsible (under their authority) for the due execution of
the extensive works connected with the construction and
repair of ships and machinery in her Majesty's dockyards,
and for the largo amount of wages annually paid to the
workmen, they deem it necessary that the control of the
number of workmen to be employed in these establish-
ments should be checked by him ; and they therefore de-
sire, that the periodical returns, directed by the foregoing
instructions to be furnished from the yards, the monthly
report of establishment, and the number of vacancies of all
artificers and other persons therein, with the recommenda-
tions connected therewith, be transmitted at the proper
periods, addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty-,
with Surveyor on the left-hand corner ; and the Surveyor
is, on the receipt of the same, to transmit to their lord-
ships, with the original returns, the number of vacancies
for artificers and other persons he considers it necessary
should be filled up, for the due execution of the works in
progress. And as the respective officers, leading men, and
artificers are under his immediate supervision, my lords
desire that he is in all future promotions to submit to their
lordships his opinion, in writing, of the qualifications
and merits of those candidates whom he considers have
claims for advancement, or who are recommended by
the superintendent and professional officers of the yards, to enable their lordships to form a just and correct judg-
ment in their selection of a candidate, in accordance
with the professional merits and claims of the respective
parties. _ _

- Their lordships further desire that their circular order
of the 13th April, 1850, permitting the superintendents of
the dockyards to select their secretaries from different
ranks of officers, be considered as cancelled, and in future
their selection is to be restricted, as formerly, to one of the
principal clerks of the yard.
My lords desire that no young gentleman shall in fu-
ture be nominated as a clerk to any of the naval estab-
lishments under the age of 16 years, and when ap-
pointed he will be required to be examined as to his
proficiency in arithmetic, writing correctly from dictation,
and able to write a really good hand for official pur-
poses ; he will be nominated on probation for six months,
at the end of which period the principal officer under
whom he is employed will report as to his fitness for his
confirmation, but if inefficient the appointment will bo
eaakeellea.
By command of their lordships,
Ad ruiralty, March 3, 1853.

Y." OSBOIt NE.

APPENDIX.
APPENDIX No. 1.
Candidate for Entry in Dock or Victualling Yard.
Name
Age
Where born
Trade •
How employed last 12 months
By whom and where at
For what situation he is a candidate
Address of applicant
Written character to be forwarded
Date of application
By whom recommended
The above queries must be filled up.

APPENDIX No. 2.
Circular to the Admirals and Captains superintending her
Majesty's Dockyards.
Admilt Feb. 27, .
Sir,—l am directed by the Lordsra Comy, missionerslB47 of the
Admiralty to inform you that they have felt themselves
compelled to take the condition of the dockyards under
their most serious consideration.
The subject is one of great magnitude. The vote for
wages and salaries, in her Majesty's establishments at home
and abroad, under Nos. 6,7, 8, and 9, has averaged.
810,6641. during the last four years. It is a constantly in-
creasing vote. The vote for 1843-44 was 779,3861. The
vote for the current year is 951,8861. The vote for stores
(including steam machinery) for 1846-47 amounted to
1,694,152/.' and that for buildings and new works to
526,810/. The machinery already in existence in the dock
and victualling yards is increasing annually in value ; and
large additions must be made to it, as the steam factories
at Portsmouth, Keyham, and Malta advance towards com-
pletion. No reduction in this branch of the establishment
is probable or possible, for the steam factories must keep
pace with the growth of the steam navy, which, again, is
determined by considerations of national policy.
As yet, provision has been made only for the average
annual repair of machinery of 20,000 horse-power, out of a
total of 40,000 horse-power; and every succeeding Board of
Admiralty has recognised the inconvenience, bad economy,
and peril in the event of war, of allowing these repairs to
be limited to the single factory at Woolwich. But the
greater the extension, present and prospective, of the dock
yards, and of the steam factories in connection with them,
the greater is the necessity of
_securing in them the most
careful and efficient management. Upon such an expendi-
ture the smallest savings are important, and in spite of the
improvements already engrafted upon the old system, by
the appointment of engineers to take charge of the machi-
nery in the yards, and to relieve the master shipwright
from duties which did not come within the sphere of his
ordinary avocations—in spite of the large and useful
changes connected with the department of the director of
works, which have also relieved the yards from the main-
tenance of the buildings, and the more recent improve-
ments to which my lords expect that the recommendations
of the committee of metals will give rise, by placing all
matters connected with copper and iron under a special
superintendence, and ensuring the early introduction into
the Government yards of the best modes of working
adopted in private establishments—still much is left to be done before a satisfactory result can be arrived at.
In saying this my lords do not wish to imply that they
take an unfavourable view of these great national establish-
ments. They have much satisfaction in acknowleding the
good moral tone that prevails amongst the artificers gene-
rally, and the excellent quality of the work performed by them. On the other hand, they think that there is abun-
dant evidence to show that the quantity of work done is
Now the standard of well-conducted private establish-
ments, and that there is great room for improvement in the
application both of store and labour. Their lordships will
not entertain any general charges of indifference to expense
on the part of the officers, or of inertness on that of the
men ; and they are equally
unwilling to dwell upon repre-
some
sentatof the ions mad
yards upon the eto them of thcourse of effect f political feeling in
dangpefoorttioont,hetihroutlit
they can conceive nothing
cipline, if true, or more detrimental to the public interest.
They wish to look forward, not to look back,- their object
being, to introduce a system that may inspim every
man
witlithe belief that his conduct will be known
and appre-
ciated by his superiors, and that, however humble his po-
sition originally, his future fate depends upon his own
exertions.
Their lordships see too much reason to apprehend that
such is not the present state of feeling in the dockyards ;
but that the rise from shipwright to leading man, and from
leading man to inspector, is regarded rather as a
.matter of
accident, or favour, than as a reward due to merit, and to
be dispensed upon plain and equitable principles. They
feel that wherever such an impression prevails insubordina-
tion must be weakened, and they have consequently re-
solved to lay down one fixed and intelligible role of promo-
tion for all classes, as the best foundation of that more
vigilant and intelligent superintendence which they regard
as indispensable.
For the discipline of the yard, like the discipline of the
ship, depends upon the petty officers, and no exertions of
the admirals or captains superintendent, or of the master
shipwrights, can compensate for the want of a hearty co-
operation on the part of the inspectors and leading men, to
whom the case of the separate gangs is confined, and with
whom it rests to enforce a proper economy in the use of the
stores and materials issued for the work going on under
their superintendence.
It is necessary, however, as the first step towards this
extended responsibility, to remove all just causes of cora-
.46 ilaint amongst that class of officers from whose exertions
• .efit is anticipated.
• lords have, therefore, duly considered the petitions
ted by the inspectors of the different dockyards.
nd by these, that, with a salary of 1001. a year, they
its
• e aiii-e/pected to maintain the station and authority of offf-
c,orz-ithat in 1833, when the pay of the inspector was fixed,
tkoivfoikineu were only employed five days a week, whereas
• ,/i4 re now employed sic OAP, for which the working

APPOINTMENTS.

NAVAL DISCIPLINE.

\.-I.\•\

;-'‘

with the exception of ropemakers and sailmakers. See Ad- man receives one-sixth more wages, but no additional al-
miralty Order, May 28, 1848. lowance has been made to the inspector. The men, too,
Joiners. have occasionally the privilege of working extra hours,
In the selection of joiners for the yards preference is to when the inspector is bound to be in attendance without
be given to those men who are " ship joiners," instead of any remuneration whatsoever, although the wages earned
house carpenters. by the men, when upon task-work, are fully equal to his
nay ! and the • 4* the lead' led. - ""he dd

Pay ; - pay of the _ ling men exceeds it: The ot
quarterman, whom the inspectors replaced, received 180/.
a year, with a gang of 25 men and boys under him. The
inspectors, with only 100/. a year, have 40 men and boys to
superintend, for all of whom they demand the stores and
materials required for their daily labour. Their pensions,
too, are regulated by the scale of 40ths, not of 12ths, like
those of other salaried officers in the Customs, Excise, and
Ordnance, by which they are considerable losers. Indeed,
a leading man of long standing often refuses to be made an
inspector, because his superanuation would be lessened by
his promotion ; and from a similar cause the men who
would be best qualified to undertake the duty (the head
draughtsmen in the mould-loft), decline it, because their
pay being 7s. a day, they would necessarily lose by the
transfer.
The superintendents of the dockyards and the master
shipwrights have, with one exception, recorded their opi-
nion that justice and economy would be equally con-
sulted by increasing the pay of the inspectors; and
the late Secretary of the Admiralty, Mr. Corry, in a mi-
nute dated the 9th ofJuly, expressed his unqualified concur-
rence in this view, and recommended that the salary of the
inspectors should be raised to 1251. a year, being half the
amount given to the officers next to them in rank, the fore-
men of the yard. Taking the number of inspectors at 108,
whose annual pay amounts to 10,8001., this might be ac-
complished at a cost of 2,7001. But my lords are unwill-
ing to incur any additional charge, unless as a part of an
improved system, and with that improved system they be-
lieve that it would be wise to be more liberal, and to pro-
vide a class of inspectors at 150/. a year, as an intermedi-
ate step between the inspectors at 1251. and the foremen
at 2501., in order that promotion may not be too long de-
layed, and that prompt reward may stimulate to constant
exertion.
They have therefore been pleased to sanction the follow-
ing regulations, with the double view of introducing that
fixed and intelligible principle of promotion amongst the
men, and that more vigilant and intelligent superintend-
ence which they think essential to the proper administra-
tion of the dockyards ; and they do this under the belief
that in so large and complicated a system it is only by an
improved tone of feeling amongst all classes, and by teach-
ing individuals to see that their own advancement depends
upon a scrupulous discharge of their duty to the public,
that a substitute can be found for that personal and pecu-
niary interest which is the mainspring of exertion in pri-
vate establishments.
My lords have now only to call upon the admiral;J, and
captains, superintendent, the master shipwrights, and the
other principal officers of the dockyards, to assist them in
working out this plan honestly.* They have given suffi-
cient proof, by the surrender of their own patronage, of
the sincerity of their desire to make these great national
establishments what they ought to be. They have re-
moved everything that can warrant a suspicion that pre-
ferment will be the result, not of services, but of political
favouritism. They wish every step in the advancement of
a man to be known, and marked by his fellows, and they
have laid clown the rules that seem to them best adapted
to ensure, in each stage, fair play to merit and industry.
But the good or bad working of every system must depend
in a great measure upon those who are entrusted with its
administration ; and my lords can only express their deter-
mination to mark with their severest displeasure every at-
tempt to thwart their intentions, and to reward those who
shall cheerfully second them by every proof of their favour
and approbation.

H. G. WARD.

* Alluding to the regulations then promulgated to the
dockyards.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Virago, 6, steam-sloop, to which Commander
Barnard has been appointed, is in the Pacific. The
command of this vessel was relinquished by Commander
Stewart, when the Commander-in• Chief, Rear-Admiral
Moresby, C. 8., appointed the commander of his flag-
ship to the Virago, and made his flag-lieutenant an
acting commander. The Admiralty have now super-
seded those arrangements, by appointing Commander
Barnard.

Commander Rice, who died recently at Dover, was a
very dashing young officer. He entered the service in
1843, had the Syrian medal ; went out in the Fox, 42,
with Commodore Lambert. Whilst leading the men at
Prome he received a wound from a musket-hall passing
in at the back of his hand and out at the wrist. The
same volley from the Burmese sent a ball through his
cap and another through the leg of his trousers.
We understand that the Basilisk, steam-sloop, Com-
mander the Hon. F. Egerton, is to return to Ports-
mouth from Glasgow, and to be refitted for foreign
service.

PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 31.
The London, 90, Captain Mundy, is to have a com-
plement of 820, instead of 850, to which number she
was ordered to complete her crew on arriving at this
port, some months since. She is still deficient about 60.
Her Marines have been this day supplied with 50 Minie
rifles, and her crew are daily exercised aloft and at gene-
ral quarters, with occasional target practice, which is
very good. Captain Mundy, after being on the sick list
or a very considerable period, is at length out, and re-
sumed his duty on board the London this day. Com-
modore Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, G. 0.11., took him
off to the London this morning in the Fairy yacht. The
Hon. Maurice Wingfield, naval cadet, stepson of Lord
Castlereagh, was discharged from the London to the
Vengeance to-day.
The Polyphemus, 6, steam-sloop, Commander G. C.
Phillips, was at St. Helena on the 4th inst., and was
supplying all her spare fuel to the Adelaide Australian
mail steam-packet, which vessel was delayed at St.
Helena for want of coal, of which there was not a par-
ticle on the island. The Polyphemus was to sail for
Ascension in a day or-two to receive her convalescents,
18 in number, who were in hospital there. They had
suffered from fever, contracted in the Sherboro, while
employed in destroying the slave factories in that river.
No deaths had occurred, and all the patients were doing
well, no doubt from the judicious orders of the Admiral,
by which the vessel was removed to a healthy locality as
soon as the service in the river was concluded.
The Highflyer, 21, Captain Heathcote, was 'brought
into No. 2 dock of the fitting-basin this afternoon to un-
dergo a refit.

The
Espiegle, 12, Commander Hancock, was ordered
to sail from Spithead last evening for the West Indies,
but delayed starting, owing to some of the officers being
ashore, until this morning, when she proceeded.
The Rifleman, 6, screw-sloop, Lieutenant-Commander
Dalton, came into harbour to-day to replenish coals, and
left in the evening for Woolwich, to be paid off and re-
fitted.

PLYMOUTH, MARCH 31.
The English merchant paddle-wheel steamer Vixen,
Captain Marshall, 77 days from Batavia, for Rotter-
dam, with goods and passengers, was spoken with, all
well, off the harbour last evening, by a Brixham trawl-
sloop. The Vixen reports having passed, eight days
since, her Majesty's ship Hastings, 72, Captain Francis
W. Austen, under double-reefed topsails, from the East
Indies.

• Wind—South-east, strong.
Her Majesty's steam-ship Cyclops will sail to-day for
Woolwich.

Her Majesty's brig Nautilus went out of harbour yes-
terday. #
The Brisk steam-vessel, which went out of harbour on
Tuesday, at 3.30 p.m., returned from the Eddystone at
7 p.m., having averaged 8 knots per hour under steam.

WOOLWICH, MARCH 31.

Paymasters—Wm. Stanway (1840), to the Irnperieuse,
50, screw steam-frigate, at Chatham ; Herbert John-
ston (1851), to the Star, 8, sloop, at Chatham.
Clerk—Robert T. Mason (1848), to the Star.
Midshipman—W. B. Bingham, to the Argus, 6,
steam-sloop, at Devonport.
Naval Cadet—The Hon. N. R. Wingfield, to the Ven-
geance, 84, on the Mediterranean station.
H. M. Barnard, James M. Carmichael, John K.
Jasker, and F. J. P. Shapcote, have been appointed
Clerks-Assistant.

SHEERNESS, MARCH 31.

The Imperieuse, 60, screw steam-frigate, Captain
Rundle B. Watson, was towed down here from Chatham
yesterday, and was berthed alongside the coal depot For-
titude, to fill up, previous to her departure from here.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir,—Sir Charles Napier has favoured the public with
a letter on the subject of invasion, which, as usual, he
closes with the "Now, sir," that precedes a long string
of questions. In this letter he says, "We have no fleet,
or rather, we have not men to man it ;" but the gallant
admiral has the " discretion" not to touch on the reason
that prevents seamen entering the navy. He carefully
avoids mentioning the corporal and secondary punish-
ments which it is well known deter men from volun-
teering their services, although he is well aware that the
extreme severity of those punishments, inflicted without
trial at the discretion of the commanding officer, is the
cause of the evil he mentions ; and until sailors are pro-
tected from cruelty and oppression by ship court-
martial, all the promises of increase of pay and ra-
tions will fail to induce them to servo the country.
It is a well-known fact, that the few good seamen
who do enter the navy, take especial care to ascertain
the disposition of the captain of the ship before they go
on board, so that the manning of the navy depends on
the character for humanity 'of the commanding officers
of the fleet. The gentlemen of England who sit in Par-
liament are quite satisfied, when the subject of naval
punishment is brought before them, with an assurance
from the First Lord, that "only 48 lashes can be in-
flicted in one day," and are alarmed at the ominous
shake of the head of the said First Lord that accom-
panies a caution to the house to " pause before thy in-
terfere with the laws that govern the navy." But not
one of their lordships have as yet condescended to state
their reasons for this solemn warning. What are we to
infer from all mystery ? Why, that the discipline o f
the navy is of a nature that will not bear investigation.
Captains of our men-of-war punish without court-mar-
tial, and when we consider that, according to the state-
ment of Sir James Graham, a man may be tied up and
receive 48 lashes of the naval cat—a number equal to
153 lashes applied to the back of the soldier—and that
in a day or two following the dose may be repeated, we
cannot be surprised at the unpopularity of the naval
service. Secondary punishments are not defined. They
are left to the ingenuity of the commanding officer, and
some are of a nature to create a feeling of pity for the
victims. As it is my wish to serve the country, and not
to degrade an honourable profession, I shall only give
one example, in order to call attention to the discipline
under which the seamen of the British fleet aro now
groaning.oops of w yearsar ofnewthe
South American
a
go asailor on board one of our 1
s station was or- 1

dered, for some trival offence, to be gagged, and then
placed in his hammock. About an hour afterwards the
surgeon was sent for, as the man was stated to be in a
fit. He found he had: died from suffocation. I sincerely
hope that the laws that countenance such atrocities may
be soon revised, and that they will afford the same pro-
tection to the sailor as the soldier, and then we shall
no longer hear of men refusing to serve her Majesty.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

and on the top of the head was a wound about an inch
long and down to the bone ; it was a wound which was
probably done by a stone. This wound the surgeon swore
must have been made during the life of the woman, as there
was a firm coagulation of blood under the wound, and
other indications of circulation of blood at the time the
wound was inflicted. The only other evidence against the
prisoner consisted of conversations. The woman where he
lodged, asked him, after he came home, what he had
done with the little Irishwoman. He said that he had
fallen into a sand pit with her, and got all over clay.
That he had got out and left her there. He afterwards
said that she was in the police-station. That she cried
" murder," and the police took her up. An inquest was
held on the body, when a verdict of "found drowned"
was returned. The woman where he lodged asked him
if he had heard of it. He said, yes. That the jury had
returned a verdict of found drowned. She then said,
you were not satisfied with ravishing the woman and
pushing her into the water. He knocked his fist on the
table and said, "So help me God I did not throw stones
at her, we only threw large lumps of clay." She asked
him how they got the woman to go down the lane with
them, and he said they stalled her off to have a glass of
beer. He afterwards said that the jury had brought it
in found drowned, and that nobody knew who had done
it ; and that if they kept their own counsel all would be
square. The woman replied, depend upon it, murder
will out some day ; upon which he hung down his head
and began to cry.
The case for the prosecution having closed,
Mr. Saunders addressed the jury for the prisoner, con-
tending that the wound on the poor woman's head had
been the result of accident when she fell into the pit, as
stated by the prisoner.
Mr. Justice Erle having summed up, the jury found the
prisoner guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous
bodily harm.
He was then sentenced to ten years' transportation.

BLUE PETER,

NGI APRIL 1, I_3 5 :3.