The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-04 00:00:00

FORFEITURE OF RUSSIAN STATE

PROPERTY.

1P"
An inquiry took place yesterday, before F. W. Slade,
Esq., and W. B. Brett, Esq., as commissioners on be-
half of the Grown, and a Middlesex jury, at Messrs. Bur-
chell's office, Red Lion square, as to whether at the time
of the declaration of war by her Britannic Majesty against
the Emperor of Russia„, certain fittings of vessels of war,
which were seized on behalf of the Crown, did or did
not belong to the Emperor of Russia.
The fittings consisted of masts, yards, &c., seized at
Messrs. Ferguson's, at MiEwalt ; and coppers, cocks,
&c., seized on the premises of a firm in East Smithfield.
It appeared that they were manufactured for the war
frigate, Cossack and Tartar, (which, it will be remem-
bered, were seized at Northfleet), under contracts signed
by the Russian consul general. At the time of the sei-
zure they were incomplete, but an agent of the Russian
Government bad visited the works from time to time,
and had approved of what had been done. When w r
became imminent between Russia on the one side, and
England and France on the other, an assignment. of the
articles was made to a firm at Hamburg, with the view
of securing them from seizure by the British authorities
:s the property of the Czar, but nevertheless, when war
actually broke out, they were seized on behalf of the
crown, and a commission was issued to determine whe-
ther at the time of the seizure they were the property of
the Emperor of Russia. Messrs. Ferguson's contract
was 4,500/., of which they had received 2,5001., and on
account of the other contract 1,1001. had been paid.
After hearing the evidence of the parties, who had
produced their contracts, the jury at once found
that the fittings were at the time they were seized the
property of the Emperor of Russia, and therefore that
the seizure was lawful, notwithstanding the " assign-
ment" which was resorted to.
_

--- ---
An inquiry will take place in Kent as to the seizure o
the vessels.

LONDON CHARTERED BANK OF A STRALIA.—Th e
shares of the London Chartered Bank of Australia, which
have been rising for some days past, experienced a fur-
ther advance this afternoon of more than 11., the last
quotation being 25 to 26. The capital of the bank is
500,0001., in 201. shares, paid in lull ; and they are
about to declare a dividend of 3 per cent. for the half-
year, er at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, and to
carry over 7,2001., besides appropriating 1,5001. to a
reserved fund. At the same time an increase of
200,0001. to the capital is to be proposed, in 201. share.,
at the rate of two shares to every present holder of five.

SUGGESTED METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS.—There
are two improvements which might forthwith have a
commencement made of them, and be extended over a
period of five or six years, so that really we might turn
round with some satisfaction to foreign nations, and
,bow how really we were in earnest. I allude, firstly,
co the destruction of the small number of houses lying
between the Duke of Sutherland's and Lord Ellesmere's
mansions ; by that means the Green-park would be
thrown open to view from Pall-mall ; a fine view
would be obta'ned of our t vo &est mansions in London ;
fine sweeping road would be made round by the Lord
Chamberlain's Office, instead of the present dangerous
;,wist ; and, if I remember rightly, such might be
lone at the oxpense of the demolition of about eight
or nine houses. Lastly, I would refer to a commence-
ment being made of the destruction of the houses on the
west side of Parliament street, so ti at the fine broad
road in front of the Treasury might be continued to
Westminster Hall. lam well aware of the expense of
,uch an undertaking, but who would grudge the expense
-f such a vast improvement l Let it be extended over a
•eries of years, and, after ail, we shall not have incurred
fraction of the expense now going op in Paris, about
which we Englishmen rave. The improvements to
vhich I have alluded are, I believe, not matters of
mpinion, but are considered as such by all ; and it only
squires a chief commissioner of public works, with a
very small amount of moral courage, to make a begin-
ning.—Correspondent of the Builder.
HousE OF A RUSSIAN GENERAL IN THE CRIMEA..—
The town of Belbeck is situate in the midst of beautiful
galleys. Our iarmy, in their march, came across a
deserted residence, the house of General Alexis, placed
to an extensive and beautiful garden, laid out with the
tnost exquisite taste, and abounding with fruit at,d
dowers of all descriptions. The rooms were spacious
I,nd lofty, enriched with gold mouldings, and with the
doors inlaid with coloured woodS. The superb .carved
• osewood furniture was lying about in heaps, mixed with
tooks, vases, co Alychina, bronzes, pictures, a,td shattered
nirrors. Over these the soldiers were trampling reek-
essly, searching fur such articlei as would be of use to
lialet:dasodulueringthe
and
vs,el mBn,aierecthe. In d
ii4raaryn,otchotr
ift,rioortalig was
abt a
wt
1.000 voluinei.. The hooks which were l rineipa,lly in
,beiAa',u:rteifusiclyatituerrie,diihaeboluict,inalli
ednieriec' tEi onngs s h() fitensdmaftli'anlia:l)
,ad evidently been used as a sitting-room for young
ladies. There wa; a large tambour-franiejwith some r
oh
flibroitlery work in it still unfinished, while patterns,
crotchet,
handsomeknitting-work, and books lay ebse by. Ther e
watercolourWas an album on the table, also filled with watercolour
,lrawings and sketches, and in the corner of the room a
11,svicliyaano, guitar, and volumes of music. It was
amusing to see the selections the soldiers made. One
z!chowwouldeaorudcasev:etswai
walked
coulde d anothero foff with
notwtoiot
hie carry rgl
gilt
a scmus
curtain
nn tdhpealoinleers:a
and
dhr ul nuh
hand-
somely-bound lustre.
gstoamgegleyr-ebdouanldonvgoluumndeesr ofthlguti ht i I
ofe thlaerirgecogmilptanairomns.
ehairo.