The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-27 00:00:00

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.

-
THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY.—Traffic return fol
the week ending July 16, 1854 v18,4,;8 13 11
Corresponding week last year 15,549 0 6
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAlLWAY.—Traffie re-
turn fur the week ending July 23, 1854 ::£20,556 10 11
Corresponding week last year
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffie return for
the week ending July 23, 1854 £5,809 12 8
Corresponding week last year 5,976 19 2
Decrease in 1854 £l67 6 6

THE MARCO POLO.—This celebrated ship, which left
the Mersey on Saturday morning, for MelhoUrne, was
towed out to sea by the steam-tug Tartar, and left by
her at 1 a.m., on Monday, about 10 miles eouth-west of
Waterford, quite clear of land, The captain of the
steam-tug reports the wind at the time light, from NNE,
the ship with all available sails set, and making about 5
knots per hour. He also reports that shortly after
leaving the Marco Polo the wind freshened from the
NE, which would be exceedingly favourable for the
ship. The Marco Polo, during her three celebrated
trips, had always favourable weather at starting, and her
fourth voyage commences even under more favourable
auspices.
THE NEw ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OP GAMING-
MUM —Yesterday theimportant act for the suppression
of gaming-houses, which received the Royal assent on
Monday, was printed. It will come into operation
on Tuesday next. The preamble recites the difficulties
the police have experienced in getting into common
gaming-houses, and then finding all implements of gate itig
removed or destroyed. It was therefore expedient to
make the law more efficient for the suppression of gaming
houses, It is enacted that any person who shall wil-
fully prevent any constable or officer authorised under
the Bth and 9th Vict., c. 109, from entering any place
snspected, by bolt, bar, chain, or other contrivance,
shall, on summary conviction, be fined not exceeding
1001., or be committed for six months with or without
hard labour. Obstructing the entry of constables is to
be evidence of the house being a commonexgcaeueldinien.:osuosle.:
Persons apprehended giving false names or addresses
omra bye biemapdrji imprisoned fort o
al) apye period o di) penalty
t ye
xucoecteodmi: ling onn egma
mo
nt hg
imprisonment, with
The penalties on personsobxoouore,d not
keepingooe
o r
Ceeding twelve months.
ohro
Thuijiel justices toaiurCeet shn mayaortdthlarequire any of the parties apprehended
to be sworn to give evidence ; and if they refuse, they
may be dealt with as a person summoned
,to attend to
give evidence. Persons required to be examined as wit-
nesses, and making a full discovery, are to be freed from
all penalties. The penalties and costs may be levied by
distress ; one-half of the pecuniary penalty is to go to
the informer, and the remainder in aid of the poor rate
toifotnh sehpoaurlids lin.e gee t netao prosecute, theperson laying the informa-
aaaci
formal pecehqr
asuroaani
c.
ter to
r proceed.
the justice may order
A
Thue aopthpeeralpriosvgisivioenusbayrtehoisf
dared that "the a'scetssTl
shioallielleooalore 15 clauses, and it is de-
ration on the let of August, 181154e.n”ce and conic into ape-
OVERCROWDING OF STEAM-BOATS.—Many complaints,
having been made of the overloading of the steam-boats
on the river, a committee 9f the aldermen metyesterdaY,
anti,with the sanction of the Board of Trade, appointed
t
wo inspectors, who will be actively employed in watch-
ing the different steam-vessels, and in all cases where
the masters of vessels are discovered taking on board A
larger number of passengers than the vessel is licensed
to carry, the City Solicitor has been directed to institute
proceedings to recover the penalties imposed by the
act of Parliament. It is hoped that this determination
of the aldermen will have the effect of preventing a
practice which is attended with so much inconvenience
and danger to thousands of persons who are in -tbe
dailyhewactice of travelling by etearn-vossela on tholiiver
pr . ' • • :

(Prom, the _Daily News.)
Was it personal spite against Admiral Napier, or
merely stupidity, or something worse, -that led Admiral
Berkeley to read in the House of Commons, on Tuesday,
extracts from private letters of the Baltic admiral I
When the public want to be reassured as to the prospects.
of the war, they are merely made acquainted with letters
which it was a breach of official confidence to make pub-
lic. What good can it do to us to know that the admi-
rals have declared the forts to be impiegnable ? But if
it does no good to us to be told such news, there is one
person to whom such news is invaluable, and that person
is the only one who will be benefited [.y the disclosures
of Admiral Berkeley. The Czar, when he receives the
intelligence that the commanders of the most powerful
fleet ever fitted out have declared the position they were
sent to attack to be impregnable, will be furnished with
the precise information which he wanted. He will look
au Loons dt ihneg
ntoor tthheer nd
epe portion oof f
thhi se emmopsi
tr e
otoombpeetseaofte,oefvheins .
enemiteos, andhe
that
more endaneered. The extracts from the letters of Sir
o twh
eilrl hpeoernt
portion
enabled
of t o
his pay undividedfrooti
e ratten-
tion
iwhich
is
Charles Napier and Admiral Chads will doubtless be
printed in large letters and distributed throughout the
empire, for the consolation of the Czar's despairing sub-
jects. Caricatures will not be wanting. Napier may be
represented as the chafed lion gnawing his tail in digs
gust, and the scientific Chads may be shown in the garb
of the desolate Sister Anne in "Blue Beard," peering
out in alarm towards Cronstadt, while Britannia, in
anxiety at the bottom, may call out, " Sister Chads,
Sister Chad; do you see anything to be frightened at?"
They, and the nation at large, will have to thank a Lord
of the Admiralty for this.
The speech of Admiral Berkeley is a successful re-
dltotnehpueceewtl
raoaarctleri
Baltic,aoo ftnst h e attempt made by the Russian organ some
time ago to excite despair as to the aspect of affairs in
places
tahmrne and
,dp thus,otroeng not
causen
tba ybwl
ae.n at
t oldir diminishingiehvedw arsari want to theatot in
hoe
:sear fresh means have been taken to destroynfnuatoervhwroegYlwirdmhonlopeffiraltorhteghureasir-
nability. How many impregnable fortresses did the
Duke of Wellington take f Did Nelson ever throw cold
water on the hopeeof the nation ? For Admiral Berkeley
to read quotations hem the private letters of the Admirals.
was either. a blunder or a crime. In neither eishe a
fit perstm to occupy the high station which he holds at
present.
Before war was declared there was a great deal said
about the change which steam navigation would intro-
duce in naval tactics, and of the vast advantages which
ships propelled independently of wind or current would
possess in attacking fortified places, as well as in fighting
with the enemy at sea. We have now been at open warfour
months, and have sent to the Baltic and to the Black Seas
powerful fleets, amply provided with the means of inde-
pendent locomotion, yet scarcely anything has been done
that might not have been accomplished without the aid
of steam power. And now we are told nothing can be
done. Is it that the vaunted advantages of steam fall
far short of expectation, or is it that our naval comman-
ders do not know how to apply the new power placed at
their disposal ? They have certainly as yet shown no
capacity for contriving new modes of operation. All the
use they have made of steam has been to do that which
must necessarily have suggested itself. Thus at the bom-
bardment of Odessa the continued movement of the ships
as they successively fired their broadsides at the forts to
prevent the enemy from taking a steady aim, was a ma- '
nceuvre that would have been practised by sailing vessels
with a favourable wind. The daring but useless entry of
a river in the Baltic by two small steamers was another
feat which the means at command suggested. But there
is in these achievements nothing beyond what any corn- "
mon sailor in the fleet must have known to be possible.
There is no doubt that the facility of taking any required
station, without regard to the wind, has been found a
great convenience in the movements of the combined
fleets, but something far more important was promised
and expected as the result of modern improvements in
warfare. .
One of the most obvious uses to which steam power
might be applied is that of placing our ships just be-
yond the range of the enemy's guns, whilst they batter
the forts with heavy ordnance of longer range ; but it
seems that the attacking ships are not sufficiently pro-
vided with large guns to do effectual execution at a dis-
tasace, and that they cannot, therefore, expect to destroy
the batteries by their fire without themselves suffering
considerable damage. Wooden ships, it is now said by
those who would palliate delay, have little chance
against granite walls, the previously prognosticated de-
structive effects of a concentrated broadside from a first-
rate man-of-war being conveniently forgotten • but if the
batteries of Cronstadt and Sebastopol are really so very
formidable that even with the advantage of independent
movement and concentration of fire it would not be pru-
dent to expose our ships within their range, there may
be other and less hazardous means of destroying the
Russian forts, which an ingenious and skilful applica-
tion of the resources of science might effect, in combina-
tion with steam navigation, if our naval officers would
shake off the shackles of routine. The influence of rou-
tine is indeed so strong that it generally clogs the pro-
gress of every new ivention, and prevents its capabili-
ties from being fully developed. Even in the transmis-
Rion of messages by electric telegraph, a plan so entirely
different from anything previously known, the spirit of
routine was for a long while pr2dorninant, and strenuous
attempts were made, and have not yet been altogether
abandoned, to tie up the lightning power with red
tape - we can scarcely expect, therefore, that in our
naval service, men disciplined in routine should
adapt themselves at once to new circumstances,
and be able to avail themselves or the numerous
appliances which may be brought to bear as conse-
quences of steam navigation. It is highly probable,
however, that ere long their eyes will be opened to some
of the peculiar opportunities which they now 'Assess of
destroying the enemy's works. M. Jacobi is teaching a
lesson which ought not to be thrown away. The in-
genious inventor of the electrotype has been connecting
his insulated wires with "infernal machines" in the nar-
row channels round Cronstadt ; and we may • conceive
him to be watching, like a spider in the recesses of its
web, till our ships approach within the striking distance
to make contact with the voltaic battery that is to ignite
the gunpowder and destroy them. He probably im-
agines that the proverb, " those who live in glass houses
should not throw stones," is not applicable to his posi-
tion behind the granite walls of Cronstadt ; but it would
not be difficult by improving on his example to convince
him that he is most exposed to be injured by such an ap-
plication of electric science. Though the massive walls
of Cronstadt are infinitely more substantial than the
aerial structure of the Crystal Palace, there are explosive
agents that would rend the granite blocks asunder as
readily as an explosion of gunpowder' would shiver the
fragile material at Sydenharn. Among those sub-
stances, gun-cotton, though most recently invented,
is best known. The rapidity of its action is so
intense that in comparison with it the inflammation
"of gunpowder seems slow burning. The sudden
action of its explosive force prevents gun-cotton from
being safely substituted for ;gunpowder in fire-arms,
but for merely explosive -purposes, as " infernal ma-
chines," it might be available with terrificalry de-
structive effect. We can scarcely suppose that the
attention of our naval commanders has not been

directed to this peculiar property and appliances of
gun-cotton, and we must therefore attribute their not
using it to the cramping influence of routine. M.

op!t,d may be applied, and if the means ho has
fortifications would
Jacobi, however, has shown the way in whichteti
'be
effectually followed, the strongest
it
com-
mand of the sea and the use ofe b
which the
.ways surely present themselves he placed at the mercy of thoseetewahmo have
v sbrouyght to bear. The
de-
structive agent may be effectually aovweer.t".llan
dagger. The " infernal ma-
assuredly to be launched in s
lie tranquilly under the
bmya t e d
.suchbatteries
explosive
some
m weo
wueal
agents,
bnf ert
from
,nam
whichos rt more a
ie x.opbuoogsahe3
tofcrr mdeidsatrbulecteirne
34 beyondssej-oad°loa°nlb' if,' as our ships keep away,
* but the forts of Cronstadt andSebastopol present fixed
cthhaittiems,i'g'
and ht remainarowatchedbarbiharmless
l
against which such explosive agents might be di-
rected;
and the destructive powers might.be increased
until they were sufficient to lay both places in ruins. It,
may be replied that it is not for landsmen at home to
direct the operations of naval warfare, and it is probable
thaf many practical difficulties would arise in carrying
into execution any such plans as wehave suggested ; but
much greater difficulties may be overcome by knowledge
and energy if sufficient stimulus be given, and the determi-
nation exist to shake off the trammels of routinein dealing
with new powers of which red tape is entirely ignorant.
At all events, let us have some evidence that the
commanders of our steam fleets are alive to the great
advantages they possess in the powers of modern science.
They practically invite the criticism and suggestions of
the public at large by their present inaction, and when a
Lord of the Admiralty reads such passages as those
made public on Tuesday in the House of Commons.
Whilst the Admirals and the officials do nothing at all,
they cannot complain of those who remind them of the
duty they had in hand, or who point to novel and scien-
tific modes of doing it when the 4,1 d-fashioned ones a la
Nelson are neglected.

LLOYD'
hers to the.—oYonlesmteirtdtaoye aonf electionstoi
ft
u at
idodni
three gentlemen were added to the nine previrislY
when
constituting that body. The ballot closed St foz
o'clock, ir
Itoion„ak ines:
l pis
when the scrutineers reported the votes as fol'
lows :—Mr. Michael Wills, 211 ; Mr. D. J., Bischoff;
161 ; Mr. William Pitman, 141 ; Mr. George Pearce,
129 ; Mr, John Henry Steimnitz, 117. The three, first
gentlemen were declared elected.
CIVIL SERVICE ESTIMATES.—The estimates for the,
year 1854-55 of the sums which will be required to de-
fray the charges for the services under class 8 have been
issued. This class comprises the expense of the office of
Secretary of State for War, of the Duchy of Cornwall
office, of the Registration of Joint Stock Companies, and
for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1855. The esti-
mate for the office of Secretary at Warpaper, but the
having been
already issued, is not reprinted in this
sum required is 17,3001. The amount required for the
Duchy of Cornwall office is 15,8891. for the pur h C Rae of
the site in Pimlico, and the cost of buildings,
fittings, and 1,0001. for incidental expenses in including
the office to this building—total,
16
889 in removing
Joint Stock Companies Registration ' 1.
For the
Trade) a sum of 2,273/. 13s, ld. is required(the Board ,of
the salaries of the registrar, 800/. • for defraying
assistant in Dublin 2001. ; , assistant, 3671. 1084
four
c, The expenses of this office clerks, 5801. 10s. id.,
frayed by the fees, which, however, have hitherto been de-
into the Exchequer. 50,000 . will now be paid
the expense likely to be incurred. is the sum required for
the British department for the management of.
Perk, in 1855. Th ci-the Universal Exhibition et
860164 es tots?. 40%Mt !1 tinge inst MO if
_ _ .. ____ _ .