The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-04 00:00:00

PROMOTIONS.

Commander George A. Bedford (1843), borne on the
books of the Fisgard flag-ship of Woolwich for surveying
service, to the rank of captain.
Lieutenant William H. Church (1838), also borne on
the books of the Fisgard for surveying service, to the
rank of commander.

The name of Captain C. G. E. Patey (1846), who was
injured by the falling of a block when in command of the
Amphion screw steam-frigate, was inadvertently omitted
from the list of officers who received their certificates
after a course of study of steam at the factory at Wool-
wich dockyard during the last three months. Captain
Patey was fifth in order of merit, or between Comman-
der Morrish and Commander Harston.

Commodore John Shepherd having struck his broad
pendant, and gone on leave for a few days, Lieutenant
Robert Robertson, of the steam reserve, has taken the
duties afloat, and Mr. M'Donald, master-attendant, the
duties of the dockyard.
A singular occurrence took place about three o'clock
this morning, owing, it is supposed, to the freezing of
one of the self-acting valves of the caisson in the east
dry dock, in which the Firefly steam-vessel was docked
for repair. The pressure of the floating ice, while the
tide was rising at that hour, literally lifted the caisson
out of its place, and floated it up the river until it
grounded a little beyond the slip on which the Royal
Albert, 131, screw steam-ship, has been built. The Fire-
fly, like a phantom ship, floated out of dock, without
any person on board, and entered the river where she
fortunately took the ground alongside the wharf wall,
without much damage being done. The scene was only
witnessed by one of the privates of the Royal Marines,
and one of the constables on duty, the latter having
had a narrow escape from being carried into the
river, as he was crossing the caisson when it rose,
and had barely time to jump off it oa the wharf
wall as it floated into the river. The river pre-
sents a singular spectacle to-day, owing to the great
quantity of floating ice passing up and down with the
tide, and the whole of the shores on both sides, are
covered at low water with numberless miniature ice-
bergs grounded on the mud, the greater part of which
are floated again'when the tide rises.
The Prometheus steam-sloop, which was at moorings
in the river, has been taken into the basin to-day to
secure her from injury by the floating ice, and the Black
Eagle, Master-Commander John E. Petley, has been
taken from the stream to strong moorings alongside the
wharf wall. The Fisgard has also bad her moorings
strengthened, and every precaution has been taken to
prevent any injury to the vessels afloat in the stream.
The Banshee steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander
Louis R. Reynolds, will proceed round to Portsmouth
as soon as she is ready for sea, and will be paid wages
in advance at that port. Captain Brock, appointed to
the Britannia, 120, flagship on the Mediterranean sta-
tion, and at present in the Bosphorus, will take a pas-
sage in the Banshee to Malta, and then proceed to
the Britannia on his surveying duties, for which pur-
pose she has been appointed. Several other officers take
passage in the Banshee for Constantinople.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN JOHN STODDART.—Captain John
Stoddart (1825), on the retired list of 1846, and the
next but one in seniority for his flag rank, died at Ash-
ford, Kent, on the fist ult. This gallant officer served
17 years afloat, chiefly during the war. Ile entered the
navy 1797, and in the Adamant, 50, with the Tre-
mendous, 74, assisted in driving the French frigate, La
Preneuse, on shore, under a heavy fire from the bat-
teries of Port Louis, Isle of France. He was made a
lieutenant in ISO 4. In the Melampus, 36, he assisted
in capturing two brigs and a Spanish privateer, the
Hydra, 28. In company with the Bellislo he assisted
in the destruction, off Cape Henry, of the French, 74,
L'lmpetueux. In the Canopus, 84, in 1309, he wit-
nessed the self-destruction, off Cape Cette, of the ships
of the line Robuste and Lion. As commander of the
Stromboli, bomb, he actively co-operated with the
Catalonian patriots, and assisted at the capture of the
Fort of St. Phillippe. He also commanded the Crocus
and Primrose sloops, but has not been afloat since he
was posted.

A SNAKE IN A FIX..—A Texas correspondent of a
New York paper gives the following snake story ;
" One night my wife and myself were awakened by a
noise from the shelf which contained our small store of
crockery, followed by a crash which showed that a great
portion of our cups and plates had been flung on the
floor. Springing up to discover the author of this attack
upon china,' I found a large snake in a somewhat un-
pleasant fix.' He had crawled upon the shelf, attracted
by a number of eggs which were scattered about. One
of these he had swallowed, and in order to get at the
next, he had put his head and a portion of his body
through the handle of a jug which happened to stand be-
tween the coveted delicacies. The handle was just open
enough to let his body, in its natural state, slip cleverly
through, butanot
.sufficient to let it pass when puffed out
by the egg. this position he had swallowed the
second egg. His snakeship thus found himself unable
to advance or retreat ; and in floundering about to es-
cape from this novel stock had caused the accident which
had aroused us. I, gof course, 'proceeded at once to
execute summarA justice upon the interloper, but the
eggs which he had swallowed were a dead loss."
CHEAP EDITION OF THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS.—
The first volume of the cheap edition of Miss Strickland's
celebrated work "The Live's of the Queens of England,"
is just published, handsomely bound and embellished
with Fourteen Portraits. The work will be completed
in eight monthly volumes at 7s. 6d. each. The price of
the present issue will doubtless place "The Lives of the
Queens" in the hands of thousands of purchasers, by
whom the former editions were unattainable. "These
volumes, as the Macs observes, "have the fascination
of romance united to the integrity of history. The work
is written by a lady of considerable learning, indefati-
gable industry, and careful judgment. All these quali-
fications for a biographer and an historian she has brought
to bear upon the subject of her volumes, and from them
has resulted a narrative interesting to all. The whole
work should be read by all who are anxious for informa-
tion. It is a lucid arrangement of facts, derived from
authentic sources, exhibiting a combination of industry,
learning, judgment, and impartiality not often met with
in biographers of crowned heads."