The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-19 00:00:00

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NESS.
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas DoWlllllan, C.B.
and K.C.H., Commandant of the Garrison at Wool-,
wich ; Major-General Webber Smith, C. 8., Dirdotor.
General of Artillery ; Lieutenant-Colonel Chahner,
Assistant Director- General of Artillery ; Lieutendh t-
Colonel Hardinge, K.H., Director of the Laborator
Department in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich`;
Lieutenant- Colonel Colquhoun, of the Carriage
Department in the Royal Arsenal ; Major Wilson, of
the Field Batteries of the Royal Artillery; Captain
Wingfield and Captain and Adjutant Gilbert, of the
Royal Horse Artillery ; Lieutenant-Colonel Engash,
Commandant of the Royal Engineers and Royal
Sappers and Miners at Woolwich ; Captain Sir Thos.-
Hastings ; Captain Jenner, Royal Navy ; and Colonel
Warrington, of the Hon. East India Company's ser-
vice, assembled at ten o'clock, A.m., yesterday, at
Shoeburyness, to witness experiments with seventy
rockets made on Mr. Hale's principle, and seventy of
the rockets used by the Royal Horse Artillery in her
Majesty's service. The experiments commenced by
placing one of Lieutenant Boxer's tubes for firing the
service rockets, and a trough about ten feet long- for
Mr. Hale's rockets, on the beach, close to the preven-
tive station. The first five rockets of the service kind
were fired alternately with five of Mr. Hale's, at arr
elevation of twenty degrees, and made excellent prac-
tice, every one of them being carried upwards of 1,000
yards before they alighted on the sands, and ricochetted
in some instances to nearly double that distance.
Several of Mr. Hale's rockets reached a distance of
from 1,400 to 1,800 yards before they alighted, bat
the smoke issuing from them when they fell being
apparently less dense than that from the service-
rockets, it was difficult to ascertain how far they
ricochetted after touching the ground. Five of each
kind of the rockets were then fired at an elevation of
15 degrees, and made very good practice, being
carried to a great distance, and their flight towards
the flagstaffs, placed at 500 yards, 1,000 yards, 1,200
yards, 1,400 yards, 1,600 yards, and 1,800 yards,
being in very nearly a straight direction. The neat
five rockets of each kind were fixed at an elevation of

PRICE SD.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN.—There
were present at the above-named theatre Tuesday night the
Duke and Duchess of Beaufort and Lady Blanche
Somerset, Baron and Baroness Nieumann, the Earl of
Cardigan, the Earl and Countess of St. Germans and the
Hon. Misses Eliot, Earl Somers, Earl and Countess
Kenmare, Earl of Longford, Lord and Lady Temple-
more, Hon. Miss Chichester and the Hon. A. Chichester,
Lady Westmeath, Lord Exmouth, the Dowager Lady
Blantyre, Lady Georgians Codrington, Lady Adam,
Viscount Dupplin, Earl of Munster, Lord Alexander
Lennox, Lord Clarence Paget, Mrs. Bates and Madame
Van de Weyer, Lady Dillon, Lady Wallscourt, Lady
Gossett, Count Rosen, Right Hon. J. C. Berries, Hon.
A. D. Willoughby, Hon. Dudley Carleton, Hon. Colonel
Dawson Darner and Mrs. Dawson Darner, Hon. Colonel
and Mrs. Fitzgibbon, Hon. Captain Wemysa, Sir A. and
Lady Spearman, Sir John J,rvis, Sir R. P. Jodrell,
Bart., Sir Charles Kent, Bart., Sir Claude and Lady De
Crespigny, Sir John Guise, Sir William Abdy, Bart., Sir
G. Armytage, Bart., Colonel Brownlow Kno
irx,
Mrs. Milner Gibson, H. Hobhouse, Esq., S Henry
Webb, Quintin Dick, Esq., M.P., Henry. Grenville, Esq.,
Charles Grenville, Esq., F. Gore Currie, Esq., Captain
Brownrigg, Captain Crawford, R.N., the Misses Byrne,
Mrs. Marjoribanks, Mr. and Mrs. Horace Twiss, Mrs. H.
Bainbridge, the Misses Humphreys, Capt. Corbett, &c.
On Saturday evening a prisoner named James
Smithwick, who had previously made an unsuccessful
attempt of the same kind, succeeded in making his
escape from the city gaol, where he was awaiting the
execution of a sentence of seven years' transportation
for receiving stolen goods. An unsuccessful search was
made after him until night, when it was discontinued.
the intention being to resume it next morning. At about
midnight, however, the turnkey at the gate heard a
voice requesting admittance, which he pereo3PtarilY re-
fused, supposing it was some drunken fellow who did
not know what he was about. The pe.rson outside
however, insisted upon
residence," and during " being admitted into his own,
the conversation the turnkey re-
le.t
.him in with great
cognised Smithwick's voice, en 4
y received by the governor,
alacrity. He wok metes for preventing the repetition
who, however,
kSminitb_wick_ said that from the window
of the occereeeetg:
of the gaol he saw an orchard, and wishing to have some
fruit he went out, eat as much as he wanted, and came
back again. lie did not state by what means be effected

his escape.
A POINT OF ECONOMY.—The Liverpool Albion of
yesterday says—" During the time the case was pro-
ceeding against Barrett and Quinn for highway robbery,
the prosecutor (John Ashworth) in the case previously
tried presented himself before the Judge and said,—
'My Lord, that coat?' The Judge, in surprise The
coat ! what coat ?' Prosecutor—' The coat the prisoner
had on, my Lord, was my property, and I want it back.
The governor of the gaol said it was a fact the cost be-
longed to the prosecuter. The Judge, to the prosecutor
_ Well, do you think, after the manner he has worn it,
it is worth the application ? Prosecutor—` Oh, yes, my
Lord, it 'll do rarely for my mon.'—(Laughter.) The
Judge (soliloquizing)—' Well, it's a shocking bad one.
—(Loud laughter.) To the gaoler—' Oh, if it be his
coat, and he demands it, give it him by all means.' "
RYARSII•— CAUTION TO TOBACCO AND CIGAR
SMOKEAS.—On Wednesday last, about two o'clock in
the afternoon, a meadow belonging to Mr. Thomas
Woodger, of Aldon, in the parish of Ryarsh, was set
on fire close to a footpath leading from Aldon Farm to
Off ham. A piece of a pipe of tobacco was found lying
close to the spot where it first ignited. The fire quickly
ran, the grass being hot and dry from the intense heat
of the sun, at the moment, to the adjoining hedge, bor-
dering a most beautiful field of wheat and barley. Had
it not quickly been discovered by two men mowing
turnips near, the destruction must have been very seri-
ous ; for had the standing corn caught, no human
exertion could have stopped it, as no water was near.
An alarm was immediately given, when several of Mr.
Woodger's men, to whom great praise is due, with his
nephew, Mr. Woodger being himself frsm home, by
great perseverance and praiseworthy exertions, soon
succeeded in stopping the progress of the fire.—Maid-
stone Journal.
THE ATMOSPHERIC.—The South Devon line, from
this city to Teignmouth, has this day been worked
throughout with the most complete success. The dis-
tance from this city to Teignmouth, including stoppages
at Stareross and Dawlish, was performed in 42 minutes,
with the utmost ease and precision. It is expected that
all the transit will be made by the atmospheric in the
course of a day or two ! So much for the croakers !
Bes/ey's Exeter News.

10 degrees, and struck the ground, some at 250
yards, others at 400, and, in one case 500 yards dis-
tance, ricochetting to a considerable distance further,
Mr. Hale's, at the same elevation, were carried to a
much greater distance. At an elevation of 5 degrees
the range of the service-rocket was 100, 300, 400,
200 and 150 yards ; Mr. Hale's five, at that eleva-
tion, being 200, 500, 500, 600, and 500 yards. At
,stra62l. itegre toe
ground
eseleavattia,u. ,
elevation, the five service-rockets.
distance, Mr.
Hate's being-450, 300;1 tx.V.:4 yards
rounds of- each kind were then fir: * samrlet
level as the ground, and the tube for,stmheothyseervict" e 4-1:
rockets and the trough for Mr. Hale
lower part of the beach. Several of the service-
rockets touched touched the ground at 20 yards' distance, and
two of them buried themselves in the sand at that
range ; the others struck the ground at from 30 to
100 yards' distance, and ricochetted to upwards of
1,000 yards. Three of Mr. Hale's struck the ground
at about 15 yards' distance, and the others at from
100 to 350 yards distance, ricochetting to aconsider-
able distance.
A second series of experiments took place with a
similar number of each kind of rockets as the former
at the same elevations and from the level of the ground
with the same number of rockets as on the first trial,
and the result at 20, 15, 10, 5 and 2f degrees, was
nearly similar to those previously experimented with.
In the second series Lieutenant Boxer's tube was
continued for the service-rockets, but Mr. Hale sub-
stituted a tube formed in nearly a similar shape to a
Jew's-harp, that plan being adopted to prevent the
chance of injury to a vessel when fired on board of
ships or war-steamers. The plan appeared to act re-
markably well, and projected the rockets to a very
tpwards of
great distance ; in numerous instances,
2,000 yards. When the last ten of r.
rockets were tried on a level, he substituted another
rocket-stand, which supported the rocket beneath it;
and, on being fired, a spring caused the support to
open and the rocket to proceed onward, but, owing to
the greater degree of uncertainty of its direction, that
plan of firing was discontinued after the third rocket
had been tried with it, the remainder being fired
from the stand for use on board of vessels of war.
The last three of the service-rockets were fired from
the ground without being placed in the tube, and
they could not have given greater satisfaction than
they did, and would have proved most destructive to
cavalry, having skimmed a distance of upwards of
1,200 yards, within a few feet of the ground, with
very great velocity.
Mr. Hale's rockets were decidedly better on this
than on any former occasion, and the whole of the
practice was remarkably good, and afforded a great
treat to a number of the gentry of Southend and
the surrounding country who had assembled to wit-
ness the experiments. The firing of the whole 140
singly only occupied about two hours, the range being
uninterrupted by any of the causes which so often
create a great delay at Woolwich. Mr. Hale's
rockets, although only 91b. weight, are of the same
diameter as the service 12-pounder rockets, and re-
quire about one-third less composition to charge them.
as they ave shorter' and fired without any rocket-staff
bring attached to them. The whole of the rockets
fired to-day were charged with the composition at the
Royal Arsenal, and were all in excellent condition.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmer and Lieutenant-Colonel
Hardinge superintended the experiments, and the
whole was effected with the strictest impartiality.
Three of the last fired by Mr. Hale were not so good
as any of the others, but there were exactly three of
the service rockets in a similar state, having entered
the sand and remained there at thirty yards' range.
Captain Mends and Lieutenant Goose, of the Coast
Guard, were present, and, with the men under their
command, rendered every assistance.