The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-23 00:00:00

ADELPHI THEATRE.

tewiotaclOsek fbno
brought
oye
Goingur very
bonnet-maker,
ont lnde
outn Itt
-o
11:i:eh
ire,ti
eh;rDl i::
who
is
rthcabhoityterh.
escapes
gut
Epsom,
farce
voprsl
metera
circumstantial
itt
t. composed
rhiiwoilii
mgnhii
shi
oh r
neu neht which
dheoeurnros_tt ahh
naee
gegr,erohuendrilsefeotsr
mishaps, not the leastholi,
sly to enjoy a day's sphoarst
with divers grotesque
ever,
rt
,hies
her truant lord, and
arrival of his wife, who, disguised as a gipsy, watches
suspecting his fidelity. Then there is an elderly
grocer in pursuit of his better half, whom he believes
abundance
nrduanncaewosyf
comicwith the
in misunderstanding
bonnet-maker;
occasioned.
end, for
upon him is fathered a child which belongs
The grocer is the principal victim in the
to the
waiter of the Spread Eagle. EverY
susceptible of explanation, and. the mutual jealousies
are removed—Wright speaking the " tag ' to the
piece in the shafts of a chaise containing the two la-
dies, whom, having lost the horse, he engages 6. 3 to drag
home in this style, favoured by coincident pushes be-
hind from Paul Bedford. The farce is
.one of theP .
ultra-extravagant school, peculiar to the Adel hi
and as there is no absurdity which Wright and his
popular associate cannot make go down, its success
was unbounded. The house was crowded, and the
principal actors appeared before the curtain when it
fell, to receive a hurricane of applause.
_____---_—_ --------

above
7reacttiothneof
7----'' - -
WELLS
Last night we listened withi. dsome pleasure to the
SADLEWS
Miss Rain•
forth, who has taken that house for a few weeks.
The place was tolerably filled_ by a respectable
audience, who seemed,
,in a good-natured disposition,
obpvetrhaeolfitFtlreacDortp.asvon/no,deprerthoermd
to be p!eased with ever)h,odj... the stage, especial]y
with Miss Rainforth and IYLr•Fraser, who
each re-
ceived loud and long plaudits—the latter gentlema
who looked the figure of the Italian,
n bandit, per-
formed the part with much ease and grace, and
sung the music with a good, well-toned voice.
Miss Rainforth, as Zerlina, acquitted herself with
much credit. Mr. llorncastle and Miss Isaacs, as
the English nobleman and his young wife, n
' • • nt to Italy, kept the house in o their
marriage jaunt a roar by
their honeymoon jealousies and squabbles, whit:2
Messrs. Borrani and Leffler performed the characters
of the brigands with much drollery the latter,
however, throwing more of the grotesque into his
part than consisted with good taste. The chorus and
orchestra were ;very efficient, considering the pre-
tensions-of the little company. General-Tom Thumb
was an attentive listener in one of the boxes, and

EVENING, MAY 23, 1848.

attracted considerable attention. He wore a common
!men blouse, such :zs many children at this season
Fear; ana, beyond a certain glance of precocity in
eye, there was nothing- in hii manner, dress, or
voice, to distinguish him from an ordinary child, and
e .Could not help wondering that the world of
raslnon should have lavished so much in idol-worship
on an object so little worthy of their regard.

NAVAL IN'fELLIGENCE.
THE WAR• STEAMER BASIN AT PORTSMOUTH.—The
completion of the auxiliary features to this great depot
are being hurried on with the utmost expedition, in order
to insure the mast complete coup d'ceil on the day o
opening;—'Thursday next. The Lords of the Admiralty
have given the most ample scope to the heads of the
several departments comptrolling the work to enable
them to render the event one of unalloyed eclat to all
concerned, as well as to the spectators. The men work-
ing for the contractor were employed on Sunday in re-
moving the dam from the entrance of the basin; a large
body of sawyers are employed sawing planks to form
the seats for the booths appropriated to the spectators,
and for scaffolding to support the same. As many as
1,000 men were employed in the work of pre-
paration yesterday, and will continue until the
completion. Nine immense booths are being erected
around the structure for the occupation of the
naval and military officers, parties connected with
the work; the intermediate spaces are fitted up with
standing ledges for the general public. For the latter
accommodation will be given to the extent of 4,000.
Seven bands of music will be in attendance. The guard
of honour on this auspicious occasion will be taken by
the naval brigade of the dockyard, at the north-east
entrance. A body of the infantry battalion will be sta-
tioned on the west side of the basin, the artillery compa-
nies of the brigade will be stationed on the east or right
side of the basin, and the boat brigade on the left. The
corps of Royal Engineers, under the command of the
officers in charge of the Government works at Ports-
mouth (Captain James) will be stationed on the south
side. The musical corps will be stationed at uniform
distances round the basin. The Queen, Prince Albert,
the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Wellington, Marquis
of Anglesey, the Earl of Auckland and the Admiralty,
the Premier, &c., &c., are expected to be present on the
day. Should the weather be fine, the spectacle will be
one of unsurpassed nautical splendour.
THE CAPE AND COAST oF Aearea.—The steam-
frigate Vulture, Captain M'Dougal, arrived off Ports-
mouth yesterday morning. She sailed from Sirnon'a Bay,
St. Helena, April 5, and Ascension, April 12. She
has brought home the following passengers:—Lieutenant
Irwin, of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, from China;
Arthur Boat, Esq., Ordnance storeAreeprr, from Hong-
Kong; Duncan M'Creight, Esq., Master RN., from the
Cape of Good Hope; W. White, Esq., M.D., surgeon of
her Majesty's ship Geyser, &c. The flag-ship President
Vice-Admiral Dacres, the steamers Rosamond and Gey-
sey, and the corvette Nimrod, were at the Cape on the
25th of March, the latter in command of Mr. Belgrave,
the Admiral's son-in-law, and late flag-lieutenant. The
Tortoise and Bonetta were at Ascension. The Vulture
has sailed for the port at which she fitted out (Sheer-
ness), to be put out of commission, after three years and
tour months' service.

The Havannah, 22 guns, Captain Erskine, and the
Dee steam-troop ship, were at Madeira, on their passage
to the of Good Hope, on the 4th inst.

PROMOTION.

Lieutenant William Houston Stewart (1842) late
flag to Vice-Admiral King at the Nore, to the rank of
commander.

APPOINTMENTS.

Lieutenants—Robert Shebbeare (1813). to the out-
pension of Greenwich Hospital ; C. C. A. Kane
(1842), to the Ocean, 84, at Sheerness, as flag lieute-
nant to the Commander-in Chief, at the Pore ; F. P.
Coull, to command the revenue cutter, Chamelion, vice
Voules.

Naval Instructors—R. Wilson to the San Josef flag-
ship at Plymouth ; R. Oran, to the Caledonia, 120 guns,
at Plymouth.

Assistant Surgeons—J. Rose, M.D., confirmed to
Haslar Hospital ; J. B. Nicholson, M.D., to the Merlin
steam-packet, fitting at Portsmouth, J. P. Lawrance. to
the Medusa steam packet, at Portsmouth ; E. T. Wat-
kins (acting), to the San Josef, at Plymouth.

WOoLwidir, MAY 22.—The Rifleman steam-vessel
went down the river on Saturday last, under the charge
of Lieutenant Robertson, to try the engines of the
Teaser of 100 horse power, now fitted in the Rifleman
instead of her former engines of 200 horse power.
The result of the three trials up and three down,
opposite the measured mile at Long Reach was B'o2
knots on the average, a speed rather greater than when
she was first tried with her bottom unsheathed, and en-
gines of 200 horse power. This experiment was
anxiously looked fcr, and Captain Halstead, Captain
Glasse, and Captain Smythe, R.N., Mr. Atherton, chief
engineer at Woolwich dockyard. Mr. F. P. Smith, and
several gentlemen were on board to witness the trials, to
ascertain if the alteration of giving the stern a finer run
would be an advantage to screw-propelled vessels ; and
they were not disappointed, as it was made evident that
the engines of 100 horse power requiring only one half of
the quantity of coals as engines of 200 horse power, gave
a speed of upwards of eight knots per hour, and within
about one knot of the speed she attained on any previous
trial with engines of double power.
The Teaser steam-vessel is at present fitting with two
engines of 30 horse power each, and is fitted with two
rudders, with which a trial will shortly be made.
The Caradoc steam packet, for the Holyhead station,
was tried again to-day in the basin at the Dynamometer,
and will be tried again to-morrow after an alteration is
made in her floats.

The Trident steam vessel, Lieutonant-Commander
Risk, will leave Woolwich this afternoon for Greenhithe,
to have her compasses adjusted by Captain Johnson,
and will then proceed to Chatham to embark a detach-
ment of Royal Marines for Ireland.

The Terrimaant, steam-frigate, 24 guns, designed by
Mr. Wite, and fitting with a screw propeller and engines
of 620-horse power by Messrs. Seaward and Co., will be
ready for trial in about a month, or as soon as the ship-
wrights have her out of their hands. '

The Encounter steam-sloop is taking on board 300
tons more ballast previous to her official trial to bring
her more down in the water than she was on the pre-
liminary trial. The armament of this vessel will be one
68 pounder gun. 95 cwt., and 10 feet long; one 10 inch
gun, 85 cwt., and 9 feet 4 inches long; and four 8 inch
guns, 65 cwt. each, and 9 feet long.