The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-26 00:00:00

?EXTENSIVE DESERTIONS FROM
THE 71ST REGIMENT

The Montreal Courier furnishes us with some details
as to these desertions that will bs read with interest.
We shall bo doing our military a service by showing
them what they may expect in the American army-, it
they should be base enough to betray their allegiance to
the flag of Britain. The Courier says : -
"The reserve battalion of the 71st Regiment was sta-
taloned at Kingston, Canada West, until recently, !vhen
it was relieved by the 46th Regt., and is now stationed
at Laprairie, with a detachment at St. Helen's. Diiriug
informed
that time this regiment was in Kingston, we are
that up to some time in the month of July last, it
had lost, by desertion, about seventy men ; but from
that month until its recent arrival in Montreal, the crime
had ceased to a_great extent, only three men having since
that deserted. We are told that two men of the 71st having
purchased their discharges—or having become entitled
to them by length of service, have found their way to
Sackett's Harbour, at which place a recruiting party of
the regular army of the United States was stationed.
They then enlisted themselves in the service of the
republic, and, furnished with civilian clothes, returned
to Kingston, where they hung about the barracks, and,
there is no doubt, persuaded the other men to desert.
It was not known to the officers of the regiment that
these men had entered the American service, or they
would not, of course, have been permitted to remain
about the barracks. There is no positive proof that
these fellows were sent purposely to seduce their former
comrades from their colours, but there is every
probabi▪ lity that such was the case, and the mere
fact of their having been permitted to revisit the
Canadi▪
an side of the lake after enlistment in
the American service, goes far to prove that such was
the fact. It is supposed that the soldiers were tempted
by the offer of large bounties and better pay, with other
prospects
. of advantage; but, however, that may be, it is
certain that desertion to a very great extent took place.
We are told that an officer of the 71st went over to
Sackett's harbour, and meeting with one of the Ameri-
can officers stationed there, asked him if they ever took
deserters from the British service into their army; to
which he replied that they did not; upon which the
English officer took him to the American mainguard,
and there showed him three men of his own company.
The men very coolly saluted their former captain, and
the American officer shrugged up his shoulders, and
said that he could not be supposed to know who had
been soldiers, out of the numbers of old countrymen
who applied to enter their service. This was a false-
hood, for we deny the fact, that any man who has ever
been drilled can escape without being at once discovered
by the eye of a man who is himself a soldier. The Eng-
lish captain saw several more men of his regiment about
the barracks, most of whom tried to get out of his way,
evidently ashamed of themselves ; while others whom he
encountered unexpectedly, could not forget their old
habits, drew up as he passed, and soluted him. Some
two or three of the men, disgusted at their treatment by
the Americans, deserted from them in return and sur-
rendered themselves. It was then found that the poor
deluded fellows had been regularly victimised ; that,
although their seducers had promised them a large
bounty, &c., yet they were made to pay for so- many
articles in the shape of necessaries, and at such extrava-
gant rates, that their great bounties soon vanished
into the pockets of the swindling Yankee quarter-
masters. They stated also that they were severely treated,
being confined to barracks after six o'clock in the even-
ing, and guard mounted at the gates by American vo-
lunteers, in order that they should not escape after the
discovery of their victimisation. These men, it is sup-
posed, have all been sent to Mexico ; and if the truth
could be known, we believe it would be ascertained that
some couple of thousand of the army under General
Taylor are English deserters, and that the Americans
have a regularly laid and deliberate plan for recruiting
enticing away English soldiers
under
are not sorry for the rascals
their ragamuffins m
pretences.uffinsby We
who desert—no treatmentis bad enough for them, and
we only hope Taylor will take them where they will be
half-starved and peppered ; but what are we to
think of a Government that tacitly encourages crimes of
the basest kind in the army
of a friendly power, if it
does not actually authorise it, which one would almost
suppose to be the case.

DUTCH AND GERMAN PAPERS.
CRACOW.— (FROM THE GALICIAN FRONTIERS, Nov.
16.)—This is the day-appointed for the proclamation of
the resolution of the three Powers for the incorporation
of Cracow with the Austrian monarchy. Count
Maurice de Deyme, Town-major of Prague, has arrived
in Cracow, as Imperial Commissioner, and will make
the formal proclamation at ten o'clock in the morning.
The announcement of this is to be sent by express to the
capitals of the three powers and will reach Vienna on the
morning of the 18th, where the execution of the act of
taking possession will be immediately published in the
official papers. In the manifesto of the Emperor to the
inhabitants of Cracow, that city, with its territory (24
square miles in extent, and 140,000 inhabitants) is de-
clared to be for ever an indivisible part of his Majesty's
dominions. The resolution for the suppression of the
Republic was taken, it is said, two or three months ago,
but the two German powers are stated to have insisted
on a further discussion of the matter in a conference at
Vienna ; in order to decide on mature deliberation
whether this extreme measure could be by any means
avoided. The decision of the conference was again for
the absolute suppression of the republic. The reports
obtained from the authorities in all parts of Poland, it is
said, agreed that as long as Cracow should retain
its independent possession, it would not be possible to
preserve tranquillity and order in the several parts of
Poland. Many reports of the Provisional Government
of Cracow, on the impossibility of effectually maintain-
ing a regular police so long as the uncertainty of a Pro-
visional Government continued, and the uninterrupted
intrigues of the emissaries of the Polish Propaganda,
combined with an energetic prosecution of the matter on
the part of Russia, are said to have hastened the execu-
tion of the resolution. As an equivalent for the acquisi-
tion of Cracow by Austria, Prussia is to have the lord-
ship of Hohenplatz, a district belonging to Austrian Si-
lisia, and
.fAß(Gu)uHsrsaEei: a small tract to the north of the Gali-
cian of SarkspolL—Algemeine Zeitung, Nov 20.
tPorTmnucueEnsiscHho
rgNov.
Raroyravleld9H.—oignHh
thene
er s
s Royalwill
eveningi l
go
of
tbh ye Highnesslw3at
yh theat
Augsburg, whence she proceeded the following morning
of
Coburg to Weimar.

His Excellency Count Schimmelpenninch, newly-ap-
pointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary of the Netherlands at the Court of Great Britain,
arrived here by the train from Amsterdam.
ROTTERDAM, Nov. 20.—As a proof of the great im-
portance of the exportation to England, we may mention
that in the course of this week, no fewer than twelve
steam boats with oxen, fruit, and other provisions, have
left this city for that country.
THE HAGUE, Nov. 22.—. The Provincial Tribunal of
Guelderland, delivered its sentence on the 19th of this
month, in the affair of M. Geptens, Vicar of the Roman
Catholic Church of Gruenlow, accused of an attempt to
murder, with premeditation. which murder was pre-
vented by circumstances independent of the will of the
accused. The Tribunal
upon
him guilty, and
passed sentence of death upon him. After the reading
of the sentence, the President addressed the criminal in
an affecting speech, informing him that he had the
liberty to apply to the King for pardon. He exhorted
him to profit by the time which remained to humble
himself before God, and to implore forgiveness for his
crime.

We learn that his Royal Highness Prince Frederick
of Prussia will go to-morrow to Arnheim, by the train,
whence he will proceed to Dusseldorf, and that the
Prince of Saxe Weimar will set out, the day after to-
morrow, for London.

IMPORTANT USES of MAHOGANY.
Mahogany, until of late years, has been regarded as a
establishedcoow consideration
idea,taangde s
rare and costly wood, applicable only to articles of luxury,
re ,r
ah.tiaosni t
sitsproved few trades besides that of the cabinet-maker having had
any knowledge or experience of its qualities and advan-
igmffully
intoh lae t themany
useful
seeinf fallacyu being
atdeo.
pecu-
liar mostthisec
u.
alnkdTin
valuable wood which the world is known to produce
liar properties, it •
can, with truth, be said, that it is one
of the cheapest and best materials which can be emplo3ed
for the following important purposes :—ln house build-
ing ; in church building, for pews, benches, screens, and
pulpits, and even roofing and flooring ; in ship-building,
for the entire frame and planking ; in canal and dock
gates; in cabinet work ; and for carving and coach-
building; in machinery ; in railway and other carriages.
The above are some of the principal purposes for
which it is used; but now, owing to its low price and
better appreciation, it enters largely into the construction
of almost every article in which wood is employed.
To the ship-builder, the following remarks are respect-
fully addressed, as the subject is one of paramount
importance to the shipping interest of this country. It
is well known• that, on account of the scarcity and
exorbitant price of high-class woods, the British ship-
owner is driven into a ruinous and unequal contest with
the foreigner, who, possessing inexhaustible forests at
home, and having the additional advantage of obtaining
his wood untaxed,*as well as of procuring his stores and
crews on far more reasonable terms, is enabled to navi-
gate his vessels at lower freights in almost every part of
the world, excepting where our colonial or cheaper-built
ships successfully compete with him. It is, therefore,
manifest that the ship-builder of this country must look
to other sources than those he has been accustomed to;
in other words, he must seek his supplies in fresh coun-
tries, and his policy should be to give every encourage-
ment to the importation of first-class woods from all parts
of the world. The operation of the regulations of
"Lloyd's" had hitherto been to confine the building of a
" twelve years ship': to a few favourite woods, difficult to
procure (excepting in the case of our own oak),
thereby
limiting the source of supply to a few foreign ports, and
even from which the imports are yearly decreasing.
Lately, by a relaxation on the part of " Lloyd's," a wider
field has been opened for the British ship-builder, and, as
immense supplies of the best timber may be procured
from the forests of Honduras, Cuba, and St. Domingo,
the importers of mahogany ugly require encouragement
to furnish the proper shapes and dimensions to an extent
almost unlimited.
The consumption of mahogany in the royal dockyard
is considerable. The highest authorities in the navy
have given the strongest written testimonials respecting
it, as it is justly held by them in great estimation on
account of its durability and strength, having been
proved imperishable in ships of nearly a century old.
• In addition to the above remarks, it ought to be borne,
in mind that mahogany, when properly selected, possesses
the important and invaluable properties of great buoy-
ancy and durability, slowness of ignition, flexibility, and
non-shrinkage, as well as being almost totally tree from
dry rot and pernicious acids. It is, consequently,
pecularly adapted for the frames and planking of steam-
vessels, as it resists every change of temperature, and
does not warp or shrink from excessive heat, or expand