The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-25 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, SUNDAY, MAY 24.—We again beg to call
the attention of the Lords of the Admiralty to the subject of
their late notice, enforcing the order prohibiting smoking in
any other part of a ship than the galley, and even there not
after eight o'clock at night. This ill-timed attempt at the
curtailment of the comforts of the seaman is already mis-
chievously operating to the prejudice and injury of the best
interests of the navy. If the Admiralty desire to prohibit
smoking in the navy entirely (for that is unquestionably the
object of the late notice), the remedy is in their own hands.
It is not known publicly, perhaps, that the Admiralty ac-
tually issue to the seamen and marines of the fleet in com-
mission (monthly) the very tobacco, duty free, against the
use of which their order is aimed. If, then, smoking is in-
jurious to the service, or subversive of that strict discipline
which should prevail on board ships, why not strike
at' the root of the supposed evil, by discontinuing to
serve out any mere tobacco ? But what would be the re-
sult of such an unwarrantable measure? Sir Geor re Cock-
burn, being the most experienced officer at the Admiralty (but
who, by the way, never smoked himself), can perhaps
'answer the query. Smoking, instead of being prohibited,
ought to be encouraged in the navy ; it is beneficial to
health, and preventive of many infectious diseases incidental
to tropical climates. What does " Philo-Negro" say upon
this latter point, in his extract from a letter received from
one of the vessels on the coast of Africa engaged in the sup-
pression of the slave trade :—" We now and then get a spell
at the islands, which is a godsend to us, after months of the
most killing monotony. We pass the grog and smoke
cigars, which last, I really-think, keeps-off fever—so we
think, at least—and is, besides, a pastime and consolation in
this infernal heat." But how, if the order is allowed to go
forth as imperative, and be as imperatively enforced, will the
beat of the galley be endurable under the "infernal" heat
above alluded to ? The bare idea is insufferable, and re-
volting to humanity. Confining men to the limited space
understood as the galley (an area even in a line-of-battle
ship which would perhaps accommodate 100, tightly packed)
under such circumstances would be nothing short of wilful
murder. Tobacco, scalded with vinegar, and into which red
hot irons are thrust, is one of the first things thought of for
fumigating a vessel to provide against contagion, because it
is at once simple, convenient, and generally efficacious. Why,
then, endeavour to curtail, or, in plain terms, prevent the
judicious enjoyment of a commodity which yields so much
satisfaction to the smoker, and is so eminently beneficial to
his health and comfort? Again, with regard to the hour
after which smoking will not be allowed, even in the galley
—8 o'clock Par. This is about the time, of all others, that
officers can most conveniently devote to the enjoyment of a
cir,ar. This part of the order we can easily comprehend; Sir
G. Cockburn having publicly stated "no officer ought to
smoke on board ship." How differently do the French act
in this matter. On board the ships of " the great nation "
the men and officers are encouraged to smoke, and spittoons
are placed on the decks fore and aft for their use, and this
was the case when Louis Philippe himself was on board, a
fact of which we have had ocular demonstration. It is in
such apparently little, but in themselves and their results
deeply important matters as these, that the services of other
nations will ever be better liked than the British; because
in the one case the comforts and enjoyments of the men are
cared for and consulted, whilst in the other they are abused
or neglected. Not only are the men disgusted with such
an exhibition of tyranny, but the officers also look upon
the order as an unwarrantable infringement of their
pleasure, especially the old class, who seek solace
in smoke under all their disappointments, from
neglected merit, and equally neglected promises of promo-
tion and employment, and other sources of annoyance
and discomfort to which brave men, but without interest or
influence, are subjected in the navy. At the Royal Naval
School Festival, on Thursday last, Lord Ellenborough, in
reply to the proposal of his health by Rear-Admiral the Earl
of Cadogan, said, " When I was congratulated by my friends
on my appointment to office, I said—wait till 1 have retired
from it, and then congratulate me on doing well while there."
The Noble First Lord of the Admiralty has given but a sorry
sample of his endeavour to do well in promulgating the re-
cent order upon smoking; all we can therefore hope is, that
he will endeavour to do better by immediately rescinding it,
together with sundry other equally obnoxious orders which
operate to the prejudice of the naval service, and the discon-
tent and discomfiture of all, or nearly all, who are employed
therein, or we fear he will have but few congratulations to
be troubled with on his retirement from his present highly
responsible position.— Times.
This being the 27th anniversary of her Majesty's birth-
day, a royal salute was fired in coiumemoration of the cir-
cumstance from the platform battery, at one o'clock, by order
of the Lieut.-Governor.

The Raleigh got under way at one o'clock this day, and
made sail to join the squadron of evolutions. She was paid
advance yesterday.
The Alfred, 50, was taken out of dock yesterday, and is
now in the basin, completely ready for the pendant.
The Comet steam-vessel, Commander Pretyman, went out
to Spithead this morning with a few Marines for the Raleigh.
The
.Nautilus, 10, Lieutenant-Commander 11PDonnell,
sailed yesterday to resume her protection of the fisheries on
the Sussex coast.

The Larne, 18, Commander Brisbane; sailed from St. Helena
on the 4th ult. for Ascension.

The squadron on the Irish station was distributed as follows
on the 20th instant :

At Cove—The Porcupine steam-vessel, Captain Bullock,
bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot, Com-
mander-in-Chief; the Tartarus steam-vessel, Captain Wolfe;
engaged on surveying service; the Rhadamanthus steam-
troop ship, -Master-Commander Lean ; and the Dee steam-
troop ship, Master-Commander Driver; the two latter load-
ing with meal for the west coast.

At Kingstown—The Stromboli steam-sloop, Commander
Fisher.

In the Shannon—The Myrmidon iron steam-vessel Lieu.
tenant-Commander Jenkin.

At Galway—The Pluto steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Com
mander Lane.

At Limerick—The Alban steam-troop ship, with provi
sions.

At Waterford—The Lucifer steam-vessel, Commander
Frazer, surveying.
Our Cork correspondent writes--" No tidings of the fleet
of evolutions in our waters yet; neither have we any orders
front the Admiralty respecting its arrival here;" and with
regard to the recent appointment of Captain Andrew Drew
(1843) to succeed Mr. Breaks as naval store-keeper and Ad-
miralty agent at the Cape of Good Hope,—" A. captain in
the navy to succeed poor Breaks ! I shall expect soon to
hoist a flag under such arrangements—not fair play."