The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-11 00:00:00

CHINESE ARMS.

WOOLWICH, DEC. 9.—Lieutenant-Colonel Knowles,
commanding the detachment of Royal Artillery at pre-
sent serving in China, recently transmitted to this coun-
try a complete assortment of Chinese war arms, with
specimens of shot and the costumes of the soldiers of the
Celestial Empire. The whole of these articles, and a
.figure of a Chinese soldier in his tiger dress, have,
within the last few days, been arranged in the Royal
Repository at Woolwich, where the public have free ad-
mission to witness them and the other curiosities con-
tained in it, between the hours of nine and twelve A.M.
and one and four P.M., on week days.
The appearance of the arms of the soldiers who serve
the Brother of the Sun and Moon contrast strangely
with the 'other modern arms in the Repository, and har-
monise more with the antique fire-arms deposited in
the building.. Part of the. Chinese weapons of war
remind us of the ancient bows and arrows of " Robin
Hood and his merry men," while the ordnance pieces
exactly iesemble those used in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, similar to those which have been
found and said to have belonged to the Spanish Ar-
mada. The largest piece sent home by 'Lieut.-Colonel
Knowles appears to be about seven feet long, and is formed
of pieces of iron welded together, and hooped with rings,
throughout its whole length . about four inches distant
from each other. Another piece, with a plain musket-
shaped ,barrel, is about fire feet long, and is mounted on
three legs, presenting a similar appearance to the tele-
scopes used in this country, only it has an additional
moveable leg at the breech 'to regulate the elevation.
The charge of this piece is placed in a separate iron
chamber, which, when loaded, is inserted at the rear end
of the muzzle, and fired by a matchlock. The Chinese
swords appear' fdtmidable, and in_ the hands of good sol-
diers would he very effective. They are in the form of
Turkish sabres, but with less curve, and the handles are
about fifteen inches long, evidently that they may afford
room to hold with bothands at once, and cut with tre-
mendousiorce. There,are two swords of a different con-
struction, the blades being 'only about eighteen inches in
length, fixed on handles five- feet long, for cutting or de-
fending the men from the attacks of cavalry, or, as there
is a small tuft of hair attached to them, they may have
been used to denote the rank of those who used them, as
the Sergeants of the British army were distinguished by
their halberts.

A most singular arm of the Chinese is formed exactly
similar to the trident held in the hand of representations
of Neptune or Britannia, the centre prong being straight,
and the two outer prongs slightly curved, but very sharp
pointed. This weapon is fixed to the end of a pole
about 10 feet long, similar in thickness to thoie used by
British regiments of Lancers. The Chinese standard is
cut in a sheet of iron in the form of the ace of spades,
with a number of projections, evidently intended to re-
present flames of fire. The standard is fixed upon the
top of a pole, and immediately underneath it is a circular
piece of iron about 6 inches in diameter, hung round with
hair about 9 or 10 inches in length. There are also,
neatly arranged on the wall, two bows formed of bamboo
and horn, and the contents of a sheaf of arrows, 120 in
number, about 3} feet long each. On the table below
are specimens of the shot used by the Chinese, very
rudely cast,'the largest being only about 4 inches, and
the smallest 1 inch, in diameter.
The tiger dress of a soldier has been stuffed with straw
and placed against the wall, and presents a singular ap-
pearance, being a second edition of Sir John Falstaff,
having nearly as, substantial or bulky a corporation as
that celebrated Knight. Attached to the costume, which
is from top to bottom all one dark red colour, with fan-
tastic stripes painted black to represent a tiger, is a hood,
made to cover the head quite close and fall down over a
considerable portion of the face, with holes for the eyes,
and two projecting representations of the ears of an
animal. Amongst the articles is a dress which belonged
to an officer of high rank, and although it is rather the
worse for wear, it still has the remains of finery about it,
being of a dark ground thickly studded with metallic
ornaments, and flowered with embroidered figures in silk.
It is intended to have this dress stuffed, to exhibit the
costume of the Chinese officers; and altogether, the arti-
cles transmitted by Lieut.-Colonel Knowles form a great
acquisition to the Repository.

DISTRESS IN THE METROPOLIS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Seeing in your valuable paper that numerous
sums of money are being collected for the relief of the
distressed of Spitalfields, I beg respectfully to ask, through
your columns, where it is distributed, and if not actu-
ally distributed I beg to suggest a plan for its distribu-
tion—namely, the appointment of District Committees,
composed of men who have a knowledge of the various
branches connected with the Silk trade. This mode is
the more necessary, because it has frequently happened
that the really deserving have never received any relief,
while those who were of doubtful character have been
the greatest recipients.
The mode I would propose is, that a public meeting be
held in the district, to which meeting I would suggest
that each branch of the Silk trade be invited to send
men who really know the distress existing.
This also should be impressed on any meeting that
may be held in the City or elsewhere, as there are
parties in a condition to prove that the distress among
the Dyers is truly awful. Many out of employ, and
the average earnings of those employed not eight shil-
lings per week.
Should you deem this worthy a corner in your valu,
able Journal you will oblige
Dec. 10, 1841. A CONSTANT READER.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—Mr. Jesse Gray, of
Wetumpka, Alabama, came to his death on the 3d of
September last, in Union county, Arkansas, in the follow-
ing extraordinary manner. Mr. Gray being out on a
hunting excursion, came to a tree loaded with muscadines.
He set down his gun and ascended the tree about twenty
feet, for the purpose of gathering grapes. Having on a
bear skin cap which he usually wore on such excursions,
and being hid by the vines and leaves, all except his
head, ho was mistaken for a hear by one of his com-
panions, who instantly shot him dead. He uttered a
single exclamation, and falling backwards about four
feet, lodged in the vines, and remained there until help
was obtained in the neighbourhood, to take the body
from the tree.