The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-21 00:00:00

offieer—Major George Ranken, of the Royal Engi-
/leers, who was killed in the zealous discharge of
his duty at the explosion of the White Buildings
on Thursday evening last. The accident occurred
at the south-western corner of the edifice, and has
been related to me as follows :—A mine having
failed to explode, and some minutes having elapsed
Major Ranken sent his men to a distance and him-
self entered the place to renew the train, scattering
loose powder over it. From the position in which
his corpse was found it is supposed that be had
completed his periletn task and was about getting
through a window when the explosion took place
and the building fell in. His arm was broken,
and there were injuries to the skull and spine which
must have occasioned instant death. Army Works
Corps men dug for his body until midnight on
Thursday ; they were then relieved by Sappers.
The body was not extracted until past 8 o'clock on
Friday morning. The unfortunate officer was
buried yesterday, with military honours, at the
Engineers' Cemetery, Left Attach. He was fol-
lowed to the grave by General Eyre, commanding
the Third Division ; by Colonel Lloyd, command-
ing the Royal Engineers ; and by a largo number
of officers of his own corps and of other arms.
Major Ranken, as you will doubtless remember,
commanded the ladder party in the attack on the
Redan. He was a most promising officer, a great
favourite with his comrades, and his loss is de-
plored by all who knew him. It was hard to
have escaped the murderous fire of the Bth of
October only to die, less than five month's
later, crushed beneath a shattered wall. If
peace be now definitively made, Major Ranken
will, perhaps, have the melancholy distinction
of being the last Englishman killed in the
Crimea. The last Frenchman killed here, up-
to this date, fell in a duel. Two French officers,
who have gone through the whole war unwounded,
quarrelled the other day and fought with sabres ;
one was killed, and the other was so badly hurt
that be is not expected to live.
It was reported in camp that another conference
was about to take place at Traktir-bridge' and the
British subaltern had his spurs polished and his
baggager's shoes looked to, in anticipation of the
pleasant gallop over the valley of the Tchernaya,
which on Friday last was enjoyed but by a very
select few. Yesterday the belief was strong that
the meet was for this morning, but such proved not
the case ; and, indeed, it is possible that no other
muting will take place on the subject of the armis-
tice. The Russians, having taken copy of our pro-
positions on Friday, have sent in counter-proposi-
tions ; and, perhaps, the matter may be arranged
by writing. Meanwhile, a General After-order
issued last night forbids firing on the Russians.
Yesterday, a lovely afternoon, a large number of
officers rode down to the Tchernaya, a short dis-
tance from Sebastopol, and had much confabulation
with the enemy. Some joking went on, and some
shillings were thrown over to Russian soldiers. I

suppose we shall end by becoming the best friends
of our recent deadly foes.
Colonels Wetherall and Mackenzie are about to
proceed to England. Their departure is under-
stood to be occasioned by the discussion to which
Sir John M'Neill's report has given rise.
The White Buildings destroyed on Thursday were
very extensive. One side of the square was 1,200
feet long, the other 600. Altogether about 1,800
feet of wall were blown down. Six bombproof
powder-magazines behind the clock tower were
destroyed. I am assured there were no less than
374 mines, the charges varying in quantity from
21A1b. to 300 lb. of powder.

MARCH 4.
Snow, rain, and wind all night. A very dirty
morning.

MARCH 7.
The week has been as eventless as the weather
has been detestable. Sunday was so bright and
pleasant a day that people forgot last year's expe-
rience, flattered themselves winter had departed,
and formed pleasant projects of rides to Baidar
and Urkusta, of rambles to the Tchernaya to talk
to the Russians, of wandering in French Sebasto-
pol. All these small Crimean castles quickly
crumbled. The heavy rain on Monday made most
abominable roads on Tuesday ; then round went
the wind and down went the quicksilver, snow fell
in abundance, and at eight o'clock on Wednesday
morning the thermometer stood at 12 deg. Fahren-
heit. It is difficult to estimate the exact depth of
snow on this elevated plateau, because the wind
drifts it, but there cannot have been less than 12
inches, and in some places men sank up to their
thighs ; and the s bow continued to fall at intervals
during the whole of Wednesday, agreeably varied
by sharp hail. The camp presented the old winter
picture, dingy huts and grey tents rising out of the
dazzingly white surface. The glare was blinding,
paths and landmarks were obliterated, and even
familiar spots were difficult to find. None rode or
walked more than they could help, and there was
much plunging into ditches and stumbling into
holes. The day, however, was really pleasant, com-
pared with yesterday, which brought a gale from
the south and a rapid thaw, with all their agree-
able concomitants in the camp before Sebastopol.
The wind was at times so violent that it seemed
miraculous the tents and,huts should resist, and not
be swept away and unroofed ; .and the rain fell in
torrents, quickly divesting the earth of its white
mantle, and leaving, in lieu thereof, the customary
brown surface of heavy mud. Great dismay in the
Crimean Jockey Club ; spring meetings postponed
sine die. The customary duties of the camp became
more toilsome than usual. Fatigue parties slipped
and staggered through the deep greasy clay under
the load of the daily rations. Huge pieces of timber
for fireword—fragments of masts from the
Redan, which might have served for the biggest of
the big ships now submerged in Sebastopol harbour
—were borne away from stores to camp on the
shoulders of 20 or 25 men, walking two abreast.
Unfortunate Land Transport mules and ponies
struggled desperately to escape the lash, and drag
the heavily-loaded cart through the slough, which
each moment deepened. Commissariat officers and
others having quill-work to do shut themselves in
their quarters and toiled at states and accounts ;
all drills and parade being, of course, put a stop to
by the weather, regimental officers sat by stove and
chimney, heaping maledictions on the rain and the
far-niente, talking what is commonly called " shop,"
and labouring earnestly to produce the desired de-
gree of blackness in the bowl of clay or meerschaum
pipe. Leaks, previously unsuspected revealed them-
selves under the pressure of the deluge ; there was
much swabbing of hut-floors, and horses shook their
ears and looked dismal as the heavy drops oozed
through the ill joined stable roofs and soaked
through their blankets. For that day, at least,
the general order prohibiting gossip with the Rus-
sians across the Tchernaya was unnecessary. On
Sunday and Monday there had been considerable
intercourse of that kind, knives and pipes were
bought as relics of the Crimean campaign, and coin,
of the respective countries were enclosed in balls of
earth and exchanged across the river. Indeed, there
was every appearance that, if a stop was not put to
the growing amity, Cossacks would be coming over
to dine in camp, and English paying visits to the
North Forts, or Mackenzie plateau. The wet, raw
cold of the thaw seemed to throw a damp even on
the imagination, and there was scarcely a well-
concocted fiction current to raise a laugh or rouse
interest, save one, to the effect that the Third Di-
vision was immediately to embark for Asia—rather
an improbable tale, considering the armistice and
the incomplete state of the Land Transport Corps,
whose director, Colonel Wetherall, is to leave for
England on Saturday. We hear that Colone

M'Murdo is coming out. Mules are arriving from
Sinopo and elsewhere for the use of this corps.
To-day there is another change in this most in-
constant climate. All last night the wind howled
furiously, and the rain fell in torrents. Towards
morning the wind again shifted ; the rain became
snow, and the plateau is once more white. It is now
about noon ; the thermometer stands at 22 deg.,
but the frost has not lasted long enough to farm
more than a thin crisp upper crust, through which
the foot sinks into fathomless mud. It is quite
possible that to-morrow may bring us balmy
breezes, a brilliant sun, and rivers of mud for
roads. Such are Crimean caprices.
A large number of boxes, containing voluntary
contributions of books, games, &e., intended for
the instruction and amusement of this army, have
lately been received from England. They include
a vast collection of excellent and valuable books,
and, thanks to the generous donors, every division
has now a good and daily increasing library.
Through the exertions of Miss Nightingale a con-
siderable quantity of school materials—such as
maps and slates—has been supplied to the schools ;
but it is desirable that well-meaning persons in
England should reflect as to the probable utility
of what they send out. Some of the boxes recently
received have been filled with the most inconceiv-
able rubbish, fit only to ‘;be burnt. Persons in
possession of a stock of waste paper might surely
get rid of it at home, without incurring the
trouble and putting Government to the expense
of sending it to be destroyed in the Crimea.
' Old Evangelical Magazines, Directories 40 years of
age, Italian Pharmacopceias dated 1806, venerable
Greek Grammars, a collection of manuscript Italian
exercises in young ladies' handwriting, missionary
periodicals half a century old, form, incredible as
it may appear, no inconsiderable portion of recent
literary shipments to the Crimea. Such absurdity
needs no comment, and it is to be accounted for
only by the supposition that servants have been
told to seek forgotten rubbish, long lost sight of in
garrets, to pack it in boxes, and forward it to
Messrs. Hay ter and Howell for the use of the army.
People should understand that soldiers are as great
epicures in their literary tastes as any other class,