The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-02 00:00:00

INTERESTING MILITARY EXPERIMENT.

On Tuesday last a very interesting experiment was, made
at Chatham, by the Royal' Sappers and Miners, for the
purpose of ascertaining the practicability, within certain
limits, of destroying or exposing by mines the galleries, &c.,
of an enemy's mine. Bellidor, a celebrated French engi-
neer, asserted nearly a century ago the possibility of carry-
ing on approaches even to the works of the place, by thus
exposing the sonterraneans of a fortress. The experiment,
as far as it went, verified the deductions of the French
engineer, a shaft sunk, and a. gallery driven to within a
given distance of the mine, Containing nearly 140 lbs- of
gunpowder, being -ruined and exposed by the explosion.
We consider the mining establishment at Chatham to be a
most useful one, and too much praise cannot be given to
Colonel Pasley, of the Royal Engineers, for the efficiency
and knowledge now possessed by this department of the
British army. The sieges undertaken by us in the Penin-
sula afforded ample proof of the want of a body of men re-
gularly educated for sapping and mining. The accounts in
" Napier's History" of our sieges proves that an enormous
waste of life was occasioned by not having regular sappers
and miners. The workmen who had to break ground be
fore Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos had absolutely to learn
the use of their tools, those not being the days of intuition.
The experiments and researches of St. Remy, Bellidor, La
Valliere, and other French engineers, on the important
subject of mines, are well worthy the attention not only of
the engineer officers, but of British officers in general. It
is remarkable that gunpowder, although used so early as
1346 for discharging balls from cannon at the battle of
Cressy, was not employed for mining till 1487, by the
Genoese, at the siege of Serezanella, a town belonging to
the Florentines. In this instance, from the engineer not
employing a sufficient quantity, the attempt failed. • Peter
de Navarro had better success in 1503, at the siege of the
citadel of Naples,
,held by the French against the Spa-
niards. The Commandant of this fort refusing to sur-
render, Peter de Navarrow blew up the wall of the castle
and carried the place by assault.— United Service Gazette.

SIIIRES.—The territorial divisions of England are
not the conseqUences of a legislative act of any single govern-
ing body ; they are the effect of the ancient partition of the
country among powerful chiefs. The counties were their
shires or shares (for it is the same word) of territory. Thus
Berkshire is a corruption of Beroc's share—the share of Beroc
a powerful chieftain. These shares of course varied according
to the accidents of warfare and aggrandisement, and retain
strong traces of the independence of central government,
which was their original character.—Sarah Austin.
IMPORTANT SHAVING CASE.—In Dundee there
irs been a good deal of fuss respecting the case of a barber
against his apprentice for refusin,, .to shave his customers art
Sunday morning. After a good' deal of litigation, the case
has been decided -by the rnagistrate against the apprentice,
v.-11.0 has- to pay the expenses of process. The interlocutor
says-that it is the existing usage for a number of mechanics
and seafaring men to get shaved on Sunday morning before
ten o'clock, and that their conduct has always been decent and
orderly ; besides,.it is' obvious that if workmen who are not
themselves accustomed to shave were forbidden the aid of
barbers in their shops "on Sunday mornings, many decently-
disposed men would be prevented from frequenting places of
worship, and from associating in a becoming manner with
their families and friends, through want of personal cleanli-
ness ; and the attempt to roduce the minor evil might lead to
serious offences. But finds that the apprentice is not bound,
nor is it lawful for him, to work in the making of wigs, or in
similar employments not immediately necessary for the day.
Nor is he to shave after ten o'clock on Sunday morning?: Be-
sides, the apprentice in question was eight months at the trade
before he was bound, and made no objection. If we could
gather the sentiments of our numerous bar from the oxpressioh
of their countenances, we should say that the decision was as
unexpected as it was gratifying to the great majority.—Dun-
dee Advertiser.

• -
EARTHQUAKE IN GOSPORT.—Dr: Burney, of
Gosport, has favoured us with the following paragraph re-
specting the earthquake :—" At half-past ten o'clock on the
night of Wednesday, the 27th inst., a sudden shock of an
earthquake was felt by many persons in the town and neigh-
bourhood ; and the tremour of the earth.lasted three Or. four
seconds of time. It was felt more along the western shore of
Portsmouth harbour than in the town, and at Forton, and it
was alio felt in Portsmouth Dockyard, flayling Island, Por-
chester, and at other !daces along the southern side of Ports_
down Hill. The shock induced many persons ,to gq up, but
there was no repetition of it here. Light pendant thinp, as
bird-cages, &c., oscillated, doors and window-shin my opinion, referribwindow-shutters, shook,
bedsteads hove up a little, and house-bells. were rung
dits;ring the 'preceding afternoon • the
. by the
shock. These are a few of its effects, and the most rational
of
and highly charged with the electric fluid,
erierasa
heavy,le to an
tunder storm to the northward of this place
electricaltdhisecipmbregtelo;mefonia.
and clouds
theell;
i: , h
t ien
temperatureconsequence
of of
wthelastthat,l_l,,Naetreyrdtzedof
weather
the
since
earth is now higher than it has been since the year 1922."
e
The convulsive motion of the earth deicribed by Dr. Burney
was felt in this town, as well as other places westward of
Chichester, in the samo d ogres as it was on Thursday monslng
early, the 23d of January last.--Hampshire TekraPA•