The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-20 00:00:00

DUBLIN-Au*. 17.

There was a very excited feeling in our market to-day,
the weather having been wet and cold since Tuesday. The
supply of farmers' grain was small, and easily cleared off.
Wheat is to is 6d advance ; oats 6d to 9d par barrel higher.
Indien. coin also 6d to is dearer.
s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.
Wheat, white.. 33 0t036 0 I Do., new —o to --0
Do., red 3l oto 33 0 Bare l4 6to 16 0
Do., new .... oto 0 Rapeseed
Barley
Oats
Do., black l5 oto 15 6 Indian corn .. 37 oto 39 6

THE M.AILS.

MAILS DUE.

Australia, Ceylon, and Mauritius (vla South-
ampton) .. .. • • .. .. Sept. 18.
Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 12.
Bahamas and Havana (via New York) .. Aug. 30.
Canada, &c. (via Liverpool) .. .. Aug. 22.
Cape of Good Hope, &c. .. Sept. 1.
China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) Sept. 1.
Do. (via Marseilles) Aug. 26.
Gibraltar (via Southampton) .. .. Aug. 25.
India (Calcutta), Ceylon, &c. (via Southampton) Sept. 1.
Do. (via Marseilles) Aug. 26.
India (Bombay), (via Southampton) .. .. Aug. 25.
Do. (via Marseilles) Aug. 19.
Lisbon, Brazils, Buenos Ayres, &c. .. Sept. 5.
Malta, Egypt, and Aden (via Southampton) .. Aug. 25.
Do. (via Marseilles) .. Aug. 19.
Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto Aug.2l.
United States, California, &c. .. Aug. 22.
Western Coast of Atrica, Madeira, Teneriffe .. Sept. 10.
West Indies and Pacific, Carthagena, Cuba, &c. Aug. 28.

BENEFICES AIGMENTED.—On Saturday a return
to the House of Commons was issued, showing that up to
the 31st October last. 249 benefices were augmented, at
£241,977 • and 1,178 others, at an annual grant of
£90,079 11x. 4d.
REMOVAL OF THE EAST INDIA BOARD.—The
work of removing from the old India House to the Victoria
Hotel, in Westminster, will commence on the Ist of Sep-
tember. The rent to be paid for tho portion of the hotel to
be occupied by the various offices is £6,000, in addition to
one-half of the rates and taxes. In consequence of recent
alterations in the Government of India the accommodation
required is at present much less than was formerly the case.
The transfer of the accounts to the Bank of England, sad
the payment of the dividend by that establishment, has ren-
dered unnecessary a large portion of the accountant and
audit office. The amalgamation of the Indian with the
Queen's army has transferred the military department to
the Horse Guards, and the management of the smalllndian
navy will in future be carded on at the old stores of the
Company. Nothing is yet known as to what ie intended
with respect to the Museum. The furniture for the new
offices at the hotel, with the exception of the carpets, which
are to be provided by the Company, will be supplied from
the present India House. The cost of the removal will be
£6,000, and the upholstery work has been undertaken by a
firm in the city, under the superintendence of Mr. Digby
Wyatt, the clerk of the works to the Indian Council.
FUMBLING OF SPIRIT HANDS.—We now returned
to the larger table, for the purpose of being touched by
ti spirit hands. " The first person selected by Mrs. Mar-
shall as the subject of this manifestation was a lady seated
close to herself. A long pause ensuing, and nothing ap-
pearing to take place, Mrs. Marshall suddenly exclaimed,
" You'll feel them immediately, ma'am, they're a-pulling at
my legs." Directly after which the lady in question cer-
tainly did feel something pulling at her legs. A sceptic
might be inclined to surmise that the younger medium hav-
ing in the first instance made a mistake, her aunt took this
means of setting her right and directing the instrument
with which she was operating under a table little further to
the left. However this might be, I now requested the
niece to favour me by leaving her seat for a short time, in
order that we might feel the " spirit hands" without any
suspicion of collusion on her part. This, I added, would no
doubt be more satisfactory to her as well as to ourselves.
She declined to do this. After which the reader will not
be surprised to learn that several persons felt something
tugging at their legs and feet, every one of these being in
the immediate vicinity of the younger medium, and no effect
of the kind being once produced upon those seated at a little
distance.—Once a Week.
ARMSTRONG v. MARTELLo.—Although a notice
has appeared in The Sun of the experiments recently made
on a Martello tower at Eastbourne, to test the efficacy of
the larger descriptions of the Armstrong gun for breaching,
so much curiosity prevails on the subject, and the results
attained were so important, that we find room for some fur-
ther particulars. The Martello tower selected as the object
to be fired at was one which the sea was gradually under-
mining, and the guns employed were a 40-pounder of 31
cwt., an 80 pounder of 63 cwt., and a short 100-pounder,
weihing only 53 cwt. The distance was 1,032 yards, and
the projectiles employed were partly solid shot and partly
percussion shells. The tower was built of very strong brick-
work, the thickness of the walls being 7ft. 3in. on the land
side, and 9ft. on the side next the sea. It measured 48ft.
in diameter at the base, and was upwards of 30ft. high.
Like all other Martello towers, it was arranged to carry one
heavy gun en barbette. The roof or platform bearing this
gun consisted of a massive vault of great strength, sup-
ported by the walls and by a solid pillar of brickwork oc-
cupying the centre of the tower. The chief merit which
has been claimed for Martello towers is that, from their cir-
cular form, they deflect all shot which strike them in the
curve; but the accuracy of rifled guns has rendered this
advantage of small importance, while the exposed condition
of the gun on the top would render it entirely useless
agairist arms of precision. The experiments commenced by
a few rounds of solid shot from the 40-pounder and the 80-
pounder, and of blind shells from the 100 Tounder, the ob-
. pet being to ascertain the penetration of these various pro-
jectiles. The 80. pounder shot was found to pass quite
through the wall into the tower, piercing 7ft. 3in. of brick
work ; the others lodged in the wall at the depth of about
5 feet. Live shells were then fired, and with so much effect
that after 8 or 10 rounds from each gun the interior of the
tower became exposed to view. The !ring was then sus-
pended to enable his Royal Highness the Commander-in-
Chief, who was present, to examine the breach, and also
to allow of the execution of a photograph. The fire was
resumed in the evening, and continued at intorvvals on the
following day. The centre pillar supporting the bomb-
proof roof was speedily knocked away, but the structure
was so compact that the vault continued to stand, and was
only brought down by a succession of shells exploded in the
brickwork. Nothing could exceed the precision with which
those shells were thrown. The broken section of the vault
was itself but a small object to hit, but this was done with
sack unerring certainty that the very spot selected was al-
most invariably struck. The total number of shot and
shell fired against the tower was 170, of which only a small
proportion was from the 100-pounder. The ultimate result
was that the land-side of the tower was completely de-
stroyed, and the interior space filled with the debris of the
vaulted roof. The opposite side was also injured, but the
mound of fallen materials saved it from destruction. We
may infer from these valuable experiments that no species
of masonry or brickwork penetrable by percussion shells
will in future be available in fortification. Nor is it con-
ceivable how wooden ships are to withstand the effects of
such projectiles. The 100-pounder gun used on this occa-
sion is probably the most formidable weapon ever yet pro-
duced. Its shell, which weighs 1001 b., contains Sib. of
powder, aid yet the weight of the gun with which this tre-
' mendous projectile is discharged is less than that of the or-
, dinary 32-pounder, the weight of which is 66 cwt.