The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 29, 1860.

you this mark of approbation, and I trust that this
corps may king flourish, confident as I am that the
zeal and patriotism of its members will never be
found wanting, whatever services it may be called
upon to perform." Capt. Streatfeild, in replying,
said "he was sure, if ever the bugle should sound
the assembly of the corps in defence of their coun-
try, there was not a man connected with it who would
not come forward. Its presentation by a lady who
bore a name dear to every soldier, and herself a gal-
lant soldier's daughtmwould render it still more dear
to the corps." Three cheers were given for " the
ladies;" and after some skirmishing practice, the men
marched back to Tont:Ridge.
A rifle association, to be called the County of
Lancaster Rifle Association, is in course of forma-
tion, which will include among its supporters the
leading men—noblemen and gentlemen—of the
county, with the Earl of Sefton, Lord Lieutenant
of the county, as president of the society. The
object will be to provide if possible a practice
ground in the centre of the county, to be open to
all volunteers belonging to Lancashire ; to have
an annual meeting, at which prizes will be given
for the best shooting, and in every way to encou-
rage volunteers to acquire and become proficient in
the use of the rifle.
A rifle corps has been established at \Vantage,
which now numbers 86 effective members. This
little town has therefore distinguished itself by
raising a larger corps in proportion to the number
of its inhabitants than any other town in Berkshire.
The members have elected for captain Mr. E. M.
Atkins, of Kingston Lisle-park ; for lieutenant, Mr.
E. R. Hayward, of Charlton-house; and for ensign,
Mr. P. Parr, of Benham's-house. The ceremony of
enrolment took place on Monday last before Mr. C.
J. Eyston and the Rev. J. F. Collins. After the
enrolment the members of the corps, preceded by
their band, marched to Lockinge-park, the seat of
the gallant colonel of the Berkshire Regiment
(Col. Loyd Lindsay, V.C.), and upon their return
sat down to an excellent dinner, provided at the
expense of the officers of the company, at the Town
Hall. Col. Lindsay and several of the neighbour-
ing clergy and gentry honoured the corps with
their presence at dinner, and in the course of the
evening the gallant colonel complimented the
members upon their soldierlike appearance, and
expressed his trust that the `Vantage company
would prove itself second to none in the county
for attention to its duties and general efficiency.

the present state of the case, iron-cased ships will
be calculated for home service only ; indeed, our
largest line-of-battle ships, as it is, have seldom
been sent to any great distance from home. No
three-decker ever yet went round the Cape, and no
iron-sided Colossus is likely to take that voyage.
It follows, therefore, that our foreign and colonial
service must still be performed by old-fashioned
vessels, but it does not follow that those vessels
may not be rendered less vulnerable than they are
by a judicious application of iron-plating. Perhaps,
as the lightest craft carry a heavy gun, so the most
nimble cruiser may have her cuirass to suit.
We can only repeat, in conclusion, that what we
suggested in the way of reassurance has been en-
tirely borne out by the revelations of the contro-
versy. The new ships are likely to be more expensive
than was originally supposed, and the richest nation
will therefore have an advantage in constructing
them. On this point we can add some authentic
information. We believe the actual cost of the
largest class of iron cased ships will be about
£350,000, or, according to the old method of reckon-
ing, £lO,OOO a gun. This is a prodigious charge—
in fact, it is double that of our finest three-deckers.
Iron, however, will not decay like wood, and—
what is of far greater importance-36 guns can be
worked with less than half the crew required for
130. An element, again, of the greatest conse-
quence in the question is that of speed, and it is be-
yond any doubt that we can manufacture the best
engines, and that we possess the most valuable
fuel. To be brief, we must needs conclude that our
old naval superiority has been kept absolutely
within our grasp by a discovery which gives us
every point in our favour. The new invention
offers the sovereignty of the seas to the nation
which can work best in iron, provide the best en-
gineers, and supply the largest funds for keeping
batteries afloat. If any nation can beat us in a
race so regulated we shall richly deserve our defeat.
Times.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

CEYLON.

The report of the directors of this company states
that the result of the proceedings at the extraordi-
nary general meeting of the 23d of July last had
been communicated to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies, and by him forwarded to Ceylon.
Mr. Hawkshaw's report had been received in Cey-
lon, and presented to the Legislative Council by the
Lieutenant-Governor, with an intimation that no
action would be taken upon it until the arrival of
the new Governor, Sir C. M'Carthy, who before
his departure from this country, it was understood,
had made himself completely master of the subject,
and would, no doubt, be prepared to deal with it
impartially in the interests of the colony and the
company. It would, in all probability, be the end
of the year before the views of the Ceylon Govern-
ment could be ascertained, when they would be
communicated to the proprietors. In consequence
of the uncertainty attending the future proceedings
of the company, the operations of the past year had
necessarily been limited. By last advices from
Ceylon, the directors were informed that with the
concurrence of the Government, all the works,
except those on the Lake road, had been stopped ;
that considerable reductions in the police and
medical establishments had been effected, and that
the staff were employed on surveys. At the last
audit the Ceylon accounts could not be passed
owing to the absence of vouchers ; and, at the re-
peated representations of the directors, the local
Government had consented to audit the accounts
on the spot from the beginning. The Auditor-
General was engaged upon them, and the directors
had hoped to present them to the meeting officially
verified ; but, at the date of the last advices, the
accounts for 1859 only were then under inves-
tigation.
Mr. G. L. Molesworth, the acting chief resident
engineer, stated in his report that he had agreed
with the Government controlling engineer to con-
tinue the works during the past year with a force
of only about 1,500 men. During the spring he
had applied to Government to increase that num-
ber, in order that those works might be executed
during the dry season which lay in districts flooded
during the greater part of the year. The quantity
of earthwork done during the year amounted to
295,173 cubic yards, the cost varying from 111 d.
per cubic yard in high embankments formed from
side cutting, where the lead had been long and the
baling of surface water expensive, to 31d. per cubic
yard where the cost of each cubic yard had been
divided by embankment having been formed from
cutting by means of earth-waggons. The earth-
works from Colombo to Gallihitiavo, 131 miles
from Colombo, were far advanced, and the worst
portions of the flooded district had been success-
fully crossed. The amount of work done in sur-
veys during the year was, 48 miles of traverse sur-
veys, 57 miles of sections, '7l-- miles of line set out
permanently, 40 mtle of eztimatea, and 012 ernes
sections. The capital account to the 30th of June
showed that £294,221 had been received in London,
and L 96,377 expended, leaving a balance unex-
pended of £194,144.

TEE STEPNEY MURDER.

It is rather a curious fact that the prisoner enter-
tained, or pretended to do so, a conviction that he
would surely be acquitted of? the charge, and that
it was at his own urgent request that the trial took
place at the recent session, as he said he was tired
of being in prison, and wanted to get out. His
learned counsel, Mr. Best, was extremely desirous
that the trial should be postponed to the next ses-
sion, as it would have given an opportunity for the
excitement that had been created in the public
mind to cool down, and there is no doubt, if an
application [to that effect had been made to the
judges, that it would have been complied with,
and, indeed, it is generally the rule in all these
serious cases, not to try the prisoner at the same
sessions that the bill is found by the grand jury.
Mr. Wood, Mullins's solicitor, it seems, suggested
to the prisoner that this course should be taken,
but he objected to it, and it was at his own earnest
desire that the trial was brought on. For a short
time after the conclusion of the trial, the prisoner
exhibited a good deal of excitement, and asserted
that he was innocent of the crime of which he had
been convicted, but since then he has become quite
calm, and apparently resigned, and evidently feels
the fearful position in which he is placed. The pri-
soner and all his family are Roman Catholics, but
it appears that before his trial be made no objec-
tion to attend Divine service in the chapel of the
prison, and listened with apperent attention to the
exhortations of the Rev. Mr. Davis, the ordinary.
On Saturday, however, he expressed to Mr. Jonas,
the governor of Newgate, a desire to see a priest of
his own communion, and that gentlemen imme-
diately sent a communication to the Moorfields
Catholic Chapel to that effect, and since then the
prisoner has been v;sited by a Roman Catholic
priest, and he will be permitted to have access to
him whenever he pleases, during the interval that
will elapse before his execution, which will take
place on Monday, the 12th of IVovember. It is
not likely, even if the prisoner should make a
confession, that the real circumstances under which
poor old Mrs. Emsley was brutally murdered,
will ever be fully made known to the public, as
a statement of such a nature made to a Roman
Catholic priest is considered as given under the seal
of confession, and therefore sacred, and would not,
under any circumstances, be divulged by the party
'0 whom it was made.

THE CONVICT MuLmNs.

The career of this nefarious villain, who has been
justly convicted by a jury of his country of the
crime of wilful murder, has been most extraordinary.
He was mixed up with the prosecution of Ribbon-
men in Ireland while he was attached to the Irish
Constabulary, and acted the part of spy, informer,
and witness on several occasions. Twice he nar-
rowly escaped assassination by. Ribbon conspirators.
While he was in. the K division of the metropolitan
police, he was constantly intriguing and getting
other constables and sergeants into trouble, and was
a very mischievous fellow. While he was offic-l_at-
ing as sergeant he was very unpopular with the men
under his control, and was very officious and very
arrogant.
For several years after the opening of the Black-
wall Railway the metropolitan police did duty en
that line, and. Muffins, who was then a sergeant,
was appointed to look after the police-constables
selected to do duty at the various stations between
Blackwall and Fenchurch-street, and apartments
were assigned to him in a house belonging to the
railway com pang in London-street, Fenchurch-
street., In the same house lived another Irishman,
named Dempsey, a constable in the K division, and
a railway guard named Rutherford. At that time
the carriages on the Blackwall Railway were pro-
pelled by means of wire ropes attached to enormous
wheels set in motion by stationary engines at each
end of the line. A carriage for each station was
attached to this wire rope, and cast off from it
while the train was in motion on nearing the sta-
tion to which it belonged, and where it was to
stop. It happened that the guard (Rutherford)
had made a complaint to the secretary of the com-
pany of the dirty habits of Mullins and his family,
and their general disorderly conchict. This came
to the knowledge of Mullins, and he declared
tliat he would have a word or two with Ruther-
ford the first time he met with him ; in other
words, Mullins, who was a person of very quarrel-
some disposition when offended, determined to have
a row with him. For that purpose he got upon a
Poplar carriage one Wednesday afternoon when the
full train started from Fenchurch-street. Ruther-
ford was on the West India-dock station carriage,
and after the train had passed Limehouse Cnurch,
he took off the coupling irons to detach the carriage
he was upon from the others. The carriage had no
sooner been detached from the others than Mullins
discovered the mistake he had committed. He was
upon the wrong carriage, and made au attempt to
step from the Poplar to the West India-dock car-
riage. In doing so he fell upon the line. The
wheels of the carriage Rutherford was upon went
over his knee. He was severely injured, and when
assistance was obtained he was insensible. He was
taken to the London Hospital, where he remained
under medical treatment for three months: On his
recovery he again joined the police force, and re-
sumed his old position on the Blackwall railway.
One night he presented himself at the station-house
of the sub-division in Shadwell, with his clothes
torn, marks of violence on his person, and apparently
exhausted, and stated that as he was walking down
the railway after the trains had ceased running, he
saw three burglars attempting to break into the
rear of a house in Brunswick-terrace, Stepney, and
that he went down stairs at the station, took the
burglars by surprise, and attempted to capture
them, on which they attacked him, and after beat-
ing him in a brutal manner, disabled him. This
story obtained credence from his superiors, and
was not contradicted by those who knew it to be
a fabrication, because they were glad to relieve
the force of Mullins at any price, and soon after-
wards he was superannuated upon a pension of
£35 a year. He obtained employment through the
influence of one of his countrymen on the South-
' Eastern line, and immediately commenced a
I system of plunder which terminated in his con-
' viction and a sentence of six years' penal servitude.
On his discharge as a ticket-of-leave convict he ob-
i tained employment from Mrs. Emsley as bricklayer
I and plasterer, and was almost constantly engaged
I in executing repairs in one or other of her mime-
' rows houses until he committed the barbarous mur-
-12 i der for which he is doomed to forfeit his life.