The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-30 00:00:00

An agrarian outrage is reported from Ballycastle,
County Mayo. On Friday night Miss Harriett
Gardiner, a lady who has considerable property in
the neighbourhood, was fired at while sitting iu
her own kitchen, and received seven or eight
slugs in the head. There were two servants sitting
near her at the time, and it is supposed that if they
had not been present she would have been shot
dead. She expected to recover. The attempt
upon her life is attrihuted to her having ejected
some tenants and served notic.s to quit upon others.
Mr. MaeGate', who has a large property in the
County Antrim, ha 3 adopted a ciurse whie4 hi::
tenantry say would, if it were generally followed,
remove all necessity for legislation on the Laud
Qui sdnn. lie writes :—" I have instructed my
agent, Mr. Nelson, to make known to my tenantry
that I will grant them leases of 21 yeais at their
present rents." It need not be told with how much
satisfaction this announcement was received.

NA L A1V1) MILI7AIII. EVIELLIGENCL

The Volage, unarmed iron-built screw corvette,
8 guns, 2,322 tons, GOO-horse power, made her
Channel trial of six hours' continuous steaming at
full power yesterday, off the Isle of Wight, under
the superintendence of the officials of Portsmouth
Dockyard, Reserve, and Factory, and attained an
unprecedented amount of success, her mean rate of
speed for the six hours having exceeded the rate
she attained on her trial over the measured mile in
Stokes Bay, her mean speed on the latter occasion
having been 15 07 knots per hour, whereas yester-
day her six hours' Channel steaming gave her a
mean rate of 15 38 knots. The Volage slipped her
moorings in Portsmouth harbour yesterday morn-
ing as early as 7 o'clock, and soon afterwards was
steaming out through the harbour channel for the
o;-.en waters of the Channel south of the Isle of
Wight. At 830 . a.m., she being then. in a good
position off the cast end of the Isle of Wight, San-
down Bay opening out on the starboard beam clear
of the Culver cliffs, a start was made for the six
hours' trial on a course S.W., the ship being weighted
down to her load line draught of water 16ft. bin'
forward and 21ft. 6in. aft. The wind was quite
moderate (ranging not above 3 at the time of start-
ing) from about west, and therefore on the ship's
weather bow. The steam was barely at its best at
the time of starting, the gauge showing but 251 b
pressure, and the revolutions of the engines, con-
sequently, were at 74 per minute, their considered
maximum rate being 80. Three hours were spent
in steaming from off the land on the S.W. course,
and the remaining three in steaming back N.E. to-
wards the Culvers again. Observations were taken
every half hour in the engine room, and these gave
the subjoined figures, taken from the indicator
cards, iu the more important results of the trial :-
9 a.m.—Steam pressure, 2711 a ; vacuum, 26 sin
and 26in ; revolutions of engines, per minute,
77 8'; per half hour, 2,335. 9.3o.—Steen pres-
sure, 281 b; vacuum, 25 sin and 25 Tin; revolu-
tions' of engines, per minute, 79 ; per half hour,
2,335. 10 a.m.—Steam pressure, 26 51b ; vacuum,
25 sin and 26in ; revolutions of engines, per
minute, 77 5 ; per half hour, 2,286. 10.30
a.m.—Stearn pressure, 25 51b ; vaccuw, 27 7in
and 26in ; revolutions of engines, per mi-
nute, 76 ; per half hour, 2,253. Fires cleaned
during this half-hour, and the steam lowered in
consequence. 11 a.m.—Steam pressure 271 b;
vacuum, 25 sin ; revolutions of engines, per mi-
nute, 77 6 ; per half-hour, 2,326. 11 30' a.m.—
Steam pressure, 27ib ; vacuum, 25in and 26in ; re-
volutions of engines, per minute, 78 ; per half-
hour, 2,353. The last two half-hour returns give
a marked increase in developed power by the en-
gines, and illustrate much more clearly than any
words could do the splendid manner in which Penn's
machinery was now working. The ship had reached
a distance of 41 9 knots on a S.W. course from her
starting point off the east end of Sandown. Bay,
with 1;3,868 revolutions of her engines, and, as the
first half of the trial was now concluded, the course
was reversed for a north-easterly one in three hours'
back steaming for the Culvers. The ship had ma-
terially felt the opposing influence to her speed of
the wind on her bt aboard bow in steaming off
from the land, as she did also the light swell raised
by the wind. Returning back for the land, these
conditions of win 1 and sea necessarily became
altered, and the result of this new order of things-
was that both the ship and her engines moved
at a greater speed than before. The following
returns give the half-hourly figures obtained
in the three hours' run b.ick for the Culvers :-12
Nom—Steam pressure, 281 b. ; vacuum, 25in and
25 Sin ; revolutions of engines, per minute, 80 9 ;
per half-hour, 2,427. 12 30 p.m.—Stearn pressure,
281 b ; vacuum, 26in ; revolutions of engines, per
minute, 80 5 ; per half-hour, 2,417. 1 p.rn..—Steam
power, 28 51b; vacuum, 26in; revolutions of engines,
per minute, 81 6 ; per half-hour, 2,419. 130 p.m.—
Steam pressure, 28 51b ; vacuum. 25 sin and 26in ;
revolutions of engines, per minute, 81 6 ; per half-
hour, 2,449. 2 p.m.—Steam pressure, 28 51b ;
vacuum, 26in ; revolutions of engines, per minute,
81 ; per half-hour, 2,430. 230 p.m. —Steam pres-
sure, 27 51b; vacuum, 26in and 25 sin ; revolutions
of engines, per minute, 80 9 ; per half-hour, 2,419.
Total number of revolutions made by the engines
during the six hours, 28,478 mean horse-power
indicated during the six hours, 4,504 10 ; mean
speed of the ship during the six hours, 15 38 knots ;
coal burnt during the six hours, 42 tons 6 cwt.
7 tons 1 cwt. per hour, or at the rate of 3 51b per
horse power indicated. Here was sufficient evidence
of good stoking, and to this fact is due in no
slight degree the enormous power developed by the
engines and the excess of speed gained by the
ship beyond her measured mile rate. At the same
time, it must be admitted that, with less efficient
machinery and a vessel of inferior form, no amount
of stoking would have made engines develope such
an enormous power, or have given the ship such an
exceptionally high rate of speed through six hours'
continuous steaming. The temperature in the stoke-
hole was high, in one portion registering, as a
maximum, 132 deg. After the trial the Volage
returned into Portsmouth harbour.

The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Capt. G. A P. Price, to
the Princess Charlotte, and to hoist his pendant of
a Commodore of the second class, as naval officer
in charge of the naval establishment at Hong-
kong, vice Capt. Oliva J. Jones, whose period of
service has expired; Lieut. William Parsons and
Lieut. Lenox Napier, to the Pallas, commissioned ;
Lieut. Wm. Vicary, Lieut. Wm. L. Martin, and
Lieut. Arthur IL polder°, to the Wivern, commis-
sioned.