The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-01 00:00:00

VOLUNTEERS ON THE ➢iARCH.

A correspondent of the Times calls attention to a
fact which ought materially to strengthen the hands
of those who advocate so strenuously the volunteer
movement. He records the travels and adventures
of the 35th West York Rifles in their journey
from York to Dover and back. One hundred
and forty of the corps leaving Keighley on
Saturday last arrived in London late at night. They
were provided with supper and sleeping room at the
headquarters of the Surrey Rifles. But only sleep-
ing room ; they had to rest on straw, the War
Oflice refusing to allow the palliases and blankets
lying in the Stare Department to be used. They had,
therefore, to sleep under canvas begs and such like,
borrowed where they could obtain them. The night
was cold ; andthe men warmed themselvesnext morn-
ing by a march to Westminster Abbey, where they
attended service. They then had their march
through the streets back to the Royal Exchange, and
were dismissed till night. At three o'clock on
Monday morning they were up to go to Dover.
At Dover they stood the rain and cold, and did the
work marked out for them. They returned the same
night to London, slept at the same place as they had
used the two previous nights, and went home to
Keighley on Tuesday morning. From Saturday
afternoon to Tussday afternoon, 72 ' hours,
these men. who were chiefly mechanics, were
absent from their homes. Of this time 22 hours
were spent on railways, 16 hours in sleep. Indepen-
dently of the miles traversed in London and in the
course of the review, they were carried WO miles by
rail. Each man paid his own fare to London, and
lost a day's work. This feat reflects credit both on
volunteers in general and the county from which this
particular corns came. .

THE INAUGURATION BALL•

(From the Washington Correspondence of the Cincinnati Com-
mercial, March 5.)
Instigated by the devil, and persuaded by two
angelic faces, I went to this most beastly exhibition
of all that disfigured the inauguration of General
Grant. Into the narrow corridors and small rooms
of the Treasury was packed to suffocation a crowd
of men and women, pushing, struggling, fainting,
and almost fighting. Over two thousand tickets
had been sold, and each ticket averaged three
people. There were men in swallow-tailed coats,
white chokers, and tight breeches, and women in
all sorts of costumes, of which the bare neck and
arms with immense trails predominated. We
climbed four flights of stairs to the ladies' dress-
ing-rooms and gentlemen's cloak rooms. We
gave—unsuspecting mortals as we were—our
coats and hats to the reconstructed, receiving a
piece of pasteboard, with a number on it, in ex-
change. A dark suspicion crept over my prophetic
soul that I had parted with my coat and tile for
ever. Sandwiched between two lovely females,
I began the descent. A stream of humanity was
rushing up the winding-stair—a stream of humanity
was pouring down ; and, by the watch, it took me
one hour to reach the last step at the bottom. Here
we fell into a tide setting heavily westward, a good
deal agitated by a stream of stout policemen,
cotton-gloved coloured waiters, and some feeble-
, minded young men, with hair parted in the middle,
that made a pretty strong current setting to the
east. For half an hour I and my convoy whirled in
an eddy, caused by a projection at a corner. Escap-
ing from this we fell into mid-stream, and made ste idy
but slow progress. I suppose by morning we might
have reached the end of the corridor, had we not en-
countered a cross sea, made up of the diplomatic
corps and some military pumps, that carried us into
a reception room where the President and family
stood firm. Against these we were dashed with
great violence, made more fearful by a stout man
who bawled out, " Don't shake hands, don't shake
hands," as the President and Vice-President kept
violating this order. I could not understand the
meaning of it, unless the man was the court physi-
cian, and feared we or General Grant would catch
the itch. This was varied by weak females in tight
dresses fainting at intervals of five minutes. And
the character of the officials may be gathered from a
conversation I heard between the husband of a lady
ill from the heat and fatigue, and a functionary. He
had carried her out, and fortunately found a vacant
space in a hall where there was a little fresh air, and
while he held her up some servants passed with chairs.
He made an earnest appeal for one of these, but
the stupid fellows refused. At last he seized one,
and was about seating his wife, when an official
c ime at him, demanding the chair. The poor man
explained, but the fellow replied that he hat his
orders—the chairs were needed for another purpose.
The husband bade his wife sit down, and then said,
"Now, if you take that chair, you must take it
from under my wife, and I hardly think that will
be a healthy proceeding." " You can gain your
purpose in that way," exclaimed the fellow, white
with rage, "but it your wife is sick you had better
take her home." " You are an insolent hourd,"
roared the husband,. " and if you will give