The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-01 00:00:00

DEFENCE OF PORTS.3IOIiTIL

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—Vice-Admiral Sir G. Sartorius, in his letter
to the Times of the 24th inst., exactly reverses the
views of the late sub-committee, which he errone-
ously styles the sub-committee on "National 1)e-
-fences," and he mistakes " what the Government
wished to know from them."
He implies that " a recommendation was made
that a complicated work of booms, chains, nets, and
innumerable anchors should be spread over so large
a space as Spithead at a cost of £500,000, like a
net for catching tunny fish;" and he expatiates on
the difficulty of keeping all this cumbrous compli-
cation in working order in winter and storm, and on
the enormous inconvenience of embarrassing this
important roadstead with all this mass of materials.
So far were the committee from recommending
anything of the kind for even the passages
ooif a
head, that after dwelling on the enormousNMan's
cost Sp
of
floating barrier between the Horse and
Ladwena
thsehr otaol s thoi
eehn
iatb
ve int l
dt obwe
11
ea ntde
dt
tehset r esstsa of
of
that at high water there w
for the largest vessels
ou d ;till be aybroad.
slua.bnshdA
uwehnitclhy
passage of sufficient depthi
between
wouldreenadcher otfhtehebabrhr7earsuasneldes.sth;e
caciously employ
their report statesed for passage that such baorfrimerosdmeriagtethrbeeaedt
and exposure to the sea.
Again, Sir G. Sartorius says :
" It seems to have escaped the attention of the commit-
tee theatththeien sbiymple remedy against shot-proof vessels is to
the same kind of vessels. As these would
oppose
osnstructed for harbour protection alone, they could be
made more powerful and handy than those of the enemy."
Now, the committee actually state thshato_eavy guns
the
aNe
greater,
a
portion of the vessels employed as a local force (and
cga)rry h
speedwh ich
othey o t arele accusedss than
loot' ignoriri
knots,
protected by 41,- inch iron plates, be of at least 2-, 000
tons, old measurement, and. have sufficient momen-
tum and strength to render them effectual for
running into vessels.

It May by some be supposed that Sir G. Sar-
torius must have read the committee's report, and
then dreamt that the suggestions were his own ;
but how he could have imagined that be and they
had arrived at opposite conclusions, while adopting
their very arguments, cannot thus be accounted for.
This enigma—and not the views of the committee
—must henceforth be placed " amid all the incon-
gruities so abundantly occurring during and since
the Russian war in public matters, particularly in
military or naval matters," and which have " ex-
cited the smiles" of the gallant officer.
Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Maitland, the chair-
man of the committee referred to, is now in com-
mand of the Pacific station. In behalf of him and
his .olleagues I trust to your usual fairness for the
insertion of this communication.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
G. GCAapßtDaliNnEsßonFthlSeticßoOmUßmNitEt,eeS e
London, Oct. 31.
referredof tt oh.e

............ ___
REPRESENTATION OF DARTMOUTII.—The writ
for the election of a member of Parliament to fill tho
vacancy created by the death of the late member for the
borough of Dartmouth, Hardness, and Kingswear was re-
ceived in the borough on Sunday, and proclaimed in due
. The Mayor has fixed the nomi-
form on the following da ,
and as there will most probably bo
nation for Friday nextwill take place on Saturday. The
a contest, the polling
candidates are John Ilardy,(Conservative), Mr. J. Cur-
candidates
(Liberal), and 31r. Charles Seals Hayno (Liberal).
LONDoN, CIIATIIAM, AND DOVER RAILWAY.
company's Western Extension '
Yesterday this
connect the Victoria Station with the Strood Roches-
will
ter, Chatham, Faversham, Canterbury, and Dover,,
opened. A large party was
privately went over the line
as Chatham, and returned to the Crystal P l as far
dinner was given by. Sir Morton Pete, Bar a,
acei
where a
i, Died by the visitation of God," t.
3'l'
).
of a Catekill (N. Y.) coroner's jury, lvas the verdict
the body of a woman who, with the ,
help after an inquest on
drank a gallon and a half of whisky
in one day,