The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-01 00:00:00

A "RIBBON" WARNING.

Tho Ribbonmen of Ulster have posted a "proclamation"
on chapel doors and walls in the county of Cavan which has
caused some ale.rm in the district. It runs thus:—
"Whereas it has come to our knowledge that several Catho-
lics are in the custo%e of having their work done by Protestant
millers, artificers, and others ; we do hereby give notice
to such parties, and all others concerned, that we have
cognizance of the abuse ; and, as it is punishable
in no other court but ours, we do distinctly charge our
officers to report the names of all Catholics who go to
William Matchell's mill, of Killyconnell, near Stradone,
to have their work done there, ,)r any other artificer or trades-
man, in order that we may define the amount of punishment;
and we have given orders to disperse this our proclamation,
in order that no Catholic may plead ignorant of our will
and command. We further give notice to all heretieks
of every denomination, and damned Orangemen, that we
have given orders, should they transgress our laws, that we
will consume them by night in their houses. Remember
Wild Goose Lodge and Scullabogue Barn, and tremble.
Done at our Council Chamber, 20th Nov., '69."

MR. CHILDERS AND THE NAVAL

ORDNANCE.

The visit of Mr. Childers during the past week to the
Whitworth Gun Manufactory at Manchester certainly
appears (says the Times) to lend some confirmation to the
rumour obtained to a certain extent in the navy, that
the First Lord of the Admiralty is not quite sowell satisfied
with the present ordnance and their projectiles, mounted
on the decks of our most recently commissioned iron-
clads, as may generally be supposed. If the First
Lord really entertains any doubts as to the efficiency
of our present rifled naval gun and its projectile as an
armour destroying power in any future action between
the ships of this and any other country at sea, he is not
at all singular in that respect. For some time past a
feeling has been growing up among naval officers and
others acquainted with the subject that, as we increased
the size of our naval ordnance to 12, 18, 25, and now to
30 tons weight, we were drifting rapidly into a state of
things that as yet was not by any means clearly defined
or understood, but which it was just possible might
be attended by two primary conditions that should render
the guns of our ships practically harmless against an
enemy's armour. The two conditions that threaten the
efficiency of the artillery of the navy are-1, the acknow-
ledged weakness of the gun itself, and its incapability to
withstand the burning of very largely increased powder
charges; and, 2, the defective properties of the projectiles
and their brittleness. The weakness of the guns has
been officially acknowledged by the order to give the
turret guns for the new ship, the Devastation, five tons
weight of metal each in excess of the Monarch, although
the guns of each ship will be of the same calibre, and
will throw the same weight of projectile. The defects of
the ogival-headed projectile are known and admitted
beyond all dispute. As, therefore, it is equally beyond
dispute that all naval actions in future will- be fought, not
muzzle to muzzle or with each pegging away at the
thickest part of his enemy's armour and opposed to
a concentrated fire from his heaviest guns, but as far as
may be possible on obtuse angles and with the shot striking
obliquely, where lies the fighting value of the ogival-
headed projectile? If it strikes the side of an armoured
ship obliquely—as in the firing at the turret of the Royal
Sovereign—it flies off at an opposite angle to that of its
flight from the mouth of the gun to the ship's side for it
has no " bite," or it breaks up in into a thousand pieces.
It has made good penetration into and through plat-
ing and targets, but with such work done by it
the gun has been fired at right angles with the plate
pierced,and then the cone-headed form of the shot enabled
the latter to " shoulder " its way through. There is no
record of oblique firing at armour plates or plated
targets with the present naval gun, nor does there
appear to be any record in existence, at the Admiralty
or elsewhere, of the question having been closely
considered in its application to ironclad fleets of the
present day. It is to be hoped, adds the Times, that
Mr. Childers will, in this instance of the guns and their
projectiles for her Majesty's ironclads, act as he has done
in other instances at Whitehall—see into the matter per-
sonally, and form his opinions independently of any
interested advice, however vehemently it may be tendered.
The subject is one of such vital interest to the efficiency
of the navy that no neglect or compromising measures can
ever hide it from public sight.

The Berlin Society for the Study of Modern
Languages has elected the celebrated Leipsic publisher,
Baron Bernhard von Tauchnitz, an honorary member, in
consideration of the eminent service rendered to the
students of English literature on the Continent by the
publication of his "Collection of British Authors."

An information was sworn, a day or two since, be-
fore Mr. S. Hanna, resident magistrate in Bray, by Mrs.
Pennefather, owner, to a considerable extent, of landed
property in the county of Tipperary, to the effect that she
had received an anonymous threatening letter from the
locality in which her property was situated, declaring that
"if her agent" residing there " did not decrease the rents
on her estate, he would get an increase, not of money, but
of bullets."

COMPLIMENTS AT A TRYING TIME.—The Empe-
ror of Austria and his suite had a very rough experience
of the sea in the Archipelago during their recent Eastern
tour. A correspondent of the Triester Zeitung says
that though most of the passengers were sea-sick, the
Emperor himself did not suffer, and signalled to
the Elizabeth, asking who on board was ill. " The Chan-
cellor (Count Beust) "and Hofman" (the Director
of the Chancellery), was the reply. " Express my
sympathy for the patients," his Majesty rejoined. The
wind next day rose into a gale, and Count Beust was
worse than ever. His good-humour, however, did not
abandon him, and he signalled to the Emperor, Ave Cesar,
morityri to salutant ! to which his Majesty instantly
replied, Rejuiescant in pace.

A MAD DOG.—On Saturday night the town of
Derby was in a great state of excitement, owing to the
appearance of a rabid retriever dog, which, running through
the streets, attacked and bit every person it came near. It
is stated that no less than thirty persons, male and
female, were bitten. One man in the Market-place was
attacked by the animal twice ; his shrieks were terrific;
he was afterwards conveyed to the infirmary whither
no less than four other cases had been taken, one of
the patients bein-; in a friLlit7ul state of alarm,
which was considerably increased by knowing that his
father had shortly before died from hydrophobia. It is
stated that the brute had visited Nottingham, killing two
dogs and biting an assistant to Mr. Garton, Market-place.
At Quordon,a village between Loughborough and Leicester,
Mr. Martin, builder, was attacked by the same dog, and so
seriously injured that it was reported at Loughborough on
Monday that he was in a hopeless state of hydrophobia.
Mr. Garton's assistant also lies in a very critical state.
Another person, a woman, was knocked down by the dog
at Loughborough, and a third dog which was bitten was
destroyed on Monday no-sming. The maddened brute
entered Loughborough bfthe Derby-road,and ran straight
through, tiwtorm tcnygli. LcicOtu, . • -