The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-13 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief
will hold a levee at 1 o'clock on Thursday next.
The following general order has been issued by command
of H.R.H. the Deka of Cambridge :
" H.R.H. the General Commanding-in-Chief is pleased
to approve general officers commanding divisions in Great
Britain, and officers commanding in garrisons not included
in any military district, granting leave of absence to offi-
cers, and furloughs to non-commissioned officers and sol-
diers under the following regulations and restrictions :
" 1. Leave of absence granted under this order to officers
may commence as soon as the half-yearly inspection shall
have been made. Furloughs granted to non-commissioned
officers and soldiers may commence from theist of Novem-
ber.
"'2. These indulgences are to terminate on the 10th of
March next, when, agreeably to her Majesty's regulations,
all officers and soldiers are to be present with their respec-
tive regiments and depots.
"3. One Field Officer, one half of the captains, and one-
half of the subaltern officers, are always to be present.
" 4. No officer, except in the performance of duty, or for
the purpose of joining his regiment, is to quit the United
Kingdom without having first received her Majesty's spe-
cial permission, according to the regulation on that head.
" 5. Officers employed on the recruiting service, or upon
the staff of the ,army, are not to be included in the number
hereby fixed for the constant duty of the regiment or depot.
" 6. The applications for leave for regimental paymasters
and medical officers are to continue to be made in the mode
prescribed in the regulations and orders for the army.
" 7. In cases of short leave of absence being requested by
adjutants, ridingmuters, quartermasters, or veterinary
surgeons of regiments, it will be necessary that a special
report shall be made as to the mode in which their duties
are to be performed during their absence, and that the
commanding officer is satisfied.
" 8 :The proportion of non-commissioned officers, trum-
peters, drummers, and private men to whom furloughs may
be granted is not to exceed ID per troop or company.
" When corps are not stationed in garrisons or military
districts the officers commanding are at liberty tons° their
discretion in granting the indulgence of leave of absence,
under the foregoing restrictions, to the officers and soldiers
ender their command, reporting the same to the Adjutant-
General. His Royal Highness expects that the General and
other officers who are empowered to grant leave of absence
under the provisions of this order will strictly confine that
grant to the proportion of officers herein specified.
" By order of his Royal Highness the General Command-
ing-in-Chief.
" G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant-General."
The authorities-of the Board of Ordnance, with the view
of obtaining the best description of pontoon for use in the
service, have directed a series of trials to be made at Chat-
ham by the troops belonging to the Royal Sappers and
Miners of several new kinds of pontoons, each of which is
alleged by the inventors to be an improvement on the pre-
sent pontoons in use by the Royal Engineers, which are
the invention of Major-Gen. T. Blanshard, C. 8., Royal
Engineers. 'The last invention of this kind which has been
tried at Chatham is a pontoon which has been brought
under the notice of the Ordnance authorities by Mr. J.
Forbes, R.E., the inventor. This differs from the present
pontoons in use in the service, which are of a cylindrical
form, while Mr. Forbes's invention consists of a pontoon
entirely different, being equiangular. The trial of the in-
vention took place at St. Mary's-creek, Chatham, in the
presence of Major-Gen. Sir T. Blanshard, Major F. Has-
sard, R.E., Capt. C. E. Cumberland, R.E., and other en-
gineer officers, and the result was considered to bo satis-
factory.
The Authorities at the head-quarters of the Royal Engi-
neers' establishment at Brompton barracks, Chatham, have
given their permission for the formation of evening classes
for the instruction of the non-commissioned officers belong-
ing to the Royal Sappers and Miners in military drawing

and fortification. The classes are under the direction of

Serjeant-Major J. Jones, of the Royal Engineers, and a
number of non-commissioned officers have availed them-
wives of the opportunity of obtaining a knowledge of those
branches of military science.