The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-27 00:00:00

- -
THE SERVICES AND THE PRESS.

A non-commissioned officer of Engineers at Chat-
ham invented, or professed to have invented, a new
form of gabion, known as the iron-boind gabion,
and this invention, both as to its intrinsic merits
and its proper paternity, became a subject of great
interest and hot discussion among the non-commis-
sioned officers and men in the Engineer quarters.
Corporal James O'Hanlon, who is reported to us
as being a man of superior intelligence and great
zeal for his profession, took a warm interest in the
controversy, and when at last the discussion reached
its inevitable result—namely, the appearance of
the controversialists in print, the corporal was at
once fixed upon by the authorities as the
man who had committed the dreadful mili-
tary offence of giving the public the benefit
of his practical experience in the making
of gabions. An inquiry was ordered by the offi-
cer in command, and, without, as we are informed,
a ,'-,ft;tle of evidence to prove that Corporal O'Han-
lon hae committed the offence alleged against him,
that „„ „omissioned officer was found guilty,
deprived of his ripes as a corporal, and forthwith
We have been furnished
reduced to the ranks,
with some details respecting; the manner in which
was eni;ducted, the sort of
the court of inquiry
evidence on which reliance was placed, and the
efforts which were used to indue::
Corporal
°Manion to criminate himself, which,- in the
absence of more exact documentary evidence, we
hesitate to publish. All we shall at present do
shall be most earnestly to entreat the Commander-
in-Chief and the Minister for War to call for full
particulars, in older that they may judge for
themselves as to whether this inquiry has been
conducted accordinc, to the rules of the service,
the law of the land,* and the principles of common
justice and English fair play. We shudder
when we read of the iniquities of the Spanish
inquisition, we exclaim against the French mode
of criminal procedure ; but let us take heed that in
this enlightened 19th century, and in this free and
constitutional England, we do not ourselves tole-
rate proceedings which may rival the cruelty of the
one, or outdo the unfairness and injustice of the
other. One would have thought that it would hare
been the delight of any sensible commanding officer
of Engineers to see his men busy discussing gabions
and fascines, and scaling-ladders, and all the
other appurtenances of their important branch
of the service ; but in Chatham it appears
that an entirely different view is taken of
such proceedings, and that if a non-commissioned
officer is anxious
hase
only to be alittle more
than his military brethen, and to be anxious to
give the civilian public:some information on matters
in which they take a very natural interest, and for
which their pockets are made to suffer so severely
in each year's estimates, United Service Gazette.

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PTIOTO9PAPIIIC REPRODUCTION
.OF MSS.

The reproduction of manuscripts by photography
was one of the first applications of Mr. Talbot's
method in the very infancy of the art ; and since
then it has been occasionally practised more or less
without leading to any discovery of interest. A.
curious fact has, nevertheless, .been recently brought
to light—viz., that photography will revive effaced
writings on old parchments. M. Vincent, a mem-
ber of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Let-
tres, a short time ago presented to that body the
first facsimile of a MS. reproduced photographi-
cally by M. Silvy. It was the Sforza manuscript,
the original of which is in the possession of the
Marquis d'Azeglio ; and we need not say that all the
designs and ornaments of this precious work have-
been reproduced with magical fidelity. But the cir-
cumstance which deserves peculiar mention is, that
not only is the copy more legible than the original,
but that certain passages which could not be deci-
phered on the old parchment have been actually re-
vived ; and this was particularly visible on the last
page, where a note, written in German under
the signature, has become both visible and legible,
where there is not a trace of it left on the original.
M. Figuier, who mentions this circumstance in the
Presse, explains it as follows :—" On old parch-
ments, the ink, under the influence of time assumes
a yellowish tint, which often becomes undistin-
guishable from that of the parchment, so that it
cannot be read without the greatest difficulty.
Now, during the photographic process, the brilliant
and polished parts of the parchment reflect light
much better than those where the ink has been
deposited. However colourless it may appear, the
ink has not lost its anti-photogenic qualities, op-
posed to the photogenic ones of the parchment ;
and, thanks to this oppo.:=ition, black characters
may be obtained on the sensitive surface, in return.
'or much paler ones on the original."

.%.,,MO.Ml===l

U NTR Y IIZARt; fiTS.

COLCHESTEIt —Nov. 24..

1a
A fair supply of wheat was brought into tak'rket to-day,
and the condition as bad as ever, with a dull trade, and
prices were 2s under former currenoies for all saunples.
Wheat, white 60s to 68s I licans, Mazagan..4, to 48s
red 44s to 60s I Middle & small 44k' to 50s
Barley 4os to 504 White peas ......48r to 52s
I
Oats 22s to 28s Grey, . 42 4* 486