The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-25 00:00:00

ALGERIA.

yesterday publishes the follOw-
The Mani/cur 4.:
Minister of War from
ing report, received by
the Governor-General of Algeria
" ALGIERS, Sept. 19.
" Monsieur le Mar6chal—l have the honour to ;;:form
you that General Jusuf has advanced into the territory
of the Frikat with the column under his orders, rein-
forced by that of General Gastu. The troops, thus
united, were formed into two brigades, the one composed
of two battalions and four companies of the let Regi-
ment of Zouaves, one battalion of the 68th, and of the
18th battalion of Foot Chasseure, under the orders of
General Gastu ; the other, formed of two battalions of
the let Regiment of native Riflemen, commanded by
Colonel Bataille.
"The camp occupied by General Jusuf was dominated
at the east by a high rock, the defence of which was
intrusted to the lst battalion of Riflemen. The lisbyles,
knowing the importance of this commanding position,
attacked it vigorously in the night of the 11th to the
12th, and renewed their attack during the day on the
12th. They were each time vigorously repulsed.
" It was important not to lose time in pressing upon
the enemy, and consequently on the same day, the 12th,
General Jusuf attacked the villages to the north of the
camp with two battalions. They were occupied without
any resistance, although they had a large force in reserve
at hand.

"On the 13th General Gastu made a desoent upon the
villages in the Frikat with five battalions, and caused
the enemy considerable loss. During this operation nu-
merous groups stationed on the surrounding heights
contented themselves with exchanging a few musket-
shots with our troops.
" The Kabyles, believing the camp to be unprotected,
came as on the preceding evening and attacked the post
of the Rocher. They made this third attempt with great
energy, but they were again vigorously repulsed, and
some of our men, led away by their ardour, having left
their entrenchments to pursue the enemy, Col. Battaille
rapidly advanced to the scene of the oombat with fresh
companies. At the same time Colonel Fenelon, at the
head of a squadron of the head of a squadron of the let
Regiment of African Chasseurs and our goums, advanced
upon the line of the enemy's retreat. He took a preci-
pitate flight, concealing himself in the ravines.
" On thel4th Colonel Bataille, with his column, visited
the village of the Frikat, on the confines of the country
of the Beni-Smail. The Kabyles kept up a sharp fire
with our riflemen, and it was only by means of a steady
attack with the bayonet that they u ere repulsed.
" The troops returned to the camp without having
been seriously annoyed. In these combats the enemy
must have suffered considerable loss. On our side we
have to regret three men killed and 24 wounded. Among
the latter are two officers of the 18th battalion of Chas-
seurs, Messieurs Legros and Merie, and in the Ist Re-
gi merit of Rifles, M. Lepretre.
" On the 16th the column marched against the Beni-
Small in the Guechtoulas. General Jusuf thought it
necessary to take up a position in the very heart of the
country, so that he might command the heights of the
villages. The position which he assumed at Mahallet-
Ramdan, above Sidi-Abderahman, perfectly answered
the object he had in view. The Kabyles used every
exertion to prevent the occupation of Mahallet-Ramdan,
but they were forced i a retire before the impetuosity of
our troops, in consequence of the excellent dispositions
taken by General Jusuf, who has addressed to me the
following report :

- .
" ' Mahallet, Sept. 16.
" ' Monsieur le Mardchal,—During yesterday the bri-
gade of General Gastu continued the operations com-
menced on the previous evening by the second brigade.
The losses suffered by the Kabyles had prok.ably discou-
raged them, for they hardly durst show themselves, and
the brigade returned to the camp at three o'clock in the
afternoon, after having accomplished its mission.

" InfOrmed of the arrival of fresh reinforcements
among the Guechtoulas I did not think it right to wait
to give opportunity to the Babyles of repeating their
attacks upon my advanced guards. I determined to
advance against them, and this morning, at half-past 6
o'clock, the Gastu brigade ascended the mountain to
the point which separates the Guechtoulas from the
Ogled-el-Aziz. The Bittaille brigade, at the same time,
took possession of the posts which had been occupied by
the Gasta brigade. The men took a road which was
not so steep, and which they could follow without diffi-
culty under the escort of cavalry. The second brigade
formed the rear guard.

" The column mounted the series of ascents which
separates the Guechtoulas from the Ouled-el-Aziz, and
I learn during the march that there had been a large
armed assemblage upon the plateau of Mahallet Rain-
dan, upon which I wished to establish my bivouac.
This plateau is an excellent strategical position, as it
commands the whole country, as weil to the north a 3
to the south ; but to be established there in security it
was necessary to dislodge the Kabyles, groups of whom
occupied the summits of the rocks to the east. They
had established intrenchnsents of dry stones, behind
which they thought they were sheltered from our attacks.
" As soon as I had reconnoitred the position I formed
the whole of the column in mass before arriving at the
plateau, and after a few moments of rest the troops
destined for the attack advanced to nearly within gun-
shot of the enemy. Four pieces of artillery, under the
orders of Commandant Pellieux, threw a few shells
into the midst of the Kabyles. Their explosion excited
confusion among the group, and I sounded the charge.
The Zouaves acted with admirable energy. The
second battalion, commanded by Colonel Collineau,
took the right ; the third, led by Lieutenant-Colonel
Man uelle, took the left, so as to surround the culminat-
ing point of the entrenched position defended by the
Kabyles. They fell upon them from a rapid descent
without replying to their fire. The 18th battalion of
Chasseurs supported the movement by advancing to-
wards the extreme left. The Kabyles, fired upon by
the Zouaves, took to flight, and in a short time they had
all disappeared.
" During this combat the second brigade and the
escort arrived at the bivouack, and the camp was im-
mediately formed. It is so situated as not to be liable
to attack.

" The losses of the day are small, being only 2 killed
and 11 wounded.

" To conclude, Monsieur le Marechal, I may state
that we are well provisioned, and the Kabyles have wit-
nessed for the first time a French column in the occu-
pation of the elevated point where we are stationed.
I am happy to be able to mention to you the
brilliant conduct of a young officer of the Staff, Sub-
Lieutenant Chanoine, detached from the Ist Regiment
of Zouaves, who wai the first to reach the Kabyle
position, having always been 40 paces in advance
of the charging party. Colonel Cullineau and Lieut.-
Colonel Manuelle worthily maintained the ancient
reputation of the Zouaves.

" 'According to this report, M. le Marechal, I think
that the struggle in the country of the Guechtoulas is
near its termination, for the troops concentrated at
Algiers, while our preparations were in progress, are
ha movement, and now.even the heads of columns begin
to appear on the plateau of thghni.
"`Accept, &c.,
" RANDON.
The Marshal of France, Governor-General
of Algiers.'

THE LATE COLLISION AT OLDBURY

STATION.

A " Railway Director," writing to a contempo-
rary, after showing the insecurity of the " distant
signals" now in use, says these "distant signals"
are fre4uently fixed round curves, and in such a
position as to be quite beyond the view of the sig-
nal man at the station, so that he has no means of
knowing when the whistle is sounded whether the
train has passed the signal or not. Therefore, in
case of a sudden emergency, when the signal is set
behind the train, this " distant signal" becomes in
itself a snare ; the engineer having passed in its
" all right" condition, considers it unnecessary to
look for any further indication from the station.
But, to makethe signal effective to stop a coming
train, two conditions are necessary :—First, the
signal must be fixed so far in advance of the train
as t o enable the driver to see it, and yet leave suf-
ficient space to bring up his train ; secondly, the
driver must see the signal.
By the affirmative system both these conditions
are secured in the only way possible. The signal
being so weighted as to assume the position of
" stop" when at rest is always on, and therefore is
always in advance of a coming train ; there is
nothing for anybody to do in case of an obstruction
of the road—no running here or there, or fore-
thought or extraordinary presence of mind required
where it may be constitutionally deficient ; there
is the signal standing as a constant protection to
the station ; any man passing it while in its
normal position does a wilful act for which he is
amenable to the law ; and to change its position so
as to enable the train to enter there must be a de-
liberate act on the part of those who alone have
the means of knowing the condition of the road.
The second condition—namely, that of securing
the attention of the driver of an approaching train,
is effectually obtained by calling upon him to per-
form a preliminary act. Previous to his entering the
station he must " whistle the signal down" before
ho can pass ; in other words, be must obtain the
consent of the station officials before entering the
precincts.
Apply this system to the case
at Oldbury, the
signal would have been of necessity in its proper
position—namely, to stop a coming train ; the
driver of the train would, according to his daily
habit, have sounded his whistle at such a distance
from the signal as to have the train under his com-
mand ; his attention is thus secured by a dailypractice the very opposite of that which now ob-
tains ; and seeing, as he unquestionably would
have done, that, contrary to the usual course of
things, the signal rigidly maintained its position, he
would at once have concluded that there was some
obstacle to his progress, and without adopting any
extraordinary precaution the train would have been
brought to a stand.

YOM, Sept:lB. —Tho shears of the newspaper censor
have been employed ru extirpating from the Ga/ignami,
of the 11th inst. the account of Gioberti's posthumous
work upon the reform of the Catholic church. It may
be easily imagined with what horror the master of the
sacred palace and similar inquisitorial functionaries look
upon such propositions as a Pope without temporal
power, priests with lawfully married wives, and a pro-
paganda for the diffusion of pure truth from the gospel.