The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-14 00:00:00

THE STEAM _RESERVE FLEET.

A writer in a contemporary- says :—The nation
has now found out all about its gunboats. It might
have known everything more than a year ago, and
have had all that time in which to build new ones;
for this rottenness, the disgraceful character of the
work, the shortness of the bolts, all these things
were common topics among naval men, and indeed
the removal at that time of large portions of their
planking gave ample opportunity to any ordinarily
competent observer to convince himself of the truth
of what was said. I walked through the sheds at
Ilaslar myself, and it is no exaggeration to say
that of the majority of them large masses could be
crumbled between the fingers. But nothing of all
this came out, simply because those who are behind
the scenes either dare not write to you for fear
of bringing suspicion upon themselves, or will
not give themselves the trouble, because they
know that, however great the evil, some well-primed
official is sure to get up in the house and say it is
all right. There are evils rampant now of a charac-
ter to the full as dangerous to the country as this
of the gunboats of which the country knows nothing,
but which are notorious among naval men ; and in
all probability the country will know nothing about
them until they transpire in the midst of some dis-
aster in which British pluck will be beaten, not in
fuir fight against any odds, but because it has been
strangled by British red tape, and bucked by Ad-
miralty plasters.
If you wish to prove the truth of what I say, get
up an inquiry into the condition of our steam re-
serve fleet with a view to ascertaining in how many
hours the vessels comprising it could be got ready
for sea. The theory of this fleet is, that every ves-
sel composing it shall be ready for sea within a cer-
tain number of hours (I think 24) from the time it
is commissioned. Let me select one instance of the
practical working of this principle. The , a
screw corvette of 21 guns, belonging to the reserve,
was commissioned about two years ago, and when
they began to get her ready for sea she was found
so rotten that, to use the first lieutenant's own
words to me, she had to be nearly rebuilt, and was
three if not four months before she was reported
ready for sea. Even then, having gone from one
dockyard to another, she was detained a consider-
able time longer through further necessary repairs.
I say nothing about her engines, which were so bad
that a turn astern could not be got out of them.
That this is an example of a large class of cases—
that vessels of this fleet go to sea, and have con-
stantly to come back and remain in dock for weeks,
and even months, owing to their defective and rot-
, ten state, hundreds of naval men could tell you ; but
they dare not, because those who have the boat op-
portunities of knowing, know too that to call
attention to Admiralty and dockyard blundering,
and to expose the defenceless condition of their
country, s much more dangerous to them than a
shower of the enemy's bullets. I have had my-
self notes of numerous cases given to me with the
earnest desire that, in some way or other, they
might be brought before the world; but [ destroyed
them in sheer despair of ever being able to effect
any good. Examine these things yourself. At all
events, these are not times in which to lose sight
of the principle.

GOVERNMENT PROSECUTION FOR BRIBERY AND
CORRUPTION AT WAKEPIELD.—Wakefield was on Thurs-
day thrown into a state of great excitement, in consequence
of the arrival of a number of writs, for the prosecution of
the parties charged with bribery and corruption at the late
election. Of course the two candidates are included in the
charge, as well as several persons of influence in the.
borough.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.—
Changes of season are always trying to mankind from the
variability of temperature, now increasing, then depressing
the circulation. Hence the prevalence of throat affections,
chest complaints, and disordered digestion at this season.
For all this catalogue of ailments Holloway's ointment
rubbed thoroughly twice a day over the parts-affected will
be found universally serviceable in preventing, checking,
or curing each and all, ho wever severe the attack. It is re-
markably curative in cases of relaxed, inflamed, or ulcer-•
ated throat, while for glandular enlargements it is a spe-
cific. Far coughs, colds, asthma, and bronchitis Holloway's
Rills Shonldhe taken simultaneously with the friction of the
ointment over the chest. Ease will soon follow this treat-
ment, and health will return.