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

THE ARMY.

The hired transport Lady Macdonald, Captain
Brumell, arrived at Southampton yesterday from
Hong Kong, with naval invalids. Her dates are—
Hong Kong, Dec. 24, 1859 ; Singapore, Jan. 7,
1860 ; Cape of Good Hope, March 13. She has
experienced fine weather the whole passage home.
On the 4th of May, in lat. 39 40 N., long. 32 22
IV:, she spoke the Lady Eyre, from Bombay for
Liverpool, The naval invalids embarked on board
the Lady Macdonald in Hong Kong, amounting
to 131, were all dysentery cases, and many of them
of a serious character, reqiairing to be hoisted on
board in cots ; 30 other invalids were received on
board at the Cape; 20 deaths occurred on the pas-
sage home, which may be considered a small per-
centage from the number of severe cases on board.
Acting Lieut. Blount, R.N., is the appointed Ad-
miralty agent on board. Surg. Ramsay and Assist.-
Surg. Haig have had medical charge of the invalids
during the voyage. The following gentlemen have
also arrived home as passengers by the ship :—Mr.
Burniston, R.N., Mr. Barratt, R.N., Mr. Thompson,
R.N., and Capt. P. M. C. Croker, from the Royal
Marine Brigade. The invalids were landed last
evening by Government steam tug, and sen c on
board H.M.S. Victory, the most severe cases being
sent to Haslar Hospital.

The tents for the East India troops belonging to
the 3d depot battalion at Chatham have been
pitched at the rear of the hut barracks, near Prince
Edward's bastion,—a site well chosen for the en-
campment. The number of men belonging to that
battalion, who will be put under canvass in the
first instance is 350, and tents to accommodate that
number have been erected. Each tent is commo-
dious, well ventilated, and made as comfortable for
the troops as possible. The troops are to be under
canvass on Tuesday next. The Ist and 2d batta-
lion will be encamped within the Spur-battery.
The hired transport Lady Ann, Capt. Sinclair,
belonging to Messrs. Dunbar, of London, which
left Saugor on the 22d of March, with 100 Sikhs
and 60 horses for China, arrived at Singapore on
the 3d of April, in tow of the steamer , Sydney,
Captain Neblett.

The united force of Artillery and Rifle Volun-
teers formed at Woolwich, for the protection of the
Arsenal, exceeding 1,500 men, being now fully
equipped, assembled on Saturday fcr the first time
in command of their respective officers, Col. Fullom,
Col. Anderson, and Col- Parkyn. Each battalion,
accompanied by their own band of 14 instruments,
mustered in front of the department to which they
.belong, and having performed a few preliminary
movements, they proceeded towards the Dial-square,
and marched past for the Colonel's Commandant's
inspection of the clothing and equipment.
The 7th Lancashire Rifles Militia were inspected
at Bury on Saturday by Major-General Douglas,
who expressed his satisfaction at their efficiency.
The regiment assembled on the 23d ult. for 27
days' training-, and since then the recruiting has
gone on sati-fa.ctorily.

The 21 Royal Lanark Militia, at Aldershott, will
proceed this week to Glitz-go w Bai racks, and are to
be disembodied between the Bth and 15th of June.
The Royal Sherwood Foresters (Nottingham
Militia), under the command of Colonel Mellish,
will assemble at Newark for 28 days' training on
Wednesday next.

•
The 4th West York Regiment of Militia, under
the command of Capt. Pollard, will assemble at
Leeds on the 4th of Jun© for 27 days' training.
The 6th West Yurk Regiment of Militia will
assemble at Halifax on the 4th of June for 27 days'
training.

The Worcestershire Regiment have now under-
gone a tornigtic thin Worcester, and have much
improved in their exercise. The full corn plemelit
of men on the books of the regiment is 830, and of
these only 38 are absent, except men whose absence
Ls accounted for by sickness or other satisfactory

reason.

THE 62'8J31 RESERVE FLEET.

A writer in a contemporary says :—Tho 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
Haslar 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
fair fight against any odds, but because it has been
strangled by British red tape, and burked 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
se 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, is 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 coarse the two candidates are included in the
charge, as well as several persons of influence in the
borough.

[ADvERTISMIENT.]—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, however severe the attack. Itis re-
markably curative in cases of relaxed, inflamed, or ulcer-
ated throat, while for glandular enlargements it is a spe-
cific. For coughs, colds, asthma, and bronchitis Holloway's
pills should be taken simultaneously with the friction of the
ointment over the chest. Ease will soon follow
went, and will mum, this treat..