The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-25 00:00:00

trates will attend at the following times and places

SPECIAL CONSTABLES.

for the purpose of swearing in- such special con-
stables, viz. :—At the Magistrates'•room, Crooms-
hill, Greenwich, on Friday and Saturday next, from
5 to 7 p.m. ; at the Sydenham Police-station on
Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. ; at the District Board of
Works, Lewisham, on Saturday, from 5 to 7 p.m. ;
at the Police-station, High-road, Lee, on Friday
and Saturday, from 5 to 7 p.m. ; and on Saturday,
Monday, and Tuesday next, at the Town-hall,
Woolwich, from 7to 8.30 p.m. Yesterday after-
noon 100 artisans from Doptford dock and victual-
ling yards attended at the Greenwich Police-court
and were sworn, this being the first portion of some
300 or 400 who will be sworn in from the same

It is now estimated that upwards of 30,000 spe-
cial constables have been sworn in throughout the
metropolis. In Marylebone the numbers exceed
3,000, in St. Pancras they are nearly 4,000, and in
Paddington close upon 2,000 have enrolled them-
selves. An aggregate meeting of the special con-
stables enrolled for St. Pancras took place on Mon-
day evening at St. Pancras Vestry-hall, for the
purpose of selecting officers and organisation. Mr.
Francis Healey, J.P., chairman of the bench, and
many of the local magistrates were present, and
the spacious vestry-hall, calculated to accommo-
date 2,000 people, was densely crowded. Mr.
Healey, J.P., was called to the chair, and Mr.
Jonathan Salter, the chairman of the Committee of
Works, having been appointed chief superinten-
dent for the whole parish, it was resolved to divide
it into five districts, each having a police station
as its centre—viz., for Kentish-town, the police
station in Kentish-town-road ; for Highgate, the
police station at Highgate ; Regent's Park district,
police station, Albany-street; Brunswick-square
district, police station, Hunter-street ; Somers-
town, police station, Platt-street. A neat white
riband and buckle, with the initial letters " St. P.
P. M." (St. Pancras parish, Middlesex), in old
English capitals, were then served out together
with the staves. Mr. Salter and Mr. Wyatt,
J.P., addressed the meeting, and a resolution
was unanimously adopted, amid loud and voci-
ferous cheering, denouncing the attempt of the
aider and abettor of Fenianism, Finlan, and his
accomplices, to hold a meeting on Sunday at
Clerkenwell-green, lauding the Government for
preventing the meeting, and pledging all present to
support them in a determination to uphold the law
and put down with a strong arm the sedition which
such gatherings were calculated to produce. As a
conclusion of the proceedings, the whole assembly,
as if by one sudden impulse, after giving three
cheers for the Queen, simultaneously sang in ex-
cellent time and emphasis " God Save the Queen,"
and at its conclusion again gave three ringing
cheers for her Majesty. Sir James Hamilton, J.P.,
yesterday swore in at the Stafford-street School-
rooms 400 specials for the district of Christ Church,
Marylebone, and strongly denounced Fenianism,
for which he was much applauded. Mr. Wadeson,
of St. Pancras, also swore in the whole of the
employes of the Imperial Gasworks at King's-cross.
Up to last evening about 2,700 persons in all had
been sworn in at Guildhall to act as special con-
stables for the city of London, the oath having been
administered to upwards of 1,000 during yesterday
alone. At 9 o'clock in the morning Alderman Sir

establishments during the next few days.
Mr. Paget has been engaged for the last two days
in swearing in special constables for the metropoli-
tan police district. Large numbers of respectable
tradesmen and others from Ratcliff, Mile-end Old-

,own, Limebouse, Bromley by Bow, Shadwell,

Wapping, Aldgate, St. George's-in-the-East have

been enrolled.

The Rev. Mr. Kingsford, rector of

Shadwell, who was accompanied by many of his
parishioners and by Mr. Mellish, the vestry clerk,
was sworn in on Monday. Yesterday evening a

tradesman named Cox and all his workmen pre-
sented themselves before Mr. Benson, and requested

his worship to swear them in as special constables.

Mr. Benson saidahe would do so immediately, and
complimented both master and men on their patrio-
tic spirit. On Monday evening the 7th Tower

Hamlets Rifles, under the command of Captain
Donald Muuro, marched to the court, preceded by
their band, to be sworn in, and while the names

and addresses of the men were being taken down

he band played several patriotic tunes, terminat-
. _

ing with " God Save the Queen," which was fol-
lowed by the most enthusiastic cheers from the
populace, mixed with cries of " Down with the
Fenians !" Silence having been restored, the swear-
ing in of the men, who were in their ordinary dress
was proceeded with in court, and each Volunteer
was provided with a warrant and a staff. Upwards
of 300 well-disciplined men were sworn in. Capt.
Munro then addressed the magistrate, and said he
had to tender an apology for detaining him to so
late an hour. Many of the Volunteers were me-

chanics, whose work did not terminate until 7 and
8 o'clock, and they could not attend at an earlier
hour. All the men belonging to his corps wished
to show their loyalty and desired to preserve the
peace of the country, and would attend to their
duties as special constables at any time their ser-
vices were required. Mr. Paget said it would ill
become him to complain of any amount of time
and labour which he could give to the assistance of
her Majesty's Government at this critical juncture,
while tradesmen, mechanics, and others were com-
ing forward in such overwhelming numbers to pre-
serve the peace of the country. The Volunteers
must recollect that the duties of special constAbles
were purely civil, and not to be confounded with
the military duties of the Volunteers. The habits
of regularity, discipline, and self-reliance formed by
the Volunteer discipline would make them useful
auxiliaries if their services were required as special
constables. He thanked Capt. Mouro for his attend-
ance, and he was sure the country would hear with
great satisfaction of the loyalty and patriotism of
the corps under his command. The Volunteers, each
armed with a truncheon, were again formed in
marching order, and proceeded with their comman-
der through Stepney and Limehouse to their
head-quarters. The people on the line of march,
believing the7th Tower Hamlets Rifles were actually
on their way to meet the Fenians, cheered them
loudly, and there were cries from all quarters of
" Down with the Fenians ; don't spare them ; drive
them into the river." Yesterday evening two
county magistrates attended at the Town-hall,
Limehouse, to sw ear in special constables.
A large and enthusiastic meeting of special con-
stables was held on Monday evening at the Red Lion
Hotel, Putney, for the purpose of electing a supe-
rintendent and deputy superintendents for that
parish. Mr. A. F. Jackson, churchwarden, and a
loyal Irishman, was in the chair. Mr. Jackson,
who is a lieutenant in the 7th Surrey Rifles, was
unanimously elected superintendent; Mr. Aubrey
Paul, deputy superintendent at head-quarters;
and eight other gentlemen, deputy superintendents
for rallying points. The interest of the meeting
was greatly enhanced by the arrival of Mr. Digby
Seymour, Q.C., who was elected, amid loud cheers,
one of the deputy superintendents ; and he, in
moving a vote of thanks to the chairman, took the
opportunity of stating his deep abhorrence and de-
testation of Fenianism, and the means by which it
is attempted to make it successful. Mr. Seymour
stated that that morning he had received two letters
threatening his life for the appeal which he had re-
cently made to all loyal Irishmen in the daily
newspapers. At the close of the meeting three ring-
ing cheers were given for Mr. Seymour and all
loyal Irishmen.
The expenses incurred in providing staves and
other necessary articles--for example, armlets—for
special constables will be defrayed out of the county
rate, in pursuance of an order of justices in special
sessions (Ist and 2d of William IV., c. 41, sec-
tion 13).
It may be as well to add that the justices'
clerks within any part of the metropolitan police
district for which a police-court has been esta-
blished are prohibited from taking fees for swearing
in constables or otherwise by 2d and 3d of Victoria,
cap. 71, and it does not appear that any remunera-
tion has been made by the Treasury to them for
performing their duty in that respect.
The organisation of snecial constables is proceed-
ing most satisfactorily, and the public will be glad
to hear that general officers have come forward and
undertaken
James'sthe
parishesduties
o f of
St. supGeeroinrgteen,sde(nit
ins
n o vtehre-
(Westminster), and St. Mar-
. garet and St. John's (Westminster.)

Robert Carden and Alderman Causton, accom-
panied by Mr. Oke, the Chief Clerk at the Mansion
House, attended by appointment at the General
Post-office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, and swore in
upwards of 300 men employed in the establishment
in addition to between 400 and 500 to whom the
oath bad been previously administered. All the
available staff of the Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pany at their city office were also sworn in during
the day, as also the officers and clerks in the London
a nd County Bank, and the men employed in many
of the large wholesale warehouses, including those of
Leaf and Sons, Old 'Change; Brown, Davis, and Co.
Pawson and Co., St. Paul's-churchyard ; Taplin
and Co., Gresham-street; Ellis, Howell, and Co.,
St. Paul's-churchyard ; Northcote and Co., Ever-
ington and Co., Cook and Co., and others. Besides
Sir Robert Carden and Alderman Causton, Sir
William Rose, Sir Benjamin Phillips, Alderman
Gibbons, and Alderman Lawrence alfended as ma-
gistrates at Guildhall and assisted in the swearing
in. Yesterday more of the general public presented
themselves at Guildhall for appointment than on
any previous day. It has been a subject of remark
there that comparatively few persons connected with
the Bank of England or with the great banking
houses have as yet tendered their services. The
magistrates will again sit at Guildhall to-morrow
(Thursday), and also on Friday and Saturday, be
tweeze the hours of 12 and 3 each cliy, for the pur-
pose of administering the oath to such of the citizens
as may present themselves. It may save inconve-
nience to state that all persons under the age of 21
are inadmissible.

At a numerous meeting of special constables held
to elect their officers at the vestry hall, Piccadilly,
on Monday evening, the following appointments
and arrangements were made :—General superin-
tendent, Lieutenant-General Frederick Johnston,
Albany, Piccadilly; deputy general superintendent
Captain George Blane, R.N., Army and Navy Club
Pall-mall; superintendent of the constables in Pall-
mall ward, Captain M'Neill, R.N., 43, Pall-mall—
rallying point, Waterloo-place ; superintendent of
the constables in Church ward, Mr. Robert Ruth-
ven Pyrn, Bank of England, Burlington-gardens
rallying point, St. James's-churchyard, Piccadilly ;
superintendent of the constables in Golden-square
ward, Captain J. T. Wimperis, St. George's Rifle
Volunteers, 25, Sackville-street—rallyiug point,
Golden-square ; superintendent of constables
in Great Marlborough ward, Colour Sergeant
George Griffiths, Queen's (Westminster) Rifle
Volunteers, 28, King-street, Golden-square--rally-
ing point, Broad-street, Golden-square ; secretary,
J. Oldfeld Phippard, orderly sergeant of the St.
James's company of the Queen's (Westminster)
Rifle Volunteers, Vestry-hall, Piccadilly. On the
call of General Johnston, three hearty cheers were
given for the Queen.
At the Vestry-offices, St. Paul's, Covent-garden
(late Old Hummums Hotel), the swearing-in of
special constables was continued throughout yester-
day, from 10 to 4. Mr. Henry White was in the
chair the whole time, Mr. J. G. Stilwell, Mr. E.
Antrobus, and Sir John Thwaites also attended.
591 have been sworn in up to the present time, and
arrangements have been made for the same magis-
trates to sit at the above place from 11 to 4 on
Friday. The whole have been subdivided into divi
sions and sections ; deputy superintendents an
assistant superintendents have been appointed to
each ; and their names and addresses, as also those
of the special constables in their respective divisions,
have been returned to Lieut.-Colonel Ewart, the
Government officer appointed to organise the special
constables.
Yesterday Mr. Henry Pownall and Mr. J. F. W.
de Salis, two of the magistrates f94.the county of
Middlesex, attended, by request of 'the authorities,
at the British Museum, and administered the oath
to between 300 and 400 of the members of the
establishment, workmen, bookbinders, and labourers,
who will be fully prepared to act in the event of
any emergency requiring their services.
Yesterday a Bench of magistrates, Mr. R
Tubbs, chairman, met at the Vestry-hall, Ken-
sington, and with the assistance of Mr. R. Green,
the vestry clerk, swore in, during the day, about
150 persons as special constables, many of them
being the more influential inhabitants of the pa-
rish. It has been arranged for two magistrates
to meet in the National Schools at Brompton, on
Tuesday afternoon next, and also in the evening,
at the Vestry-hall, for the purpose of swearing
in other persons. After the swearing in on Tues-
day evening, a general meeting of the special con-
stables will be held for the purpose of appointing
the officers. It has also been arranged that two
magistrates shall meet at Broadway House, Ham-
mersmith, on Friday and Saturday next, for the
purpose of swearing in all well-disposed persons
who may wish to serve as special constables. During
the last three days the magistrates at the Hammer-
smith Police Court have sworn in a number of
persons ir. batches during the sittings, Mr. Roberts,
the vestry clerk of Hammersmith, rendering valu-
able assistance in the filling up of the forms. Yes-
terday and on Monday Mr. Dayman sat at the
National Schools, Chiswick, and swore in a number
of the inhabitants of Acton and Chiswick as special
constables. All through the district the movement
is met with favour, and the various officials have
shown every desire to carry out the recommenda-
tions of the Home Secretary of State.
Yesterday an official intimation was received at
the Greenwich Police-court from Mr. C. A. Smith,
clerk to the county justices for the division of Black-
heath, that in order to suit the convenience of per-
sons residing at a distance who are unable to attend
during the usual hours of the sitting at the Green-
wich and Woolwich Police-courts, the county magis-

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

The dockyard and other public establishments at
Portsmouth will remain closed for the Christmas
holidays from last evening until Friday morning.
There is a very considerable amount of work going
on at Portsmouth dockyard just at the present time,
although none of it may appear to give that dignity
to the work of the yard which was one of its most
marked characteristics when two and three decked
screw steamships occupied its building-slips, docks,
and basins. Six out of the 11 docks of the yard
are now occupied. No. 2 contains the screw un-
armoured frigate Curaqoa, of 1,571 tons and 360-
horse power, undergoing a thorough repair to hull
and machinery, at a minimum estimated cost of
£12,000, as a seagoing training screw frigate
for naval cadets. No. 3 holds the unarmoured
screw frigate Glasgow, of 3,037 tons and 600-horse
power, a new frigate now under repairs in the sub-
stitution of sound for rotten planking, and a vessel
that has maintained this state of things as her nor-
mal condition since about three months after her
launch. In No. 4 dock lies the mere shell of an
iron vessel from deck line tokeel,stripped of every-
thing except the engine-room bulkheads. This is
all that now remains of the once beautiful iron
screw yacht Fairy, for many years the favourite
steam yacht of her Majesty and the Royal family.
In No. 7 dock the Ringdove, twin-screw guuvessel,
666 tons, and 160-horse power, is fixing her two
three-bladed screws on the ends of her screw shafts, ,
having supporting brackets fixed on the latter under
each of the ship's quarters, and otherwise generally
completing her fittings and equipment as anew vessel
for commission. In No. 10 dock (the Warrior dock)
the armoured wood-built screw frigate Royal Oak,
4,056 tons, 800-horse power, Capt. llillyard, has
sent everything down from aloft to her lowermasts,
has all her gunport shutters stripped off her hull,
and is generally in a dismantled state in her pro-
gress towards a thorough refit. In No. 11 (the
Minotaur dock) lies the Hector, armoured iron
frigate, 4,039 tons, 800-horse power, that has gone
through one commission, and is now being almost
reconstructed for another. The most important of
• the alterations now being made on board consists
• of the enlargement of the gunports, the port and
deck fittings for her new armament according to
• the Duke of Somerset's Admiralty minute of June,
• 1866, and the construction of a double-ported

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1867.

armour-plated bulkhead on the extreme after-part THE FENIAN .OUTRAGES.
of the upper deck. This latter arrangement will

enable two 6!,--ton 7-inch rifled guns to be fought i
'
over the ship's stern bohiad an iron-plated battery, The Government has been Obliged to issue proclama-
tions to prevent funeral processions which had been
and firing in a line with her keel. The ship basin arranged to come off in Bantry and Tralec on Sunday,
of the yard contains at present but three vessels— ' notwithstanding the suppression of all that had been pre-
the Waterwitch, armoured, iron, hydraulic propelled viously announced. Rage and disappointment were
gunvessel, 777 tons, 167-horse power, Commander e.- .sea by. the sympathising patriots, who consoled
Philip R. Sharpe; the Bee, paddle steamer, 42 mselves by ostentatiouiliOnlaying crape and green
tons, 10-horse power ; and the Laurel, hulk. The ribands:
i and parading the streets as nearly as po-siblein
weret ia in e
o tof e
Fenianismuforc tb
Water witch is undergoinga course of alterations and marching order.
Some arrests arcmarchingord ''
Military
son
a broughtrg
e
repairs, including the shifting of her coalboxes fur-
h) een made at Michelstown, county Cork, and others
ther aft, &c., and will be finished and ready again for av
we're expected.
sea in about six weeks' time. The-little Bee is a tender Penny collections for the relief of the families of the
of the Excellent, as an instruction vessel for officers ign who. were executed in Manchester were made in the
studying steam, and a very small amount of instruc- various Roman Catholic churches in Cork on Sunday.
tion sho must be capable of giving. The Laurel Although sufficient notice had not been given, the
'is a hulk, well known to the seamen of her following sums were contributed :—Cathedral, £l5;
santd
Au Paul's,
Majesty's ships in dock at Portsmouth as a vessel S_t_. Fs Bidinnßarr's, £9 Gs
L
sSS*B
Peter 9
where they can wash their clothes, and where they "
ei s, £l3 2s. 4d. ; St. Mary's, £7 7s. 4d. ;
;
St. Patrick's,;
sgu
is
are also very often made the victims of experi-
tinSt.i• Francis, £5 103. ; Holy Trinity, £5 153. 4d. ;
mental cooking schemes. It is a remarkable fact
St. Vincent's, £5 9s. The money will be sent forward to
that no sooner does one of her Majesty's ships find Mr. John Martin, who has originated the latest form of
itself in dock, or alongside the dock, or alongside Fenian sympathy. While this movement is going for-
the dockyard, at Portsmouth than down is sure to ward no response whatever has been made to the sugges-
come an order from the Admiralty for the trial of tion that a declaration of sympathy with the sufferers('

the Clerkenwell outrage should be made. The Penr
collection shews the bent of the popular mind in Cork, but
it is right to add that there are no accosts of similar
collections in any other county. A local paper in advert-
ing to the matter notices—
,die4
" The zeal displayed by the coTectors, both ladies ana
gentlemen, who attended patiently at the church doors
through all the services, from seven o'clock in the morning
till noon, braving the rigour of the day, which was very
inclement, and remaining to the very last hour, the ladies
displaying the same devotion in the cause of charity that
they had before so admirably shewn in honouring the
memory of the dead."
The journal in which this appears expresses the utmost
surprise and vexation that a prejudice against Irishmen
should exist in England.
Yesterday the Master Attendant proceeded in the
paddle-wheel steam-tug Avon to every ship in harbour, and
impressed on the commanding officers the necessity for
extra vigilance at this season.
All seamen are under arms. The portion of the watch
not on active duty lie down in their clothes. The gunboat
Redwing, with additional marines, has been moored near
the floating store of live shell in St. Germans river. The
waste land forming the northern portion of Keyham
Steam-yard is now guarded by the military. Bags of sand
have been laid near all those parts of the dockyard most
exposed to attack by Greek fire.
Yesterday a town's meeting was held at Norwich,
the Mayor (Mr. J. J. Colman) presiding, to express abhor-
rence of the atrocious Fenian outrage committed iu Cler-
kenwell. Mr. F. E. Watson, deputy mayor, moved an
address to the Queen, to the effect that the citizens of
Norwich had heard with indignation that a band of con-
spirators, under the name of the Fenian Brotherhood, had
perpetrated deeds of violence, attended with loss of life and
property, in the two chief cities of the realm, and that the
meeting believed that any steps which might be adopted
by her Majesty's Government to repress such outrages
would be cordially supported by all classes of her
Majesty's subjects. The Bishop of Norwich, in support-
ing the adoption of the address, said he thought all present
wculd agree that there were occasions when it was only due
to those wbo were entrusted with the execution of the law
that the voice of the people should be given itt support of
them when they were called upon to put the law in force
against those who sought, either by secret conspiracy
or open violence, to resist and overthrow it. He
believed the present was one of those occasions,
and that it was nothing less than our duty to give expres-
sion to our unabated loyalty to the Throne and Con-
stitution, and our abhorrence of the treasonable de-
signs of those who under the name of the Fenian Bro-
therhood sought to dismember the kingdom, and still more
our abhorrence of the abominable and wicked means which
they had employed for the accomplishment of those
designs. If Ireland had its wrongs and its grievances,
let them be inquired into, and if they were found to be
real let them be redressed. But Ireland could make her
voice heard in both Houses of the Legislature, and let her
there plead her cause. The address having been read in
extenso by the Mayor, was adopted unanimously, after
having been supported by Mr. R. J. H. Harvey, M.P.
On the motion of the Sheriff (Mr. R. Fitch), it was fur-
ther agreed that the Mayor should sign the address on
behalf of the meeting, and should then transmit it to the
Home Secretary for presentation to her Majesty.
Last evening a public meeting of the parishioners of
St. Andrew's, Holborn, was held at the Court-house, Hol-
born, for the purpose of denouncing the late Fenian out-
rage, and to express sympathy for the sufferers. The
Rev. Mr. Blunt, the rector of St. Andrew's, occupied
the chair. He said there was an unanimous feeling of
indignation at the atrocious outrage at Clerkenwell. They
would not rest satisfied till peace was restored to the
metropolis. It was high time that every man should ex-
press his loyalty to the Government, and aid in repres-
sing the outrages of these miserable traitors. It had, how-
ever, one good effect, it had united all classes of English-
men. Sir James Duke moved, "That this meeting desires
to express its abhorrence of the Fenian outrage perpetrated
at Clerkenwell, and its deep sympathy with those who
have been the victims of the explosion." The motion was
unanimously carried. Mr. Churchwarden Webb moved.
" That this meeting desires to express its readiness to
co-operate in all necessary measures for the maintenance
of the good order and peace of the metropolis." Mr.
Wagstaff seconded the motion. He said that even if
Fenianism were successful it would do more harm to
Irishmen than to Englishmen. The resolution was carried.
It was announced that the Lord Mayor would attend at
the Court-house on Tuesday, at two o'clock, to swear in
special constables. A vote of thanks to the chairman
closed the proceedings.

some new scheme of cooking, to carry out which it
is necessary to take the dinners of a certain number
of men from the ship. In nine cases out of ten
the invention utterly fails, and the men lose
their dinners or eat them half cooked. The
steam basin, which since its construction, now
some years since, has been the principal working
basin of the yard, contains in it afloat the
Resistance, armoured, iron screw frigate, 3,710
tons, 600 horse power, the Royal paddle yacht
Osborne, 1,034 tons, 430 horse power ; the Pan-
dora, 3, unarmoured, screw gunvessel, 426 tons, 80
horse power ; the Avon, unarmoured, composite-
built, screw gunvessel, 464 tons, 120 horse power
the Cracker, unarmoured, composite-built, screw
gunvessel, 464 tons, 120 horse power ; and two old
and dismantled gunboats that are not worth notice
The Resistance is about to be taken in hand for re-
pairs to hull and machinery, and to refit for
another term of commission. We have before alluded
to the thinness of this ship's skin and the weakness
of her teeth. She will prove a very unsatisfactory
kind of vessel to lay out much money upon ; but
we do not know what is the sum approved (if
there is a sum yet fixed) on her estimates. The
Royal Yacht Osborne is to be paid out of commis-
sion, as her defects of hull are of a very extensive
character under her boilers and midships generally,
and they will take some time for their repairs.
The machinery of the Osborne is being taken out
preparatory to her being placed in dock. To keep
her crew together, for it must be evident to every-
one that the crew of a Royal yacht is composed of a
special class of men, and are subject to a rather dif-
ferent training than is experienced on board an
ordinary man-of-war, the Admiralty might turn
the officers and crew over from the Osborne to the
Royal Sovereign, and send the famous turret ship
on guard duty in the Solent during the stay of the
Queen and the Royal family at the Isle of Wight.
The Pandora is an unarmoured, single-screw
gunvessel of 426 tons, 80 horse power, and
three guns. She has been completed in a
thorough repair to hull and engines, after serv-
ing a term of foreign service, and is now complet-
ing her outfit and rig for a fresh commission. With
her 80-horse power engines she is, of course, any-
thing but a fast vessel under steam. The Avon is
a composite-built, twin-screw gunvessel, of 464
tons, 120-horse power, and two guns ; the Cracker
is a twin-screw gunvessel of similar tonnage and
engine-power to the Avon, but is built entirely of
wood, as is the Ringdove, in No. 7 dock. All three
vessels have been very handsomely and efficiently
rigged as three-masted schooners, and all three
will be 11-knot vessels under steam on their trials.
They have been constructed from the designs of the
prerent Chief Constructor of the Navy. On the
building-slips of the yard there are only
small vessels, wood and composite unar-
moured vessels —the Sirius, the Magpie, the
Llk, and another small gun-vessel. The Sirius is
a sister vessel to the Danae, put through her trials
over the measured mile at Portsmouth last week.
She has a tonnage of 1,268, and will be fitted with
single-screw engines of a nominal power of 360-
horse. She will make a mean speed over the mea-
sured mile, at her load line dranght of water, of 131-
knots with full-boiler power, and of 114 knots with
half-boiler power. She is like all the other vessels
on the slips, building from designs by the Chief
Constructor, Mr. E. J. Reed. The Magpie is a
single screw gunvessel of 663 tons and 160-horse
power, wood-built throughout. The. Elk is a twin-
screw gunvessel, composite built, of 464 tons and
120-horse power. Both will have good speed. The
work going on in the various workshops of the yard,
the steam factory, iron and brass foundries,
smitheries, joiners and pattern, shops, wood and
saw mills, stores, &c., is, of courie, of h very ex-
tensive character, more especially in the steam fac-
tory, where the machinery taken out of the different
ships is all taken in hand for repairs, but any at-
tempted description of this portion of the work
going on in the various shops and stores of the yard
would be much too lengthy, nor indeed would it be
necessary, for our present brief notice of the doings
inside the walls of Portsmouth Dockyard.
The measures taken to guard Portsmouth dock-
yard and the shipping afloat in its harbour, toge-
ther with the several public establishments in the
part and garrison, are of fully as stringent a cha-
racter as those referred to in The Sun of Monday
last as having been adopted at Devonport. Indeed,
similar regulations are understood to have been
adopted by order in every seaport, garrison, and
other national establishments throughout the United
Kingdom.
The Fox, screw storeship, Staff Commander
Luke, is alongside Portsmouth dockyard shipping
the stores and fittings returned from the Buffalo,
steamship, No. 17, of the Abyssinian mule transport
flotilla. The Simoom, screw transport, Capt. J. B.
Lethbridge, is lying off in the harbour, alongside
her hulk, and is again ready for sea.
A naval court-martial assembled yesterday on
board her Majesty's ship Victory at Portsmouth
for the trial of prisoners. The court was under the
presidency of Captain F. B. Seymour, C.8.,A.D.C.,
to the Queen, of her Majesty's ship Victory. Mr.
James M'Master, engineer, serving on board her
Majesty's ship Warrior, was placed on his trial on
charges of having absented himself from the War-
rior at Lisbon on one occasion, and of having been
drunk and incapable of performing his duty on
another occasion. The Court found both charges
proved, and sentenced the prisoner only, out of con-
sideration of his previous good character, to' be
severely reprimanded, and to lose all his former
services. James Granton, seaman, serving on board
the Minotaur, was next placed on his trial on a
charge of striking a corporal of the police of the
same ship. The prisoner pleaded guilty, but said
that he did it under great provocation. The
Court sentenced the prisoner to receive 48 lashes
and to be afterwards imprisoned for two years in
Lewes gaol.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Sub-Lieut. Hon. F. C. Las-
celles, to the Research, as supernumerary ; C. J.
Barlow, 11. H. Barnard, and F. H. Barnet*, mid-
shipmen, to the Pylades ; Thomas Hockings, pay-
master, to the St. Vincent ; Henry Wm. Arlidge,
paymaster, to the Dasher; J. W. Ozzard, paymaster,
to the Irresistible ; NV. J. R. Hall, paymaster, to
the Excellent ; James Towell, paymaster, to the
Cumberland ; C. M. B. Whyte, assistant-clerk, to
the Zealous, additional, for disposal ; Owen Douglas
and William Green, first-class assist.-engineers, to
the Rattlesnake, for disposal ; and W. C. Amos,
first-class assist.-engineer, to the Fisgard, additional,
for service in the Vivid.

THE FERNDALE EXPLOSION.—After an inquiry,
extending over eleven days, the coroner's jury have re-
turned the following verdict :—" We have come to the con-
clusion that the deceased met their deaths by an explosion
of gas in the Ferndale Colliery on N9v. 8. We believe the
explosion took place in consequenc(of a great accumula-
tion of gas in certain workings of the colliery, and this
accumulation we attribute to the neglect of Mr. Williams,
the manager, and his subordinate officers, and by this gas
being fired by one or more of the colliers carelessly taking
off the tops of their lamps and working with naked lights.
We'
nt ch regret that the proprietors of the colliery
did t permit the' deputation from the Miners' National
Assoc tion to go into the pit, especially as the coroner
gave them a letter of recommendation, with a view of
their being allowed to go down. We are of opinion that
the inspection of collieries, as hitherto practised, has
entirely failed as a preventative to accidents of this kind,
and we recommend that all collieries should be henceforth
inspected
.by a competent person at least once in every

three months. We further recommend that all col-
lieries should be provided with scientific instruments
for measuring the quantity and quality of the air passing
through the colliery, and that a daily record should
be kept of the same. Also that a register of the daily
report of the firemen be kept in the office of each colliery,
and that a register of the names of every person who de-
scends into the pit be also kept." The coroner expressed
his concurrence with the terms of the verdict, which he
thought entirely met the circumstances of the case. He
asked whether the negligence should be considered ordi-
nary or criminal. If the latter, it would amount to man-
slaughter. The jury thought that as the manager was
dead they wished it to be considered " ordinary."

AN UNREPORTED RAILWAY ACCIDENT . Mr.
Maurice Grant writes to the Times :—" I left London
on Saturday last with my family by the 2.45 express
train from Euston for Manchester, and when we had
arrived within a short distance of Bletchley Junction we
suddenly experienced a severe jerk, and the train came
to a standstill. On jumping out I found we had come
into collision with a goods train, which, instead of being
turned on to the branch line, through some blundering
had been run on to the down-rails, thus placing in extreme
jeopardy the lives of hundreds of passengers. Fortu-

nately no mischief happened to them beyond a severe
shaking and some bruises—l presume, owing to the drivers
of the trains (who had to jump off to save their lives) hav-
ing discovered what had happened in time to reduce greatly
the speed of their trains ; but, even as it was, the heavy
goods engine was thrown over the embankment like
a toy, many of the cattle-trucks were smashed, and a
large number of sheep killed. My first thought was to
find some of the train officials to run on the line with fog
signals and lamps (it was getting dusk) to stop any
train following in our wake ; but, so far as I could dis-
cover, they had neither lamps nor fog signals, so that,
if it had not been that we were quite close to the
junction (whence I presume they telegraphed back, and
so stopped the traffic), it is clear it would have been
impossible to prevent a double accident occurring.
Happily neither my family nor myself are irj aced ; but
for the sake of others I think it right to trouble you with
these lines, so that in future no trains may be allowed to
leave, even in the daytime and in clear weather, without
a proper supply of signal apparatus. I would also sug-
gest that every train should be provided with a small
pocket battery which the guard might affix to the nearest
wire, and so telegraph up and down the line, which would
be found of the greatest service, and would no doubt be
the means of preventing many accidents, besides saving
AMP'. Itua:l4

TIIE DUNKELD MURDER.—Oa Monday the Lord
Provost of Edinburgh received from the Home-
office a respito for Charles 11`Donald, the tinker, who was
convicted the previous week at Edinburgh of the murder
of his wife, on the public road near Dunkeld, on the 27th
of September. By a majority of one in the jury of 15
M'Donald was convicted of murder, the minoritylpropos-
ing to return a verdict of culpable homicide. lie was
unanimously recommended to the mercy of the Crown on
the ground of want of premeditation, or "malice afore-
thought." The respite was immediately forwarded to the
Lord Proyost of Perth.