The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-27 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

A very handsome, capacious, and fast steam
launch, named the Witchcraft, purchased by the
Admiralty from Mr. Samuel White, of Cowes, Isle
of Wight, for service in the Abyssinian Expedition,
has been put through her speed trial over the mea-
sured mile in Stokes Bay with most satisfactory
results, preparatory to her being despatched to the
Red Sea. With an indicated horse power of her
engines of 31, and 290 revolutions, she realised a
mean speed of nine knots—a rate of speed never
even respectably approached by any one of the
heavily-built bluff bowed launches supplied to the
ships of her Majesty's navy from the Royal
dockyards. The Witchcraft, in addition to her
speed and her extraordinary interior amount of
capacity, is very sensibly fitted, and possesses
a wonderfully comfortable dining and sleeping
saloon abaft the engines. Altogether she illus-
trates, for Admiralty instruction, what a steam
launch of one of her Majesty's ships ought t o be, in
the weight she can carry and the rate she can steam
at a certain expenditure of fuel per hour.
An order was yesterday received by Capt. Gordon,
C. 8., Superintendent of the Military Stores at Wool-
wich, directing a large number of cases to be for-
warded iu great haste to the Indian Store Depart-
ment at Lambeth, for packing the new contract
saddles, already completed, for Abyssinia. About
600 old cases were shipped in barges in readiness to
be towed up the river.

The Fancy, screw gunboat, 60-horse power, has
just concluded at Portsmouth a short series of trials
which are worth some consideration, especially as
regards the application of the principle tried to ves-
sels of moderate tonnage. The inventors of the
principle on trial—Whettam and Walker's patent—
contend that a screw enclosed in a section of an
open cylinder will give a ship greater speed, with
less vibratory movement of the ship's hull, than can
be obtained with any screw as fitted unenclosed in
the usual manner. The assertion was a bold one,
but the Admiralty gave the promoters an opportu-
nity of proving the soundness or unsoundness of
their invention by placing the Fancy gunboat at
their disposal, the experimental trials to be made
being, of course, under the supervision of the Ad-
miralty officials at Portsmouth, and reported upon
by them, therefore, in an official manner. Under
these conditions the Fancy has made three trials,
the first being with 'her screw working in the ordi-
nary unenclosed position, as a standard for compari-
son with the subsequent trials made with the screw
working in the open tube or cylinder. On the 21st
of August the Fancy made her standard trial over
the measured mile in Stokes Bay with these results:
—Mean speed of vessel, 7.957 knots; indicated horse-
power of the engines, 194.29 ; revolutions of engines,
180.19 ; vibration of the vessel, very great (as is
always the case with these craft under full steam
power). A glass tumbler of water was placed on the
deck over the screw, and the motion shook out liin.
of the water. The first comparative trial made with
the patented principle was on Sept. 2, and the re-
sults were—Mean speed of vessel, 7.799 knots ;
indicated horse power of engines, 192.81 ; revolu-
tions, 176.167. The open cylinder in which the
screw was enclosed had just sufficient diameter to
allow the ends of the screw blades to work without
coming in contact, and was in length about twice
the breadth of the screw blades when revolving at

the perphery. The vibration of the vessel on this
trial, from the action of the screw alone, was nil, a
glass tumbler full of water again placed directly
over the screw not having a drop of its contents
shaken out upon deck. The third and last trial took
place on Wednesday last, the tube enclosing the
screw being reduced to nearly half its length on the
previous trial, and now only just covering the thick-
ness of the disc formed by the play of the blades of
the screw in its evolutions. The results in this case
were—mean speed of vessel, 8 knots ; indicated
horse power of engines, 187 ; revolutions of engines,
180 ; vibration, precisely the same effect as in the
last trial. The rate of speed is slightly in favour of
the tube enclosed screw, but the most important
result obtained from the trials has been the utter
annihilation of all vibratory movement of the ship's
hull from the action of the screw in a vessel so sus-
ceptible. of such movement as a shallow gunvessel
like the Fancy. The success in this respect is most
marked and indisputalle. This is obtained, as ob-
served, without any loss of speed ; it saves the stern
frame of the ship from the usual course of destruc-
tion following upon the use of the single screw on
wood built ships, and it entirely removes that un-
pleasant and horribly dislocating sensation experi-
enced generally in the after cabins of screw steam-
ships.
His Dutch Majesty's man of war Valk, Capt. T.
Koopman, has sailed from Woolwich Arsenal for
Portsmouth to await the embarkation of the Queen,
on her Majesty's return to Holland. The embarka-
tion, according to existing regulations, is to take
place on the let of October. .
A large contract has been entered into by the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty with Mr.
Thomas Airey, a dairy farmer, near Petersfield, for
the supply of his dessicated milk, for the use of her
Majesty's naval service. During the present week
about 10,000 imperial quart cases have been deli-
vered at the victualling stores at Deptford.
During the past few days Major W. W. Lynch,
attached to the divisional staff at Chatham, and other
officers, have been engaged in the inspection of the
vessels chartered by the Government for the con-
veyance of the mules to be employed in transporting
the stores required by the force composing the Abys-
sinian expedition. The vessels taken up for this
special service are the Empress, Coumoundouris,
Bolivar, Venetia, and Parana, which together will
convey between 700 and 800 mules from the various
ports in the Mediterranean, where the agents of the
Government have been for some time past occupied
in making purchases of those animals. Each vessel
is fitted up for the special purpose for which she is
to be employed, and will also take out detachments
of non-commissioned officers and men of the Mili-
tary Train and the Army Hospital Corps, together
with a number of surgeons and veterinary surgeons.
The vessels are to be ready to take their departure
from the Thames for the Mediterranean to-morrow.
The hired transport Forest Queen, Capt. Ander-
son, yesterday went alongside Woolwich Arsenal,
after shipping a part cargo of war stores under Go-
vernment contract in the London Docks, and com-
menced receiving about3oo tons of Portland cement
in casks, and is to fill in her magazine with ammu-
nition for the use of the troops at Halifax. An order
has been received at Woolwich Dockyards from the
Lords of the Admiralty desiring that the names
should be sent up of all widows of men employed
in the services of the yard who died before serv-
ing the full term of ten years necessary to en-
title them to a pension, as their lordships have
been pleased to intimate their intention of
considering the merits of each case. This announce-
ment on the part of their lordships has given great
satisfaction, as it is well known that many who
have died just before the expiration of the term of
service entitling their widows to a pension have by
that fatality left them wholly unprovided for.
111 The freight ship Caroline, in St. Katherine's
Docks, yesterday received a large amount of guns,
shot, platforms, carriages, and other stores, from
Woolwich Arsenal, in transit for the Mauritius.
Major-Gen. Warde, C. 8., commandicg the dis-
trict of Woolwich, has been engaged each day dur-
ing the week in carrying out the half-yearly inspec-
tion of the brigades and divisions of troops in Wool-
wich garrison, and on Thursday, the 3d proximo,
the General and Staff will inspect the garrison of
Warley. Col. D'Aguilar, C. 8., and Lieut. Bram-
ley, B Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery, have been
appointed by special order from the Horse Guards,
signed by General Grant, G.C.8., Quarterma3ter-
, General, to investigate the efficiency of the new
pack saddle recently brought out under the patent
of Lieut. M'Mahon. In virtue of their instructions
these officers have commenced a daily route parade
over the roughest and most uneven parts of the
country within the vicinity of the garrison, over
the chalkpits at Charlton, down the rugged sides of
the ravine on Plumstead-common, through which
the pack animals, heavily laden, are driven to test
the strength and superiority of the new saddles,
together with the advantages of the expanding
system on which they are constructed, The reports

are daily given in to Gen. Warde, and are satisfac*
tory. It is stated that the saddles will likewise be
adopted by the French Government for their trans-
port service.
The general court-martial which was occupied
five days at Chatham in the trial of Private Nash,
of the Ist battalion of the Bth Regt., on the charge
of forwarding a letter to his commanding officer
complaining of the treatment he had received while
confined in Fort Pitt Hospital, closed its labours on
Wednesday afternoon, and the members of the Court
have been ordered to proceed to their duty. The
finding of the Court is not expected to be promul-
gated for some time.
The 80th Regiment, now stationed at Aldeisinott,
will vacate C, D, and F Lines, South Camp, this
day, and occupy the centre block of the permanent
barracks, when they will be attached to the 2d Bri-
gade. The 4th Dragoon Guards will vacate their
present quarters in the North Camp on Tuesday
next, and occupy the West Cavalry Barracks.

Some extensive improvements and alterations are
being carried out in the military gymnasium, Chat-
ham, for the purpose of obtaining increased facilities
for carrying on the physical training of the officers
and troops under instruction in gymnastic exercises.
In the mechanical department of the gymnasium
the materials of which the flooring was originally
composed have been removed, and a bottom of a
more suitable and elastic character substituted, so
as to lessen the chances of the officers and men re-
ceiving injuries from falls during the time they are
undergoing their course of instruction. The altera-
tions which are now being carried out have necessi-
tated the closing of a portion of the gymnasium
until the proposed improvements are effected.
The Michaelmas vacation of the Royal Military
Academy at Woolwich commenced yesterday morn-
ing andwill close on Monday evening next, when
the cadets will reassemble and resume their studies
until Christmas.

RAILIVAY INTELLIGENCE.

CALEDONIAN.

The half-yearly general meeting of this railway
was held on Wednesday in Glasgow ; the chairman,
Lieut.-Colonel'Salkeld, presiding.
The report, an aostract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, began by referring to the diminution in the
dividend. Under ordinary circumstances, he said,
some reduction was to have been expected at first
so soon after the amalgamation with the Scottish
North-Eastern. But had trade been good that fall-
ing off might almost have been covered by this time,
and when trade recovered he felt confident that the
former dividends on the ordinary Caledonian stock
would be resumed,while the Scottish North Eastern
would prove a valuable acquisition. Great efforts
were being madeby a class commonly called " bears"
to run down the market price of Caledonian stock
by the circulation of reports detrimental to the
company. The pamphlets and newspaper articles
which had appeared bad all the same object—
namely, to enable speculators who, he was credibly
informed, had " beared" the market to the extent of
£500,000 to buy in again at a lower rate, and so
realise a profit on stock they had sold without hav-
ing it to deliver. As a proof of the scarcity of stock
upon the market, notwithstanding the numerous
sales quoted in the share list, the bears were actually
paying every fortnight a heavy amount of " back-
wardation" for leave to tide over their engagements
to deliver stock they had sold. It had been stated
that, inasmuch as the charge made against revenue
in the Caledonian accounts was not equal per mile
to that of the Great Northern, the difference must
have been charged to capital. But he contended
that the circumstances of the two railways were so
different that no comparison could be properly
made between them. In illustration of this view he
went into various details as to the working of the
respective lines. He showed that no comparison
Could be made between the working of the Great
Northern and the Caledonian Railways, but on com-
paring the working of the Caledonian with the Glas-
gow and South-Western a similar rate of expendi-
ture on permanent way and rolling stock was appa-
rent. Although, he added, the allegations which
had been made had created a panic in the breasts of
some they had not materially affected the credit of
the company, for within a very short time they had
been enabled to borrow money at 31 per cent., while
several allotments of the new 5 per cent. preference
stock had been applied for. The chairman concluded
by moving the adoption of the report, and the de-
claration of dividends as therein recommended.

The motion was seconded by Mr. T. Mu., and
after some discussion as to the fall in the dividend
from 7+ per cent. in the corresponding period last
year to 51 per cent. for the past half year, the re-
solution was carried unanimously. _ _

The retiring directors having been re-elected, the
meeting by a majority approved an agreement under
which the Caledonian are to work the Solway June,.
tion line, at the same time authorising the board to
contribute £60,000 towards that undertaking.
The CHAIRMAN next introduced a proposal of the
directors to grant a retiring allowance to Mr. C.
Johnstone, the manager of the line, who was about
to resign from failing health. The board, he inti-
mated, were prepared to recommend a gratuity of
£5,000, with a yearly allowance of £4OO.
This proposal was met with a storm of opposition.
It appeared that Mr. Johnstone's remuneration had
gradually risen from £1,237 in the year 1857 to
£2,718 in the year ending January last, the average
of 10 years being £l,BOO a year.
Mr. G. SMITH expressed himself in favour of
giving £3,000, with £5OO a year.
The general feeling of the meeting was against
any allowance being given.

A motion to this effect was made, but against this
the Chairman intimated his intention of using the
proxies held by the directors. After a stormy
scene, in the course of which the chairman repeat-
edly urged the withdrawal of the motion and
the postponement of the whole question, the
motion of the previou3 question was made from the
chair, and on being put to the meeting was carried.
The matter accordingly dropped, and the meeting
broke up.