The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-31 00:00:00

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placed in the sacks, and left the premises with their
second booty. When the two men had been gone a few
minutes with the second prize, the six, with a ' last
warning' to Mr. Allport not to follow, left the shop with-
out the slightest hurry, and then, quickening their pace
when they reached the street, passed down Frenchchurch-
street, and disappeared. Mr. Allport, hastening to the
police-station, gave information of the outrage, whereupon
a sub-inspector and some magistrates proceeded to take
measures for the pursuit of the Fenians. The whole affair
did not occupy more than ten or fifteen minutes. No
arrests have been made, and no clue to the perpetrators
has as yet been obtained."
The Cork papers give some details of the romantic
attack on the martello tower at Fota, or Foaty. It seems
that there are two towers at Foaty Bay, which is at the
north side of the Lee, opposite Passage. One of them is
situate at Reivelly, commanding a bridge which connects
an island, called the Great Island, with the main land.
The other, which was the object of the recent attack,
stands on a tongue of land near Marino, at the entrance
to the bay. Its garrison consisted of two gunners, who
had wives and children living with them. Cu Thursday
evening, about five o'clock, one of the artillerymen was
sitting with his family at tea, his comrade being in an
adjoining room, when five men quietly entered, three of
whom had their faces concealed with large mufflers round
them and their caps pulled clown, while the other two
were undisguised. It is supposed that a more numerous
party remained outside. The usual means of communica-
tion with these forts is a ladder, which is let down during
the day and drawn up at dusk. Whether the strange
visitors obtained admission by this ladder, which the
gunners may have neglected to raise, or climbed up on the
shoulders of their confederates, as some conjecture, is not
known. Their ebject was soon revealed. The leader of
the gang, advancing to where the gunner was sitting at
the table, presented a revolver at his bead, and told him
not to stir, that they did not want to harm him or his
family, but .to take the " stuff " that was in the
tower. The other gunner on coming into the room
was seized and prevented from communicating with his
comrade. His wife was alarmed and begged that their
lives might be spared, but was calmed by the assurances
that she need not be afraid. The party then rifled the
tower, taking the guns and swords which were suspended
on the walls, and placing sentries with revolvers to keep
the gunners in check while they searched for ammuni-
tion. They removed a number of 81b. cartridges,
containing altogether about 2501 b. or 3001 b. of . ex-
plosive materials, besides a lot of fuses and other
appliances connected with the working of artillery. They
coolly made an analysis of the shells, and seemed much
interested in examining their construction. After ob-
taining all
.the information and steresethey could in the
magazine, .they, proceeded to . the _ armoury, thea_etataaa, -
of Which disappointed thein, as it only contained two old
carbines with sword bayonets, which they took possession
of ; but the most singular part of the narrative is that,
after completing their work, the five armed men sat down,
we are told, and had a friendly conversation with the
artillerymen and their families. One of them related his
adventures in the American war, another discussed
Fenianism, and a third exhibited one of their 12-shooters,
and, in return for the information which they had
obtained, explained its construction to the gunners. It
appeared to be a breech-loading revolver, and in taking
out the cylinder one of the bullets fell to the ground.
After remaining in the tower over two hours, and ad-
ministering a form of oath to the soldiers that they
would not identify them in case of their being arrested, at
the same time warning them not to leave the spot until
daybreak, as they would be in the neighbourhood and
would shoot them, the gang withdrew. The artillerymen,
finding they had gone, brought up some reserve cart-
ridges which had escaped notice, and, after securing the
entrance to the tower, fired five shots from their gun on
the roof, and waved a light as signals for assistance, but
although passengers on the Queenstown Direct Railway,
which was near, heard the firing, no attention was paid to
it. Several shots were afterwards heard in the locality,
which appeared to be discharged by persons practising
with small arms.

It is believed that the Fenians landed from boats. The
story of the Fenian privateer off Cork is doubtful, but, as
told with circumstantiality by the Cork Examiner, it is
that, on the morning when the strange ship, or ships, were
observed outside Queenstown Harbour, Captain Lynch,
master of the Newfoundland barque Sarah Ann, reported
having • seen six boats, filled with armed men, rowing out
of the harbour seaward. "He took them for men-of-war
cutters." The ram Research, according to the tale, was
in pursuit either of these boats or of the vessel to which
they belonged, and a naval officer from her boarded the
barque, and inquired vshether her captain had seen the
mysterious boats or heard shots. The Research and the
Helicon went next morning to sea.
Orders have been received directing that the arms ana
ammunition in the martello towers in the Cork district
shall be collected in the Haulbowline stores.
By direction of Major-General Freeman Murray, the
military guard on duty within Chatham Dockyard has
been augmented, and the troops retained within the esta-
blishment the whole of the night, instead of leaving the
dockyard at sunset, as has hitherto been the practice.
Within the last few days a strong military guard has been
posted within Fort Amherst, at Chatham, and the guard-
house removed within the fort, for the protection of the
stores of Snider cartridges and other small arm ammuni-
tion stored in the magazines at the fort, a line of sentries
communicating from the heights on which the magazine is
built with the garrison both by day and
The military guard at Hampton Court, as was expected,
has been increased at the Royal Palace. A full company
of the 56th Foot has arrived from Portland, and has taken
up its quarters there. The day watching is principally
left to the civilians, but at night sentries are placed all
round the Royal Palace, and in all the approaches. After
dark no one is allowed to pass without giving the sign, and,
if not known, is not allowed to proceed without a guard
with him. That part of the Palace which faces the river
is most carefully guarded, and heavy iron gratings have
been placed over the mouths of the sewer. The watch-
men and sentries are so arranged that there is a complete
cordon round the whole place, and no one is left unsup-
ported.
The Western Morning News reports that the utmost
vigilance continues to be observed in Plymouth and Devon-
port and the neighbourhood to guard against any incen-
diary or hostile measures, or the landing of combustibles.
At Bull Point, where in the capacious Royal powder
magazines nearly five hundred tons of gunpowder are
stored, these precautions arc incessant, and very harassing
to the officers and men so engaged. The mayors of Ply-
mouth and Devonport have received a circular from the
Home 0 ffice,suggesting the swearing in of special constables.
The locks have again been removed from the rifles in the
Plymouth volunteer armoury. The coastguard are pro-
vided with their pistols and blue lights for signalling ; but
the police have no arms except a wooden mace, and are,
moreover, on duty in the open air for fourteen hours at a
stretch. A matter requiring the most prompt and serious
attention of the authorities, says the Western Morning
News, is the large quantities of gunpowder which are
stored in the neighbourhood without any efficient protec-
tion. At one place, we learn, as large a qutintity as ten
tons of gunpowder are deposited within five miles of
the citadel, without any guard, and accessible to anyone
who chooses to break open a door. If the authorities can-
not or will not take.cognisance of these matters, the General
commanding the district and the Port Admiral would do
will t4l4ce up the fittPle.'e42 •