The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-06 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Commander-in-Chief has approved the an-
nexed arrangements in connection with the troops
at Colchester :—Lieut. Wcstropp, 41st Regiment,
to proceed from the depot to the service companies ;
Capt. Metcalf, 32d Regiment, to join the service
companies in the Mauritius; Capt. Clery, 32d
Regiment, to join the depot ; and Sergt. Donnellan,
100th Regiment, to be drill instructor to the Ist
battalion North Yorkshire Volunteers. Brevet-
Major Edmonstoune, 30th Regiment, has been ap-
pointed president of the Garrison Sanitary Commit-
tee, vice Major Jones, Bth depot battalion, relieved.
Lieut. Sytnes, 91th Regiment, has proceeded to
Landguard Fort, Harwich, to assume the duties of
acting adjt. and quartermaster at that station, vice
Lieut. Richardson, 36th Regiment. Lieut. Sprent,
ILA., is authorise I to proceed to Walton, Suffolk,
for the purpose of superintending the gun practice
of the Suffolk Artillery Volunteers.
Sir John Pakington, Secretary of State for War,
accompanied by Capt. Galton, C. 8., Royal Engi-
neers, Permanent Assistant-Secretary ; Rear-Ad-
miral Caffin, C. 8., Director-General of Naval
Stores ; and Major-Gen. St. George, C. 8., R.A.,
Director of Ordnance, yesterday went down to
Woolwich, and made an inspection of the depart-
ments of the Royal Arsenal. On account of the
very unfavourable weather they drove down in Sir
John's private carriage, and arrived at the Arsenal
at half-past 11 a.m., an hour beyond the time ap-
pointed. They were officially received by Col. Boxer,
Capt. Majendie, Col. Campbell, R.A., Capt. Molony,
Mr. Fraser, C.E., Col. Clerk, R.A., Capt. Close,
Capt. Gordon, C. 8., Capt. Duff, R.E., and others,
who were all in regimental uniform. The whole
party entered the Select Committee offices, where
they were received by Brigadier-Gen. Lefroy (pre-
sident), and after a short conference they proceeded
to the Royal gun factories and witnessed the manu-
facture of various portions of the Fraser gun, re-
cently introduced as the new service gun for sea and
land use. The whole tarty manifested a great de-
sire to learn the entire process by which so impor-
tant an economy had been effected in bringing out
the " cheap gun," which was explained in detail by
Col. Campbell and Mr. Fraser to their apparent
satisfaction. They were conducted from forge to
forge, at each of which they saw the various modes
which the sections and coils of the gun had to un-
dergo before being brought under the huge Nasmyth
hammer to be brought into proper shape ; and,
finally, they saw the method of welding the coils to
form the tube, and transpose the whole into a solid
and combined mass, completing the gun in a rough
state, which was then left to cool. They thence
proceeded to the planing and boring mills, and wit-
nessed a comparison of the metals used in the old
and new guns, and inspected the various branches
of the Royal gun factories throughout. They next
entered the museum and saw the process of testing
a fragment of cast-iron by hydraulic machinery,
which broke at 14 tons to the square inch, being far
less endurable than the wrought iron now used in
gunmaking. It was ten minutes past one o'clock
when the party proceeded to the east end of the ship-
ping wharf and inspected the old Horsfall gun, now
laid up as unfit for present use. They afterwards
visited the American Rod man raking gun, lying
under the shears in readiness for transport to Shoe-
buryness to go through a course of experiments, and
the reserve stores at the extremity of the arsenal,
containing guns of the modern construction of Sir
William Armstrong and others in present use, and
an abundant supply of Palliser and other shot
for issue. Proceeding onwards, they passed through
the nail and harness and saddlery stores, where their
attention was arrested by a stock of new harness and
various improvements which had been recently in-
troduced, and were detailed by Capt. Feun, the su-
perintendent. Descending from the stores, they en-
tered the chemical branch, where they inspected one
of the new torpedoes invented by the department
for destroying an enemy's ship, which it was shown
would explode by the slightest contact. 'They pro-
ceeded to the private apartments of Col. Campbell,
superintendent of the Royal Gun Factories, where
they were entertained at luncheon. Sir John after-
wards expressed a desire to go through the remainder
of the departments in order
_ t O hicivzolf
quainted with the subjects which would be discussed
in the house to-night during the passing of vote 13
—the estimates for the manufacturing departments
of the army. They then proceeded to the machinery
long room of the laboratory, in which department
3,800 persons are now employed. Leaving it, they
entered the Boxer cartridge factory, in which 1,700
persons, male and female, are employed. Sir John
expressed his admiration at the celerity with which
the manufacture of the new cartridge is carried out
and completed for use, upwards of 300,000 being
turned out per day. They next entered the shell
foundry, and witnessed the manufacture of the Pal-
ier chill shot. On entering they examined a variety
of the Boxer and other solid shot, which had been
broken for the purpose of exhibiting the quality of
metals of which they are composed and the manner
of fracture. Several of the 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-
inch Palliser shot were brought from the mould and
turned out for the Secretary of State's inspection,
and appeared to elicit his unqualified commendation.
500 of these shot, it was stated, are produc NI per
day at present, and in a few days, when the plant is
all iu order, an additional 100 to 150 will be cast and
prepared for use. They afterwards went to the old
steam saw mills in the royal carriage department, and
passed through the new wheeler's shops and timber
stores, in which the half-wrought work is left to
dry, consisting of spokes, stocks, and other portions
of wheels and saddletrees, &c. They then entered
the various branches of the old carriage square, now
converted into stuitheries and shops, and witnessed
the rolling of scrap iron into racers for platforms,
and saw the method of 'stamping the trucks into
shape which is now used, instead of the old system
of c,,sting, which was not sufficiently durable for the
present heavy guns. They also witnessed the new
process of cutting an inch slab of iron with the band
saw. Col. Clerk, in answer to Sir John's questions,
stated that by reducing the speed there was less
damage to the saw than is usually occasioned at full
speed in the sawing wood. After visiting the re-
mainder of the department they proceeded to the
gun-mounting ground, where a 7-inch 6i-ton gun
was mounted on one of the patent wrought-iron car-
riages. 'This was manoeuvred for Sir John's inspec-
tion. Ile admitted the easy manner in which the
elevation and depression was effected by a single
gunner, and he left Woolwich soon after 5 o'clock
for London.

Yesterday Major-Gen. J. 0. Travers, C. 8., In-
spector-General of the corps of Royal Marines, at-
tended by Capt. J. M. Lennox, Aide-de-Camp,
arrived at Chatham for the purpose of commencing
the summer inspection of the officers and men of the
Chatham division of Royal Marine Light Infantry.
On arriving at head-quarters the Inspector-General
was received by Col. G. Lambrick, Aide-de-Camp
to the Queen, Commandant of the division, and the
other officers of the divisional Staff, the eight parade
companies being drawn up to await his arrival. After
inspecting the kits, arms, &c., of the members of
the companies, and also the recruits, Gen. Travers
witnessed the officers and non-commissioned officers
go through the sword drill, in which they ac-
quitted themselves very satisfactorily. The after-
noon was devoted by General Travers to the
inspection of the divisional schools, and also to the
inspection of the officers and men under instruction
at the gun and shed battery. A via was also paid
to the Royal Marine Infirmary, at Melville Ilimpital,
which brought yesterday's inspection to a close.
Last evening Gen. Stransharn was entertained at
dinner by the officers of the division, on which occa-
sion a number of the principal officers of the garri-
son were invited to meet him. The inspection will
be resumed to-thy.
Yesterday afternoon the unarmoured screw war
steamer Myrmidon was successfully launched from
No. 6 building slip at Chatham dockyard, in the
presence of a large number of spectators. The
Myrmidon, which will form a useful addition to
that description of vessel, but few of which
have been recently built for the navy, was laid
down as far back as July, 1860, but when about
half completed the whole of the hands were
withdrawn from her, in consequence of the Admi-
ralty at that time discontinuing the construction

of wooden vessels. After lying id-e on the stocks
for six years she was taken in hand a few months
since and completed, it being intended to equip and
despatch her to sea forthwith. The Myrmidon is
one of the Wanderer class of vessels, but during her
progress several improvements have been effected
in her. She was originally laid down from the de-
signs of Mr. Isaac Watts, the late chief constructor
of the navy; but, in consequence of the powerful
description of armament she is intended to carry, it
has been found necessary to deviate in several im-
portant particulars from the original designs. She
has accordingly been strengthened by the removal
of the wooden deck beams under the guns, and the
patent iron beams, from the Buttery Works, sub-
stituted. A free use has also been made of iron
stringer plates and iron stiffening bars to strengthen
the topsides, while additional stiffness and rigidity
have been imparted to the entire structure by the
adoption of iron bulkheads and angle iron
wherever found to be practicable ; the whole of
the alterations, which have been effected under
the direction and superintendence of Mr. P. Thorn-
ton, the master shipbuilder at Chatham, rendering
her one of the strongest vessels of her class. The
stem was partially taken down during her altera-
tions and raised about two feet higher to give her
additional buoyancy forward, vessels of this class
being generally so much down by the head, and con-
sequently exceedingly uncomfortable in bad weather.
The following are the principal dimensions of the
Myrmidon :—Length between perpendiculars,lBsft.;
length of keel for tonnage, 165 ft. 71,in• ; extreme
breadth 28ft. lin. ; breadth moulded, 27ft. 6in. ;
depth in hold, 14ft. ; burden in tons, 694 66-94th.
The following will be her armament :—•One 7-inch
6i-ton gun, and one 64-pounder, on pivots ; and
two 20-pounder breechloader chase-guns. The
arrangements for the launch yesterday were
of a very simple character, a gallery being
erected at the head of the slip for the
accommodation of the heads of departments con-
nected with the port and garrison. At half-past 2
the cord which held the last of the supports was
severed by Miss Baker, daughter of Mr. Baker,
chief inspector of machinery afloat at the dockyard,
and immediately afterwards the vessel glided down
the ways into the harbour amid the cheers of the
spectators. The Myrmidon was launched with the
whole of her machinery fitted on board. She will
be masted to-day, and afterwards placed in dock to
be completed for commission.
The sailing Indianman Trafalgar, Capt. Stock-
poole, R.N.R., one of Messrs. Green's Blackwall
fleet, arrived at Spithead yesterday from Kurrachee,
with the following officers and time-expired men
from various regiments :—Capt. Leith, 79th Regi-
ment (in military command) ; Staff Assist.-Surg.
Hale (in medical charge) ; Capt. Fordyce, 45th
Regiment; Lieut. Goad, 45th; Lieut. Boldero, 97th;
370 time-expired soldiers, 17 women, and 27 chil-
dren. The stormy weather prevented the troops
from being disembarked from the ship at Spithead
yesterday. The disembarkation will be effected
this morning, and the troops forwarded to the de-
pots of their several regiments, the Trafalgar after-
wards continuing their voyage to London..
The seamen of Her Majesty's ship Excellent, at
Portsmouth, on Tuesday evening, gave " An As-
sault of Arms and display of Naval Gymnastic Ex-
ercises," in the Governor's Green Volunteer Drill-
room, in aid of the " Seamen's Widows, Mothers,
and Orphans' Annuitant Society." The arrange-
ments were made by Mr. Tuohy, professor of the
sword, pike, and bayonet drill, and of gymnastics
to the Royal Naval College, and the programme
was highly successful.
The following freight ships, having taken in New
Boxer ammunition and other war stores at Wool-
wich, have sailed for their destination as follows :
The Silksworth for New Brunswick, the Jura for
Halifax, and the Flying Fish for Barbadoes.

ILIIL EV-1Y BEATE VOLES 7' I STIT UTION.

The annual dinner iu aid of the funds of this
institution was held last evening at Willis's-rooms ;
Mr. C. Dickens in the chair. There was a large at-
tendance.

Sir D. Goocii, chairman of the Great
iczpvilUea to al, t oc.at, of the
house of Commons.

The CHAIRMAN, in proposing "Prosperity to the
funds of the Railway Benevolent Institution," made
a humorous and characteristic speech. He said that
although it was not 50 years since one of the first
literary authorities of the country insisted that the
speed of the fastest of the railway trains that the
Legislature had disastrously sanctioned should be
limited by act of Parliament to 10 miles an hour,
yet it did somehow happen that every day there
were trains running pretty smoothly at the rate of
50 miles an hour. At one time vaccination was ob-
jected to on the ground that it would have a ten-
dency to impart to the human child something of
the nature of the cow, whereas vaccinated children
at the present time were found to be as easily distin-
guished from calves as ever they were, and certainly
they had no cheapening influence upon the price of
veal. (Laughter.) It was objected also that chloro-
form was a contravention of the will of Providence,
and with no better reason it was predicted that the
railway system, if anything so absurd could be
established, would infallibly throw half the nation
out of employment, The very cause of this festival
meeting, apart from the tributary channels of occu-
pation it bad opened out, bad called into existence
and employed a population of upwards of 200,000
persons. It was obvious that these could not be
rich, although their duties demanded great care and
exactness, and although our lives were every day,
humanly speaking, in the hands of many of them.
For the most part these men occupied places that
did not require skilled workmen, and that would be
therefore always open to great competition. Wages
could not be high where competition was keen, and
railway directors, in the bargains they made and
salaries they paid, had to deal with the money of
the shareholders, to whom they were accountable.
It thus happened that railway officers and servants
were not remunerated by any means splendidly,
and could not hope to do more than meet the ordi-
nary wants and hazards of life. By reason of the
dangerons nature of their avocations the hazard,
were so exceptionally great that it was stated, on
the authority of a Parliamentary paper, that
whereas one in 8,000,000 of passengers was killed,
the proportion in the case of railway servants was
one in 2,000. Hence nine years ago the Railway
Benevolent Institution became established, and this
was the ninth occasion of publishing from' the chair
the banns between the institution and the public.
It was nevertheless his duty to tell, as if for the
first time, what the institution was, before asking
whether there was any just cause or impediment
why those two parties—the institution and• the
public— should not be joined together in holy charity.
(Cheers.) The objects of the society were to grant
annuities out of the interest of invested capital, and
annual pensions, varying from £lO to £25, to dis-
tressed railway officers and servants incapacitated
by age, sickness, or accident ; to grant similar pen-
sions to distressed widows ; to educate and main-
tain orphans and children ; to provide temporary
relief to those requiring it; and to induce railway
officers and servants to insure their lives in some
well-established office. This was
the society—
simple, sympathetic, practical, easy, sensible, and
unpretending. The number of its members was
largely on the increase, and h td reached 12,100,
and the amount of its invested capital was nearly
£15,000. It had done a world of good and a world
of works, and it was gratifying to know that the
annual cost of its management had never been £250.
(Cheers.) It could not however do more good until
it had more money. The means of the society were
far too limited to allow of their giving more to ap-
plicants, even if they were helped to the utmost
by the great railway companies ; and even if they
were helped, as he hoped they would be shortly
by some of the great corporations of the coun-
try which railways had done so much to
enrich, the means of the society would still be too
limited. In a word, these railway officers and ser-
vants on their road to a very humble and modest
superannuation, could no more do without the help
of the great public than the great public on their
road from Torquay to Aberdeen could do without
them, (Cheers.) Therefore he desired to ask the

public whether the servants of the great railways
were not in effect every day our ready, zealous,
faithful, hard-working servants, and whether they
had not established a reasonable claim upon the
public's liberal remembrance ? (Cheers.) The
chairman having drawn a vivid and highly amusing
description of various railway employes at their
work, made a further appeal for funds, suggesting
that the Benevolent Institution gave us the means
at a very small personal cost, of acknowledging,
without compromising their independence, and
greatly to their permanent advantage, the claims of
those for whom he pleaded. If we took a human
interest in them they would take a human
interest in us, and we should not merely be the 9.30
or 10.40 rushing by, but an instalment of a consi-
derate public who was ready to lend a helping hand
to a deserving object. (Loud cheers.)
Various other toasts followed, a,ld some handsome
subscriptions were announced.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

(From the Registrar-General's Return.)

In the week that ended on Saturday, June 1,
the births registered in London and 12 other large
towns of the United Kingdom were 4,727 ; the
deaths registered, 2,879. The annual rate of mor-
tality was 24 per 1,000 persons living.
In London the births of 1,176 boys and 1,061
girls, in all 2,237 children, were registered in the
week. In thecorresponding weeks of 10 years 1857-
66, the average number, corrected for increase of
population, is 1,093.
The deaths registered in London during the week
were 1,250. It was the twenty-second week of the
year, and the average number of deaths for that
week is, with a correction for increase of population,
1,252. The deaths in the present return approxi-
mate closely to the estimated amount, but exceed
by 132 the number registered in the week which
ended on the 25th of May.
Eighteen deaths from smallpox occurred last
week, 11 of which were in the east districts. The
deaths from whooping-cough were 47 ; 5 in the
west, 15 in the north, 5 in the central, 7 in the
east, and 15 in the south districts. Forty-one
deaths from typhus, 17 from measles, 18 from scar-
latina, and 15 from diarrhcea were recorded.
The daughter of a tide-water, aged 43 years, died
on the 30th of May, at 10, Windsor-terrace,
Carlton-road west, Peckham, of " cholera (eight
days) exhaustion."
Pancras ; Tottenham-court.—ln University Col-
lege Hospital, on the 221 of May, the daughter of a
gardener, aged nine years, " syncope from chloro-
forni administered at an operation." Post mortem.
(Inquest.)
Holborn; St. Andrew Eastern.—ln the work-
house, on the 21st of May, a pawnbroker, aged 75
years, " effusion of serum on brain accelerated by
want." Post mortem. (Inquest.)
The deaths of foar persons who were killed by
horses or carriages in the streets were registered :

The son of a shoemaker, aged five years, run
over. Died on the 22d of May in the London Hos-
pital. (I nques t.)
The daughter of a cordwainer, aged one year, run
over. Died on the 25th of May in the London
Hospital. (Inquest.)
The widow of a sailor, aged 56 years, run over.
Died on the 26th of May in the London Hospital.
Inquest.

An omnibus driver, aged 46 years, fell from the
driving seat and was run over by the wheels of au
omnibus. Died on the 24th of May in the West-
minster Hospital. Post mortem. (Inquest.)
By Dr. Frankland's analysis, it appears that while
the water of Loch Katrine, supplied to Glasgow,
contained in every 100,000 tons three tons of foreign
matter, the same quantity of the Thames water in
May contained from 27 to 29 tons ; of the New
River water, 25 tons ; of the Ehst London, 27 tons ;
of the Kent Company, 39 tons. The traces of pre-
vious sewage contamination wera least in the East
London ; greatest in the Kent waters. The waters
were much purer in May than in April, and this
was followed by an evident improvement in the
health of the people.
The annual rate of mortality last week was 21 per
1,000 in London, 33 in Ediubur2h. and 3
Duonn ; z+ in Bristol, 19 in Birmingham,
30 in Liverpool, 28 in Manchester, 30 in Sal-
ford, 24 in Sheffield, 28 in Leeds, 20 in Hull, 29
in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and 23 in Glasgow. The
rate iu Vienna was 31 per 1,000 during the week
ending the 25th ult , when the mean temperature
was 6.8 deg. Fahrenheit higher than in the same
week in London, where the rate was 19.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer iu the week was 29.7421 n.
file barometrical reading increased from 29.44 in.
on Monday, May 27, to 29.97 in. on Friday, May
31. The mean temperature of the air in the
week was 59 deg., which is 3 deg. above
the average of the same week in 50 years (as de-
termined by Mr. Ghislier). The highest day
temperature was 77.5 deg. on Saturday, June 1.
The lowest night temperature was 46.5 deg., on
Sunday, May 26. The entire range of temperature
in the week was, therefire, 31 deg. The mean of
the highest teiniy.lrature of the water of the Thames
was 51.8 deg. ; that of the lowest was 52.3 dog.
The cliff 2rence between the mean-dew point tempe-
rature and air temperature was 6.9 deg. The
mean degree of humidity of the air wLs 78, com-
plete saturation being represented by 100. Rain
fell to the amount of 0.69 in., of which 0.29 in. fell
on Sunday, May 26, awl 0.31 on Monday, May 27.
The. general direction of the wind was S.W.
According to a return furnished by the engineer
of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the average
daily quantity of sewage pumped into the river
Thames at the Southern Outfall Works, Cross-
ness, was 57,951,741 gallons, or 263,301 cubic
metres, equivalent to about as many tons by
weight.