The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-31 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

BANKREFFTI3.
Edward John Cook, commission agent, Hall-street, City-
road, to surrender Sept. 9, at half-past one, and Oct. 15, at
twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
Henry Earnshaw, corn miller, Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire,
Sept. 10 and Oct. 8, at eleven, at the Leeds District Court.
Joseph Roberts, ironmonger, Liverpool, Sept. 13 and
Oct. 8, at twelve, at the Liverpool District Court.
Wm. Nicholas Jones, bookseller, Newport, Sept. 13 and
Oct. 18, at eleven, at the Bristol District Court.
William Parsonage, steam packet agent and auctioneer,
Liverpool, Sept. 7th, at twelve, and Oct. 8, at eleven, at the
Liverpool District Court.
Thomas Dawson, printer, Birmingham, Sept. 13, and
Oct. 4, at half-past eleven, at the Birmingham District
Court.
Edward Brereton Baldwin, saddler, Walsall, Sept..lo and
Oct. 1, at half-past eleven, at the Birmingham 'District
Court.
William Arnold Bailey, wine and spirit merchant, Bide-
ford, Devonshire, Sept. 9 and Oct. 12, at one, at the Exeter
District Court.
%John Madin and Richard Webster, brewers, Newark,
Sept. 14 and Oct. 5, at half-past ten, at the Shire-ball, Not-
tingham.
upGoneo-Trgreentßose
ffßoirrdcsbheirr,einnkeeperpt.io ando bc
tr.e tear
ur
half-past
eleven, at the Birmingham District Court.

SCOTCH BANKRUPTS.
James and Thomas Steven, coaltnasters, Burn bank, Ayr.
shire.
Dun
John Alexander, plumber, oon.
John M'Kenzie, clock maker, High-street, Edinburgh.

THE WORTHING CATASTROPHE.—On Sunday, at
four o'clock in the afternoon, the funeral of the children taf
Mr. Torr—Elizabeth, Ada, and Florence—and Clementin.a
Jackson, with the boatman Bland and his wife, took place
at Broadwater church, about one mile from Worthing, and
almost within sight of the spot where the recent dreadful
calamity occurred. The bodies were placed in a hearse, and
attended by a file of mourners, and not less than 3,000 spec-
tators. At the porch of the ancient church at Broadwater
the bodies were received by the ltev. E. K. Elliott, 8.A.,
the incumbent of the parish,and immediately afterwards the
beautiful edifice, which is considered to be one of the finest
specimens of the Norman and Saxon periods in this country
of an ecclesiastical character, was crowded to excess. The
burial service was read in an impressive manner by the rev.
incumbent. At four o'clock in the morning the bodies of
Mary Sarah, William Thomas, George, and Clara Ann
Smith, the children of Mr. Smith, who were also drowned
by the oversetting of the Mary Eliza, were removed by
special train to the residence of their father in town for
interment. The brave man Lester, who saved the sur-
vivors, was one of the chief mourners at Broadw&ter.
During the reading of the funeral service scarcely a 2 :al eye
was to be seen.

The Commander-in-Chief has issued directions for the
Royal Antrim Rifle Regiment of Militia, at Woolwich, to
be thoroughly instructed ii: the art of manufacturing war
materials, as practised in the Z.aboratory Department oft the
Royal Arsenal. One company is ordered to be admited
daily for that purpose until further CYclers.
Information has just been received Of the safe arrival at
their destination of the party of Royal Ent:ineers who sailed
from Southampton on the 2d April last for British Columbia,
for the purpose of marking out and making a scrvey of the
Oregon boundary, which runs along the 49th p:kralle.l of
latitude, from the Gulf of Georgia to the Rocky Monti:4lns.
The detachment consisted of Lieut.-Col. Hawkins,
Commissioner; Capt. Haig, Royal Artillery ; Lieut. Wilson
and Lieut. Durrab, R.E.; and 50 non-commissioned officers
and sappers of the Royal Engineers.
Capt. Parson, R.E., and the detachment of non-com-
missioned officers and sappers of the Royal Engineers who
embark at Southampton for British Columbia, via Chagres
and Panama, to-morrow, are not intended, as stated, f.,r the
survey of the Oregon boundary, but for the survey of such
a portion of the territory as may seem most suitaMe for the
establishment of the first Imperial settlement, which will be
formed on the arrival of the main body of the expedition,
under Col. Moody, R.E., who will take out with them,
we are informed, a sufficient quantity of iron and wooden
houses, &c.,--to form a small town at once, and which may
be destined to form the capital of a prosperous colony.
Captain Barnett, Stb company, 4th battalion, Lieutenant
Youn.z, six non-commissioned officers, and 42 gunners of
the Royal Artillery, at Woolwich, are under orders to re-
lieve Captain Blosse and the detachment of Artillery, 12th
battalion, on duty at the Tower, who are ordered to return
to bead-quarters, Woolwich.
A society for promoting the exercise of the rifle by pri-
vate individuals is about to be formed at Torquay.

THE MILITIA.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Brecknockshire has appointed
Tuesday, the sth of Octob?r, as the most convenient time
for calling out the Royal Brecknock Rifle Regiment for
training and exercise.

SIEGE OPERATIONS AT CHATHAM.

The military season is over at Aldershott, and the other
popular places of warlike entertainment are fast preparing
winter quarters. The great Engineer barrack on the banks
of the Medway has kept open a few days later with brilliant
attractions, but only for a short time, and yesterday the last
display was made in one of those interesting and well-
managed siege operations for which Chatham has become so
widely and justly celebrated.
The programme on this occasion was almost as varied in
incidents and effects ai any day of actual hard siege fight-
ing. There was cannonading, springing mines under land
and water, escalading, pontooning, crossing bridges, and
blowing up stockades,—in fact, all, and a good deal more
than all, which any one could hope to witness even in a
siege of the most complicated and desperate character. The
day, therefore, was looked forward to apparently with a
good deal of interest, net alone on account of the opera-
tions themselves, but because, perhaps, they were to be
the last of the kind for the year, and because, as it
was generally believed, his Royal Highness the Com-
mander-in-Chief would conduct the operations in person.
In the latter expectation the Chatham public were certainly
disappointed, and also, we imagine, in the operations tnetu-
selves, for from one cause or another the commencement
was delayed till so late in the afternoon that the siege and
sham assault, the only things which bore curtailing, were
all compressed into the space of a few minutes, and the fight
terminated before the firing had well informed the public of
what was going on. The weather, too, as no doubt many
of our readers have had cause to observe for themselves on
similar occasions, exercised an important adverse influence.
During all the early part of the morning it rained with that
dogged obstinacy peculiar to such holiday occasions in
England, and though towards the middle of the day it
cleared up fine and warm, yet the mischief was done,
and any influx of visitors from the country effectually
prevented. The siege works upon this occasion had
been undertaken, to perfect the young officers and
men studying military engineering at Chatham, in
carrying out the most important details of their tactics in
that practical manner which cat only be acquired by the
experieace of actual siege operations on a large, though
bloodless scale.
For this purpose, therefore, actual siege was laid to that
portion of the Chatham defences round the steep bill over-
looking St. Mary's Creek, and enclosing the barracks to-
wards New Brompton. It is some time since the siege com-
menced, for everything has been done according to the
most approved rules and regulations of civilised and very
modern warfare. Not a sod was turned which was not ne-
cessary to the attacking party—not a thistle was cut down
or a blade of grass uprooted hut upon the soundest strate-
getical reasons. The only difference (rather an important
one, it is true) between the approaches in this case and
those of an ordinary siege was that there was no defence.
No matter what batteries were erected or what dangers
seemed to threaten Chatham, the defenders gave no
heed. There were no sorties or alertes, rifle pits or mines
to contend against, yet, notwithstanding such rather
favourable circumstances, the attack progressed but slowly,
for every step had to be taught to both men and junior offi-
cers, and since the ground was first broken some months
have elapsed ere the place bats been completely invested.
However, in spite of all delayer' the last approaches, with all
their sanguinary etceteras of mines, fougasses, breaching
batteries, and so on, were completed, and nothing remained
but to "'deliver," as it is termed in military parlance, the
final assault at 2 o'clock yesterday, though, as it turned out,
the delivery was by no means made with that punctuality
which usually distinguishes military appointments in such
matters. As we have intimated, it was anticipated that the
Commander-in-Chief would either conduct or witness the
operation, so, in order to give extra eclat to the occasion,
there was to be pontooning across St. Mary's Creek to the
island, with subaqueous explosions and a trial of varicui kinds
of improvised bridges for use in the field. The place besieged
was situated in the heights over the creek—a salient angle
of the works, including several strong bastions and batteries,
and defended, of course, like other parts of the Chatham lines,
by a very broad and deep dry ditch. In spite of this de-
fence, however, as even the mimic siege showed beyond a
doubt, this salient is a very weak part of the works, so
weak, jndeed, as to quite justify the opinion that, though
an attack on it might occasion heavy loss, it could, never-
theless, be taken with comparatively. as much ease and cer-
tainty, in spite of its defence, as. if, in the case of the pre-
sent siege, it never fired a defensve shot at all.
Against' this weak point the siege had been regularly
pressed, with the usual approaches of first, second, third,
and fourth parallels, and their accompaniments of covering
batteries to each, rifle-pits, zigzags, breastwork, and mines,
so that when complete the whole trenches cover a very
large extent of ground. Taking the whole, from first to last,
all these approaches were most admirably executes!, and
with as much care and solidity literally as if the lives of all
concerned in the attack depended on them. All the parallels
were deep and capacious, the breastworks high and massive,
the musketry loops strong and admirably. concealed. The
insides of all the works were carefully rivetted with turf
and fascine the outsides showed little to the fire of the
enemy, andthere were sbell-pits and refuges for the men as if
every sod had been turned under a tremendous fire of bombs,
with stout and well-made banquettes for the men to stand
on and fire over the parapet, against sorties or enemy's rifle-
men. Whenever the zigzags were compelled to turn so as to
be eapo.sed, however distantly, to the enfilading fire from
the besieged, traverses crossed the approach at close inter-
vals. It was in these traverses, and in them only, the expe-
rienced eye detected that the besiegers had never had to
encounter the enemy's fire,_ for they were unquestionably too
weak to withstand the effects of any but the very lightest
artillery. The magazines, however, were, as the English
magazines always are, protected with the most solid works,
and the batteries thrown up at various points were 18 feet
thick in the embrasures. In the construction of the works
wrought iron solid gabions had been used with the iron-
band hoop gabionsi and those of the common hazel
and ash twigs. The latter are represented as being
beyond all doubt the best where wood and labour are
abundant, but the durability of the iron band hoop gabions,
as well as the facility with which any number can be made
and transported, gives them an immense advantage over any
others for convenience. Nine batteries had been constructed
to assist at the final assault—all of different kinds, but all,
or nearly all, converging their fire on the casemate battery
and redan wall of the besieged place. The armament of these
besieging works seldom exceeded two pieces—howitzers, 18-
pounders, or 32-pounder siege guns. There was an admi-
rably-constructed masked battery—quite hidden—to sweep
the dry ditch; this was No. 4. Nos. 5 and 6 batteries were
placed so as to command the re-entering angles of the be-
sieged works. No. 7 battery had a mine of 271 b. of powder
to breach the redan, and a counter battery next it, and
also opposite the redan, had the same charge for the
same purpose in another deep mine. These works were
connected with a line of rifle-pits admirably constructed
and concealed, and in rear of them was a cavalier bat-
tery, looped in all parts for riflemen, and defended with
cohorns from behind. This was the besiegers' right attack.
The left was also of several strong batteries, with m
soe 20
taugasses (small mines) in a flying sap, running direct upon
the casemate battery, and almost at right angles with the run;
tain to be escaladed. The men at the breaching guns a
others close to the works were " endangered" by soros of
i
the clumsiest mantlets over the muzzles of the pieces (to
ever
keep out the fire of the besieged riflemen) which
devised. In active service such mend would fly like grape
among the defenders of a battery, do ten times more mis.