The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-13 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

Letters of the 11th of March from Sydney state
that the 77th Regiment was held in readiness to
embark for. ludia. liar Majesty's ship Megmra
was sent from Calcutta to Sydney on the 15th of
February, to fetch a regiment for service in Bengal.
Orders were yesterday received at the head-
quarters of the Royal Engineers, Brompton Bar-
racks, Chatha.at, fir the 12th company of Royal
Sappers and Miners to embark at Portsmouth on
Tuesday next, on board the Manchester, for the
Cape of Good Hope, to relieve the Royal Engineers
now at that station. The officers selected to em-
bark with the 12th company are Captain Montagu-
Stopford Whitmore, Lieutenant Frederick Richard
Clem()lit3, and Lieutenant Chas. Crawford, R.E.
Preparatiors have been made at St. Mary's in-
vaiid depot Chatham, for the reception at that
establishment of the sick and wounded troops who
ard daily expected to arrive from India in the
Himalaya steamer, intelligence having been re-
ceived that the Himalaya will bring home about
600 sick and wounded troops.

The troops belonging to the Royal Engineers
have made considerable progress in the formation
of the eimp inside the Spur Battery, Chatham, and
the whole of the tents to be occupied by the troops
belonging to the depots attached to the Ist battalion
of infantry have now been pitched. As soon as
the necessary camp equipments have been supplied
to each tent the first detachment of troops will
move out of Chatham Barracks, which are now
overcrowded, and take possession of the tents.
The vast number of 1,079 iron gnus captured
iu the Crim, a, and which were subsequently
stored at Woolwich, is now considerably reduced
by the distribution which was ordered to be made
to each of the corporate towns of Great Britain, as
well as to the various colonies belonging to the
British empire. Of the 91 brass guns from the
same seurce a .portion, it is believed, were some
time age employed in casting a pyramid to com-
memorate the part taken in that war by the Royal
Regiment of Artillery. The pyramid, or obelisk,
was sone months ago completed, and was destined
to be erected in the centre of the grass.plot front-
ing the residence of Lieut.-Colonel Wilmot, R. A.,
superintendent of the Royal gun fac!ories in the
Arsenal. The Government, however, disapproved
the proposal, and the obelisk, although completed,
has not been applied to its intended purpose. A
court of inquiry has assembled for the purper;e of
investigaeing the matter, the result of which has
not transpired. The obelisk was 15 feet high, and
of soli( gun metal, containing on its four sides the
names of the officers of the Royal Artillery who
were killed in the Crimea. A brass bell, said to
have been cast from Russian guns, and intended
to have been hung in 'lie newly-erected clock-tower
in the Royal Arsenal, has shared a similar fate to
that of the Crimean obelisk, and the clock-tower
has been ordered t ) be appropriated to some other
pureo!e, the public deck over the principal entrance
of the Royal carriage department having been pro-
nounced amply sufficient for the purposes of the
entire establishment.
Tine Marlborough, 131, screw three-decker, Capt.
Lord F. H. Kerr, will leave Portsmouth harbour
for Spithe id this morning, about 10 o'clock. She
will not return to harbour, but complete her com-
plement, Jec., at Spithead. The screw she is fitted
with, lich is upon a new priuciple, to compete
wi li. Griffiths's, is by the makers of her engines,
Alaudslay and Co., and not Penn and Son, as stated
yesterday.
The Topaze, 51, screw frigate, which was to be
launched at Devouport yesterday afternoon—the
ceremony of christening to be performed by Lady
teynolls—is of the following dimensions :

- ,
Ft. In,
Length from fure part of figure to taffrail 269 2
Length between the perpendiculars.
Length of keel for tonnage 203 :3
Breadth, ..xtrerne ..
Breadth for tonnage ... 49 7
Breadth moulded 43 9
Depth in hold
Burden in tons (01d measurement)... 2,658 57-q
Burden in t.,111 (new measurement) 1,150 1,160-3,530
Engines (by MeEsrs. Maudslay) GOO horse-power.

The Renown, 91, screw, Captain Arthur Forbes
Rear Admiral Sir H. D. Chads, K. C. 8., will, after
conveyntz the Q icon of Portugal to Lisbon, leave
for the Meditetranean, but whether tin gallant
almir;,l w.ll remain on b ua'd i 3 not yet known.
The lltiVanan steam-tratispc:rt embarked th
tr.,ops. fully encumfated yesterday at Portsmouth
iu the foreinon, and at 5 o'clock steamed out o!
harblur with them for Malta direct.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :
Mr. J. L'ircie, Assistant-Master-Shipwright at
Woolwich, to be Sec end A.sistant-Surveyor of the
Navy, vice Elge, superannuated ; George P. Mar-
tin, Paymaster, advanced to second class ; Wilmot
B. Main Prise; Paymaster, advanced to the third
claw.

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

Since our last notice of the-admirable new pay-
ing-out-machine for submerging this cable, which
the experience of the defects of the former appara-
tus has enabled the company to construct for the
attempt now soon to be repeated, great efforts to
insure success to the undertaking have been made.
No precaution has been neglected, no suggestion
(and these have come by thousands) that was worth
attention has been ignored, and all that skill or
science can effect towards carrying out a scheme in
which so much, unfortunately, depends on chance
has been accomplished. The cable at Keyham has
now been stowed away on board the two vessels
with which last year's attempt was made. Within
the last few days the Adonis quitted the wharf, off
Messrs. Glasse and Elliot's factory, at Greenwich,
with one of the paying-out machines and 300 miles
of cable, in addition to the extra lengths already
made. Since her departure, however, it has been
determined to make 100 miles more, and the ma-
chines at the works are revolving day and night to
complete the extra length in time. The total length
of cable with which the attempt was made last year
was rather under than over 2,400 miles, which was
so near the quantity actually required to span the
distance that the first loss of 300 miles proved fatal
to the whole attempt, for that time at least. Now,
however, the length of cable oa board both vessels
is precisely 3,012 miles, excln-ive of the shore ends,
of much greater weight and thickness, and which
amount to about 30 miles more. There is therefore
in round numbers 3,050 miles of cable to submerge
between two points only 1,950 statute miles apart,
so that 1,100 miles, or about 40 per cent., is allowed
for accidents and slack in paying-out. This immense
cable, which weighs about one ton per mile,
will be equally divided between the Agamemnon
and Niagara. The latter has her share distributed
over all her decks, and, of course, most amidships.
There is one coil on the upper or spar deck, be-
tween the fore and main masts, of 100
miles, 30 feet diameter and 2 feet deep, and there
is one of 130 miles, and occupying about the
same space between the maimand mizen masts. On
the main deck there are two, one aft and one amid-
ships, of 297 and 294 miles respectively. On the
berth deck there is one of 180 miles, and iu the
hold a coil of 350. In place of the shore end, which
was last year carried 0.1 the spar deck forward near
the capstan, there will now be a coil of about 100
miles 4, and the heavy shore ends for both countries
will go ire the accompanying frigates. Last year the
cable was coiled in the hold of the Agamemnon in
one vast mass of 1,250 miles long and this immense
weight stowed amidships balanced her like a Chi-
nese toy. The result was, of course, that she rolled
to an extent that it was hard to say which side of
the vessel was uppermost, and on landing the cable
after the failure of the attempt it was found that the
pressure of the heavy mass on comparatively so
small a surface had strained her timbers to some
extent. To obviate partly these serious disadvan-
tages, therefore—disadvantages which, in case of
the Agamemnon encountering heavy weather,
might and would endanger the safety of the vessel,
—the cable, though still coiled in the hold,i s dis-
tributed in such a mariner that the greatest part of
the weight rests on a much larger surface. 1,150
miles will be stowed in the hold, and about 350
miles on the berth deck forward, and to counter-
balance these heavy masses the coals will bestowed
as far aft as possible. All the ships of the squadron
will leave Plymouth, as we have previously an-
nounced, about the 24th or 25th of this month on
their experimental trip, which will occupy from six
to ten days. During this about 100 miles of con-
demned cable will be used in ascertaining the effi-
ciency of various buoys, laying down and under
running the wire, &c., and when all doubts and
theories have been practically solved the squadron
returns to Queenstown, makes its brief final prepa-
rations, and starts for the great attempt about the
10th of June. About that period of the year there
is a month of almost uninterrupted calin in the At-
lantic, and anything like seriously heavy weather
has not been heard of at least for the last 50 years.
Bad weather, however, in the ordinary ac-
ceptation of the term, in those boisterous lsti-
tudes, even if it does occur, is not likely to
affect the process of submerging after it has once
fairly commenced, for the paying-out machine is so
sufficiently self-acting as to almost compensate in
its action for any sudden rise in the stern of the
vessel to the pitch of the sea. Both ships, with the
accompanying frigates, make all spee 1- to the centre
of the Atlantic, or rather to the centre of the space
to be traversed by the cable, which is about 32 deg,
west of Greenwich. Here the splice between the
two halves will be made without loss of time. To
ov morn° the difficuLy caused by the two portions
of the cable having their " lay" or twist of the out-
side spiral wires turning in different directions, and
forming right and left hand screws, the splice will
be secured to rods of iron loaded with a weight in
the centre ; in f .ct, an apparatus of the same kind
as that by which railway carriages are coupled
togo her. By this means the tendency of the diffe-
rent spirals to untwist each other will be overcome.
There is 1,500 fathoms water where this join must
be made, and both vessels will remain stationary
until the splice has well settled on the bottom,
when the Niagara will at once steer for the New
World, and the Agamemnon return to the Old.
Each will steam as fast to her homeward destina•
tion as is consistent with the safety of the great
undertaking, so the cable will be either laid or lost
within 12 or 14 days from starting. The depths to
which the Niagara will have to sink her portion
vary quickly and irregularly from 1,500 to 2,500
fathoms, or from 1/ to about 3i- miles ; and this is
the case also with the Agamemnon's portion of the
distance. But on the American side the water
shoals easily and gradually towards Newfoundland,
whereas on the British portion of the ocean the
Agamemnon will have to surmount a tremendous
ridge, which may be called the Andes of those vast
submarine plains of the Atlantic. It commences at
about 15 deg. west longitude, and in the course of
a few miles the water suddenly shoals from 1,750
fathoms to 559. Up this vast rocky precipice—
almost as steep as the side of Mont Blanc—the
cable must be laid with extreme care. This diffi-
culty once overcome, the way thence to Valentia
becomes comparatively of no account.
In case of dangerous weather arising the first
consideration in all cases will be, of course, the
safety of the cable ; and, no matter how advanta-
geous such and such courses of action may appear,
nothing will be done by which the success of the
undertaking is jeopardised or even left to chance.
Each vessel is provided with reels of strong wire
rope, which can be attached to buoys made in the
manner of ordinary fishing floats, though, of coin se
capable of sustaining a weight of several tons. Pro-
vided with this apparatus, the cable may be cut
without reluctance, if ever the weather threatens,
and the end of it (firmly secured to the rope and
buoy) allowed to rest almost, upon the bed of the
ocean, to be hauled up directly the storm has
passed. Proper precautions have also been taken
to make the floating ends of the buoys conspicuous
and easily found iu case of the ships being driven
fr oat them.
A number of experiments have recently been
made with a view of increasing the rapidity of
working signals through the entire length of the
cable. These experiments, in which a variety of
inventions and ai.plications have been employed,
have been conducted by Professor Thompson, Mr.
Hughes, the American electrician (whose printing
telegraph is likely to revolutionise the present un-
certain system), Mr. Henley and Mr. Whitehouse.
The result, though on the whole far more satisfac-
tory than was at first a'iticipated, shows indubit-
ably that more than one sue-marine cable will be
required to do all the business likely to be trans-
acted between this country and the New World.
Such a result, however, need dishearten no one,
l srr
since none but those unacquainted with the subject
have for a moment imagiued that one working ca-
b
!
°
way which others will be soon ready and anxious to
follow.
employed between Lend Liverpool on and and be-
tween Liverpool and Ire'and, where cost of the
How be u
inaffincyin wires , or
are do
there
post is only a penny, and the delay in using it only
a few hours ? Yet we believe that nearly 30 wires
are scarcely sufficient to meet the demand for mes-
sages between these places. Taking this, then, as the
standard, how many submarine cables will be re-
quired for the business between the New World
and the Old ? If we are not much mistaken, the
messages to New Orleans alone would employ and
richly pay one cable. At all events, if it is only
f r the purpose of coueteracting the disturbing in-
fluence of those mysterious magnetic storms, it
will be necessary for the Atlantic Company to lay
clown a second wire as soon as possible,—that is,
to have a complete metallic circuit for the return
of the electricity along tl,e outer wires cf the second
cable, instead of being discharged by the earth.
Formerly the signals we.e worked through the
Atlantis coil by means of a Suiee'e battery of 48
large cells with large induction coils, constituting
probably the most Fowerlul b ttt- ry ever c in-
structed. How insulation of the cab'e withstood
this severe test is an enigma. It has, however,
since b .en ascertained that an ordinary battery of
six cells transmitted the sig.; ads with the same
facility, and that, in fact, the quantity of electri-
city generated by the enormous power of the first
battery choked or charged the wee.
Mr. Henley has rec -nlly been making a number
of experiments upen tl ee cable at his own expense,
with the view of rer fecting a very simple and beau-
tiful magneto-electric machine, by which a current
is transmitted greater in intensity, though much
less in quantity, than the ordinary galvanic cur-

rent, and thus the liability of the wire to become
charged is considerably reduced.
The immense advantages which a magnetc-elec-
trio machine possesses over an ordinary battery are
of almost incalculable importance. It is always
ready, can be used anywhere, at any time, and by
any person ; and, above ali, is no expense beyond
the first cost of making it. In fact, the difference
between Mr. Henley's machine and an ordinary
battery is as great as between the electric and old
semaphore tele:,raphs, or as great as the difference
which would rxist between an ordinary musket
arid one constructed on such inevitable laws as to
keep itself always loaded, clean, and ready for
; action. It consists of an ordinary large permanent
magnet, between the poles of which a soft iron Mag-
net, with its coils of secondary wire, is fixed. By this
arrangement it is necessary only to deflect the
keepers of the magnet to produce an equal current
at all velocities, and either in one direction or al-
ternately backwards and forwards. The magnet is
2 feet 10 inches high, and consists of 30 plates of the
finest steel, a quarter of an inch thick and 4 inches
broad. The soft magnet is formed of 44 soft iron
plates in a mass 3 inches broad and 2 deep, and of
the same height as the permanent magnet. The se-
condary coils for producing the current in the poles
of these magnets contain (each) 25 miles of the
finest silk-covered wire, or 100 miles for the four
magnets. With this machine ahead) 8 words per
'minute can be sent through the cable in its present
condition, and of course the words can be transmit-
ted with greatly increased rapidity when the cable
I is laid out in a straight course, for no position could
I be more unfavourable for transmitting signals than
that in which the wire is at present stowed, in huge
coils one over another. Up to the present all looks
well and hopeful for the success of this great scheme,
and we earnestly trust that after a few weeks more
all doubts and misgivings will be solved in the most
gratifying and conclusive manner.

MR. CARDWELL'S RESOLUTION.

(Front the Daily News.)

For their own sakes it is to be hoped that Mr.
Cardwell and those who act with him will embrace
the opportunity offered by the resignation of Lord
Ellenborough to reconsider the resolution that is
to be moved on Friday night. Lord Ellenborough
and his despatch are out of the field. In so far
as Lord Canning's pereonal feelings are concerned,
the discussion might be allowed to drop. The
paramount consideration at issue is what expres-
sion of opinion as regards the policy to be pur-
sued in India is most consonant to the welfare
of the empire and the honour of England. We
have much at stake. It is difficult to imagine that
a proposal to confiscate the whole lands of Oude
should not have a perilously irritating effect on
the public mind throughout India. According to
the proclamation of Lord Canning, the threatened
confiscation is to apply to the lands of all " Talook-
dars, chiefs, and landowners." Every person who
claims a proprietary right in land in Oude will feel
alarm. The co-parceners of the " estates" and
villages must be in as feverish a state of excite-
ment as the great Zernindars. That there is peril
in such a state of affairs is denied by no one.
Even Mr. Cardwell, in his resolution, declines to
express approbation of the policy of the proclama-
tion. Lord Canning himself (or Sir Jas. Outram for
him) has softened considerably in his proclamation
some of the harsher features of the draft. If a
majority of the House of Commons is bent upon
- censuring Lord Ellenborough's despatch, and its
publication, even after the noble lord has withdrawn
from office, let, at least, the expression of censure.
I bc accompanied by some declarati ,n, regarding the
future policy of the Anglo-Indian Government that
may re-assure the minds of the innocent or the
penitent throughout our Indian dominions. Is the
propect of our being disgracefully driven out of
India tro remote to tell upon the imagination of
the people of England ? Then let this considera-
tion bring it home to our apprehensions :—On ac-
count of the civil war in India we have already
been obliged to increase our army beyond the ave-
rage peace establishment. The campaign in Rohil-
cund doting the hot season will increase to an enor-
mous amount the moitali:y in the ranks of our
European soldiers in India. With what a drain
upon our healthy adult population does the recruit-
ing that must replace these losses threaten us !
How much will it cost us to keep our European
army in India on an effective footing ? How long
may this expenditure in lives and money last ? Can
we afford to brave a prolonged and internecine war
iu India by carrying into effect a policy which every-
body shrinks from defending ? Toe Directors of the
India Company have set the example of denuding
the question of all irritating personalities, and
doing what in them lies to concentrate attention on
the necessity of adopting a just and concliatory
policy towards the natives of India. Tney have de-
clared to Lord. Canning that their confidence iu him
is not abated ; but they have at the same time indi-
cated to his Lordship the course which they think
Ile ought to pursue. With reference to the
Despatch of the Se.ret Committee, the Court of
Directors has expressed its continued confidence in
the Governor-General, aiding its conviction that
his measures for the pacification of Oude and the
other disturbed districts in India will be charac-
terised by a generous policy and by the utmost
clemency that is found to be consistent with the
satisfactory accomplishment of that important
object. If a majority of the House of Commons
is bent upon pouring balm into the wounded feel-
ings of Lord Canning, let it at least show so much
consideration for the honour and prosperity of the
empire, as to follow the example of the Court of
Directors, and give Lord Canning to understand
that it is by a just and humane policy that he must
seek to earn a continuance of its favour.

In the part we have taken in this discussion we
have resolutely banished from our minds every
consideration but what is conducive to the pros-
perity an€l happiness of India, atd, through that
prosperity and happiness, to the honour and per-
manence of the British empire. We are, of course,
by principle, opposed to the present Administra-
tion ; but we will not, with a view to prtolpitate
its fall, which under no circumstances can be very
remote, risk a renewed conflagration in Hiudostan.
That would he to follow the example of the Chinese
in Cnarles Lamb's grotesque but genial le4rn
and burn down our house to r, ast our pig.
Nay more ; before we take p ,rt in any move-
ment to unseat the present Ministry, we are
disposed to ask for some guarantee that we are
to ga a lib rat Ministry in its place. To put out
the present men is one thing, and to establish a
real, strong, united, stable, Liberal Ministry, is
another. To bring back Lord Paluierstou as die
tator, with Lord Clanricarde, Mr. Vernon Smith,
and r. Robert Lowe in his train, would be no
great victory. Lord Palmerston was only a few
months back deposed by a majority of the House
of Commons--has he now regained the confidence
of that majority ? He has not, on the contrary,
been further weakened since that time by losing
the confidence of some who then remained faithful
to him ? Are Mr. Gladstone, Sir James Graham,
or Lord John Russell any more disposed to take
office along with Lord Palmerston now than they
were a few months ago ? The truth is that the
time has not yet arrived for reconstructing the Li-
beral party on a broad and satisfactory basis. That
re-construction must be the result of a closer ap-
proximation among the various sections of the
Liberal party in sentiment and principle than has
yet taken place. It cannot be brought about by a
few leaders agreeing to make-b'livve that they
have ben reconciled. That the Liberal parry will
be re-constructed we have no doub;, and nothing
shall be wanting on our part that can contribute to
so desirable a consummation. But nothing is to be
gained by factitious patching up of alliances where
there is neither cordiality nor agreement in prin-
ciple. We can afford to " bide our time," and see
no use in affecting to believe that the political mil-
lennium has begun, simply because tLe successors
in office of the late Mr. Coppock wish us to do so.

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leseopes Camp,pi im
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the double stars ; with the same telescope
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WRECK OF THE AVA.

TO THE._ZDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—The following extract from a letter from
one on board the Chesapeake may interest some of
your readers.—l am, sir, yours truly,
May 11. R. L. B.

" Her Majesty's ship Chesapeake, March 25,
off the Ava's wreck.

" We have been lying off the scene of the Ava's
wreck now for 12 days, which I assure you have
not been passed idly.
" The first thing to recover was an iron engine
shaft intended for another of the company's ships,
which is quite useless until it arrives ; its value,
therefore, to the Peninsular and Oriental Company
is immense, though its intrinsic value does not ex-
ceed 2,0001. or 3,0001.
"Our boats' crews worked away most manfully,
diving down and putting lashings around it, and
eventually hoisting it up to the surface. It was then
made fast to a pontoon of boats and empty casks,
and towed alongside the ship, where we rigged
heavy purchases, and hoisted in the mass of 10 tons
weight like a plaything. We are now busy getting
at the rupees in the after holds, and great interest
is excited as box after box comes in, each of them
worth 5001., but stinking awfully of bilge. If we
can get up the whole of the boxes (worth about
250,0001.) we flatter ourselves that the East India
Government will scarcely begrudge us a few boxes
to divide among ourselves for our trouble. The
old rules about salvage would have given us a very
large claim ; so, to repeat a bad pun that has been
going about, 'We hope that we shall have luck
now as well as Peel's Brigade.' Yesterday we had
a grand blow up' at the wreck, and the water
aliaround us was discoloured with indigo ; but this
morning we find the explosion to have been most
successful, and the boxes of rupees will now be more
easily accessible. The captain and officers of the
unfortunate Ava have run up comfortable sheds on
shore, and with the assistance of native divers have
done everything in their power to retrieve their
misfortune ; there is a strong current always setting
on to shore, and this I suppose is the secret of the
wreck. The captain, though a young man, is evi-
dently a highly intelligent and valuable officer."