The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-26 00:00:00

war on the subject, and after that new patterns
were adopted.
Colonel French asked if the trenching tools were
better now?

Witness was not aware. The present pattern, he
thought, as far as material went, was about the
same quality as the last. They had some in store
now, both of the old and new pattern. They were
furnished by tender. Being asked if therz were
many articles furnished by contractors rejected
on inspection, witness said there were, and he held
in his hand the inspection note in reference to cer-
tain articles which had been inspected that very
afternoon—viz., 2,000 handles for pickaxes, the
whole of which had been rejected, the reason as-
signed by the inspector being that a great portion
of them were too large, and a very large portion
were too small. (A laugh.)
The Chairman—We have had it in evidence at
Weedon that a delivery under one contract has
been used as a delivery under another—of boots,
for instance—l suppose you never allow such a
thing here ? (A laugh.)
Witness said, oh no ; they always worked off the
old orders first. He said, in answer to the Chair-
man, that it had been suggested that the Birming-
ham contractors wanted to give evidence be-
fore the Commissioners. Tools sent from Bir-
mingham to the department had been rejected lately,
and they had received letters from the contractors
about the rejections, but they scarcely amounted
to complaints. Being asked how sales of stores
came to be directed at Woolwich, he said, after cer-
tain stores had been condemned by the several
departments, or recommended to be sold by special
order, he (witness) went round with the assistants
of the master-artificers and allotted them, and then
made a report to the several departments with the
view to ascertain if they could not be made avail-
able for the service. If the answer was in the
negative a sale by auction Was authorised, and a
reserved price put upon each lot. They had what
was called a " ring" at the sales of condemned
stores, but it often happened that the lots fetched
high prices by a stranger making his appearance at
the auctions or by the Jews quarrelling among
themselves. (A laugh.) He could not say they
had now a large quantity of unserviceable or
obsolete stores ; but still they were accumulating
from all parts of the globe. There were some things
they could not sell at any price at the sales,—for
example, the galvanized bits and stirrup irons
of which so much complaint was made in
the Crimea Some of the worst of the carts used
by the Turkish Contingent .had been sold and
taken to Ireland for use among hucksters, and the
best of them were piled up in store. He believed
they sold a quantity of boots which came back
from the Crimea. If any boots had been sold
which were serviceable he would be responsible.
Mr. Turner (to the witness)—You say you have
been upwards of forty years in this establishment ;
will you be kind enough to say what your salary
is ?

Witness—£44o.
Mr. Turner—After forty-two years' service ?
Witness—Yes. It rises up to £5OO, by £2O
a-year.
Mr. Turner—l dare not make any comment, but
if I did it would be a very severe one—not on you,
but on those who pay you £440 a-year after far on
to half a century of service.
The witness then retired.

Shortly- before five o'clock the Commissioners
adjourned until this day (Tuesday), at 12, when
Mr. Howell, the director of contracts at the War-
office, will be the first witness called.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, MONDAY MORNING.

REFORM IN TRINITY COLLEGE.

An old and respectable High Tory journal (the
Cork Constitution) makes some very singular reve-
lations respecting the reforms about to be introduced
into the management of the Dublin University.
New professorships will soon be founded and pro-
vision made for them out of fellowships which it
appears, " now minister to the ease of indolence
rather than to the advancement of learning." The
Oriental languages, too, are likely to be better at-
tended to, and their professorships less parsimoni-
ously endowed. Se far all highly satisfactory as
regards the conduct of the heads of the college.
But, says the Constitution,—
" We have been told that the concessions recently
made were made with less of grace than of reluct-
ance—that in fact the Board delayed so long that
the Lord-Lieutenant, who is always in earnest in
whatever he applies himself to, wrote with his own
hand a brief note somewhat in these words—' Be so
good as to draw up a draught of a Queen's letter,
with your own proposals, to-night ; if not, I will do
it myself to-morrow.' The story runs that this
laconic intervention infused an unwonted degree of
vienur into the Board. and that they deliberated
until 3 in the morning, a surrender of income to the
amount of £4OO a-year each being among the pri-
vileges' they parted with. This magnanimous sacri-
fice is said to have been suggested by a conscious-
ness that, if left to him, his Excellency intended to
carry the pruning-knife to £7OO, instead of £4OO.
The seniors among the tutors, we learn,, have lat-
terly been exerting themselves with most uncolle-
giate activity to obtain compensation for the loss of
lucrative places doomed—thanks to the appellants
to the external tribunal'—to immediate extinction.
Even persons who have lately come into a position
to distinguish themselves in this self-respecting way
have been preferring claims on the ground that had
things continued as they were, certain rich bursar-
ships, &c., might some time or other hare been
theirs, and that it was not the custom in England
to abolish sinecures or even to disappoint expecta-
tions without compensating the sufferers ! This
modest claim, with its adjuncts, would have given
to one of the seniors £350, and to another £3OO
per annum for seven years, while the five gentle-
men "next in succession" would have taken respec-
tively £260, £2OO, £l5O, £lOO, and £5O for the
same period. This claim the Government.peremp-
torily refused, and by the refusal what do they
declare ? Why, that the Reformers were right,
and that the Board which resisted the reforms were
wrong. And how was the money to have been
raised ? Partly, as we understand, by deferring
the reforms for two years, and by what is termed
within the walls a general squeeze' of every
educational outlay, which, of course, would not
much contribute to the superiority of Dublin candi-
dates during the time the screw was on. Nor is
this all, though we confess that the next item looks
like a draught on the credulity of our readers"; it
is stated that certain senior tutors and professors
who did not care to accept the two new places
called bufferships (value £BOO per annum, wi h
next to nothing' to do), on the agreeable ground
that they are just as well off at present—that these
disinterested tutors and professors had the coolness
to ask compensation for their self-denial ! This
sounds so incredible that we shall be happy if, for
the honour of the College, any of our Dublin con-
temporaries can assure us that it is not true ; but
until then we must continue to believe it. Govern-
ment, notwithstanding its hardheartedness in re-
fusing to comply with their application, allows the
two new senior Fellows, Dr. Hart and Dr.Toleken,
to retain for a year their respective offices of bur-
sarship and senior lectureship at the old figures of
£l,BOO and £6OO respectively—the incomes after
that to be reduced to their normal state of £5OO
and £3OO. The senior fellowships which these
gentlemen hold are worth £1,200 a-year, so that
they won't be badly off even when the year is ont."
DREADFUL MURDER IN CLARE.
A letter dated Kilkee, Friday evening, and pub-
lished in the Clare Freeman, says—
" A shocking murder has been perpetrated in
this locality. Charles Clancy, son of Constantine
Clancy, of Tullebar, about four miles from Kilkee,
was shot dead last night within a few yards of his
own house. His brother and cousin were in the
house,-and on hearing the firearms ran out, and saw*
deceased staggering towards them, crying out, I
am murdered.! lam undone !' He died on being
brought into the house, Head-constable Maguire,
of Kilkee, was there soon after, and extracted
several large slugs from the wound. An inquest
will be held to-day. This bloody deed has caused
great sensation in the neighbourhood. Various
causes are assigned for it ; but nothing is yet known
with certainty. Some say it was about land, and
others say that it was in reference to a brother's
marriage portion. Strong suspicion rests upon
some members of his family. The deceased bore a
good character."